Here's what my kids had today for breakfast. They have asked for it again soon! I view that as a supreme success. Ben actually created this about a year after we were married. We used to make the meals together and Ben loved to experiment with foods where you could do no wrong. (Like eggs, biscuits, etc.) Why do I keep sharing these things with you? I have no idea, really, but some part of me thinks you might be interested in what has worked in my home. Could I be more goofy in my thinking?...hmmm...don't answer and just see what I made this morning. :)

Start with eggs, can biscuits, Pam (not shown, though did I really need to tell you that?), muffin tin.
Open up the biscuits and flatten them out. Could this picture be any darker?

Turn the muffin tin upside down and spray liberally with the Pam. Then place the flattened biscuits over the bottoms. They will want to snap back, but you just keep working with them and eventually they mind you! (unlike my children lately!)

Bake them as the directions on the can explain. They come out looking like little, shallow, cups.

This is where the eggs come in. Scramble them up and place them in the bowl! Voila! A one dish meal! You could add sausage, cheese, salsa, etc and make it a bit more "gourmet". They enjoyed it so much that when my parents came over this evening, they went on and on telling them about it.

Anyway, just in case you were interested in our food habits!

They Paid Me to Take it Out of the Store!

So on Sunday afternoon, I am flipping through the sale papers for the week. I get the the Walgreens paper and, WHAM!, on the front page I see they have most Garnier Fructis products on sale for 99 cents a piece! That in and of itself is an amazing deal, but I went several steps further up the "good deal" ladder. I had been cutting the GF coupons for a while and this was the week it was all going to pay off! I had $1.00 off coupons for 1 item---31 of them! So Ben took me to Walgreens and I loaded the cart up with GF products! He was a bit embarrassed and not really sure that it was going to work, but it did! We got up to the counter, rang out, got the Walgreens original deal (99 cents) and then used the 31 coupons. Total? They owed me 31 cents! They actually owed me one penny for each item! How's that for good dealin'? The picture above is one of what we actually bought. My receipt says: Savings...$135.68!

If You Start the Class, They Will Come

After desperately missing teaching in the young marrieds SS class in Little Rock (we miss all of you so much!), Ben and I (mostly Ben) started a new SS class here for marriage and parenting! Our church had a shameful lack of classes during the second hour of church, so Ben created this one. It was awesome to see him planning, meeting with others for prayer, preparing, etc...

We had no clue as to how many people would come so I baked/cooked several things and Ben ran off agendas, we set up tables and chairs, and then waited.

Remember the line: "If you build it, they will come"? Well, this was "If you start that class, they will come"! It was incredible! There were 40 people there! That's right, I said 40! We know of at least two couples who couldn't be there today and will be there next week. There was even one couple who told the preschool director that they need to be moved to teaching a different hour so that they can attend the class!

God is so faithful, generous, and certainly provided beyond what we could imagine or dream! Praise God!

One Proud Mama

When our kids turn 10, they have two new jobs added to their list of "things to do around here". One is to do their own laundry. The other is to fix a meal for the family once a week. They have to find a recipe, get the list of ingredients to me, and then prepare it. Darby turned 10 last year, but with the move and the chaos, we haven't really begun the meal chore, but tonight changed all that! (Though I must say that move and chaos or not, I have made her do her own laundry. What a blessing!) Darby found a recipe for roasted chicken and she made it with a bit of supervision from me. I must say it turned out completely yummy, delicious, and tender! The whole family loved it. She paired it with rice and peas, and voila!, the meal was complete!

There were two chickens, one stuffed under the skin with rosemary, and the other with lemon. The rosemary one was subtle and most of the family liked that one best. I liked the rosemary, but I think I preferred the zing of the lemon chicken. There was a definite tang to it! She rubbed it with just the right amount of salt.
Complete meal: chicken, rice, peas, and Rawley ready and waiting for it all!

Darby, I am so proud of you! I can't wait to see what you pick and prepare for next week!

Eggs with a Bonnet

My clan really likes the meals where I do something different and a bit goofy. So, in the vain of "different" and "goofy", I introduce you to what we call Eggs with a Bonnet.You need: bread, eggs, butter, and a cookie cutter.

Butter both sides of the bread and use the cookie cutter to cut out the center of the bread.
Separate the cut out from the rest of the bread.
Place both pieces of bread on a griddle.
Break an egg into the cut out of the bread.
Cook on one side and then flip over to cook on the other side. Make sure you are toasting the inside pieces at the same time.
Put on plate with the part that was cut out on the top of the egg like a "bonnet".

This Made Me Laugh

Ben and I like to sit outside and share a cup of coffee..ok, really we are not sharing a cup of coffee, I drink either hot tea or hot chocolate and Ben has his very own cup of coffee! So we looked at the weather and determined that it was just nice enough to sit out and have our daily date.

We make our respective drinks and go out. I am comfortable, but Ben decides that he is cold, so he steps back in to get something to keep him warmer. This is what I got to sit and look at and speak to this morning...kept me smiling the whole time. Don't know why it made me laugh, but it did and I thought I would share it on this New Year's Day 2009!

This is one of those "As Seen on Tv" snugglie! Ben has it on backwards (opening in the front instead of the back as in a hospital gown), but I must say, it works just like on TV!
Hope this makes you smile a bit too!