Freezable Recipes: Ashley's Pasta e Fagioli

Ashley's Pasta e Fagioli

* 2 tbsp. butter, divided
* 1 (20 oz.) package sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
* 1/2 large (or 1 medium) onion, finely chopped
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 4 carrots, thinly sliced
* 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
* 2 cans of black beans
* 48-64 oz. reduced-sodium beef broth (depending on how much liquid you would like)
* 1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
* 2 tsp. dried parsley
* 1/2 tsp. dried basil
* 1 tsp. salt
* 4 oz. small dry pasta (such as ditalini)

~Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-high heat. 

~ Add the sausage to the pot and brown, crumbling as it cooks. 

~ Once the sausage is browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and discard any excess grease.

~ Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pot. 

~ Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery, and saute over medium heat until vegetables are soft, 8-10 minutes. 

~ Return the sausage to the pot, add the can of diced tomatoes with juices, stir briefly, and simmer for 10 minutes.

~ Add the beans, beef broth and tomato sauce to the pot. 

~ Add in all of the seasonings, stir well, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. 

~ Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer at least 30 minutes.

~ Add the dry pasta and continue to simmer on low for another 35-45 minutes. 

~ Freeze or serve :-)

** Thanks Ashley!!

Freezable Recipes: Megan's BBQ Sandwiches

Megan's BBQ Sandwiches

* Large boston pork butt

* 1 cup of Coke

* 1 cup of BBQ sauce

~ Place the pork butt in the crock pot for about 4 hours on high

~ Remove pork and shred into pieces

~ Remove all juice from the crock pot and place shredded meat back in

~ Pour Coke and BBQ sauce over the shredded pork

(You can also double the Coke and BBQ sauce for a larger pork butt)

~ Remove and serve on hamburger buns

~ Freeze or eat... hamburger buns freeze well, too!

** Thanks Megan!!

Freezable Recipes: Megan's Chicken Pan Pie

Megan's Chicken Pan Pie

* 3-4 chicken breasts

* 1 can cream of chicken soup

* 1 bag of frozen mix vegetables

* 1 cup milk

* 1 box of stovetop stuffing mix.

* Optional: shredded cheese

~ Cook the chicken breasts in the crock pot for 3 hours on high

~ Shred with a fork after 2 hours

~ While chicken is cooking, cook the vegetables according to package directions

~ In a large bowl, combine chicken, vegetables, cream of chicken soup, and milk (and salt and pepper to taste.)

~ Spray the bottom of the 2 pans/dishes and pour half of the mixture in each (you will freeze one)

(Optional: Cover both dishes with shredded cheese)

~  Make the Stovetop mix according to package directions and cover each dish lightly with the stuffing

~ Bake one of the dishes on 350 for 30 minutes and freeze the other

**Thanks Megan!!

Freezable Recipes: Jessie's Homemade Tomato Sauce

Jessie's Homemade Tomato Sauce

* Sausage, ground beef, or chicken slices

* 29 ounce can of Hunt's tomato sauce

* 2- 6 oz. cans of Hunt's tomato paste

* 6 oz. can of water

* 1 onion

* 1tsp. garlic

* 1 bay leaf

~ Brown/ cook sausage, beef, or chicken with onion and garlic

~ Add paste, sauce, water and bay leaf.

~ Simmer on low for a couple hours (sounds like a great sauce for the crock pot!)

~ Double the recipe and freeze leftovers to use on pasta dishes or remove the meat and use it in yummy sandwiches!

** Thanks Jessie!!

The Storm...

I started this blog because I crave honesty. I crave trust. I craved it during our first wait... and I crave it now, during our second.

In turn, I crave faith;
"TRUE faith is trusting Him BEFORE the blessings come."

I will be honest:
Tonight, I'm sad. That's all there is to it. BUT... every time I'm sad, God speaks to me. In some disgusting way, it makes me want to be sad more often....

I also crave to hear Him speak to me.

So today, I heard a song that spoke to me. And I like to believe that it was a song that Jesus was giving to me. Like a gift. So I'm sharing part of it with you....

God in my living
There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping

Be my everything

God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my watching
God in my waiting

God in my laughing
There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing
.....

Be my everything
Be my everything...

You are everything

~ I'm sad tonight. And that's okay. God's speaking.... and I'm waiting... and I'm weeping... but God's still speaking. My job is to listen... that's another song, entirely.

As much as I try to hide it, Hannah just knows when Mommy's sad. Every time I'm sad she says, "Daddy, hold Mommy's hand please...." and it makes everything better.

I'm abundantly blessed.

~ Heavenly Father, be my everything.... and please keep speaking. Our family isn't done... and neither are You.

** It's quiet... crank it... you'll love it!

I have 7 AMAZING recipe's so far for our Freezable Recipe post... keep them coming!

I'm trying one tonight that I'm SO excited for and have another yummy one planned out for this weekend.

Don't just wait for everyone else to send one... send one yourself :-)

Preparing Our Home... and our Bellies!!

Hi Friends! Happy Monday... or something :-)

One thing we did during our wait to bring Hannah home was make double meals and freeze one of them for later. It was SO helpful in those first few weeks home with her to have yummy meals ready to go. I also found it easy to help out when a friend or family member needed a meal, too!

History is repeating itself in our wait to bring home our next baby(ies) and while our hearts are MORE than ready to bring home the rest of our family, we are making preparations in our home, too! The nursery is ready, the closet is full of diapers and clothes and now it's our freezers turn...

I'm working on a HUGE blog post that consists of (hopefully) dozens of meals that freeze well. My hope is that everyone who is waiting for their sweet baby (through adoption OR pregnancy!!) or maybe just needs freezeable meal ideas for a Meals for Mom's-type of program will have one stop to make (here :-)) to find lots and lots of easy ideas.

Here's where you come in :-)

Will you email me one favorite recipe that you know can freeze well? And while you're at it, if you have any tricks to keep meals fresh while frozen (great containers, labeling methods, etc), pass them along, too!

I'll collect recipes for the next 6 days and will post them all next Monday. We'll keep adding to it and eventually have the longest, most helpful blog post ever :-)

onloanfromheaven@yahoo.com

(Frozen meals meant that we got to spend much more time loving on and snuggling with this sweet baby-girl in her first few weeks home!) 

Daily Deal

Happy Saturday, Friends!

Hannah and I didn't have much planned yesterday but really needed to get out of the house... can you imagine why?! (The snow isn't melting yet but the sun is out.... we're making progress.)

Michaels is one of my favorite stores but since I'm completely lacking the creative gene, I try to stay away because I get super overwhelmed BUT yesterday, I was SOOOO excited to see all of the new Valentine's Day and Dollar Spot things that Michaels has right now. Hannah and I stocked up on the cutest Valentine's Day craft that we're going to make for her friends and family ... and Joey loved the idea so much that he's really excited to help, too (which is good for Mommy because I have trouble with even the easiest crafts and he's a pro).

I am a complete sucker for anything monogrammed and the Dollar Spot was an inexpensive little slice of heaven for me; stationary, luggage tags, cute gift boxes, pens, bright colors, paisley, florals... all for $1. It took a little brain-power to go through all of close family and friends' names but I managed to stock up on some little Valentine's Day gifts, birthday presents, and even some Easter basket stuffers for Hannah!

The best part of our impromptu trip yesterday? All of their Valentine's Day stuff was 30% off and they have a great  20 % off coupon for your entire purchase!!  (It's the little things that get me SOO excited, can you tell?!)... So if you're like me and need some help with math, all of the Dollar Spot stuff I got ended up being only $.80 and the Valentine's kit that makes 24 Valentine's was less than $4.50! Can't beat that!

Do you have a lazy Saturday planned? Head over to Michaels and let me know what you find... it ended up being a fun, productive, and really cheap trip out of the house for me and Hannah :-)

I'll post pics of our Valentine's when we're done making them!

Have an amazing weekend!

Hot, Sexy, Sweet & Charming

Yesterday was my hot, sexy, sweet & charming husbands birthday... so glad he'll always be older than me :-)

Joey and I met through friends at the church he grew up in. I was the new girl in town and let me tell you... I DID NOT want to date this boy. He tried and tried and tried to get me to go out with him and I ignored him, dodged him at church, and I'm ashamed to say that I even stood him up!!!

Now don't get me wrong, I thought he was incredibly good looking, very polite, chivalrous, and well, he obviously liked me... and I was just mean. That's all I got... no excuses.

I was working at a Lexus dealership and Joey came in one day and asked for a 'tour'... yeah right. I gave him a tour and in return he gave me a ticket to the Rascal Flatts concert that was the next weekend. I took the ticket... and didn't show up. 

Again... no excuse.

A few weeks later my mom was in town and came with me to a friends' house for dinner and that was the first time she met Joey. Mom loved him right away! She and I were shopping the next day when he called me... and I pushed 'ignore'.

Still... no excuse.... and this time Mom wasn't too happy with me.

SO... one night Joey dropped by Lexus 5 minutes before I left for the night and asked me out to dinner. I was caught off guard and had run out of excuses so said "why not" (nope, he couldn't even get a 'yes' out of me!). We walked out to his truck, he opened the door for me, and as I hopped up to get in ... I SLAMMED my head into the door.

Nice, huh? That's what I get.

He was polite enough to walk VERY slowly around the car to give me a minute to recover. So much for a great first impression... oh wait! I had already ruined any chance for that :-)

Joey didn't give up. We went to an amazing Italian place for dinner and had a PERFECT first date... and we've been together since :-)

Joey proposed to me 1.5 years after our first date. We were helping my parents move into a new house and he was sharing a room with my brother. He came in my room early in the morning (umm... like 8:30) and sat on the edge of my bed with a moving box and said that my mom wanted me to open it so she knew where it belonged in the new house.

I threw the box across the bed (WHY IN THE WORLD did he keep putting up with me?!). Nope, I'm not a morning person. In my defense, Joey knew this and this was all part of his master plan... thanks, babe.

Anyway, he recovered the box and I realized that a big family Bible had fallen out of the box... and it was open to 1 Corinthians 2:1

"... each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband."

I looked up and Joey was holding the most beautiful ring (that was originally tied to the place-marker in the Bible but ended up lost in a sea of packing peanuts when 'someone' woke up grumpy... Joey was frantically digging it out when I was reading the verse and trying to wake up and put it all together).

To be honest, I can't remember all that Joey said but I did hear the words "marry me"... and that was the most important part :-) When we came out to the kitchen we were greeted by my teary mom and dad and my excited brothers.... and an hour later in came my aunts, uncles, cousins, and some friends for the most wonderful (and VERY well planned) engagement party!

Joey and I were engaged for 14 months and were married on the most beautiful Southern June day!

(Us and our first baby, Biscuit. She passed away when she was 1.5... 30 days before we brought our second baby home... Hannah)

He is my Prince Charming. He is my rock. He's a dreamer, full of integrity, attentive, and he is the most amazing Daddy! Joey sacrifices so much for me to be able to fulfill my dream of staying home with our kids. He works hard... but he plays harder :-)

Joey and I became parents over-night... we brought Hannah home with 13 hours notice, after 2 years of 'trying' and 3 months of 'waiting' (with our agency). We didn't have time to plan,  prepare, discuss... but he fell into his role like he was made for it! And he is. Watching Joey and Hannah together makes my heart melt... she's a daddy's girl and I wouldn't have it any other way.

(Our first family picture)

Our family isn't complete yet.... and Joey has much more "Daddy" to give. I simply cannot wait to see our family fully together and complete, at last.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY! Hannah and I love you more than Reece's Peanut Butter Cups... and that's a whole lot!

The Storm.... It's Here.

"Snowapalooza"... "The Blizzard of Oz"... "Epic Snow"... whatever you want to call it; it's here.

I'll call it cold. That's about all it deserves.

6 food snow drifts, 7-10 hours of interstate closed, people without power, cars buried under snow...

yeah, I'm over it.

Snow does something to me. Maybe it's being stuck inside. Truthfully, we couldn't go anywhere even if we wanted to. There's only so much you can clean, so many Dora episodes you can watch, so many princess dresses you can wear, and only so many nails to paint. Then, I go crazy.

Moving on :-)

Hannah refused to eat dinner last night. She ate her one bite, which was basically all we had asked of her so we were ok with that. But when she got super grumpy later on in the night, I knew it was because she hadn't eaten.

Me: "Hannah, what would you like to eat? A banana? Fruit bar? Cereal?"

Hannah: "Mommy, I NEED McDonalds!!!"

Me: "Uh-oh."

Well, that was my response last night but when I woke up this morning and saw what I knew was the beginning of a LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG couple of days, McDonalds is exactly where we went.

Sometimes, you just NEED McDonalds. I get that.

After McDonalds we went to WalMart to stock up, like everyone else, on the things that are necessary to get you through a couple LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG days stuck at home:

~ Dog food

~ Diapers

~ A new Dora movie

~ And purple nail polish

** I'll leave it to you to figure out which of those 4 things match up with the 4 of us :-) HA! **

A neighbor got stuck in the cul-de-sac tonight when he was trying to pull into his driveway (yep, random post... random day). We were eating dinner and Joey ran out to help. Four big, grown men tried over and over to push, pull, run and push, pull and run to try and get his car up the driveway and into the garage....

and I stood by the window and cracked up!

Like, belly laughing-cracked-up. Crying-cracking-up. Hannah was belly-laughing, too (which only made me laugh even harder) but not because she knew what was going on. She just laughs when I do :-) It's SO MEAN when I look back on it but I couldn't help it. Something was SO funny about these big men and this tiny car.... the men won in the end but that tiny car put up a BIG fight!

Yep, crazy has set in.

So, Hannah refused to eat dinner again. McDonalds wasn't an option tonight... :-( She settled for a banana before bed. She didn't realize that you have to watch your back when you have food in this house....

"SWIPER, NO SWIPING!!!"

They're so cute :-)

So, the storm is here. Yes, it's a blizzard. Yes, it's epic. Yes, it's cold.

But... like every other storm in our life, we'll make it. And like every other storm, we'll come out stronger and fatter (because no matter what kind of storm is raging, food finds it's way in. Hopefully it's people food and not dog food, tho).

I hope it passes soon. Joey's nails are the only one's left I have to paint... and I'm pretty sure I know how that'll go over.... :-)