Zach's 2nd Birthday

I have one child, a little boy, named Zachariah. He recently turned two (8/4), so this past Friday evening we had a party for him and invited a few of his friends (which happen to be our adult friends :)). I really enjoy cake decorating, so I had to make him one, but neither I nor my husband really like cake...and Zach likes everything...so deciding what kind to make was pretty tough. I finally decided on a yellow cake (a crowd pleaser) w/ a raspberry filling because Zach loves "beybers" (a.k.a berries). I tend to assume that if something tastes really good that it must be really hard to make...even though I've experienced over and over again that it usually isn't true, and once again I was proved wrong while looking up how to make the filling (I used the recipe on the Wilton website). I assume the same recipe could probably be used for any other frozen fruit if you wanted to change it up a bit (or if for some ridiculous reason you don't like raspberries).
We also tried something else new, grilled pizza. I made a few batches of pizza dough a couple of days ahead of time, made pizza sauce, and bought a bunch of pizza toppings for everyone to choose from. Just before the party, we (Nathan and I) rolled out the dough, brushed it w/ olive oil, and grilled one side for 4-5 minutes on a preheated grill on high heat. Then we let everyone put their toppings on the cooked side brought them back out to the grill and cooked the other side/melted cheese for another 3-4 minutes. Everyone had fun making their own pizza, and I loved not having to worry about making something everyone would like. We also had mozzarella sticks and caprese salad as appetizers.

The party was a lot of fun, especially for Zach (which was the whole point). He loves entertaining guests by singing, dancing, and doing any other new tricks he has learned recently. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than watching him grow, teaching him, and watching him really grasp a new concept. It is simply amazing. As much joy as there is in raising him, there is also fear. Fear that I will not teach him all the right things, be a good example, love him as I ought....the list goes on and on. Were it not for God's grace in my everyday life, I would live my whole life in fear! But God promises us (and He keeps ALL of His promises) that His grace is sufficient for us. There is no way that we can raise Zach properly on our own...we are weak, but God is our strength, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness, so we have hope. Praise the Lord!

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:9-10

Pork Loin & Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

Last night I made pork loin for the first time, and as intimidating as the idea was, it turned out pretty good. I made a spicy honey-mustard sauce to baste it with, infused it with garlic, and cooked it low and slow in the oven. Another plus: I got to use the honey I purchased last week at the market (Zach and I have also been using it instead of jelly in PB&J :)). I served it w/ mashed potatoes and green beans.
We're growing jalapenos on our back deck and have been looking for something fun to do with them. The search is over. As an appetizer we had bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers, another first time recipe that was equally, if not more, delicious. It's simply fresh jalapenos stemmed, halved, and seeded, then filled with a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions. And the best part...drum roll please...wrapped in bacon (1/2 slice each). Bake @ 450 for about 15 min or until bacon is cooked. They aren't too spicy either, so don't let the fact that a recipe uses jalapenos scare you...roasting them in the oven or grilling them will bring out the natural sugars and seeding them gets rid of a lot of the heat already.
For dessert we had Crock Pot Cheesecake...I know it sounds ridiculous, but it works, and is great if you: a) don't want to heat up the kitchen, or b) are already using your oven for maybe a pork loin or something. I originally got the idea from a Food Network show, but I used a slightly different recipe. It takes about 5 hours from start to finish: 2 1/2 hours in the slow cooker, 1/2 hour to cool, and 2 hours in the refrigerator. I made mine with a chocolate cookie crust (I don't really care for graham cracker crust) and topped it with fresh sliced strawberries. Simple and delicious!
We also had the privilege of having our church pastor dine with us last night, and he reminded us of something we have to be thankful for that we often take for granted (the list is endless, isn't it?). We always give thanks for the fact that we have wonderful food to eat in such amazing amounts. But we should also be thankful to God for His gift to us in creating such a vast variety of foods for us to eat, and specific taste buds designed to fully enjoy each one. He very well could have created only one food source, complete with every nutrient our bodies need, bland in flavor, and left it at that. "Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17

Farmer's Market & Crockpot Chicken

We went to the Auburn Farmer's Market today and had a great time! If you live here, you should definitely make an effort to go (it's every Thursday from 3-6pm until late August, I think). We got some amazing honey...I'm normally not a huge fan of honey, but when we sampled this, I had to have some. Since I normally don't eat it, I have no idea what to use it in other than oatmeal or hot tea, which it's not really the season for. I'll try to research that some and let you know what I come up with! Also, if anyone has any suggestions/recipes I'd love to see them. I also bought a basil plant for $1, which is amazing, since it costs about $2 for a little, not-super-fresh pack of it in the grocery store. It adds great fresh flavor to almost any dish and goes especially well with another farmer's market favorite: tomatoes. They also had little wagons available to tote around your merchandise, or in our case, Zach, so it doubled as a fun family outing as well.
Last night, we had Creamy Crockpot Chicken...a ridiculously easy recipe that tastes as if it should not be (my favorite kind of recipe, by the way). My mother-in-law introduced me to this recipe, along with many others that I use fairly regularly. If you are looking for good cooking tips, you should talk to your mother or mother-in-law because chances are they know a lot more than you do just based on years of experience...about most things, not just cooking. Anyway, back to the recipe, it's just chicken pieces (whatever you prefer), cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, mushrooms (optional),and dry Italian dressing mix in a slow cooker on low for 6 hours. It makes the chicken fall-off-the-bone tender and amazing gravy...I served it over rice w/ a side of green peas.

Today, we had kind of a weird schedule because Nathan didn't have to work, and I had lots of errands to run, so we snacked our way through the day and had a small dinner out after the market trip. We are so blessed to have the ability and freedom to do so...and to do all that we do, really...because we don't have it all together all the time (or even part of the time :)). Thankfully, we have a sovereign God who does have it ALL together, ALL of the time.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth; He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom." Isaiah 40:28

Reason for This Blog

I love food....I love to eat it, cook it, and watch TV shows about it. And I guess as I attempt to continue to do this blog, I will find out if I love to write about it as well. I have no idea who will be reading this (besides my husband :)), so I don't really have a target audience (which believe it or not, actually makes it harder to write this). I want to give people ideas about how to make the food they prepare and eat better, share my experiences as I attempt to broaden my culinary horizons, and I want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. This blog may or may not mostly be about food.... I'll just have to see how it goes. There are a lot of things I have strong opinions about going on in the world right now, so occasionally this may become my soap box for those things. Anyway, I hope that all who read this are able to enjoy doing so and hopefully learn something too (not that I am anywhere close to having all the answers about anything).
A little background: My husband and I have been married for about three and a half years, we have a son who will be two in August (I'm sure he will get mentioned in a lot of my posts), and we are currently living in Auburn, AL. My husband is in the U.S. Navy, and I am a stay-at-home mom. I am originally from the Central Coast of Ca., and was very surprised to find out how much I love it here in Auburn, not to mention that the South is a much more politically comfortable place for us to be right now.
I would love to have comments if there are any suggestions of how to improve my blog (I'm very new at this) or recipes you'd like to see tried. Also, if there are any questions about anything I cook....I probably will not put the recipes for everything I make on here, but would love to post them if you'd like me to. I am also open to improvements/variations of recipes...I am no expert, and you will not offend me by making a dish better...that's what I strive to do everyday in my kitchen! I hope everyone enjoys reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!