I was reminded that it didn't matter if the truffles turn out looking perfect so let the kids help. Despite the final presentation they are still yummy, yummy! Enjoy!!
SIMPLE OREO TRUFFLES
16 oz package of Oreos
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
16 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
Directions
Completely crush Oreos and place in a bowl. Add cream cheese. Mix until blended. Roll cookie mixture into 1-inch balls. Dip in chocolate and place on wax paper to cool. Decorate truffles as desired.
Refrigerate until firm, about one hour. Eat them all. Or refrigerate again.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl
Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl Bible Study is going to be offered on Monday mornings beginning March 15 at NCC from 9am until 11:30am and on Monday evenings from 6pm until 7:30pm at NCC. Both offerings will have childcare provided. The cost of the the book and the participant's guide is $14. If you are interested in joining this 6 week study or would like more information about the study, call Mary Lynn or email her at nccmops@gmail.com. Below is a brief introduction to the study by Lysa. (More information posted below on February 18.) Don't forget to turn down the playlist at the bottom of this page. Check out Lysa's blog now for some great thoughts and scriptures to lead into this study. www.lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com
What's For Dinner, Mommy?
Baked Potato Haystacks
Ingredients:
10 potatoes, baked
1 head lettuce, shredded
1 lg. onion, chopped fine
1-16 oz. bag of baby carrots, finely chopped
2 lb. lean ground beef, browned and drained
1-18 oz. can sloppy joe sauce
1 -28 oz. can pork and beans
1 - 13 oz. bag Doritos, crushed
2-10 ¾ oz. cans cream mushroom soup
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
2 T. milk
Directions:
1. Bake your potatoes in the oven at 350 for about an hour until tender.
2. Shred your lettuce; chop onions and carrots fine. Put each in a separate serving bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
3. Place crushed Doritos in a separate serving bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
4. In a saucepan, combine sloppy joe sauce, ground beef and pork and beans; heat until bubbly. Keep warm.
5. In a separate saucepan, dilute cream of mushroom soup with milk and Velveeta cheese on low heat until well blended. Keep warm.
6. At serving time, have guests begin with their baked potato on a large plate, sliced open and mashed with a fork. As they walk down the buffet line, they top their potato with the toppings of their choice in this order: sloppy joe; lettuce; onions; carrots; cheese sauce; ending with Doritos.
Serves 10.
Golden Burger Spirals
Ingredients:
•1 pound ground beef
•1 medium onion, chopped
•1 medium green pepper, chopped
•1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed golden mushroom soup, undiluted
•1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
•1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 package (8 ounces) spiral pasta, cooked and drained
Directions:
In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, tomato sauce, 1 cup cheese and salt. Stir in pasta.
Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Ingredients:
10 potatoes, baked
1 head lettuce, shredded
1 lg. onion, chopped fine
1-16 oz. bag of baby carrots, finely chopped
2 lb. lean ground beef, browned and drained
1-18 oz. can sloppy joe sauce
1 -28 oz. can pork and beans
1 - 13 oz. bag Doritos, crushed
2-10 ¾ oz. cans cream mushroom soup
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
2 T. milk
Directions:
1. Bake your potatoes in the oven at 350 for about an hour until tender.
2. Shred your lettuce; chop onions and carrots fine. Put each in a separate serving bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
3. Place crushed Doritos in a separate serving bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
4. In a saucepan, combine sloppy joe sauce, ground beef and pork and beans; heat until bubbly. Keep warm.
5. In a separate saucepan, dilute cream of mushroom soup with milk and Velveeta cheese on low heat until well blended. Keep warm.
6. At serving time, have guests begin with their baked potato on a large plate, sliced open and mashed with a fork. As they walk down the buffet line, they top their potato with the toppings of their choice in this order: sloppy joe; lettuce; onions; carrots; cheese sauce; ending with Doritos.
Serves 10.
Golden Burger Spirals
Ingredients:
•1 pound ground beef
•1 medium onion, chopped
•1 medium green pepper, chopped
•1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed golden mushroom soup, undiluted
•1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
•1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 package (8 ounces) spiral pasta, cooked and drained
Directions:
In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, tomato sauce, 1 cup cheese and salt. Stir in pasta.
Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Train Up a Child
February is the month we focus on love and showing love to family and friends. But have you ever thought about love involving sacrifices? You know as a mom that you sacrifice sleep, girlish figure, time for reading or other interests, etc. all for the love of your kids. You probably have sacrificed your own interests, careers, etc. for your husband. If you think honestly about it, you can probably name quite a few things he has sacrificed for you and the kids as well. Love is great in that we get the benefit of loving someone, but it also is great in that we get to give up something for someone else. Kids are naturally self-centered and self-serving. Here are a few ideas to get the conversation started about sacrificing for the ones we love. Ultimately, our greatest example is God in that He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus for us- the ones He loves most dearly.
Made With Love
Make a special dessert (heart shaped cookies or Rice Krispie treats or brownies cut out with a heart-shaped cutter) for someone that could use a little extra love. Make homemade cards to take with you and surprise them.
Secret Sacrifice
Write each person's name on a slip of paper and put them all in a bag. Let each person draw a name, but tell them to keep it a secret. Choose one day for each person to sacrifice and to do acts of kindness for the person whose name they drew. Remind them to do it SECRETLY!
Brainstorm for ideas—do their chores, make their bed, write them a note, give them a small gift, play a game with them, etc.
At the end of the special day, let each person to guess who was secretly showing them kindness.
Ask:
How did you feel when someone else sacrificed his or her time and did something for you?
How did you feel when you sacrificed for someone else?
Read 1John 3:16 (By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.)
Ask:
How did God sacrifice for us? (He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us.)
HE is the example for us to follow.
Someone's Trash is Another Kid's Treasure
If you haven't done any cleaning out after the holidays, it's not too late. Ask your children to look through their toys and find one or two toys (still in good shape) to give to someone in need. Donate them to a shelter, a rescue mission, or a family that could use them.
Made With Love
Make a special dessert (heart shaped cookies or Rice Krispie treats or brownies cut out with a heart-shaped cutter) for someone that could use a little extra love. Make homemade cards to take with you and surprise them.
Secret Sacrifice
Write each person's name on a slip of paper and put them all in a bag. Let each person draw a name, but tell them to keep it a secret. Choose one day for each person to sacrifice and to do acts of kindness for the person whose name they drew. Remind them to do it SECRETLY!
Brainstorm for ideas—do their chores, make their bed, write them a note, give them a small gift, play a game with them, etc.
At the end of the special day, let each person to guess who was secretly showing them kindness.
Ask:
How did you feel when someone else sacrificed his or her time and did something for you?
How did you feel when you sacrificed for someone else?
Read 1John 3:16 (By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.)
Ask:
How did God sacrifice for us? (He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us.)
HE is the example for us to follow.
Someone's Trash is Another Kid's Treasure
If you haven't done any cleaning out after the holidays, it's not too late. Ask your children to look through their toys and find one or two toys (still in good shape) to give to someone in need. Donate them to a shelter, a rescue mission, or a family that could use them.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More than a Good Bible Study Girl
I could write a book about Lysa TerKeurst and her amazing talent as a speaker and writer. She is absolutely one of my favorite people! But I will simply tell you that she is a real woman dealing with the same real issues as you and I and that she wants to help other women grow in a relationship with Christ. Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl is her newest book. I have read it two times and every time I walk away with my sides hurting from laughing, tissues on the floor from crying and my toes smarting a bit. She writes with Southern wit and the wisdom of someone who has baggage from past choices and situations. But she is a daughter of God and is passionate for Him and other women to know Him. It doesn't matter if you already are in relationship with Christ or just searching for something, she is authentic and open about where she has been, why and where she is now and wanting to be.
I am going to conduct a 6 week Bible study based on this book beginning in March. The book itself and the companion study guide are $14 before March 1. I am willing to offer the study in the mornings and/or on Monday evening. If you are interested in the study, email or call me and let me know that you are interested and which time (morning or evening) you are interested in joining. I will have the exact specifics within the week. Check out the video of Lysa talking about the Bible study. (This is her 3rd video I have posted on this blog- Did I mention she is one of my absolute favs? and her husband owns a Chic-Fil-A! Girls,need I say more?!)
I am going to conduct a 6 week Bible study based on this book beginning in March. The book itself and the companion study guide are $14 before March 1. I am willing to offer the study in the mornings and/or on Monday evening. If you are interested in the study, email or call me and let me know that you are interested and which time (morning or evening) you are interested in joining. I will have the exact specifics within the week. Check out the video of Lysa talking about the Bible study. (This is her 3rd video I have posted on this blog- Did I mention she is one of my absolute favs? and her husband owns a Chic-Fil-A! Girls,need I say more?!)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Marriage Can Be Hard
Valentine's is a wonderful holiday to focus on loving and expressing love to our darling husbands and sweet children. But loving them is not a once a year option. It is a daily choice. Sometimes loving them is easy. But sometimes it is really hard. Marriage, in particular, can be challenging. My bloggy friend, Lysa TerKerust, has some thoughts about this that I thought some of us might find encouraging. Remember to mute the playlist at the bottom of the page before listening to her.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Parenting Tips
Anger Confuses Correction
A good correction routine teaches children that they must change. Their current course of action will not work. It's unacceptable and needs adjusting. Unfortunately the clear message that the child has a problem and needs to work on it is sometimes missed because of parental anger. A parent's harshness can confuse the learning process. Instead of thinking, "I'm here taking a Break because I did something wrong," the child thinks, "I'm here taking a Break because I made Mom mad."
The child's focus changes from correcting what he or she did wrong to avoiding parental anger. It's important to remember that your anger is good for identifying problems but not good for solving them. When you're tempted to respond harshly, be careful to take a moment and think about what you need to teach in the situation. It's easy to react with anger when your kids do the wrong thing but it's more helpful to move into a constructive correction routine.
For example, Dad yells, "I've had it! I called you five times and you didn't come, so I'm not taking you to the party!" The child gets a mixed message. Is missing the party the consequence for not coming when called, or is it the consequence for making Dad angry?
Children who grow up with explosive parents learn to focus more on pleasing people than on living with convictions about right and wrong. They may learn to make changes in life, but not because they're determined to do what's right. Rather, they make changes to avoid upsetting people; they become people pleasers or just plain sneaky. Kids then believe that what they did was okay as long as Mom or Dad didn't find out. As long as no one gets angry, then there's no problem.
When you make a mistake and correct in anger, it's important to come back to your child and talk about it afterwards. Clarify what was wrong, why the consequence was given, and apologize for your harshness.
Taken from "Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids,” by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller.
A good correction routine teaches children that they must change. Their current course of action will not work. It's unacceptable and needs adjusting. Unfortunately the clear message that the child has a problem and needs to work on it is sometimes missed because of parental anger. A parent's harshness can confuse the learning process. Instead of thinking, "I'm here taking a Break because I did something wrong," the child thinks, "I'm here taking a Break because I made Mom mad."
The child's focus changes from correcting what he or she did wrong to avoiding parental anger. It's important to remember that your anger is good for identifying problems but not good for solving them. When you're tempted to respond harshly, be careful to take a moment and think about what you need to teach in the situation. It's easy to react with anger when your kids do the wrong thing but it's more helpful to move into a constructive correction routine.
For example, Dad yells, "I've had it! I called you five times and you didn't come, so I'm not taking you to the party!" The child gets a mixed message. Is missing the party the consequence for not coming when called, or is it the consequence for making Dad angry?
Children who grow up with explosive parents learn to focus more on pleasing people than on living with convictions about right and wrong. They may learn to make changes in life, but not because they're determined to do what's right. Rather, they make changes to avoid upsetting people; they become people pleasers or just plain sneaky. Kids then believe that what they did was okay as long as Mom or Dad didn't find out. As long as no one gets angry, then there's no problem.
When you make a mistake and correct in anger, it's important to come back to your child and talk about it afterwards. Clarify what was wrong, why the consequence was given, and apologize for your harshness.
Taken from "Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids,” by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller.
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About Me
- ml4estsmommy
- I am a very blessed SAHM. I am blessed with an abundant amount of grace from my Creator and Savior. He has blessed me with an amazing man as my life long best friend, husband and father of our two precious gifts of energy and life. My days are full with the activities of homekeeping, and the joys and adventures of two healthy and energetic kiddos. I am basking in His grace daily.
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