More Than A Song

I’m not planning a lot this week because of Thanksgiving and family coming in and getting together. We will eat out several times!
Be sure to visit Laura for more great menus. Hope everyone has a good week.

Sunday……..Baked chicken and potatoes, butternut squash
Monday…….Fish, veggies
Tuesday & Wednesday…..eat out with family
Thursday…..Thanksgiving with family: turkey & ham, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean bundles, corn, fruit, fiesta cranberry salsa, sourdough bread, desserts
Friday……..grilling burgers
Saturday…..eat out with family

update: I’ll try to post the cranberry salsa recipe later today or tomorrow.

I finished another of my books a while back but the one I started after it has taken me quite some time to plow through. So I’ll start with that difficult one, Hanna’s Daughters. This story of 3 generations of Scandinavian women covers about 100 years of time. The grandmother is Hanna, who is raped and becomes pregnant by a cousin at age 12. She later marries and has a daughter, Johanna. All of their stories are told by the granddaughter Anna who is searching to understand her mother and grandmother. The book was written in Sweden and translated into English. It started very slowly and seemed to not be written well at times but I think it was because of the translation from one language to another. The characters were sometimes hard to keep up with because several of them had the same names and it jumped back and forth between the past and present too much for me. For the first 50 or so pages of this book I struggled and tried to decide whether to finish it or not. I usually feel compelled to keep reading hoping that it gets better or that something will happen, which most of the time doesn’t. But I did keep on with it until I finished, and was struck by a few lines at the very end of the book. Anna was wondering why she and her mother had never talked about books, a common interest they had. She first thought it was because her mother didn’t dare talk to her but then she decided it was because she had never listened to her mother. She said, “I wasn’t interested in you as a person, only as my mother. Not until you fell ill, disappeared and it was too late, had all the questions come.” That seems so sad to me but I think so true many times with mothers & daughters. Sometimes you may not appreciate them until it is too late.
I read also that this is a book that benefits from a second reading and while that may be true, it’s highly unlikely I’ll read it again.
The Amber Photograph is another one from my list. Diedre McAlister had come home to North Carolina to help care for her dying mother. She gives her daughter a birthday gift right before her death, an old photograph. In her note she tells Diedre to find herself, find the truth but not to expect it to be what she thought. She realizes the girl in the picture must be her sister that she thought had been long dead. She sets off on an emotional cross country trip to try to find out about her past and answers to who her real father is.
I enjoyed this book and it was a fairly easy read; not too hard to figure out what would happen but I think the characters were appealing enough for me to see it through to the end.

Fall Reading Challenge updates: #3, #2 and #1. And my list is here.

I’ve had a few people ask me some questions about the steel cut oats so I thought I’d find a little info for you. Steel cut oats are whole grain oats and are supposed to be better for you than regular oats. Sometimes they are called Irish or Scottish oats too I believe. Bob’s Red Mill is one brand, McCann’s is another…….I even found that Quaker makes steel cut oats but I have never found that particular one in my store. Lots of grocery stores carry them, I usually buy them at Kroger. If you’re interested you can read a little bit about them here. I made steel cut oats this week and we have enjoyed them several mornings. The recipe is in the slow cooking Thursday post below this one.
Now of course I have that song in my head! Mares eat oats and doe’s eat oats and little lambs eat ivy, a kid’ll eat ivy too!
For all you out there that know this one (I sung it with my kids), I think this is the way it is really supposed to go:
“Maresy Dotes and Doesey Dotes
And little lamsie divey,
A kiddley divey, too,
Wouldn’t you!”
Now maybe I can transfer it out of my head to yours!

I’m enjoying seeing lots of different recipes each week to use in the slow cooker. Be sure to visit Sandra for more great recipes and ideas. Thanks for hosting us each week!

Crockpot Oatmeal

1 c. steel cut oats
1 c. dried cranberries
1 c. dried figs
4 cups water
1/2 cup half and half

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and set to low heat. Cover and let cook for about 8 hours or overnight. Stir and remove to serving bowls.

I’ve made this a couple of times and put my slow cooker on the lowest setting and let it go overnight for about 8 hours. I did halve the recipe one time but didn’t think to do that this week when I made it so I refrigerated what was left and we put it in the microwave to reheat on other mornings. This week I also did not use a whole cup of figs because I was almost out and I subbed raisins this time for the cranberries. I think you could easily use different dried fruits and I’ll try some others next time. Steel cut oats are very good for you and you should give them a try if you haven’t tasted them before!

Brown Red, and the Skies are Gray”…….

The sky is somewhat gray today but for the last few days I’ve been noticing that one crape myrtle tree had the brightest red leaves on it. It looked like the tree was glowing to me when the sun would shine on it. So I tried taking a few pictures of it and it just didn’t turn out the same as what I was looking at. Still a very pretty red but not the way I was seeing it……until I realized yesterday that it could have been my sunglasses! They seem to be somewhat tinted and for some reason everything looks so much brighter through them. Sort of like that saying I guess, looking through rose colored glasses. I need to be that way more, looking at the positive, looking on the bright side of things. Seeing things as God sees them I guess. And I liked this verse that I read:
“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” Prov. 15:30
We will get more rain here so the leaves might not stay on the tree much longer but here are my red leaves that I’ve been enjoying lately……..I wish you could see them through my glasses!

I think this helps me to have a plan for the week…..helps with the shopping and I don’t have to try to come up with something for dinner every afternoon! Be sure to visit Laura for more menus, or to play along yourself!

Monday……….Baked salmon, veggies
Tuesday………Chicken & pasta
Wednesday….church supper
Thursday…….Nacho grande casserole, salad (new recipe I found & can’t remember where, so if it’s yours please let me know!)
Friday………..soup & sandwiches

weekends are too unpredictable so this week I’m leaving that open for now
Have a great week!
update: I think I figured out where I had found the Nacho grande casserole, so if you’re interested check here.

This past weekend we were out and about. Went to Jackson to see some family and so hubby and bro- in-law could play golf. Which they always enjoy but they are so ready to be better at it! And E and her boyfriend came for dinner on Friday in Jackson also. We had pizza and I’ve discovered that if you offer food, they will usually come visit. On Saturday D & I and sis and her hubby all drove to see my Dad and another sister for the day. We ate out, visited and looked at some old pictures. I’ve been in the picture mode recently for something I’m working on so I wanted to see some of us girls growing up……a few of them were quite funny! Hubby & I drove home late Saturday night after a long day. Church this morning and then we had a big church group go to the movie “One Night with the King”. That’s a good movie and if you haven’t seen it I would recommend it. We spent some time at church studying it a while back but I think I need to go back and read it again this week!

So…..”I can’t wait to get on the road again”….. not really but just had to get another line in somewhere!

Crockpot Red Beans and Rice
1 lb. dried red beans
7 cups water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 lb. sliced andouille sausage
3 T. creole seasoning
Hot cooked rice
Garnish: sliced green onions

Place all ingredients in slow cooker except for rice. Cook, covered, on high for 7 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with hot cooked rice and garnish if desired.

This one is in my to-try pile. I would probably substitute a smoked sausage, like Healthy Choice, for the andouille but that is just me and the way I cook for our family. It looks pretty easy and if anyone has tried it before, let me know how it is! It might be a good one for me to try during the holidays when I have more family in.

Thirteen Games We Like in our Family

1. Trivial Pursuit
2. Pictionary
3. Scene It
4. Scrabble
5. Uno
6. Liverpool….a card game the kids taught us this summer
7. Guess Who…..one the kids loved when they were small
8. Balderdash
9. Mexican Train Dominoes
10. Scattegories
11. Boggle…..we don’t play much now because of un-named people that make words up!
12. Taboo
13. Mad Gab

Auf Wiedersehen, good night.

I was in the store last week to get just one little thing and happened to see that the bags of candy corn were on sale; only 60 cents and I thought I could use a bag for a recipe I found for a snack mix. I figured it would be a good thing to throw together for the Thanksgiving holidays. Only one bag is no problem, I’m not really tempted to open it because I only have one you see. But when I grocery shopped this week, the bags that were left were now like 30 cents! So for only 30 cents I should surely buy a few more because we might want a big batch of snack mix. But that was a bad idea because then I reasoned that I could open one and eat on it…..which I did but it was making me feel sick. Too much sugar and I knew I would keep eating on it. It needed to GO. So last night I threw the open bag in the garbage, while I wasn’t feeling so good, so that I wouldn’t have any to eat this afternoon! I’m good now but I’ll probably want something to eat this afternoon or tonight but I’m not going to open another bag. Maybe I should throw the other unopened bags away so I won’t be tempted.
But now I’ve told you…..so please, someone help keep me accountable. Come on Stacy, keep at me and tell me not to open any more of it!

I spent a lot of time last week on some sewing projects. One of my kids asked me to make some baby things that they could give as gifts to friends that were having babies. So I’ve gotten them all finished, boxed up and mailed off to said child who has received them in the mail. I think they like them! I was happy with the way they turned out; it’s fun making these burp cloths. Hopefully it’s something that is useful as well.
I’ll put the pics on the extended page in case you want to take a look:
Read the rest of this entry »

Sandra has invited us to share our traditions for the holidays. I missed doing this the first time around but she has graciously redone her post so more of us can share in this.
I love Christmas and we have done several things over the years with our children to try to make it meaningful for them, so they would understand what Christmas is all about. From the time they were babies we used an Advent wreath for family devotions during December. We sang carols or hymns lots of times also but their favorite part was always lighting the candles.

My mother in law gave us a Fontanini nativity set when I first started having children and she added pieces to it each year until we had quite a nice set. The pieces are nonbreakable and we have loved having them over the years. The kids can pick them up and play with them but what they really liked to do was to set up the nativity in their own way. Then another person would come along and set the pieces up like they wanted and that little game would go on constantly during the month. Each child had their own way for how it should be set up.

We tried to put our Christmas tree up during the first week of December so that we could enjoy it all month; now I like to do it during Thanksgiving weekend if some of them are home to help decorate it. We have a candlelight service on Christmas Eve that we attend and then try to have a fun meal planned for dinner afterwards. I liked for them to go to bed early when they were young but they were always so excited, it was hard for them to get to sleep early! And my kids are the kind that think you are supposed to wake up at 4 or 5 on Christmas morning to start opening gifts! They were supposed to wake us up before they can open anything, which they usually did. Everyone would look at their stockings first and see what Santa had brought them before any gifts were opened. Santa gifts at our house were not usually wrapped. There is one thing I started when the kids were young that we have done consistently every year. With 4 young, excited kids on Christmas morning all unwrapping gifts at the same & tags being ripped off, it was almost impossible for me to see everything as they opened it. Then sometimes they wouldn’t remember who had given them what gift so I would have to ask around so we would know who to write thank you notes to later. So one of our big things was that only ONE person could open a gift at a time; that way each one of us in the family could see what they were getting, all could ooh and aah over it and I think they learned to appreciate their gifts more when they took time opening and admiring it. And the other rule is, you can’t go get a gift for yourself to open; one person at a time goes to the tree and finds a gift to GIVE to someone else there. When they were young I think this helped them learn the importance of giving rather than getting. When someone has finished opening their gift, it’s their turn to go find a present to give someone else. This also made the morning of opening gifts last a lot longer. When everyone opened gifts at once and there was general chaos going on, it seemed like everything was over in a matter of minutes. I felt like I had spent weeks preparing and they had been anticipating it for so long that it just didn’t seem right for them to rip everything open and then be done in a few minutes time. It’s something we still do today, although as our family gets a little bigger and we take so much time talking and looking now, we sometimes have to speed things up a little. I don’t know if this is something they will incorporate into their own families but it’s something that worked for us and helped us to enjoy a longer Christmas morning.
There were years that I had to code the presents with numbers or letters to keep the kids from guessing what was in the boxes and at those times there would be clues or riddles for figuring out which present was yours.
We always have a breakfast casserole ready to go in the oven when we get up, so at some point we all stop and fix breakfast plates to eat as we open. We have hot apple cider to go along with it also. If there are grandparents or other family not with us that day, we always call them sometime Christmas morning as well. One of our closest couple friends from church has 4 children the same ages as ours so all the kids would talk to each other every Christmas morning also.
Our Christmas dinners are almost always turkey and dressing, with many sides to go along with it. Most everyone naps at some point during the day! On years that Christmas falls on Sunday, we enjoy an abbreviated worship service at church.
It’s such a fun time of year, a special time to remember the birth of Christ, and a great time to make family memories and traditions!

Another week and here is my menu for the week

Sunday……..Easy crockpot chicken & veggies
Monday…….Bunkhouse stew, salad, sourdough bread
Tuesday…….Cheesy catfish, butternut squash, green beans
Wednesday..Church supper
Thursday…..Salmon, salad, veggie
Friday………White spaghetti & meatballs, salad (a new recipe I’m trying that uses ground turkey and has a white creamy sauce)

For more great ideas check out OrgJunkie’s site…..thanks Laura for doing this each week!

Tammy tagged me for this meme, 9 weird things about me

So here’s my go at it…… “The way you do the things you do”…..

1. I like my cereal soggy, most of the time.
2. I grew up eating mayo on my peanut butter & banana sandwiches….hubby thinks this is very weird!
3. With french fries, I’ve been known to dip them in mayo…..I’m from a family that ate mayonnaise on anything and everything.
4. I will NOT eat turnip greens or collard greens at all! just too icky
5. If I’m by myself in the car, I will listen to one song over & over many times; eventually I’ll get tired of that one and pick another one and do the same way.
6. I can sew but I can’t stand to cut off and hem pants…..for some reason that just seems so hard to me.
7. When sewing, I take the shoe off my right foot to press the pedal; I try sometimes to sew with shoes on but usually I’ll end up with my shoe off anyway.
8. I was grown, married & had big kids before I ever got my ears pierced…my girls got theirs done before me.
9. When I was a little girl I saw Santa fly by my window on Christmas Eve; for some reason people don’t believe me!

Let’s see, I’ll tag:
Stacy
Sandra
Claire
Dawn
and anyone else who would like to play along! Just let me know so we can all read about you!

Time to post another crockpot recipe; you can check out more recipes at Sandra’s and be sure to let us know if you play along!
Thanks Sandra for hosting this.

Crockpot Bean Supreme

1 lb. pan sausage crumbled & browned (I have subbed ground meat or turkey seasoned)
1 lb. link sausage sliced (I usually use Healthy Choice or a smoked turkey sausage)
1 can tomato soup
1 tsp. chili powder, or to taste
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. brown sugar (I don’t use this much because my crew doesn’t like it too sweet)
1 can each: green beans (partially drained), pork & beans, wax beans & kidney beans

Mix all together in crockpot and cook 4-5 hours or overnight. Serve over rice.

This is an old recipe and it makes a lot…..I’ve done it for youth suppers and family. I have used turkey sausage or ground meats instead of the sausage as I noted. For us the 1 c. of brown sugar was too much but you might like it that way. Pretty good comfort food!