The Dude I Love

A few weeks back, I went to a women's retreat with our ladies at our church. I think I did not mention too much about it here because it kept me pretty busy beforehand and when I got back I was tired. It was very refreshing in sooooo many ways though.

Throughout the weekend we visited with Beth Moore. . .(ah gotcha-no not in person- hehehe through the "Retreat In a Box.") The study goes over how to love people well, hence the title, "Loving Well". There are four people whom we get the "opportunity to love." There are the people who are a joy, those who are "testy," those who are our foes, as well as, those who are far (meaning we may not have met them yet, but they are who God may have sent to us).

That's partly why I did not mention the retreat, I was trying to forget what I learned so I would not be responsible for that information, especially for loving the last three! :) So, I guess that is the story of all retreats, you come back very ambivalent-should I have gone or should I have stayed home. Well, for sure I am a better woman for having gone. I got to know ladies I would not have known otherwise-now I have Shopping In Crime Partners!

Probably the most important thing that I learned though is a new recipe!!! Not just for the sake of learning it, but to love testy my sweet husband better. :) He loves soup and especially French Onion Soup! So, my dear friend Lynn shared her recipe with me that she made the first night of the retreat. It is yummo. I am not a soup, nor a french onion soup fan, but now I am a French Onion Soup Groupie!!

Here goes the recipe that saved my marriage! :)

• 4 large onions, sliced into thin rings (I have a pampered chef slicer that worked well for this)
  
• 1/2 cup margarine (melted)
  
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth or I used 8 bouillon cubes dissolved in 2 cups water
  
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 8 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
• 7 slices French bread

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, saute the onions in the butter or margarine for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the broth, water and wine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. In individual oven-proof bowls (I used tin ones that look like they are for chicken pot pie), place one slice of toasted french bread in the bowl. Ladle in the soup and cover with Swiss cheese. Put bowls in the oven and allow cheese to melt on top.

Eat and imbibe!!! :)

The second posts of Branson

My time in Branson was just 24 short hours. In this post, I told you how we came to almost hit Rudolph in the first two hours of our trip. The remaining hour, after we had all snacked and had a little bit of a snooze, we talked about the deep things in life such as the meaning of the word "throw-up." The kids decided it either came from your stomach or your bottom. It is thrown up in the air.

Upon arrival at the beach house resort motel Gretel was gloriously excited that it included toilet paper. "Yes, when we travel Gretel, we go all out!" Thus continued the excitement. Soon we discovered we forgot to pack Hansel's underwear and he decided to not wear any that day. Lovely! So he got to prance around "undyless."

The adventures continue in the third posts of Branson. We have only begun!

I can do that in two ingredients!

The question from Rocks In My Dryer. . .what do you do if it is 5:30 and your kids are hollerin' and you only have three things in your pantry? What are those three things and what do you make for supper? I think if it were me we would have quesadillas. . . tortillas, cheese and the George Foreman Grill and that's only two ingredients! To make it a healthy dinner . . .add a can of pineapple or mandarin oranges! :) Yes, fresh is better, but hey we're desperate.

If you wanted to go all out and you have the extra ingredients. . .add chicken and salsa and yum I am getting hungry already!

Another alternative that we have regularly (like weekly) is pancakes and sausage or bacon. I make my pancakes from "Krusteaz pancake mix" and I usually get it at Sams for $5. It makes 200 pancakes. All it takes to make these incredible flapjack boys is water and a spoon!! Amazing. I usually whip out my griddle and dinner is ready in 10 -15 minutes.

There you go. . .to get more tips to help the dinnertime hollers go away, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Happy Birthday Lime and Socks!

I know. . .we're weird, but I just couldn't resist. We found our cats outside of our house last year right before Christmas. They were probably born around this time. I mentioned the idea of a party to my kids and they were all over it. After all, what's a family without a little bit of fun every now and then. So we planned it. . .presents, place mats, cards, party hats, and to top it off canned salmon. Just a little side note on the whole lighted candle and salmon thing. . .make sure that your cat does not go bazirk smelling the stuff and accidentally singe his hair on the lighted candle because he cannot wait. Not that that happened or anything :) Please don't report us. . .we really love our cats; the kids told us not to light the candle or the cat might get hurt and we did not listen. It just smelled a little like singed cat hair and salmon for a little while.

Also, Lexy (the nine year old wiser cat) came in fashionably late to join in the fare. No, we do not normally let the cats eat at the table with us, but it was their birthday! :)

Tackle It Tuesday

I have a lot of tackles today, but the main one is this drawer that is driving me crazy!!! Everytime I open it it gets stuck on something. Can you imagine why?


The other is the Christmas Cards which I have given myself a deadline of December 10th! I hope to beat that, but sometimes I have to give myself a little grace :) Happy Tackle It Tuesday!