Lenten Lessons Part 1.

One of the things I worry most about as a mother, is that I may not be teaching them enough about the things that really matter in life...namely God. I strive day in and day out to take every opportunity I can to teach them, turn situations into learning lessons, let them know of God's love. Obviously being human, I struggle. Luckily for me, there are people out there that have helped pave the way, making the opportunities for lessons a little easier. I take no credit for the activity below. I borrowed it from http://www.catholicmom.com/ a site I frequent often for little tips. It helped we wonderfully this past January on pro-life activities for the kiddos. However this one is under kids, Lenten activities, jelly bean prayer. I came across it two years ago, but at the time I came across it, Lent was half over, so we have technically only done it a year. The kids are not fans of jelly beans. Actually I take that back, they love jelly beans, but I don't like them to have them so we used m&ms instead. The kids loved it and I really felt that it covered a wide range of actions. It did not just focus on sacrifice, but also forgiveness, not just actions, but also prayer. The kids looked forward to getting new colors and striving for the colors they struggled to get. It is kind of funny because one of the kiddos' sitter came over a few weeks ago and asked if we had started that m&m thing yet. I told her no, that it was for lent, and she was like "man, they worked so hard for those black ones, I thought it would be easy tonight." I laughed...apparently she liked the activity too. Luckily the kiddos went to bed just fine for her anyway. When I was getting all the stuff out to do it for this year even, Cohen asked if we could add some more colors. I asked him to elaborate. He suggested adding brown because his Rosary is brown and he thought maybe he could get brown for every time he prays his rosary. I don't know how many 6 year olds think about praying the rosary, but I am happy mine does! We are also in the process of constructing a crown of thorns...I'll keep you posted on this one as we have never done it:) I am always looking for new things to do with them, so if you have any, please share! I am still trying to come up with other stuff besides the usual (weekly Stations, Easter Cookies) so if I think of anything, or if anyone shares anything, I'll pass it on.

Here is our set up from last year....

Red is for the love He gave- Each morning they would choose something to sacrifice for that day. He had to be something they had the opportunity to have or do on that day.

Green is for the palms cool shade- green were earned for good deeds done (providing shade for Jesus with palms was a good deed)

Yellow is for God's light so bright- yellows were earned for kindness shared to others

Blue was for prayers at twilight- (these were supposed to be orange, but the kids thought the sky was more blue so we went with blue)- these were for good behavior with prayer or during special prayer times

Black is for sweet rest at night-these were earned for going to bed good:) Miss Miayla had just a few blacks-this year she swears she will get more

White is for God's grace- THESE COULD NOT BE EARNED

Purple is for His days of sorrow- these were earned after apologizing to someone you hurt through words or actions-asking for forgiveness

Pink is for each new tomorrow-pink were earned when we forgave someone who had apologized to us .

We set the jars up on Ash Wednesday and the kiddos could earn m&ms for the colors they performed whatever deed for. They COULD NOT eat them until Easter. The kids could not earn white m&ms, these represent God's grace, which is a gift not earned ourselves. Essentially though, on Easter morning, the kiddos woke up to find their jars filled up where they were empty (lacking) with white m&ms (God's grace)-All of those pictures are on a different computer that is all apart as we finish a basement...if or when I find them, I'll post the jars with white m&ms:) ---

I hated to spoil it for you if you were excited to see where this was going, but just in case you wanted to do it with your kiddos, I thought I would prepare you:).

God's Peace!

a slice of heaven

This has nothing to do with Ree, but everything to do with food. So last week I noticed on facebook, that one of my friends was making a skillet chocolate chip cookie. I commented that she should share the link and she, clearly recognizing that I am obsessed with food, said she was just getting ready to link it to my page because she knew I would like it. Well it was about 8pm and the kiddos were in bed. I logged off facebook and started baking. But despite all the goodies around me, I could NOT for the life of me get the image of the cookie out of my head. See the thing is Mel did not know about my love for the chocolate chip cookie. It goes back decades. I have homemade mixes all baggied and ready to go so I don't even have to measure anything anymore! I just grab a kit and whip up some cookies. The pennicle of my obsession is the Old Chicago Big Cookie. I get one every time we go....and I have a hard time sharing. I have made "big cookies" before. I have even made little individual cookies like the ones at OC before in little corningware dishes. However, when I saw the skillet cookie, it was if the skies parted and I realized my life would never be the same. So as I was baking, unable to get the image out of my head, I made one. I figured I would try it and see how it was. Cody asked who was going to eat it and sadly a part of me thought it was perfect that I could indulge all by my lonesome. This was afterall a test run, so why subject the kiddos to a possibly bad dessert? What kind of mother would I be if I did that?! When the cookie came out of the oven I just stared at it....waiting for it to be ready for consumption. Unfortunately that did not happen long enough for me to take a picture of it....

I HAD to have some. It was unbelievable. Cody kept looking at me while I ate it because of the noises I was making. It was soooo good. It was warm, gooey, and a thick cookie! I kicked myself for being selfish because this really could feed a few people, but hey, you live and learn.
I enjoyed my little slice of heaven that night and have made three times since last week. My life will never be the same! Thanks Mel.

Here is the link: sorry about leaving it out, thought I had it in there:)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/skillet-baked-chocolate-chip-cookie?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/chocolate-chip-cookie-recipes#slide_6

my Month with Ree- Day 16 and 17

One of another favorites of mine is Country Fried Steaks. It is one of those items I get whenever Cody takes me someplace that serves them. If it is an Italian restaurant-lasagna, an American grill- ribs, steakhouse- country fried steak. I LOVE THEM. I can't remember which family member it is now, but one of them traded me roasts for their minute steaks when we got beef because we go through them so fast! I LOVE MAKING COUNTRY FRIED STEAKS (chicken fried steaks to others). Yes they are bad for you, I realize this. But I hope you also realize that I clearly do not care. Country fried steaks are one of my comfort foods. They bring me happiness. I love my country fried steak recipe so i was a little leery about trying Ree's, but I did. It was funny too because I had a craving for it and went to get her cookbook to see how she made it. Except my mom had my cookbook....so I logged on and great minds think a like because Ree had posted it to her site a few days ahead of time (under Chicken fried steak). They were craving it too. See I know we would be friends. Anyway, I tried Ree's recipe and it was delightful. Very similar to mine, very tasty too. The reason this is the posting for day 16 and 17 is because I of course had to try her creamy mashed potatoes with it! Now these were AWESOME!! I'll never make potatoes the old way again. Her suggested ingredients made them so creamy. I did use whipping cream instead of half and half because that is what I had, but they still came out great. The meal brought me lots of comfort. Probably a few more pounds too, but oh well. I enjoyed every bite!

I use my handy dandy pampered chef coating trays for the coating meat process...

They really are handy. When I purchased them, I had chicken fried steaks in mind:)

Creamy mashed potatoes!! That is butter on top, not cheese!

DELICIOUS GOODNESS THAT RIGHT THERE!!

My happy place that quickly became my happy plate!

Chicken Fried steak

Grade A

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Grade A

I'm back....

So the last week and a half have been CRAZY here. Mainly there have just been three things that have consumed all my time, but I actually think they consumed more time than I actually had to give, so blogging was not an option. Oh I thought about it. And I thought about Ree and all her delicious goodness that I was not tasting, and all the stories about the kiddos that were not being shared, and all the times that I just wanted to post a thought to the world. But it simply did not happen. What have I been up to.... well...

1. The Britches and Lace Consignment Sale. I do this sale twice a year and it means a ton to me....a ton more than a sale should, but hey. The thing is, if you partake in this sale and are one of the "die-hards" this sale becomes your life for a few days. Cody and I do not shop that often. Actually, hardly ever. We have a very hard time buying clothes for ourselves and we hardly buy clothes for the kiddos....except for this sale. It is all things kid related, and it is where I get their wardrobe for the year and anything I think they will need (toys, games, sheets, decor) I go to the fall sale in September to stock up for fall and winter and the spring sale in march to stock up for spring and summer. The sale fits nicely into our budget, saving us tons. I used to like garage sales....kids do grow super fast and go through clothes faster. But I have mostly eliminated all garage selling when I discovered this sale. Granted you pay a bit more, it is like a one stop shop AND for the most part, most of the clothes come in outfits so you don't end up with a cute top and a cute bottom, but not a cute coordinating top and bottom. Another thing I LOVE about the sale is if you are a consignor, you get to shop early (the night before). It is CHAOS. MASS CHAOS, lots of mommas on missions. But fun:) If you barter or volunteer you get to shop even earlier (I'm going @ 6 the night before, yippee). And the other thing I love about it that garage selling is lacking is that kiddos are not allowed at the pre-sale:) With garage selling you are getting kiddos in and out of cars, in the heat usually, all for hoping you hit a good spot. This is a few hours of my life, kid-less, getting all our shopping done for two seasons. And Lana and Trina run a tight ship so they only take nice, up to date clothing, most of it is gymboree, childrens place, baby gap....you get the idea. If you are in my area, check it out!! you can check out the website @ www.britchesandlace.com . Look at the photos, and you will be amazed. Anyway....I have been busy trying to get stuff ready for that. Oh, I also have a "friend" pass for wednesday night. you would get in at 8 with all the other crazies. Let me know if you are interested.

2. The other big time consumer was my first really big bakery order. I had 1000 mini desserts to do for a school auction. It was a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it....but I baked soooooooooooo much. My kitchen was an inch deep in flour dust, but it smelled divine:) Trying to bake 1000 desserts was not so bad...it was the doing it pregnant with three little ones already that posed a bit of a problem. Actually the kiddos are amazing. I know one day it will all come crumbling down and they will start being hellions..but for now they are awesome. Sawyer just got used to moving his elmo chair to the kitchen and sitting and reading while I baked. It was awesome.

3. The family took the rest of the time. Obviously they are at the forefront of all of my life (I do the sale for them, and the desserts were for Cohen's school). When I got a spare moment, I cuddled, and read, and played.....i didn't blog, or read about Ree. And I am happy with my decision. They are my world and I think I handled the chaos nicely.

I am back though, and we will continue Operation Ree and being a crazy little family. Thanks for still checking in!

My Month with Ree- Day 15

One thing about getting 1/2 beefs is you get a lot of roast. Or at least it seems that way. Maybe it is because I don't like roasts so don't use them so by the time we get another 1/2 beef I am up to my ears in roasts....We have more dang roasts than I'd care to have. I know, I know, everyone loves roasts. Do you know how I like roasts? When Cody smokes them or cooks them or pretty much when I don't have to do anything with the roast, that is how and when I like them. Well...before now. We will now call this time B.R. (Before Ree).

I realized that I do have some amazing roast recipes, some easy roast recipes, however, I lacked patience with my roast. I lacked the proper care and preparation for the roast pre-roasting time therefore, I disliked the roast at eating time. I decided to use one of the lots of meats we have in the freezer and give the roast another go around. I chose Ree's "Perfect Pot Roast". It smelled perfect, it was easy to prepare, it was insanely similar to other roast recipes that I cursed myself for ruining all those roasts in the making of this roast. And Cody said it was the most perfect roast I have ever made. Yay. Looking at the dish it doesn't look like very much, but this was about a 1/3 of the roast. We had it again the next day and I am pretty sure there is still some left in the fridge. Although even though I am blogging about it at 9 am on a Monday morning, the thought of it is making my mouth water, so I may just go heat the rest of that up now:)

So tender-so good.
Perfect Pot Roast
Grade A

My month with Ree- Day 14

I usually only have russet potatoes on hand at home, so I have been trying to add red potatoes to the mix as well. I enjoy potatoes and since I married a meat and potatoes type of guy, we go through them pretty dang fast. Where as I do love a baked potato with butter and cheese and bacon, I am always looking for new recipes to try. Luckily Ree has some good ones too:)



I decided to try "Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes" with our meal the other day. They seemed super easy and I would be using the red potatoes that I had purchased earlier in the week. The picture of them reminded me of a steakhouse (guess they ring true to their name) and since they sounded pretty similar to my loaded mashed potatoes, I figured we should be on the safe side. Turns out they were indeed incredibly easy. Ree was right in saying to serve them hot with the fried onion strings because they did get a little crunch texture that you normally do not get in potatoes. I of course added cheese to my helping because I am a cheese addict, but without cheese, I hear they were still delish.

Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes

Grade B+

My month with Ree- Day 13

So our President's Day celebration turned into more of a Ree celebration. We had started out with her French Breakfast puffs, then for lunch Cohen requested beef and bean burritos, and for dinner we had sloppy joes because I needed something toasted. Because of all this food, and the left overs, I took a break from something new from Ree on Tuesday. I still felt her presence though as I continued to eat puffs through out the day.





For Day 13, I decided to try "Buttered Rosemary Rolls" at the suggestion of a friend. I was actually pretty excited about this "recipe" because I needed to use a cast iron skillet. Cody and I struggle with lots of things in life...one of them being the ability to care for a cast iron skillet. We have gone through a couple of them and I needed a new one. Since I needed the skillet for a meal, I thought it was justified to fit into our grocery budget. Yay me. So after I purchased OUR FAMILY another skillet, I was ready to try the recipe. I had bought a bigger skillet than the one Ree uses, and I should have put more rolls in there, but realized that after the fact so they were not as pretty as hers. They made the house smell yummy. I slathered mine with butter and their warm goodness made my night. And do you know who else loved them? Sweet baby Sawyer. He LOVED them, he had 4. Cohen ate too much chicken pot pie and was full so he didn't have any. Cody was gone this particular evening so he didn't get any, and miayla had one and thought it was delicious (although, I think she was trying to suck up because she didn't eat her pot pie and wanted dessert.) So the only grade I have to go off of are Sawyer's and mine, but since we loved them, I think it did well:)

He had just taken a bite....of his first one


This was on his 4th..I love his little hands.

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Grade A