Soap Ladies Devotion & Tablescape

My friend Melissa over at Honey Bee's Fancy told me about doing soap devotions a few years ago and I've been doing it ever since.  It really is a great way to study the word of God.  It's one thing to hear a sermon or read scripture alone.  But hearing, reading, and writing sermons used in scripture and scripture for bible reading really brings it home for me and reinforces it in my heart and mind. 

 It really sticks!

We had a Ladies Devotion this week and these are pictures of the Table Centerpieces.

The theme was SOAP and we had little soap gifts for each lady.

We met in our Children's Church Classroom~  here are the tables all ready~

I made up soap booklets for all the ladies and we 'soaped' Psalm 51 together.  Whoever wanted to share with the group the scripture they chose from the Psalm did and it is such a blessing to hear what others glean out of scripture.   Thank the Lord for a fresh viewpoint from other Sister's in the Lord.

If you'd like to read more about how to soap you can click here.  

 Have a wonderful grace filled day!

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

I've been trying many cleaning products for my white tile kitchen floors since we moved in.  Pine~Sol left smudges and left the floor slippery.  Fantastik and 409 type cleaners left it sticky and noisy to walk on.  I even tried Murphy's Oil Soap highly diluted and it, too, was greasy and slippery.  I promised myself that when all of my products were gone (besides the Murphy's because I do use it for my wood)  I'd try my hand at making a homemade solution. 

 In a spray bottle I mixed together:

1 cup of White Vinegar

2 cups of warm water

1-2 Tbsp of Dawn Dishsoap

The results?  I'm very impressed!  I've used it on my floors in the kitchen and they look great! 

I've even used it on the kitchen counters with great success.  It does smell like vingar but that's okay with me.  Vinegar is supposed to be a natural disinfectant since it's a mild acid and is more gentle than household cleaners and bleach.  I read that vinegar does NOT kill foodborne bacteria so I'd clean all surfaces that come in contact with meat appropriately. 

If you try this I'd love to hear how you like it!

Closet Challenge~ Clothing Purge

This week I'm in the Master Bedroom and adjoining hallway closets for heavy cleaning.

I saw something recently online that really piqued my interest.  It was a one year challenge. 

You turn around all of the clothing that is hanging on hangers~ turn them around backwards. 

As you choose something from your closet and wear it, you turn the hanger and garment around the 'right' way after you wash the garment.  After a year all the clothing that hasn't been turned around can be donated to charity.  It's painless! 

Here's my closet before~

I've got 3 laundry baskets on the top shelf of my closet that hold knits and sweaters that will stretch out if I put them on hangers.   

One for cardigans style sweaters and knits~

One for pullover type knits and sweaters~ 

And the last one is for 'over' sweaters that are very breezy and bolero (short waisted) type sweaters mostly worn in the spring or as an extra layer over a turtleneck or long sleeve top.

My clothes all reorganized and turned backwards.

And laundry baskets all put back in place.

I purged about 5 garments out of my closet this morning.  I KNOW I can purge more and I'm really looking forward to the passing of one year so I can see what I really love and wear.   

I have 3 criteria of what I want in my closet:  

Do I love it? 

Does it make me feel confident?

Am I wearing this for myself or for the expectations of someone else?

It's so easy to hold onto garments for sentimental reasons or until the perfect time when I will be at __ weight.  By that time those garments will be out of style and I might as well buy new stuff! 

My closet is finished! 

Join me in turning your hangers backwards!

My DIY 'Vintage' Rolling Pin

My rolling pin has found a home above my stove and I love it there! 

When I found an older vintage one for rolling dough, my brain went to churning and I decided to add some red paint to the handles to make it look vintagey

 like the old fashioned ones you see like this. 

 I love the splash of color!!!

Curtains for my SweetHeart Kitchen

I've been on a mission in looking for curtains for my Sweetheart Kitchen for over 2 months. 

I tried WalMart, Target, and any and all stores in the area

and could find nothing that really spoke to me and that I had to have. 

I finally did find something at Anna's Linens and it would have cost me over

300 bucks for the three windows in the kitchen alone!

Wayyyyy too much money for me to spend and besides I LOVE a good challenge. 

 I knew patience would play out and my windows have had no curtains on them for a while, 

I am an avid thrift store shopper and when I saw these white cotton curtains with

pineapple lace my heart started beating fast. 

They were so new and I don't think they were ever used. 

They still felt like they had the sizing on them that comes on them when they come

off the bolt and are sewed. 

When I got them home I threw them in the wash and they still looked

great with very little wrinkle. 

I just had to lightly press them.

(click on photos for a larger view!)

 

The best thing about them?  Well, really 2 things! 

Okay~  3 things! 

I love them! 

They only cost 6 bucks!

I am completely satisfied with them and how they look in comparison~ 

even to the curtains that I 'could' have got at the expensive price tag! 

I am so glad patience won out and that my windows have been bare! 

I really wanted to stay true to the 'feel' of the home and the era that it portrays and these really do! 

I love my new Curtains!

Next, we're looking for new venetian blinds in white or cream. 

We've been all over the place looking for the correct measurements and can't find them. 

We're trying to buy store bought and not custom made to save some money.   

Oven Baked French Toast

One of my favorite breakfast dishes EVER!!! 

I love the fact that you do the preperation the evening before

and then pop it in the oven in the morning!!! 

This is so yummy and easy for Christmas morning or for guests year round!

Preheat oven to 400*

The ingredients:

 1/4 cup butter

3/4 inch sliced french bread slices

1 1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

6 eggs

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt 

Spray the pan with non stick spray and put butter in pan.   It really helps to use the non stick spray even tho the pan is buttered. 

Place in oven till butter just melts.

While the butter is melting mix together the milk, sugar, eggs, maple syrup and salt

in a seperate bowl.  Set aside for now.

A quick note about breads~ I've done 6 HUGE pieces of bread in one pan and a

very thin baguette with many pieces of bread and both worked with great results.

I just make sure that I am filling up the 13 by 9 pan very full.

I prefer softer bread compared to a crusty bread since it tends to

get crispy towards the end anyway with baking.

And stale bread is usable for this too!

 

Cut up your french bread in 1 inch slices or a little fatter if you like. 

The loaf I used here was very skinny and I could fit many pieces into the pan.  

Dab each piece of bread in the butter and turn it over butter side up. 

Pour egg/milk mixture on top of bread.  The bread pieces will float. 

Turn bread over and make sure the bread is sopping wet. 

Place in refrigerator overnight.

In the morning remove foil and bake about thirty minutes or so.

Sometimes I flip mine half way through so both sides are toasted. 

The original recipe says to bake 40 minutes but I think it is WAY too long

and bake it until it is golden brown. 

Serve with syrup. 
It is SO yummy!

What's Cookin'? 1/2013

Here's some of the things we've been eating around here~  Trying some new recipes and staying with tried and true recipes as well.

Open faced pork sandwiches with broccoli

Swiss Steak, homemade mashed potatoes, cheese biscuits and corn

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Glorious Chicken

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I made this today and you'd never know there was zucchini in this! Very Moist and Delish!

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

then add-

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

Cream above ingredients and mix well.

2 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 Tbsp cocoa (unsweetened)

1 Tbsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups chocolate chips (reserve one cup for topping)

dash salt

Mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and add to wet ingredients stirring till combined. Fold 1 cup of the chocolate chips in batter.

Grease and flour 9 inch pan. Pour batter in pan and sprinkle with 1 cup of chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 325. Check with toothpick. Cake can be frosted but doesnt need it at all.

Louanne has commented that her recipe is nearly identical but calls for only 1 tsp of baking soda. I have searched on the net and there are very similar recipes that call for anywhere from 1 tsp- 1 1/2 Tbsp.

Colorful Food

The prompt for day 5 is 'Colorfuul food'.  I made salsa today, guacamole, took pictures of them and even my inner plate which was chicken and gravy, rice and mixed veggies and none of them seemed to satisfy the challenge for today.

 

Then it hit me!

        And I smiled! 

Really big!  

Can such a man be found?

Scripture Genesis 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants,

Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

 

Genesis unrolls like a television drama.

Betrayal, Seduction, Deceit and more. 

And the fact that it is historical and not solely made up in the minds of men is incredible!   

Whoever said the Bible is boring needs to read it and they will find it reads better than

any book!

 

Pharoah summed it up perfectly.

"Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?"

 

Lord in the midst of this lost world let me be the one.

  Your Spirit dwells within me and I don't want to quench You shining in my life! 

Homemade Salsa

Yummy homemade salsa is so much better than store~bought!  I've heard jalapenos are chock full of vitamin C so it isn't any wonder why I was craving it recently with the ick that has been going around!

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes 

2 jalapenos, de~seeded and membranes removed

1/2 onion 

handful of cilantro~ leaves only 

few cloves of garlic

juice of 1 fresh lemon

Remove Tomato Stems and cut them large enough to go into food processor.  Peel onions and add to food processor.  Add cilantro, garlic and juice of lemon.  Process until your desired consistency!  

My 'One Word' for 2013

New Years Resolutions lead to broken promises and dissapointment before the year gets off to an end.  How many people really keep their New Year's Resolution?  Not many!
 This year I'm losing the resolutions and choosing one word to live by and to be intentional about. 
A byword is a word or expression summarizing a thing's characteristics or a person's principles. 
So, this year as my byword, for the year of 2013, I've chosen the word 'grace'. 

 

Such a simple word but yet so profound and can pierce the heart and soul of a person. 

 

I need to look beyond the length of my own arm and see the need to extend grace to others even when I don't understand the complete picture.  

I need to extend grace to my dear husband when I become impatient with him. 

And mostly I need to accept the grace that God has so freely given me and learn to forgive myself.