Tuesday Tunes | Stay With Me

My brother and my husband have fallen in love with this man's vocals.
He has such a beautiful range and what seems like flawless vocals! This is such a popular song right now, so you've probably heard this before, but if you haven't, you are in for a treat!

Enjoy!

Monday Madness | Doctor Visits

Well, apparently we missed Hannah's check up today. Haha...what a day!

I recently came down with a rash. Gross, I know. It started behind my ears but this morning when I woke up, it was all over me! My eyes were so swollen that they were almost completely closed. My husband received permission to stay home from work, so he went with me to the doctor. My mom was awesome for taking care of Hannah for that hour and a half! I thought it was an allergic reaction to my new shampoo and body wash but the doctor said it was a fungus. Has anybody had this before? It's one of the most embarrassing things to say..."fungus"...but it really just means that my body's pH levels changed somehow. Who knows! So they've put me on antibiotics and hopefully within the week it will clear up.

My husband, Hannah and I stayed at my parents house since they were keeping Hannah's cousin for the day. I laid around like a sick woman while my mom and husband were being awesome caretakers. I watched the Croods while the little ones ran around causing trouble. It's such a cute movie by the way! We then played yahtzee and after playing two games, I took a nice nap on the couch. A few times I had kids run up to my face a scream hoping to get my attention. My nephew wanted me to hold him and my daughter hit me in the head a few times trying to get me to look at her. All in all they actually left me alone longer than usual!

It was a long day, simply because I wasn't feeling my best. I still don't, but thank the Lord, my Provider and my Rest, for family that loves and cares so much!

Now if only I can remember to take Hannah to her check-up in the morning!

God bless!

Foodie Friday | Ooey Gooey, Super Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have searched long and hard for the perfect cookie recipe.
Okay, that might be an exaggeration. :)

Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction experimented and worked her butt off to find the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie recipe! ...and she DID! Oh my goodness, these are so good!

Here's her post right here -----> Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

They are the softest, thickest, chewiest (yes, chewiest) cookies you will ever eat and they are so so easy to make!

Today I made a double batch. The last few times I made them, there just weren't enough to go around! However, I will be sharing the single batch recipe! :)

What You Need:

2 1/4 Cups of Flour

 1/2 Cup of White Sugar
3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 Tsp of Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp of Baking Soda
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1 1/2 Tsp of Cornstarch
3/4 Cup of Melted Butter
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1 Cup of Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Keep in mind, I doubled my recipe today! This image is of double!

Toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 2 hours, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Roll the dough into balls, about 3 Tablespoons of dough each. The dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will allow the balls to stay intact. Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will bake up to be thick. See this post for more clarity and a photo. Put 8 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chips/chunks on top of the dough balls for looks, if desired. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and under-baked. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies stay soft and fresh for 7 whole days at room temperature. Cookies may be frozen up to 3 months. Rolled cookie dough may be frozen up to three months and baked in their frozen state for 12 minutes.

*Room temperature egg + egg yolk are preferred for even disbursement.  Typically, if a recipe calls for room temperature or melted butter, it's a good idea to use room temperature eggs as well.  To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, simply place the whole eggs into a glass of warm water for 5 minutes. 

"In short, here are my secrets to thick, soft, & chewy Cookies: 

Under-baked cookies are the secret to softness.  Using cornstarch in the dough is another secret to softness, as well as the secret to thickness.  Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie.  Adding an extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be taller than wider increases thickness.  Using melted butter (and slightly more flour) increases chewiness. Chilling the dough results in a thicker cookie." - Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction

Now I think it's your turn to make these delicious cookies!

For more of Sally's recipes, visit her (recipe page)!
She's got tons!!!

God bless!

Secret Project | Invitation to Participate

Hi everyone!

I cannot tell you all the details just yet but I have a surprise coming your way in which I would LOVE for you to be a part of!
My hope is to have as many volunteers as possible!

If you are interested in participating or simply finding out more information, please e-mail me at sStrasburger@hotmail.com

Thoughtful Thursday | Am I Really This Selfish?

I woke up to find that my newest dress, and my favorite, was tossed in the dryer and now it's shrunk and I don't fit it anymore.

Let me remind you that it's been a rough few weeks with my little mini me! She's wearing on me!

When I was looking at my dress, a thousand thoughts when through my head! Hannah is only one and in her time here on earth she has destroyed all of my favorite things. She's broken all of my new necklaces, all of my favorite necklaces, stretched out my favorite shirts beyond repair or recognition, put stains on outfits I hadn't even had a chance to wear out of the house yet, broken my childhood dog figurines and broken my favorite book ends. She drags around our family pictures, rips all of her books to pieces, (as an infant) peed and pooped on my bed, thrown up on brand new outfits, ripped out my hair, and rubs her snotty nose on every fresh outfit I put on. The thought kept going through my head "she has destroyed all of my favorite things!" and I started to get mad. Granted, she didn't shrink my dress, but my forgetfulness was the cause (I have gotten so much more forgetful and scatter-brained since getting pregnant with Hannah). Destroyed? Could I be any more dramatic?

They are just things after all.

Am I really this selfish?

Do I really cherish my materials this much?

I think that one of the many things God teaches us through our children is that stuff is just stuff. It doesn't define us or even make us better at anything! One dress doesn't make me a more beautiful person. One necklace may draw attention to me, but not to God.

This was such a wake up call.
Have I really been so selfish to value material goods this much? I mean, I almost cried over this dress. Cried. 

I hardly even cry when my child is not feeling well!

I have so much to learn about myself. I never realized how impatient, bitter or selfish I was until Hannah came along. It's terrifying actually. How good is our God that He takes the time to discipline His children! Praise Jesus for this opportunity to grow!
 

Photo taken via iPhone.

I pray that you are blessed and overcome with a resounding peace, hope and satisfaction in Christ!

Work it Wednesday | Meal Planning - Our 6 Steps

I have struggled with this for so long and I still struggle every day. It's easy to stay on track the first week, 

or even the second week, but usually after the second week I just seem to lose track of it all. Does this ever happen to you?

I have recently been inspired by a multitude of blogs and friends that have spoken about budgeting and meal planning. There is hope! I thought that I always had to stick with pasta, rice and beans in order to stay within our monthly budget. Not so! Granted, rice, beans and pasta are still very common in cheaper recipes, but thankfully, with different spices, veggies, meats, and sauces, these dishes can give a very different experience at the table!

We used to just pick out meals that we usually like to eat (not necessarily affordable) and just throw them onto a calendar. 

That works for some people. It hasn't seemed to work for us, so this is what we did THIS round...

1.  Set a time frame for discussing meal planning

Chris and I are learning (or at least I am) that we do best when we set aside a specific amount of time to discuss things, 

like budgets and meal planning. (I keep bringing up budgeting because this is our entire reason for meal planning, to SAVE MONEY!) We are both very "black and white" in personality and sometimes we overdo things. So when we set a time frame, it helps us limit what we can do (and stay focused) instead of going all out and forgetting our original purpose. 

Does that make sense? I hope so.

Anyways!

2. Researched cheap recipes and recipes that use only what I already have

Let me introduce you to MyFridgeFood.com! This website is AMAZING!

You just check off what you have in your pantry, fridge and freezer and it will give you a HUGE list of recipes! 

How awesome is that???

Lauren of iamthatlady.com has shared with us how to make 25 (3-course) meals for less than $150.00 when shopping at Aldis!

 

3. Wrote all the names of these recipes down (recipes on a separate sheet) 

Here's my recipe list from earlier this week:

Fried Rice with Ham & Asparagus
Sausages with Warm Potato Salad
Sweet & Sour Brisket
Orange Beef & Broccoli/Asparagus Stir-fry
Cheddar Ham & Spinach Strata
Parmesan Pork Cutlets
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Apricot Chicken

BBQ Chicken
Cheesy Chicken
Simple Pot Roast

Asian Beef
Lasagna
Ham & Potato Casserole
Chili
Potato & Corn Chowder

Salsa Chicken & Black Bean Soup

Spaghetti

Shrimp Alfredo

Tacos

Hot Dogs
Mac & Meat
Chicken Noodle Soup

Black Beans & Rice
Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

Spinach Fritatta

Red Pepper & Kielbasa Pasta

Souvlaki

Marinated Grilled Chicken

Chicken Fajitas

Turkey Meatballs

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken & Rice

Chicken & Dumplings

Pancakes with Fruit

Burritos

Quesadillas

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

Homemade Pizza

Veggie Pasta

Tangy Grilled Chicken

Chicken & Rice Casserole

4. Had my husband pick out (at least) ten to twelve meals off my list!

5. My turn to pick out the ten to twelve meals that sound tasty to me!

6. Decide what meals to have each day of the week and write it down on my calendar! 

If you want to make a meal together, plan accordingly. My husband won't have a lot of time to help me cook during the week, so Fridays and Saturdays are good days for us to cook together!

Here's what our schedule looks like:

Thursday: Black Beans and Rice --- freeze half

Friday: Mac & Meat --- freeze half
Saturday: Homemade Pizza (Dough from scratch)
Sunday: Raven's Meal (basically whatever you find to eat)
Monday: Red Pepper & Kielbasa Pasta --- freeze half
Tuesday: Lasagna --- freeze half
Wednesday: Pancakes (from scratch) & Fruit ---freeze half
Thursday: Marinated Grilled Chicken --- freeze half
Friday: Chili --- freeze half
Saturday: Fried Rice with Ham & Asparagus ---freeze half
Sunday: Raven's Meal

Monday: Chicken & Dumplings (dumplings from scratch) --- freeze half
Tuesday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Wednesday: Spaghetti and Veggies --- freeze half

Tip: When making your meal, freeze half for a later date!

Chris and I only picked out enough meals to cover two weeks. Like I said before, we're deciding to set a time limit for these types of things. We picked out our meals in between turns while playing Yahtzee! Haha! That's the best way to make decisions! ;)

You probably have a lot of these ingredients already! 

Noodles? Check! Veggies? Check! Flour? Check! Rice? Check! Cheese? Check!

I could give you my entire grocery list, but that would be even more boring than my meal plan for the next two weeks! I spent a total of $105.05 on my grocery shopping trip. $68.05 at Aldis and $37.00 at Kroger. This includes some other necessities.

Every one of these meals can easily be eaten a second time during the month, if that's something both parties agree to! These are not one-time meals!


Your $100.00 can go farther than you think!

Tuesday Tunes | Dance it Off!

This might be one of my favorite (secular) songs as of lately.
It's just so sweet and fun and very catchy if I might add! It's a song I turn on when I just need to dance!
It might be just me dancing in my kitchen while cooking or cleaning, but hey!
 

May your day be splendid, full of laughter and tons of giggles!
Hug someone today! ...and if that scares you, at least give them a high five and a smile! ;)