Powerful

This photo essay is powerful.  May we never take a day of health for granted.  (Click on the right hand circle at bottom of the essay to go through the pictures.)

Yummy Roast Recipes

I am thinking that this is going to turn into a place for me to share my recipes with you rather than my crafting.  I haven't crafted in forever because I never have time.  I always have excellent intentions of sewing when the girls go down for their naps but then I am so worn out that I don't.  That is also when I try to catch up on laundry and dishes and reading blogs.  Ha!  :)  I do have to cook though.  I have been really doing my best to cook more.  I had gotten into such a cooking rut especially after our first daughter was born.  I am slowly easing my way out of that rut.  It had gotten so bad that one afternoon my hubby saw our crock pot out with a roast in it and asked, "Are we having company tonight?"  Oops!  :)

So, I have two recipes to share with you.  I did not seek out permission (ok..it took me like a good two minutes to think of that word...wow!  I'm tired!) to share these.  I hope it is ok but I figure they were shared with me, so it is fine.  :)

My sister-in-law shared the first with me.  It is for Pot Roast.  Oh if you don't have a crock pot, then these won't be so easy.  Sorry!

Sister-in-Law's Pot Roast

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 bottle of Italian Dressing

1 Chuck Roast

Assorted Vegetables

Pour the soup and dressing into crock pot.  Stir together.  Add roast and spoon sauce over top. Cook on low 8-9 hours.  Add veggies about halfway through cooking. 

I used potatoes, carrots, onions and celery.  Yum...the dressing add so much zip to the basic, boring pot roast.  Loved this and so did hubby.

Now for Beef and Noodles...after we had our baby our church friends brought meals to us every other day for a month.  God bless them!  It was wonderful to not have to worry about getting groceries or cooking.  Bliss!  This is one meal that we got that I quickly sought out the recipe for.  I made it for my family last night and it was a hit!

Old Fashioned Beef and Noodles

3 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 t. dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1 T. chopped onion

2 lbs. extra lean beef, cut into 1 in. cubes

2 (12 oz.) pkgs noodles

Combine all ingredients (except noodles) in a slow cooker; mix well.  Heat on low for 8-9 hours.  Prepare noodles according to pkg. directions.  Stir into sauce.  Serve.

I did use a chuck roast instead of the stew meat because it was on sale and much cheaper.  After it was done cooking, I just took it out, shredded it and added it back into the sauce.  And if you make this, use the Reames frozen noodles.  They are just like homemade and worth the extra cost.  Yum!

Also I did make those Jammin' Salmon Burgers and they are keepers.  I bought the ingredients to make them again very soon.  I had my in-laws over for those and everyone liked them.  I also made Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges.  These get made ALOT in my house...and frankly to tell you the mistake I made is embarrassing.  I make these all of the time...well being tired much more than I was 2 months ago, I grabbed the cayenne pepper instead of the chili powder.  Oops!  They were so SPICY...so I don't recommend switching the two when you make them!

Tasty Treats

We have quite a thing going for salmon in our home right now.  For our anniversary my  hubby took me to a nice restaurant and we both ordered blackened salmon with blue cheese broiled on top.  Oh my gracious.  I will be recreating this item in my own kitchen very soon.  It was to die for.  :)  For now I just bake a huge salmon fillet.  I found a little jar of spices especially for salmon, so I douse that on before I bake the fillet.  

Tonight I was at my mother-in-law's and we were watching The Food Network which is our tradition.  They did a show all about the best burgers ever and one recipe was for Jammin' Salmon Burgers.  I am going out and getting the ingredients and this will be made very soon.  Can we give out a loud Yummo!

We have also been going through asparagus like it is going out of style.  It is seriously the easiest thing to make.  I just snap off the ends and wash it up.  Then heat up some olive oil in a skillet, add the asparagus, and season with salt and pepper.  Just keep turning and when they are bright green, they are done.  We like them with a bit of a crunch left in them.  My 2 year old daughter loves them also!  

That's what we're loving right now!

Another One!

Here is another fun giveaway at Make It, Take It, Love It.  The giveaway is from Bebe Chic.  She has some adorable items in her Etsy shop.  The contest is open until June 1st, so go sign up!

Giveaway

I have been dying to get my hands on one of those cute crochet headbands with a bow or flower on it for this new little addition to our lives.  She was born on March 30 and is SWEET!  Look at that smile.  It is to die for!  

I found out about a great giveaway at His, Mine, and Ours.  I think you should definitely head over and sign up!  There are some super cute things in the Etsy shop!

Pray for Stellan

Click on picture above to take you to MckMama's blog to catch up on how baby Stellan is doing.

Getting My Creative On

I have a couple of things to share with you....

My hubby's birthday was this past Monday, so I decided to make him a fun birthday cake. Hubby is very much into the tech world. He is an Apple loving man, so in honor of his love for all things Apple, I made him his very own iPod birthday cake.

I was very happy with how it turned out. He got quite a kick out of it.

My daughter who is 2 1/2 has been needing some work when it comes to color recognition. Now being a 3 year old preschool teacher, I tend to analyze everything and am a bit concerned that we are not getting the colors down. (The teacher in me also says, "It's fine...she will get it, just keep plugging away!) I decided to make color bean bags for us to use to work on the colors. I used the tutorial that I found here. I did change the measurements just a bit and didn't use quite as much rice. I busted a needle on my sewing machine due to using too much rice. They turned out cute and we have had fun with them. In fact tonight the bean bags were used as cupcakes while my daughter had an imaginary birthday party for her and I.

And I have to share this picture of my little one measuring her own fabric while I worked away on the bean bags. It was a proud moment.