Good Morning!

How is your Friday so far?

So yesterday I decided that I was finally going to join :

She does a Friday post called Feed Your Family.

So I cooked up some yummy things, took pictures and then went to her blog to link up.

But there was nothing for today????? 

I read back some older posts and she is done with the Feed My Family series!

Haha!

Story of my life !!

None the less, I made some food and I'm going to share the recipes with you, ok?

I didn't think you would mind! :)

First I started a basic bread dough recipe. You can find one anywhere! This one came from Jenna Woginrich's book Made From Scratch . It's a GREAT read and will totally bring out the inner farm/country desires in you.

I still have a long way to go on my bread making skills.

Her recipe makes 2 loaves. In this case I made one loaf and a batch of dinner rolls. I also used half whole wheat flour and half regular.

It wasn't my favorite batch. Something was off.

Not Jenna's fault. Purely mine:)

So on to the Breakfast Casserole:

I start by browning my sausage. One pound.

While the sausage is browning, I chopped up some onions and bell peppers from the garden. 2 of each (they were on the small side)

Then added to the mix.

{ I forgot how lame my pics without the filters of Instagram!}

Before I add in the sausage, peppers, onion mix, I ripped up the equivalent of 5 slices of cheesy bread that I left over from the Farmer's Market last week.

I layered it evenly over the bottom of the greased baking dish.

Then I added the sausage mixture and spread it evenly.

I also found some mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used, so I added those too.

The more yummy ingredients the better!

Next I got out 8 (small) farm fresh eggs and put them into a bowl. I added about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of milk. If you have cream or half and half that's even better. Skim milk need not apply, ok? I also added 3 big spoonfuls of sour cream. Once again, it was in the fridge and needed to be used.

I whisked this all together, salt and peppered it and a  hint of garlic.

I didn't season this too much because the sausage has so much seasoning in it already. But you can season your heart out if you want to :)

Pour egg/milk/sour cream mixture over the sausage and bread already in the pan. Smooth and distribute evenly.

Then I added cheese.

We are BIG fans of cheesy goodness at this house.

Yes sir!

I happened to have half a bag of swiss and half a bag of cheddar.

So I used up both.

I suppose this could be called, use up what's in your fridge breakfast casserole! Ha!

You can use as much or as little cheese as you like and any flavor will do.

We give all cheese an equal opportunity around here.

At this point, some recipes would tell you to let it soak over night in the fridge or something to that effect.

The hubby doesn't like the texture of that concoction. I don't mind, but he does.

So, I baked it right away.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

And here it is!

Let is cool for at least 10 minutes, if you want to burn your tongue like I did, cut a piece right away.

I really don't advise that though.

I ate mine for lunch yesterday paired with a few slices of garden fresh tomatoes.

I didn't get pictures of many of the steps, I'll have to work on that.

Also, sometimes I don't add bread.

Most of the time I add, canned or already baked/boiled potatoes cut into chunks. 

This dish is so versatile and good for any meal in my book.

Since I had put up so many peaches earlier in the week, I felt a peach cobbler was DEFINITELY in order.

I never got to the made from scratch pie crust. But I will, I promise!

Easy Cobbler Recipe:

2 cups milk

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 sticks of butter

4 or 5 peaches or whatever fruit you have on hand. Should be about 2-3 cups worth.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish ( I think a glass dish works best.) And we typically use butter for the greasing.

Not the spray, not margarine, definitely not a soy "butter".

Live it up, use butter. 

Melt the butter, add your ingredients, mix with a whisk.

Cut up your fruit of choice. I should have used more fruit is what the hubby told me later. He was right.

Still good though!

Layer fruit in baking dish, then pour wet mixture over it.

I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top, but plain sugar is good too.

Baked at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Just keep checking until your knife comes out clean.

If you don't want to make big batch, I think a smaller batch actually bakes up better.

Just cut all the ingredients in half. Voila!

When I knew the hubby was almost home, I put on a fresh pot of coffee :)

He liked it!

Some of the girls on Instgram said " Best Wife Award" or "Aww, what a great wife you are!"

Well today, I sent my hubby to work with a pair of dirty jeans because they were hiding underneath the other dirty clothes and I didn't get to wash them : /

Woops!

And now I'm off to scrub the bathtub!

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

Have you cooked up anything good lately?

Enter Clever Title- HERE

Hello There!

Are you out there?

You are?

Ok, just making sure:)

So yesterday I did something in the kitchen that involved peaches and tomatoes and herbs and ........ants.

Well actually, the exterminator took care of the ants.

They were about to carry me out of the kitchen.

The nice/shy/glasses wearing man said it's so hot and dry that they are looking for any water or food wherever they can find it.

I nodded and looked interested {the hubby had already told me this}.

Ask me if this made me feel better about them invading my sink and dancing around the countertops?

Ask me if I felt any remorse when I sprayed them with my apple scented dish soap/water mixture?

The answer, I did not.

They didn't bother to ask me if it was cool to come in, so I didn't hesistate to kick, ok kill, them out.

Hopefully this doesn't make you think less of me.

So once the massacre was over, I preceded to make salsa and put up peach jam.

And here are some pics for you.....just so you know.

{ The lighting situation in the kitchen is less than fabulous. Sorry about that.}

I put the prepared salsa into the jars and then the peaches which I removed the skins from, coarsely chopped, also into jars, put lids on them and set them in the freezer.

Now when I want some fresh summer salsa to dip my chip in, I just remove from freezer and let it thaw.

Or when it's the dead cold of winter and I'm craving a fresh peachy pie, same thing. Remove and thaw.

I saw this somewhere on the Internet and fell in love.

Some may call it easy peasy, others lazy. Whatever.

Do you know Stephanie from The Honey Pot? 

Well I need to brag on her a little. Hopefully she doesn't mind :)

She blogged for me once and shared the most delicious looking recipe. I still think about it.

You can go back and read it here.

Yesterday she wrote a post about her Family Tree. 

Go ahead and read it, I'll wait...........

It was AWESOME wasn't it?

It brought me to tears. Literally.

I've been so happy to get to know her thru a few emails and on Instagram. (what did we do before instagram?) 

I've even asked to be adopted.

And she said yes! :) Stephanie- I'm going to hold you to that girl! :)

I was so moved by her story and how God WORKED His way to everyone in that family.

They were one big happy cussin', drinkin' bunch- and he turned their lives around and they have never looked back.

Is that not amazing?!

Do you watch Biggest Loser? Or any of those transformation shows?

We are hooked on the Before and After are we not? I sure am!

Reading her story was like that for me. You see I grew up in a Christian home, not perfect of course.

But I didn't know what it was like to come from a family that wasn't christian. And here her whole family got saved from sin as adults! Adults!

Do you know what that tells me and hopefully you to?

That it is never too late. Never.

God isn't waiting for you to get your act together or to make your life perfect.

Only He can help you do that.

Him alone.

If you have any questions about any of that, please email me. Or Stephanie, I am volunteering her services because I just know she would love to chat with you about that.

And on another note.....

I went to the thrift store recently. You see I signed up for this thrift exchange a few weeks back.

I was paired with a lovely gal and the challenge was to find your partner a gift that was $10. Thrifted.

Well I went out of town, and got sidetracked, and almost forgot and then BAM. The deadline to ship it out was today! Agh!

I made it, almost. It will go out tomorrow, I promise! :)

Here are a few things I saw along the way.

{ Those plastic bags to the left are produce that someone brings in from their garden!}

* Truly Digestible? Scientifically processed potato chips? 

Well that explains a LOT. 

Woof!

I kind of liked this one, being that we live in the Ozarks and all, but for $20, I passed it up. Maybe next time.

And then the mother of all finds for the day.

The Owl lamp. 

Have you seen this floating around Instagram?

A few other gals have spotted this on their thrifting adventures. 

I audibly gasped when I saw it.

I immediately thought what a can of yellow spray paint and a turquoise shade could do for this lamp?

But girls, can you imagine what my husband would say if he came home to this?!

Ha!

He'd think his sweet wife has lost her mind ok?

Well that's about all I have for you today.

If you are still reading, yay! Kind of a lengthy post today.

Still on my agenda this week is to make some banana bread, a pie of some sort (hello peaches!) and make a gallon of Mrs. Meyers hand soap for the a fraction of the cost.

What do you have going on?

Found

This is a picture of a girl who got a job this week!!!

And not just any job, but at a place where I really want to work and with people who have like minded morals and values.

That means a LOT to me.

I'm excited for the journey God has in store for me and my family.

Thankful for his timely provisions and his never ending love and faithfulness.

He is SO good to us, time and time again.


And furthermore, I need to mention my amazing hubby. He has stood by me and helped me figure out what I want to do "when I grow up".
He works so hard for our family and I don't know if he can ever really absorb how thankful I am for that.
He works a full time job on the road during the week and takes on extra jobs over the weekend doing heating and cooling work.
He comes home tired and sweaty and I don't always have the best attitude because I've missed him for being gone all day.
90% of the time I have a meal ready for him and a mostly clean house. I try and show him love in different ways.
Do you ladies realize how loudly your love speaks thru a clean house and a home cooked meal for your husbands? 
It took me awhile, but I've got it now :)
And in my case, a freshly baked pumpkin pie really does the job :)

I have a couple more weeks to enjoy being at home and I'm going to savor it!

Some things I will be doing this week are:

*Reading and coffee are definitely on the agenda, 2 of my favorite things.

*Snuggling with my little Charlie.

*Making more salsa, also some marinara sauce, and canning peaches.


* I am going to master the art of a homemade pie crust.
{ Have you read the ingredients on a store bought pie crust??? Eeew!}

I'm linking up with the girls at Beautifully Rooted today for the Found Link up.

Guest Post w/ Mary from Finding Healthy Hope

Hello Hello!

I haven't fallen off the computer, well not entirely.

I was away in the land of no Internet service for awhile and it was kind of a nice break actually.

But I'm back and refreshed, ready to BLOG.

I had my girl Mary set up this sweet post for me to have going while I was out, but the previously mentioned lack of Internet service squashed that.

So, alas, here is her post.

But be prepared, you will fall in love with her instantly.

And once you check out her blog and see her love for God, cute style and mouth watering recipes, you will know why I love her too! ;)

Enjoy!

*hi, there, friends!
my name is mary, and i blog over at findinghealthyhope.blogspot.com.
this is my first guest post, so if i seem a little shaky, forgive me.   :)

i haven't been blogging for too long, but i am constantly amazed at how the Lord has brought so many special people into my life through this crazy social network already.
He sure has been good to me, and i am so thankful for each and every person that He has brought my way.
rachel is one of them, and i am so thankful for her!
she is a kindred spirit, for sure, and she has blessed my socks off in the short amount of time i have known her.
thanks for inviting me over, girl!

so many days, i have felt alone, or like i am the only one who gets overwhelmed, down, or just plain old crabby, but through this wonderful outlet, i have been so encouraged to know that we are all in the same boat.
no one's life is perfect, no one has it all together, and we all struggle with the same daily issues of being a wife, mother or just a girl.   :)


so, let me tell you a little bit about me.
most importantly, i am a daughter of the King. 
Jesus swooped down and saved me from my sin when i was around seven years old.
all i had to do was acknowledge my sin problem and trust in Him as my Savior...accept His free gift of salvation that He so painfully paid for on the Cross. 
He changed my life, and although i've failed Him many times, He has NEVER failed or left me.  He is my Hero, my Redeemer, my Savior and Friend.



secondly, i am married to nathan, a very loving and adoring husband. 
we are going on 15 years of marriage in january.  FIFTEEN years!
that's big, people.   :)

we have four children ranging in age from 6 to 13.
life is flying by, and they are growing up so quickly!
some days i fear if i blink, they will be gone.
in fact, three of the four are headed off to camp this coming week.  for a WEEK!!!
i seriously don't know what i'm going to do with myself.  ***nsert panicky tears***

i like to talk(you noticed?), so let me tell you about one of my favorite things to do, besides hang out with my family.


i love, love, love antiquing and/or flea marketing.
salvaging old cast off treasures and giving them new life is so fun!
i also like to create.
it's sort of like oxygen for me...it's therapeutic and keeps me sane.
i also really, really like to decorate, or 'fluff', as some like to say.
i believe that this is a God given instinct to most women.
as the mom and wife, it is my job to take care of the household in so many different ways.
some of those include cooking, cleaning, teaching my children, respecting my husband, and creating a peaceful and loving atmosphere for my family.
let me tell you, i am NOT very good at that last one, but He's still workin' on me, that's for sure.


i like pretty things, and today i'd like to show you one of my latest treasures.
i don't know about you, but i love vintage and antique maps.
while perusing a local antique shop, i spotted a 1955 wisconsin road map that was 75% off it's price of around $15.
BINGO!
since i live in WI, and love vintage maps, i paid the $3 and went on my merry little way immediately dreaming up how i could use it in my home.


here's what i did...


because of the size, i couldn't find a frame to fit it(it was too big), and i didn't want to pay for custom framing, so i went to our local lumber yard and had them cut a piece of 1/2 inch plywood for me.
i had them cut it 3 inches bigger on each side than i would need for the map for a sort of frame look.
they are getting quite used to my wacky requests at the lumber yard.  ;)

next, we stretched the canvas drop cloth(from any hardware store) over the wood and stapled it taut(my sweet hubby helped me with this because the staple gun was misbehaving).

i cut off the excess drop cloth and had my space ready to pin the map onto.
all i did next, was take some aluminum push pins i found a t hobby lobby, and placed them in the top and bottom corners of the map.
(because i didn't want to compromise the condition of the map with lots of holes or permanent glue)
this girl likes to change things up!

then i spray painted some chipboard letters that i found at hobby lobby at 50% off, and hot glued them to twine to spell 'home sweet home'.
you could use lots of fun different sayings, though.

my crafty thirteen year old then stitched red thread around the edges of a piece of cardboard that i cut from a box in our garage.
i gently taped it to the spot on the map where we live.
i also simply duct taped the 'home sweet home' banner to the back of the plywood.
the back isn't pretty, but no one will see it, right?   :)

and of course, i had to post an instagram photo, too.
did i mention how much i love instagram? 
well, i do!

 and there you have it.
a custom(ish), totally changeable piece of unique wall art for very little money.

here's the price breakdown:


map:::$3
plywood:::$10
canvas:::$10
chipboard letters:::$2(for what i used)
pushpins:::$3 for box(i used 6 pins total, so there's plenty to spare)


my hubby even hung it up for me today(sunday), but the lighting in our home is terrible and i don't have a fancy camera, but i think you get the idea!


thank you for having me over today, rachel.   this was super fun!
i am SO thankful for your friendship...you are a blessing to me!


xo,
mary

Mary, 

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for posting this. You are the true inspiration to me and I only wish that we could locked in Ikea together and have to eat our way thru the meatballs, laughing the whole time! :)

This crafty creation is AH-mazing and you can bet your sweet smile that I WILL be stealing this idea.

I've already got the spot picked out:)

Virtual Coffee Tuesday

Good Morning!

Are you ready for coffee?

So today if we were really meeting for coffee, I would have you over to my house!

{ Excuse the mess ok?}

We ran out of milk yesterday so we're drinking our coffee black today with a little sugar.

I made some peanut butter type balls yesterday and girls- these are YUMMY!

There is a recipe floating around out there called " No Bake Energy Bites" you can find that recipe here.

They are so easy and versatile.

For mine I used some organic crunchy peanut butter and I added in some chopped dates.

We had all the ingredients in our pantry already, which made it super easy!

I think they would be really great to bring along a car trip,  picnic, pack for everyday lunch or even a quick on-the-go breakfast.

Try these and let me know what you think?

 

This past week and weekend my brother and his family were in town, so there was lots of hanging out and just being together at my parents.

Good times.

And of course we had to pose in fron of the fireplace with all my dad's horshoe trophies.

He's a total star when it comes to throwing some shoes.

He's even been to some world tournaments and placed well in his class.

{ This pic is kind of fuzzy and I have no idea what Charlie is doing....}

I made a batch of stuffed peppers and cabbage on Sunday. The peppers and cabbage and onions were from our garden.

LOVE that!

I also did a little fluffing around the Jeter nest yesterday. Nothing major, just rearranging and actualy dusting.

Crazy, I know :)

Do you decorate with deer horns/antlers too?

Well let me tell you something......If you would have asked this city girl to decorate with deer paraphenalia a few years ago, you would have gotten a BIG laugh for your answer.

Now I'm happy to show off my hubby's accomplishments.

And it definitely adds a little, how shall we say it? Oh, Rustic feel. Yeah.

We have a problem in our house.

Too many books!

They are everywhere!

So I'm trying to incorporate some of them into the decorating.

I saw this somewhere on Facebook yesterday.

And I thought this saying was just perfect.

So often I get stuck in the moment of thinking that something is too big or too much to handle or that I will never be able to accomplish that.

Well now I'm going to try and just take the first step.

And then the next and the next and so forth.

So what are you up to on this fine Tuesday?

Anything exciting?

And by exciting, I also mean just a low key day too- I like those :)

I'm linking up with Amy today over at Lucky Number 13.

<

Good Morning Monday!

While I'm waiting for some coffee to brew, I thought I would check in.:)

How is everyone today?

Did you have a busy/restful/awesome/go anywhere weekend?

We had some family in town from Florida and we just......hung out, bbq'd, ate out, sat around, played games, read books. 

It was great!

Just what our busy lives needed.

Did I tell you that I no longer have a job?

Yeah.....

Did I tell you that it's actually an answer to prayer?

It is....

Did I tell you that for now the hubby is going to let me be Susie homemaker?:)

Yep....

That doesn't mean I will be sitting on my tush eating bon bons. {Whatever that is!}

But it does mean that I will be able to build up my very empty Etsy shop, and make more jam and clean/organize the house and maybe even find a little online job/work from home scenario.

Know any jobs like that?

Do you remember several posts back when I mentioned that I felt a  BIG CHANGE going on?

I think this is it.

And it feels so........RIGHT.

I've been spending a lot of time doing my daily devotions lately and seeking guidance from Him.

Of course sometimes I miss a day {or two} and have to catch up, but I'm learning so much. And leaning on God to guide us thru this hectic/hairy/crazy/complicated life.

It's helping me be nicer, and pray better and think about things differently.

I don't want to be consumed by this world and all it's junk.

I don't want to care about my outfit or a new car or if other people think I'm good enough.

I just want to stand up and live the life God has set out in front of me. 

Not wanting to miss a beat.

I don't want to have room for negative/toxic thoughts, but only thoughts of lifting up and helping others.

Doing God's work.

There is a group of gals on instagram who are doing regular devotions together.

The latest one I'm following is called "The Surrendered Life".

And over the weekend, one of the readings was centered on the word "Renew".

The writer goes on to tell the reader that when we renew our minds by diving into God's word and submerging our very being we fill our minds with the truth of God and we will be changed from the inside out.

I nearly get goose bumps just typing that.

Towards the end there are "Action Steps" and she asks :

" How much time do you spend reading God's word everyday? What other godly influences do you use to help you keep in step with the Spirit? ex. worship music, podcasts, Christian tv shows? Take inventory of how much time you spend listening to the things/people of the world. When you spend more time reading God's word you will be amazed at how you will change from the inside out."

There she goes with the " inside out thing " again.

I don't know about you- but I really WANT to be changed from the inside out.

The sooner the better.

That can happen by reading God's word. Praying without ceasing- about everything. Taking care of what goes into my body, exercise, being around other Godly people who truly want to live for Him.

Am I spending more time watching Netflix than I do with God?

How about Facebook? Texting? Reading books that are trash? Listening to music that doesn't gratify Him? 

This is really more for myself, a reminder of what's important to me.

How do you stay accountable?

What does a day walking like Jesus look like for you?

Do you struggle too?

Camping

Do you remember several posts ago when I mentioned how badly I wanted to go camping???

Well we finally went!!!!!!!

Yay!

Except it was 100*!!!!!

Boooo!!!!!

But we made the best of it and spent lots of time in the water.

{ I thought I would spare you all the bathing suit pics.}

{ Oh wait, there are NONE! }

The cute lab in the pic is our friend's dog Lucy :)

She was a good camping companion.

Friends making breakfast.

Our humble home in the woods.

No we didn't eat corn for breakfast.

Although I would have made an exception for this corn.

It was DELISH!

The hubby said he will never again waste tin foil when grilling corn. Straight in the husk is perfect.

And it was!:)

The night before camping we went to the Drive In.

I was the only one out of our group that had ever been to one!

I was in shock!

Pure disbelief!

Have you ever been to a Drive In Movie?

We packed a cooler with snacks, drinks and chicken salad sandwiches and headed to the drive in which was an hour away.

We settled in with our popcorn, { I CANNOT watch a movie at the theater, withOUT popcorn- it's just not right!} and as soon as it was dark the movie began.

There was minimal distraction from other viewers and the bugs weren't too bad either.

I'm checking things off my summer list left and right.

And now I'm off to bake some cookies and get ready for my family from Florida coming for a visit and a GREAT weekend!

What are you up to?