My God has done some incredible things in my life in answer to prayer.  He has:

Linking up to Organizing Junkie

Menu time…and also some new recipes that I tried this week – one being Hawaiian Rolls.  Do you LOVE those that you buy in the store?  I do, but wow, they’re expensive if they’re not on sale.  When I saw a recipe for these on Pinterest, I knew they would be on our menu very soon.  This was the week!  Recipe below!

I also made a muffin recipe using some of the fresh blackberries we’d received from a dear friend. What a great breakfast bread!  I shared most of them with others, but we did manage a couple for our morning coffee.

I also tried a new marinade for chicken that made the white meat more moist than any other marinade I’ve used!  Yum!!!

 We received an abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, green onions and blackberries from friends who have gardens!  What a treasure!  So, I did all I could to incorporate those items in our meals all day long!  Here’s what we ate last week:

Breakfasts:
Yogurt
Blueberries
Blackberries
Strawberries
Homemade Granola

Blackberry/Blueberry Whole Grain Muffins – Recipe below

Lunches
Salads
Black Bean Cakes on Tortilla
Leftovers
Vegetables in Tortilla

Dinners
Sunday – Dinner out with friends
Monday – Turkey Sausage Foil Dinner, Sliced Tomatoes
Tuesday – Grilled Marinated Chicken, Rice, Roasted Zucchini, Broccoli Slaw
Wednesday – Grilled Hamburgers on Homemade Hawaiian Rolls, Corn on cob, slaw
Thursday – Spaghetti, Tossed Salad, French Bread
Friday – Ham Steaks, Corn and Tomato Flan
Saturday – Leftovers

Blackberry/Blueberry Whole Grain Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon apple-pie spice – I used cinnamon
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries, coarsely chopped – I used one cup blackberries, 1 cup blueberries
Cooking spray
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through apple-pie spice) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Gently stir in blackberries.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each of 17 paper-lined muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes. Sprinkle muffins evenly with granulated sugar; bake 3 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks.

Hamburgers with homemade Hawaiian Rolls!

King’s Hawaiian Bread
makes 3 loaves or 24 large rolls
from food.com

6-7 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast
1/2 cup butter (one stick) melted

Directions:

Beat the eggs. Add the pineapple juice, sugar, salt, ginger, vanilla, and butter.

Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Stir in the egg mixture until well-combined. Sprinkle in the yeast, one packet at a time, and mix. Add the remaining 3 cups of flour and mix in. If dough is sticky and difficult to handle, add more flour. Dough should be slightly tacky, but not wet. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. Place dough in a greased bowl and set aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Punch dough down and either divide into three equal parts for bread loaves or 24 balls for dinner rolls. Place in greased loaf pans or shape into rolls.
Cover and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. The secret to light and airy rolls is making sure they’ve risen enough.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or golden brown.
Brush tops with melted butter. Serve warm.

Have you put any new recipes on your menu this week?  I hope you’ll try some I’ve listed for you here!  They’re all yummy!

With love from my country kitchen,

How about a little twist on Apple Pie to freshen Up your Friday?!  This is a pie that’s inside out because you put the ice cream in a baked tortilla, then pour the filling over the ice cream!  It’s easy, quick and has less calories.

Now, I have to be honest, the tortilla wasn’t easy to eat.  It was hard to cut or bite into, but once you got it into your mouth it was yummy!  Maybe I didn’t bake it long enough, but I was afraid of getting it too brown.  Next time I’ll crisp it a little more.

Inside Out Apple Pie

Ingredients

Pie Shells

6 Flour Tortillas (6-inch)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

Apple Pie Filling

3 small Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, diced

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla Ice Cream

Caramel Topping, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a 6-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

Brush each tortilla with butter and generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar; reserve butter and cinnamon-sugar

Carefully fit tortilla cut outs in prepared muffin tin.

Bake for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the apples.

Pour the remaining of the butter in a frying pan and place over medium-high heat.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the diced apples with the remaining cinnamon-sugar (use less if you don’t like too much spice), and mix in the nutmeg.

Add the apple mixture to the frying pan and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.

Remove tortilla shells from the oven and cool completely.

Assemble

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each tortilla shell.

Top with warm apple pie mixture.

Drizzle with caramel topping.  I used my homemade caramel from this Apple cake recipe.

Serve immediately.

This Sunday I hope you’ll be in a Bible preaching church so you can
Stay refreshed,

Seldom does my South Carolinian daughter come home to Tennessee for a visit that she doesn’t make a comment about how nice the people in Johnson City are!  Every time she says that I am reminded that it really is important to put our best mannered foot forward whenever we’re with others.

Included in “others” is our own family.  Children need to be taught manners while they’re young so it’s second nature.  Manners isn’t just southern culture – it should be a part of a Christian’s reputation.  We should be the most thoughtful people – putting others before ourselves.

That being said, what are some of the manners a child should be learning?

A Peek into my life this week

Last Saturday we decided to take a drive to an Amish store nearby (well, I asked my husband if we could go!).  It was a lovely afternoon for a little thirty minute drive in the country!  We headed out so I could pick up some bulk spices and baking ingredients I like to get there.  After making that stop, we headed to an old general store my husband had heard about.  It was so beautiful that I had to snap a bunch of pictures.  I can’t wait for you to see the beauty of our drive and the store itself!  Ready?

Breathtaking views on our way!

Old Pilot Hill General Store, Limestone, TN

Front Porch greeter =)

I love the looks of the counter and behind it. They serve lunch and dinner here; they also sell general merchandise.

Front porch of store

 I love taking drives in the country on a Saturday afternoon!  What do you enjoy doing if you have a little free time?

With love from my country porch,