Monthly Archives: March 2013

Mar29

He is Risen!

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You either believe or you don’t. If you don’t . . . why?  What do you have to lose?   What “IF” your life changes?  What “IF”? Why not take a leap of faith?  Nineteen years ago on Easter Sunday I asked myself those same questions. Why not? So I did . . . I asked Jesus to take over my life and my heart. I have not been the same person since.  Kinda the same but different . . . better, more at peace, happier.  Struggles are a little easier when you are NOT the one carrying the weight, give it to HIM.

Soooo, what “IF” . . . just do it! No one is perfect – NO ONE and giving your life over to Christ won’t make you perfect, but it will change you. It just will . . .

EasterSlider
The artwork is from our program for this weekend at church. If you are local, try coming to one of our services – see what you think . . check out the service times online or watch live online . . . crossroadsabc.com

Happy Easter!!

Mar28

Astronaut Cookies

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For the last 3 years I’ve made “take-away” cookies for the party guests at Owen’s birthday parties.  This year was the “Planet” theme so I had seen rocket ships & astronauts on Pinterest. I loved the idea of using a gingerbread man cookie cutter and since I had one of those and not a rocket ship cutter, it was a no brainer.  I always use the sugar cookie recipe below from Sandra Lee. They are easy to make and are not super sweet. One tip . . . when I roll out the cookies I use a mixture of flour & powdered sugar on the counter – adds just a bit of sweet to them. Once I had all the bodies done I let them set up overnight (uncovered – they won’t get stale). Next I painted on the silver flake and then piped the lines – my icing was a tad bit runny.  I used a #4 tip to do the bodies and a #1 to pipe.

Cookies

17.5 oz. Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teas. vanilla
1 c. all-purpose flour
(variation: may add 1/4 c. cocoa & 3/4 c. flour)

Combine cookie mix w/cream cheese until crumbly. Mix in the eggs & vanilla until well combined. Add flour to make a firm dough. Refrigerate for 15 min.  Lightly flour/powder sugar board and roll out dough to 1/4 in. Bake cookies for 8 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Royal Icing

5 Tablespoons Meringue Powder (purchase at Joanne’s/Michaels/Hobby Lobby)
3 Cups Confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla – add after water
 

Mix meringue and sugar together. Start adding water a little bit at a time. Once the dry ingredients are wet, add the vanilla. The key is getting the icing to the right consistency (still don’t have it quite perfect). There’s a fine line between thin enough to pipe and too thick to pipe. I’m usually a tad bit thin.

Mar26

Muffin Man Turns 5!

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During our snow storm this weekend, we celebrated Owen’s 5th Birthday.  I can’t believe it – he’ll start kindergarten this year. Time really does fly by!! I made his birthday cookies again.  This year’s party was about the planets and his invitations came with his picture as an astronaut.  So I used a gingerbread man cookie cutter for astronaut cookies . . . oh please . . . no, I did not come up with that . . . found it on . . . . yes, Pinterest.  Jason & Tara hired a face painter who was also a balloon artist. She did a great job and the kids had a ton of fun! Oh and his face paint is NOT a pirate . . . let’s be clear (he corrected all of us) he is a Samurai Ninja Warrior! LOL

Mar25

Movie Review . . .

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ozBusy weekend. Started off with going to the movies Friday night.  “OZ” was better than I expected. The vibrancy of all the scenes in this film are worth watching on the big screen. What a great imagination.  There were obviously no surprises as far as the storyline goes, but I was impressed on how they did the “back story” to the “Wizard of OZ” that we all know and love.  This movie kept you interested the entire time. The story of the wizard “OZ” and his path to the Emerald City was really quite good.  Surely there is a sequel in the future! Good movie – would give it an “A”.

Mar20

Strawberry Carrots??

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StrawberriesYes, Pinterest has struck again. Seriously I don’t know what I ever did before Pinterest!!  I thought these were so adorable and I had company for dinner last night so I thought I’d whip them up.  I just happened to have some orange “Wilton Candy Melts” (purchase at Michaels or Joanne’s) so I picked up some strawberries at the grocery store.  I like to use the stove-top for the melting process.  I use a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.

Just add 1 cup of candy melts to glass bowl, bring pot to a boil then turn down to medium.  Once they get fairly melted, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (1 TBLS of oil to every cup of candy melts).  This will keep the candy silky and shiny. When completed melted remove from heat.  I inserted a skewer into the green top, easier to hold.  Then you can dip & roll the strawberries or use a spoon and pour over them.  Let them cool on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Once cooled you can drizzle extra over the tops – pretty cute. There suppose to look like carrots – think I will do these again for Easter.

One cup of candy melts w/oil will cover about 12 strawberries.

Mar18

Lemon Caper Tuna & Noodles with Alfredo

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tunaI found this recipe this weekend (not on Pinterest) and just happened to have all the ingredients. I was thinking “ohhhhh tuna casserole, hmmm”.  Well I was pleasantly surprised. Adding the fresh lemon and capers to the Alfredo sauce was really good and changed the whole flavor of the Alfredo. This isn’t a great picture but I had some fresh mushrooms so I sautéed them and added them at the end. YUM!!!! Maybe next time I’ll add some broccoli or fresh asparagus.  Here’s the recipe & link – I actually halved this recipe.   http://alturl.com/eddxs

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces extra-wide egg noodles (I used linguine)
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 15 ounce jar light garlic Alfredo sauce (I used Bertolli)
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained (or more, love capers)
  • 1 12 ounce can solid white albacore tuna, drained
  • Cracked black pepper and/or chives (optional) (or pine nuts!)

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Cover and keep warm. Finely shred lemon peel and squeeze juice from lemon; set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan combine Alfredo sauce, lemon juice, and capers. Heat through.

3. Add tuna and noodles to sauce; stir gently to combine. Return to heat just until heated through. Top with lemon peel and, if desired, black pepper and/or chives.

Mar14

Room Re-Do . . .

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Room TrinketsWell I’m a bit closer to starting my room re-do.  I have collected some new trinkets and picked my color scheme.  I decided to go a little more feminine in my “Country Chic Room” . . . my bedroom furniture is pine and the new color scheme is white & gray with silver & a bit of pink accents. The 2 paint chips in the pic above are my colors “Cathedral Gray” & “Pewter Ring”.  Pewter Ring is the darker of the two and I’m considering doing an accent wall with it & using it to paint the inside of my closets . . . hmmmm.  The colors are Behr paint and Behr is always my 1st choice in paint.  Our weather is crazy gorgeous right now soooooo maybe I’ll paint this weekend.  Just don’t hold me to it . . . if I actually go buy the paint that will be one step closer!!!

Mar13

Good Read . . .

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black heelsI’ve been following Ree Drummond now for about a year  (not literally – LOL).  She is better known as “The Pioneer Woman”.  She has a blog and a cooking show on the Food Network (called the same).  She lives on a ranch in Northwest Oklahoma and is just a hoot.  I have one of her cookbooks and recently found out that she wrote this book “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels” so I downloaded it onto my Ipad.  Haven’t finished it yet but am enjoying every chapter.   If you’re looking for a fun, easy, no-brainer read . .  Ree is hilarious and begins the book about how she met her “Marlboro Man”.  She brings a great sense of humor to her stories and life experiences. Love her! Great book!