Faith, Food and Family

Have you heard of House Party ? It is an awesome site where you can sign up to host parties and receive free products. There's nothing to buy or sell. You just host a party and share info and products. We've been able to do a few so far and it's been a blast. You may remember my post on Guys Night Out where we got to host a Microsoft Windows 7 party. This time we were hosts for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars house party. It was so much fun! My boys invited several of their friends and we had a great turnout. In the party box, we got 10 Star Wars action figures, tattoos, coupons, Battle Game, and more. The boys had a great time! My boys are already huge Star Wars fans so they were very excited for this party. I made hot dogs and had everyone bring their favorite snack to share. The kids ate outside and then had ice cream sundaes. They played outside for a bit and then came inside and watched The Clone Wars Season 3 Premiere. They loved it! They also got a chance to play the ...

Do you suffer from CHAOS like me? That's Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, by the way for those of you not familiar with the Flylady . I have the book Sink Reflections and can't recommend it enough for those who struggle in this area. For me, the desire to be clutter free has always been there. I just hold on to too many things for way too long. I used to keep every single piece of clothing that my little girl wore. EVERYTHING. I finally started to really go through it and decided what to keep and sell/donate within the last 3 or so years. It was hard for me because I held an emotional attachment to those things, like many of my other things. It has been a process for me throughout the last 3 years or so that I would occasionally go through and purge items. It was something I didn't do all at once. I have been watching those shows lately, like Hoarders, on tv. I realize I have some of those tendencies. Not to keep everything little thing, but that emotional attachment ...

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been a bit since I've blogged anything. It's been a very different few weeks. The kids were out of school (alot) for snow. Now we're moving. You probably won't hear much from me this month. However, I am so excited to get back to blogging. And hopefully that things will settle down and get back to normal. So please bear with me and more yummy recipes will be coming! Thank you all! God bless, Amanda

The kids went back to school last week, on Tuesday to be exact. I had planned to get to the store last week and make some new things to post on my blog. Well, unfortunately snow changed my plans. I did not leave my house after Wednesday of last week due to the weather. I won't drive in anything like snow or ice. And we had both. I did get out yesterday and went to Food Lion. They had some good deals. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get everything I needed and had planned to go back out today. Only now I am hearing there is lots of black ice out after some precipitation last night/early morning. I'm ready for it to thaw out! The kids have now been out of school due to weather since Thursday. I honestly don't see them going back tomorrow either. I do love having them home. I just haven't enjoyed being stuck in the house. Not for this long anyway. It's supposed to get warmer on Thursday. I am ready for it! Bring on the warmer temps!

Hi everyone! I am sorry that I have been so quiet lately. We've had a lot of sickness and of course the kids have been home from school so I have been enjoying them. They go back on Tuesday. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Other than spending Christmas eve in the ER with Rocket Boy (it turned out he had pneumonia) it was great! Everyone is well now so that is a blessing! God bless you all! Amanda

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I probably won't be posting much this week if at all. I'm sorry I haven't posted a whole lot in the last week. I haven't tried many new recipes in the last week so I am going to have to try something new this week. :) I hope you all enjoy your families this Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful family and friends! On a side note, Monkey is finally potty trained! He is 4 1/2 years old and he finally got it! No accidents and wakes up dry! I'm praising the Lord on this one because I thought he was never going to give it up! :) God bless you all! Amanda

I've mainly posted about recipes, food and great deals lately. This post is going to be a bit different today. It's something that has been on my heart for awhile and I'd love to share it with you. I decided to write this post after reading one of my favorite blogs A Simple Walk . See her post about Community in her home . She mentioned being a bit jealous at the bloggers who have gotten free trips lately. I too have felt those twinges of jealousy. Granted I am not near the established blogger that many are. But I still felt very similar feelings. After I read her post Paul and Philippians came to mind. Philippians 4:11-13 (NAS) "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him...

Today was registration day and the kids go back to school on Wednesday. I am going to be a bit absent until then. I really want to take tomorrow and enjoy the last day before classes start. We'll be going swimming in the morning with friends (which we did today as well!) and just being with each other. I am really going to miss these sweet punkins during the day. Sure, there are times I wouldn't mind a break. However, I love having them home. Five days a week, 7 hours a day is too long to be gone. I love my babies. See you all a bit later this week! God bless, Amanda P.S. Monkey is not pictured because he is not a fan of the water. So daddy and him spent some time together. Hopefully he will start liking the water soon!

Thank you all for your comments yesterday! I haven't had a chance to reply to emails/comments since we were gone to Nashville most of yesterday. Hopefully I will get to spend a little time catching up soon! Just know that any email or comment means so much to me! Yesterday Monkey had his appointment in Nashville. Everything looked good and he goes back in 6 months. My mother-in-law had wanted to come with us and take the kids to Chuck E Cheese's but didn't feel well. She decided to send the kids money to go. The kids always enjoy it. We don't have one in the town where we live so it's a rare treat for them to get to go. Did you know, that if you buy the kids cups they sell there (the reusable plastic ones), you can bring them back and use them again and not have to pay for your drink the next time? We now have enough cups for each of us to have one. So yesterday when we went, we didn't have to pay for any drinks. That is a huge money saver! Also, you can sign ...

Look at these Homemade Ice cream Drumsticks ! This looks so yummy! These are really expensive in the store so this would be worth the effort in the amount saved. These look amazing! Butter Pecan Banana Waffles These look really yummy as well! Duggar Family Rolls This just calls to me...I've never tried capers but might have to give them a shot! Chicken with brown butter and caper sauce Have you all found something you must try or something you recently tried that you think I need to try? Would love to hear from you! Leave me a link in the comments and I'll check it out. I love new recipes! God bless, Amanda

Hi! My name is Amanda. I love this idea of a Blog Hop! I would sure love to be at BlogHer so this is a nice idea for those of us who can't go. Thanks to Robin from Pensieve and Musings of a Housewife for starting this! I'll tell you a bit about myself. I'm a 30 year old stay at home mom in Tennessee. I've been married to my husband, Mike for 10 years. We have three sweet children. Princess is 9, Rocket Boy is 6 and Monkey is 4. I love the Lord and want to grow closer to Him and for Him to guide me in all I do. Cooking is a big love of mine as well as my family and friends. I haven't been blogging for long but I am really loving it! Please come back and see me again! Thanks! God bless, Amanda Don't forget to link your blog at the Blog Hop !

......with my crockpot! I used it yesterday to cook 4 pounds of chicken breast (bone-in, on sale for .99 a pound!). When I was taking it off the bone last night, I tried a bite. So tender! I usually boil my chicken on the stove or bake it in the oven. But nothing can beat how tender it was out of the crockpot! I had been very frustrated lately because every time I've cooked chicken it's been kind of tough. I probably do overcook it a bit because I am always wanting to make sure it's done. But I just haven't been happy with the texture. I know most of y'all have already been sold on crockpot cooking but I am truly amazed at how well things turn out in the crockpot. If you haven't tried it yet, please do so! Happy Eating!

Sorry I've been missing for a few days. Last week got a bit busy. Then Friday and Saturday our MOPS steering team had a retreat to plan the coming year. It was so much fun! I just decided to become a discussion group leader around April. I'm very excited about the coming year of MOPS! So have you heard of MOPS? If you haven't you can go here for more information. It's for moms with kids from birth through Kindergarten. MOPS International is now offering (as of this year) a group for moms with school age children. That's definitely exciting as well! I highly encourage you to see out a MOPS group in your area if you have children. It can be such a blessing in your life and the lives of others! God bless, Amanda

Our Sunday School class got together Friday night to celebrate one of our sweet sister's birthday. So I brought brownies but decided to make them a new way. They were really delicious! Especially while they were still warm. But divine leftover as well! German Chocolate Brownies 1 box of brownies (9x13, family size box- I used low fat) 1 can of coconut pecan frosting (german chocolate) 1/2 cup of chocolate chips ingredients for brownies (on the box) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. In a large bowl, empty the brownie mix. Add chocolate chips and toss them around in the mix. Then add ingredients for brownie (mine were oil, water and one egg but your box may vary). Mix well. Pour into pan and bake for time on box. Mine was 28 minutes. Then while the brownies are still hot, spread frosting over them. I used the whole can. Serve and enjoy! I had such a good time at the party! Lots of fun fellowship and yummy food! Then we played pictionary and that was a lot of fun. It was...

Today was cow appreciation day at Chick Fil A. If you dress like a cow, you get free food! So what's a litte humilation for some free food, right? LOL We went tonight. I got a picture of us before we left the house. Husband refused to dress up. :) Once we got there, my husband and I start laughing so hard. I think he was a little embarrassed to be seen with us! LOL I decided to go late. We got there at 9pm. I'm thinking, they won't be busy. Well there was quite a few customers in there. None of them were dressed up. So our daughter started getting embarrassed and then our 6 year old did too. The youngest just really didn't mind. LOL Some younger guys were in there and started asking about the cow appreciation day. They didn't have any cow stuff on but the employees said that they could run around the restaurant, flapping their arms and mooing. That would get them a free milkshake. Okay, I thought it was embarrassing to be dressed like a cow but I'll take dressi...

I love my crockpot! I have had a crockpot for years and never really used it.That is until I tasted a boston butt pork roast that my friend cooked in hers. It was so tender and yummy! I couldn't believe that's what happened in a crockpot! So I decided I was going to dig out my crockpot and make one too. I made a boston butt pork roast in mine and it was really good. I do my roasts in there if I can. I never want to put another roast in the oven! Last night I cooked a pork loin in there (on sale for $1.49/lb!). It turned out so yummy and just so tender. It was delicious! And one of the best parts, it didn't heat up my house! Which is wonderful during the summer. I got my electric bill yesterday and was shocked how much it jumped from last month's. It was way more than we had planned for so any savings in electricity is very good! I have to admit, I haven't tried much other than roasting meats in it. I'd like to try some other recipes in my crockpot since I now l...

I have really missed blogging and haven't really been able to do it lately. After my husband's surgery, we had some major extended family issues come up. Then our youngest got really sick and we were unsure what was wrong with him. He ended up having a UPJ obstruction in his ureter and had to have surgery. Not to mention the tests he had before the surgery to find out what the problem was. We have had a lot on our plate lately and I just haven't had time for blogging. I'm hoping that I can get back into the groove of things now. I missed you all and appreciate the messages I received! I also lost my job at mother's day out due to the enrollment being down and haven't been able to do much with my independent sales job due to so much going on. So our income has dropped by a good sized chunk. It was a more needed income too, not just extra money for me. It is amazing how God has blessed us this month. So far we've had enough money to cover things this month. A...

Well, my husband had his check up from surgery yesterday. They said he can resume normal activity. He still has pain but hopefully it will subside completely soon. I have to say that it has been a very rough two weeks. I got a small taste of what it is like to be a single parent. I honestly don't know how they do it. I wasn't even working during the day and I was exhausted. The kids were home all of the time for spring break and I know that was some of it. I'm sorry for neglecting my blog lately but I have had to catch up on so many things. I'm hoping that I will have more time this week. So things should get back to normal. Thank you for bearing with me. More yummy recipes to come. :) God bless, Amanda

I couldn't believe it when she emailed be but I actually won a prize at The Happy Housewife where she had a great giveaway . When she announced the winners , I was excited. I don't win things often and it's fun to win. We've already eaten all of the Sun Chips. They were super yummy. I think I am addicted now. LOL My 5 year old is too. Thank so much for a very yummy prize! God bless, Amanda

Welcome all Ultimate Blog Party hoppers! It is so nice to have you and so nice to be participating for the first time! So now on to the introductions! My name is Amanda and I have been blogging for just a couple of months so far. I love to read blogs and thought, why not start my own? So I did! :) The focus of my blog is being frugal (we live on a very tight income), food (recipes), working on bringing our family closer to God, and anything to do with my family. I have just started so I'd love it if you'd come back and visit often! Here is the family (my mother-in-law took us to Disney last summer). My husband Mike, me, DD8, DS5, and DS3. I participate in $5 Dinners Bargain Meal of the Week. My store is Food Lion and you can find my meal ideas for their sales ad here . Click on the image to go find your Bargain Meal of the Week! I love to try new recipes like this Vegetable Lo Mein one. and make comfort classics like yummy blondies or delicious beef pot roast I also like to...