Meal Plan- The beauty of Freezer Cooking and an easy Fall Recipe!!

This week's menu is going to be the food from our October meal party meals. What does that mean? Homemade dinner on the table every night this week with very minimal effort. Due to trying out so many new recipes for our upcoming parties, I haven't made a dent in the meals from last months menu. Here's what we are having...

Sunday: Potato Soup and pigs in a blanket **

Monday: Baked Jambalaya and rolls

Tuesady: Merlot Chicken over Rice and green beens

Wednesday: Fall Cranberry Chicken and mac and cheese

Thursday: leftovers

**Kroger sells a brand of soup called "Bear Creek". While not all of the soups are good, the Potato soup is great. We eat it often. It's a great Sunday Lunch food. Simply add water, and top with cheese and bacon. Yummy!

Fall Cranberry Chicken

1 pkg dry onion soup mix

1 can cranberry sauce

1 cup Kraft french dressing

Place 4 chicken breasts in a pyrex dish. Mix soup mix, cranberry sauce, and dressing in a bowl. Pour over chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Holiday Cooking Party

The hustle and bustle is just around the corner. You spend your time celebrating, decorating, and shopping...leave the cooking to us!

Join us on Tuesday, November 29th @ 6:30, and you will leave with a cooler full of appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and sweet treats. Simply freeze, and then thaw when ready to serve.

What you will leave with...

Appetizers

(serve 12)

Bayou glazed meatballs

Warm BLT Dip with pita chips

Cheddar Bacon Chicken dip with crackers

Main Courses

(serves 4-6)

Pomegranate Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

(excellent as a main dish, or can be sliced and served on rolls for a hearty appetizer

Wahoo! Chili

Chicken Pot Pie

Sides

(serves 4 or 8)

Paula Dean’s Creamed Corn Casserole (back by popular demand)

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet and Savory Treats

Sausage Balls (2 dozen)

Tastefully Simple Almond Pound Cake Mix

How Much? $125- for sides to serve 4 people

$140- for sides to serve 8

cash or check payable to Anna Pearson or Rose Kelly

-want the meals, but can't attend? For an extra $25, we will do the work, and you can pick up your meals the next day.

Please RSVP by Friday, November 11th to

comecookwithus@gmail.com

What to bring?

a cooler

Weekly Meal Plan and a simple Pot Pie recipe

Although I have not slacked in my weeknight cooking, I have not been diligent about meal planning ahead of time. I am going to attempt to set a weekly menu each weekend for the following week. This prevents middle of the week grocery runs.

Weekend: Chili and Cornbread

Monday: Spaghetti and Baked apples

Tuesady: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Fusia Honey Orange Chicken over rice (one of the reasons I LOVE Aldi)

Thursday: leftovers

I typically appreciate a recipe where everything is completely from scratch, but chicken pot pie is not one of them. I've yet to be too overwhelmed with a chicken pot pie that takes hours to make. My oppinion...it's not necessary.

Here is a very simple, no-fail yummy and cozy meal.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (I prefer kroger over pillsbury for pot pies)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of potato soup

1/8 cup sour cream

1 can del monte mixed vegetables, drained

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken

Allow pie crust to come to room temperature and line pie plate with 1 crust.

Mix remainder of ingredients, and pour in pie crust. Top with 2nd crust. Pinch edges, and make a few slits in the top of the crust. Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until crust is nice and golden brown. Enjoy!

ECS Clown Parade

While we have had such a difficult week, there have been a couple of bright spots along the way. Although April passed away early Friday morning, Ainsley still wanted to participate in the ECS Senior Kindergarten clown parade. This is quite a little milestone for a little ECS student, so we definitely encouraged her to go of she wanted to. It was encouraging to see some smiles light up her sweet face.

Peace, Love, and a Sweet Testimony

Come to Me, and rest in My Peace. My Face is shining upon you,

in rays of Peace transcending understanding.

--Jesus Calling

I would assume that anyone reading my blog knows of our family's recent struggle as we said "see ya later" to my sweet sister-in-law, April. April fought a 2 year battle with breast cancer, and Jesus called her Home this past Friday. From the first day of being diagnosed, she kept her head high, and was determined to fight. She trusted that God would heal her of this terrible disease. And as Christians, we know that He answered her prayers in His perfect way. Although we will miss her terribly, we know that April is completely healed of cancer and is dancing with Jesus day after day.

We know that God knew from the beginning of time His Perfect plan for April. He had a perfect plan for her life, and He knew exactly what she was to accomplish here on earth.

April was beautiful on the inside and out. She loved people. She had compassion for many and an unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. She was never ashamed of her Lord, and wanted to make Jesus known to those around her.

Through this difficult journey, our family has been overwhelmed by the Body of Christ. We have felt so much love and kindness from hundreds of people. We have been loved, prayed for, hugged on, and brought many meals. We believe that through the testimony of Sam and April's journey, the gospel has been shared. And because of that, we believe many may see a glimpse of God's grace in a new and fresh way.

We thank you for your prayers and huge acts of kindness. We ask that you continue praying for healing for Sam and the children as they begin to grasp what their new lives look like. May Jesus continue to be glorified.

Much love.

brushes and paint

It's been a while since I have painted regularly, but in the past few weeks I have been asked to make a little art. So, I've dug out my paintbrushes and gotten to work. Here are a few transportation paintings I made for our little friend Samuel's big boy room. I will be starting next week on some nursery art for a friend.

There are not enough hours in the day for all of my hobbies!

Two of my Loves

I am fully aware that every mother thinks her children are the most precious...but seriously, I can't imagine any two more adorable kids.

love 'em