I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

~ Psalm 122:1 HCSB

The other day I received  a copy of "food & family" magazine by Kraft Foods  . . . I love love love  this magazine! I began getting it many many  moons ago when it was offered for free, now they are going to be requiring a small subscription fee  . . . which presently I am not planning  on applying for but it is a really cute  lil magazine . . . anyhoot, we ( as in the girls  & I ) have always enjoyed flipping through the pages as oooo-ing, ahhh-ing & drooling  a bit but we never had a place to try out the recipes . . . well, now we do! But seeing it has been some time  since I have done any "big cooking" my youngest  is helping me out . . . A few of my friends  write up  some of their truly fabulously marvelous recipes  on their blog & I think they are incredibly amazing   ! I am envious ( but not in the hard way ) of their talents, myself I need simple, easy recipes that require ingredients I would more then likely have about &/or used frequently . . .

So here is two of the recipes we spied in this issue   :

Ultimate Crispy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

8 slices white bread

8 Kraft Singles

8 tsp. soft margarine

4 tsp. Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat oven to 400. Fill bread slices of sandwiches with margarine; place on baking sheet. Bake 8 min. ; sprinke with half the Parmesan. Flip sandwiches; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake 6 to 8 min. or until golden brown.

~ um . . . we didn't actually use Kraft products, went for a bit more  . . . hhhhmmm, generic & we kinda sorta cut back on the amount of the items called for  but it came out really grand! After tasting it my oldest  gave the suggestion of us trying to do a sandwich with possible mozzerella cheese & spaghetti sauce in the middle . . . maybe a bit of garlic on the outside . . . hhmmmm intriguing ~

Catlina Cranberry Chicken

4 lb. bone-in chicken pieces ( breast halves and/or thighs )

1 can (16 oz ) while berry cranberry sauce

1 bottle ( 8 oz ) Kraft Catalina Dressing

1 env. onion soup mix

Heat oven to 350. Place chicken in 2 ( 13 x 9-inch ) baking dishes. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Bake 50 min. or until chicken is done.

~ this came out really really grand too! again we didn't follow the advice to the fullest  . . . we had a whole cut up chicken  I got from the store really cheap  so we used that instead of what was listed . . .it came out outstanding ~

The other day I was able to get some ground meat fairly inexpensive  so I am planning on giving this next one a whirl  in a few days or so:

Mom's Best Bite-Size Meatballs

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 pkg. ( 6 oz ) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs

1 bottle ( 16 oz ) Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce

1 can ( 16 oz ) whole berry cranberrt sauce

Heat oven 400. Line 2 (15x10x1-inch ) pans with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix meat , stuffing mix, water and eggs until blended. Shape into 50 (1 1/2-inch ) meatballs; place in prepared pans. Bake 16 min. or until done. Meanwhile, bring barbecue sauce and cranberry sauce to a boil in large saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add meatballs to sauce; stir to evenly coat.

 God, thank You for my godly friends. Please help me befriend move people who honor You and will help me get closer to You. Amen.

~ May you ALWAYS be Blessed & may you ALWAYS Bless others ~

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For The Beauty Of The Earth

 I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgements I have laid before me.

~ Psalm 119:30 NKJV

A few days back  we got a red note from the managements office put onto our door . . . they generally pass/post these out to "remind" you that your rent is late but they also will sometimes write a short personal note  on them . . . they are referred to as "F.Y.I." 's for they enlighten you to something you are doing wrong . . . we are doing something wrong  . . . my Hub has a spare tire  for his truck that he removed so he could put other misc trash  items into the bed of his truck & dispose of properly . . . so we placed the tire  up against the side of our trailer & there it has sat . . . apparently this is not acceptable  . . . when I first read the note my knickers began to get a bit knotted  . . . began mumbling "what? a note for a stinking tire? what about so 'n' so who has the this 'n' that up that is NOT suppose to be there but always is? or what about so 'n' so who has all those blanks on their yard? what about them? are they getting lil red notes?"  . . . then it came to me . . . "this is about You not Them" . . .   point taken: we are breaking a rule, now we know it, now we can correct it . . . .

So flash forward to a few days  after the "red note" . . . sitting on the porch I can't help but note the people  visiting the neighbors across the street . . .why? well because they are the invidivuals that once resided were we presently live  . . . instantly I felt my muscles tighten up. shoulders push together . . . then when the lil girl ( she is somewhere between the ages of 7 -9 ) who used to live here poked her head out their door across the street & began a serious stare down  with me I felt my eyes began to squint in one dilly of a glare & the corner of my lip curl up into a Billy Idol snarl . . . then I heard in my head "grudge" . . . pardon?  . . . "grudge" . . . oh man!  . . . grudge  . . .  part of my daily prayers  I ask that the Lord forgives me of my grudges, which is great  . . . but on my other hand   if I am aware of my grudges but I keep holding on to them, then ask for forgiveness isn't that wrong? Does that not fall into the defination of hypocritical? Yeah I think it does . . .

Then there was the day  I was talking  with a neighbor . . . let me tell you this man has a mouth on him that it would make your milk cruddle  ! He is a nice enough man but that mouth  . . . oooooo weeee! When the girls  are around he notes his language, apologizes for it but truly never stops . . . now, my mouth  . . . I can get colorful myself, I can make the saltiest of sailors blush  . . . but I have been working on it, working on it for a long long time    . . . one thing I have noted I have to really watch myself when around individuals who do use accessive foul language, if I am not careful I will begin to pick it back up again . . . some of the words he used I found myself physically flinching  as thinking "oh now that is so wrong it ain't right"  . . . his excuse was he was an ole country boy  . . . mmmmm, my Father was an ole country boy & he never ever used that language!!!! . . . anyhow, I was thinking about this . . . a lot . . . language . . . seems to me we all take it for granted a lot more then we realize . . . & foul language  . . . once it was used to express or accent something now  . . . well, now it flows freely . . . listen to conversations taking place around you & I suspect you will begin to note this & may be shocked a bit . . . you would think with it being more freer & about I would be more accustomed to it but I am not  . . . truthfully I am offended more so now  . . . especially when hearing it come out of the mouths of children! So what do we do? Correct? Yeah you can take that route but I am finding that many people are kinda sorta enjoying the "it bothers you" idea . . . then they make a million & one excuses as to why they do . . . or they call you prudish & so forth . . .

One day we had a kid up here & the mouth on this boy  . . . oh mercy! But here was the amazing bit . . . when I was around him he did not use that language but the minute I was out of sight ( heard him yelling out suck my f****** b**** you f****** wh***   ) . . . mmmmm  . . . I addressed this with him in front of my girls   & the other children  there & told him that language was unacceptable, I thought he was better then that, I don't like trash  on my yard nor coming out of people's mouths . . . then I pointed out to ALL the kids around that any simpleton  can cuss, how easy is that . . . but to contain yourself, use different words, now that is impressive! Even let him know that when I am mad  I can be a real simpleton  !!!! My girls  are aware of this themselves  . . . . but also I have noted when they get mad  frustrated  or hurt  . . . they will use the silly words over the simpleton words  . . . when I realized this I realized the importance of watching myself more  . . . then I have my neighbor who has the river of foul flow from his mouth . . . it had me sit there & think, is it worth it? why am I making such an effort to prevent my children ( & myself ) from using this language when it is everywhere? does it make a difference? the answer is yes it does   & just because everyone is doing it it does not make it right! So with this gent I think I will just make a stronger effort to use silly language over his foul . . . perhaps it will begin to make a difference . . . perhaps . . .

( one thing I have experienced is when you use the silly over the simpleton it really helps change the situation . . not as tense . . . someone who is mad may laugh, etc etc )

 God, You know the destructive attitudes that continue to hinder me. Thank You for teaching me the truth that heals and liberates me from them. Amen

~ May you ALWAYS be Blessed & may you ALWAYS Bless others ~