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Annie
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Hey y’all!!! Sorry for the delay, this past week has been a week none of us will ever forget. Let me start from the top. We started the week out sick with colds and allergies, typical for us this time of year. I prayed healing prayers on everyone in my house and my mother in law’s house too. This string of illnesses has hit both homes with a vengeance. I refuse to let that lil demon of sickness take us down when we are working our way to the top. And praise GOD for bringing around some healing this week, by Thursday we were all on the mend!
Hayley kicked butt on Wednesday in speech therapy. Most of you who know me and Hayley know that she was born with cleft palate. Last July, Hayley had her surgery to repair her soft palate and a deviated septum. She has been in Speech Therapy since last October and has come leaps and strides with her speech. She is my angel child. Even her dentist is praising her surgeons for doing such an awesome job!
Now let me get to the BIGGEST day of this week: Friday, March 18, 2011. Pastor Joel Osteen from Lakewood Church in Houston brought Night of Hope to Nashville, and I had the honor and privilege of not only being able to serve but also attend with my church family. My church, Oasis Worship Center here in Nashville, was one of the sponsoring churches, helping to make this event possible. What an incredible night!!! I highly recommend to all of you that if the oppurtunity comes up in your area, GO!!! Those of us who attended from Oasis I can tell you know how to make some noise!!!
A pastor from each sponsoring church opened with a prayer and a declaration. When our Pastor Danny Chambers stepped up and starting speaking, I swear the rafters were shaking!!! Our Oasis family cheered and clapped with such power!!! We are blessed to be a part of Oasis church and family. And of course, Joel Osteen and his family were FAR from disappointing! So many lives have taken a new and awesome turn its amazing to see it happen. So like I said, if you get the chance, GO!!!
And to end this week, today, Saturday has been productive for all of us. This morning was spent scrubbing down the house and playing catch up on things that got skipped over this week. When we got done it was like kids on summer vacation! LOL! We headed out to Cracker Barrel for lunch and stopped over by the lake after we were done eating.
My 2 yr old dog, Hazard had the time of his life. He LOVES diving in and chasing sticks in the water. He kept on going til he couldn’t go anymore. Hayley loves throwing the sticks for him and investigates 95% of the rocks she stumbles upon. You see, in our house, we don’t collect flowers. We collect rocks: FROM EVERYWHERE!!! LOL! Not sure the reasoning behind it, if there is any, but Hayley has been collecting rocks for the past two years. She has found some interesting ones. Besides, they last longer.
So I wanted to share some of the pics with y’all from the past week.
Spring has arrived here, and one of the first traditions of the season we have is getting the bubble blowers out and let the wind blow! so ask yourself that question and journal about it. what are some of YOUR traditions for this growing season? the one of me was taken last night before we left for the Joel Osteen Event. let me know what yall think! well off to bed with me! yall have a blessed night!
Hayley kicked butt on Wednesday in speech therapy. Most of you who know me and Hayley know that she was born with cleft palate. Last July, Hayley had her surgery to repair her soft palate and a deviated septum. She has been in Speech Therapy since last October and has come leaps and strides with her speech. She is my angel child. Even her dentist is praising her surgeons for doing such an awesome job!
Now let me get to the BIGGEST day of this week: Friday, March 18, 2011. Pastor Joel Osteen from Lakewood Church in Houston brought Night of Hope to Nashville, and I had the honor and privilege of not only being able to serve but also attend with my church family. My church, Oasis Worship Center here in Nashville, was one of the sponsoring churches, helping to make this event possible. What an incredible night!!! I highly recommend to all of you that if the oppurtunity comes up in your area, GO!!! Those of us who attended from Oasis I can tell you know how to make some noise!!!
A pastor from each sponsoring church opened with a prayer and a declaration. When our Pastor Danny Chambers stepped up and starting speaking, I swear the rafters were shaking!!! Our Oasis family cheered and clapped with such power!!! We are blessed to be a part of Oasis church and family. And of course, Joel Osteen and his family were FAR from disappointing! So many lives have taken a new and awesome turn its amazing to see it happen. So like I said, if you get the chance, GO!!!
And to end this week, today, Saturday has been productive for all of us. This morning was spent scrubbing down the house and playing catch up on things that got skipped over this week. When we got done it was like kids on summer vacation! LOL! We headed out to Cracker Barrel for lunch and stopped over by the lake after we were done eating.
My 2 yr old dog, Hazard had the time of his life. He LOVES diving in and chasing sticks in the water. He kept on going til he couldn’t go anymore. Hayley loves throwing the sticks for him and investigates 95% of the rocks she stumbles upon. You see, in our house, we don’t collect flowers. We collect rocks: FROM EVERYWHERE!!! LOL! Not sure the reasoning behind it, if there is any, but Hayley has been collecting rocks for the past two years. She has found some interesting ones. Besides, they last longer.
So I wanted to share some of the pics with y’all from the past week.
Spring has arrived here, and one of the first traditions of the season we have is getting the bubble blowers out and let the wind blow! so ask yourself that question and journal about it. what are some of YOUR traditions for this growing season? the one of me was taken last night before we left for the Joel Osteen Event. let me know what yall think! well off to bed with me! yall have a blessed night!
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Annie
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The other day, my daughter and I were out and about and decided to stop by the nearest barnes and nobles. I absolutely love that store to death and always find something that grabs my brain. Well, this trip was no exception to that. I always take a good look in the journal section. Its been a long time habit of mine to collect journals of sorts. I happened upon this little treasure by chance. Its an inspirational journal with quotes and scripture. The minute I opened it, I knew that I had found something worth bringing home. The difference between this and a lot of other inspirational journals is its layout. when you open it up,each page has titles at the top. on the left side you have your quotes and your scriptures. on the right side, you have the title and a place to journal on. it gives you a lead. and thats something I like. something that makes me think. now,I know most journals are written in chronological order. its like a rule or something isn't it? well if it is a rule,I broke it. I have begun the journey into this little book. I decided that going in order with this would not work for me. so to change it up, I thumb through before I choose and whatever I land on is what I work on. I wanted to share this journey with yall and I think that this is going to be a big part of it. Its a way for me to remind myself of things.
Things that are important to me. So I was thinking that once a week I could post a scripture and a title and yall could start your own promises journal and join along with me. you can use any old notebook or you can head out to your nearest B&N and pick up the actual journal. I paid $10 for it and its worth every penny. so leave a comment here and let me if you are interested, I'll be posting my first entry this weekend for those that are interested. yall have a blessed day!
Things that are important to me. So I was thinking that once a week I could post a scripture and a title and yall could start your own promises journal and join along with me. you can use any old notebook or you can head out to your nearest B&N and pick up the actual journal. I paid $10 for it and its worth every penny. so leave a comment here and let me if you are interested, I'll be posting my first entry this weekend for those that are interested. yall have a blessed day!
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Annie
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Lets start out with a memory. Think back to your childhood. What kind of meals were served on a regular basis? I can think of a lot, but of course this is a blog and I can't list,well,I can,but that would take days and weeks to get done. One meal sticks out in my memories. When me and my brothers were all still living at home, there were certain meals that you could count on there being no leftovers. My mom and I swear that the boys could smell dinner from miles away, because no matter where they were, they seemed to always be home right as Mom was putting the food on the table! One of the no leftover meals for us was Mom's homemade mac and cheese. She used to make it in this big casserole dish and by the time we were done eating, there never was much left. I wanted to share that recipe with y'all.
This recipe is awesome for those cold nights we have all had this winter. Its high in protein, vitamin D and calcium and is always a favorite among kids. So let me walk you through it step by step.
you will need the following ingredients:
8 punces of elbow macaroni,cooked, rinsed and drained
1 16 ounce package of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 16 ounce package of monterey jack cheese, shredded
3 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon of dry ground mustard
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2-1 cup italian bread crumbs
first,heat your oven to 350 degrees farnehiet. Next,you want to cook the macaroni according to the package directions. bring to a boil and large pot of water. once that is boiling, put the macaroni in and let cook for about 10 minutes. elbow macaroni is a pretty dense pasta, so it takes a little longer to cook than some other pastas. you also want to stir it occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan while its cooking. when its done, drain and rinse it with cool water. this rinses any extra starch on it, keeping it from clumping up. once that is done, in a small saucepan, melt the 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. stir in the flour and stir til it blends together. then add the 3 cups of milk and dry mustard. when that comes to a soft boil, add your cheeses. I prefer buying the blocks of cheese and shredding them. The blocks are cheaper and generally retain their softness better than the bagged shredded cheeses do, at least in my opinion. once you add those to the milk mixture, let cook, stirring occasionally until the cheese is completely melted. while you are waiting on this, transfer the pasta to a large glass baking dish,I use a 12x9 sized dish. once that is done, take the other 2 tablespoons of butter and melt them in a small frying pan. once it's melted,add your bread crumbs. I like to brown them up some before I take them out of the pan. Once that is done, check your milk mixture. If the cheese is melted, go ahead and take it off the stove and pour it over the macaroni. Make sure you stir it in well, completely covering the macaroni. Once the breadcrumbs are done, pour them over the top of the macaroni. Use a spoon to spread them evenly over the top. Pop the whole thing into the oven for about 45 minutes. When its done, you will notice that the milk mixture has thickened, binding the macaroni together. Once its done, take it out of the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes. remember this is very hot, so you may want to let it stand a little longer than that. you can add cooked ground beef as a twist to this, or even broccoli or tomatoes. I highly recommend this for a winter recipe. Its comfort food at its best.
***shredding the cheese yourself may not save a whole lot of time, but it will save you money at the grocery store. you can also make the breadcrumbs yourself by toasting some old bread in the oven and adding italian seasoning to your tastes. breadcrumbs should be stored in an airtight container,in a cool dry place. I recommend if you make your own,labeling and dating them. I have made a rule in my kitchen to not keep breadcrumbs for more than a few weeks time at the most.
well its off to think up whats for dinner tonight! if you like this recipe, please leave a comment letting me know what you think about it, and if you added anything to give it a twist!
thanks yall! yall have a blessed day!
oh p.s. I will add photos next week as time allows to all posts here.
This recipe is awesome for those cold nights we have all had this winter. Its high in protein, vitamin D and calcium and is always a favorite among kids. So let me walk you through it step by step.
you will need the following ingredients:
8 punces of elbow macaroni,cooked, rinsed and drained
1 16 ounce package of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 16 ounce package of monterey jack cheese, shredded
3 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon of dry ground mustard
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2-1 cup italian bread crumbs
first,heat your oven to 350 degrees farnehiet. Next,you want to cook the macaroni according to the package directions. bring to a boil and large pot of water. once that is boiling, put the macaroni in and let cook for about 10 minutes. elbow macaroni is a pretty dense pasta, so it takes a little longer to cook than some other pastas. you also want to stir it occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan while its cooking. when its done, drain and rinse it with cool water. this rinses any extra starch on it, keeping it from clumping up. once that is done, in a small saucepan, melt the 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. stir in the flour and stir til it blends together. then add the 3 cups of milk and dry mustard. when that comes to a soft boil, add your cheeses. I prefer buying the blocks of cheese and shredding them. The blocks are cheaper and generally retain their softness better than the bagged shredded cheeses do, at least in my opinion. once you add those to the milk mixture, let cook, stirring occasionally until the cheese is completely melted. while you are waiting on this, transfer the pasta to a large glass baking dish,I use a 12x9 sized dish. once that is done, take the other 2 tablespoons of butter and melt them in a small frying pan. once it's melted,add your bread crumbs. I like to brown them up some before I take them out of the pan. Once that is done, check your milk mixture. If the cheese is melted, go ahead and take it off the stove and pour it over the macaroni. Make sure you stir it in well, completely covering the macaroni. Once the breadcrumbs are done, pour them over the top of the macaroni. Use a spoon to spread them evenly over the top. Pop the whole thing into the oven for about 45 minutes. When its done, you will notice that the milk mixture has thickened, binding the macaroni together. Once its done, take it out of the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes. remember this is very hot, so you may want to let it stand a little longer than that. you can add cooked ground beef as a twist to this, or even broccoli or tomatoes. I highly recommend this for a winter recipe. Its comfort food at its best.
***shredding the cheese yourself may not save a whole lot of time, but it will save you money at the grocery store. you can also make the breadcrumbs yourself by toasting some old bread in the oven and adding italian seasoning to your tastes. breadcrumbs should be stored in an airtight container,in a cool dry place. I recommend if you make your own,labeling and dating them. I have made a rule in my kitchen to not keep breadcrumbs for more than a few weeks time at the most.
well its off to think up whats for dinner tonight! if you like this recipe, please leave a comment letting me know what you think about it, and if you added anything to give it a twist!
thanks yall! yall have a blessed day!
oh p.s. I will add photos next week as time allows to all posts here.
Posted by
Annie
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So, as you read at the side there, I want to share with you the little things that make life easier for me, and ultimately, my family. So let me tell you a little about me to start off. I, like you, have passions. Passions for things I love, things that are a part of me. Mine are: GOD, My Family, Cooking, Scrapbooking, and Photography. Its these passions that I want to share with you. Along the way, I'll share some funny family stories, some tips and tricks, and
hey, I'll even throw in the kitchen sink while I'm at it!
So here begins a new journey, my road less traveled....
hey, I'll even throw in the kitchen sink while I'm at it!
So here begins a new journey, my road less traveled....
