My Baby Man...

He managed to get one arm out of his onesie. Such a cutie!

"Look Momma, leaves are yummy!"

Bathtime Baby

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes For Mom!

Made With Carnation...

I have always loved to cook, but my sister is much more proficient in the kitchen than I am. When we both still lived at home, my job was the house and her job was the kitchen. We had a pretty good thing going on. At least our Mom was happy! Ha!

Whenever there's something that I don't know how to do, I always call either Mom or Kelly and they can always help me out. Prince Charming is the most amazingly, un-picky eater ever! He's happy with whatever I make -- except for blue cheese and raw squash.

Recently, I posted the recipe for this a-maz-ing Pumpkin-Ginger Pie with Gingersnap Strudel. I was quite proud of myself for making a successful dessert even if the pie crust was store-bought. I was pretty convinced at the time (and I still am) that the secret ingredient for this pie was...

Evaporated Milk -- The Cooking Milk

For the last several years around the holidays, I have made Fantasy Fudge which also uses Carnation Evaporated Milk. We all know that fudge is creamy! Yum!

I was unaware of how evaporated milk is "made" and the qualities that it has until the One2One Network contacted me about reviewing Carnation Evaporated Milk. Basically, evaporated milk is fresh milk that is carefully heated to remove half of the water which makes the milk concentrated and quite creamy. Because the milk is concentrated, qualities such as protein and calcium are in higher quantities as well. Pretty cool, huh?

During my Baking Days last week, I prepared this Ham & Swiss Hash Brown Bake. Since Prince Charming was out of town at the time, I took this dish to my parents for dinner. It got rave reviews! In two words..."Comfort Food!" I loved how fast and easy this recipe went together. I will definitely be making it again soon!

Ham & Swiss Hash Brown Bake

1 bag (16 oz) or 4 1/2 c. frozen, shredded hash brown potatoes
2 cups (8 oz) cooked ham, cut into 1/2" pieces (I used turkey ham)
1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 T Dijon or yellow mustard
1/2 to 1 t. ground black pepper
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of moisture
1 c (4 oz) shredded Swiss cheese (I added more...love cheese!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 2 1/2 - 3 quart casserole dish.

Combine potatoes, ham, evaporated milk, soup, mustard and pepper in a large bowl. Pour half of potato mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with spinach and top with remaining potato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes before serving! Enjoy!!

I wasn't going to post another recipe, but I decided to make these wings for company tonight. I got amazing rave reviews! I'm convinced that the peanut butter and Carnation Evaporated Milk totally "makes" this recipe. I've never made wings before, so I am very happy with they way that they turned out!

Thai-Peanut Ginger Wings

1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 cup cream peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce, divided
1/4 cup chopped green onions (I forgot these and just used red onion.)
2 1/2 t. ground ginger
2 t. rice vinegar
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (I used ground red pepper.)
5 lbs. frozen chicken wings, thawed

Place evaporated milk, peanut butter, 3 T. soy sauce, onions, ginger, vinegar and pepper in blender. Cover. (Ha! Of course you cover it!) Blend until smooth. Combine 1/2 c. peanut sauce, remaining 5 T soy sauce and wings in a large bowl, cover. Marinate chicken in refrigerator for 1 hour. Refrigerate remaining peanut sauce.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Foil-line and grease 2 baking sheets with sides.

Place chicken on prepared baking sheets. Discard any remaining marinade.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, turning once (or twice) or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from baking sheets to serving platter. (I put mine in a crockpot to keep warm.) Stir remaining peanut sauce and spoon some over wings. If desired, serve remaining sauce with wings and assorted cut-up vegetables. Enjoy!

If you would like to try these delicious recipes and browse others that use Carnation Evaporated Milk, be sure to check out Carnation's Holiday Recipe Guide (pdf style!)

Be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday for more fabulous recipes!

Disclosure: One2One Network provided me with two coupons for free evaporated milk and a gift card to cover the ingredients needed to prepare these recipes. However, all opinions stated in this review are fully and completely mine.

Rummage Sale Finds

On Friday morning, my sister and I went to a local rummage sale. I wish I had taken a picture of the place and the crowd. It was insane and just to say the least, kind of gross.

But we braved pushed our way through the narrow aisles and I came away with these fabulous finds. I'm hoping that Kelly will post her "finds" soon, so I won't steal her thunder. Let me just say that she got some super cool stuff AND we each only paid 4.50!

I'm always on the lookout for "Sunday books" including anything about animals or Bible stories. My Mom always read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books to us when we were little, so I snatched this one up fast!

I bought this vase because it matches one that I already have so now I have a pair. The cups and saucers reminded me of my Granny's china, so I had to have them. And the birdhouse was just so-cute!

My very favorite treasure from the sale was this book. It's called Susie's Babies. And this copy is from 1960! Susie's Babies is a fantastic way to "teach" kids about the birds and the bees. I remember reading this book when I was probably around 10 years old. Things were just pretty obvious to me because I grew up on a farm, but this book was great in answering any questions. It is about an elementary school class who has hamsters...and you all know what hamsters do really well! Ha!

Anyway, I'm pumped about having this book in my own possession!

These candleholders did not come from the rummage sale, but one of my clients bought them for me for Christmas. I love them and just had to share a picture of them with you!

And yes, yet another picture of Fall!

God's creation is just beautiful!

Prince Charming and I are getting our house cleaned and ready for a missionary reception that we are hosting at our house tonight. The missionary that's flying in today is from Kenya. Africa has always been a burden on my heart and someday I want to go there on short-term missions. So, I'm really looking forward to learning more about the mission field and my heart is probably going to melt even more towards Africa!

Happy Monday, y'all!

Giving Challenge Update: Day 7

It's been one blessed week of giving. God is so good and I agree with my fellow "givers" that we cannot out give God. Seriously, He's given us the ultimate gift of salvation through His Son. Nothing that we can give will ever measure up to that!

I'm thrilled with the opportunities that arose this week and I'm super excited about making a few things happen this coming week. I'll let you know about what we're planning in the next update!

Day 1 -- This might sound silly, but I gave grace to some that I didn't want to give grace to. I prayed for God's strength and He enabled me to in essence, "love the loveless."

Day 2 -- We are currently helping a friend financially.

Day 3 -- I cooked for a meal that my mom, sister and I provided to a family in our church.

Day 4 -- I played the piano for church.

Day 5 -- I delivered flowers to my dear, sweet friend who just had surgery.

Day 6 -- Prince Charming invested his time into a precious young boy's life. I gave my mom free decorating advice. I couldn't possibly ever charge her! I will never be able to repay her for the investment that she's made in my life! Ha!

Day 7 -- I'm writing a note to a friend to be mailed tomorrow. Both Prince Charming and I are serving our congregation today in the music ministry, and Prince Charming is also teaching a young men's class.

For more info on the 30-Day Giving Challenge, visit Kingdom First Mom.

Peace Above Understanding

I've been thinking a lot about several different issues and burdens. These burdens have almost become too much for me to bear. The Lord has been teaching me that I can't let these issues hinder me from my walk with Him and my duty to my family.

These verses and thoughts have been a tremendous blessing and help to me mentally, spiritually and emotionally...

• "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

• I recently heard (I think on twitter, but I don't remember who tweeted this) that to have peace we often have to give up understanding. How freeing is that? I don't have to "get" why people do what they do. That realization alone brings peace!

• "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3

• "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." I Peter 5:7

• "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Psalm 42:11

I hope that these are an encouragement to your hearts today as they have been to mine! Have a beautiful Sunday!