Loss and Peace

My husband and I are saddened to let you know that we lost a precious little one this week.  On Monday I miscarried a baby at 6 weeks pregnant.  We are very much at peace with the Lord’s will for this in our lives.  He has truly blanketed us with His love and peace over a difficult several days.  We are reassured by the TRUTH that our sweet child is now in the arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a joyous reunion we will have in Heaven with our baby when we get there someday!  Please pray for continued physical healing for me as I am still dealing with pain and other residual effects of the miscarriage on my body.  We have found so much comfort in God’s Word and through prayer as we’ve been dealing with this.  The Lord is true in His promises to us and unfailing in His love for us. 

Please excuse me as I take a short break from this blog to recover physically.

Craft Update

I’ve been working on a lot of random crafting projects this week that I’ve put off for a while.  Here they are and the tutorials I used to create them.  Try them for yourself and let me know if you have any questions!

Black Apple Doll

Tutorial at Martha Stewart Website HERE

 Hooded Bath Towel

Tutorial at Make It and Love It – HERE

(This would look better if I used coordinating towels, but I just used old ones from the closet)

Little Girl’s Ruffled Skirt

Modified design from Ruffles And Stuff - HERE

Tutu Dress

This one I saw and copied.  Needs more layers of tulle but you just sew them to a onesie, add some ribbon and a bow!  Don’t mind the cardboard Texas Tech – still working on an appliqué to go there.

Sloppy Joe Pot Pie

Who doesn’t love sloppy joe’s?  Especially if you can put it in one dish and not have to eat them with your hands.  And if you can get through this whole recipe without quoting the lunch scene from “Billy Madison” or singing an Adam Sandler song . . . then you are one step ahead of me.  Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

-1 pound lean ground beef

-1 medium onion, chopped

-1 can (15.5 oz) sloppy joe sauce

-1 cup shredded cheese

-1 cup Bisquick mix

-1/2 cup milk

-1 egg

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 400.  Cook beef and onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.  Stir in sloppy joe sauce.

2.  Place in casserole dish.  Sprinkle with cheese. 

Stir remaining ingredients until blended.  Pour over beef mixture.

3.  Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Shoe Peg Casserole

Shoe Peg Corn is a very sweet corn.  I had never heard of it before I had this casserole and fell in love with the little guys.  It’s a little difficult to find (it is NOT at Wal-Mart) but you should be able to find it amongst the other corns at the grocery store.  I couldn’t find it this time and used regular corn and it just wasn’t the same.  This recipe is from a country church cookbook that I borrowed from my sister-in-law.

Ingredients:

-1 can French cut green beans

-1 can shoe peg corn

-2 Tbsp butter

-1/2 c chopped onions

-1/2 c chopped celery

-1/2 c grated cheese

-1 (8 oz) container sour cream

-1 can celery soup (can substitute cream of chicken if that’s what you have on hand)

-3/4 stack Ritz crackers, crushed (or get crazy and use the whole stack!)

-1/2 c melted butter

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Sauté onions and celery in butter.  When tender, mix with beans and corn.

2.  Mix cheese, sour cream and celery soup.  Then mix with bean mixture.  Place in casserole dish.

3.  Mix crackers and butter.  Sprinkle on top of beans and corn mixture. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Chocolate Thunder Cake

I’ve seen this cake by many names and if you read the recipe, you’ve probably seen it too.  It is absolutely delicious!  Poking the holes in the cake really gets the milk and fudge down in there and keeps the cake nice and moist.  This is from www.recipezaar.com.

Ingredients:

-1 (18 oz) package German Chocolate cake mix

-1 1/3 cups water (or as called for by your cake mix)

-1/2 c vegetable oil (or as called for by your cake mix)

-3 eggs (or as called for by your cake mix)

-1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

-1 (12 oz) jar chocolate fudge topping

-1 (16 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

1.  Bake cake in a 13x9 pan according to directions on box.

2.  Let  cool 25-30 minutes in pan.

3.  Poke holes in cake with wooden spoon handle.

4.  Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake.  Spread evenly and wait 5 minutes.

5.  Pour on fudge topping – easier to spread if you melt it in the microwave per directions on the bottle.  Spread evenly and wait 5 minutes.

6.  Spread Cool Whip over top.

7.  Refrigerate and enjoy!

Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Quiche

I can never find a quiche recipe that has everything in it that I like.  So I used several different ones to create this one that I LOVE.  You can really customize it however you want.  When I was nursing and couldn’t eat broccoli, I would do half with and half without.  Use your imagination!

Ingredients:

-1 packed pie crust

-4 beaten eggs

-1.5 cups milk

-salt and pepper to taste

-1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

-Handful of frozen broccoli

-1.5 cups shredded cheese

-1 Tbsp flour

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare pie crust for 1 curst pie as per packet instructions.  Prick crust generously with fork.  Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes or until light golden brown.

2.  Stir together eggs, milk, broccoli, and salt and pepper.  Add chicken.  In a small bowl, toss together cheese and flour.  Add to egg mixture, mix well.

3.  Pour into baked crust.  Cook at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Fudgy Frosted Brownie Cookies

Yes, these are as good as they sound!  It’s quite a bit of trouble to make these because of the frosting.  I don’t think I would make these for everyday at the house, but they would be good to take somewhere.  Recipe from Betty Crocker Online.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

-1 cup Bisquick mix

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

-1/2 cup sour cream

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 egg

Frosting:

-2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

-2 Tbsp butter

-2 cups powdered sugar

-3 to 4 Tbsp hot water

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350.  Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.  In medium bowl, mix cookie ingredients until well blended.

2.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

3.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until set.  Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.  Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4.  In 2 quart saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.  Stir in powdered sugar and 3 tablespoo9ns of the hot water until smooth.  If frosting is too thick, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time.  Spread frosting over cookies.