Sometimes lunch just stumps me.  A can of soup is great, but after a while I feel the need for something more adventurous and delicious.  I found a recipe sometime ago for Sloppy Joes and Oh, My!  They are everything a Sloppy Joe should be.  They’re plenty moist (making them sloppy!) and they have enough ingredients to make them really savory.  It doesn’t call for any strange things that I wouldn’t normally have on hand, either, which is a huge plus!

A simmering pot of Sloppy Joe goodness!

Pile this mixture high on a bun and you have just moved lunch into a whole new world!

Here’s the recipe:

Sloppy Joes

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 celery ribs, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I used a red one I had in the freezer)

1 2/3 cups canned crushed tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbl brown sugar

1 tbl vinegar

1 tbl Worcestershire sauce

1 tbl steak sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp paprika

8-10 buns, split

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, celery and green pepper until the meat is longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain.  Add the next nine ingredients; mix well.  Simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun.

This mixture can be frozen and kept on hand for those days when you say, “I’m tired of soup.  What can we have for lunch?”  Enjoy a yummy Sloppy Joe!

What meal is most difficult for you to pull together?

With love from my country kitchen,

For several years now I’ve gotten the adorable Susan Branch Calendars to hang in my house.  This one was in my laundry room.  They’re so pretty and inspiring!  She gives recipes, suggestions of things to do that month and even decorating ideas.  When the year ends I always HATE throwing those pretty pictures in the trash.  But aside from framing them (and I have nowhere to hang them) I didn’t know what to do with them.

I’m considering moving my blog to another site!   Perhaps you’re saying, “Is that all?!”  Big deal.  I know.  But…

With a little more than 1,600  posts on this current site, I’m fearful about losing all those entries! I put myself, my very heart and many hours into those posts, and now here I am considering moving to another site.

There are a couple of issues that are pushing me to make this decision, but I’m fearful.  I’m asking myself what would happen if I lost all the posts I’ve written here.  I’m wondering if it will be hard to learn the process of posting on another site.  I’m afraid I won’t be happy with it.  I’m fearful it will cost more than I’d anticipated.  Yet, a decision needs to be made.  What to do?

Wait!  Why do I vacillate? Why am I worrying?  God cares about this little ministry that I do.  So I will pray.  I will ask the Lord’s guidance.  Then I will take the plunge towards whichever direction He leads.

Are you as guilty as I am about worrying?  We waste much time in deliberation when all we need to do is ask the Lord to step in and reveal His will, provide our needs or answer and do what only He can do.

My issue may seem small to you, but to me it’s large because it’s important to me.  Guess what?  That makes it important to God, as well!  What are you worrying about today?  To the Lord, it is also small ~ oh not insignificant and unimportant, but to an infinite God, it is small.  It’s not too hard for Him, nor is it too trivial with which to be bothered.

A (n)…
fear
child
parent
unsaved friend
lost item
financial need
decision
illness
longing
sorrow

all these matter to God!

Stop mulling it over in your mind and just talk to God about it.

Then you can move on in your day with the load lifted and an assurance that He is at work on your behalf!

Are you worried today?  I’d be happy to pray for you.  Leave your name and I’ll call it out to the Lord today! Oh, and I’ll keep you posted about the new site for my blog!  Pray with me that I’ll find the perfect spot to land!

With love,

If you could have seen me at around 9:30 – 10:00 p.m. a couple nights ago you’d have seen a furniture moving frenzy!  All it took was a browse through my new Southern Living Magazine to put me in the mood to do a little redecorating!  You see, I saw a picture of a desk in a living room and it was facing a window…

“Brilliant!  Why don’t I do that with my desk? It would be great to have the view of the backyard instead of a wall!” I thought to myself.  It sounded like a quick little turn of one piece of furniture.  An hour and half later I was done!

My new view from my desk!

 Of course after moving the desk, nearly everything else in the room had to be moved as well!  As a matter of fact, only my bookcase stayed where it was.  But I love the new look!  I had originally used the couch as a divider between the kitchen space and the living room area.  I decided to open it up so that each seat could enjoy the fireplace.

Click on picture to enlarge

I tried to add layers in the living room.  Accessorizing with a throw on the couch or ottoman, a runner on the coffee table and rugs on the floor adds a dimension of warmth to the room. If I had a wool scarf that matched, I’d tuck it onto the mantle.

Speaking of the mantle, it has also been changed for the winter season (I’m hoping for some snow!).

My husband likes the change, but said he’s afraid he’s doing to forget about the rearranged furniture and replay the Dick Van Dyke trick and trip over the ottoman or couch. (Do you remember how the show began?)  Poor guy, he’s doomed.  Now that I know how much fun it was to move this stuff around, he’d better not walk into this room without a light on!

Anyone else love to move the furniture around?

With love from my country porch,