GIVEAWAY #3! COFFEE LOVERS!

Ranked right up there in the top things God created, in my book… comes coffee. I love a warm, creamy, cup of joe in the morning… uuuummmmm… nothing else gets me up out of bed so smoothly…

Here is how I like it… I like it in a big mug. You know the ones that hold like 3 cups of coffee in them… then I add french vanilla flavored creamer. The real cream kind. No powder unless it is an emergency…

I also enjoy grinding my own beans… I think it more for the aroma than anything… I am also not a strong coffee drinker. I like the milder blends. And I use 4 Tbsp of ground coffee to make a 10 cup pot.

Yes. I normally drink the whole pot.

This is how I love to start my day… I curl up in my lazy boy, steamy cup of coffee, blanket, Bible… mornings just don’t start any better, especially if I can watch the sunrise out my front window too.

This is my third giveaway this week. My one year blogoversary week! For the third giveaway I am giving a beautiful big coffee mug, and a package of starbucks coffee beans. Mild Breakfast Blend. My fav! (so if you win, and you decide you’d rather not have this kind of coffee… I’ll just keep it!! ;))

This is what I am thinking about the comments… you tell me how you like your coffee… or if you don’t, and you just want to win the mug and let me keep the coffee (or I could give it to someone else who says they love it and would like to be chosen out of a pot of reserves if the winner doesn’t want it!!) Tell me how you like your coffee… and you can win!

AGAIN. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY OR IF YOU NOW WRITE A POST ON YOUR OWN BLOG TELLING OTHERS ABOUT MY GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK YOU CAN SIGN UP TWICE…SARAH, CAROL, SUZIE, and CARRIE all did! Leave me the second comment just saying you wrote about it on your blog!

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Did you sign up for GIVEAWAY #2 Cookbook by Dawn Hall yet? You have to go do that! And tell me about your relationship with cooking!

I am loving reading your comments! You are all so hilarious and honest! See why I love you all and give you these fabulous prizes!!

My own relationship with cooking is kind of a love/hate. If I have done the prep work. Made a plan. Bought the groceries. Decided what to make before 4:30 in the afternoon… and there are kids around to clean up. I don’t mind so much.

Now if I don’t have a plan. I’ll probably give you this blank stare and say something like. “Dinner? What’s that?” or “Didn’t we do that yesterday? You mean we do this every day?”

I’ve been enjoying trying new recipes with you all!! I have another one I am going to share right now!! This is a salad that we had on Saturday when Dawn Hall visited our little town and graced us with her testimony! I made it last night for my family (and my sister’s kids). It was all gone! And I was rationing some of them who wanted more!! (Zach didn’t care for it though)

TOSSED SALAD WITH BOLD & HEARTY SALAD DRESSING

1/2 Cup fat-free Italian salad dressing

2 Tbsp. steak sauce

1 (16oz) salad mix

1 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese

1/2 cup fat free croutons

In a salad bowl mix Italian Dressing and steak sauce until well blended. Add salad mix, tomatoes, & cheddar cheese (DO NOT TOSS SALAD) Cover and put in refrigerator to keep chilled. Right before serving toss well and add croutons.

Want to win a book with recipes in it like this! Then go sign up for GIVEAWAY #2

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GIVEAWAY #1 is the biggest giveaway! 6 prizes! 4 chances to sign up!! If you love Beth Moore… you want to make sure you check it out. If you’ve never read any Beth Moore… How about a taste…

Overcoming Pride…

My Name is Pride.

I am a cheater.

You like me because you think I’m always looking out for you.

Untrue.

I’m looking to make a fool of you.

I admit, but don’t worry.

If you stick with me, you’ll never know.

“I will break down your strong pride. I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be used up for nothing. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear fruit.” -- Leviticus 26:19-20

Praying God's Word by Beth Moore has been a life saver for me. I pick it up on a daily basis. For a chance to win one of these books, or one of three different sets of verse cards you must enter GIVEAWAY #1.

I am also loving the questions you are leaving in the comments for me to answer in future blog posts. I will do that! I am thrilled and sit here smiling when I read them! I’ll give you a taste…

http://bussecrew.blogspot.com/ asked “Which Beth Moore bible studies have you done and which is your favorite?

If I can remember right, I’ve done Breaking Free, Believing God, Daniel, A Woman's Heart God's Dwelling Place, Steppin' Up, Living Beyond Yourself and now, Esther. All of these I have done over a period of weeks in a group of women.

I’ve also done Loving Well, Retreat in a Box, and watched Beth speak live via simulcast twice. No, http://doingthemathcountingmyblessings.blogspot.com/, I’ve never seen Beth Moore in person. Have any of you?

On my own I have done her study of David, 90 days with a Heart Like His, and read her books, When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, and of course Praying God's Word.

My favorite? The one I am doing!! TRUELY! They are all wonderful! Now, I will have to say, I cried the most through Believing God & Breaking Free. They were the first ones I did after HSSH left, so everything made me cry. And God spoke to me through them so much. I think my whole book is highlighted!

I didn’t start doing any of Beth’s studies until after my husband left us. Beth has become like a wonderful friend, ministering to me in the greatest pain I have endured, thus far. And I call her my friend because of that.

Now Go Sign up by leaving comments for GIVEAWAY #1!! And ask the questions that are burning in your mind to ask me!! Now’s your chance!!! ;) (unless your name is Julie L and you know way too much. No need to ask questions!!!)

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Now if you are like me, you have probably completely forgotten that you still need to comment on this post! Telling me about how you like your coffee! To win coffee and a “joy” mug!!

Pam

Blogoversary GIVEAWAY #2! Cookbook

This is the week of my blogoversary! March 13, it will be one year since I began this blog! I am looking forward to a fun week. I posted my first giveaway on Saturday.

Did you already sign up for my Beth Moore GIVEAWAY!? Don’t miss out on this one!! I have 6 Beth Moore items to give away to 6 lucky winners! You can sign up 4 different ways to up your chances of winning!!

I’ve decided to continue giving away more prizes all week! I am choosing more things near and dear to my heart to give to you, my dear blogging friends!

Quite honestly, I’ve been given so much from all of you reading, commenting, and praying with me through this blog. I don’t feel like I can do enough to celebrate with you!!

My second giveaway for the week is a new cookbook, by a wonderful lady, Dawn Hall. Super-Simple 30-Minute Meals is newly released! We had a chance to be served a variety of recipes from this book (and some of her others) on Saturday.

Super-Simple 30-Minute Meals is a lo-fat, healthy, (but, she says, not healthy enough to be sold in a health food store) with great ideas for helping lo-fat items taste better (like cheese and salad dressing) And the awesome thing about this book is that it has the whole meal there together! Main dish, salad or vegetable. Also included is a grocery list! Now, does this not sound like something that I could totally use!

Let’s not discount the fact that they are supposed to be done in 30 realistic minutes! She was hilarious as she described all the other things you could get done while cooking, yelling at the kids to get their homework done, etc… Did she take a peek into my house at 4:30 one day to get that info!?!

Not only does Dawn have great cookbooks. (she has many more, look at her website. She also has an incredible testimony. She is very real. And she even commented that if she could be up there telling her story, anyone could. I got that feel from her. She was totally relying on God to be up there.

Her story is complex but in a nutshell she described to us that she is an ADHD person. That she married her HSSH. And that at 32 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a baseball. After 9 years of fighting the cancer, getting experimental treatments, fighting the government for the experimental treatments. Her husband died, cancer free, with radiation tumors.

Then she married another man. He was abusive and had mental illness. Her description of the 4 years she was married to him was heart wrenching. Especially when you can relate. I knew someone very well who was married for 10 years to a man just like Dawn described.

Now, she began dating another man. He is a single dad of 4 kids. A month after they started dating. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a baseball! UNBELIVEABLE!

Dawn gave all her proceeds from Saturday’s speaking engagement to his man and his family. She is showing him God’s love. He is a Christian, a wounded one. God has a plan.

Dawn said, who knew when I was fighting for that experimental treatment that it would one day effect someone else that I love.

So, I’ve purchased one of these books to give away to one of you. I also purchased Dawn’s personal testimony book Comfort Food for Your Soul, Feeling God's Care When Life Gets You Down. I am looking forward to reading that one.

To be qualified for this giveaway you need to leave a comment on this post. In the comment I’d like to hear from you something about cooking… love it. hate it. tolerate it. horrible at it. gourmet. Tell us how you and cooking get along!

And again. If you post about this giveaway, or any of the other give-aways,this week on your own blog, leave a comment telling me that you did and you will be qualified twice to win this prize! See how mommaof4wife2r, Grace, & Bonnie all told about my contest on their blogs! They can automatically sign up twice for this one!! THANKS!

TO BE QUALIFIED TWICE YOU NEED TO LEAVE TWO COMMENTS!! AND ONE MUST BE TO TELL ME THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT MY GIVEAWAYS ON YOUR BLOG!

Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 13!

Good Luck, and be blessed! And don’t forget to come back to see what else I give away this week!

Pam

Don’t forget about the Beth Moore GIVEAWAY! TOO!

Recipe Fun: Beef Barley Soup

Last night I tried another new recipe.  My kids were pretty sure they had seen in before, but I assured them, I had never made this, and had never even purchased barley before!  It was a hit!  WOW!  I LOVE THIS SOUP!!  I have liked Beef Barley when I have had it in restaurants, who knew I could actually make some myself and it would be this yummy!!  This is a slow cooker recipe.

I have enough leftover, that I am giving it to my mom & dad to try tonight, and they are taking it to my grandma for dinner!  Hope they all like it as much as we did!  Oh, and when I looked up the recipe online, it is even lo-fat!  Wow!  Something this yummy, lo-fat?

Nutrition Facts

• One serving:
• 1-1/4 cups
• Calories: 259
• Fat: 9 g
• Saturated Fat: 3 g
• Cholesterol: 54 mg
• Sodium: 1316 mg
• Carbohydrate: 23 g
• Fiber: 5 g
• Protein: 21 g

 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup sliced fresh carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce
• 2/3 cup medium pearl barley
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown meat in oil over medium heat; drain. Meanwhile, in a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the vegetables, broth, water, spaghetti sauce, barley and seasonings. Stir in beef. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender. Skim fat from cooking juices. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/2 quarts).

My pictures:

It was super hot!  See the ice Lucas is cooling it down with!  LOL!

Enjoy!

Pam

Recipe Fun: Saucy Chicken with Veggies and Rice

Day two of trying new recipes!  I am on page 16 of the Jan/Feb issue of Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious. This is a slow cooker recipe.

Lucas says… “another new recipe?”  Don’t you love the trust in his eyes!!  ;)

Saucy Chicken with Veggies and Rice

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sliced celery
• 3 cups sliced fresh carrots
• 2 cups sliced onion
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup white wine or chicken broth
• Hot cooked rice

Directions:

Place the celery, carrots, onion and chicken in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the soup, soup mix, thyme, pepper and tarragon; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 170°.
    Mix cornstarch and wine until smooth; stir into slow cooker. Cover on high for 30 minutes or until gravy is thickened. Serve with rice. Yield: 6 servings.

Okay, now for my picture…

Jadon loved it…onions and all!

Kiahna gobbled it up… using her best table manners… ahem…

The same child who was picking out her beans the night before, was picking out carrots with this recipe… I made her eat them though.  Meany that I am.

James and Zach… they will eat anything.  Teenagers.  I don’t know that I could fill them up if I tried!

My opinion of this recipe.  Ehhh… It wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t great.  It didn’t have a lot of flavor to me.  Or maybe I am just not a fan of the flavor of onion soup mix?  I am thinking not.  I doubt I will make this one again. 

But, don’t let that stop you from trying it!  Only, I don’t know I would repeat the mistake of buying an expensive jar of a spice like tarragon, just for this recipe.  I should have done it without the first time.  If you want to borrow some of mine, I have plenty!  And a few pouches of onion soup mix, that I probably will never use up either.  Come and get ‘em!

Happy Cooking!

Pam

Recipe Fun: Vegetable Beef Skillet

You may have wondered if I am still cooking for my family these days!  Well… I was.  Then I went back to survival cooking.  Now, I am trying to get back into the swing of things! 

I made out 4 menu plans, last fall.  You’ve all seen them.  More than once, I fear!  I got really sick of them.  But, I didn’t have much motivation to make new ones. Besides, those were things I knew my kids would eat!!  And we all know that is very valuable when you spend time and money in the kitchen!

So, when my February issue of,  Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious arrived, I was thrilled to find some new recipes to try!  I wrote them out, made a grocery list, and committed to trying them when I returned from my trip!

I will try to share them with you here, and let you know what we think.

Last night we had

Vegetable Beef Skillet

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups frozen broccoli-cauliflower blend, thawed and chopped
• 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed nacho cheese soup, undiluted
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked instant rice
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
    Stir in the vegetables, soup, water, oregano and salt. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until rice is tender. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 6 servings.

The picture above is from the magazine/website.  This is my picture…

And this is Kiahna’s reaction…

The clean plate club is always a good sign!!

Of course, I have a couple of bean haters that made nice little piles of beans… but other than that it was definitely one I will make again.

Let me know if you try it out and what your family thinks.

Tonight I have a chicken dish in the crock pot. It will be ready soon  I’ll let you know what we think!

Pam