Mmmmmmm good!

I fancy myself a fairly healthy cook, but I have a few recipes I've tried lately that are not what I'd call "heart healthy", but they are just too good not to share! I know most people who post recipes have pictures, but we have an "eat it while it's hot" rule around here, so food doesn't stay on the plate long enough for a photo shoot.



The first is a recipe for BBQ pork. It is the easiest BBQ you will ever make, and it is absolutely delicious!!! It cooks for 4 hours in the crock pot, so it makes your house smell really yummy too. You can find it at allrecipes.com. I've just linked to it twice now, so I think I've covered my tail as far as any copyright infringement might go! It says to use boneless pork ribs, which I have discovered are usually labeled "country style". 3 pounds sounds like a lot, but trust me, make the whole recipe! For the sauce, I used KC Masterpiece Sweet and Tangy (which is new-found it at Publix), and it was PERFECT! I didn't even use buns. Just scooped it on the plate with some roasted sweet potatoes and green beans. Mmmmmmm!



The second recipe is for Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter. This one is from Giada deLaurentis at foodnetwork.com. I made this tonight, and oh my! Now, there's no meat involved, so your husband might question it, but even my 2 year old ate this and liked it (and from the queen of grilled cheese, that is really saying something!) I used a 20 oz. package of refrigerated cheese ravioli and salted butter (because who has unsalted butter on hand?). As for the browning the butter part, just watch it fairly closely. It probably took about 5 minutes, and mine was a nice golden caramel color, but I can see how it could go south if you aren't paying attention. I like to tell myself that the heart healthy walnuts make up for the butter. Whatever helps me sleep at night! I served this with one of my favorite salads- green leaf lettuce, craisins, feta, and apple cider vinaigrette. I don't do the sesame seeds or the poppy seeds. I've done it with and without, and I prefer without.



So there you have it! You get a couple of yummy new recipes and I got to show off some mad linking skills! Hope you enjoy!

Look what mom found!

My mom has become quite the garage sale queen lately, and look at what she found for me!

Mom found these beautiful sconces at a garage sale for GUESS how much?

FIVE DOLLARS!

Not apiece either, but for the pair!

Can you believe that? Mom asked the lady where she had gotten them and they are from Scott's Antique Market. The pictures almost don't do them justice. They are beautiful!

I already had the picture, but I think it's appropriate that the $5 sconces are flanking the $20 picture I got at Kirklands on clearance (down from almost $200!).

Thanks mom!

Things I Love

I was trying to think of what I could write about for my next blog entry, and I don't have any one thing to focus on, so I'll give you a random list of "Things I Love" right now!

1. I just read this from someone else's blog, in regard to anonymous blog commentors (who tend to be a little ugly): "If I have to look at your butt, at least show me your face." I think I've heard that before, but I LOVE that!


2. I love that my almost 9 month old son thinks that his 2 1/2 year old sister is absolutely hilarious.


3. I love that my 2 1/2 year old daughter has all of a sudden gotten smart to how funny her brother thinks she is, and she will do whatever he laughs at (which is anything) 10 more times just because he thinks it's funny!


4. I love working in the yard with my hubby. It's sexy to see him get all manly out there!


5. I love that Jack has 2 teeth coming in, and they are crooked.


6. I love taking naps when it's a little warm, but the fan is on.


7. I love making dinner in the crock pot. Fix it and forget it. Makes the whole house smell deeeeeelish!


8. I love Molly's new water table on the porch, and I love that every time she goes out to play with it, she ends up naked and soaking wet.


9. I love the new Ann Taylor Loft outlet at the North Georgia outlet mall.


10. I love that I left Jack alone for 2 seconds on the porch and when I came back, he had a mouth full of black tree bark in his mouth. What a boy!


11. I love entertaining friends and family, like we did this past weekend after having the kids baptized. I love that my niece called it "appletized".


12. I love that Molly says, at least 45 times a day, "It's not a spider! Spider won't hurt you. It's just a tiny fly/ant." All of this is what I tell her every day in response to her new spider/bee/insect phobia.


13. I love that Jack can't quite crawl yet. This is my favorite stage; when they can move around, but you can still put them down and know they will stay in that general vicinity.


14. I love feeling a sense of confidence from the Lord, even though I have no earthly reason to feel any confidence.


15. I love that I just read a headline about a chihuahua that got blown away in 70 mile per hour winds and was returned to his owner. That is just hilarious!
16. I love that Baby Stellan is going home today! (click on the side button to read more)
17. I love InStyle magazine, although even if I could, I would never pay $38,000 for an alligator clutch (no, I did not make that up). I'm really very fine not being "instyle"!
18. I love that my daughter says, "Good job mommy! I so proud of you!" after I go potty. I love that she stands there and listens every time.
19. I love Neo Strata daily moisterizer.
20. I love that I'm relieved I made it to 20, because I'm very type A and a list of any less would not be right!

Hope you enjoyed the nonsense!

Pray for Baby Stellan

One of the beauty's of blogworld is that you find yourself putting out a plea for prayer for someone you don't even know.

I've never met MckMama or Baby Stellan, but I haven't stopped thinking about them for the past month (has it really been a month???) since he was hospitalized for the same heart condition that almost took his life in the womb.

If there is any chance you don't know the story, click on the "Praying for Stellan" button and read all about it.

Please take a second to pray for this sweet little 5 month old. He went into incredibly risky heart surgery at 8:30 this morning, and he is still not out.

Maybe it's because I have an 8 month old son, or maybe it's because I've lost a baby, but I just can't quit thinking of this family.

Please pray now!

Yanni!

It's 10:45pm and we just got back from seeing Yanni in concert. Now, this is actually the second time we've seen the Yan-ster (as we affectionately call him) in concert. My husband has a client that gives us tickets to some random things, thus, Yanni tickets! I have to say, it is actually an amazing show! I have never in my life seen such talented musicians! The show is called "Voices", so there are actually singers. There was a guy who sang in Italian that was AMAZING!!! There was also a Spanish male singer that was awesome, and 2 girl singers, one who was great and one who was so-so. In case you are interested, someone apparently told Yanni that is isn't the 1970's anymore, and he shaved the mustache and got a haircut. He looks a LOT better! So my point in all this is, if you get free tickets to Yanni, you should go!
Now I'm off to try to go to sleep while my husband watches Jack Van Impe talk about the coming New World Order and the imminent return of Christ. You know, some light fare right before bedtime...

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. On a shallow note, it hasn't been such a Good Friday. Not bad, but just not good either. Know what I mean? One of those rainy, gray days in which the kids are cranky because they are bored out of their skulls, and I'm cranky because there really isn't much to do. Actually, there is a lot to do, but nothing I really feel like doing! So here I sit, with the kids down early for their naps, eating the Easter candy that I allegedly bought for Molly's Easter egg hunt on Sunday (for the kids......riiiiiiiggghhhtt!)

On a deeper note, I did wake up this morning and think about Jesus. Today is the day he was crucified. It's 3 days before Easter, when he rose again. Isn't it hard to wrap your head around that? I tried to imagine what it was like for him to know what he was going to go through. I tried to imagine if there were anyone I would consider going through the same for. It's a sacrifice that is so unfathomable. For all of the joy and celebration that Easter brings, Good Friday is like the weather today; a little dark and dreary. I have read so many stories lately (mostly in blogland) about suffering. Suffering that comes from illness and death. The kind that we all wish to avoid. Sometimes living in this world feels like living in Good Friday. It's sad, sorrowful, dark, dreary, and seems uncertain. That is really the beauty of Easter. It's the hope that we all have that Good Friday won't last forever. It's not the end of the story. Living in this world won't last forever. In fact, I think it won't last much longer at all, but that is another blog for another time! At any rate, on Good Friday, Easter was on the horizon. In this world, heaven, with no more sorrow and no more pain, is on the horizon. That sounds really good to me!

I can't talk about Jesus and not tell y'all about my niece, Ella. I was babysitting for my nieces and nephew last night, and at the dinner table Ella (who is 4) says, "Jesus lives in my heart." Her normal follow-up to that is, "I need you to get him out." Her theology is a little confused since she learned about Jesus being in her heart at the same time her mommy had her baby brother in her tummy and "pushed him out". So here is last night's conversation:

E- "Jesus is in my heart. He wants to say something."

Me-"Oh really? What does Jesus want to say?"

E- (pulling her shirt out to stick her head down, listening) "What Jesus? Oh, ok. Jesus said he needs more to eat."

Me- "Is that all Jesus said?"

E- "Um, wait. What Jesus? Ok. Jesus said he wants you to read him a book."

I think Jesus was laughing out loud at that conversation!

Happy Easter everyone!

The girls in the family....

.....and the boys!

Happy Birthday to my Love!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Scotty.....

Happy Birthday to you!

(feels like deja vu from my last post, doesn't it?)

Tomorrow, April 2, is my sweet hubby's birthday! Let me tell you, God was smiling down on me when he introduced me to this man! He is everything I thought I wanted plus some things I didn't know I wanted, but needed! We are the same in a lot of ways, but probably different in more. We both love to eat and really enjoy great food. We can both quote movies pretty well and get a kick out pulling the more obscure quotes out to see just how well the other really knows their stuff ("scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla....don't waste my time!" Can you name that one?). We love to laugh and find the same things pretty funny. We both love the beach. We both hate long car rides. We both love home.

We have a lot of other similarities, but we also have a lot of differences. Scotty is very extroverted, I'm more introverted. He is a dreamer, I am a realist. He likes to sit and be still, I like to be busy. He processes outloud, I process internally. He likes vanilla, I like chocolate. And so on, and so on...

All of our similarities and all of our differences make us perfect for one another. I can't imagine loving anyone else the way I love him. Oh, and he's really good lookin' too!

Happy Birthday to you Scotty! I love you!