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My mommy came for a visit a few weeks ago and she brought my nephew with her. I’m always excited to have my mommy over and show her a little country hospitality. She loves it here. All she does during her is sit outside. Literally.

I knew I wanted to try this recipe because it reminded me of a meal someone made for me with stewed chicken. I’m also a fan of lemon chicken. This recipe was a hit and I used fresh herbs and veggies from my garden.

I served it over rice with fresh sautéed green beans. I also doubled the recipe for the sauce because I used a few more pieces of chicken. The sauce got thicker and creamier and we slopped it up over rice. Try it!

Ingredients: Recipe slightly adapted from themotherhuddle

*I used two pans with 5 chicken pieces each

10 bone in chicken thighs, skin removed

1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

8 tbsp butter

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups of heavy cream

6 tbsp of lemon juice

1 large onion, sliced

Combine in a large Ziploc or plastic bag flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Throw a couple of pieces of chicken in the bag and shake to coat with flour mix.

In a large, DEEP frying or saute pan brown 5-8 chicken pieces in one pan in 4 tbsp of butter until both sides are nice and brown. (I used 4 tbsp of butter per 5 pieces of chicken)

Add 1 cup of broth, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, half the onion and 1 cup of cream to one pan of 5-8 pieces of chicken. (I added the broth, cream and lemon juice to each pan in the same measurements. If your pan can fit 10 pieces of chicken add it all)

Cover and simmer for thirty minutes until chicken is tender and sauce cooks down a bit. Season with 1tsp of salt to taste and garnish with a bunch of fresh parley.

My guys like thick sauce with their rice so I took some of the sauce out (1/2 cup) and added some cornstarch for a more gravy like sauce.

Serve over riced or mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Linking Up With: Titus Tuesdays, Living Proverbs 31, Joy Dare

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This picture is raw. No edits, no filters. How I took it is how you see it. Could use some editing but I love it just the way it is. It reminds me of mama being in the kitchen making her good sauce for the family. A meal so simple yet so flavorful that brings everyone together. It tells a story. I don’t know what yet, I’m working on it because this was a day that hubby and are were home alone and it was chilly and damp out. No big family, just us and HGTV.

Lately I’ve been cooking a lot of clean meals. Low carb, less sugar and additives, more of God’s green earth. Clean eating makes me feel so clean inside and veggies have always been my favorite. I struggle though in a house full of carnivores, to get something hearty on the table, clean and tasty so they won’t say yuck.

My belief is that part of my job as the lowly homemaker is to provide my family with the best options for life that I can give. Opinion only: My best option is healthy, clean and as close to natural as I can get it. I haven’t always been this way. I have my fair share of a sweet tooth, but in meditating on my role as mom and babe, I feel it is my duty to steward well all areas of my life because my first role is Jesus lover, God server. Call me a hippy.

Now I’m not saying this is going to turn into a crazy health blog where all I do is show you pictures of squash and quinoa ( pronounced kenwa says big sister). But in my efforts to get my family to a healthier place, you may see a few.

This recipe is from Melissa and it’s called pizza stuffed zucchini. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly to the Tee but it was good and flavorful.

Ingredients:

5 Zucchini
1lb beef
1-24 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 diced onion
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp seasoning- oregano, basil, parsley
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice zukes in half and place them cut side down. Cook for 10 minutes and then remove them from the oven. While you are waiting brown your beef.  Add onions, green pepper and garlic and cook until tender. Add tomato sauce, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp each of basil and oregano. Cook to let flavors mix for 5-10 minutes. Fill zuke boats with meat sauce and top with cheese. Place them back in the oven and bake for about 10 mins or until cheese is melted.

The extra sauce made these very juicy which I love! It was also very filling. I gave my hubby two boats and he couldn’t finish the second one.

I hope this recipe makes it to your meal plan. Let me know how you love it!

Linking Up With:  Playdates with God,  Titus Tuesdays, Living Proverbs 31, Joy Dare

We’ve been doing a lot lately. So far this summer we’ve painted rocks and a canvas of hands, made some pony bead sun catchers shaped like swords, made strawberry ice cream and freezer jam, picked blueberries twice, played soccer at a local camp, had two play dates with friends, visited the petting zoo and gone hiking. It’s hard to imagine that I’m not tired after all of this but I’m not. It’s summer for Pete’s sake and I don’t even know anyone named Pete. 🙂

I wanted to share today these amazing lemon pies that I used my homemade pie crust- without shortening- recipe with. Our community group went hiking at a local trail in our area one Sunday after noon. Yes we saw a snake and yes I was totally freaked out,the things I do for my children.

Anyway, I was so giddy about this after I heard that there was a place sit and eat nearby. So I packed us up my dream picnic and threw it in our cooler. Unfortunately we ended up eating in the car on the way home. Bummer. The upside to this story is that we enjoyed our late Sunday evening chowing on grapes and these lemon hand pies.

 My family enjoyed these so much that they were gone in a few days. I even frosted them with white chocolate later on.

They remind me of how simple life can actually be that you can possibly make other things with the lemons that life throws at you. This has been so far a year of overcoming fears. Slowing down actually scares me sometimes. The objective to be slow can sometimes be a plateful to swallow in such a busy society. But walking through the wilderness scared me most, with the obscurity of nature lurking behind and around me. Having to yield to the sounds and movement of the culture that inhabits it was breath taking yet very scary. But I walked and took the chance to trust God in a moment that some would deem mundane and in return God showed me more of life through his eyes and how he takes care to wake the birds, coordinate the music of nature, and give life to the littlest things.

Linking Up With:  Playdates with God,  Titus Tuesdays, Living Proverbs 31, Joy Dare

You Might Also Like: Meal Plan Monday: Taco-Dile, Chicken Pillows, Crockpot Red beans and Rice

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It’s been a while since I’ve written a meal plan Monday post. However, things seem to be going pretty good with me and morning sickness. Hopefully it stays that way so I can share more great recipe’s. On to the recipe.

I call this the taco-dile. Taco stuffed potatoes sounded so un-fun so taco-dile it is. I made this meal last week to take to a community group couple who had just had their baby and doubled the meal to make extra’s for my family. They were so good!

Guys so easy and really no prep at all! Use with left over taco meat after taco night.

Ingredients:

1 2lb bag of potatoes (I used Idaho Russet)

2 lbs ground beef

1 can salsa (I used home canned)

1/2-1 cup water

2-3tbsp taco seasoning

1 16oz package of shredded cheese-Montery Jack

salt and pepper

ranch dressing

1 small can olives(optional;10 oz)

green onions

sour cream

Directions:

Ground your beef and season, drain and throw it in the crockpot. Season with taco seasoning. Throw in the can of salsa and water and mix. Cook on low 6 hours or high for 4.

Bake potatoes  50-60 mins on 400 degrees F. You can even throw them in another crock if you have one and let the meat and potatoes cook together.

When potatoes are done slice halfway length wise, butter and mash, season with salt and pepper and then layer your toppings. We did one with cheese, meat, ranch dressing, more cheese and green onions. I made a big batch some with cheese, meat, ranch, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, olives and green onions.

Done!

I hope this makes it to your monthly or weekly meal plan list. It’s so easy and you can add your own great toppings.

Linking Up With:  Playdates with God,  Titus Tuesdays, Living Proverbs 31

You Might Also Like: A Gevalia Coffee Review, Homemade Flour Tortillas, Crockpot Beans and Rice

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This weekend was a rather refreshing one. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I actually relaxed on a Saturday. It’s almost embarrassing.

Anyway, I posted this picture on Facebook over the weekend and decided to post it here along with the recipe for my keeping too. I’ve been making these tortilla’s for a little over a year now and we absolutely love them! I make a ton and freeze them and when it’s time to pull them out I heat them on a plate between a damp paper towel. I use two recipe’s that I love right now and will combine them for you here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 cups all-purpose flour ( leave 1 cup out for kneading)

1 1/2 cup of oil (I use grapeseed or olive)

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 Tbsp of salt

1 1/2 cup of warm water (as warm as you can take)

Directions:

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Make a ditch in the middle and pour in oil and water. Mix until combined and formed into a sticky dough. If you have a stand mixer you can knead it in the mixer until it is not sticky adding in a little flour as you go. Otherwise, take your dough out, dust your counter with the remaining flour and knead it until the dough is firm and not sticky. about 5 minutes.

Next divide your dough up into golf ball size balls. Let them sit and rest on your counter or in a bowl for at least 30 mins covered with a damp towel or a dry dish towel.

Keep them covered while you work. Heat a pan on medium heat, no oil or butter necessary. You will see your dough balls are oily on the outside. Your first one will probably not come out great. Have no fear the rest will be awesome!

Flour your surface and flatten and roll out your balls really thin till you can almost see your counter. I usually flatten one while the others are covered and cook and repeat. You can also flatten them all and then cook them.

Cook your flattened dough for 30 seconds a side. You should see bubbles starting to form. If your bubbles get too big poke them with a toothpick or fork to let the air out.

* Do not over cook. Your tortilla’s will turn out hard. Recipe makes about 22 tortilla’s.

For a smaller batch, about 12, use 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 cup oil. Same process.

Linking up with:  playdates with God, livingproverbs31, Titus2sday

You might also like: Meal plan Monday’s: Chicken Pillows, Honey Garlic Baked Chicken, Sesame Chicken, PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps