Freezer Cooking...

There was a time when I did Once-a-Month Cooking…oh, that was about 4 or 5 children ago.  Now, it is much simpler to double or triple recipes and freeze what we don’t need for that night’s meal.  This is also how I do meals for ministering to a friend in need, a new momma, or “just because” it’s nice to give someone a break.  There is no more real effort or time involved to make one or two extra batches of a recipe and since I try to stay with meals that are casserole or one pot types for those occasions, the mess is not any more than if I prepare one meal.

Some short cuts I take to make meals in a crunch include:

Smoked chicken pulled of the bone and cut into bites...use some, freeze the rest for another quick meal night.

• Freezing extra cooked chicken {pulled off the bone and diced} or ground beef…this method makes it a snap to cook a fast meal like Chicken Alfredo, spaghetti or Sloppy Joes, since the meat is already cooked.
• Freezing extra veggies in a freezer container then adding to it over the course of weeks.  This makes for putting together a homemade pot pie or veggie casserole or soup quick and saves on waste, too.
• Freezing bananas that are a bit too ripe for eating and saving for a future banana nut bread baking day 

Tonight’s meal is a Chicken and Squash Pasta Bake.  It’s the first time I am trying this with a few tweaks to suite our family’s taste buds.  SIMPLE, good tasting and feeds a large family {or 2}.  Works for me!

My kitchen helper for dinner today...cutting squash and onion are a great helper's role. 

This is where I altered the recipe a bit.  Instead of stir frying the squash & onion (omitted the zuchinni since I didn't have any) and added them to the boiling pasta.  Drained them altogether and returned to pot.  Finished by adding the cream, butter, cheese and herbs and then baked.  Keeps the kitchen messes LESS.

YUMMY...fresh squash, herbs, smoked chicken and the cream make this a delish dish!

 Blessings ~

Linked to:

Visit for more freezer meal recipes at their link up here.

Remembering Those Who Served Bravely...Thankful Indeed

In honor of all who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect and defend our country throughout the years, we give thanks!  May the Lord bless the families who have lost loved ones in battle and those who have served our country bravely, honorably and sacrificially.  May He bless each family, who even now,  has someone serving in our Armed Forces…not only is the serviceman or servicewoman to be honored, but we give thanks to their families…understanding that it is a sacrifice for you as well having your loved one in the military.

He is good...

Thank you all for your prayers and comments of encouragement.  Although I have not be posting about life here, we have been busy living it.  We are all doing well and the days in our home are very full.  Things continue to move according to the Lord's sovereign plan for our lives and I am so thankful to rest in this. 

He is good.

The loss of a loved one can bring about so many things.  So much learned and continue to be learned as we journey on this road of life.

Life IS a vapor...

God has fixed our day of birth, just as He has fixed our day of death...

Grief is personal, yet His peace does provide comfort which surpasses all understanding...

Lives lived according to His word brings blessing and hope and contentment {striving for that} ... 

Soon after Mom's passing, life as I knew it changed forever.  Many truths were revealed.  My grief is not at her passing so much.  I rely on the truth that her last two years were a gift of time...a gift for her to reconcile many relationships she had.  A gift to our family to be able to minister to her, sharing truth with her, helping to care for her and investing in memories for my children to draw from over the years.  A gift in being able to not only witness His mercy, faithfulness and grace, but to experience it as well.  A gift...one received with a thankful heart.

The End of Suffering...

Today

This Lord's Day

Marks the end of Suffering and Pain

For my Mom.

Easter 1957

Morning of Logan's Birthday ~ January 21, 2012...

Mary Ann Franklin Leverett

January 31, 1953 - March 4, 2012

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139 ESV)

Love...

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragnant offering and sacrifice to God. 

Ephesians 5:1-2



According to history, on February 14, 269 a young man named Valentine was martyred for his faith.  History has pointed to several men named Valentine and legends vary on their lives.

Some say he was a young man with a tender heart who aided Christians who were undergoing martyrdom...he was not a Christian at the time, however converted to Christianity during his time in prison.  For what?  It is not known.  He would not renounce his faith and wrote letters to his friends saying, "Remember your Valentine."

Others say Valentine was a Roman priest who secretly married men against the orders of Emperor Claudius, to avoid husbands being sent to war.  This enraged the emperor who desperately needed soldiers.

And yet still another legend states the Roman priest refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods and was martyred for his defiance.  Legend has it that while he was imprisoned, his testimony was shared and his prayers for healing of the jailer's daughter brought her healing.  He left her a note signed "Your Valentine".  What do any of these accounts have to do with the way Valentines' Day is celebrated today? 

Today Valentine's Day marks a time of celebrating love and friendship...a time the retailers seek to profit .  We don't do anything overtly special for the day but do try to add extra emphasis on simple acts of kindness and love.  In the past we have made breakfasts special by making hearts shaped pancakes in the past or having strawberry milk.  We have made Valentine's cards and shared with friends, family and neighbors.  Each year I purchase little gifts for the children and leave out to bless them and show our love for them...

As Christians, our focus is Christ and every day is a day to remember the LOVE that came down...all things are filtered through that truth.  Today, I listened to a sermon by Pastor John MacArthur which is here, "Walking in Love, Part 1".  This is the first in a series of sermons he has preached on the topic.  As I listened to it, I had such a broken heart for all the times I have fallen short...short on love, short on forgiveness and just thank God for His love for me...undeserved LOVE.

Today, for the fun of it, I fixed the girls hair and with Alyssa's help made mine the same way.  We tried to do heart shaped twists that Connie shared, but I just couldn't get it, so we kept it simple with a pull-through ponytail.  I really need to play more with fun hair dos...like some of the ones that Shaunell does.  Wow!



Alyssa's pull-through pony was quite SIMPLE to do and does look very feminine, I think.



With Alyssa's help, here's mine.  A lot more hair to pull through and hard for me to do since it is so long.  Two are better than one.  ;D

Kailynn's little pull-through pony...a little more challenging to get all those strays in thanks to her doing some hair cutting in recent days.  ;-)

I think for tonight's meal...spaghetti with meatballs, a lovely green garden salad with RED tomatoes and Texas garlic toast.  As I sit here, I think about that Disney movie the Lady and the Tramp I saw YEARS ago...I think that had spaghetti and meatballs....love.  XD  Oh yeah, for dessert {not a norm during the week....} peanut butter pies Logan made last night topped with little Wilton heart sprinkles.

What about you?  Any special traditions or projects you have done this year to show your love, friendship and kindness in your family?  Just drop a quick note or link back to a related post in the comments area...

Blessings ~

P.S.  Does anyone out there in the blog world have a SIMPLE pattern or how to video tutorial on how to make a prairie bonnet?  A special request of Alyssa for her birthday...Thanks in advance!