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Link Love

These are so stinkin’ cute.
I’m doing this next year!
No, we have not sent Christmas thank- yous.  So embarrassing.  Maybe this will help..
Free Fill In The Blank Comic Book Craft Printable @ Zakka Life
My daughter loved this idea and can’t wait to do it.
These are so fun, easy and unique.  How does she think of these things?
Honey Chicken Curry On Rice @ The Mother Huddle
We are still having meals brought, but when I get back to cooking I am making this!
I am eager to go sit at a coffee shop, go through her list, and contemplate.
Healthy One Pan Recipes @ 101 Cookbooks
Love her site, love her recipes.  I want to buy her new cookbook, just released!
Fun With Etching @ A Girl And A Glue Gun
Like I said, we are still having meals brought over from people who go to my church, until I get healthy.
I loved this idea, it would be fun to etch your last name into it, too.  These would make a fun gift, you really could do any words or design.

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A Deal Like This Makes Me Giddy!!

Have you heard that Amazon is selling gift cards for half off today?
It is through the Living Social site.
Did you know if you buy one, they will then send you a link that you can share.  If 3 friends buy, then yours is free!  If more of your friends buy them, you will earn deal bucks to spend on future deals!! 
Share your unique link through email, facebook or twitter.  It is that easy. 
The deal is on for 17 more hours, so hurry if you are interested.
If you decide to purchase  using my link, I want to THANK YOU very much!!  
I am currently out of my
 Coombs 100% Organic Maple Syrup and Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil–two products I always buy on Amazon.  I also buy my Stash Chai Green Tea on Amazon. That is what I will be using my gift card toward!  

What do you buy most often on Amazon??

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Just Get ‘Em Fed!

If you are here for Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, it WILL be back next week!  Thanks for stopping by!

In the meantime, check out the free ebook below!!

If you click hereit will take you to the Morris Tribe Website where her free ebook is in the sidebar.  Click on the sidebar button to download. You don’t even need to sign up, just click! Easy!

I am so excited to share with you this free ebook.  It is so very worth the read.  It is written by Kelly at the Morris Tribe.  She is a mom of 9 and gives some of the most helpful and practical tips for feeding your family healthy, frugal, and delicious meals.  She has some great recipes in her ebook, I can’t wait to try her “Best Banana Break-Ever” recipe.  Her wisdom has been invaluable to me, I have learned much from her and her great blog, and I devoured her ebook in one sitting!
{Kelly from the Morris Tribe}
Thank you, Kelly, for providing this great resource for us moms!  Thank you for sharing your wisdom and for sharing with us moms how you find balance in the busyness of life!

My Health Update

I am home, healing from my surgery.  I am doing well, it has all been easier than I thought it would be.    We should get the pathology report back tomorrow…it is a big deal.  We will find out if what showed up on the MRI is still cancer or just scar tissue.  If it is cancer, more chemo.  If it is scar tissue, then wow…I could actually be almost done with this battle!  I appreciate your prayers.
 I will be posting more regularly as I heal, right now I have incisions under both arms that make typing hard. In the meantime, I will be featuring some great guest posts so make sure you come check those out! For more regular health updates, please visit my Caring Bridge site–button in the side bar.  

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Roasted Eggplant And Cannellini Bean Dip-And a health update..



Hi Everyone!!

I am home, healing from my surgery.  I am doing well, it has all been easier than I thought it would be.  My sweet friend, Sharon, is here from Chicago caring for me and my family.  She has made everyday full of love and joy–what a gift.  We should get the pathology report back today or tomorrow…it is a big deal.  We will find out if what showed up on the MRI is still cancer or just scar tissue.  If it is cancer, more chemo.  If it is scar tissue, then wow…I could actually be almost done with this battle!  I appreciate your prayers.
Enjoy this guest post, its a good one!  I have a few more coming up that you will all love.  I will peep in once in awhile to let you know how things are going.  I will be posting more regularly as I heal, right now I have incisions under both arms that make typing hard.  For more regular health updates, please visit my Caring Bridge site–button in the side bar.  

Roasted Eggplant and Cannellini Bean Dip

In Food Geek Friday, Real Food, Recipe on October 1, 2010 at 11:30 am**This is a guest post from Melinda Massie @ Organizing With A Side Of Fabulous

I recently picked up a bunch of baby fairytale eggplant at the farmers market.  They were so cute that really, how could I not??  I’d cooked up a few of them in a sauce, but there were so many that I needed to find up a way to use them before they went bad.  I stumbled upon this dip from Giada De Laurentiis and it is DELICIOUS!!!  I’ve been having it as an afternoon snack every day since I made it.  Sooo good!
Roasted Eggplant and Cannellini Bean Dip
  • 10 baby fairytale eggplant, trimmed and cut in half 
  • Olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1/3 cup
  • Sea salt 
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic 
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and place an oven rack in the middle.  
Place eggplant in baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Set aside to cool.
 In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooled eggplant, beans, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pulse until the mixture is a thick paste.  With the machine running, gradually add 1/3 cup of olive oil until the mixture is creamy. 
Place the dip in a bowl and enjoy!  Can be served with veggies, pita bread, pita chips or tortilla chips.
I love her Quick Tip Posts, so many great tips for getting small things done that in the end makes life flow a lot more smoothly!
Thank you, Melinda!

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Easy Christmas Ladies Luncheon

**This is a repost from last year.  I sure miss entertaining, makes me very ready to be healthy again!
  
I have some very special women in my life.  We used to get together for a Bible study at my house every Wednesday morning.  We did this for 4 years, and it was always a highlight of my week.  We had to stop meeting, due to schedule changes and life taking us in different directions.  I thought it would be great to have them all over for a ladies luncheon, and thought “What better time to do it than Christmastime?”
I set the table, made sure the candles were lit, and the Christmas music was playing.  I left a Christmas treat by each of their plates (Lindt Lindor Truffles), which added a little touch of Christmas color to my black and white table.
 Menu:
Soup-Chicken Tortilla Soup
Salad-Cranberry Spinach Salad
Bread-Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Dessert-Andes Mint Cookies
Something Fun To Drink-Cranberry Spritzer
Something Warm To Drink-Coffee & Hot Tea
Soup:
It was a very cold and snowy week here in Nebraska, so soup was an obvious choice.  My cousin, Keeli, passed on a Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that I have been wanting to try, so I did—and boy, am I glad I did! Yum!  I set out chips, salsa, shredded cheese; tortilla strips and brown rice, and let them help themselves to whatever toppings they wanted.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1(15oz) can whole peeled tomatoes,mashed
1(10oz) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1(4oz) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1(14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1t cumin
1t chili powder
1t salt
1/4t black pepper
1 bay leaf
1(10oz) frozen corn
Flour Tortillas, cut into strips, optional
Shredded Cheese, optional

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn. Cover, and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.  Serve in bowl topped with tortilla strips and shredded cheese, if desired

I had shredded chicken on hand b/c I had made this recipe.  I put it together the night before and then just plugged it in and set it on high and it was ready in time for lunch. 

Buffet Style=Easy!

Salad:
This is my go-to easy salad recipe.  Whenever I am asked to bring a dish, this is one I often choose to bring.  I can just buy the ingredients, bring a bowl and tongs, dump it all a bowl and toss once I am there.  This is a no-recipe, recipe.

Cranberry Spinach Salad
Bag of Spinach
Bag of Dried Cranberries
Slivered Almonds
Feta Cheese
Croutons
Dump Spinach into large bowl.  Add the rest of ingredients, amounts according to taste.  Toss and Serve.

Bread:
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
I like this recipe because I can just put it in my bread maker and choose the dough option.  Once it beeps, I put it into a loaf pan and let it rise another 1/2 hour or until about double, then bake.  I could just leave it in my bread maker and choose loaf setting, but I like the shape of a regular loaf pan.
Click here for the recipe.

Dessert:
Andes Mint Cookies
Click here for the recipe.

Drink:
Cranberry Spritzer
You can make your own (equal parts of cranberry juice and sprite) or buy a bottle like I did.  

 This luncheon really was easy.  Every recipe I chose was super simple and I already had the shredded chicken and cookie dough on hand in my freezer. 

We had a great time.  I have to admit, seeing each of them walk through the door made me REALLY miss our Wednesday Bible Study time together! 🙁
 I am so very thankful for the friendships I have, God has blessed me big time!!  

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Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

The Simplicity Of Sprouting

**This is a guest post written by Kelly from The Morris Tribe.  Enjoy~
During the winter months, I truly miss the fresh produce from my garden.  I also resent the high prices of mediocre produce at the store!  Sprouting is an option that has worked very well for our family and may be something you might want to consider.  Not only is it inexpensive and highly nutritious, but it’s fun!
Sprouting is like having your own little garden in your kitchen all winter long.  Your supply of sprouts keep coming every few days, just about the time it takes to eat your last batch.  They require only a sunny window and two rinses a day, how easy is that?
All of the energy that a plant requires to produce a full-sized plant is released when a seed germinates, or sprouts.  This time in the life cycle of a seed is the best time to consume them. 
The nutritional value of sprouts is just short of ridiculous, read here.  They are a wonderful supplement to your winter repertoire.  I count on them to help my family with building immunity during cold/flu season.

 Sprout People is a great source of information about what seeds are best to sprout and gives this nutritional info for sprouts:

Nutritional info:
Vitamins A, B, C, E and K
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc
Carotene, Chlorophyll
Amino Acids
Trace Elements
Protein: up to 35%
You’ll need a mason jar, a lid ring and some cheesecloth.  You can purchase a sprouting lid for a wide-mouth mason jar here for just a few bucks.  I prefer a plastic lid myself.  The most important thing to remember is that it needs to be clean!  I like to put my jar in the dishwasher to sterilize it.
For high-quality, organic sprouting seeds, check around your town.  I usually purchase my alfalfa seeds at the health food store, but they are available at grocery stores and on-line as well.  A small package of seeds will cost just a few bucks and will last a year or longer as you only need a tablespoon of seeds at a time.
You’ll want to soak your seeds in a few inches of water overnight.  The next morning, rinse them thoroughly.  That’s it!  Just set your jar near a sunny window and watch them grow!  Rinse them again that night.  Be sure to drain the seeds well, you don’t want excess water in the jar.
The next morning, rinse them again and then once more at night. 
By day 3, you’ll be getting pretty excited as your sprouts will have germinated and will be close to ready.  Just rinse your sprouts every morning and evening thoroughly.
You might want to take a taste of your sprouts on day 3 or 4 and see how you like them.  Their taste will change just a bit from day to day, you can establish what day you like them best.
Once they are complete, you’ll want to rinse them well enough to get the hulls off.  Then store them in a sealed container in the frig. 
I like to just munch on them myself, but they also make a great addition to sandwiches.  I have used them them in smoothies, the kids will be none the wiser!  A strong flavored fruit like blueberries or blackberries will insure that.
“The Sprouting Book” by Ann Wigmore is an excellent resource on sprouting and fairly inexpensive as well. Being an older book, I’m quite sure you could get it from the library. 
 Kelly Morris is a wife and mother to 9 children, 6 biological and 3 adopted, living in small town Ohio.  She can often be found blogging, writing, reading, cooking, gardening, digital scrapbooking and drinking good coffee.  Kelly authors “The Morristribe: Creating Balance for Busy Moms” and loves helping other moms find balance in their lives.
*** Kelly made this super helpful video on the sprouting process.  Once I saw on this video & how simple it is, I felt way less intimidated by sprouting.  It is EASY!  
Thanks, Kelly, for this great post and for being such a great friend to me!
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Links I Like #6

Thanksgiving Snack Mix and Printable :: Marta Writes
This is the cutest thanksgiving snack mix.  Mini cornucopias and kernels of corn and other goodies, plus a free printable that tells the thanksgiving story is such a fun way!

Pottery Barn Hacks For Thanksgiving:: The Nesting Place
No cheesy turkeys here!  Everything looks so warm and inviting.  The corn husks tied around large hurricanes–I love.

Two Minute Weekday Steel Cut Oatmeal :: The Givers Log
This week, I am doing this!

Discovering Simplicity :: Becoming Minimalist
This is so worth the listen.  He is funny, practical, and seems to really “get” what moms deal with each day, being the family man that he is.  Although I faithfully read his blog, I still learned a lot from this podcast!

So many great thanksgiving ideas…love the little turkey cup filled with peanuts and the thanksgiving skit idea!

What a Man Can Really Do For a Woman :: Holy Experience
Whoa.  Very romantic:)

Little Man Tea Party :: I Am Momma Hear Me Roar
Who said tea parties are only for girls?  This is adorable, the face plates crack me up..

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