Sunday Sunshine - A Whirlwind Week

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.  

This week seemed to fly by.  Most normal pieces of our routine were interrupted, but it was ok.  HandyMan took a very quick trip to England to celebrate his Aunt Betsy's life with other family members and arrived home safely.  Certain details of his trip could have been disasterous, but they weren't.  Friends took G-Tot for the afternoon on Sunday.  I got the house to myself and a sacked out  little girl within a half hour of her return home from her adventures.  Thanks G, D & K!

I had lots of work this week.  I enjoyed frozen cookie dough and some even made it to the oven!  G-Tot gave me lots of practice in the areas of patience and grace.   We are a week closer to meeting Itty Bitty - whenever that may be!  (Let the guessing begin!  Date?  Gender?)

While I had plans for alone shopping on Friday, our car had other ideas.  I'm thankful to have been near an exit and able to wait safely for Handy Man and the truck to come and rescue me!  And that I had made arrangements to have G-Tot elsewhere that morning!

Saturday brought peaceful time, alone time as I worked my hours at the local craft co-op where I sell my candles.  HandyMan and G-Tot got to go have their own adventures - of higher activity level than this Mama's up for these days!

It's been a good week.  If you've had a chaotic week too, take a minute to reflect on the good!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Book Review: "Not This Time"

 Not This Time by Vicki Hinze is the third in the Crossroads Crisis Center series.  I have to admit, I read it on it's own and requested the review copy not realizing it was one in a series.

A story of terrorist plots, small town intrigue, traitors among the tight knit community as well as a small dash of romance all flavor this romantic suspense novel.  The beginning was a little cumbersome as it was obvious the author was trying to fill in the plot-line gaps that were covered in previous books, and had I read the other books, I think it would have been even more sluggish.  Once past all the introductory pieces, the story line moved along nicely.

The characters are well defined and emotions and feelings of traumatic experiences are well written.  Although the series namesake, Crossroads Crisis Center, is mentioned often, it is left as a vague entity and the reader is left unclear of it's exact organization.  A church?  A counseling center? A group of friends who get together to do good in the community?

If you're looking for a fun, suspenseful read and can take a couple steps from reality into the shelves of fiction, Not This Time is a fun, clean, page-turner.

Disclaimers: I received a complementary copy of this ebook from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of the Blogging for Books program. The opinions and thoughts of this are my own and are not influenced in any way. This post contains affiliate links.

[Freezer] Twice Baked Potatoes

I made these a couple weeks ago and they were good.  Really good.  I concocted this recipe from the general idea of twice baked potatoes and a few different "freezer friendly" mashed potato recipes.  It seems that using milk when you make mashed potatoes for the freezer, is part of what makes them thaw weird.  Go figure.  So, while this recipe isn't exactly artery friendly, it's really yummy.  I didn't use any light sour cream or light cream cheese so I'm not sure how those substitutions would hold up in the freezer.  Maybe I'll experiment later.

[Freezer] Twice Baked Potatoes

2 1/2 lbs of baking potatoes (I chose smaller potatoes as I intended them to serve as a side dish)

2 Tbs shortening

Salt

4 oz softened cream cheese

1 Tbs Butter

2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/4-3/4 cups Sour Cream

1.  Wash your potatoes and rub shortening on the skins.  Then sprinkle with salt.  This step adds a lot of flavor to the potatoes.

2.  Bake potatoes on a baking sheet (I cooked mine at 425 for an hour) until fork tender.

3.  Let potatoes cool until you can handle them.  Cut them in half and scoop out the meat of the potato into a mixing bowl.

4.  Add cream cheese, cheddar cheese and butter and mash thoroughly.  Add sour cream until your potatoes are the consistency of a thick mashed potato, or cookie dough.  Amount of sour cream will vary depending on how much potato filling you have.

5.  Fill your potatoes.  

6.  [Freezing] If you're freezing them, let them cool at this point and put the baking sheet in the freezer until they're set.  Then wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn and place in zip top bag to freeze.  

7.  [Baking] Place thawed (or just prepared) Twice Baked Potatoes on a baking sheet.  Add a bit of cheese to the top for looks and bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and potatoes are completely heated.  Baking time will vary by size of potatoes.   You can also add bacon bits before baking or chopped steamed broccoli or chili after baking.  

Cooking for One: These are a great dish to stash in the freezer if you're cooking for a small family or just one or two people - each can be pulled and thawed separately and easily baked in a toaster oven with a "bake" setting.

Sunday Sunshine - Time With Friends & Thoughtful Gifts

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.  


My brain's a little mushy - I caught myself putting clean measuring cups in the fridge and milk in the pantry today.  So I think I'll keep this brief.  It's been a good week . . .

:: Sunshine & warm days.
:: Beautiful, thoughtful gifts.
:: Fun "thinking of you" gifts.
:: MOPs
:: Morning Out
:: Lunch with a friend.
:: Yummy cupcakes on the back porch while "kids" played.
:: A nap.
:: Evening out crafting and visiting.
:: Buddies to teach G things like how to roll down the hill in the back yard.
:: Tylenol PM & children's benadryl-ingredients for good nights of sleep during hay cutting season & final weeks of pregnancy.
:: Cold creek water.
:: Meals on the back porch.
:: When details come together and work themselves out.
:: Crossing things off the To-Do List, even when I'm completely unmotivated.

May you enjoy this week as summer quickly approaches and remember to find the gifts in your day.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!