dinner inspiration

Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd do another dinner inspiration (or lunch) post since so many of you enjoyed the one I wrote last week. 

I feel like I have this new appreciation for food all of a sudden, and I only want good food. I've always been like this in a sense, and because I enjoy good food, I enjoy cooking. I've never loved chain restaurants and these days I don't like eating out all that much, because the quality of food usually never matches the high price. We do have a few places we like to visit for date nights, one is a chain and the only chain I currently like (Longhorn) and the other is a local place called Jim's Grille. We always go to Jim's for our anniversary and we usually visit Longhorn once a year.

We also have some other local places we like as well—my favorite Mexican place is called La Perla Tapatia and for fast food that's similar to Moe's we like to go to Booya's. They also have great burgers and cheese fries. Our other favorite burger place is Huey's, but they have kabobs, fish baskets, chicken tenders and other bar type food. And they're known for their bar and live music. We don't visit for that part of it, but it's a great hangout place that my sons love going to. They were just there for the Super Bowl Sunday night and Graham is thinking of getting his bartending license to work a few shifts there each week. He heard they make great money doing that and he really wants to buy a house.

I said all of that to say that I've combined a few of my hobbies lately—reading and cooking. I love this particular author who always incorporates food into her books. I feel like I've been trying more things recently because of her books and I have some ideas stashed away of recipes to make when the weather gets warm again. I also feel like I always need to put out a cheese plate to snack on before dinner. I have done this several times recently and that idea came from her. She does something really cool in her books that I love the idea of and want to do sometime soon—I'd love to offer a main course and then have friends come over and bring side dishes. Doesn't that sound like a fun edition of a girls night in? In her books, the female characters do this once a month. ❤

That being said, here are a couple of things I made on Monday.

I love making quiche! It's easy and it's very flavorful and good to keep and eat on all week. These are his and hers—for mine, I added two cheese, spinach, arthichoke hearts and diced green onion. For theirs I added two cheeses, bacon, turkey and diced green onion. All you do is add the ingredients of your choice chopped up into the frozen pie crust, then beat 3 eggs, 1 and 1/4 cup of half and half or milk and salt and pepper to taste and add that over the other ingredients into the pie crust and bake at 375 for 35-50 minutes. I made two at once, so one took about 40 minutes and the other took 50, but to see if they're done, insert a knife into the middle and if it comes out clean, it's done.

The second thing I made are these chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies. Mine didn't turn out quite this pretty because I was out of vanilla and I bought the wrong kind of oats. They don't look like much, but they are delicious. The ingredients are two cups of sugar, one stick of butter and 1/4 cup of milk. Melt all that and then add in one cup of peanut butter, 1 tsp of vanilla and three cups of oats while on the stove. Combine and add in one cup of chocolate chips off the burner, spoon onto wax paper or foil sprayed with Pam and let harden.

Other things we're eating this week are as follows:

Todd and I are going out tomorrow night, but I'll make a pork tenderloin and oven roasted potatoes for the guys here to eat dinner. Wednesday we will eat something leftover and we'll probably eat either something I make that is Mexican inspired or another charcuterie board type dinner like what I made for Todd and me for the Super Bowl and already shared a picture of.

What are you eating this week? I'd love to hear from you on this! I said this last week, but I am always inspired by what other people eat and have for dinner. I hope this gives you some ideas for your busy week! Thanks for reading, friends. Love to all! 

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for this weekly blog post.

I got the weekend started off with seeing Dad. It was good to see him after two weeks! I had to make a Costco run, so we did that and then we ate lunch there afterward. He was so sweet- he bought Sandy some beautiful red roses while we were there and when she came to get him at the end of the day, he asked her to be his valentine. I told him they are what the young people call "goals".

Jonah and I met my mom, stepdad and sisters at Osaka for dinner. It's our local favorite Japanese restaurant and it was delicious as usual. Jonah ordered chicken fried rice and I got teriyaki chicken off the hibachi menu, so it came with fried rice, sautéed veggies and either soup or salad. I got the clear soup. Does anyone else love Japanese food as much as me? It's my favorite!

We came home after that and I watched this new movie on Peacock.

Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. So this is a great thing that came from quarantine and covid—livestream and new movies being released on apps to enjoy at home. I never want this to go away! Have you watched this yet? It started rough, I won't lie, and I almost turned it off a few times. It's not a bad rating or anything like that, I just don't love J Lo and how she dresses so promiscuously. I stuck with it and it got a lot better and I ended up liking the movie. 

On Saturday morning I went out with Mom, Trish and Debi.

Isn't this above beautiful? This is at a home décor and flower shop called Le Fleur. 

We ran around to some cute little shops in Memphis and had a good lunch, then later on that day, I went to Mom's house for dinner. I was back home and cozy in my pajamas pretty early after I showered. 

When I got home, Graham was watching something on Netflix, so I hung out with him and Oakley for a bit, then went upstairs. 

I was at church early Sunday morning, then later on I had a shortened choir rehearsal. After that, I came home and whipped up these snacks for Todd and me to have for dinner. Graham and Jonah went to eat wings somewhere, then they came back here to hang out with some friends.

It was really good and it was almost like a little at home date night. We had the game on, but neither of us cared about who won or even the commercials for that matter. We did thoroughly enjoy the halftime show! I worked on blog stuff for the week, then I read my book while the rest of the game went on. I feel like my whole post and weekend was about food—I guess it happens sometime. ;)

How was your weekend? Are you celebrating Valentine's day today? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all. 

Friday Favorites, 2.11.22

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for this weekly blog post. How has your week been? If I'm honest, mine has been full of favorite moments and not-so-favorite moments. I'll explain about this more in a few minutes.

Memories like this are my absolute favorite and crack me up! I remember the night this conversation took place. Leave it to Drew (present and past) to get us laughing. Also, it turns out, they all like tattoos. Drew and Noah each have one and are getting a second one soon. 

This is another favorite memory—when Todd and the older boys would be out all weekend for a youth event, we'd have a sleepover in my room. I can't believe how fast these years flew by! Look at Noah already asleep with Twinkles on his chest. Memories like this help me on the days when I'm frustrated. I remember them all fighting like cats and dogs when they were young. I was talking to someone about that just last week. In my mind I always make those days out to be perfect and wonderful, but the truth is that I've blocked out a lot of that time. The days were hard and long and I remember wondering how we'd all ever survive. This week a couple of these guys have been so argumentative. They're grating on each other's nerves because of too much togetherness, and it puts me in the worst mood! Not my favorite.

Did you see my What's For Dinner post this week? I made chicken tortilla soup per Drew's request and it's my favorite. I've been eating leftovers ever since. If you want to read that post, you can click here. 

These ladies are some of my favorites! These are my friends and co-authors of the Bible studies that I always talk about helping write at my church. Left to right are Dedee, Lynn, Amy, me and Barbee. I feel so very fortunate to be able to do what we do. Just yesterday when we were at church for a meeting about the project we're currently working on, I was almost overwhelmed with emotion. We bumped into Pastor Chuck in the hall and for a solid two or three minutes, he stood there and affirmed all of us. He encouraged us and thanked us for what we do. I've never been so grateful for a pastor in all of my life! 

This moment was NOT a favorite this week. I was vacuuming and tripped over the cord, hit the table and bumped this glass bowl and it shattered into a bajillion pieces. Not my finest moment! I cannot have nice things for this reason, I break things! 

What are your plans for this weekend? My sister Debi is here, so I'm meeting them for dinner tonight and spending Saturday with them shopping. I'm looking forward to the weekend! I'm also looking forward to seeing Dad. He didn't come last week because of the ice, so we'll have lots to catch up on!

Thanks for reading, friends! Love to all. 

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm joining in with Rebecca Jo and Leslie for today's post. We hope you join us! 

As I write this, I keep thinking of how wonderful it's been to see sunshine and to have warmer weather in the daytime hours. Sometimes I wonder how much the weather affects me, because I know several people who struggle with the blues during the colder weather months. I was just talking to someone about that last week! It's hard when you're a young mom and you feel trapped inside of your house. Needless to say, I'm thankful for the beautiful weather we've had this week. I think it's all about to change again! 

I'm thankful that my husband is taking steps to feeling better—I don't want to share too much out of respect for him and his privacy, but he's been dealing with something painful for a while now and it's steadily gotten a little worse. He will be seeing a doctor about it today and I'm thankful he found one he knows he can trust. Did you know so many doctors are not accepting new patients? I don't know if that's a covid thing or not, but he finally found one and was able to schedule an appointment.

I'm thankful for the fact that my sister Debi is in town for a few days and that I'll get to see her Saturday! It's been almost a full year since I've seen her. It's been a year and a half since I've seen my sister Lisa. That's way too long for my preference. 

I'm thankful that Tuesday night was a night when the dinner table was full!

I was being sneaky when I took this, but I made a giant batch of chicken tortilla soup and they were all home to eat. Drew requested this and when their friend Nick came over to meet them before they left for a basketball game, he had some as well. Then he asked me if I'd teach his grandfather how to cook. 🤣

I'm glad I made a bunch of this, because I'll be eating it for the rest of the week for lunch and maybe even dinner! It's that good. I love cilantro and could just about eat it plain. So could Drew. Lots of people feel differently about it and think it tastes like dishwashing soap! Isn't that weird? I love the taste and smell. I just love Mexican food! 

What is something you're thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all. 

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Wednesday in the Word

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I thought I'd share about where I'm reading in the Bible right now and why I love it so much. 

Most of you know I am reading the Bible in chronological order and I'm following the teaching of Iva May with this, a regular lady in our area who has broken down the Bible into fourteen eras. The reason I love reading this way and why I continue to do this every other year is because it threads the whole Bible together in one big story. From Genesis to Revelation, the story of redemption is interwoven and each part of the Bible is within one of the eras...the point of these eras is to help us know where we are reading and what all has taken place up to that point to get them to where we're reading at that time. (For instance, in the book of Daniel, it helps to know that this book was written during the Captivity era, which is why Daniel and his three friends were in Babylon. They were taken into captivity as a result of God's judgment for their extreme rebellion against Him and because of the idolatry that was rampant in that time. This was just one instance of a time when Israel was in captivity.)

The reason why Iva May started writing books, blog posts and other materials was to help the average person out with understanding the Bible more easily, to be more biblically literate. I still don't understand it all and there are days when it's really hard to read, but the goal is to keep pushing through and not giving up, even if takes more than a year. If you'd like to know more about this way of reading, or if you'd like to sign up to receive their emails with links to blog posts and podcasts, click here for more information. 

All of that being said, we are on the third era in the Bible right now, the Exodus era. (The first two are creation and patriarchs.) I'm a couple of days behind in my reading (story of my life), but I just got done reading one of my favorite passages last week. Up until this point, we read that as a result of severe famine in their home land, the family of Jacob fled to Egypt for food. He had stored up plenty to be able to share with others and word of this had made its way to his brothers. After his death, they stayed in Egypt and as time went on and they remained settled there, their population grew. At the time when the book of Exodus begins, the Israelites were many in number and they were being oppressed by Pharoah. He was an evil man who kept them in slavery to make them stop growing in numbers, except that it didn't work and the opposite kept happening. 

That's how Moses enters into the picture. During the time when he was born, Pharoah had ordered that all of the first born males be killed, but his mom kept him hidden by placing him in a basket lined with pitch near the Nile river. When he was found by Pharoah's young daughter, she had her servant go and find someone to nurse him until he reached the age of weaning, then he would go and live with her in the palace. In God's divine providence, He provided Moses' own mom to be this for him. Fast forward all the years later when Moses' is well advanced in age. He had an encounter with God through a burning bush and that is when God called him to be a messenger for Him and a savior to His people and to bring them out of a land of slavery and bondage into the Promised Land. Moses tried to argue with God about how he surely couldn't speak for Him because of his speech impediment, so God allowed Moses to have his brother Aaron speak on his behalf. 

My favorite part in the story happens right here in the first few chapters. God tells Moses to speak to Pharoah on behalf of the Israelites and to plea with him to let them leave. Pharoah says no time after time and even though God sends several horrifying plagues to him and the Egyptians, his heart remains hardened, until the very last plague, the death of the first born males. This was when God gave them orders to sacrifice a lamb and to put the blood of the lamb over the doorpost of their homes and when God saw it, He would pass over their homes without harm. This is when Pharoah finally gave them permission to leave, so they acted immediately and left, but before too long he changed his mind and they begin to pursue the Israelites. The Israelites are afraid at this point and they argue with Moses that it would have been better for them to stay as slaves than to be pursued by the angry Egyptians. This is where one of my favorite verses is written. Exodus 14:13-14 says this:

Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD's salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you must be quiet.

I love this part, even though I am frustrated with how little faith the Israelites display here. I want them to remember all that God has done up until this point, how even in this part He is leading them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. He is going to deliver them somehow, because that was His promise from the beginning, but here they are shaking in their boots. I want to be irritated with them, but then I remember how similar to them I can be. When I know that I have been called to do something and then I am muddling my way through it, I am essentially shaking in my boots. When I think something is about me and I get all nervous about doing something out of my comfort zone, I am once again shaking in my boots. No matter what I face, no matter the circumstance, the Lord will see me through. I know this deep in my heart, but I have to remind myself of it occasionally. 

I am often in much need of perspective and this story gives me that in abundance. It's a reminder for me, it's a reminder for anyone who needs to read these words that if you are a child of God, He will do the fighting on your behalf. We can trust in Him and in His word. We can remember that He hears us when we pray! I pray these words encourage you today, my friend. Thanks for reading. Love to all. 

What's for dinner?

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd share what we're having for dinner this week and some other snack type things we sometimes have when we're a light crowd. 

One of our favorite things to have is a baked potato bar. I wash and dry a bunch of russet potatoes and coat them with olive oil and sea salt, and bake them for about two hours on 350. I made homemade bacon bits and grated some sharp cheddar and diced green onion for me. I like to make a whole bag of these at one time and we'll eat on them all week, or I'll turn into potato soup one night. 

I love it when the skin gets all crispy on the outside. 

Drew asked for tortilla soup this week, so I'm making that tonight. I love this soup! I don't make it often enough, but it's one of our favorites.

Here's a recipe, if you're interested:

2 cloves of garlic, minced (or about three TBSP of minced garlic out of a jar)
1 onion, chopped
3 TBSP of butter
2 TBSP of all purpose flour
3 cans (14 0z) of chicken broth
4 cups of half and half (you can use milk to cut the fat) (But why do that?)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of fresh salsa
1 can of creamed corn
about 4 cups of chopped chicken, or one rotisserie chicken (which is what I used)
2 tsp of cumin
1 packet of fajita seasoning
3 TBSP of fresh cilantro

And here is what you do:

Start with the butter. Melt it in your soup pot, along with the garlic and onion.  Sauté this until the onion is translucent, then add in the flour.  Stir together and cook for two minutes, so the taste of flour will be gone. 

Add the broth and half and half.  Bring this to a boil (I turned the heat down to medium), then reduce the heat to low.  Add the soup, salsa, corn, chicken, cumin, fajita seasoning, and 2 TBSP of the cilantro.  (I actually used a lot more than that, because I LOVE fresh cilantro.)  Stir, continuing to heat for fifteen more minutes. 

To serve, we top it with a bit of shredded cheese, more fresh cilantro, and tortilla chips. (I always make a huge pot of this, because it's so good as leftovers.)

Wednesday night I'm going to church, so they'll probably eat leftovers if they don't go out to eat. I'm trying a new one pot beef stroganoff recipe I found on TikTok and Friday night I'll either have leftovers or I'll get pizza. Other things I keep on hand that are easy and good are things like pasta with sauces and veggies to throw in, I'm making some quiches again this week, and we love to eat charcuterie type things for dinner complete with smoked sausage, cheese cubes, wheat thins and peppers. 

I love reading the books I'm reading right now, because I am always inspired to cook after reading them. I love books that incorporate food into them. I'm reading another series by Pamela Kelley, the Quinn Valley series.

My family will be gone all weekend, because of a youth event going on at our church and because they help with all the technical things. Noah is going out of town and Graham will probably be at the church as well. 

I always love to be inspired to try new things, so I'd love to hear what you're eating this week! Thanks for reading, friends. Love to all!

weekending/Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for this blog post. 

How was your weekend? Mine was good—we still had lots of ice until Saturday, when a lot of it finally started to melt. I love the ice on trees! It's so beautiful and it was particularly beautiful on Saturday as the sunlight hit it. It looked like diamonds sparkling! 

I drove around for a while on Friday and ended on our town square as I talked on the phone. (I'd gone to get groceries.)

That first picture has nothing to do with the icy trees, it's just a lovely church on the town square that I love and think is beautiful. Because of this and the fact that my dad's power went out, he did not come over on Friday. Their power went out on Thursday and finally got turned back on Saturday night. Thankfully they were prepared and have a generator, gas stove and gas logs. Someone from my house went over there each day to make sure they were okay, which they were, and they were able to keep their house really warm.

I missed seeing him! I didn't do much of anything either of those days, though the people in my house worked. I read and watched movies and went to bed early. I had a wedding to go to Saturday, though, which was so sweet and beautiful. 

Isn't that window beautiful? I love this church that they were married in! Todd was at home during the wedding, so when I came home we had leftover veggie beef stew for dinner. I was at church early Sunday morning and home again for lunch and a nap. I had choir practice that afternoon and Todd and Graham came home shortly after I'd eaten dinner. They had been on a callout all day long and were so tired and windburned after coming home. 

I'd love to hear about your weekend! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all.