Our bathroom, which is right off of our bedroom doesn’t have a bathtub, just a shower.  In a perfect world we would end up with an addition with a new master bedroom and bath with a jacuzzi tub and a separate shower.  We would also have bathroom vanity with the double sinks and a huge mirror with the hanging lights…

Oh and while we’re dreaming, we would have a side by side fridge and a dishwasher.  Just sayin’.   But since we don’t live in a perfect world, we’ll be thankful for what we have because it’s so much more than we deserve!  And we’ll keep making the girls help with  the dishes and other chores and keep showering in out little shower!

I really need your prayers and so does my family.  I appreciate you taking the time to pray.  I will do the same for you and yours.

I’ve spent some time recently in one of the nicer hospitals in Grand Rapids and they have these really cool wall fountains.  They are pretty sweet.  I’d love to have one at home!! The sound they make is so soothing.  I’d love to fall asleep to that sound every night! Plus they are beautiful!

For now I guess I’ll have to settle for the outdoor fountain up at camp.  The guys did a great job with that one!! It’s gorgeous!  And it’s practically in my back yard!

I think we need a smaller computer desk, that would give us more room in our living room area.  And some of those cable ties for all the computer cords and stuff would be nice to keep them all nice and neat and organized so they aren’t all crazy and flung all over the place.

Then if we had some plastic tubs for all the Wii games and Play station games and that in the corner, that would free up some space in the living area, too.  AAAAHHHH….The thought of having more room!! It makes me happy!!!

After about a year we had saved up some money and decided to start looking for our own place.  We had heard about some mobile homes for sale in a nearby town  so we went to look at them.  We only looked at a couple before we found one that I fell in love with and shortly thereafter we moved into our first ‘home’.

It was just a little single wide trailer in a mobile home park down in Grand Rapids, but it as ‘home’ to us and we loved it.  We decorated it just so and it was all we needed.  A few years later we actually moved it up to the town we now live in and put it on a piece of property Buster’s dad bought for us.

We have since sold it and moved on, but I will never forget that first ‘home’ we moved into with out little family so many years ago when we first got married.

This last October Buster and I celebrated 18 years of marriage and I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone better! I am so blessed!

I know the picture’s a little dark, but when I used the flash, you couldn’t see the lights, which is kinda the point…don’t they look cool! I love it.  I have always wanted this kind of ‘under cabinet’ lighting and now I have it! It isn’t just for the holidays, it’s staying under there! It’s so cool…

Just thought I would share that with y’all.  Don’t be jealous, you can do it, too!! It’s just the multi-color rope lighting!!

I was thinking we could bake cupcakes and take them to the local restaurant and sell them through them.  Then I found out we couldn’t do that.  Not legally anyway.  And since I don’t think I would do well in jail, I don’t think I want to do anything that will land me there. 

Then someone got the idea that we could have a road stand like the Amish do.  I could go and order one of those fancy Display Banner Stands that you can see from the road.  Attract all kinds of attention.  We’d sell all kids of goodies that way!! Only I have a busy summer schedule with camps in and it gets a bit chilly in the fall and winter in good ol’ Michigan.  I don’t think a road stand would be very practical come to think of it.

What I really need is a shop.  A little downtown shop.  That’s what I need.  But then you’ve got all that overhead.  Insurance and electric and gas and ugh! I’m getting a headache just thinking about it! So for now, I’ll just stick with what I’m doing and I’ll make cupcakes and candy in my little home kitchen and I’ll enjoy it!! Cause I’m happy and Blessed!

So I sat here thinking to myself, wondering what I was going to do.  I remembered Buster buying some chicken breast tenderloins the other day and I knew I had a couple other ingredients in the fridge that should go well together.  I was like the mad scientist mixing this concoction together in my head, and I thought to myself, “self, this could work!”

MMMUUUAAHAAHHAA Just kidding, sort of.

So this is what I came up with.

Cream Cheese Chicken (for 2)

find this:

• 6 chicken breast tenderloins
• 1/2 block (about 4 oz) cream cheese
• about 1/2 -3/4 c.  (I just eye balled it) sour cream
• garlic salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 2 T. butter, cut into pieces

do this:

• season your chicken breast tenderloins and place tenderloins in baking dish (mine were frozen, would take a lot less time to cook if you thawed them first)
• mix your cream cheese and sour cream together in a bowl
• pour cream cheese mixture over chicken
• cut your 2T. butter into pieces and just put pieces randomly into pan all over chicken and sauce
  
• bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and cream cheese sauce is bubbly and hot
• periodically stir your sauce as it cooks maybe twice or three times during cooking  so it will be smooth when done

This turned out really good for being thrown together very quickly.  You could serve it with rice or noodles.  I just served it plain with some corn.  I thought about making some egg noodles, but like I said, I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t.  Next time I will, It will be yummy!

You could make  it with more chicken to feed more people or less to feed less!

Hope you enjoy  it.  I am linking up with Lisa for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday! Let’s go see what other goodies we can find!!

See you soon!

So, it’s been a while since I’ve done this. A long while.  I thought I’d do it again just for giggles.  We’ll see how it goes.  One of the prompts for this weeks workshop was…

1.)  Share a Thanksgiving recipe you will be cooking up this week.

Thanksgiving was yesterday, I know. So, sue me.

This is what I brought. No, I don’t have any pictures.  Maybe next time…

Green Bean Casserole

find this:

• 4 cans french style green beans (or whole green beans or cut green beans if you prefer, what-ev)
• 1 family size can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (yes, it must be Campbell’s, come on people!)
• 1 container Frenchs Fried Onions (yes, it has to be French’s, pay attention folks!)

do this:

• open and drain beans
• put beans in casserole dish
• open and pour soup over beans; mix with spatula
• top with fried onions
• bake @350°F about 30-35 or until onions are golden brown and soup is bubbly and hot
• remove from oven and allow to sit about 5 minutes before serving
• enjoy with family

This is a family favorite not only for the holidays but at other times during the years whenever we decide we get a craving for it.  It’s a great dish.  And it’s easy to make! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

And all the dust and cob webs.  It’s like it’s drawn to them! Although, I’m pretty sure it really is, something about static electricity and all that jazz look at me all my smarty pants).  Anyways, it was a disaster area back there, but I got it all cleaned up now and it’s looking much better now!  Just thought you’d all like to know that! It’s one thing I hate to do so I don’t do it very often. How often do you dust behind your computer equipment??

I anxiously await your response… 

I personally have not tried this recipe, but it sounds divine.  It also fits into my healthy eating lifestyle, which is awesome! I like eating foods that taste good that are also good for me!!  I did change the recipe just a bit!! 

So here we go!!

Ginger- Garlic Tuna Burgers on Cucumber Salad

• 1 3/4 to 2 pounds ahi tuna, cut into cubes
• 3-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 3 to 4 tablespoons tamari (dark aged soy sauce) (eye ball it)
• 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• Vegetable oil, for drizzling, plus some for the salad
• 1 romaine lettuce heart, chopped
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts or pea shoots
• 1/2 English (seedless) cucumber (the one wrapped in plastic), cut into 1/4 inch dice
• Juice and zest of 1 lime

Heat a grill pan or large skillet over high eat.

Place the fish in a food processor and pulse until the fish is the consistency of  ground beef.  Transfer the ground ahi to a bowl and mix with the ginger, garlic, tamari, black pepper, scallions and cilantro.  Form 4 equal patties and drizzle them with vegetable oil.  Place the tuna burgers in a screaming hot pan and cook for 1 minute on each side for very rare, 2 minutes on each side for medium rare, 3 to 4 minutes on each side to cook through.  Hold the cooked patties on a plate under foil.

In a medium bowl combine lettuce , sprouts and cucumber.  Dress salad with lime est and juice, salt and vegetable oil to your taste.

Pile the salad up equally onto 4 plates.  Top salad with tuna patties.

ENJOY!!!

I am not a fan of the original Nutella, but I like this version.  It is made with almonds, instead of hazelnuts.   I eat a gluten/sugar free diet, so it surprised me when I read this and found out I can have it!!

Homemade “Nutella”

What you’ll need:

1 cup roasted almonds, salted or unsalted (your choice)

1/4 cup honey

2 T. cocoa powder (dark chocolate for a special treat)

3 T. hot water

What  to do:

Place almonds in food processor and process until roughly chopped, about 30 seconds.  Add cocoa powder, honey and water.  Process til creamy.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Source

Thanks Allison!!