MIP Beginning Thoughts

George and I had our first MIP (Ministerial Internship Program) event… or orientation, this weekend. MIP for those that do not know, is the second step in the liscensing procedure with our denomination. It is a nine-month course with daily lessons and monthly seminars and tests that better equips you to be a pastor. It is a process that both George and I have to participate in, pass and graduate from in May.

I am going into this new step with lots of great hopes. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it will be rough at times. But I also know that George and I will be better leaders and people after this… equipped to do what God has called us to do. George is an amazing man before going into this so I only know that it will strengthen him and prepare him for the journey that lies ahead.

I am blessed to have such an unbelievable husband and for him to want to take the steps forward in what God has in store for us makes me adore him even more. I know that we will grow stronger because of what the next nine months holds in store for us and that what we go through each day will develop our ministry and make us a better couple to go and reach the lost.

I am both excited and optimistic for what God has in our future and I know that as long as we stay in His word and in prayer we can do anything and everything that He requires of us!!  

He never said it would be easy… but he also never puts more on us than we can bear….

Cheese Sauce

I am always making mac and cheese… normally not the boxed kind and I am always looking for new “mac and cheese” recipes. I usually just add different kinds of cheese and such but decided to attempt making a “rue” last night. I must say, it didn’t turn out too bad… and it can be adapted to use whatever cheese you like…. or mix two or three.

Ingredients

2 cups Milk

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

2 cups Cheese (whatever you prefer… or a mixture)

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Start Preparing

1. In small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch; Set aside.
2. In saucepan, stir 1 1/2 cups milk and cheese together on low until melted. Pour the milk-cornstarch mixture in and whisk for 1 minute. Add Garlic Powder.
3. Mix in whatever pasta you prefer and enjoy.

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Balloon Buns

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com… my favorite recipe site and HAD to try them. They look way better on the allrecipes site but they tasted delicious. Even though mine looked funny, I will still keep these on the list for “easy things to make with the kiddos”.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 10-count Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits

10 Large Marshmellows

1/4 cup Butter, melted

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together sugar and cinnamon until well combined.
3. Flatten biscuits. Roll 1 marshmellow at a time in butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture; Place on the flattened biscuit and bring sides of biscuit up to cover marshmellow. Place in muffin tin, seam side down. Repeat until biscuits are gone.
4. Brush remaining butter ontop of each biscuit and then sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes; or until tops are golden brown.

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(I did read that if you use larger biscuits than they may not explode, like mine did. Whichever though, they taste delicious and even though they look funny… they are different… and different is good!)

Mom Mom

“Mom Mom” or “Mommm”, thats what my little sassy 1-year old yells all day long. And then there is her seeing the first sunlight of the morning while she is eating her cheerios and her closing her eyes and swaying back and forth… if she was of darker skin complexion she would have looked just like Stevie Ray. Then there is the laundry doors swinging open and then the opening of the dryer… and one little 3-year old huffing with cheeks like a chipmunk as he storms back to his room and then back to me proclaiming “MOM!! I have no pants clean!!” This is what I look forward to, moments like these, that make me blessed to be a stay at home mom!!

What if I was still working… 40-42 hours a week… away from my kids, away from moments like these? Some moms would never imagine, or want, to be a stay at home mom… I, on the otherhand, ALWAYS wanted to be a stay at home mom. I wanted to be the one raising my kids, I wanted to be the one feeding them all their meals, changing all their diapers, hearing all their babbleing and laughing…. and I AM! NOW!

The past 6-8 weeks or so that I have been a stay at home mom have been AMAZING! Yes, I did have the idea that my house would constantly stay clean and all the clothes would always be washed and folded… but there not… and that is OKAY! Do you have memories of housework years down the line or memories of a funny saying your son just said or how your daughter just climbed up on a chair… by herself?

I am truly blessed to be a stay at home mom. And yes, we may not have as much money as when I was working or do all the things we did when we had 2 working parents but thats OKAY! God is providing for us and being able to be with my children everyday is all that this mother needs!!

Chicken and Dumplings

I don’t know about you but I grew up on home-made chicken and dumplings. It is one of my families favorites, including my little girl’s… who just tried it for the first time tonight and coudn’t get enough of it! So…. here is my families recipe. I have seen and been given numerous other chicken and dumpling recipes but can’t even bring myself to cook them because I am use to this one… and after all, why mess up a good thing?

Ingredients

2 cups Cooked Chicken, cut or broken into bite-sized pieces

1 cup Celery, diced

1 cup carrots, diced (if desired)

1 medium Onion, diced

3 cans Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cans Chicken Broth

4-6 cups Water

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Start Preparing

1. In large pot bring chicken soup and water to a boil. Add celery, onions, salt, pepper and carrots and allow to cook for 20 minutes; Add cooked chicken.
2. Return to a boil and tear each biscuit into fourths and gently drop into pot. Continue this until all biscuits are in water and stir. Simmer for 5 minutes.

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Another good idea for this recipe, add a teaspoon or two of garlic powder for added taste.

This is also the base to my chicken noodle soup. Just omit the biscuits and add noodles and boil for 9 minutes or so.

Peach Dessert

I decided to make-up a new dessert recipe tonight. I needed to use the 4 remaining peaches I had and remembered that I had vanilla cupcakes that I had put in my freezer from my daughter’s birthday party. The cupcakes were not iced of course, just some that I had baked a few minutes too long. The middle and tops of the cupcakes were still in good condition, however, the bottoms got a little too brown to my liking so I just threw them into a zip-loc bag and stashed them in the freezer for my next “experiment”. So… the recipe below is a creative combination of a few too many peaches and some leftover cupcakes.

I had about 24 cupcakes (that I of course, thawed) which would be equal to 1-13×9 sheet cake in this recipe.

Ingredients

1 13×9 vanilla sheet cake, boxed

8-oz package Cream Cheese, softened

3 Tbsp Sugar

4 peaches, peeled, cored and sliced very thinly

1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Cornstarch

3 Tbsp cold water

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, pulse cake until fine. Pour into a bowl and, using your hands, blend in cream cheese and 1 Tbsp sugar until dough-like.
3. Drop about 1 tsp of the dough into mini-muffin tins and press until covers bottom.
4. In a saucepan, stir together peach slices, 2 Tbsp sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice and vanilla; Bring to a boil. 
5. In a small dish, whisk together cornstarch and water until smooth. Pour into peach mixture; Boil for 1 minute. Spoon on top of crust in tins.
6. Bake for 12 minutes.

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And don’t forget…. NEVER throw out those barely burnt on the bottom cupcakes!!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

With this being peach season… what better way to eat these already delicious fruit than in a cobbler!

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

6 cups peaches, peeled, cored and sliced

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

2 cups + 1/2 Tbsp Flour

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Dash of Salt

1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 Stick Butter, cubed

1 cup Milk

1 Egg

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 3/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and 1/2 Tbsp flour. Stir until syrup covers all of the peaches.
3. Pour into a 13×9 baking dish. Place in preheated oven while preparing topping.
4. In bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Cut in butter. Gradually add milk and egg until mixture is well combined and doughy.
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto peaches.
6. If desired, sprinkle top with cinnoman and sugar mixture.
7. Bake for 35 minutes.

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Easy Stromboli

We do homemade pizzas very often in my house and since I always have all the ingredients on hand, I decided to make a stromboli instead this time. I have to say, it turned out good!

Ingredients

1 Refridgerated Pizza Crust

7 oz Ricotta Cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Pepperoni’s (or more if desired)

1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (or if you have any leftover from another meal use it. Meatless or with meat in it is fine)

1 cup Cheese

Garlic powder, to taste

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In bowl, combine ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese; set aside.
3. Grease a baking sheet and lay rolled-out pizza dough on it.
4. Sprinkle with garlic powder if desired.
5. In the top half of the dough, layer pepperoni’s on first, followed by pasta sauce, 1/2 cup cheese, ricotta mixture and other 1/2 cup of cheese.
6.  Gently fold pizza dough over ingredients until they are well covered. Use a fork to pierce edges so that ingredients to not cook out.
7. With knife, gently poke 4-6 holes in top of dough.
8. Brush melted butter over crust. Sprinkle with more garlic powder, if desired.
9. Bake for 30-35 minuted or until top is golden brown.

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Brookies

So, I originally saw this idea on Bakerella.com. She just calls them pillow cookies but with the help from my creative husband, we thought of this cool name. Brookies are very simple but pretty delicious.

Ingredients

1 box Brownie Mix+ ingredients needed

4 pouches Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip mix + Ingredients needed

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the brownie mix as directed on the box and bake; Set aside.
3. Prepare the cookie mix as directed but do not bake.
4. Cut brownies into half an inch cubes.
5. Put a dollop (about 1 Tbsp) of cookie dough batter in the palm of your hand and then press the brownie cube in the middle. Put a little bit of cookie dough on top of the brownie and form the cookie dough over the cube so that all of the brownie is covered.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes.

(This recipe will make about 30 large cookies…. if wanting to only make a few then use 1-2 pouches of cookie mix and enjoy the remaining brownies by themselves!)

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Spinach and Cheese Quiche

I decided to make quiche for dinner. I usually do my quiches with bacon but decided to have a meat-free dinner. I actually think it turned out better without the bacon! Will be holding on to this recipe…

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

6-8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 cup swiss cheese

dash of salt and pepper

5 eggs

1 cup heavy whipping cream (or milk can be used instead)

1/2 cup cheese (mix of cheddar and swiss)

Start Preparing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt butter in pan and add onions and saute about 5 minutes or until tender.
3. In a bowl, combine cooked onions, spinach, cheddar and swiss cheese and salt and pepper; Mix well and spoon into crust.
4. In another bowl, whisk eggs with whipping cream until combined; Pour over spinach mixture in crust.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven.
6. Remove and top with 1/2 cup cheddar and swiss cheese.
7. Bake for 30 more minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

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