January Recipes

As January comes to a close I wanted to share a few new recipes that I tried this month that were hits with my family.

Bourbon Chicken

1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts tenderloins
2 tablespoons oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a large skillet cook the chicken pieces in the oil until the chicken is cooked through. I cut the pieces into bite size chunks as I cooked them in the skillet. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients mixing well with a whisk. Once the chicken is cooked through, add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil, stirring frequently until the sauce thickens. Serve over hot cooked rice or with fried rice as a side. Enjoy! *This was delicious and I plan to make it again with some fried rice for our Chinese New Year Celebration.


Cheesy Potatoes

6 tablespoons butter, cubed
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups milk
12 ounces process American cheese, cubed
About 4 pounds potatoes, peeled, cooked and thinly sliced (8 cups)
Paprika

Melt butter in a saucepan; add flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add milk all at once; cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Remove from the heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Place potatoes in a large bowl; gently stir in cheese sauce. Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.


Strawberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup strawberry jam

In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; make a well in the center. Combine eggs, oil and buttermilk; pour all at once into the well. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix. Gently fold in jam (a few lumps will remain). Place in a well-greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Yield: 18 muffins. *I made these for breakfast one morning and they disappeared fast.




And last but not least...the following recipe wasn't new for us but is a family favorite and we enjoyed it a couple of times during the month of January. I usually serve it for dinner with some sausage, fresh fruit, and muffins. I double the recipe for our family.

Crustless Cheese Quiche

2 cups (16 ounces) cottage cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack or Mozzarella cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese (we use Sharp)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies (don't leave out- it's what makes the Quiche so yummy!)
2 tablespoons chopped ripe olives
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the cheese mixture and mix well. Transfer to a greased 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake 30 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Garnish with olives if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.



If your looking for some new recipes for the new year then check out one of my favorite places to recipe hunt, Taste of Home. They publish cookbooks and magazines and I can honestly say that just about every single thing I have tried of theirs over the years has ended up landing on our favorite list. A few of my own recipes have been published in their cookbooks through the years. I LOVE Taste of Home!

While the earth remains, Seed time and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night, shall not cease. ~Genesis 8:22

The Wright Brothers & The History of Flight- Part 3

If you missed parts 1 & 2 you can view them HERE and HERE.

During our unit on the Wright Brothers the kids learned about Sir Isaac Newton and his 3rd law of motion which is for every action there is an opposite reaction. We saw this first hand with our balloon experiment that I shared about in part 2. We talked about how Newtons third law is also used when rocket ships are launched into space. We did an experiment with a rocket launcher to demonstrate the third law of motion.


We tried shooting the rocket off by just holding the launcher in our hands and hitting it.


Then we sat the launcher on a hard surface and launched the rocket and observed how the reactions were different in both instances.





We then took apart our launcher and poured some baking soda into it and then added vinegar to the baking soda.


The kids saw how both substances together made a chemical reaction that released gas and launched our rocket. We talked about how real space ships are not launched by pushing air into them but instead fuel. The fuel in a space ship is converted to a gas and this gas builds up so much pressure in the fuel containers that it results in the rocket launch just like our baking soda and vinegar mixture did.


Next we talked about helicopters and how they are a different kind of airplane in that it's wings, called rotors, can move. The moving rotors of a helicopter give the helicopter a lift that allows the helicopter to move straight up. For our experiment we used a spinner and straw. At first we just held it up in the air and dropped it and the kids saw how it just fell to the ground. The 2nd time around we spun the spinner back and forth in between our hands and then let go of it.






When the kids let go of their spinner it flew through the air and around the room.




We talked about how in all of our experiments so far, our flying machines came down. Bryan talked to the kids about the force of Gravity and how all objects that go up eventually come down because Gravity eventually pulls everything back to earth. He told them how fast something falls back to Earth depends on many factors. He used a piece of paper and pencil to demonstrate.


He dropped both items from the same height at the same time. The kids learned that the force of gravity is independent of an object's weight.

Next we talked about how all of the flying machines we had used so far were going up but their was one flying machine that goes down...a parachute. We did an experiment to see whether it made a difference if a parachute had a small or a large sail.


First we dropped our parachute with the large sail and counted out how many seconds it took for it to hit the ground. Then we took the same parachute and placed an elastic band around the middle of the chute to make the sail very small. Again we dropped and counted. The kids saw that the larger the sail the slower it came down due to the amount of air that was pushing through it.

To be continued......

Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.
Prov 25:20 (NASB)

NT Audio Bible {A Review}

Title: The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible



Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 0718024249
Format: Compact Disc

Book Description

Hear the Bible Come Alive in Dramatic Audio Theater™!

This multi-voiced, scripted dramatization of the New King James Version (NKJV) features a star-studded cast of actors, an original music score, and incredible feature film quality sound effects. This world-class production creates a dramatic audio theater experience that makes you feel like you’re really there with Jesus and His disciples. Listen in your car, on your MP3 player, or with your family or small group to gain a new perspective of the Bible.

The cast includes Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Stacy Keach as Paul, Louis Gossett, Jr. as John, Ernie Hudson as Peter, Michael York as Narrator, Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Mary, Mother of Jesus, Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene, and many others.

The Word of Promise® New Testament Audio Bible is a 20-CD set and includes a bonus “Behind-the-Scenes” DVD.

My Thoughts:

Our family is so excited to have been given the opportunity to review this product from Thomas Nelson. I had been searching for an audio version of the bible for our family for some time now. All that I had seen up to this point were readings of the bible. I love the old time radio programs which is exactly what this audio reading is. It's not just a reading of the bible but an excellent dramatization of the bible. The producer of The Word of Promise Audio Bible is non other than Carl Amari, founder of Radio Spirits Inc and distributer of old time radio programs. I was surprised to see so many familiar Hollywood faces that took part in this audio drama. Through intense emotion and drama, I felt they all did a superior job of bringing the bible to life. I was impressed with the zipper case that holds the CD's- it's beautiful. This would make a wonderful gift for loved ones! When listening to the Word of Promise in I-tunes you can choose the chapter from the bible that you want to listen too. It also includes a 40 day listening plan. I highly recommend this to anyone who is searching for an audio version of the New Testament. Our family has been enjoying listening to this together during our evening devotionals and we have been playing it for our kids as they fall asleep at night. It will be perfect to take with us on our road trips and vacations.

A huge thank you to Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to review this product.

*NOTE: I received this product free from Thomas Nelson, in exchange for my honest review. Had I paid for it, my thoughts would still be the same.

Wordless Wednesday

What's on your Nightstand?

It's the 4th Tuesday of the month which means it's time for What's on your Nightstand over at 5 minutes for books.

So what's on my nightstand? Well, I just finished reading The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher.


With a vibrant, fresh style Suzanne Woods Fisher brings readers into the world of a young Amish woman torn between following the man she loves--or joining the community of faith that sustains her, even as she questions some of the decisions of her elders. Her choice begins a torrent of change for her and her family, including a marriage of convenience to silent Daniel Miller. Both bring broken hearts into their arrangement--and secrets that have been held too long. Filled with gentle romance, The Choice opens the world of the Amish--their strong communities, their simple life, and their willingness to put each other first. Combined with Fisher's exceptional gift for character development, this novel, the first in a series, is a welcome reminder that it is never too late to find your way back to God.

I LOVED it! I won't be sharing any more about it in this post though because I am scheduled to review it for the Litfuse blog tour on February 9th. You will just have to wait until then to read my review/thoughts. I will tell you that if you love Amish Fiction then I believe you will love this book!


I also just finished Take One by Karen Kingsbury.


Could they change the world before the world changes them? Filmmakers Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison left the mission field of Indonesia for the mission field of Hollywood with a dream bigger than both of them. Now they have done the impossible: raised enough money to produce a feature film with a message that could change the world. But as Chase and Keith begin shooting, their well-laid plans begin to unravel. With millions of dollars on the line, they make a desperate attempt to keep the film from falling apart even as a temperamental actress, a botched production schedule, and their own insecurities leave little room for the creative and spiritual passion that once motivated them. Was God really behind this movie after all? A chance meeting and friendship with John Baxter could bring the encouragement they need to stay on mission and produce a movie that will actually change people's lives. In the midst of the questions and the cameras, is it possible to keep things above the line and make a movie unlike anything done before, or is the risk too great for everyone?

Karen is one of my favorite fiction authors and I have yet to be let down by any of her titles. I knew I would enjoy reading Take One, the first in her Above The Line series, and I did. I loved being reunited with some of my favorite characters from her books, the Baxters, in this title. I already have Take Two, the 2nd title in her Above the Line series, coming in the mail!


I just started reading Listen by Rene Gutteridge.


Nothing ever happens in the small town of Marlo . . . until the residents begin seeing their private conversations posted online for everyone to read. Then it’s neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, as paranoia and violence escalate. The police scramble to identify the person responsible for the posts and pull the plug on the Website before it destroys the town. But what responsibility do the people of the town have for the words they say when they think no one is listening? Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

I will be reviewing this title for the Tyndale Blog Network once I finish it.


I also just started reading Texas Roads, compliments of author Cathy Bryant.


City gal Dani Davis just wants to find a place to call home. Miller’s Creek, Texas seems like the perfect place to start over, except for the cowboy who gives her a ride into town. Dani secretly finances renovations to the downtown area of Miller’s Creek, but malicious rumors force her to choose between keeping her involvement a secret and the home for which she’s always longed. Steve Miller is determined to save his dying hometown. When vandalism jeopardizes the downtown restoration project, he can’t help but suspect Dani, whose strange behavior has become fodder for local gossips. Will Steve and Dani be able to call a truce for a higher cause, and help Dani understand the true meaning of home?

I will be reviewing Texas Roads after I finish it as well. I can tell you that I am loving it thus far! It is currently available in E-book format and will be released in print form this Spring. Visit HERE to learn more.

Here is the book trailer.



If you want to learn what others have on their nightstands right now then hop on over to 5 Minutes for Books today.

Giving Thanks for Gods Gifts- week 4

57. A card and letter in the mail from a dear friend.

58. A prayer answered.

59. A new recipe that everyone loved.

60. Some down time to rest some, this past week and weekend.

61. Another book arriving in the mail to review.



62. A new box of books arriving in the mail for the kids. What fun that always is!

63. Some desperately needed new bookshelves!

64. Seeing prayers answered for a friend.

65. Refreshing rain on Friday and Saturday night.

66. Finding something that I thought I had lost for good.

67. Watching Emmy enjoy time with her dear friend Abby.

68. A set of Highlight magazines for the kids from one of Bryans co-workers. What a treat!



"In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Meeting Curious George!

This past weekend Curious George and the man in the yellow hat decided to roll into town. As soon as we found out they were planning to visit we knew we had to meet up with them for the sake of our Curious George lover, Natalie. She has got to be the biggest Curious George fan EVER! She has all of his books and she was super excited to finally get to meet him in person.






Waiting in line.




She drew pictures for both Curious George and the man in the yellow hat and they loved them!



We hung around the McWane Center for a bit after meeting Curious George and had some fun with a few of the exhibits. Here's some pics....












Mega Light Brite

Snow Day!

We had a bought of really cold weather here in the deep south these past couple of weeks. In fact, we set a record for the coldest temps for so many consecutive days in a row. Our lows were in single digits on some nights and our highs stayed below freezing for over a week. That's not common in the deep south. It can get a bit cold at times, but not usually that cold!

We had a prediction of snow during our cold spell. Now anyone that is familiar with living in the deep south knows that a prediction of snow down here doesn't always mean snow. Occasionally it happens....but it sure isn't common. After living in Tennessee and North Carolina our kids got pretty used to getting snow every single year. In fact our very first DAY after moving to North Carolina it snowed 12 inches! It was the most snow our kids have ever seen. They get pretty excited when they hear it might snow. We had warned them after moving back down here to Alabama that it just doesn't snow here like it always did in other places. Yet, last year, LOOK at what it did here at our place.

So our kiddos got pretty excited over the snow prediction a couple of weeks ago. It did snow off and on all day long but here in our area it never kept it up long enough to stick. It was beautiful to watch but of course the kids were disappointed that they didn't have a bunch of fluffy white stuff to play in. I therefore surprised them with some fluffy white stuff of our own. It wasn't quite as fun as the real stuff but they did enjoy playing in it. In fact they spent an entire afternoon playing in it.


I love this stuff! You simply add a little water and you instantly have SNOW! It feels just as cold as real snow and is much like moon sand in that you can pack it together for snowballs or snowmen.


The older kids and I spread it out over the dining room table to surprise the little kids. We buried some of their favorite toys in it.






They all loved it! Ally kept asking how it snowed in our house! ;-)


















Ally burying her arm in the snow.















"Out of the south comes the storm, and out of the north the cold. From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen". Job 37:9-10