my blessed life

I love Easter!  Not only is it in the lovely season of spring, it represents all that makes life worthwhile--HE LIVES and because of that I can live in fullness of life, too.  Not just in Heaven, but even here on earth.  I'm so thankful for that! As long as I can remember Easter has always been a "busy" day for me.  I grew up in a minister's home so my dad was always preaching somewhere on Easter--whether as a guest minister or in the church he pastored for several years.  Then I married and my husband and I have also been in ministry full-time for 14 of the 18 years we've been married--the past 4 years as senior pastors. And the Easter weekend just gets busier.  But it's a good kind of busy.  Like today, we were at our church nearly all day for a fun event we like to call Easter Eggstravaganza.  It's a fun day for our church to simply bless our community with free food, games, petting zoo, some fun giveaways, and an egg hunt for the kidd...

Ah.  Meal planning. My housekeeping salvation. Last week went so smoothly (you know, after two straight weeks of chaos), it was lovely!  Here's hoping for another great week. But first, I have to tell you about Raddish Kids !  I found their booth in the vendor hall at the Teach Them Diligently convention I recently attended.  It is an awesome *cooking club* for parents and kids!  I picked up one of their freebie recipes at the convention and we tried it last week.  We made their Greek Turkey Burgers --only with beef instead of turkey because I didn't look carefully into the freezer before grocery shopping.  Oops.  Oh well, we loved these with beef probably even better than turkey.  And get this: these burgers tasted just like a yummy gyro!  I love those things! Anyway, you can subscribe to these cooking kits and they will arrive at your house every month with three of the recipe guides and all kinds of other cool stuff tha...

Hey there!  Just popping in on the Tasty Tuesday to share a quick and easy version of Shepherd's Pie --and a fantastic way to use up roast beef leftovers!  I started making it in this way when I got tired of using my roast leftovers for beef-veggie soup and wanted to make something different with them.  This has been a hit with the whole family! Step 1: Arrange your (leftover/cooked) roast beef  in the bottom of a deep-dish pie pan. I like to make sure mine is chopped or shredded into bite-sized pieces.   Step 2: Arrange your (leftover/roasted) carrots on top of the beef. I also cut these into smallish pieces. Step 3: Arrange roasted or sauteed onions on top of the carrots. I supposed you could skip this step if you don't like onions,  but I can't even imagine that! (I do keep my onions in large pieces so they can be easily removed from my onion-hating son's plate though). Step 4: Pour over about 1/2 to 3...

At least once a week I try to have a meatless meal for one of our dinners.  Usually this means the traditional pinto beans and cornbread and while that is one that the whole family likes, I sometimes just get tired of it.  I admit that I'm not a fan of eating the same things all the time.  I like variety!  That doesn't always fly with my family ...but I try anyway. So recently I tried a new meatless meal and absolutely loved it!  As for the family: Vince liked it as well (although I think he would have like a big chicken breast on the side), The Princess like the beans but not the corn cakes, and Mr. B liked the corn cakes but not the beans.  {sigh} But because I can't let my picky kiddos rule the world, I have to share it with you :)  It was yummy, healthy (well, maybe not the corn cakes), and super fast and easy to prepare! Cuban Black Beans 2 tsp. olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed 1 c...

Welcome back to Tasty Tuesday!!   Recently, as in: the-month-of-August-which-has-been-one-of-the-busiest-months-of-my-life-ever , I decided it was time to can some tomatoes.  And after hearing of a great local place to buy some, proceeded to purchase a ridiculous amount of those lovely home-grown beauties.   So....canning tomatoes has been happening at my house.  Yes, it has.   And I used this easy-peasy method.    However, after canning lots of tomatoes in this way I decided it was time to branch out.  I just wanted to try something that was different--and maybe something a little less time consuming. So when a friend shared this super easy and oh-so-delicious recipe with me, I had to try it.   I was NOT disappointed!   Roasted Marinara Sauce (from my friend Beverly Wilson) 1. Quarter (or smaller) the tomatoes and place them  cut-side-down on a baking sheet with edges. 2.  ...

I have aspirations of having a freezer full of yummy food to pull out at random for my family's eating pleasure.  I have yet to make this happen .  However, occasionally I do whip up an extra casserole or something to pop in the freezer so that it isn't completely bare in there. This past week I decided that having something easy for breakfast would be nice to have around.  Something besides Eggos, you know.   So I thought why not make up a batch of muffin-sized quiches and freeze those!  I have a great Quick Quiche recipe that works great (no crust needed!) and it turned out well in muffin form.  I also used my handy silicone muffin cups which made the whole process unbelievably easy.  I highly recommend these!  My mom gave me this set so I'm not exactly sure where they came from, but I know you can find them online. Just one batch of the following recipe made 15 of these muffins!   Quick Quiche 3 eggs 1/2 cup Bi...

And it's Tasty Tuesday again!!  Yea!! We celebrated my awesome hubby's birthday yesterday.  We were snowed/iced in (still are!), but we had CAKE !  That's all that matters, right? :) Black Forest Cake is his fave and this is a recipe that I've made often for his birthdays in the past.  It had been a while though and I decided we needed to have it again this year. It's SO good!!  Traditional Black Forest Cake is actually a little heavy for me, but this one is light and delicious! Black Forest Cake (cake) 6 eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I like the Hershey's Special Dark) 1/2 cup butter, melted (filling & topping) 2-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream 2 tbsp. powdered sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1 can cherry pie filling grated chocolate chocolate curls ***** Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease and flour three 8" round cake pans.   Whisk the egg...

Welcome back to Tasty Tuesdays!   This past weekend I made our favorite sloppy joe recipe.  It had been a while and I'd forgotten just how yummy it is!  So much better than the canned stuff!  Plus you can let your slow cooker do most of the work for you.  Enjoy! Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes 1 lb. lean ground beef 2 tbsp. minced dried onion 2 tbsp. real bacon bits 1 tsp. mustard 3/4 cup ketchup 1 tbsp. brown sugar ***** In a medium skillet, over medium heat, brown the ground beef and onion together; drain. Place meat mixture in a slow cooker and stir in the remaining ingredients.   Cook on low for 2-3 hours.  Serve with hamburger buns or hot dog buns. Makes 4-5 single servings.

Hey, it's Tasty Tuesday again!!  Yea!!  This one is brought to you by my daughter... This past week The Princess decided she'd like to make dinner for us one night.  After flipping through some vintage 70's children's cookbooks (that I've passed along to her) she found this one that seemed to suit the cold weather we've been having just fine.  She did a great job making it~I'm so glad she enjoys cooking!  And it was super yummy! Easy Chili 1 lb. ground beef 1 cup chopped onion 2 (15-1/2 oz.) cans kidney beans 1 can chopped tomatoes 1 can tomato sauce 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. salt  Dash of pepper ***** Brown the ground beef and onion in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat until beef is browned; drain the meat and put back into pan. Add beans, tomatoes, sauce, water, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. **Mr. B freaks out over onions  ...so I told The Princess to...

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...

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...

Yesterday was our annual family Pumpkin Day.  No, it's not on the calendars, but it's a fun family tradition for us.   We usually have some chili to eat, something pumpkin-y for dessert, carve our pumpkins, roast the seeds, and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".  It's so much fun!   Last night our yummy pumpkin-y dessert was a Pumpkin Roll .....mmmmmm You should really make one today! Pumpkin Roll 3 eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup canned pumpkin 1 tsp. lemon juice 3/4 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg ***** Beat eggs in mixer at highest speed for 5 minutes.   Gradually beat in the sugar.   Next, stir in the pumpkin and lemon juice.   Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon,  ginger, and nutmeg and fold into the pumpkin mixture.   Spread in a waxed-paper-lined 11x15 jelly roll pan. ...

It's Tasty Tuesdays again!  Welcome! This past weekend a friend generously shared a bag of pears with me.  I knew that I needed to do something creative with them because there would not be time to simply eat them one at a time without them ruining.  And that would be a shame. Then I thought of pear butter. I'm definitely not an experienced canner, only having done it very few times and certainly never with pears.  But I thought I would give it a try, especially after finding a very simple looking crock pot recipe.   And here are the yummy results: Pear Butter Enough pears to yield 8 cups, peeled and cored 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. nutmeg ***** After peeling, coring, and chopping your pears, place them all in a crock pot.  Add the lemon juice, granulated sugar, brown sugar,  cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir mixture well. Cook on High fo...