Over the weekend I made a heartier breakfast. I whipped up these Bacon & Egg Toast Cups that I posted about here. I had failed to add it to my recipe index, but that has been corrected! These are so quick and so good. If you haven’t tried them, you must. The protein in those little guys kept me going until beyond 1:00! That’s really unusual for me!

I love it when I find a recipe I want to make that week and realize I already have all the ingredients for it in my kitchen! Such was the case when I saw Pioneer Woman make a shrimp and pasta dish on her show. I had purchased a large bag of shrimp at Sam’s and had one serving left of it in the freezer. All the other ingredients are pretty much staples (except heavy whipping cream, but I had used part of it for another recipe). This is one of those OUTSTANDING company’s coming kind of recipes! Here it is. My name for it is different than hers; I call it Shrimp and Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce.

Shrimp and Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
3/4 pounds Penne Pasta – I used the pasta I had on hand.
1 pound Shrimp
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste ( I used chicken broth)
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
1 cup Heavy Cream
 Fresh Parsley, to taste
 Fresh Basil – To Taste
 Salt To Taste
 Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions:
Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite–sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

Serve this with some nice bread and you will be all set! This is a 5 Star recipe, I promise!

What was cooking in your kitchen this last week?

From my parsonage kitchen,

How about taking a walk through your house sometime today and taking a look. Freshen up the door by giving it a cleaning them with a Clorox rag or just good ol’ soap and water. 

This yummy blueberry coffee cake was made by a great cook in our church, Jane. She brought it to our Sunday morning fellowship last week and I was fortunate enough to get the last crumbs on the plate! It’s really moist and has a nice crunchy sugar topping. This would be a great Saturday/Sunday breakfast! Jane was sweet enough to share her recipe with me:

Best Blueberry Coffee Cake – It lives up to its name!

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Coffee Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I usually use ones straight from my freezer, without thawing them)

Heat oven to 375°F. Grease bottom and side of 9×3-inch springform pan or 9-inch square pan. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and the cinnamon. Cut in butter with fork until crumbly. Set aside.

In large bowl, stir together all coffee cake ingredients except blueberries; beat with spoon 30 seconds. Fold in blueberries. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Cut and enjoy!
(Adapted from a Betty Crocker Recipe)

Join us at Boones Creek Bible Church for our upcoming revival July 28 – August 2 for powerful messages from guest speaker Jerry Sivnksty. 

Sunday @ 9:00, 10:45 & 11:45
Monday – Friday @ 7:00 p.m.

Be refreshed,

How about a few ideas for freshening up your spending?

July is a great month for Clearance sales. Why not take advantage of the extra savings and start doing a little Christmas or birthday shopping? Get a storage container that you can use to stash your gifts in and go out with an eye for the people on your list. TJ Maxx and Marshall’s are great places for low prices, but then add a clearance sale to it, and you can get a great deal! I love those yellow stickers!

Buy produce like berries that are on sale right now and freeze them for the cooler months when the fresh fruit is so expensive. I’ve been buying blueberries for $2 a pint in recent weeks. I buy one or two extra and put them in freezer bags. To use for muffins, you can just pop them in the batter in their frozen state. If I want to add them to yogurt, just run them under tepid water a couple of minutes.

Do you have a Kroger near you? If you do, and you also sign up for the Kroger card, you can load a coupon on your card every Friday for a free product. I thought there must be a gimmick, and was a bit leery, but I tried it out and it’s an absolutely free product! I got a jar of salsa and a bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn snack free last week. This week the coupon is for Quaker Chewy Bars. The nice thing is that thought there is only one day to load the coupon on your card, they give you a couple of weeks to redeem the coupon!

So there you go! Save yourself a few bucks by taking advantage of some great deals and refresh your budget and your wallet!

It doesn’t cost anything to be in church, except some discipline. Hope you’re planning to faithfully attend and participate this Sunday! We don’t go out of obligation, or to stay saved, we should go because we love God’s house and we ARE saved! Hope to see you there!

Be refreshed,

All these pictures were from this past Christmas. As I look at our photos through the years, there is one thing that stands out – we’re a very touchy, huggy kind of family! I love that about us!

I grew up in a very affectionate home, so it was only natural that I’d sit in my husband’s lap, throw my arms around my girls, kiss their noggins (as we called it), and in general, just be free with affection; that’s what I was used to! I think affection provides a child with security. When you grow up with that taking place every day, it’s not embarrassing, it’s natural.

Recently I was in a place and position where it was appropriate to give a woman a compassionate kind of a hug. She was stiff, unbending, and didn’t quite know how to deal with this display of empathy. I learned that she grew up in a home where relationships were strained. I nodded in my memory of what had taken place earlier when I reached out to encourage her, and I understood her response. I’m truly sorry for her.

I have a message for you with children at home – LOVE ON THOSE LITTLE ONES! Give hugs. Squeeze their hand in affirmation. Let them see you loving on your husband with a kiss, a hug, holding his hand, taking his arm. Provide the security that family affection brings! If they don’t get it from you, chances are they won’t know how to share it when it comes time for them to marry or parent. Then, also, they’ll be uncomfortable giving (and receiving) Christian empathy to others and showing the love of Christ. Oh, the love and power of a loving family! Be sure you’re displaying it!

Hugs to you!

From the parsonage windows,

I’m thankful to live in an area of the country that sees all four seasons. I enjoy each one for their particular uniqueness. However, even though I love each season, there are things about each one that I have to choose not to focus on. For instance, I love winter because of the holidays it brings, but I’m not crazy about the cold and the barren trees. Spring is a welcomed change with its flowers and green grass, but the rains can ruin a whole week. I love summer for the warm sunshine and the long days, but not the extreme heat. Autumn is beautiful with all the color and cool temps, but it can be a little depressing with dark days and the trees losing their leaves. See what I mean? There’s always a little negative about each season, that could ruin the blessings if I focus on them too much.