Tempt my Tummy Stew

So in honor of my elegant dinner last night (Huckabee and Me) which consisted of a blue cheese topped filet mignon surrounded by fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, and asparagus in a sauce that reminded me of stew (elegant, yet comfort food, who knew?).....here is my crock pot rendition of Crock Pot Turkey Stew.

1 1/2 lbs turkey tenderloin

1 large sweet potato, cut up

1/2 bag baby carrots

4 potatoes, cut up

2 packets of onion soup mix

1 1/2 cups water

Throw it all in, in the order above, and let it cook for 6 to 8 hours.

The sweet potato completely mushes (for the lack of a better term and that I'm only on my first cup of coffee) and makes a wonderfully thick and tasty base. You don't need to cut up the turkey before you add it as it will just fall apart when it is done. Also, if you cannot find turkey tenderloin use a turkey breast and cut the meat off the bone (discard skin as well - yuck!). I just did this this morning and it took about 15 minutes to assemble. Why are raw sweet potatoes so much harder to cut than regular potatoes??

Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for more delish ideas!

***I know it's supposed to be a Christmas Goodies recipe, but I am yet to start my Christmas baking.....and with the list I have I need to start soon! This would be great for those baking days....throw it together, set it aside, bakes lots and lots of cookies, enjoy your stew after the madness.

Huckabee and Me

A friend of ours invited Mark and I to their school's Christmas Dinner (thanks t!!). They had Mike Huckabee as their speaker (I thought, WOW! How did they get him....but they rattled off some of their past speakers - Oliver North, Alan Keyes, etc. So I guess they can get some powerhouses). This is not a school I could afford to send my kids to!

This year's primaries were the first time I ever really cared about politics. I watched the first few debates and found out Huckabee was the guy for me. I really liked him and agreed with him about the majority of issues. I even sported a bumper sticker (yes, I did take it off once he was out of the race). Our friends knowing this, we were invited to this very elegant dinner. It was the second time I have been away from home since the baby was born. Both the baby and I did fine. We both only cried a little bit.

To open up the show Mike played his bass with some kids from the school. He's big into art/music education. Nice for someone to actually walk the walk. His speech was amazing. What a dynamic speaker. The first half was pretty much a stand up act, as he is such a funny storyteller and the second half, serious and oh, so truthful (preach it Brother Mike).

We all got signed copies of his newest book (I guess I can return my copy to the library before it's due date :). He wasn't doing a "photo opportunity" because he was on his way to the airport but I made my own. That's why it looks like I'm jumping into the photo. Reminds me of my college days, except no, despite my goofy smile and crazy eyes, I was not drinking.

Superhero in the Making

Lexi is the middle child. She thinks she is treated unfairly at least every other minute and has perfected her tantrum to fit the bill. She is too little to do many things that big sister Emma can do and too big to be the baby. She is apt to burst into tears at any time. I think this is why she is so into superheroes right now.

Lexi has asked for a cape now for some time and I finally got around to making one. I was planning on hitting stores after Halloween to get one cheap, but even thought they were relatively inexpensive, they were such low quality. They wouldn't have lasted long. So out came the sewing machine.

I used some fabric I already had - fleece that was a little too small for a nice blanket and some satin from the hideous detachable train that came with my wedding dress that permanently stayed detached. There was twice as much fabric on that train than the dress. Lucky for my little sewing projects!

I did a Velcro closure and a "L" logo on the back. Now that it's finished there are lots of things that I would have done differently (lighter fabric, fuller cape, different neckline). But she thinks it's great. "Super Lexi" is off to save the world, one injustice at a time....

EASY Crock Pot Chicken-Fried Chops

I have a go-to pork chop recipe which I love. It has a nice gravy and caramelized onions that I adore (and pick out for the kids). Goes great with my "mashed potatoes" (aka cauliflower and very few potatoes). It's making my mouth water right now. The problem was that I wanted to go to spinning class which was at dinner cooking time (so I could eat the gravy without regret) and it took too long to start it after I returned. SO....I went to Taste of Home and took my chances.

I found this Chicken-Fried Chops recipe for the crock pot. I knew the "Chicken-Fried" part would go over well with my husband. Little did I know this will now be my go-to chop dish. It was incredible and the time it took was so much less than the other. I am always a little suspect of dishes with canned cream soup, but the crock pot turns it into something magical. Now that I think about it, the crock pot potato soup recipe that we always battle for the leftovers also has cream of chicken soup. Anyway, you should try it if you are looking for a quick fix. I'm even going to make it next week when my relatives come to town. It was THAT good!

For the faux mashed potatoes, steam cauliflower and boil just a few potatoes. With mine the cauli far outweighs the potatoes. You could do half and half if you are skeptical. I leave some potatoes in because it gives them a better consistency. Mash them all together like you normally would. I add chicken bouillon, butter, and milk. Now you have some sneaky mashed potatoes that have a little better nutritional content. AND you are getting two veggies in one. Nobody noticed when I made the switch. I couldn't help tell my husband that what he was eating had cauli. I don't dare tell the kids....

Enjoy your day.

Celebrating Advent

A few years ago I took a workshop about celebrating advent in preparation for Christmas. I implemented a fraction of what they gave us and it was a huge hit with the girls. My favorite idea was the nightly family activities.

I made 25 little boxes (each year it's a different amount of days) with my blue, white, and silver Christmas theme. Each had a number and an activity inside for that night. I was a bit too ambitious the first year and was stressed trying to prepare my activities. This was not what I was going for. I wanted to spend some good quality time as a family each night. I learned that I needed to plan activities that were easy, but fun, with no stress for me. The girls get to find the numbered box for that day and find out what activity is to come that night. They can't wait to do it each morning.

We also try to play a lot of Christmas music, light festive smelling candles, read the Christmas story, and pray for those that we get cards from that day. Celebrating advent has made our Christmas much more special.

Here is my activity list for this year:

Nov 30 – Decorate the Christmas Tree!

Dec 1 – Make a paper prayer chain for the advent season

Dec 2 – Look through scrapbooks and home video.

Dec 3 – Have breakfast for dinner! Make Christmas wrapping paper out of paper bags.

Dec 4 – Go out and look at the stars. Play with the snaps and sparklers. Hot cocoa?

Dec 5 – We are going to Young Life camp! Let’s listen to Christmas music on the way!

Dec 6 – Young Life camp -

Dec 7 – Young Life Christmas Party!

Dec 8 – Paint everyone’s toenails bright red - let's see if we can get Daddy to do it! Play outside!

Dec 9 – Let’s go shopping so you can pick out a gift for your sister! Then let’s come home and wrap it!

Dec 10 – Make Christmas cards for your teachers. Make coffee mix for teachers.

Dec 11 – Decorate for Aunt Jackie’s Birthday party.

Dec 12 – Bake sugar cookies and decorate them! Send a care package to Aunt Abby and Aunt Beth.

Dec 13 – Run a 5K and kids run! Visit “A Walk Through Bethlehem” 4-9pm

Dec 14 – Scarlett’s Baptism (party!). Game Night! Make mulled cider and popcorn!

Dec 15 – Craft: color stained glass nativity book.

Dec 16 - Have a fancy dinner using the fine china (dress up for dinner).

Dec 17 – Read Christmas books.

Dec 18 – Go see Santa (in the neighborhood holiday party).

Dec 19 – Bring the tabs to the Ronald McDonald house (bring cookies too!).

Dec 20 – Feed the homeless. Bring them Christmas cookies as well.

Dec 22 – Watch The Christmas Story and eat popcorn!

Dec 21 - Go look at Christmas lights.

Dec 23 – Camp out in front of the Christmas tree and read stories.

Dec 24 - Make a birthday cake for Jesus!

Dec 25 – Christmas morning Breakfast!

Check out Works-For-Me Wednesday to get more great ideas!

Holiday French Toast

If you are planning a special breakfast for the holidays, make it easy on yourself. As a tradition, we use Hawiian Bread (you can find it by the deli) for our holiday frech toast...but that's not the best part (or maybe it is, but that isn't what my post is about). Last year I had some left over flavored coffee creamer from a get together. I like my coffee black so was not going to use it the conventional way. Always looking for new ideas to make normal things extraordinary (I was probably out of milk) I used the creamer in my french toast mixture. So different, but so good!

There are a ton of flavors out there to make your french toast festive. How about Belgium White Chocolate Macadamia, Southern Butter Pecan, White Chocolate Raspberry, or Mocha Almond Fudge. They have sugar free and fat free choices as well. I went with the Vanilla Caramel, as I didn't know how adventurous my little ones would be. Also, I'm not a huge fan of chocolate for breakfast. Substitute it for the milk you add to any french toast recipe. It really does give it a kick.

I don't have a set recipe for french toast. Just throw together some eggs and creamer. I usually add sugar, vanilla and spices, but because there is already sugar and flavoring in the creamer you can skip it. Need a french toast recipe? Go to RecipeZaar to find one that fits you.

Just think of the possibilities.

Hazelnut, Eggnog, Gingerbread, Pumpkin Spice, Tiramisu.....

Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for some more holiday recipes!

Pretty Princess Cake

I make a cake this week for a special friend of ours, Ashlyn. She had a princess theme birthday party (complete with a HUGE castle made from several appliance boxes - they had to clear their front room of all furniture, a royal beauty parlor, and a pin the kiss on a frog game - cute!). She chose a castle cake. I choose to use marshmallow fondant for the first time (use YouTube instructions to see how), but only for the accents. I'm still not brave enough to cover a whole cake with the stuff. I don't like how regular fondant tastes but this marshmallow stuff was good. A little messy, but easy to make.....and I made it about a month ago and it kept very well in the refrigerator.

I haven't taken any cake classes and have been learning new things each cake I do. The lesson I learned on this one is that vanilla frosting is not really white....Classic White frosting is white. So Ashlyn ended up with an ivory castle. Not too shabby for a fondant frog prince!