Monday, December 29, 2014

Too Blessed to Be Stressed!

As I write this post, I am hearing the continuous sound of rain drops falling on the roof and on the A/C-Heating unit outside the window. After being out of work for a week, driving into work in the pouring rain on a Monday morning is not sounding too good. But, one of my goals for 2015 is to think positively. Positive thoughts, positive words and no (less?) anxiety.  I want to be intentional about having peace in my life in small and large things.

This is my new planner for 2015. I really like it a lot. In fact I bought 6 while they were on sale at Family Christian Store for gifts. The things I like are that its small enough to fit in my pocketbook, it has a page for monthly goals, the whole month at a glance and each page has a Bible verse and a small motivational paragraph.


So, I had to share with you what the scripture and devotion for this week is:

"Papa God is our heavenly Father, and we can trust that He will get us safely where we need to be.  We don't need to worry, fret, or fear the what-ifs."

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.  Psalm 56:3

I'll quote even further the devotion for the month of January ends with this:  "...By opening that station wagon door of trust and climbing in.  By making the choice to relax in the backseat, enjoy the journey, and let Papa drive." (emphasis mine)

Ok, so I will let Papa drive, and trust that He will get me to work safely.  But, if not, I know its His will!

Have a great Monday, the last one for 2014!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Beef Pot Pie


I made beef pot pie for Sunday's lunch. We love chicken pot pie and I kept remembering those little  frozen beef pot pies I used to buy years ago.    They were mostly beef and potatoes, not many vegetables. 

The recipe I came up with starts out in a frying pan looking like this:
  

After being transferred to a baking dish and adding the crust, its cooked in the oven until lightly browned.


After being dipped into a serving bowl, it looks deliciously yummy!




Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:

1 lb of beef, cut into bite size pieces.

Mine was chuck steak.  I think ground beef would be good and I plan to try that next time.   This is a great way to use those small packages of meat you sometimes see marked down at the grocery store.

Small amount of chopped onion
Olive oil for browning the beef and onion
1 can of Vegall, undrained.  ( I sometimes add 1 small can of garden peas, but didn't have any on hand this time.  You could also used frozen mixed vegetables or fresh vegetables that you have precooked.  You can use your imagination and put together any combination of vegetables.)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
3 or 4 small potatoes, peeled, cut into bite size pieces and boiled in a separate pot
pepper

Directions:

Brown the beef and onion over medium heat in the olive oil until done.
Sprinkle the flour all over the mixture and stir
Add the can of vegall and stir
Add the beef broth and stir.
Cook over medium heat until it starts to slightly bubble and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 or 15 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly.  You can always add more liquid if you think its too thick.  It will thicken more when baking in the oven.
Then pour it into a baking dish
Stir in the extra potatoes

The crust can be made in many ways.  You can make your own pie crust or use store bought.  I have even made it using a can of crescent rolls.

This time I used this recipe:

Crust:

1 cup of milk
1 stick of margarine melted (butter does not do well in this recipe.  I don't know why, but it doesn't)
1 cup of self rising flour
1 tsp of baking powder

Mix together until just blended.  It will be lumpy, but that's ok.
Pour it evenly over the beef and veggie mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until lightly browned.

You may notice that salt wasn't listed as an ingredient.  There's already plenty of salt in the Vegall and the beef broth.  We try not to add salt to our food if we can help it for health reasons.

Friday, December 12, 2014

2014 Christmas stockings for our grandsons....

Good Friday Morning to you! I can't believe its already December 12th and in only 2 weeks, Christmas will be behind us! Here's a picture of all five of the Christmas stockings for our five grandsons. I needed to make two new ones for the last two years in a row. 4 grandbabies in diapers and 1 in second grade. I am amazed!

And the Stockings were hug by the chimney with care....

The little tin Christmas ornaments were bought while in the Tennessee Mountains and while on a trip to Pennsylvania Amish Country.   I think they are really cute and make the stockings more special.

I made the one for Jake using some black and white houndstooth fabric with the red cuff in an effort to please his Alabama fan Mama.  She likes it!

Enjoy your Friday!

Glimpses of Home - first quarter of 2021

I made a list of my 2021 goals that I wrote down in the back of my planner.  Its time to review that to see how I am doing! But, here are a ...