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If you are anything like me, your cooking routine can get burdensome and bland in a flash. Don’t put away those oven mits just yet. We can still save dinner!

Here are a few tips that I find helpful:

1. Add a new side to an old favorite meal. This helps me because I’m not creating and cooking an entirely new meal, I’m just adding some new flavors to spice up the dinner.

I love this Mexican Summer Salad to really jazz up taco night.

2. Visit the freezer aisle. You don’t always have to cook from scratch. Try some new flavors by combining a few items from the freezer section. I shop a lot at Trader Joe’s and they have a fabulous selection of meals, sides, and veggies in the freezer.

3. Have a weekly meal routine. We always do something super easy Sunday, such as breakfast for dinner. We always have pancakes on Saturday mornings. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. Friday is family pizza night. These routines help focus my meal planning when I’m looking for recipes to cook for the week.

4. Have breakfast for dinner. I love breakfast, so breakfast any time is a treat, but it is also FUN to eat breakfast for dinner!

Our favorite is this hearty egg, meat, and potato dish.

5. Start a recipe swap. I’ve done this a few times with friends on Facebook. It is a great way to have new recipes at your fingertips that have been tried and tested by your friends.

6. Cook together. Plan a meal that your kids can help with. This will be a fun activity for the family, and often kids are more excited to eat something they have helped prepare.

Here are some tips for cooking …

I know that it is important to not hold too tightly to our earthly possessions. It can be both healing and helpful to de-clutter and organize our homes, but I wanted to share that there is value in saving a few special items.

My mom is one of those people that likes to keep things. This means that we got to be the fun house with loads of dress up clothes perfect for theme parties and high school dances. I have so many wonderful memories of rifling through our dress up trunks. Over the past 2.5 years that I’ve been a mom, she has been able to give me a few items of clothing from my and my sisters’ childhood. It has been really special to dress Ellie and Hanna in clothes that we used to wear.

A few weeks ago she brought some new treasures to share. Among the bounty was a pair of 1980s jazz outfits that Jess and I wore for a recital when we danced. The girls were so excited when I presented them with the new dress up outfits. We proceeded to have an epic dance party with lots of fun posing for pictures.

I hope this post will encourage those of you that have a few things you want to hold on to. It might seem like trash or clutter, but one day it could be someone’s treasure!!

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At the beginning of our blogging adventure, Kerry/Mom posted how delicious Ice Cream Pie is and how great it is for any type of celebration! My husband finished his first set of medical national boards (Aka USMLE Step 1) and I planned a surprise party with family and friends to celebrate this big accomplishment! And, I decided what better way to celebrate than with an Ice Cream Pie- A Peanut Butter Snickers Cookie Ice Cream Pie! Mmmm 🙂

           
        What You Need for This Pie:

Large Springform Pan

Package of Oreo Cookies – Regular, Not Double Stuf

Ice Cream: Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cookies & Cream

Bag of Mini Snickers

Peanut Butter (Any kind will do, but I used Kirkland Natural PB)

1 Small Ziploc Bag (May need more if not using food processor)

Food Processor (optional)

The How To:

1. Take the ice cream out so that it is slightly melted once ready to be added to the pie. Use a food processor to crush about 20 Oreos. If you do not have a food processor, put 20 Oreos into a large ziploc bag and crush by hand into as small of pieces as possible. Dump the pieces into the springform pan and flatten the layer to create the crust. You can take a plastic or not sharp knife to the sides of the bag to scrape off what gets stuck and add to the bottom layer.

2. Use a flat ice cream scoop or 2 spoons to make horizontal slices in the ice cream. Start with Chocolate and place the slices on top of the Oreos. Do this until the Oreos are covered. Smooth the Chocolate layer out to create a flat layer. 

3. Put 1/3 of a cup of peanut butter into a …

Did you know that you are favored? “Charis” is a Hebrew word that means blessed, favored, graced……I was challenged yesterday to remember when I first realized that I am blessed, loved and favored by God. God is desirous of drawing us into a relationship in which He can bless us with His everlasting love. Our faith opens up the blessings that flow into our lives from God. We are blessed to be a blessing. We have been blessed because we are loved by God and we have the privilege to share what God has given to us.

My favor is not earned, it is a free gift that is available to all through belief. In the Old Testament, faith in the one true God, Yahweh, deemed a man as righteous, and in the New Testament it is faith is Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of all mankind. I must remember that my belief and faith is proven by my obedience.I show my trust in God by consistent obedience. Delayed obedience is actually disobedience. So my challenge is to show my true faith by trusting in God’s plan for my life in every situation, in every relationship, in every trial and especially when I am waiting. A life of faith is a process. We conquer one challenge only to find another opportunity to wait and trust right on the heals of the last one. My character is refined and strengthened as I wait on God and I must not panic when the process seems longer than I expect or harder than I feel equipped to handle.

Being favored does not exempt us from challenging times in our lives. Being favored equips us to be able to handle a time of drought or famine. Famine in the Old …

I like to fill my time with lots of activities to get us out of the house and tire out the kids. Although a busy schedule does yield fairly consistent naps and tired kids, it also leads to a tired mommy and little spare time to just enjoy each other.

Today I decided not to schedule anything and to just take it easy with the girls. We didn’t rush to breakfast – I let the girls play with each other for a while and we read books until they asked to eat. We didn’t rush to finish breakfast – We took our time and once they were done I let them watch a show while I actually cleaned up!! We had no time frame, so although we did go out to run one errand, I had time to treat them to a little snack after our shopping for their good behavior.

I’m not going to say that this was an easy day. Actually, it was pretty tough. Ellie did not nap at all and decided when I asked her to do things that she would reply, “No, I disobey.” It wasn’t pretty. However, I did really enjoy watching the girls interact with each other and had fun joining in their play time.

I still like my busy days and activities that get us out of the house, but I realized how important it is to balance the busy days and the slow days.

Every time I’m out with the girls someone has to come up and tell me this time when they are little goes by fast.

So let’s try and take the time together to really cherish our kids with no agenda and no schedule. (At least every once in a while!).

What are your favorite activities to do …

When my girls were little, spending time with their Grammies was a priority. Both Grammies lived near each other and over the years after my husband and I got married, they had become very close friends. The girls loved their visits. The Grammie visits were full of creative activities, discovering worlds of adventure while reading books and laughing a lot while playing make-believe. When it was time for them to leave, we would have to get our calendars out and schedule their next visit. For the first 15 years of our marriage, our family lived far away from the Grammies and now we are privileged to only live an hour away. One of the Grammies had a tradition she started with the girls when they were little. As she hugged them good-bye, she would tell them to keep her in their pocket. “Put me in your pocket”, she would say as she gave them their final hug. This way she would stay close to their heart. It was her way of showing them how much she loved them and it gave them security to know that they were precious to her. She has started a legacy of love that is being passed down to her great grandchildren and is being shared with her grand sons-in-law.

Being a Gammie (my grandkids’ name for me) is one of the greatest privileges of my life. I am grateful for every opportunity I have to spend time with each one of my grandchildren. I dream of the day that I can live close enough to the grandkids to be able to have them over to my house on a regular basis, but for now I am content to enjoy my visits to see them at their homes in southern California.

Last weekend, I went …

This past weekend my sister invited me to attend her church’s annual women’s retreat. It was a wonderful weekend of encouragement and fellowship. If you have never been on a women’s retreat before I highly recommend it!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite tidbits of encouragement from the speaker, Margaret Ashmore.

The main idea of the weekend was that the joy of our salvation should be on our hearts every day. Margaret said, “the more I have of Jesus on the inside, the less I need on the outside.” We are driven by so many needs: the need for acceptance, unconditional love, and security. Nothing in this world can satisfy these needs, only God can meet our needs!

C.S. Lewis once said, “To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?” We must let our needs drive us to God because only he can satisfy the desires of our heart.

The only way to have more of Jesus on the inside is to spend time with him through prayer, devotions, and quiet times of waiting and listening for his voice. This is the main point I took away from the weekend. I have made a new goal to start every day with Jesus so that no matter what I encounter, I know that he is with me guiding my steps.

I hope that you feel encouraged by these tidbits. I would also challenge you to make time every day for Jesus. Start there. Make the time for him and he will find you!

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This Sunday is Father’s Day- a great day to celebrate such a meaningful person in my life! And, fun for us, it happens to be our dad’s birthday on Sunday, too!  Here are 2 fun and easy craft ideas to make your dad or your children’s dad feel very special on his day!

(1) For the last few weeks, we have been minimizing STUFF in the house so Bethany and I thought of a way to create a sentimental gift without it adding to the stuff in the house. We are making a bag of ALL THINGS POP! Pop, or Poppa, is what we call our Dad, but don’t worry you can still do this idea if you don’t call your Dad Pop! What we are doing is finding all types of foods and treats that have pop in the name or things that pop- the other way to do this is just to make a grab bag/basket/crate/bucket of all your dads favorite things or even use ideas that utilize all different names for Dad! You can even make the treats theme specific to your Father’s Day plans! Our list includes…

POPcorn

POP Chips

POPsicles

LolliPOPs/Blow POPs

Homemade Rice Krispie Treats (Snap, Crackle, POP)

Bubble Gum (Goes POP)

Soda Pop (If your dad likes Root Beer, it’s cute to get Dad’s Brand for this gift)

POPpyseed Bagel

Cake POPS

(2) Another cute idea I found from The Dating Divas…Let your dad and/or your children’s dad know how much you love them with The Dating Divas Printable (find it here) or make your own!

What you need:

Frame

Photos

If you choose not use The Dating Divas printable, you will also need…

Letter Stickers

1. Find a frame (12×12 or 11×14) and a piece of card stock and letter …

This past weekend we moved Ellie into her new bed: A big girl toddler bed. We were nervous about the transition since Ellie is such a great sleeper. Nevertheless, we have a new baby on the way in October and only two cribs. It was always the plan to eventually put Ellie and Hanna in the same room, we have just been putting it off.

The transition has been really smooth so far and I thought it would be fun to share what we did. I don’t think of this as advice, just sharing a fun success in our house.

We had a nice time rearranging the room as the girls made a mess of things around us. They of course thought it was quite fun to throw all the books on the ground and sit on them. Once we found the right set up, we introduced Ellie to her new bed. It immediately became the new “trampoline!” I tried not to make too big a deal of it and instead focused on teaching Hanna how to get off the bed safely. She picked it right up and has been doing great.

At bedtime, I wanted things to be as normal as possible. We stuck to our routine until it was time to talk about the bed…

Do you ever have those rare parenting moments when you actually come up with a good idea? Well, today just happened to be my day. We had gone to a birthday party earlier and Ellie was talking all day about presents. I thought this would come in handy to put a small reward system in place for Ellie’s new bed. I decided to tell Ellie that each time she slept in her bed and stayed in bed until I got her she would …