Happy New Year 2010!!

Happy New Year
to all of my friends in Blogland!!

Some Favorites from 2009

Here we are at the year's end. It has gone by quickly, hasn't it? 2009 has been a good year, maybe not a great year, but much better than 2008. I am looking forward to what 2010 will hold!

I thought I'd recap the year here on My Blessed Life and share some favorite posts.

Crafts:

• Fun With a Box
• Fabric Easter Eggs
• A Fall Batik Banner
• Christmas Crayons
  

Cooking:

• Remembering My Grandma's Kitchen
• A Labor of Love
• It's a Jam Session
• Fresh-From-The-Garden Okra
  

Fun:

• A Trip To The Old Fort Museum
• Adventures in Junking
• Makin' Those Family Memories
  
• Puddle Jumping...or, More Accurately, The Puddle That Almost Swallowed Me
  

Travel:

• Our Vacation in Photos
  
• Tenam Puente: Mayan Ruins
• The Niagara of the South
• Mammoth Cave National Park
  

Yes, 2009 has been a good year. Thank you for sharing it with me!

Delicious Side Dishes From Christmas

Here are some of the dishes I made for a couple of our Christmas meals this year. The mushrooms, green beans and peas were brand new dishes for me, but they are new faves now! The Dijon glaze is a very old fave for us and the squash is a not-too-old fave. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we have.

Stuffed Mushrooms Florentine
24 large fresh mushrooms
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen leaf spinach
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup melted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2-1/2 Tbls. grated Parmesan cheese
*****
Rinse the mushrooms. Remove and chop stems; set caps and stems aside. Cook the spinach according to the package, omitting the salt; drain. Place in a blender and process until smooth. Saute the garlic in melted butter over low heat for 1 minute; remove from heat. Dip the mushroom caps in the garlic butter mixture and place them in a 9x13 baking dish. Stir the stems and onion into remaining garlic butter and saute until tender; set aside. Mix spinach, cream cheese, bread crumbs and seasonings in a bowl. Stir in the mushroom stems, mixing well. Spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes. (Can be made ahead)

Ham Glaze Dijon
(from Grey Poupon)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup brown sugar
*****
Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve on the side with your sliced ham. (Can be made ahead)

Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
(from Amy at The Finer Things)
4 cans whole green beans
bacon strips, cut in half
1 cup melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. soy sauce
*****
Gather 10 green beans into a bundle and wrap a 1/2 strip of bacon around it, securing it with a toothpick. (It helps if you just dump all four cans of beans into a large bowl and pick out the longest ones as you go. I ended up with a small bowl of *leftover* beans at the end. You can just use those for something else later). Place your green bean bundles in a 9x13 casserole dish. Next combine the butter, sugar, garlic salt and soy sauce in a bowl; mix well. Pour over the bundles. Chill overnight or at least for several hours. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes to an hour or until the bacon is done.

Special Peas
1/2 lb. bacon, diced
2 Tbls. flour
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 bunch green onions, sliced (reserve green part)
1 pint half & half (not fat free)
1 lb. frozen petite peas
1 Tbls. butter
*****
In a 3-qt. saucepan fry bacon until very crisp, being careful not to burn it. Drain most of the bacon grease off, leaving about 1 Tbls. Saute mushrooms and white parts of the green onions until soft. Stir in flour. Whisk in the half & half slowly to avoid lumps. Add salt & pepper to taste. Let simmer until thick and creamy, stirring often to keep from scorching. Add peas, butter and sliced green tops of onions Let cook until everything is nice and hot. (Can be made ahead)

Squash Casserole
1 cup butter, melted
2 boxes cornbread stuffing mix
6 cups yellow squash, sliced
1/2 of a medium onion, sliced
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
*****
Pour butter over the stuffing mix; mix well and set aside. Boil squash and onion in salted water for about 5 minutes; drain. In a large mixing bowl combine the squash and onions, 1/2 of the buttered stuffing mix, carrots, sour cream and soup. Mix well. Spread 1/2 of the remaining stuffing mix in the bottom of your casserole dish, pour squash mixture in and then top it with the remaining stuffing mix. Bake at 350F for about 30 min. (Can be made ahead)

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 28th

How was your Christmas? Do you feel like you've gained 10 lbs., like I do? Oh, those rich foods! Oh, the casseroles! They were yummy though. I have a few recipes that I'll be sharing this week with you--some new ones that I tried and some old faves.

In planning my menus this week, I am also doing a little inventory of my pantry. Partly because some items are completely depleted after the holidays (eggs, butter...) and partly because I have decided to participate in the Eat From The Pantry Challenge hosted by Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom and I need to know what I'm working with. Since it's really still December and this challenge officially begins in January, I thought I'd do one last "stock-up" on some stuff. Mainly some staples and some meat for the freezer. It's going to be interesting though to see if I can keep my grocery visits during January limited to a few staple perishables and cook from what's already in my kitchen. Who knows, maybe I'll create some fabulous new family favorite:) If you'd like to join in the challenge, you can check out more details here.

I also have a new cookbook to try out this week~yea! You know me and cookbooks:) My son got me Rachel Ray's Book of 10 for Christmas and it really has some great stuff in it. He's so excited about me cooking from it, I'm hoping that I can entice him to try some new foods.

This week's line-up:

Monday: Leftovers of Christmas dinner(s) and whatever else is in the fridge
Tuesday: RR's Smoked Paprika Chicken with Egg Noodles
Wednesday: Turkey Pot Pie
Thursday: {New Year's Eve} Chicken Crepes
Friday: {New Year's Day} Texas Caviar and RR's Honey-Orange Glazed Ham Steaks
Saturday: Korean Grilled Chicken with Sesame Almond Salad and Roasted Potatoes

This post is linked to I'm an Organizing Junkie and Money Saving Mom.

Making Frosty

On Snow Day #2 it was finally wet enough to build a snowman!! Yea!!

Meet our Frosty:)

I'm Dreaming...

...No, I'm not! We are really having a White Christmas in Arkansas!! A very rare occasion.


It started on Christmas eve and we ended up with about six inches. It has been a beautiful Christmas day!

looking out at the snow first thing in the morning

Christmas day on our street

The Princess

Mr. B

Aren't icicles beautiful?

We even made snow ice cream! It was so yummy!

I hope that your Christmas day has been wonderful, too.

From Our Family to Yours

We wish you the very merriest of holidays! May the hope of Christ be alive in your hearts!

Making Salt Dough Ornaments

I made salt dough Christmas ornaments for the first time this past weekend. It was so much fun! It was all my hubby's idea, too. Apparently he made these as a child and thought it would be fun for the kids to try. He was so right!



They had so much fun cutting out shapes with our cookie cutters. Of course I knew they would, as much as they like to make sugar cookies.

After the ornaments had their first round of baking, the kiddos and I painted them with watercolors.

Then they went back in for a short second round of baking.

Later Vince sprayed them with polyurathane...just in case.


Oh, and here's the one that Vince got really creative with....it's this a great Santa?!

Just in case you were wondering, we used Susan Branch's recipe from her Christmas book. It worked great! If you're interested in it, let me know and I'll be happy to pass it on.

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 21st

It's a big week for cooking and menu planning! Have you done all of you grocery shopping yet? I am really hoping that I remembered everything last week when I went, but I won't be surprised if there's a last-minute run to get that one item that I probably forgot:)

Before we get to today's menu though, I have to share a recipe from our menu plan last week. I've made it before, but it's probably been several years. It definitely won't be that long again though--I'd forgotten how good and easy it is. AND the whole family liked it!! My daughter said *Mom, you can add this to the ones you make all the time now!!*. Folks, that's all I need to hear:)

Chicken Crepes

2 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. minced onion
2 Tbls. flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
1/4 cup sherry or white wine (I used chicken broth this time)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced almonds, if desired (I didn't)
6-8 crepes (recipe below)
*****
Melt butter in a skillet. Add onion and saute until yellow and soft. Add flour and cook until thick and smooth. Add milk and cream, stirring until medium thick sauce is made. Divide the sauce in half and add chicken and sherry (or broth) to only HALF of the sauce. Place about 2 Tbls. of the chicken mixture down the center of each crepe and roll up, seam side down. Place in a buttered baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese (and almonds, if you're using them). Bake at 450F until browned (maybe 20 minutes or so).

Basic Crepes

1-1/4 cups flour
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk*
2 Tbls. melted butter
*****
Place all ingredients (put the liquids in first) in blender and blend well. Let stand about 1 hour for more perfect crepes. To cook: Using a small non-stick skillet, lightly oiled and heated over moderately high heat, add about 3 Tbls. of the batter and swirl pan to cover and form a thin crepe. Cook 30-45 seconds until light brown. Turn and cook briefly on the other side. Remove, cool and separate with wax paper until ready to use. This recipe makes about double what you need for the above chicken recipe--the remaining ones freeze very well, just keep the wax paper between them. *You can use part chicken broth for part of the milk, if you want/need to.

Now, for this week...

Monday: Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Wednesday: Christmas dinner with Vince's immediate family at our house--
Baked Chicken with Wild Rice Dressing
Stuffed Mushrooms Florentine*
Sweet Potato Casserole*
Special Peas*
Squash Casserole*
Christmas Salad*
Homemade Bread

Thursday: {Christmas Eve} dinner with my immediate family at my parents'--
I'm making:
Dijon Pineapple sauce* (for the ham)
Green Bean Bundles
Bread
Red Velvet Cake

Friday: {Christmas Day} a relaxed meal at my parents'--probably chili. We are doing something a little different this year and having our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve instead.

Saturday: Vince's extended family gathering--
I'm taking:
Broccoli Salad*
Macaroni & Cheese

*I'll be posting these recipes soon!

I hope you have a wonderful week of holiday cooking and baking!! If you need some more menu inspiration, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

Christmas Crayons

We've been making crayons again!! This is one of my all-time fave crafts that the we've done!

First of all, we gather up all of our broken crayons--of which there are always many. I always save them now, since our first venture into crayon-making. It's a great way to recycle! We make sure all the paper is peeled off and then we divide them into color groups.

Next we used scissors to cute them into small enough pieces and put them in the muffin cups. I found this cute Christmas tree silicone muffin pan in the *dollar* section of Target (I think it was one of the $2.50 items, but still a great bargain!).
But before we got around to our project, my son decided to try his hand at making Silly Putty muffins. In case you ever wondered, Silly Putty does NOT come off of silicone. It actually adheres quite well. Just so you know... So we just left that cup empty. :)
If you're using a silicone pan (which I highly recommend) place it on a baking sheet for easy transfer in and out of the oven. Bake at 200F to 225F for about an hour. You'll want to check it and make sure it looks like the wax is liquefied before you take it out of the oven. Let them cool completely before popping them out. You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process.

And here's why I love the silicone pans for this project: the crayons are SO easy to pop out!

Aren't they adorable?! I love these little trees! They make me want to break ALL the kids' crayons and make more and more...LOL

This afternoon we're having a *gingerbread house* party and we are putting one of these trees in each goodie bag for the kiddos' guests. Don't worry, we made enough to keep some, too.

Santa's Workshop...aka...My Kitchen

Yesterday was another day spent doing some Christmas baking. This time it was Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread mini loaves. Aren't they cute? And SO delicious!

These are all packaged up for my neighbors.

I love these little labels from Susan Branch. These were a free download a couple of years ago. She does have some new ones this year to download, too, and you can check them out here.

Only 7 more days 'till Christmas! Are you ready?