Paula Deen has struck again

My mother-in-law gets me a subscription to Cooking with Paula Deen every year for Christmas.  Talk about a gift that my whole family has benefited from!  I love it!  And the January/February issue this year has been the source of my last three recipe posts!  Sooo good!  This is actually a slight variation on her 'Individual Chicken pot Pies'.
As is usually the case, I have been making Chicken Pot Pie for years now, but have not been entirely happy with the outcome.... until now!  All I'm going to preface this recipe with is this, it has bacon in it... I know, right?! 

Chicken Pot Pie
2 T butter
3 1/4 lbs bone-in chicken breasts, skinned (about 3)
1 3/4 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices bacon
1 (8oz) packaged sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans)
2 crust pie-crust
1 large egg

Melt butter in large skillet and saute onion and celery.  Boil chicken in water, remove and shred.  Fry bacon, remove and saute mushrooms.  Combine onions, celery, chicken, soup, bacon, mushrooms, pepper, salt, flour and frozen vegetables.  Stir and turn off heat.  Prepare pie plate with pie crust.  Pour in filling, add top crust and brush with egg white.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Watch closely in last 5 minutes to prevent burning.  Let sit for 10 minutes upon removing from the oven.

Mexican White Bean Soup

Seriously.  We fought over the leftovers.

Mexican Chicken-White Bean Soup (aslo from Paula Deen)
1 T butter
2 cups chopped white onion
1 cup chopped poblano pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 jalopenos, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups chicken broth
1 (16 oz) package dried great northern beans, soaked, drained, and rinsed
2 t ground cumin
1 t salt
2 1/2 lbs bone-in chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 T fresh lime juice
Garnish:  lime wedges

In a 6 qt pressure cooker, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add onion, peppers, celery and garlic.  Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until onion starts to soften.  Stir in broth, beans, cumin, and salt.  Nestle chicken into broth mixture.
Secure lid on cooker, and bring to high pressure over high heat.  Immediately reduce heat to low to maintain pressure, and cook for 13 minutes.  Remove from heat, and use natural-release method. 
Remove chicken from cooker.  Remove and discard skin and bones; shred meat using 2 forks.  Stir shredded chicken, cilantro, and lime juice into soup.  Garnish with lime wedges if desired.

Again, I don't have a pressure cooker (yet) so I boiled the chicken and then shredded.  Then I combined all ingredients using some of the water that I boiled the chicken in, and simmered for a good hour and a half.  Yummy!!  I completely recommend serving with bread : )

Red Beans and Rice Soup

This is supposed to be made with a pressure cooker - if I had one that would be awesome.  I just sauteed where necessary and then put it in the crockpot for the day.  Then, of course made the rice just before serving.  Huge hit.  My man loved it and he's actually not a huge fan of soup. 

Red Beans and Rice Soup
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 (16 oz.) package smoked sausage, sliced
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Creole seasoning
5 cups chicken broth
1 (16 oz) package dried light red kidney beans, soaked overnight (I used the quick soak method), drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
4 cups hot cooked rice

Heat a 6 qt pressure cooker over medium heat.  Add bacon, and cook for 6 minutes or until crisp.  Add sausage, bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, and Creole seasoning; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes or until onion starts to soften.  Stir in chicken broth, beans, and bay leaves.
Secure lid on cooker, and bring to high pressure over high heat.  Immediately reduce heat to low to maintain pressure, and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, and use natural-release method.  Remove and discard bay leaves.  Serve soup with rice.

BTW, this was Paula Deen again (January/February 2012).

Sweet and Sassy Chili

This is MY new favorite chili.  It doesn't sear your tongue right off ; ) (of course I skip the jalopenos).

Sweet and Sassy Chili

2 pounds Ground Beef
1 pound Ground Pork
1 whole Green Pepper
1 whole Red Pepper
1 whole Sweet Onion
5 whole Jalopenos
1 can (15 Oz. Can) White Cannellini Beans
1 can (15 Oz. Can) Red Cannellini Beans
1 can (15 Oz. Can) Black Eyed Peas
1 can (15 Oz. Can) Corn
1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Crushed Tomatoes
3 cups Spicy Tomato Juice V8
2 packages (1.25 Oz. Packet) McCormicks Chili Seasoning
1 cup Ketchup
1 whole Lime
4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
Preparation InstructionsSaute the meat over medium heat until browned; then drain the grease. Add to a crock pot.
Dice and saute peppers, onions and jalapenos (de-seeded) over medium heat. When they are nice and soft, add them to the pot.
Rinse and drain the beans and peas; add to the pot. Mix all together.

Add remaining ingredients of seasoning packets, ketchup, juice of lime, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, tomatoes, tomato juice, and drained corn.
Give it one big stir and set the crock pot on low for 8 hours.
I like to serve this with a bit of shredded cheese on top and tortilla chips on the side. This recipe is great because you can alter the hot or sweet flavors by changing the amounts of jalapenos or brown sugar. You can combine everything at night and then turn the crock pot on in the morning. Enjoy!

I gave up

I have given up on trying to produce a chilli that My Man AND my children both enjoy.  Maryanna thinks toothpaste and peppermint gum are spicy.  My Man adds jalopenos OR tobasco sauce to everything.  He adds dime size dobs of wasabi to EVERY BITE of his sushi.  It's impossible.

So.  I gave up.

And now I am going to start making two pots of chili whenever I serve it.  And guess what.  I found this amazing sweet chili that I love!  I'll post that recipe another day.  Today I want to talk about the chili I found for My Man.

Ok, so this is my process.  If I can't find a recipe for whatever I'm looking for made by the Pioneer Woman or Paula Deen I go to TastyKitchen.com or allrecipes.com.  And when I searched for spicy chili I found this particular recipe on both of those sites under two different names.  With high ratings.
 
And it was a winner.  I've got just a couple of different things i'd like to try in it, but I've only made it once.  So, without further ado.

Halloween Chili aka The Boilermaker
2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer (I'm going to try an ale next time)
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.


Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

This smelled amazing while it cooked.  Can't wait to make it again!
 

Ah, Nursing

So, with Christopher's 10-month anniversary just around the corner, I've started thinking about weaning. Yes, I'm still breastfeeding. I've breastfed each of my babies right up until their first birthday's. So, this is the last couple of months of the fourth year that I've spent breastfeeding - not consecutively, thank goodness. And it's gotten me thinking. About all of the wonderful things about nursing and all of the frustrating.

Nursing in public. (sorry, but) Sore nipples. Bras. I hate bras while I'm nursing! Unexpected visitors in the middle of the afternoon send me running for my bedroom! TEETHING. Nursing makes me tired. I don't know if it's the hormones or the drain on my body - probably both. But, I have an energy boost when I'm finished. Exposing my back, side and sometimes my gut 4-6 times a day. And the diet restrictions. I'm not the type of person to add jalopenos or tobasco to everything. But three of my babies have been extremely sensitive. Tomatoes, beans, chili powder, almonds, garlic, onions - my diet has had to be pretty bland. I had no idea how many recipes I had that were just a little too spicy. I will be glad to be free to have two cups of coffee. Two of my babies would not take a bottle no matter what was in it, so the ability to go for an extended period of time when necessary will be nice.

Now, the things that I will miss... Those chubby hands on my skin. The way his eyes roll back in his head when he's tired and hungry and it's just so comforting and it must just taste so good. Those moments when our eyes lock and we share that precious bond. The ability to comfort when nothing else will. Holding him close. The ability to take off with baby and have the nourishment he needs ready to go without preparation. And, let's face it, sometimes it's nice that I'm the only one he wants because it's time to eat!

I've had many ask me lately how I feel about being so close to being finished. It's bittersweet. No matter how you look at it, by the end of a year I'm ready to be finished. But, the prospect of being finished for good seems awfully sad. I can't say that I'll ever regret it. 

Hearty Meatless Taco Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce, torn into 1 inch pieces
1 head romaine lettuce, forn into 1 inch pieces
1 (15.5 oz) can chili beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.25 oz) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8oz) pkg shredded Mexican Cheddar Jack cheese blend
1 tomato, diced
1 (9 1/4 oz) bag corn chips
Light Catalina salad dressing

In a large bowl, combine lettuces, chili beans, corn, black beans, cheese, and tomato.

Just before serving, add corn chips and desired amount of salad dressing; tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately with fresh orange wedges.

This was pretty good, although not unlike the salads we throw together around here all the time. I do recommend swapping the catalina for one of my new favorites - spicy ranch. No one tell me what that does to the carlorie count. I don't want to know.

Onion-Smothered Pork Tenderloin

2 T butter
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
2 t minced garlic
1/2 cup beef consomme
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 T coarse-grained mustard
1 t crushed rosemary
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
2 1/2 lbs pork tenderloins, trimmed

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in consomme, cream, mustard, rosemary, salt, and pepper.

Place pork tenderloins in prepared baking dish. Pour onion mixture over tenderloins. Bake for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 155. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve sliced pork with wild rice and steamed green beans.

There are so many things I did wrong on this recipe and it still came out delish. I substituted the pork for turkey tenderloin. I substituted the consomme for broth. And I substituted the coarse grained mustard for regular old ground mustard. Also, my rosemary wasn't crushed. Oh well. I'll be making this one again!

Five Days of Paula

I'm getting ready to try Paula's Mon-Fri. menu. I'll let you know how it goes. The menu includes...

Monday: Orange-Tarragon Chicken Linguine and Steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Onion-Smothered Pork Tenderloin Wild Rice and Steamed green beans

Wednesday: Hearty meatless Taco Salad and fresh orange wedges

Thursday: Jumping Jack's Sloppy Joes with Steak Fries

Friday: Slow-Cooker Swiss Steak with Mashed Potatoes and green salad

Here's a few pics to update you on the last few days. My mother's birthday dinner here last Sunday. Yummy : ) I must, must, must share this icing recipe and the mashed sweet potato recipe. I'm not a huge sweet potato fan and this is one of my new favorite dishes.

Lo put my brother's size 14 shoes on and had herself a gigle fit : )Popsicle break!

New Recipe!

Finally managed to try something new. Seems I just haven't had time lately. So many recipes, so little time. Anyway, made this at the lake this weekend and it seemed to be a hit. My Man was all about it, anyway. I just love slow cooker recipes.

Chicken Tacos

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 15 oz can tomatoes with chiles (Rotel), and their juices
1 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup water
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
corn taco shells
favorite toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, ripe black olives

Use a 4 qt slow cooker. Put the chicken into the stoneware, and top with the entire can of tomatoes, corn, water, and beans. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Shred the chicken with two large forks, and fill the taco shells. Add your favorite toppings, and enjoy.

FYI this recipe was from the book Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (one of my new faves). Also, we used flour tortillas and I cooked it in my dutch oven in the oven at 325 for about 2 hours. Make sure you don't run out of water.

Paula Deen's Chili-Lime Southwest Wraps

This recipe came out of the same issue that the Chocolate Pumpkin Bread did. And it was a lifesaver! Totally loved it. My Man, of course, added tobasco sauce. He also said he wouldn't mind more lime juice and more kick of some kind. I'm thinking I'll add jalopenos to his next time...

But, they were great. She (Paula) added this to the issue as a 'tailgating' food. It's a cold dish. However, it's great to have on hand. We had it for lunch, we had it for dinner, and when we ran out of tortillas, we ate it with tortilla chips!

Chili-Lime Southwest Wraps

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 T lime juice
1 t chili powder
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 15.25 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15.25 oz can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
7 10-in. flour tortillas

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and chili powder. Stir in chicken, tomatoes and green chiles, beans, corn, and cilantro, Spoon mixture into each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, and cut in half.

Beans and Rice

I am still figuring out how to cook rice in my crockpot. Actually I think it's the rice I'm buying. It's just not quite the right consistency... I'll figure it out eventually.

Beans and Rice

1 T olive oil
1 cup raw rice
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, liquid reserved
1/2 T dried onion flakes, or 1/2 cup diced fresh onion
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t Italian seasoning
water

Use a 4 qt slow cooker. Put the olive oil into the stoneware, and add the rice, Swirl the rice around to coat it nicely with the oil. Add the beans. Drain the tomatoes, but reserve the liquid in a 2 cup measuring cup. Add the tomatoes, onion, salt, and Italian seasoning. Add water to the tomato liquid to make a full 2 cups. Pour the liquid intot the slow cooker. Stir. cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Your dinner is complete when the rice is tender. Brown or wild rice will take longer to soften than white rice.

Slow Cooker Recipes!

I have been organizing all of the recipes that I've been collecting and typing them up. So begins the barrage of recipes. I can copy and paste them here while I (apparently) am not motivated enough to talk about how I'm unmotivated. That was so grammatically correct. I'm going to try to try them out before I post them, but we'll just see how it goes...

BBQ Beans and Weenies
4 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups bbq sauce
2 (16 oz) packages lil'smokies or cut up hot dogs

Use a 6 qt slow cooker. pour the canned beans into the stoneware, and add the bbq sauce. toss in the lil' smokies and stire to combine. cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, or high for 2 to 3 hours.

I used hot dogs instead of lil smokies and I think the lil' smokies would have been really good. Also, the kidney beans were not quite tender enough. I am actually considering using pork beans next time I make this, although I'm certain that wouldn't be nearly as nutritious. Total kid pleaser, though.

Jamie's Chili

I think Jamie is Paula's son, but since I just googled this, I'm not sure. :-)

Anyhow, it's an excellent recipe and it's made me abandon my old chili recipe. And, if you haven't noticed, I like to cook things that I can start when the kids go to bed and just let simmer for, oh say, 3 or 4 hours. This is definitely one of those. And it has celery in it. I love it. Celery in our chili.

1 lb mixed ground beef and sausage, browned and drained

1 medium onion, diced

1 green bell pepper diced

2 cups chopped celery (2 stalks)

1 (28 oz) can whole, peeled tomatoes

2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 package chili seasoning mix

chili powder

ground cumin

1 can chili beans

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

garnish: shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions

Brown the meet and drain. Spray large pot with nontick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, green pepper, and celery and saute briefly. Stir in the diced and whole tomatoes (I'm working with the tomatoes. I don't want the chili to be too tomatoey - b/c that's a word- and My Man likes it pretty hot. So I'm swapping out some tomatoes for tomatoes with green chilies. I'll let you know...). Add cumin and chili powder, to taste, and cook for about 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the beans, browned meat, and chili seasoning. Partially cover and let simmer for 4 hours.

BTW, I didn't drain and rinse anything but the black beans. Let me know if you make this and like it! And I suppose you could let me know if you don't too....

Baked Beef Enchilada Casserole

Did I mention that my mother-in-law also loves Paula Deen. We have agreed that there's rarely a recipe of hers we don't like. So, in the spirit of Miss Paula, Ann passed this one along also. Or maybe she served this and I emailed her until she gave it to me. Because I'm a rotten daughter-in-law like that.

Bake Beef Enchilada Casserole

2 T butter
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 T chili powder
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground red pepper
2 (10.75 oz) can creamy chicken Verde soup (I've never found this at the store, so I use cream of chicken soup)
1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles
18 corn tortillas, divided
2 (10 oz) cans red enchilada sauce divided
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

Garnish: sliced black olives and red, green, and yellow bell pepper curls. It also is wonderful with crushed corn chips on top.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add ground beef, chili powder, salt and red pepper. Cook until beef is brown and crumbly: drain. Stir in soup and green chiles: set aside. Line prepared baking dish with 6 corn tortillas. In a medium bowl, whisk together one can of enchilada sauce and refried beans. Spread bean mixture onto tortillas. Evenly sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Layer 5 more tortillas. Cover with meat mixture. Evenly sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Layer remaining 6 tortillas. Evenly spoon remaining can of enchilada sauce onto tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining 2 cups cheese. Bake for 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Garnish with sliced black olives, pepper curls and crushed corn chips as desired.

Tex-Mex Lasagna

Yet another another Paula Deen recipe, but this time I can claim that my mother-in-laws to blame! :-) Thanks, Ann! We love this one!

2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15.25 oz) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with chiles
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
6 oven ready lasagna noodles
1 (8oz) package Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 (8 oz) package cheddar cheese, grated

In a dutch oven, combine 1st 12 ingredients. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cream cheese.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x13 baking dish.

Spoon one-third of sauce into prepared dish. top with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles. Spread one-half of sour cream mixture over noodles, top with one-third sauce. Sprinkle with half of cheeses. Repeat layers. Bake 35-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

(I bake mine with foil over the top and remove it 10 minutes before its done.)

Make sure you let it sit up!

Baked Beans

In honor of summer, I thought this ought to be my next recipe post. Again, I can't take credit for this one (I think you'll find I can't take credit for any of them, I just collected them all). My mother-in-law made me a wonderful binder of all of their family favorites when I got married. This one was included and I'm told it is a dear friend's great-grandfather's. Enjoy!

2 15 ounce cans pork and beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup bbq sauce (Hubby prefers Gates)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dry mustard
bacon strips
ketchup

Mix together beans, brown sugar, molasses, bbq sauce, onion and dry mustard.

Place half the beans in a 1 quart casserole. Top with bacon strips. Then, add the remaining beans and top with more bacon strips.

Spread ketchup on top and bake at 350 for 2-3 hours (longer the better).

Let set about 45 minutes before serving.

*Smoked ham in place of the bacon in the middle is great. Continue to use the bacon on top.

Food!

For whatever reason, every time I try to take a picture of my dishes they turn out terrible. So, I'm going to go ahead and post a few of our family favotites and see if I can't do some research that will give me a clue as to what I'm doing wrong. (See what I did there? If I tell you I'm going to do it, and I go ahead and post this, then I have to get it done... maybe).

I make this on a regular basis to freeze for Hubby's lunches. He can throw a frozen serving in his lunch box and by lunchtime it's thawed and he can microwave it. It's chalk-full of fiber with all of the beans and he loves it. Also, I make it in the crockpot so it's so easy. AND if I make it for the fam we always eat it with fritoes, cheddar, and sour cream. So you don't have to miss out on the fat :-)

Incidentally, this is what I served the night we told my folks I was pregnant with our first. We put pacifiers in their bowls :-)

Taco Soup

1 ½ to 2 lbs. ground beef – browned and drained
1 large onion chopped (add to hamburger to brown)
1 can chili beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
1 can corn
1 can hominy (we often omit this)
1 can tomato soup
2 pkgs taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
salt and pepper to taste
Add all ingredients (undrained-except black beans) and cook 2 hours or longer (I usually use a crock-pot on high). Serve with grated cheese, fritos, or tortilla chips.

(recipe from Helen Coe)

I was THAT mom... on Easter morning!

I'm going to take the opportunity to write about Easter this morning, frankly b/c I have great pictures of my adorable kids to share :-)

I woke up on Easter morning, and still in my fog thought, 'I need to go have some quiet time before the day gets started - it is Easter after all.' And then I did the equivalent of sitting straight up in bed (in my head). No! I've gotta get up! I've gotta get the kids dressed! We have to get to church by 8:30! We've got to go find the hidden Easter eggs! Etc. etc. You can see where my priorities were? It is difficult to get to 8:30 service on a regular Sunday when I'm not determined that the kids will where coordinating perfect outfits with bows and belts to boot. Then you add the Easter baskets and the egg hunt and there is no time for anything else!

I should have listened to God's quiet voice. Hopefully I have learned my lesson. I totally wish I could go back and do Easter morning His way. By the time the hunt was over, the kids had eaten, the baskets were unleashed (all over the living room floor - did I mention we were also preparing the house to show for the day?) and it was my turn to get ready, I was grumpy and cranky with everyone, and I had, literally, 2 minutes to get ready and in the car. And I came very close to that exact time. But, by the time I got back into the living room Lola had found someone's jelly beans... and they were dribbling down the front of her Easter dress. I did it. I yelled.

And from the bedroom Chris said, 'Take a picture!' That helped. It reminded me of my mom's story about me biting the coffee table. She took a picture and then I got in trouble. Point being if I don't enjoy these moments with the kids I will spend all my time griping at them. So I took a picture. And I laughed. And I apologized to everyone... very humbling.

So here are the pictures of the kids that we always take before church. Because, I mean really, they are so not going to look the same by the end of church....