This week I tried to make meals using only what I already had in my freezer and pantry. Realizing that I have meats I’d purchased on sale, frozen vegetables, canned fresh veggies, baked goods I’d made made and put in the freezer, potatoes in the pantry, flour to make breads, pancakes and waffles, I was certain we wouldn’t starve! I did buy $18 worth of things like eggs, fresh produce, milk and coffee cream, but no other grocery items. The result was that I made four new recipes! I went through a Taste of Home cookbook and looked through the recipes to find ones that called for items I had on hand. What did we eat?

• Apple cherry pork chops, pasta with peas and Parmesan cheese – Delicious!
• Chili Chicken Enchiladas, served with shredded lettuce, Mexican corn, and tortilla chips – Very good!
• Ham and Potato Phyllo Bake, broccoli with lemon – So-so
• Hungarian Paprikish Chicken – A keeper!

The chicken dish is what we had yesterday after church. I served it with rice, with some of the sauce spooned on top of it, fresh green beans, crescent rolls, and strawberry jello with strawberries.

Don’t let the recipe name scare you – there’s nothing odd in the chicken. It’s a good Sunday dish because it’s easy to get ready to put into the oven. Instead of following the standard baking time, I lowered the temperature to 280 degrees to bake while at Sunday school and church. You could go even lower than that – maybe 250 – 270 degrees. The sauce needs some seasoning added to it – perhaps 1/2 tsp. salt and some pepper. I garnished the chicken with more paprika for color once I put it on the platter.

It’s fun to challenge myself to come up with meals using what I already have! I’m going to do the same thing this week and will let you know what I come up with! What’s been cookin’ in your kitchen?

With love,

There is a wonderful bed and breakfast in North Carolina that I’ve had the privilege of staying in on several occasions. The house is gorgeous. It is a three-story home with a wide front porch to welcome you and an inviting living room with game table and fresh cookies just inside the front door. The winding staircase leads to the luxurious guestrooms with private baths. The mattresses are pillow tops that range from queen to king-size and they beckon their guests to come and rest beneath the soft, plush linens.

The owners, Glen and Jen are tops! They studied long and hard before buying this business so they would do it right, and trust me, they learned their lessons well! They know how to make their guests feel welcome and at home without intruding on your need for privacy and time alone. If you leave your room in the early evening you will come back to your room to find the covers turned town, and the soft lamps lit for your return. If you’re celebrating a special occasion like an anniversary or birthday, there will be a banner across the doorway to announce the celebration. Upon entering your room, you’ll find a freshly baked gingerbread man and lady to welcome you! Glen and Jen are gracious hosts!

After a wonderful night’s rest, guests awaken to the smell of freshly ground coffee perking in the hallway just outside their door. Should they choose to enjoy a cup before breakfast they will be sipping out of beautiful pottery mugs that were locally hand-crafted. Guests can choose to have breakfast in the lovely dining room downstairs, served in their room, or on warm days, served out on the front porch. It really doesn’t matter where you choose to eat – the food is out of this world! At our last stay we were served, yogurt raspberry parfaits, chocolate chip scones, egg strata, cheese grits, juice and coffee. Lunch is not needed after a breakfast like that!

I can’t say enough about this lovely getaway! It’s clean, it’s beautiful, it’s more than you’d expect from a B&B. Oh, but wait, I haven’t told you where it is or how to contact Glen and Jen! Let me send you there with this link to The Windover Inn in Waynesville, NC. On their site you can get directions, see the house and each room. Why, you can almost smell the breakfast when you see the pictures! As good as those pictures are, I can attest to the fact that the best thing for you to do is go there!

Now, why did I go into all that detail about this special place? One reason is because I really do love it there, but I also wanted to make a correlation between going here and going to heaven. It’s not enough to know about Windover. Knowing about this B&B will not get you there. You must make a reservation. There are many people who know about heaven and desire to go there. They may even know some facts about heaven – what it looks like, the fact that God and Jesus are there, and that it’s a wonderful place, but that is not enough to get them there.

When my husband and I desire to stay at the Windover Inn, we call the owners and make a reservation. Unless we have our names in that book, we will not have a place to stay. In heaven there is a book – The Lamb’s Book of Life . All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior have their names written in this book. This means that they acknowledge that they are a sinner, accept what Christ did on the cross for the payment of their sins, and receive Him. This is the “reservation” that is necessary. Being a good person, giving to the church, or being baptized will not get us there – only receiving Christ as our Savior will do. The Bible says, Whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If you call on Christ, He will save you and prepare a place for you in heaven with Him. After a person does that, He has Christ as his Friend. He is never alone. Trials still come after salvation, but they can be met with courage and God’s grace when you’re a part of His family! It’s a wonderful blessing to be the child of God.

There are many places you could stay on vacation – The Windover Inn being one of them. But at death there are only one of two places a person will go – heaven or hell. Do you know you’re headed to heaven? God wants you to know – I John 5:13a These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. God loves you and has done everything necessary for you to go to heaven. Have you made your reservation?

Because I care,

This is what it looked like out my kitchen window this weekend. Beautiful, isn’t it? Okay, I’m ready for spring, but if it has to be winter I say the snow makes winter gorgeous! I’d much rather see trees with snowy covered branches than everything being barren and gray .

However, with the cold comes dry skin. My feet seem to take a worse beating than any other part of my body. It’s pretty bad when you can hear the sheets rubbing against your feet at night! All the scrubbing of a stone does little good for my rough skin. The only thing that really works is an inexpensive drug store find that my mom has used for years – it’s Vaseline! I got the baby scented kind and it smells so good! After I shower, I apply a little bit to my heels, then put on soft socks. You can’t imagine how soft it makes your skin! It’s quite a cheap remedy too! I got a huge container at Walmart for less than $4. That’s pretty good, I’d say!

Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Put warm water in your vase along with the plant food that comes with the flowers. Before you put your roses into a vase, run warm water in the kitchen sink. Cut the stems of the flowers under water at an angle and get them right into the vase of water. Every couple of days, refresh the water and cut the stems again (just a little is all that’s necessary). When you refresh the water add about a teaspoon of sugar to your water. Keeping the flowers out of direct sunlight helps too.

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

Use for flimsy paper plates

These are the plates that won’t hold up to your homemade lasagna! Use them instead to stack between your good dishes. It will keep the from getting chipped while being stored.

They will also keep your non-stick cookware from getting scratched.

Have you come across any ideas, books or products that would make us wiser? Tell me about them!

With love,

P.S. In case you’re wondering…yesterday I put three freshly ironed handkerchiefs in the Valentine pillow for my husband with a note saying how thankful I am that he has a tender heart. Are you planning a way to tell your Valentine how thankful you are for him?

I love crafting and I love being resourceful. I had a cute little fingertip towel that I’d gotten after Valentine’s Day on sale one year. I had sitting it out on the bathroom counter and that’s exactly what it did – it sat there. So I thought, “This towel is useless like this. What can I do with it?” Then I saw where someone had taken two kitchen towels and used one to make a pillow and another one to make a pocket. How clever to use that beautiful stitching on the towel to embellish a pillow!

I had leftover fabric from the curtains I made for our guest room, and I had a faded throw pillow that needed new life. I made a simple little pillow case for the pillow by cutting out two rectangles of fabric and sewing the three sides together. I then put the pillow inside, then stitched across the opening.

To make the pocket I cut a 4×6 inch piece of my fingertip towel, turned the edges under and stitched them on the machine. I then placed the pocket on the pillow and hand sewed three sides to the fabric. Ta da! A Valentine pillow that serves a purpose!

Since yesterday was February the first I put a note and a treat in the pocket for my husband to find. I think two weeks’ worth of notes ought to let him know he’s #1 in my heart!

Take a look around and see what you can re purpose then tell me about it!

Thanks for stopping by,

East Tennessee was covered with a beautiful mantle of snow on Friday evening that hindered normal activity all weekend. If you live in the north you’ll laugh when I tell you we got 4-5 inches. But you have to understand that we aren’t prepared for the slick weather like the north is, and because there are steep, curvy roads, travelling can be quite hazardous. Hence, we just stay put!

Our church had a 2:00 service yesterday, giving the sun time to melt some of the icy roads and make driving doable. We had a long morning to rest, spend time with the Lord, and have dinner before church rather than afterwards, as we normally do. I invited my mother-in-law to join us. We had a nice leisure meal before heading over to a wonderful service with God’s people.

My muffin recipe is one I got from a Bed and Breakfast cookbook years ago. To simplify things I will often mix the dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag, mark it and tuck it away for a day when I need a quick bread.

Pumpkin Muffins

I like to use the coarse sugar on top of the muffins – it makes them pretty and the sugar gives a little crunch.
One other little tip about the muffins – I buy a can of pumpkin, spoon out 1/2 cups full and place in small freezer bags. (One small can of pumpkin will give me four or five bags) Then I pop them into the freezer. To make the muffins I simply thaw the bag of pumpkin in the microwave.

I love to do twice baked potatoes for Sunday because you can make them up the day before and then just reheat them on Sunday. I bake the potatoes, scoop out the shells then add equal amounts of butter and light sour cream. I vary the other ingredients, but yesterday I added green onions too,then sprinkled the tops with cooked bacon, cheddar cheese and paprika. After they come out of the oven I added fresh parsley for color.

Corn Pudding

2 eggs

2 tbl flour

2 tbl sugar

2 tbl butter, melted

2 cups corn

dash of salt and pepper

1 cup milk

Beat eggs thoroughly. Add flour and sugar together. Add milk and beat, add corn and melted butter. Cook in 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Do not stir.

It seems like winter weather makes everyone want to eat comfort foods. What do you cook when it’s snowy at your house?

Happy February,