Crock Pot Dressing

Today, with the thoughts of Thanksgiving in the air, I am going to share a recipe with you that my family loves. It is my aunt's recipe for "Crock Pot Dressing."

I know; I know. You are probably saying, "Crock Pot Dressing? No one cooks dressing in a crock pot!" But I promise you, once you taste this delicious dressing, you will be saying, "I always cook my dressing in the crock pot! Don't you?" ;)

I'm just saying is all.

It's really, really, really delicious! It's also very, very, very simple, and it frees your oven up on Thanksgiving to cook other dishes.

So, if you would like, come join me in my kitchen as I show you how to make my aunt's famous "Crock Pot Dressing."

Here is a picture of everything I used to make this recipe. (With the exception of the onion. I forgot to take a picture of the onion, so you will just have to trust me on this one.)



The first thing that I did to get this recipe started was to make a skillet of cornbread using the two packages of sweet cornbread mix that you saw in the first picture. You, of course, can make any kind of cornbread you like, these mixes just work well for me. You just need to make sure you have a skillet full.



Then I put the cornbread into this large mixing bowl and crumbled it all up using this metal spatula. You can just use your hands if you like, but my cornbread was still kind of hot, so I didn't want to touch it.



Next I added four (well beaten) eggs. (Please just ignore my Barney measuring bowls in this post. Thanks.)



Then I added one stick of melted margarine. (Again, please just ignore the Barney bowl.)



Now it was time for me to add one medium sized onion that I had chopped.

*sniff*sniff*

(If you do not have one medium sized onion, you could use two small onions instead.)



The next ingredients that I poured into the mixture were two cans of Cream of Chicken soup.



Followed by two cans of Chicken Broth.



Now it was time for me to add all of the spices. My aunt says to use exact measurements on the spices to get the perfect flavor. And since I am rule follower, I always use the exact measurements when I make this recipe.

The first spice that I added was 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.



Then I added 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.



The third spice that I added was 1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning.



And last, but certainly not the least of the spices, I added 2 teaspoons of sage.



Now it was time to mix all of the ingredients together. Like so.



Once everything was well mixed, I added 3 cups of shredded chicken breast. I had cooked several chicken breasts a few days before and froze them in separate baggies. (Just a little note, one time I made this recipe using two cans of chicken, and that worked well too.)



Now it was time to mix all of that chicken in with the rest of the ingredients.



Stir it until it looks like this.



Now it is time to pour it into the crock pot. (I lightly sprayed the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray, just to keep any of the dressing from sticking to the sides of the dish.)



Once you get it all in the crock pot, just put the lid on and turn the crock pot on "High" for 45 minutes.



After 45 minutes you take the lid off of the crock pot and stir it all around.



Then place the lid back on the crock pot and continue cooking on "Low" for 4 hours. It should look something like this.



After it is finished cooking, all you have left to do is spoon some of that deliciousness up on a beautiful dish. (Preferably a beautiful dish that was handmade in Positano, Italy.) Like so.



Then take a bite.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Close your eyes.

Chew very slowly.

Swallow.

Sigh.

Open your eyes.

Repeat.

Here is the recipe in my messy handwriting if you would like to print it. (Sorry about my penmanship, Mom!)



Please feel free to just ignore the part of the recipe that says "Do this for blog!" That was just a reminder for me to share this recipe with the tens of you that read this blog. ;)

And just like chicken and dressing made the "regular" way, this crock pot dressing is even better the next day.

Anyway, I hope that you will give this a try. I promise, it is delicious!

Happy Holiday Cooking!
God Bless,
Amy:)

Grilling Goodness With Tina And Friends~ 7

It's that time again...Time for some more "Grilling Goodness." If you would like to join in all of the fun, just click here. Tina would love to have you all participate!

Now, on with the grilling.....

1. What's the worst thing you've ever sent through the washing machine/dryer?

My cat once went for a tumble or five in the dryer.

Don't judge.

It wasn't my fault.

Really.

It wasn't.

One day as I was transferring the clothes from the washer to the dryer, the cat jumped in the dryer while I was bent over getting clothes out of the washing machine.

I never even saw or heard the cat jump in the dryer.

But once I turned the dryer on, I heard this awful noise: THUMP, thud, THUMP, thud, THUMP, thud!

After the third or fourth THUMP, thud, I realized what was happening.

I panicked slightly, but I finally remembered that I could just open the dryer door to make it stop spinning. I have never seen a cat jump out of something so fast in my life.

And needless to say, the cat NEVER went near the dryer again. And I NEVER started the dryer again without doing a thorough inspection for cats.;)

2. Do you do any of your Christmas shopping online?

I have done some Christmas shopping online in the past, but this year, with all of my back pain nonsense, I may be doing a lot more of my shopping online.



3. What are you looking forward to this Thanksgiving?

My family and I have had quite the difficult year, so we are all looking forward to just being together. Period. We are all thankful that we have made it through this year, so whatever we are able to do together this Thanksgiving, we will be thankful just being able to do it.



"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

4. What did you do before you had children that you miss doing now that you have children?

Being able to complete a sentence.

Sigh.....

5. Do you have a fireplace? (Do you use it?)

Yes. And yes. We have a gas fireplace, and once the temperatures start turning colder, we use it every single day. We love it!



6. Do medical shows showing surgeries and blood freak you out?

I used to be a phlebotomist back when Moses was a boy, so blood does not bother me much.



And one of my favorite television shows is ER.



But with that being said, some surgery shows really freak me out. Especially plastic surgery shows.

I cannot watch them.

At all.

Shiver.

7. How long have you lived where you live?

Shannon and I have lived in our house here in Crazyville for over 17 years.



"Home Sweet Home."

8. What is one of your favorite seasonal items?

I would have to say I love scented candles this time of year. My favorite is Pomegranate Cider by Yankee Candle.



It smells perfectly delish!

Be Still....And Wait

Wednesday was a good day. I got a lot accomplished around the house. The boys both got their school work accomplished without any trouble. It was raining outside, which always makes me feel so thankful for my warm, cozy home.

So, when the boys and I piled up in the car that same evening headed to their Wednesday night activities at church, and the car wouldn't start, I was very surprised (and disappointed) by my reaction.

I immediately felt so frustrated! We have had a really difficult year, both financially and physically, and for the most part, I have had a great attitude. But when my car would not start Wednesday, I just lost it.

Go figure.

I called Shannon (who was on his way home from work) to tell him about the car, and bless his heart, he said he would take the boys to church when he got home. He even called back and said, "Why don't you go with me. Just put our dinner on some plates, and we can have a 'picnic' while the boys are in church. I'll even treat you to a Starbucks."

Sigh.

While we waited for Shannon to get home, I had Daniel go get the mail, and I called my mom. I started just crying as I talked to her. I just felt so overwhelmed with all of the events from this past year, not to mention the bills from my surgery, Allie being sick, inflation, etc., so my car not starting was just the straw that broke the camel's back. As I was talking to my mom though....I saw that I had received a letter from my sweet bloggy friend, Paula.

When I opened it, I just started bawling. (Sorry, Mom!)

I was so blown away by Paula's thoughtfulness to me and God's constant goodness. He continues to comfort and bless me even when I am so frustrated with Him.

I had read Paula's post on November 8th titled "Hope Restored." Click here to read Paula's encouraging words. I left her a comment on that post and told her that I was going to write down all of the Scriptures that she had shared in her post. And I did; I wrote each of them down on a piece of paper to keep in my daily calendar.

Anyway, as I was reading her card to me, tears were pouring down my face. She had made me a magnet that had each of those verses on it. She even used some fall leaves from her own yard to decorate the magnet. Take a look.



Isn't it beautiful? Isn't Paula beautiful?

I cannot begin to tell you how Paula's thoughtfulness touched me. There I was feeling so overwhelmed about something as silly as my car not starting, while at the same time the Lord of all Creation was still trying to speak to me and comfort me through the thoughtfulness of this precious woman.

Well, I don't have to tell you, my perspective was immediately changed.

Shannon got home, and we took the boys to church. They even arrived on time. We had our romantic picnic in the car (because the rain was still pouring down outside).

And just like he promised, after our picnic, my sweet husband took me to Starbucks, so we could each get a coffee and read our books while we waited.

Here we are at Starbucks....

My sweet hubby.....



Me.....



And Scarlet......;)



We all three had such a lovely evening.

Paula, if you are reading this, thank you, my sweet friend. Your magnet is now on my refrigerator as a constant reminder for me to be still and wait on our Lord, and it is also a reminder of your thoughtfulness to me. You are a special lady, Paula, and I am blessed to call you friend.

My cup runneth over with thankfulness.

And for those of you reading this post today, here are the verses that God led Paula to share with me. I pray that they will bless you like they have blessed me.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14a

Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. Psalm 28:7a

You will seek Me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

The Lord is good to those who wait on Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25


Dear Lord,
Thank you for your constant love and goodness to me. I am not deserving of either, but you lavish me with Your love and goodness anyway. And for that, Lord, I am truly thankful.
With a humble heart I say these words in Christ's sweet name.
Amen.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas......

"The manner of giving is worth more than the gift." ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

Okay, well maybe it's not exactly looking a lot like Christmas yet, but it is definitely right around the corner. And in these hard economic times, I don't have to tell you, that buying Christmas gifts for every one on our lists can be somewhat overwhelming, if not, down right impossible.

So, today, I am going to share with you an idea that is not only personal, handmade, easy, and cute, but it is also cheap inexpensive.

It is a scrapbook made out of brown paper lunch sacks.

I made this scrapbook of our family (and friend's) vacation to the beach.

This scrapbook took about six paper lunch sacks (folded in the middle and stacked by alternating ends of the sacks), and I used a hole puncher to punch holes in the "binding area." Then I used white yarn to tie it all together. You could also use decorative ribbon, or really anything that would compliment the pictures or occasion that you are placing in the scrapbook.

Here is a picture of the front of my scrapbook. (If you don't mind, just pretend that you don't notice the torn "e" in Mahoney. Thanks!)



Followed, of course, by the back.



Please feel completely free to ignore us in this picture.



Sigh.



We had such a great time with our boys on this trip.



Pay no attention to the hat that I am wearing in this picture; I had to wear it to help cover up some hair related issues that I was dealing with. *sniff*sniff*



Is it just me, or do the boys look like they are tired of posing for my pictures?;)



I had been saving these night time stickers for the perfect occasion, and I think hermit crab hunting worked well with them.



I do love me some Shannon at the beach.



Sigh.

The room we reserved said it had an "ocean view." It did indeed have an ocean view; the brochure just forgot to mention that you had to peek between two buildings to see it.



The boys really loved playing in the pool. Mainly because of the lack of jellyfish and sharks swimming in it. (A child was attacked by a shark just a little ways down the beach from where we were staying; we unfortunately heard that on the local news while we were in the condo. I am a HUGE "Jaws" fan....on television though, not so much in person.)



The picture of the boys playing in the sand and our friend playing in the ocean was a little too big to fit in the area that I had to work with, so I cropped the picture to fit, but that cut our friend out of the ocean. So, if you look closely, you will notice that I cut her out and placed her in the water closer to the boys. Problem solved.



Aren't I clever? ;)

This last picture is one of Shannon's and my favorite memories; the boys look perfectly miserable at the beach. LOL!:)



We keep teasing the boys each year that we are going to use that picture for our annual Christmas card. LOL! They don't seem to think that joke is as funny as Shannon and I do though.;)

Of course, the possibilities are endless with this idea. For example, if someone you know has a new baby, you could use white paper lunch sacks, and use blue and pink stickers and paper embellishments, and fill the book with that year's milestones for the baby, such as a new tooth, first time to crawl, first steps, etc.
This would also be a great gift for grandparents, newlyweds, high school students, teachers, etc.

And you can see that even though the scrapbook is "small," you can still fit stickers and words on the pages to personalize it, and really make it cute. Not only that, if you would need to send the gift via the postal service, it would not cost a lot of money, because it is not big and doesn't weigh very much at all.

So, now it's your turn, do you have any handmade, cheap inexpensive gift-giving ideas? If so, please share.

"It isn't the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it." ~Eileen Elias Freeman