Peppermint Bark

I just made some of this peppermint bark yesterday and it turned out great. I put it in the freezer for like 10 mimutes to speed up the cooling process. It made quite a bit and I was pleased with how easy it was.

Makes 1 1/4 pounds

If you don’t have a double boiler, use a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

1 pound white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces 6-7 med- large candy canes 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil 1. Set out a baking sheet, either a non-stick, or lightly greased 2. In the top of a double boiler, melt white chocolate, stirring constantly. 3. With a chef’s knife or meat tenderizer, cut or pound candy canes into 1/4-inch pieces. 4. Stir pieces of candy canes and peppermint oil into the melted chocolate. Remove from heat, and pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet; spread evenly. Chill until firm, 25 to 30 minutes. Break into pieces, and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Minestrone Soup

I love allrecipes.com, I have found many great recipes that are quick, easy and healthy too. I just made some minestrone soup last night and it was yummy!
I found this at allrecipes.com but I altered it a little bit, so here is my version of minestrone soup: feeds 3-4


INGREDIENTS

* 24 oz. chicken broth (I used some homemade broth)
* 1 can (14.5 oz.)diced stewed tomatoes
* 1/2 to 1 can(14.5) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15 ounce) garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or pinto beans
* 1 cup frozen cubed hash brown potatoes, thawed (I didn't add the potatoes, I cooked brown rice separately and then when I served the soup I put some rice in the bottom of the bowl and poured the soup over it).
* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt(i used celery salt, either works)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder(i used real garlic, crushed)
* 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
* 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed (I didn't add peas, but I chopped up a whole carrot and added that instead)


DIRECTIONS

1. In a slow cooker, combine the first 13 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

This soup is awesome because you can add whatever other veggies you have on hand. I also sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Along with the soup we had homemade biscuits.

Runny Nose

Please pray for Moses, he has a nasty cold and in the past he has always gotten an ear infection afterwards. Pray that he won't get an ear infection and his cold will get better. I have removed milk and all other dairy from his diet and so he's been dairy-free for 1 month now. I learned that if a child is prone to ear infections dairy, particularly milk can cause ear infections. Since he started cow's milk he had gotten 2 ear infections in one month so I hope a dairy-free diet will help, if not eliminate them altogether. Thanks!

Here is a link to a video of our little boy laughing. Makes you smile!

Living Nativity

Last night several local churches put together a living nativity and Ryan and I(as well as a few other people who rotated with us) were Mary and Joseph and Elijah was baby Jesus! It was a lot of fun and surprisingly a lot of people showed up even though it was cold and wet. We had a nice little shelter for our stable and it kept us nice and warm, and there was also a real live donkey there too. Elijah was awake the whole time and everyone thought he was so cute! There was also a camera man from the news who showed up and took some video of us. I guess it's supposed to be on the news today. That's what happens when you live in a small town! I think this was the first time they've had a living nativity here, but I'm not sure.
Praise the Lord for this opportunity to shine his light in our community.

The day after Thanksgiving

Look at the very top of the tree, what do you see?

Today we went over to Ryan's Grandpa's house and on the way Ryan spotted two bald eagle's perched on top of a tree!!! It was one of the most awesome sight's in God's creation that we'd ever seen!!! I've never seen two bald eagles in the wild before and never so close. (The picture doesn't do it justice, it was so incredible). Well, we didn't have our camera with us, so we just prayed that God would keep the eagles there and we hurried to the house to borrow Ryan's mom's camera and then went back to the spot where we saw them. This all took maybe five minutes or less, and sure enough when we got back they were still there! It was such an amazing sight, and such a blessing for Lord to answer our prayer and keep the eagles in the tree so we could take a picture.

Christmas is Coming

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, as everyone knows. What did you do on this holiday? What are you thankful for, I would love to know!

As autumn approaches and winter creeps in I get excited because it means that the holidays are coming! I just love this time of year, and I was so excited this year that I got out my Christmas box a few days ago and I've already put up the few Christmas decorations that I have. I love the holidays and all the festivities and traditions that go along with it. But I've realized that I don't know all the traditions and meanings behind everything. Like for example, last night as my husband and I talked, I could only recall snippets off the top of my head about the history behind Thanksgiving. Even though I've learned it's history growing up, I don't remember very many of the details about it. (realizing this I've made a point to do some reading and refresh my memory about the history behind it). Anyways, I would love to hear how your family celebrates Thanksgiving and/or Christmas and what family traditions have been special or meaningful to you. My husband and I are looking forward to building family traditions of our own and I would love to hear your ideas that make these holidays special.
In addition to that, for those of you with children, what creative ways do you use to help your children learn about Christ's birth and to not get caught up in the materialism of Christmas? Someone just asked me the other day what my boys needed (she was asking for Christmas gift ideas), and honestly, when it comes to needs, they have all their needs met, and so do I. So, we really don't need anything for Christmas. Yes it's nice to give and receive gifts, but the older I get (and I'm so old--all of 23 years!) the more I realize just how trivial gift getting is. I love giving gifts, but I am itching to make Christmas about much more then just gifts especially as I anticipate my children getting older and what I want to teach them. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about this, either comment or email me. Also, don't give up saying Merry Christmas for fear of offending someone!!! Remember why we have Christmas to begin with!
Merry Christmas!