Konnor's Baptism and Easter

A couple weeks ago, my husband had the honor of baptizing Konnor. It was an awesome day celebrating what God was already doing in our son's life. He has been on a journey of learning what it means to follow Christ (and still is!). He came to the point where he was ready to make the public statement of his faith. It has been so cool to see him feel genuine remorse and guilt over his sin. I even heard him telling his younger sister how she could become a Christ-follower, too.

We were so happy to have many of our close friends and family there to celebrate with us. It was truly a day we will never forget!

We had a busy Easter weekend with Secret Church on Friday night and services Saturday night and Sunday morning. The kids and I made resurrection rolls using this recipe. Let me just say, they were YUMMY and so easy! We will definitely make these again!

I mean, who doesn't love a cinnamon/sugar/butter covered marshmallow wrapped up in a crescent roll? I love how once they are cooked, they look very similar to a cave!

(BTW- we used reduced fat crescent rolls, I can't believe it's not butter and splenda in place of all the real stuff and they still tasted awesome!!)

The kids got into their Easter baskets about 5:30 because we all had to be at church super early.

After an awesome day at church, celebrating the ultimate sacrifice made for us, we had a great lunch and came home for some egg hunting.

(yes, my son was running around in his diaper- classy, huh?)

Here they are (+ a few neighborhood friends) digging into their loot.

It was a great day!

Mexican Lasagna and Football

We've been really busy lately with flag football...

K is the one faking the hand-off. The Panthers are undefeated after their first two games and I think K has scored 3-4 touchdowns and several extra points. Kris coaches and I'm still unsure who is enjoying it more- my husband or my son!

I've done lots of projects in the house, but no pics to show you. I begin to wonder if it will ever be done!

Anyway, I wanted to share a quick recipe. I haven't made it in like 5 years probably, until last weekend and now I'm wondering why I waited so long!!

Here it is:

Mexican Lasagna

floured tortillas
refried beans
taco sauce
taco seasoning mix
ground beef
cheddar or mexican blend shredded cheese

Toppings: sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, corn chips, avocado, olives, ....whatever you want!

Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain beef and add taco seasoning and water. Simmer.
In a casserole dish, layer ingredients as follows- tortillas, refried beans, ground beef, taco sauce, cheese. Continue layering until dish is full with last layer being cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.

I don't have a picture, but let me just tell you, it is GOOD! My kids loved it, too, which is always a plus!

Easy Potato Soup

Although spring seems to be around the corner, there are still chilly days when soup seems to be just the right thing for dinner!

For those kind of days, I wanted to share this potato soup recipe that my friend gave me.

Here's all you need:
1 bag of frozen diced potatoes
1 box of chicken broth
1/2 large block of Velveeta cheese
1/2 pint of heavy cream

All you do is simmer the potatoes in the chicken broth for about 10-15 minutes.

Then, you add the Velveeta and cream. Once everything is incorporated and heated through, you are done!

You can add bacon, scallions, or my favorite, crusty bread.

This may be the easiest soup I have ever made!

Easy Stromboli

Above is all you need to make an incredibly easy, but incredibly yummy stromboli.

Take your french bread dough and roll it out onto a greased cookie sheet.

Add sliced ham (or any meat)

and your favorite cheese.

Fold her over once

and then one more time.

Cut some slits on the top to let the steam out and cook according to bread instructions. (Usually 400 degrees for !5-17 minutes).

Dip it in some marinara sauce and enjoy!!

Christmas Jam

This is my absolute favorite jam!!

Here's what you need:
1-12oz. pkg. cranberries 2-10oz.frozen strawberries 4 cups sugar 1-3oz. pkg. liquid pectin

Now, I think you are supposed to make this jam around Thanksgiving when you can actually find cranberries in the grocery stores. Well, I NEVER think about making this then, so here's what I do: I buy the dried cranberries and toss them in some boiling water. It plumps them up and works perfectly! I used about half of the package shown.

Also, make sure to check your strawberry package size. Mine were 14 oz, so I used 1 whole package and 6 oz of the second package. After thawing your strawberries in the refrigerator, cut them up coarsely.

Next, put cranberries and strawberries in a food processor and pulse until you get the desired consistency.

It's always nice to have a helper!

Combine cranberries, strawberries and sugar in a large pan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat . Add pectin to mixture. Return to full rolling boil. Boil 1minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon. ( You can play with the cooking time to get the consistency you want. Sometimes, I don't get it quite right and it is a little runny.... but it still tastes awesome on biscuits and would be yummy on pancakes or cheesecake!!

Quickly pour jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼” head space. Wipe jar rims off. Cover at once with lids and screw on bands. The recipe I have says to process them in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes, but I don't usually do this. I just turn them upside down on the counter and usually they will seal just fine.

Add a tag and some ribbon and you have a nice gift! Or.... you could just eat it all yourself!!

Now, the only bad thing about making this jam, is cleaning up this mess!

Yummy Panini!

I wanted to share one of our favorite recipes with you...



We LOVE Atlanta Bread Company's Chargrilled Chicken Pesto Panini. This is my version of that and it's sooooo easy!

Here's what you need:

Focaccia bread sliced in half
Pesto ( I buy the cheapest brand at the store and put the whole jar in the freezer after I make these. Then, I have it when I want to make these again!)
cubed cooked chicken
Provolone cheese (Mozzarella works great also!)
sliced Roma tomatoes



Add the chicken
Then sliced tomatoes

Put some cheese on top and then put it on the grill.


I bought this Krups panini grill at GW for $14.99!! I found them here for $99! Don"t worry, though, you can totally make a panini in a skillet and use another skillet on top with a jar or can inside for weight to press it down. But, this definitely makes it a little easier!!


Press her down hard to smoosh that sandwich down into a panini!



Enjoy! Makes me hungry just looking at that picture!!


While I'm at it...here's my new refrigerator my hubby bought me...aaaahhhh!

I LOVE it! I finally have matching appliances at the new house! It was half price at Sear's, too! Originally $2300 on sale for $1150!!! Yes, I'll take it, thank you very much!

I'm linking to A Soft Place to Land's DIY party! Go check it out!

Oh Gravy!

Have you ever had chocolate gravy?? Chances are if you live in the south- you have! Well, for those of you who, haven't you must try it!

Here's what you need:

2T Self rising flour
2 c milk
1T cocoa
1 t vanilla
3/4 c sugar

Here's my recipe card. You can tell it's been used a lot!

You will want to mix the flour, cocoa, sugar together in a non-stick skillet. Add some water ( a few tablespoons) to this mixture until it is kind of pasty.
Then, put it on medium high heat. Cook it for a minute or so and then start adding milk.

Cook it until you get a good gravy consistency.

Keep stirring so it doesn't stick or burn.

Take it off the heat and add the vanilla.


My kids and hubby LOVE chocolate gravy. It is darn good, but I prefer this "white sop" kind!


To serve, butter up your biscuits...


and then, pour the gravy on top.


Then, enjoy! I'm linking to Jen's Tasty Tuesday!