A Busy Stove

HH brought me a Pumpkin Spice Blizzard from DQ today.  Mmmmm.  I normally only like my blizzards with lots of "stuff" in them, but this one didn't need the stuff to make a great taste.

Our "Luper":

Chicken Enchilada Lasagna from Go Ahead and Take a Bite

For Church Potluck:

Ribbon Jello from Brown Eyed Baker

I found out my fridge shelves are not exactly level creating this recipe.  The recipe is easy, and only requires about 30 seconds worth of work each hour to get the awesome effect.  Also, my dish did not have room for the last two layers.

Waffle Breakfast Casserole from Once a Month Mom

I said to HH, "Guess how the breakfast casserole is going to be different this time?"  He replies, "There are going to be waffles in it."  I say, "Oh, I forgot you bought the ingredients."  LOL  (This item is shown not cooked, as I am cooking it this morning during church.)

I also made a cake on Wednesday night that I forgot to post about:

Hot Fudge and Caramel Chocolate Poke Cake

 

Homecoming Week Wraps Up Today

We are ending our Homecoming week celebrations with a parade at 2:00 this afternoon.  My students can wear their Braves gear to show their pride.  Of course treats will be involved.  We have recess and and assembly after lunch (followed by the parade), but we are going to do our best to have a normal morning of learning!
I got flowers on Thursday from a FORMER student's mom.  :)  The card said, "Thinking of you."  I needed that!

Here are the treats I made last night while HH was preaching his first funeral here.  
Pumpkin Pie Muddy Buddies

Cherry Coke Cupcakes

Chewy Butterfinger Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter 7-Layer Bars

Salted Dark Chocolate Cookies

These cookies were the absolute BEST!!!  I loved them!
After 9 PM tonight, my three day weekend starts.  :)

New Baking Loves

I came home from work to see that HH had hung the sign on the door that I purchased off of Etsy.  I had considered painting the door.  Then, I consulted with my dad about what that would involved.  I decided that I don't want to have that type of investment just yet!

I made two recipes before going to prayer group:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies
The ladies at prayer group really enjoyed these!  

Cherry Bars (I didn't wait long enough to put the icing on, so it seeped inside.  I didn't want to reicing the bars, for fear that they would become too sweet.  The result is they look pretty ugly.)

Cookie Butter Pretzel Granola Bites (I ran out of time before prayer group with the ladies, so HH actually did the last recipe for me.) Secret Weapon for this recipe:

Homecoming Week Begins

Yesterday was the beginning of Homecoming Week.  My high school back home never made a big deal of this, so this is new to me. Yesterday was dress like a pirate day.

I had to try on Demi's wig!

This boy is one of my favorite kiddos.  He loves to write, and always has a notebook with him.  He frequently says "That is confidential," when you ask him something.  I found a vendor on Etsy to create this journal for him.  For about the past week, I kept asking him, "Nathaniel, do you ever get the feeling that something good is about to happen to you?"  He would just shrug his shoulders, and look at me like I was crazy.  Well, yesterday something "good" happened to him.  He was elated, and must have said thank you a hundred times.

So I think part of this began when I read Almost Amish earlier this year, but now that I am reading 7 by Jen Hatmaker, I am certainly in the mode to simplify my life.

I have not done all the months of projects, and most likely will not.  I am doing the possessions chapter.    I just look around and see so much excess.  I have in total 433 items piled on that bed.  That is 433 items that I have let crowd my life.  Each day my eyes are becoming more and more open to what I need, and justifying why this is a "need."  Do we really need to own three salt and pepper shakers?  Do we really need an everyday set of dishes and a set of china (my china can be dishwashed, microwaved, and frozen).

Jen Hatmaker talks about meaningfully purging your things.  Sure, you could just drop everything off at a consignment store, but why not use these giveaways as an opportunity to build relationships with those around you?  I've done this twice now.  I gave about 15 country CDs to a lady I work with.  I access all my music digitally now, and don't have the need to keep the CDs.  I also gave away a very nice set of bowls (and serving bowl) that belonged to Ben's grandmother.  There is a lady I work with who had just moved into a new place.  I wrote her a note about why I was giving her what I did, and I hoped she would cook good things, and enjoy time with her family using these bowls.

 Needless to say, NOTHING is safe.  I'm constantly scanning for what needs to be moved into this pile.

Here is a video of the author and two of her friends discussing chapter 3:

7 - Month 3: Possessions Bloom (in)courage Book Club from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

My STUFF:

I also had my first "virtual meet up" with other single staff church pastor's wives last night.  I found this community group through "Leading and Loving It."  I'm so excited about the chance to talk monthly with ladies who are in very similar positions as I am.  We also have a private Facebook page in which we can communicate needs/questions on a more regular basis.

Providing Comfort in a Crisis

The Happy Home Fairy has been doing a series of posts about providing comfort to those in need.  One way she talks about is through food.  I had mentioned that one of my friends has surgery, and I wanted to use part of my day to make her two meals.  She has two boys, so I'm sure this won't go to waste. Ravioli Lasagna

The Ultimate Mexican Lasagna

(There was enough leftover that I was able to make an 8x8 pan for HH and I.) Banana Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut Butter Cookies and Cream Bars
(I forgot to take a picture of these!) One thing I've learned about as I'm reading on "how to bless people with a meal," is to make sure everything is disposable.  Don't forget paper cups, plates, silverware, etc.  I like this philosophy, and if you are going to do something for someone, I feel that you should do it well. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about doing this much volume cooking is time.  These four recipes took me under two hours.  (I did not bake the Ravioli Lasagna or The Ultimate Mexican Lasagna, as they were going to be "freezer" meals I'm delivering tomorrow.)  This includes having to wash dishes.  I'm really learning to get in a flow, and make the most of each moment in the kitchen. For Ladies Bible Study I brought: No-Bake Biscoff Cookies  (I added a 1/2 cup of oats to this recipe, it seemed a bit too soupy.  If I made it again, I would an an entire extra cup of oats.)

Celebrations

This week has been a good week.  I've cooked the same dinner several nights in a row (Parmesan Tilapia and Creamed Spinach), and HH has been very tolerant about it.  I have new dinner recipes, I just need to get out of the funk and back into making them.
I was able to visit with a good friend who had just returned from surgery at Mayo.  It made me happy to see her on the mend.
Our renter called from our condo back in Kentucky.  The freezer is on the fritz.  I authorized a service visit, and will find out today if we are replacing a part, or if the entire refrigerator needs to be replaced.  I am hoping that it is just a part since the fridge side works fine.  She was super nice about everything.  This is the first time in fourteen months that she has called us.  She always pays two weeks before her rent is due, and sends an email to confirm that her payment has been received.  I really hope she wants to stay for a bit longer than July 2014.  (She signed a two year lease.)
Funny things that my students say.... A boy who was out of town for two days at a doctor's appointment handed me back a folder full of make-up work.  I was surprised because I had just asked him to complete three items, and we would work a bit each day to catch up.  He said, "If you don't write my mom a note, she will make me do everything."  Another student said something about free time, to which his classmate replied, "Free time....we don't get any free time in here."  I said, "Yes you do, from 3:15 until 8:00 am."  It was cute that they realize we really work each day in school.
Now, onto the recipes....
Peanut Butter Pie

I had planned on making two pies, but when I doubled the recipe, it was easily enough for four pies.  I took one to each grade level in my building.  Very easy to make, you just need the time to allow it to chill before serving.
White Chocolate Butter Bars

These bars turned out great, but did take forever to set.  I had to add over 10 minutes to the recipe time. After church, a boy was cleaning up, and he got ready to take a half-eaten bar to the trash, and his mom said, "Son, stop it, you can't throw that away."  She was planning on taking it home.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Banana Cream Pudding Cookies

Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
My best friend is a secretary and her family owns a ranch in town.  I found these edible cap toppers on Etsy.  These cupcakes are way up there with anything you would find in a gourmet cupcake shop, and I feel that they are the best I have ever made.  I still am not ready to put forth the effort to do fancy icing, but I think they turned out lovely.

Here they are all fancied up on the cake stand that I am presenting to my birthday friend.  

Treat for the Nuggets:
I saw this on a blog, and HH helped me to make all the faces and color them in with Sharpies.  It is a super easy activity, and I could see kids doing it themselves.  I know some schools are switching to "healthy only" items for Halloween/Harvest parties.

Yummy Weekend

I saw all my parents/families except ONE for Parent Teacher Conferences.  With an early release (and no Friday youth), I had time to make some extra goodies for some of my favorite people/places.
Caramel Milky Way Cookies

I loved the taste of these cookies.  They were very messy to make though.  My hands were slathered in dough.  I probably could have made three or four more cookies had I not needed to wash my hands so frequently.
Indigo Berry Brownies

I love how this recipe dresses up a plain old box of brownies!
Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This was a recipe FAIL.  It smelled amazing, and the edges were great.  Unfortunately, there was some lapse time and I figured out that the middle wasn't cooked.  I had to throw it away.  What a shame.  From the edge sampling, I will be making this again.
Pumpkin Better Than .... Cake 

Inspiration for lunch came from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

HH and I watched so many episodes of LOST yesterday, I am ashamed to admit the actual number.  It was a perfect down day/evening.
I made our hotel reservations for A Weekend to Remember marriage conference in Sioux Falls, SD.  We are going down a day early, and coming back a day after the conference ends.  We have a great hotel, and I'm looking forward to making some great city time.  

Tomorrow for Ladies Bible Study, I am bringing:
Banana Cream Puff Bars

Almost to my 2.5 day weekend!

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last posted!  We had a great visit with HH's mom last weekend.  We had our normal Friday night activities at the church.  On Saturday, we had a special live event through the internet with one of my favorite speakers, Beth Moore. 

 

 

On Sunday, we had church and started our new Bible study by Beth Moore. 

 

 

After such a busy weekend, we chilled for the small remainder of our weekend.

 

Tonight is Parent-Teacher Conferences from 4:00-8:00.  Tomorrow, the students are off, and we have conferenes 8:00-12:00.  I presently have no conferences scheduled for tomorrow, so I hope to get lots done.

 

No-Bake Golden Oreo Truffles

(with fun orange sugar crystals for Halloween)

 

 

Blueberry Maple Muffins

 

 

 

Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili in the Slow Cooker

 

 

This chili is very mild.  I asked HH if he would have guessed that it had pumpkin in it, and he said no.

 

Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Bundt Cake

 

My good friend from church requested that I make this for her birthday.

 

Scaredy-Cat Brownies

 

 

I'm in love with edible eyes.  I must find more fun things to make with these throughout the year.

 

White Bean Bisque

 

I was supposed to use kidney beans or cannellini beans, but I only had chickpeas.  I told HH that we had "Hummus Soup."

 

On a funny note....

 

I got home from work Tuesday evening, and saw a clean sink.  I smiled and thought to myself, "HH did the dishes.  That was so sweet of him."  About twenty minutes later, I realized that I had done the dishes at 5 AM, and had forgotten!!!