Good Homecooking...

The last few days have been rough!  We have been living in this polar vortex of sorts with below zero temps and wind chills.  Kids have loved the extra days off school but my hibernation instinct sets in and I crave warm gooey home cooked meals.  Usually with schedules and the general busyness of life we tend to be a grab and go kind of family.  My idea of cooking is prepackaged heat & eat or hit the restaurant on the way home.  With all this extra time on my hands and no one wanting to go outside including my beloved Lilly....Momma did some cooking.

Here's my latest creation.  Creamy Chicken Casserole...I combined two recipes to suit my needs and here is what I came up with.  Yummy Goodness!!!

Recipe...

4 Chicken Breast Cooked & Shredded

2 Bullion

4 Cups Water

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Cans Cream Of Chicken

1/2 Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup Rice

1 Stick of Butter plus 2 Tablespoons

1 Box Herb Stuffing

12 Ritz Crackers Crushed

Cook chicken in water and bullion to create a stock.  Remove chicken and shred.  Remove 2 Cups Stock and leave remainder in skillet.  Add onion & rice to skillet and saute until tender.  Add 1 can cream of chicken to mixture.  In Saucepan melt 1 stick of butter and add stuffing mix, stir until combined.  To create sauce, add 1 can cream of chicken to the  reserved stock with 1/2 cup of milk and whisk.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Casserole or Baking Dish with Pam.  Layer chicken, rice mixture, stuffing mixture, repeat.  Top with sauce.  Melt remaining butter in saucepan and add crackers, mix.  Finally, sprinkle cracker topping over casserole and bake for 40 minutes.

Hope you enjoy this Hearty Home Cooked Meal as much as we did.  It is definitely a keeper and one that sent us all back for seconds :)

Really?...

January already!  Life has been busy with kids, work and health issues but a New Year and a New Start is my motto.  I knew things would be a slow start.  Getting in the habit of blogging and managing my time but what I realized most in this process is just how unorganized I am.  The good news is I've had a lot of time to think, research and come up with a plan.  Now to execute!

So where to begin.  This past summer I participated in an online Bible Study and the book was "I Use To Be So Organized" by Glynnis Whitwer.  You can check out her book on Proverbs31.org or visit her blog at glynniswhitwer.com.  As a matter of fact she is kicking off a 15 day clutter free challenge for the new year.  I will definitely be checking that out.

One thing I learned is what worked in the past will not necessarily work today.  Boy isn't that the truth!  Schedules, needs and priorities change as a family grows.  The other thing I have realized is that clutter does create chaos.  I have first hand experience at this.  Funny thing is I was so disgusted at my house one day that I took pictures of the clutter aka chaos and realized just how bad things had become.  You would think I would learn from my mistakes but guess again.  We get a busy week and sure enough by Wednesday we have little to no clean dishes, school work, mail, newspapers and clothes are tossed about the house in what literally looks like a hurricane passed through.  By Friday, I wish the house would blow up!  Only to spend the weekend cleaning and start all over again.  Life cannot continue as such...PERIOD!

So, I did what any wife, mother, daughter, employee and volunteer would do.  I quit!  Yep, threw my hands up, had my little pity party and decided I needed a plan.  Baby steps are in order for me.  I do not accept change well.  I run to and fro and lets just say LIFE does get in my way.  BUT No Longer Will I Accept That As An EXCUSE!

Like most people the new year started and I bought the calendar, planner and printed my organizational pages from all the pins I had made over the holidays.  I was ready to go on January 1st....or so I thought.  Yep here we are closing in on the end of the month and that calender has yet to be hung, those planning pages have yet to be organized and filled out.  The Home Management Binder I was going to create has yet to be created and sure enough...it looks like a bomb went off!

Seriously, its not that bad :)  I have begun making changes and I will continue to make changes and become more organized this year.  For one thing I went back to the basics and pulled out my Flylady book.  I had read this when the kids were toddlers and yes I literally started with shinning my sink.  If you want to learn more about that, hop on over the the Flylay's site at flylady.net.  So, for nearly a week I've had a mostly clean kitchen and we've established an after dinner routine.  The kids rooms are mostly clean and I have made a huge dent in that mountain of a laundry pile.  I even have a weekly menu posted on the refrigerator.  Yep, I am changing and yes it does take time and practice but in the end it will all be worth it.  Will I ever be June Cleaver...definitely NOT but my family is loved and taken care of and the other stuff will come.

God is good, faithful, loving and yes he is teaching me to trust him one day at a time.  He is my strength and my comfort.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).  The Lord is teaching me to love who he has made me to be and yes learn to love my family by taking care of my home.

Have A Fantastic Start To Your Week!
Donna

Getting Started.....

As the seasons change our schedules and priorities do to.  The kids have gone back to school for many of us.  As Mom's we start to tackle some of those projects we've put on the back burner while we enjoyed those summer days watching our children play, grow and prepare for the new school year with anxious excitement.  And so Fall brings about this change for me as well.  A time to start my blog and share the things I love most.  For me those include crafting, decorating and family.  Life is short and we need to capture those "Hints of Happiness" that surround us.

On this blog I will share crafts, decorating and organizing ideas along with recipes and family stories, pictures and activities.  If someone would ask me to describe my style I would have to say a mix of Traditional, French Country and Cottage.  My goal is to bring a smile to the faces of those around me.  I love to make things for others and I always want our friends and family to feel welcome and comfortable.

I want to end today by sharing this plaque I picked up on our family vacation to Holland, Michigan a couple of years ago.  It is the last thing I see before I go to bed and the first thing I see when I wake up.  I hope you are encouraged by these words. 

I hope you'll stop by and join me as I journey through life capturing and sharing what I see, make and learn. Hopefully you'll find something useful or creative to make your life a little happier :)

Donna