Pimento Cheese {Low Carb}

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I love a good pimento cheese spread. I’m pretty picky about them though. It can’t have too much mayo. It better not have too many pimentos. It definitely needs a little heat. I decided to try my hand at a homemade version including all of my must haves and excluding all the things I don’t like.

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I put a large block of sharp cheddar through the food processor. I added mayo, jalapenos, pimentos, and cayenne pepper. It was DELISH!!! I can barely wait to find more things to slather it on.

Loved in the South’s Spicy Pimento Cheese

1 large block of sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne 

1 small jar of pimentos

1 small can of diced jalapenos.

I drained both the jar and can just a little before adding them. Mix everything together and enjoy!

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Healthy Banana Muffins

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Am I the only mom out there who feels like all my kids like is complete junk? I try not to bring too much crappy food into the house; but also don’t want to give them a complex about food. I try to balance it all out with a little of both. I know parents who don’t let their kids have sugar except on special occasions and those kids always seem to be the ones who eat so many sweets on those special days that they make themselves sick. I want my kids to know that they can eat it in moderation and that there are healthier alternatives too. But many times we get busy and I let them eat too much fast food or just junk in general. I have made up my mind that I have to do more to help them make good choices. The biggest area that needs improvement is snack foods. They always want to reach for the unhealthiest options between meals. This weeks grocery list and menu for the week included a healthy snack for each day. Yesterday, I made banana muffins.  To be completely honest, my kids didn’t love the texture, but they were tasty and they are gluten free.

Banana muffins:

3-4 very ripe bananas

1 tablespoon of honey

1/3 cup of butter or coconut oil

5 packets of monk fruit sweetener

3 eggs

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Nutmeg

1 tsp. Ginger

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups hazelnut flour

Mash banana until smooth. Add wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients. Line muffin tin, put 1/4 cup of batter in each. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees  until a toothpick comes out clean.

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Let cool. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Fool’s Day Dinner

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My kiddos love a good prank. April Fool’s Day has been one of their favorite days as long as I can remember. We usually try to do at least one thing to make the day memorable. Last year I fooled them into thinking they were eating an undercooked lasagna, when it was actually a yummy dessert. This year, I pulled off a Crazy April Fool’s Day Dinner which was actually breakfast for dinner. It definitely takes some advance preparation and quite a bit of work (at least with as many people as we have in our family) to pull it off, but it is so fun! I’ve done a dinner menu like this before and I feel like breakfast items are a lot easier. I used the basic idea and the menu course printables from Dixie Delights. I made some changes, but the general idea came from her site.

To do this, I gave my family a menu of 16 items with funny names. They also had 4 different menu course sheets. On each sheet they had to put four items that they wanted for that course. Each item has to be picked once so that all items are ultimately chosen. They had to pick for all of their courses before I even started cooking; because I didn’t want to give them any hints with the smells in the kitchen.

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I had one more trick up my sleeve. Number 9 was the CAFD Special. It looked like an egg, but was really just whipped cream and an apricot.

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I pulled out a few Christmas plates to serve this. I also found some “Welcome to 2000” napkins that had never been opened in my party stash. We used those as the Mini Magic Carpet.

Overall, we had lots of laughs. April Fool’s Day is just another good excuse to have a little fun together.

I printed out my menu using Waltograph font from DaFont 

Crazy April Fool’s Day Disney Dinner

1. Mickey Mouse                                         9. CAFD Special
2. Gaston’s Tavern Treat                          10. Pluto’s Dinner
3. Dinoco Motor Oil                                    11. Merida’s Hair
4. Sugar Rush Icing component             12. Elsa’s Bad Day
5. White Rabbit’s Tale                                13. Rafiki’s Staff
6. Three Little Pigs                                       14. Cruella’s Hair
7. Capt. Hook’s Plank                                 15. Dinglehopper
8. Mike Wazowski                                      16. Mini Magic Carpet

 

Here’s the real deal menu:

  1. Mickey Mouse waffle
  2. Cinnamon Roll
  3. Syrup
  4. Powdered Sugar
  5. Whipped Cream
  6. Sausage
  7. Bacon
  8. Egg
  9. Apricot in whipped cream
  10. cereal
  11. orange juice
  12. ice
  13. straw
  14. salt and pepper
  15. fork
  16. napkin

Easter 2016

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Easter was filled with activities and fun. We made our traditional Resurrection rolls. We dyed eggs. We went to Easter service. We had two egg hunts. We had two Easter feasts.

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Resurrection Rolls:

They will be empty (like the tomb) once they are baked. Take Grands flaky biscuits and half. Put a marshmallow in the center and pinch dough around it. Dip the biscuits in butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar. Bake until lightly browned.

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Saturday

Dying Eggs: We just take packets of regular Kool Aid, add a little water and dip the eggs. No vinegar or anything. It is so quick and easy!!

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We ordered the Easter meal from The Fresh Market and we were so pleased with it!

It included ham, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, broccoli slaw, and yeast rolls. All we had to make ourselves was the deviled eggs, baked beans, and dessert.

We had a lovely day!

Thursday

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Today, would be the day that Jesus had His last supper with His friends. Think about it. He knew all that was going to transpire and wanted one last opportunity to have communion with them. Don’t we all think of last moments we spent with people when they die? You almost treasure every look, every breath more as you look back and remember. This is what Jesus gave His disciples. Friday would be the worst and best day. Jesus would face more pain and more torment than we can ever imagine. He would pay the penalty for all sins forever. He would defeat death. But on Thursday, He fulfilled prophesy after prophesy. On Thursday He made it clear as He prayed that He was fully willing to die for us. On Thursday, His humanity was so evident. He knew what the next day would bring, and His spirit was in such agony that He sweated blood. On Thursday, He was betrayed by one of His friends. Thursday first appears so simple. It’s not Good Friday and it’s not Easter. But I bet Thursday was the day the disciples replayed over and over in their minds until they saw their risen Lord on Sunday. Even then the things Jesus said at that Last Supper on Thursday probably made more sense after Sunday.

Thank you, Jesus, for Thursday. The decisions you made on that day. When you
could have chosen differently and you didn’t. I don’t deserve what you did for me, but thank you so much for it! I love you!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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I took this picture in March 2012.

I have always loved looking for four leaf clovers. I used to spend a good deal of my recess time searching out these little treasures. I still look on my way to and from the mailbox.

Today, we will go out and collect some clovers for decoration and wear our green clothes to celebrate. I made a St. Patrick themed breakfast with green eggs and green decorations. I have a green themed dinner planned. I looked for an Irish recipe; but since my husband and I don’t really eat potatoes or bread, I found it too difficult to find something Irish we all would eat.  I am making green enchiladas for dinner instead. I’m also making rainbow cookies out of Funfetti cake mix.

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I got that St. Patrick’s day  printable free from alexandcoprintables.com

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To make Super Duper Easy Funfetti cookies:

One box of Funfetti cake mix

One egg

2 sticks of butter

Soften the butter, add egg and cake mix. If you want the cookies a little more festive, add more colorful sprinkles. Stir until well combined. Place small balls of the cookie dough on a parchment covered cookie sheet.Bake at 325 degrees until the edges just begin to brown.

I found some free printable St. Patrick Day trivia cards on Pinterest. Oh, how I love trivia. These little gems are getting placed on the table at dinnertime.

I hope that this day is full of happiness and joy!!

The Little Duke

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One of the books we read for school this year is The Little Duke by Charlotte Mary Yonge. It is a great story and very well written. It has some dated language and some of the names are hard to pronounce, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. There were definitely things I had to stop and clarify, but I think this is a benefit. It allows for better comprehension and it makes the story more relatable if they truly understand what is going on and can put themselves in the story. If the records are accurate this is their 34th great-grandfather, so it makes it even more special to learn about someone in our own family.

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This true story is about Richard the Fearless, the Little Duke, who became the Duke as a child. The description of the back cover of the book says,

Richard the Fearless, the great grandfather of William the Conqueror, became Duke of Normandy at just 8 years old, after the assassination of his father. The Little Duke tells the heroic tales of his trials at home in Normandy and at the court in France where he was a prisoner.

My children would beg me to read more, but as we got close to the end they begged me not to finish just yet. They were sad to be done with the story.  This historical novel makes history come alive for children. They get the opportunity to “get to know” a figure from the past. They get the chance to see that kings and dukes were once little children too. One of my favorite parts of the book, was when they found a chest that contained Richard’s father’s  (William Longsword) “treasure”. The priest explained to Richard and the men why the contents of the chest were his father’s greatest treasure. It is a beautiful story, and it shows why Richard would become the kind of man that he was.

We truly loved this book and I’m looking forward to reading it again someday with my little boy.

Fixer Upper Love

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I love the show Fixer Upper on HGTV. I don’t have a lot of time to watch TV, but it is among the few shows I watch regularly. I am constantly amazed  at the transformations they make to the houses and the vision that it takes to see what something can become.

I love both Joanna and Chip. I love the way they love each other and their family. I love the way they work and play around with each other. I love their story.

My parents renovated a few houses in the past; and I always loved to be part of the remodeling process. I would be a flipper if I had the time and money. I don’t have the vision that Joanna has, but I certainly wish I did! There really is something about taking a house that is old and worn and making it new and fresh again.

One of the funny things about life is how one day you might want to live in the city surrounded by all that hustle and bustle. The very next day the dream of a simple life on acres and acres of land can become your heart’s desire. More and more I find that I want to live on acres and acres of land. I want to have a little farm like Chip and Joanna Gaines. They make it look so appealing. I know the reality is that it is a lot of work, probably WAY more work than I really want or need.  So for now, I will plant my mini garden. I will continue to try my hardest to get my sweet husband to let me get some guinea fowl and some chickens. I’ll keep trying to decorate our house and make it truly a home.  I will watch Fixer Upper and keep on dreaming.

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Magnetic Slime

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Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about magnetism for school. Magnets are truly fascinating and there are many experiments that can be done using them. This is one of them.

To make magnetic slime you’ll need:

3 to 4 oz. Liquid Starch

1 bottle White School Glue

3 Tbl. Synthetic Iron Oxide (I got ours from Amazon)

We used gloves, masks and a plastic tablecloth when mixing this. It turns everything black, so be prepared to get messy.

Once we mixed the three ingredients, it became a very nice thick slime. We then used magnets from hard drives to play with the slime. It actually will move and dance with the magnet. The children really enjoyed this.

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Tale of a Toxic Friendship

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Yesterday, as I was going to get my daughter from school, there was a girl on the radio trying to get advice on what to do regarding a decade long friendship that was obviously an unhealthy one. As I listened, I wanted so badly to tell her to let that friendship go. I wanted to share with her my experience with a toxic unhealthy friendship. I didn’t call in, but decided to put it out there and pray that whoever needs to find it, will!

More than 15 years ago, I became friends with a girl I had known for a long time. We had not been friends in the years before; but now we were put in circumstances where we were able to develop a friendship. From the very beginning, many people warned me that the friendship was not a wise one. She did things right away that made me feel betrayed and left me worried that she might not be as good as a friend as I was hoping. Yet, I defended her. I said she was a different person. I said, she didn’t mean to betray me; she just didn’t know how to be a good friend because she’d never had a real female friend before. I told people she was still learning how to be a good friend. I said that she didn’t mean the mean things she said. I made excuse after excuse for her. I tried to always be available. I tried to always take her side. I tried to always be a peacemaker.

So many things happened over the years I was her friend. At least three times, I quit talking to her for several months because something she said or did was so terrible that I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her. I always forgave her, even though she never asked me to, not even once!

So, what made me finally cut ties with her? One day after she’d said something particulary cruel about me to one of my daughters and my husband ( something she knew was at the heart and soul of one of my biggest insecurities and struggles) I came to realize that I was actually being abused. She had torn me down to the point that I felt like I wasn’t good at anything. I felt like I was a bad person and a bad friend. She used my insecurities to hurt me over and over again. The more I was struggling, the happier she was. If I was feeling good about anything, she would bring up something that would immediately tear me back down.That, my friends, is the very definition of a toxic relationship! I felt like I was at the bottom of a deep hole that I had allowed her to drop me into little by little and if I ever started climbing out, she was right there ready to push me back down.

Once I realized this, I was done. I never spoke to her again. I occasionally will see her out in the town. I am cordial and that is all. I am working very hard on forgiving her. Even when that happens, I will NEVER be her friend again. I will never allow myself to be put into a situation where my feelings don’t matter. I will never waste my time on someone who is negative and nasty.

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I now have a couple of wonderful friends. Women who are there for me and I am there for them.  They are women who are happy for me when I am happy, sad for me when I am sad, proud of me in my accomplishments and who would never think of hurting me to make themselves feel better. I appreciate these friendships even more because I know how special they are.

If you are in any relationship where you do not feel love or support, or where you feel like you are being torn down and made to feel negatively, then you are in a TOXIC RELATIONSHIP. You don’t deserve to be treated like that. You deserve love, support, loyalty, and goodness. Walk away. It may be hurt for a minute, but staying in a relationship like that will leave scars that could hurt a lifetime.