Garlic Bread from Heaven and Crock Pot Pork Chops

Yes, I really did have garlic bread from heaven tonight.  I said to my husband, "You know how sometimes, I make something and we wish I had never tried it? Well, tonight, I wish I hadn't made this garlic bread."  Why- he asked, fearing the worst.  "Well, it is so good I will never be able to buy a frozen bread again!!!" 

So here ya go:
Garlic Bread

2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, minced
1 tablespoon Parmesan
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
Hot sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper
1 French Baguette

IN a small bowl, mix butter together with garlic, scallion, Parmesan, parsley, hot sauce and salt and pepper.  Preheat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat.  Slice baguette horizontally.  Spread butter on both halves.  Place on a sheet pan and toast under the broiler, about 2 minutes.

Notes:  I did not use hot sauce nor did I have a scallion but it was still fantastic
* I cut the Baguette in half and only made a half batch of the butter.  I'll make the second off tomorrow. 

And to go with it - we had Crock -Pot pork chops
Season pork chops and put in crock pot.  Slice one onion and put onions on top of chops.  Than add 1 box of stuffing mix, 1 can cream of mushroom (I used cream of celery) soup and 1 cup of water.  Cover and cook either 4 or 8 hours (high or low).  It is SOOOO good!!!

A relaxing Sunday afternoon

What a beautiful Sunday afternoon and it coincides with the first Sunday of football!  I love this time of year not only because of fall weather but because of Sunday afternoon football . . and Sunday and Monday night football too!!  I can sit and watch it all day and yes, the Lions got robbed of a win today.  Truly robbed.  For all the dumb plays that they make - this one should have been legit and the score would have been the win.  I'm sure there is a lesson in good Sportsmanship in there somewhere but for today - they just should have won!!  And yes, for those of you wondering - Joshua loves football.  When a player gets tackled he says "Ohhhggggg"  LOL  And when he sees a game coming on, he pushes his shoulders up, clenches his fists and says "huuuuuttttt"  :-)

Another random thought today - are your Sunday's stressful?  If not, what do you do to NOT make them stressful?  I'm working on new routines for my Sunday so that we have less stress and more relaxing (speaking of routines, I need to share those with you soon!).  We figured out the before church routine but are still figuring out the after church routine.  Today it worked - we walked in the door and Darryl took both boys to change diapers while I get their lunch on the table since they are both already starting to melt down due to lack of food and long over due naps.  As I start to feed them, Darryl got dinner going (today we grilled but often it is in the crock-pop or oven).  By doing this, the kids can be taken care of and put down for naps before we ever eat (even though we are starving LOL)  I did learn today though that next week, I will have their lunches ready in the morning so I just have to pull them out of the fridge.  What would be easier?? A 9:30 service so we were home by 11:00 - but since our church doesn't offer that; we'll make it work! 

I did one productive thing this afternoon; I looked through some cookie magazines and picked out cookies for the Cookie Challenge

If you haven't checked it out yet you can go to http://theunworkingmom.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cookie%20Challenge  (my original post) to get more details and the info on how to "link up".  It sounds like fun and I'm looking forward to baking some new cookies.  Sorry, I'm not going to list my cookies :-)  I want to get them nailed down so I can make the master shopping list and start watching for things to be on sale.  Still working on getting that grocery budget as low as possible!!  (Which this week, Darryl looked at the shopper, picked out the best meat deals and suggested some meals - he thinks he can get the budget smaller .. . we'll see!)

Blog Stalker . . .Kinda

What have I been doing on this cold, rainy Saturday (which, by the way, I enjoy!)?  Well, I started out by canning Raspberry Jam.  Quick and easy - really.  Raspberries are nice because you don't have peel, cut, or remove a pit.  I like all the seeds in the jam so I just have to squish them up some and cook them before pouring into canning jars and "bathing" for 10 minutes.  Than I started my salsa - two batches planned for today which should be done right about . . .now. . .except . . .I forgot to buy one main ingredient; the tomato paste.  Grrrr!  It would be an easy fix except my husband has our truck . .. with the carseats . .. and is working . .. .  a double!!!  So, for now, the salsa is sitting; waiting to be cooked once he gets home with my forgotten ingredients.  He even told me he'll stay up with me tonight . . .maybe LOL 

So, while waiting, I got sucked in.  Into what?  Blogs.  Yes, I'm kinda a blog stalker.  I like the blogs I like and than I like to search the blogs they like.  Today my speciality was crafting blogs.  I added buttons to my page and the sites that didn't have buttons, I added to my list of blogs for now.  See, I love crafts - especially easy, cute crafts.  So what is the problem?  Where do you put all those cute crafts you make?  I have no idea!!!  But they sure are fun to look at and sometimes they can be used for holiday decorations instead.  I saw several today that I'd like to make for Christmas to decorate my house (just what I need - more Christmas decor!) but at least I can put it out and than put it away. 

I also decided that I think (hows that for deciding) I'm going to create a "dummy" blog.  I want to make my blog pretty; functional with cute little buttons and challenges but I haven't figured out how to make them yet.  (I've read the how-to's just haven't gotten them to work!) So instead of constantly messing with my good blog that works fine, I think I'll do this tester blog for all my ideas; layouts, etc so it doesn't matter if it gets messed up!  So when you see that I have a second blog (and I might make it private since it will be always a weird, odd work in progress) just know that it really is nothing - just a testing site :-)

31 in 31 - Day 31

Well, it's been 31 days since I started this little photo challenge so this last picture seemed fitting.

Yesterday, when I took this picture (just didn't get a chance to post it last night!) I got to go out for while while my parents spent time with the kids.  I went to my favorite place for lunch - Grand Traverse Pie Company.  I get this awesome Turkey with apple smoked bacon and Grand Traverse Cherry Chutney sandwich followed by the best pie ever.  This is Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb and it is SOOOO good!  I enjoy going to the Pie Company and not only getting lunch but kicking back and usually scrapbooking on my computer for awhile.  Yesterday I worked on some other things I needed to get done but it was nice to have a couple of hours to just relax.

I really enjoyed this photo challenge.  Taking time to watch for a photo.  I will say I took a ton more photos of my family the last month as I was always looking for the perfect shot and I plan to continue to pull the camera out more and more so I don't miss any of those cute moments.  Now I just need to carve out more time in my day for scrapbooking!!!

This is just one challenge - who knows, I might do it again some time but right now, dont' forgoet to check out the Christmas Cookie Challenge (click the button on the side  of my blog for full details)  And, I have plans to do another challenge myself  . .. if I can figure out how to make a button! LOL 

Light The Night Walk

We are raising money for a very important cause, through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk: finding better treatments and cures for blood cancers so patients can live better, longer lives. We are asking you to help by making a tax-deductible contribution! Please use the links in this email to donate online quickly & securely. You will receive an email confirmation of your donation as soon as it is made. We thank you in advance for your support which will make a difference in the lives of thousands of patients battling blood cancers.




You might wonder why we are doing this so allow me to explain.

1) We have talked since our children were born that we want them to learn to give back as they grow up; to volunteer for things that interest them in order to make a differance and to learn that life isn't always about themselves. When we saw information on this night walk we thought it would be a fun thing to do with our family; a great tradition to start with the kids. And with a mom (me!) who loves to take pictures it will be great for them to look back each year and see what we've done.



2) About the time that we announced that we were expecting Josh, Darryl's dad found out he had Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It was very advanced and he didn't have a lot of hope. But, than he learned he was going to have a grandson and he had a reason to fight; which he did. He is now in remission and doing great but, Non-Hodgkins lymphona almost always returns every few years so if we can help raise money for research for this and other cancers, why wouldn't we? Obviously, this walk is a little more personal because of Darryl's dad.



We have each set a goal of $100.00 - really not much at all. If we reach this goal we get to each carry an illuminated balloon on the walk (how cool is that!!) plus we get a t-shirt and food (a nice benifit!) There are two links below - one to donate to each of us. If you plan to donate, feel free to split it between us so we can both reach that goal. Even a small donation of $5.00 is greatly appreciated.



We really appreciate your generosity!!



http://pages.lightthenight.org/mi/GrdRapid10/JKoll



http://pages.lightthenight.org/mi/GrdRapid10/DKoll



Thank you,



Darryl and Jacquelyn Koll

(and Josh and Nate too!)



P.S. Please forward this email to as many people as you can to encourage them to donate as well

Along The Toddler Way book Review

This is the second book I wanted to get read by Christmas and I finished it today.  This book is the second book by Ezzo and Ezzo (see my other review under "books") and I enjoyed this one a little more.  I think that they have some great concepts when it comes to raising good children.  Some of the truths that stuck out to me were raising one command kids which means they learn that when you tell them to do something, you expect obedience the first time.  Of course, this means consistency on the part of the parent because if obedience isn't the immediate reaction, than the parent has to follow through.  Compared to as much detail as they went into in the first book, this one seemed like an over view but the ideas themselves are easy to grasp too.  I did not agree with everything but isn't that typical?  I personally do not agree with using a crib as a place of punishment.  I don't want their crib, at this age, to be associated with doing something wrong because i want my kids to want to go to bed.  The author does address this and he states that they will be able to tell the difference because you will use a stern voice and there won't be the kisses and snuggles that happen at bed time.  I'd prefer to use a different location though.  Would I recommend this book?  Absolutely.  Would reading Along the Infant Way help with this book?  Not necessarily - there are a few terms you might not recognize but they are not imperative to glean good concepts out of this one. 

31 in 31 - Day 30

 Are you ready for some football??