in other news...

there are 49 days until Christmas and i am finding myself in even more dread than when i woke up this morning.

for this morning's viewing pleasure, a few eye candy posts from the vault. enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday

Confetti Meatloaf

(makes 2 loafs, but is easily split)


2 lbs lean ground beef
2 cups ground Stove Top stuffing mix (i use a small food chopper)
4 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp spicy mustard
2 eggs, beaten
salt, pepper, garlic powder (just enough to season)
veggie mix (i grind 1 cup carrot, 1 cup celery, 1 cup onion and 1 cup bell pepper in my mini chopper b/c it holds one cup. this mix is also good for other meat sauces like spaghetti.)


Mix all of the above ingredients together in a bowl and divide into 2 loaf pans. (one can be frozen for later.) bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your loaf pan. then cover with sauce and bake an additional 15 minutes. if you need this to bake quicker, or you want to be sure to get a certain amount of servings, then divide it out into a muffin tin!


Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp worcestershire
1 Tbsp mustard

Menu Monday

cause i'm bored and avoiding TV and all the ads today...

Sunday- chicken enchiladas, rice
Monday-meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas
Tuesday-me out for ellen's bday, boys hotdogs
Wednesday-chicken casserole, butter beans, and some other side
Thursday-BBQ pork loin, baked beans, corn on cob
Friday-Swedish meatballs, rice, green salad

i'm tweaking my recipe for meatloaf today, so i'll try to remember to post it tomorrow. also, in all of that goodness, do you know what my kids will eat??? cereal. i tell them they have to try one bite. if they don't...cheerios. i just don't believe in sending them to bed hungry b/c they are huge, growing boys. but it does mean they only get one thing. i'm sure i should be stricter, but none of you have had an hour and a half stand off with a stubborn mule who will just hold a chicken nugget in his mouth...CHICKEN NUGGET...yeah. you do what you can.

transparancy

Create in me a clean heart
Oh god and renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from thy presence, o lord
And take not thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

these days i feel God putting a ton of things on my heart and sometimes i feel so overwhelmed by it that i just don't know where to start or what to do with it. so i guess i start with me. our country is in need of prayer. my children's attitudes and behaviors are in need of prayer. but most of all, i feel like my heart is in need of prayer. God tells us to seek Him first. Lately i feel like i have been completely lazy in that area and seeking requires action. in my days where i feel like i just go in circles, sometimes i feel like the last thing i have is energy to seek. and like i said in an earlier post, He asks me to seek Him first. i think "first" there can mean the obvious of seek Him above all else, but also, before you do anything else, before you roll out of bed, seek Him. seek His guidance. (for us mamas...seek His patience...even though we don't really want to say it b/c we know He'll just give us situations that will test that patience!!)

anyway, i hope you are using your monday to pray. pray without ceasing.

i stole this...

thankful thursday-cleared

today Ally Claire was completely cleared from all things hospital related. she had a 4 month check up with Dr. Isreal, the pediatric cardiologist. i wasn't all that sure why he was wanting her back when i got the card in the mail to make an appointment. i knew he had seen her to do an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) while in the NICU to rule out anything cardio as the cause of her respiratory distress. i was told at the hospital that she was fine, that there was nothing cardio related. and when i made the appointment i asked was there something i had missed and the lady at the office just said that his note said to return in 4 months. so i drop the boys off at preschool and head on over to the doc. he called us back (and there were actually 3 kids in front of us and one baby about the same age behind us...which that many kids at the pediatric cardiologist just disturbed me) and i took her top off and laid her on the table. (a procedure that i remembered b/c seth had PDA and we had to bring him back for a 4 month check to be sure he grew out of it.) and he said "ok. she had the hole between her receiving chambers." [this is the foramen ovale. it is the hole between the 2 upper chambers of the heart that is present in utero. it is how oxygenated blood is shunted from the right atrium to the left atrium to bypass pulmonary circulation...i really should start linking to this stuff...] and i said "she did? no one told me that." and he said "i also didn't tell you that you'd have to come back. it's just typical newborn circulation stuff." well, being a nurse, i knew exactly what he was talking about, but was thinking, it surely would have been nice to know that 4 months ago!! but anyway, she cooed like the little angel she is and tried taking the wand out of his hand and he said she was fine and good to go!!


and tomorrow the boys have their preschool halloween party. and as a super treat for us, our NICU nurse and friend, Harriette, offered to come over and keep baby sis!! how fun is that? and how lucky am i? that is how i know my baby was taken care of when i couldn't do it!!

i'll try to overlook the fact that she used to hum "Rocky Top" to my baby when she was on the ventilator. and she wonders why she would sometimes "lose her mind"!! Love ya Harriette!

seems like i'm always a day late...

in honor of yesterday being tasty tuesday, and my heater being fixed and not having to run on emergency heat anymore, and the fact that it is HONKIN' cold in north alabama this week (low last night was below freezing...when they start talkin that nonsense...i just put my fingers in my ears and say "i can't hear you...")

[seth around 16 months old]

wait...what was i saying?

[luke around 14 months old]

oh yeah...tasty tuesday on wednesday. here is a couple of quick recipes you should have to warm you up quick, fast and in a hurry this winter.

Quick Potato Soup

1 pkg Simply Potatoes shredded hashbrowns (found in the refrigerated section, usually near the bacon at walmart)

1 box chicken broth

1 small to medium onion, diced

1 pkg country gravy mix (not the sausage flavored kind--just the regular white country gravy)

sautee diced onion with a few sprays of butter (or you can use the real thing if you want.) next add in potatoes and cook them until they start to turn just a little (like cooking real hashbrowns). next add in gravy mix and chicken broth. bring to a boil then simmer for 25 minutes. garnish with cheese and bacon pieces.

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

1- 8 quart box powdered nonfat milk
1- 2lb can Quick
1 lb box confectioners sugar
1 lb jar coffee creamer

Mix all ingredients in a very large container. To make hot chocolate mix ½ cup mix to 1 ½ cup hot water for an average coffee cup. (This makes 1.5 gallons of dry mix.)

and obviously add marshmallows!!

stay warm, kiddies!!