Baked Grilled Cheese from The Rubber Punkin

 I found a new blog that I *heart* so very much.  Its The Rubber Punkin.  You will want to check her out for all things creative and crafty!! She decided to share this new concept in the world of Grilled Cheese and I can't wait to try it out.  I, too, dread spending the time making one grilled cheese at a time, or dragging out my large breakfast griddle. Not that I'm complaining.  So here is  her solution to that "woe is me" problem.

 

Baked Grilled Cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter one side of each piece of bread.

3. Put the buttered side face down onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Slice your cheese and place the cheese onto the unbuttered side of the bread.

5. Put the other half of your sandwich on top of the cheese, the buttered side face up.

6. Sprinkle a SMALL amount of seasoning salt on top.

7. Put in the oven and bake for four minutes.

8. At four minutes, flip the sandwich so it's evenly crispy (my oven may differ from yours. Just make sure it's starting to brown ever so slightly before you flip it).

9. Bake another four minutes.

10. Ding ding ding! Time to eat! This is perfection dipped into hot tomato soup.

The Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges/ Chapter One

I love Wednesdays... because of my bible study lady friends.  It is uninterrupted conversation.  No interruptions like asking for a snack (even with that cute scrunched up nose), or stopping to wipe that cute little nose, or to get a little someone down from standing on the couch (or anything climb-able at the time).

Its just adult conversation and I leave there able to spiritually make it through the week.  I feel so comfortable and thankful knowing someone is praying for me throughout the week. 

We have had many answered prayers within that group, and some prayers that we lay down not knowing if they will ever be answered, but knowing that they are in His hands, and that He sees us on the other side of them. 

We just started our new book The Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges.  And I LOVE IT.  Here's a link to it on amazon if you want to check it out.  The Preface was like no other I had read.

This week we will be discussing "Taking On God's Character"
So here is the jest of Chapter One:
Jerry gives us 6 principles of Habits of Grace, Godliness, Godlikeness, or Christlikeness (which I will be calling it)
1. Devotion to God, What are our motives....Self Centered or God Centered?

2. Power for a godly life comes from the risen Christ.
3. Though the power comes from Christ, it is our responsibility to develop and display His character.
4. Developing godly character entails "putting off and putting on". (vices and fruit)
5. We are to pursue growth in all of the graces that are considered fruit of the Spirit (balance)
6. Growth in all areas is progressive and never finished. 

I will be sure to elaborate more on this chapter after our discussion tonight!

Mini-Chicken Pot Pies

I am going to use three of my favorite adjectives to describe the Mini Chicken Pot Pies I made tonight.

QUICK
EASY
YUMMY

You will need:
Chunked or Shredded Chicken (I used the thighs and legs from a whole chicken I cooked the night before)
1 can mixed vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
Dash of salt and pepper.
1 can of 8 ct. Grands Biscuits

I preheated my oven to 350.  I sprayed my muffin tin with Pam and divided each biscuit in half so that I had two round pieces of dough from each biscuit.  I mixed my chicken, veggies, soup, salt and pepper in a bowl and set it aside.  I pressed one biscuit half, into the bottom of 10 muffin tin holes, pressing the dough up the sides as much as possible.  I then filled each with the veggie/chicken mixture.  Then I topped each with the second half of the biscuit dough, pressing around the edges to seal each pie.  Finally I cut and X in the top of each pie.  I baked these about 15-20 minutes on 350 or until golden brown.

Vintage Wreaths

Here are two of the wreaths I have been working on for my mom's antique booth.  They are made from vintage odds and ends and very very vintage valentines!  I plan on creating a vintage sewing theme wreath, a vintage cooking wreath, and one full of vintage girl-y things.  After all of this I may turn this into a wreath of our baby spoons.  Oh the crafting is addictive...its like potato chips...you can't be satisfied with just one.

 

Menu Plan Monday

I have been on a Meal Planning Kick!  It just makes the "trying to lose weight" thing easier.  It makes the temptation to snack on things that I haven't written down a little easier to battle.

Here's this week's menu plan:


Monday:    Crock Pot Lasagna (this is sounds super easy and will post the recipe if it turns out.
                   Salad and Steamfresh veggies.


Tuesday:    Fish Fillets, Creamed Corn (in the freezer from summer), Steamed Broccoli


Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie (with biscuits), Green Beans

Thursday:    LEFTOVER BUFFET


Friday:        Cheesy Hamburger Mac (freezer meal), Steamfresh veggies

Saturday:   Chili (from the freezer and "Soup Week") Corn Muffins


Sunday:    Venison Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

For more great menus visit I'm an Organizing Junkie and Chubby Chica.

This is How I Blog

A friend of mine from church recently set her blog to private.  She no longer has to use code names for her husband and children.  I like that.  Because sometimes I forget.  When she sent me an email notification concerning this, it inspired me.  Not to set mine to private, yet, but to blog again.  I haven't done it in months, and I miss the writing, the sharing, the me.

Seconds after I felt inspired, I felt overwhelmed.  When am I going to blog?????

Lets see.  I could do it first thing in the morning.  But lets get real.  I rarely am disciplined enough to get up and do my quiet time in the mornings.  It usually ends up being my not so quiet time while a little someone is momentarily (and I do mean momentarily) preoccupied.

Hmmm. What about naptime?  Maybe.  I could squeeze it in there with all the other things to get done that can't safely be done with my adorable shadow.

Well, in the evenings then?  Yes, but I would be staying up really late and missing some of the precious time my hubby and I get to spend together.

After much, very interrupted thought, I concluded that I will blog
1. when I have something to blog about
2. when I have a chance

I formerly tried to blog every day, or once a week.  It didn't work for me.  I am inspired to pick it back up.  When it works for me!

The Beginning of a New Family Tradition

I love traditions.  I always have and I always will.

There are many traditions I clearly remember from my childhood, that I want to continue with my "young-uns" (well, one "young-un" now).

I also want to begin some of my own family traditions.  I want Wook to look back on his childhood and remember certain things that we did.  Certain things that, without doing them, would make his childhood be well, not his childhood.

That is why we have begun Homemade Pizza Night.

We started it last week.  After I sprinkled out some flour on the counter....I knew we were in for a treat. A big clean up too, but that's ok.

He looked like a dog after a good flea dusting.

We started with some yummy dough from Trader Joe's.  I shopped there for the first time on New Year's Eve Day.  It was a mad house. 

From the marinated mozzarella, to the organic bagged produce.  Up and down every organically infiltrated isle...while having my heel skin scraped off by my toddler PUSHING HIS OWN MINI CART!!!! 

I was in love.

Ok.  Back to Pizza Night.

The three of us had a blast.  The Wook snuck bites of cheese every chance he got, and more of it ended up on the floor than on the pizza but it was worth the clean up.

We tried out venison, mozzarella, onion, mushroom, and tomato.

It wasn't the prettiest pizza I have ever seen...but I was working with an oh so adorable, but very antsy pantsy sous chef .

It was so fun and yummy that we did it again this week, only we added avacado.  I didn't have any of the Trader Joe's pizza dough.  We used the Martha White deep dish mix, and I wasn't as impressed.  

I am not going to put a stamp on Friday nights and call it Official Homemade Pizza Night, but I do plan to do this regularly.  The Wookster likes it so much that he pulls a chair over to the counter very frequently and asks to help me cook.

We talked about trying ham, pineapple, and mozzarella next.

Any topping suggestions????????