What I Ate {January 2017}

1 - Southern Black-Eyed Peas + Easy Sweet Cornbread Muffins {funny, everyone likes my canned beans and plain Jiffy cornbread better!}

2 - Taco Salad
3 - Mini Meatloaves + Roasted Sweet Potatoes + Kale Salad

4 - Baked Potato
5 - Hobo Pockets

6 - Chili
7 - Orange Chicken + Brown Rice + Stir Fry Veggies
8 - 7-Layer Dip + Tortilla Chips
9 - Spinach & Cheese Stuffed Shells + Multi Grain Sweet Rolls

10 - Chuy's Chicken Tortilla Soup {Copy Cat Recipe}

11 - Completely forgot what we ate!

12 - Hattie B's

13 - Progressive Dinner in Downtown Franklin

14 - Hamburgers + Seasoned Fries + Portillo Chopped Salad

15 - Digiorno Pepperoni Pizza
16 - Hot Dogs + Romaine with Apples, Pecans & Blue Cheese Salad + BBQ Potato Chips
17 - Onion Soup Mix Chicken and Veggies
18 - Chicken & Black Bean Quesadillas
19 - Hardee's

20 - BBQ Baja Burger + Broccoli Apple Salad

21 - Chick-Fil-A
22 - Shepherds Pie {actually Cottage Pie because we use beef instead of lamb}

23 - Lettuce Wraps

24 - Italian Baked Chicken 

25 - High Temperature Eye of Round Roast {Huge hit!  Everyone loved it!}

26 - Parmesan, Sausage & Kale Soup

27 - Titos

28 - Big Burritos

29 - Rice Pilaf + Roasted Veggies 

30 - Fancy Chicken Salad + Nacho Tortilla Chips

31 - Dole Chopped Asian Toasted Sesame + Brown Rice

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The Power of a Praying Wife {book review}

I read The Power if a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.  BUT I've read it before..a bunch of times.  

It really is a great book and every year or so, I read through it again.  It's 30 chapters so I read 1 chapter a day.  Each chapter is about praying for a specific area of your husband's life {health, mind, work, etc}. The first couple of pages of each chapter is some back ground, stories and verses about why you should pray for that specific area, then it has a prayer for you to pray {or you can pray your own} and finally a few Bible verses to go along with it.

I give the book 5+ stars!

~

Here is the other book I have finished so far in 2017:

(1) Desperate by Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson

~

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Week #4 {2017}

Sunday we had a beautiful sunrise.

Monday Ry and I went down to my mom's.  He took Buddy for a walk in their backyard.

Payton has been really improving in taekwondo.  It is fun to watch her grow quickly.

Then we had one of our favorite dinners...  click {here} for the recipe.

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school for Payton and she had to wear a shirt that had 100 things on it. 

So I went to the Dollar Store, bought some googly eyes and ta-da... {thanks Pinterest!}

Tuesday - Happy 100th Day of school sweet girl!

I've been on a hot tea kick lately...  It makes it easy when my tea cups are so pretty {thanks mom!}.

This didn't photograph great, but dinner was amazing.  Italian Baked Chicken, Mandarin Orange Salad & Garlic Bread.

My sister had introduced me to this amazing tea, but I couldn't find it in a store by me....until now.  Yippee!

See?  Pretty tea cup!

Wednesday morning...this early wake up call is for the birds! 

They repaved the street right outside our house, which Rylan loved watching.

We headed to Toddler Rock at our church.

It took him a long time to warm up to the whole thing.  But it was cute.

We took Ashley, my sweet neighbor/friend to Trader Joe's.  It was her first time there!

And since Chris' office is right by TJ's, we stopped in for a quick hug {and kiss!}.

Another night, another cup of tea.

Thursday we went down to my mom's house.  She was having a kick off "party" to a women's Bible study she is hosting.  Rylan LOVED the sticky buns!

That night I tried a new recipe for a soup and it was SO very good.  Parmesan Sausage & Kale Soup. Oh and I just made it on the stove and not in the slow cooker!

Friday after Dylan got home from school we headed to my mom's to do some work.  But BOTH boys fell asleep...the exact same way.  Ha!

A couple of guys from my mom's church had cut down a ton of branches in her yard for he.  We piled them into the truck, and drove them to the front for the city to pick up.

And since we were driving in her backyard, I let Dylan drive...for the first time ever.  Eek!

Well this is one way to get into the truck!

We met up with Chris and Payton at our favorite restaurant for dinner {Tito's}.  Ry sure loves his dada.

Saturday morning we made waffles and I had a cute helper.

Then we dropped the littles off at grandma's while we went out for awhile.  We ended up trying The Square Market in downtown Columbia for the first time.

Holy Moley....the Tomato Basil & Artichoke soup is amazing.

We stopped at the Balloon Shop for some yummy ice-cream.

And then to Muletown for a Dixie Pecan Latte...

which of course reminds us of Papa Nutt!

Mandarin Orange Salad {recipe}

I cut this salad recipe out of a magazine years ago... and it has been a family favorite ever since.  It is called "Carole Faxon's That Illinois Salad" which is such a long name for a salad, so we just call it Mandarin Orange Salad.

P.S.  I just web searched the recipe and you can find the original {here}!

Mandarin Orange Salad

1 head Romaine Lettuce, chopped

3 Green Onions, sliced

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2-4 tablespoons sugar

Stir almonds and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat until golden brown.  Quickly spread the almonds out on a piece of waxed paper sprayed with baking spray.  Let cool.  Once cooled break into bite size pieces.

Add lettuce, onions, oranges and candied almonds into a serving bowl.  Drizzle dressing over top and toss salad together.

Dressing:

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Add ingredients into a small jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to incorporate.  

Lettuce Wraps {recipe}

This is one of my families most favorite meals ever...they are so happy when they find out this is what we are going to be eating. 

This was one of the meals that was brought to us right after I had had Payton and it has been on rotation ever since!

Lettuce Wraps

3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Teriyaki Sauce

2 heads Bibb {or Boston} Lettuce Leafs, whole

1/2 each Red, Yellow & Orange Bell Pepper, thinly sliced

1 large Cucumber, pealed and thinly sliced

1/2 bag Shredded Carrots {buy them pre-shredded...don't waste your time trying to do it yourself!}

1 bag Chow Mein Noodles

1/4 cup Peanuts, crushed

3 Green Onions, thinly sliced

1 package Bean Sprouts {If you can find them at your market!  I can't find them anywhere - boo!}

Brown Rice

Sweat Chili Sauce {bottled}

Peanut Sauce {recipe below}

Directions:

Marinate Chicken in teriyaki sauce for a few hours.  

While that's marinating, prepare your brown rice per package directions.

Grill chicken and slice into small strips.

Serve with the toppings and sauces, brown rice on the side.

Peanut Butter Sauce

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Stir together in a small pot and simmer for 5 minutes.

Week #3 {2017}

Sunday we went to my mom's church.

~

Monday we took Jeanine & Penel to the airport.

~

Tuesday  we took Vese & Kenzi to the airport.

~

Wednesday life was back to normal.  I had to chuckle at the outfit Payton wanted to wear to school.  She sure has her own style!

Rylan was cleaning his room when all of a sudden I heard a vacuum.  He definitely is daddy's boy!

He is such a good boy.

Then my sweet friend Becky {on the left} sent me this awesome picture that she found.  My dad was such a good sport.

Thursday Chris had a late work meeting.  So I decided to take the kids out to eat.  They chose Hardee's {Carl's Jr.} and it was surprisingly good!

When Chris got home, someone wouldn't leave his side.

Friday we had a window replaced that was leaking.

And little guy finished his homeschool pre-k book!

He also upgraded to a booster seat and thought he was big stuff.

It was a beautiful day outside.  We have had a really warm winter, and we take advantage of it as much as we can!

Chris grilled Baja BBQ Burgers {veggie burger + BBQ sauce + Avocado Slices + Pineapple Ring}, and I made Broccoli & Apple Salad.  Both were a hit...even fore the kids!

Saturday it was Rylan vs. the wall.  The wall won.  Poor kiddo!