Saturday Recipe Swap: Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday, I mentioned that Dad came over for dinner on Wednesday.  That is one of the ways our week flows around here.  Every Wednesday evening, we can look forward to a visit from "Papa".  Addie loves to help him undo the straps to his Velcro tennis shoes.  Sometimes she pulls him into her room and says "Down" so he can play with her.  Sometimes if her "moo-die" is on so I can finish getting dinner ready and on the table, she will pull him into the living room so he can enjoy her "moo-die" too.

As a teenager, my job was to clean up the kitchen after each meal.  When we lived in New Jersey, we did not have a dishwasher...I take that back. I was the dishwasher.  Needless to say, I began hating greatly disliking being in the kitchen.  Dad used to tease me by saying that when I got married, I would serve dinner on paper plates and cook TV dinners. However, once I got married, the idea of cooking for my husband really hit home for me and I began to love cooking!  What is slightly ironic about Dad coming for dinner now is that he gets a good home-cooked meal from me each week served on real dishes! 

Today's recipe is what I served this past Wednesday for Brian, Dad, and Addie.  It is Creamy Chicken Pot Pie from a free pamphlet cook book that Sam's Club and Kraft collaborated on last year.  I have gotten some great recipes from this little book.  Although they name specific brands to use for the different ingredients, I always find the generic brand or what is on sale and it turns out just as good.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

What You Need

1 pkg. (8 oz.)  Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lb. cooked Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (about 3 cups)
16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose baking mix

Make It

Heat oven to 400* F.

Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables, and garlic salt.

Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Beat egg and milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended; stir in baking mix just until moistened. Spoon over chicken mixture. 

Place pie plate on baking sheet.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.

Don't forget to go over to Kristi's blog to check out her recipe for today.  Also, be sure to let her know how you like her new look!

Simplicity

As I was getting up and getting things ready for the day yesterday, I thought to myself, "This has not been a simple week!"

Granted not every week or day in our lives can be simple, although we do our best at working our way to that point. However, sometimes those crazy, busy days and weeks can help us be thankful for the simpler days and weeks that we have.

• On Monday, Addie and I went grocery shopping and then I cleaned out the fridge and pantry while doing some laundry on the side.
• Tuesday, Lisa came over and we cleaned out Addie's room and the garage. Then in the evening, we had a friend from church over for dinner.
• Wednesday, I went over to Titi Elsie's (with Addie, of course) and spent some time with her, Titi Alice, Lisa, her girls, Victoria, and the recent bride. What a great time getting to see Faye and Jim's pictures from their honeymoon! In the evening, we had Dad over for dinner.
• Yesterday, I planned on being home, but decided to run down to Brian's office to pick up his paycheck and then in the evening, my mom-in-law and I had a date.
• Today, Lord willing, Faye will be having the same group from Wednesday over for lunch. I also have another appointment today.

Also thrown in with all of the goings on for the week was laundry, cooking, cleaning, caring for Brian, and a baby who suddenly decided she does not like her bed and has been crying herself to sleep at naptime and bedtime (very hard on Mommy but especially Daddy).

I know that crazy weeks like this are few and far between for me, and calmness will find its way back into my schedule in the next day or two. I find that during these crazy times, it is easy to loose track of the simple ways that we do things, and I find it helpful to go back and look over my notes (and posts) reminding me of the simple things.

Tonight, Brian, Addie and I are going to simply eat dinner as a family, simply play in Addie's room, simply sit on the couch and watch a "moo-die" together, and simply enjoy a good night's sleep.

Hope you have a simple day and simple weekend!

How to Encourage the Man in Your Life- Chapter 4: Men Speak Out

As wives and mothers, it is so easy for us to get wrapped up in our list of things to do, the children, getting dinner on the table, having the laundry folded, the house clean, and groceries bought.  Many times without realizing it, we may push our husbands to the bottom of the list because "He's an adult, he can take care of himself."  However, when we married him, we were ready to lay aside every hindrance in our path just so we could care for this man that we had asked for. 

In this chapter, the men speak out and share how they feel about things they experience from their wives and how they would prefer to be treated.  They are not being unreasonable, demanding, or obnoxious in their requests.  In fact, the men who answered the questions allowed themselves to be vulnerable in order to give us as women a unique insight into their thoughts and feelings.  I am going to give you a just few of the situations mentioned and then the suggestion for correcting the problem.

If, after marriage a wife fails to share in her husband's vision or participate in it, or if she becomes apathetic toward his work, or even resentful of it, then that marriage will fall into deep trouble within a surprisingly short time. -Robert Lewis and William Hendricks from their book Rocking the Roles.

We need to remember that a man's identity many times is built by his work.  It gives his life purpose.  If we despise his work, in a sense, we are despising him.  All honest work is honorable, and we need to give honor to our husband for being willing to go out and be the bread winner (at least in our family that is how it is).  We need to encourage our husband to continue to do his best as even brag about him and what he does. 

One man said, "I long to be appreciated for who I am, especially at home.  I want to experience unconditional love at home- not just performance-based love."

We need to tell our husbands in some way everyday how much we appreciate and love them..  We need to do this when we are alone and especially when we are in front of our children.  They will grow up remembering how much their mother admired, appreciated, and loved their father which will help them respect him even more.  This is how I grew up, and because of that, I believed that my father was Superman.  As Brian walks to his van every morning, I make sure that he hears me tell Addie that Daddy goes to work so Mommy can stay home with Addie.  I make sure that she hears me tell Brian how wonderful I think he is and how much I love him.  I tell others (when Brian is in earshot) how gifted Brian is in his field and that he is the best technician in his company (he really is!).

One man said: "I would love my wife to give me a hug, a kiss (without having to ask for one or be the initiator), and ask me to share what is going on in my head."

For some of us, physical touch is not our primary love language, but it is something our husbands need.  A hug or kiss shows them that we are still attracted to them and that we still admire and desire them.  After all that our husbands experience in the work place, don't they deserve to come home and know that they will have these validation needs met.

As one man put it: "I need continual affirmation that I am a good father/husband.  I never had any training in being either one.  I guess I need the acknowledgement that I am doing the best I can, even if I don't quite measure up to all desires and expectations."

As women, we are not perfect (although we tend to think so and have excuses for why things are not up to our husband's expectations).  We need to allow some room for growth in our husbands.  When we see them making an attempt at bettering themselves, being critical, cutting, or sarcastic is not the response we need to give them.  By doing this, they will stop any future attempts at improvement because the attempts they have made are treated negatively.

Our husbands are human beings who have feelings that can be hurt.  They have hearts that need love.  God's Word says, "May words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord."  If we remember this verse as we speak to and think of our husbands, we will build up their spirits with the words we speak to them and build a love inside of our hearts towards them.  It is definitely worth the time and investment!

Savng Money at Walmart

We talk a lot about saving money, couponing, and shopping for deals, but this week I discovered for myself something that I had heard about but had never tried. 

Usually a shopping trip for me entails buying the Sunday paper, going through the store flyers and coupons, checking my favorite online coupon matching websites, making my list, planning the order in which I will hit each store (want to save on gas while I am shopping sales), packing the diaper bag with snacks, juice, and maybe a toy to keep my buddy entertained, and then putting it all into action on the day I choose for shopping day. 

However, when you have a small child in tow (and some of you have more than one- there is a special reward in Heaven waiting for you!), taking them out of the car, putting them in the shopping cart, having enough hands to pull the snacks and juice out of the diaper bag while pushing the cart and getting your groceries, going through the check out, filling the trunk area of the vehicle, buckling them back in to the car seat, and driving off to the next location can be a bit tedious and even dreaded (it is the car seat buckling that gets me- on weekends, that is Brian's job!).

To add to the fun, we have a weekly budget for food, and to keep us mindful of what we are buying, we use cash for our purchases.  

Fun? you may ask.  Absolutely!  It is a challenge, and I love a challenge (just don't ask about the garden challenge)!

On Monday, I took my list and flyers to Walmart.  I am not a huge fan of Walmart (customer service leaves much to be desired), but I am starting to appreciate their price matching policy.  Rather than hitting every store on my list, I just take my flyers to Walmart.  They will match the price that is offered for the same item at the other store (they do not honor buy one get one free deals).  For example, at Walgreens this week, a bottle of Ajax dish detergent was advertised for $0.89.  Because I had my Walgreens flyer, the normal $1.29 price of the Ajax was matched to Walgreens' special price.  A 10 oz. bottle of Palmolive was on sale for $0.89 at CVS.  I showed my flyer handed them my manufacturer's coupon and only paid $0.64! 

Another way I chose to save some money this week was in the area of cold cuts for Brian's lunch.  Usually, I buy a 2 packages of coldcuts (2 different meat selections) from the lunchmeat section and move on.  That usually costs me about $6 in just meat.  This week what I chose to do was go to the deli counter, pick out two meats and one cheese, and order enough slices to make Brian's sandwhiches for the week.  This way, I will be able to give Brian a larger variety in his sandwich flavors in the weeks to come, and at $2.50 I can stay within our set budget.  Just as a note, you are not required to buy your deli meats by the pound. You can order by the slice if that suits you better.   

I only went over our allotted budget by $1!  I am looking forward to next week, and putting this to the test again.

Life Lessons From Biblical Parents

We are slowly getting back to our posting schedule here.  I was excited to get to this account because it was based on people other than Adam and Eve.  I also saw some things that I had never seen before. 

Noah showed his family that he trusted God whether it made sense or not.  As parents and wives, we need to make sure that everything we do, and every decision that we need to make, is brought before the Lord in prayer and then we need to listen for His answer. When we trust that God is leading us and is showing us the decision or choice that we need to make, sometimes to others, our decisions may not make sense.  As the leaders of our home (I am speaking of the husband/wife team here), it is so important that our children see us following the leading of the Lord instead of the peer pressure around us from others whether it be from family, friends, or acquaintances. 

Our children will learn to stand for the Lord based on the example they see us lead.  I'm sure to those around Noah, the building of an ark which took about one hundred years (another vague type of number, but by doing the math laid out in chapters 5-7 of Genesis, 100-120 years is what most people have come up with) did not make sense, but rather than give into any peer pressure he may have experienced, he continued building the ark until it was completed.  Had he not followed through with the plan that God set before him, not only would he have been affected but his whole family would have also. 

Watch how we teach the account. Okay, this is the part that really got to me.  As a teacher in a Christian school, I taught the account of Noah every year.  As I would retell the Biblical accounts, I always acted out each character to help the Bible come alive to my students.  I would give the characters different voices and would often ask the children to imagine how the character was feeling. 

In this account though, I always added in the part that Noah was being ridiculed and made fun of for building the ark. I had heard preachers, evangelists, and other Christian teachers say that this laughing crowd was there, and it just made sense to me that they would be there since they were an unbelieveing generation and because they were so wicked before the Lord.  However, no matter how many Noah related verses throughout the Bible that I looked up, I could not find one that said that he was ridiculed or laughed at while building the boat.  God's Word does not point them out.  Even Addie's picture Bible shows people in the background laughing at Noah.  This really bothered me as I began to study this passage.  All of these years, I unknowingly taught my students something that I now could not find.  

Now as I teach the account to Addie (she calls Noah No-day), I have to be sure that I give her the facts as they are written in the Bible. (If anyone can find a passage which puts the ridiculing crowd at the scene of the ark, please tell the verse! Until then, I am not adding them in.) With any Biblical account, we need to be sure to read the account from God's Word to be sure that we give an accurate retelling to our children. 

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Please note that Kristi's Blog is now called Keeping Up with Kristi.  Just click on her new blog title to see her new (and absolutely beautiful) new site and be sure to add it to your reader.

A Wrap Up of Last Weekend

These are the pictures I was able to download off of my camera.  One of my aunt's had taken a few pictures during the wedding for me, so I was excited to see these.  These are two of the ones from the wedding that show something that hasn't been seen in any of the other pictures I have posted, and the rest are from our weekend with my uncle and aunt. 

I saw on Ali Edward's blog how she looked at pictures of a recent family trip and began each thought with the phrase I WANT TO REMEMBER, so I decided to try that with these photos.  Usually my comments are below the picture they relate to, but today, I am going to put my thoughts above the picture.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how reverent Brian was as he walked Mom's flower to what would have been her seat.  He was filled with a lot of emotion as he did and chose not to look at anyone.  Mom's picture was being displayed at the time, so he definitely made sure he didn't look up.

 

I WANT TO REMEMBER how excited Addie was to spend the day with her cousins and what a good girl she was despite not having a nap.

 

I WANT TO REMEMBER how much Addie loves Uncle Luis and how much he loves her.

 

I WANT TO REMEMBER how much Addie loves water and being in the p-o-o-l (we have to spell the word out around here otherwise she will continue asking to play in her pool).

I WANT TO REMEMBER how inseparable these two were during our entire visit.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how important family is and that the death of one member does not mean the ties sever.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how in love with you I am and how much fun we have together sharing an adventure or just doing nothing.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how the simplest of things makes you happy.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how much you love to interact with the books that are being read to you.

I WANT TO REMEMBER what a beautiful tan you get when you are out in the sun and how light your hair gets.

I WANT TO REMEMBER how thankful I am to have such a hard working husband who selflessly gives of himself and his time for his family.

I WANT TO REMEMBER to always make time for you to spend with family so you never forget where you come from.

Our Weekend Away

After the wedding, GrandTiti, Uncle Jack, and Belinda came back to the house with us. The following morning, they began making their way back to southern Florida and we made our way to Orlando to spend some time with Uncle Luis, Aunt Maria, Rebekah, and Jessica at their timeshare.. We had such a great time with them, and it was obvious that Addie had a great time with Uncle Luis.

Last year Addie met Uncle Luis for the first time on our trip to Ft. Lauderdale and an instant connection was formed between them. Addie would toddle around the GrandTiti's house looking for Uncle Luis.

This year, we had the same situation except the surroundings were different. Addie ate dinner, breakfast, and lunch because Uncle Luis wanted her to. She would sit and read with Uncle Luis. She would tease Uncle Luis. But most importantly, she would go to the pool with Uncle Luis. My own daughter didn't care if I stayed or went with them! As long as she had Uncle Luis' hand, she was a happy camper.

On Sunday evening, Brian stayed back at the room with Uncle Luis since his (Brian's) back had gone out (he has had a rough week this week physically) while Aunt Maria and I went to play mini-golf with the girls. Addie was my caddie and held my club between holes.

We had a great time, and I got to spend some quality time with my two cousins.

Addie was so exhausted from only getting a 15 minute nap on Saturday and a 1 hour nap on Sunday that she slept in Monday morning until 9:00 am which meant that Brian and I got to sleep in, too. By 10 am we had all eaten a delicious breakfast made by Uncle Luis (and had our coffee!) and were ready to go to the pool. Because we had spent some time on Sunday in the pool, Addie went to Uncle Luis, took has hand, and asked, "Pool?" Yeah, she knew who to go to!

Uncle Luis is so wonderful and protective of his grand niece that I had no reason to worry. I knew she was in excellent hands. There was such a love that you could see coming from Uncle Luis towards Addie.

I love this photo. I have to find a way to do something with it.

Uncle Luis, Aunt Maria, Rebekah, and Jessica, thank you for your hospitality and for sharing a part of your vacation with us. We enjoyed ourselves, and we both want Addie to grow up knowing you, not just in pictures but for herself.

More Wedding Pictures

Nancy and Ernest (who I had the priviledge of walking with in the wedding) sent me the photos from their camera.  I absolutely love the colors their camera captured and the poses they were able to catch.  Thank you so much for sending your pictures my way.

At the rehearsal.  Ernest and Nancy, we just love you and we are so glad that you are now family.

The bride-to-be.  Faye did an absolutely amazing job organizing and putting this wedding together.  She has always been wonderful at putting together large events and with God's help, she pulled off a flawless wedding.

The rehearsal dinner was wonderful and began the celebration which went into the following day.  All of the toasts that were given were so touching. Many times, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

The bridal party.  Jim's dad, Ernest, was the best man.  Addie and I had the priviledge of walking with him.

The groomsmen.

The bridesmaids.

The bride's immediate family.  Mom is represented by the flower.  Brian was asked by Faye to walk the flower in and then light the candle in Mom's place.  He kept his eyes focused on the ground as he walked up since Mom's picture was being projected on the large screens. 

The groom's parents.

The following are some of the shots that were taken during the photo session.

Cutting and feeding each other the cake.  Who says you have to smash the cake?  Doesn't a wedding just shout romance and love?  Faye and Jim showed love, respect, and romance throughout their relationship and wedding day.

Some Wedding Pictures

I will be posting wedding pictures periodically as I get them.  Because Brian and I were both in the bridal party, neither of us were able to take pictures.  Thankfully, there were plenty of cameras around, so as I receive pictures from family and friends, I will be posting them.  I think it is neat to have pictures from so many different cameras because you get pictures from different perspectives and angles. Any of you that were at the wedding and have pictures, I would love to see them (have them :) and post them.  Email them to me if possible. 

I hope you enjoy this first installment, and when the professional pictures come in, I'll post as many of them as I am able to.  These pictures were taken by my friend Kathy M. and my Uncle Luis (my mom's brother) and his wife.

 At the rehearsal dinner after the rehearsal.  Addie did such a great job walking down the aisle and sitting with Titi Elsie (Lala) during the rehearsal.  (photo by Kathy M)

 Chuck and Kathy, Faye and Jim.  Kathy, Kristi from Team Mac, Faye and I were all friends back in New Jersey during the 90's.  It has been wonderful finding each other through FaceBook and on blogs.  Kathy and her husband were able to come down for the wedding.  Because they are blog readers, they recognized my parents-in-law at the rehearsal dinner (which Nancy and Ernest extended not only to the bridal party but family and friends who came in from out of town) and sat with them. Brian, Addie and I also got to sit with Chuck and Kathy when we arrived.

Isn't she the most gorgeous bride ever!  I will always be thankful for the morning that I was able to share with my sister. 

 My father looked so proud as he walked Faye down the aisle.  Faye and I were both touched when he answered the "Who gives this woman?" question with "Her mother and I," during the rehearsal and then the wedding.

 Oh, Jim, (my wonderful brother-in-law!) I loved how excited you were during the rehearsal and then the wedding when you saw Faye coming down the aisle to you.  You are everything that she needed and deserved in a husband.  And I love you for loving her.

 When they were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. A- streamers were shot out over the congregation.  It was a great way to kick off a beautiful marriage.  And this was the first time that they kissed!  Woohoo!

 At the reception in the Grand Hyatt.  Addie had been asked to smile and show her teeth.  What did she do?  She covered her mouth!  Jim and Faye, thank you for asking the three of us to be a part of your special day- me as the Matron of Honor, Brian as a Groomsman, and Addie as the miniature Flower Girl.

 Belinda, my beautiful cousin, you are such a blessing.  You did so much for both Faye and me during this last week while you were here.  We miss you so much. And we anticipate the day that God blesses you beyond your wildest dreams.

 Our Uncle Luis.  My mother has such wonderful siblings.  I am so thankful that Addie has gotten to spend time with them.  She has absolutely taken to GrandTiti and my uncles.  On Sunday we went to Orlando where Uncle Luis and his family were vacationing and we got to spend some time with them.

Uncle Luis, GrandTiti, and Uncle Sammy.  These are three of my mother's siblings.  There is one more uncle (Eddie) but he was unable to attend.  We missed him a lot. 

Uncle Luis and family. 

Aren't they just the cutest couple!  Brian, Belinda, and I did quite a bit of glass clinking to help them catch up on kisses.  Even Addie got into the action and started clincking her dish without any prompting.

This is my Uncle Sammy.  He had never seen Addie in person, so he was excited to meet her.  She took to him immediately and hugged and kissed him.  He, of course, loved it.  This is the same brother that Mom mentioned in this post.

Oh, my handsome man!  I am more in love with you today than I was the day we were married.  You have such a wonderful personality and know how to make anyone and everyone feel right at home.  I love you to infinity and beyond (can you tell we have been watching Toy Story lately?)!

 Kathy M. and Faye.  Good friends are a real treasure.

 Kathy M. and me. I love you, Kathy! Thanks for the pictures!

 The three of us.

 Brian said that he needed a picture with his sister.  He has always looked at her as his little sister and was just as proud of her as a true big brother would have been.  He loves her so much and he also thinks the world of Jim.

 The bubble send-off.  What a perfect picture, Kathy!

Who did that to your car? Oh yeah, that was Brian and me.  But Pops, Cousins Ernie and Kevin were there too giving us pointers and tips on what to do.  They are just as guilty!

Faye and Jim, words cannot describe just how happy I am for you both.  May God richly bless you both as you embark on this new chapter in your lives.