my blessed life

These weren't on the official menu "plan", but I just couldn't resist making them.  They are SO good!!  And since we aren't having pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving I thought a little something pumpkin would be good to have:) Pumpkin Whoopie Pies   Cream together: 2 cups brown sugar 1 cup vegetable oil   Beat in: 1 cup pumpkin puree 1 tsp. vanilla 2 eggs   Stir the following together, then add to above mixture: 3 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cloves   Drop in heaping spoonfuls (you want them to be even in size) onto baking sheets.  Bake at 350F for 10-12 min or until firm when you touch the top of them.  Cool.   Spread filling on the bottom of one cookie then place another cookie on top of the filling to make a sandwich.   Filling: 2 egg whites 1/2 cup shortening (you could sub butter if you wa...

I'm sure you're busy preparing for the big day tomorrow~I know I'm busy in the kitchen today:) Just thought I'd share our family menu with you.

This is one of my all time favorite salad dressings!!  It's sweet, it's tangy ...it's full of yummy goodness!  I love it especially on holiday salads when they include dried cranberries:)  It keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge, too! Sweet Onion Salad Dressing 1 cup sugar 1-1/2 tsp. dry mustard 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 medium onion, chopped fine 1/2 cup white vinegar 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. celery seeds ***** Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth; refrigerate. ***** Subscribe by email and never miss a thing here at My Blessed Life!

You may remember me mentioning that we had a total of three Thanksgiving dinners this year.  So I took the first one as an opportunity to make a cranberry relish that I've been wanting to try for a while now--usually I can't bring myself to break away from my so-far-all-time-fave on Thanksgiving Day:) I was SO pleased with how this relish turned out!  It was delicious!  And my husband LOVED it!!  I could totally see this on yummy leftover turkey sandwiches, too.   If you're looking for something different to do with cranberries this year, this just might be the thing! Cranberry-Orange Relish 1 bag fresh cranberries 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped 1 lg. fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped 2 naval oranges, peeled and segments cut into pieces 2 Tbsp. lime juice 2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated 1/2 cup sugar 2 celery stalks, chopped ***** Pulse cranberries in a food processor (or blender) until coarsely chopped. Transfer them ...

You may have noticed (or not) that I've been a little sporadic around here lately.  I know I haven't been posting like I usually do.  I guess I've been feeling a tad burned-out and also wanting to focus more on home life. So you may see less of me at least for a while, but I'm still here posting when inspiration hits (and I'm sure it will hit often this time of the year!).  I'll be focusing more on my home and family though.  This time of the year is often more busy than others and I want to be present .  Fully present. And right now I'm busy with Thanksgiving preparations~as I'm sure you are, too!  No travel for us this year, thank goodness, but we do have family coming in from out-of-town to visit and there is a fun weekend in the works. I'm already so looking forward to the yummy food, too!  My mom, sister, and I have been busy planning our menu together.  I can't wait!  Although I feel like I'm getting off easy on dinner preparat...

Hey, fellow mom bloggers! Here's a great free (for right now) eBook  that you can grab on Amazon!  Blog at Home Mom is an awesome book with lots of great advice from  a Christian perspective on 'balancing blogging and motherhood' . You can read my review on this book here . ***** Subscribe by email and never miss a thing here at My Blessed Life!

If you're anything like I am, then you are probably thinking ahead to next week's big holiday meal and determining what you can make beforehand in order to make your job easier on the big day.   Well, here is a great recipe for helping with that!  These are super yummy mashed potatoes--full of flavor!! Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes 5 lbs. potatoes 1-2 tsp. minced garlic 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 stick butter, softened 1 cup sour cream Onion powder, to taste White Pepper, to taste Kosher salt, to taste ***** Boil potatoes with the minced garlic (if you don't have minced garlic, you can add garlic powder later when you add the other seasonings) until ready to mash  (about 8-10 minutes).   Remove from heat; drain well.   Add cream cheese, butter, and sour cream.  Stir to allow these to begin to  melt into the potatoes. Add onion salt to taste (I just sprinkle a nice coating across the top of the potatoes). ...

This is a recipe that has been passed around in my mom's family.  This recipe originally came from one of my aunts, but my grandma, mom and many others have made it.  I've been making it for years and it is DEE-LISH-OUS!! I love that you can prep for it ahead of time (make the cornbread several days ahead, just freeze it ..chop up your veggies ahead ...make my fave homemade cream soup, so much better than canned) and then it can just do its thing in the crock pot while you do other needed things.  Easy peasy!! You can even add boiled chicken or turkey for a total meal package:)   You simply must try it this holiday season--I think you'll love it!!   Crock Pot Cornbread Dressing (Aunt Oma Lee) 8" pan of cornbread (this is my fave recipe) 8 slices of day-old white sandwich bread 4 eggs 1 medium onion, chopped 3 stalks celery, chopped 2 cans cream of chicken soup OR a double recipe of this homemade cream soup 2 cans chicken brot...

Eeeeee .....Thanksgiving is almost here!  And I'm really getting in the holiday mood!! In fact, our first two (of three!) Thanksgiving meals are THIS week!  On Wednesday we celebrate with our small group from church and on Thursday we celebrate with our local homeschool group.  Good thing I love turkey and dressing, right? It's also time to start thinking ahead toward those big dinners and making as much ahead of time as possible.  Last night I whipped up a quadruple batch of homemade cream soup and a couple of pans of cornbread to prepare for my Crockpot Dressing .  And the Butternut Squash Soup I made last Friday because it's better if you let it sit in the fridge for a few days (just add the bacon at the last minute!). ** Here is a link to some great ideas for making dishes (or parts of them) ahead of time ** Here's what's on our dinner menus for this week: Monday:   Butternut Squash Soup (pictured above) and Salad with Sweet Onion Dre...

I am so enjoying fall this year!  It is absolutely gorgeous here in Kentucky!  I'm thankful to live in a place where we have all four seasons.  And fall is my hands-down fave:) Right now our days are filled with cold nights, homeschooling, holiday planning, errand running, playing indoors and outdoors, warm afternoons, comfort foods....  It's a good season! Blessings to you today!

This is a sponsored post Elisha Press, a publisher of  Christian novels  particularly suitable for homeschool families, is launching a new title this week.   Julie: The Redemption Of The Backyard Bully  is an all-new spinoff on  The Reunion   by Rachael McIntire.  Both books are recommended as read-aloud material for the whole family.  Solo readers of  Julie  should be twelve or older.  {You can read my personal review of The Reunion here }. Fans of  The Reunion  may remember Julie Greene, the Gladstones' troublesome neighbor who almost drowned in the creek.  This new novel - longer and illustrated - tells Julie's story before and after that incident, through the now-aging eyes of "Grandma" Greene.  How can a sullen bully learn to be a selfless friend?  How can a jealous young lady learn to be grateful and contented no matter what life brings?  What does it mean to follow Jesus in the pract...

I'm calling this 'Pumpkin Week' because it is during this week of the year that we usually have our annual family 'Pumpkin Night', go trick-or-treating, and have some good fall fun.   We kicked the week of with the "official" Pumpkin Night on Monday.  We ate some of my husband's delicious chili, carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".  My parents and sister came over and we all had a lot of fun!   School this week was all over the place!  Again ... so   thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling!   We had a few interruptions, such as a funeral visitation and service, meetings, a stomach bug, etc...  But we continued on and had a fairly productive week.  And next week is a new week, right?  Thank goodness!   The Princess finished her book for October (she is required to read one mom approved book for a book report each month).  This month she chose ...