Happy New Year!!!!!

Sorry I have been gone AWOL, but this new job has me out of the home more than I would like. However, if I am to pay the bills, it must needs be done. Hopefully, I will be home soon and have more time.

We are all well here, no sickness thank the Good Lord! Honey has been busy, busy, putting up sheet rock and insulation, putting in a new garage door and working some overtime as well. I have been busy working and keeping up with the housework, too.

Amidst all of this busy-ness, we still find time for God. You know, many people say they don't have time to go to church or worship God, but he gives us 24 hours a day - every day. Can't we take just an hour or two out of that to devote to him? And don't get me started on tithing! The money that you "save" by not tithing will be paid somewhere else - many times to a doctor or an "unexpected" bill. So let's show our Lord some love this year!

I am looking forward to the new year with great anticipation. I am not going to diet as such - just eat more sensibly and exercise more. I may not set the world on fire, but I will enjoy my life. I will pray more, get into the Word more, be more in tune with God!

I mentioned earlier in my blog that I had a Christmas tea party for the ladies in my church. As usual, fuzzy headed me forgot to take pictures whilst everyone was here! But I do have the soup recipe from the party - ummy yummy! I am also going to share the recipe for friendship tea - everyone's favorite!

Mexican Chicken Soup

4 chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
1 can chicken broth
1 can Rotel
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 Tablespoon chili powder.

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and slowly simmer until hot.


Friendship Tea

1 (18 oz) jar Tang
1/2 to 3/4 cup sweetened lemonade mix
3/4 cup instant tea
2 (3 oz) packages apricot or peach Jello
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of cloves
3 cups sugar

Mix and store in airtight container. To serve add 2 heaping teaspoons tea mix to 1 cup hot water.



As you can tell, I did mix-n-match snowmen for decor and it worked great! I used the tablecloth that I had left over from a work party, then the napkins were from my great friend, Marie. The plates and cups I found on sale at Dollar Tree. The great thing about living in the country is you don't have to be too fancy! I served the cranberry cake with hot butter sauce for dessert and we had finger sandwiches.

I wish everyone reading this a most blessed new year!

Home, Sweet Home

I promised some pictures of my new home so . . . .

Kitchen counter with my canisters


Dining room wall - we were shopping at a Mennonite store and saw this sign - we both said "Oh, I like that" - so we bought it - we are truly blessed

My messy, messy desk


One of the walls in my office

Bittersweet on the front door

I will be posting more pictures later on . . . .

Just wanted all of my readers to know that I really appreciate them! We have been rushed for dinners some nights around here, so I wanted to share one of the better ones we have had lately.

Sweet-n-Spicy Sausage and Rice

Serves 4

1 lb Little Smokies - or sliced smoked sausage
1 jar sweet-n-sour sauce - I used La Choy
A handful of chopped green and red peppers
1 small onion, sliced (optional)
1 (8 oz) can tidbit pineapple, drained
1/4 teaspoon (or more if you like it spicier) crushed red pepper flakes
Cooked rice

Bung all of the above in a small crockpot - I used my 1-1/2 quart - and turn it on high for 2 hours or so. Serve hot over rice.




Easy peasy and even my picky DS liked it!

Comfort food

Autumn is that time of year that most people lean towards more comforting foods. Gone are the salads and light dinners. In are stick to your ribs soups and stews. We have had rain here - finally - and it has been rather cool. Autumn is surely here!

I like soups and stews of all sorts and I will be posting many of them as time goes by. I like a good beef stew, but DS does not care for beef. He will eat hamburger occasionally, but no steak or roast or sadly, beef stew. So, in order to fulfill my stew craving and still get him to eat it, I make chicken stew quite a bit.

Served over top of big, fluffy buttermilk biscuits, it is comfort food at its finest. Add a cold glass of milk and some sliced ripe tomatoes - now you're eatin'!

Chicken Stew
Serves 6

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or you can use breasts)
Seasoned flour, for dredging
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced (I leave mine in big pieces so DS can fish them out)
3-4 large cloves garlic
chicken broth
carrots, cut in chunks, about 2 medium-large
potatoes, cut in chunks, about 3 medium
1 cup frozen peas
1 can mushrooms, drained

flour and water, for thickening

Seasonings to your taste, thyme is good, black pepper a given

Chop your chicken thighs into pieces, not too small. Dredge them in well-seasoned flour and brown in the olive oil - set aside. Cook them in 2 batches, 1 tablespoon oil per batch. Add onion and garlic (cut in slivers) to pan and saute lightly. now pour about 3/4 cup of broth in your pan and deglaze it. In a large pan, combine chicken, onion, garlic, carrots and potatoes. Add Broth. How much broth you use is up to you, I covered my ingredients with it. Simmer for about an hour on low heat. Then add the peas and mushrooms. Take some of the broth off and stir in some flour - I don't measure this, just eyeball it. I used about a heaping 1/4 cup. Stir that together and then stir it back into the stew. Let it get good and bubbly to thicken it. Season well to your taste with salt, pepper, etc.



This is also good made with frozen mixed vegs. The left-overs can be used for chicken pot pie. Or you can put biscuit dough (refrigerated or homemade) on top and stick it in the oven. Or you can use pie dough and put it inside and make pasties.

It is best made the day before and reheated.

When I was working out of the home, I would throw my frozen chicken in the crockpot, along with frozen peas and carrots and frozen diced hashbrowns and some broth. I would let it cook all day. Then when I came home, out came the chicken to be diced up, in went the peas and mushrooms and thickening while the biscuits went in the oven. Worked a charm. Or you can use just plain water and drain it off and then throw in a can or jar of chicken gravy.

Teriyaki Chicken

Whew! with this heat, we have been fixing quite a few crockpot meals. I can throw them in either on my lunch hour or before work and it sure saves on heating up the house!

We try to be pretty economical, too. Now, I love boneless, skinless chicken breasts. There are SOOOOOO many things you can do with them! But for teriyaki, the dark meat of the chicken to me tastes better, richer somehow.

We had a large package of chicken thighs that we got on sale, so I took half of them and made this recipe. Quick to fix, easy, moist beyond belief and very flavorful!




Teriyaki Crockpot Chicken
Serves 4-6

6-8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skinned
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Grease a crockpot. I had 5 thighs and I used my small 1-1/2 quart and it worked fine. Place chicken in crockpot. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook for 1 hour on high, then 6-8 hours on low. Enjoy!



I am thinking this would be really good for sandwiches, just take it off the bone when done, shred it and add enough of the juice to moisten it good, bung it back in the crockpot and heat. With some Grilled pineapple rings and maybe a little Thai Sweet Chili sauce mixed with some sour cream?? With fresh jicama for crunch, maybe? Or soft asian tacos? A lot of possibilities!

Get ready for red onion marmelade tomorrow!