Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Deli-style Turkey Breast and Homemade Stock

The finished product, YUMMY!

We love deli sandwiches and wraps here, but deli meat is so expensive and often leaves much to desired in the flavor department. Since attempting deli roast beef last year, I have wanted to try my hand at other deli meats, namely turkey. So after stopping by the deli only to find that turkey was a whopping $4.48/lb on sale, I decided to pick up a couple of turkey breasts while I was at the store, which I got for $1.99/lb. I know that some of the weight is the carcass (ribs, wings, and such) so I knew I'd probably only get about half the weight in actual meat but decided that having some homemade stock on hand would be a good thing. I will admit that the process takes a few days to complete but it's fairly easy to do and taste A-MAZING. So here goes...

Chocolate Lovers' Cake

This is by far my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I use it for birthday parties all the time. It's moist,

flavorful, and so much better than store bought without taking a ton of time to make. It also uses ingredients that most people have in their pantry.

Bitter Blanc Marbled Cheesecake

We love date nights, but then I think every parent enjoys a night out away from the chaos that comes with raising children. With that in mind, Jared and I decided to plan a date night activity for our "Homebuilders" Sunday school group (those who are engaged, newly married, or married with minor children at home). I enjoyed hunting down recipes and deciding on a menu for the evening. We wanted to plan an elegant dinner with salad, appetizers, fresh bread, main entrees, sides, and, of course, dessert. I LOVE to bake, which might be a reason why I still struggle with my weight. :) Anyway, I decided that one of the desserts needed to be a chocolate marbled cheesecake. So I tweaked my regular chocolate cheesecake recipe and it turned out AMAZING! It was rich, silky, chocolaty, and delicious.

Menu 2014: March 3-30

Time is just flying by this year. I find it hard to believe that it is already March, but then, the weather here seems to agree with me. We've had SEVERAL sub-zero temperature days and lots of snow in the last couple of weeks. I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to spring! I am attempting a slightly different menu format. Each week will consist of a spicy food, a comfort food, an ethnic food, a soup or sandwich, a slow cooker meal, and/or a miscellaneous dish. So here goes...

but I don't want to tell you why

Miss E had quite an emotional flare up today during school. She didn't want to work on writing her letters neatly so she threw a fit. While talking with her about her wrong behavior she informed Daddy (who just happened to be home during the flare up), "Mommy won't let me do my schoolwork, but I don't want to tell you why." We both had a hard time not chuckling at that statement, but it made me stop and think. How often do we want to tell only our side of a disagreement? How many times do we refuse to deal with our part in a problem? We need to learn to take ownership of our wrongdoings and work at correcting them instead of just blaming the other person(s) involved. Just something I was reminded of today while parenting.

Menu 2014: February 3-March 2

We've had an extremely busy January, lots of travel, extra work, and even a few funerals. Our van broke down but God provided a replacement. School is halfway done for the year and it's been awfully cold here, which makes me somewhat antsy to leave on our cruise. I get to spend a whole week with my hubby and six of friends on a boat in the warmth of the Caribbean. I plan to enjoy some reading, extra sleep, quiet, etc. I will also be picking up some Mexican vanilla when we stop in Cozumel. I am already thinking ahead to some baking... Anyway, back to the task at hand. Here is my plan for February's menu - Sandwich, Spicy, Misc., Breakfast-for-Dinner, and Comfort Food.

Christmas Banquet 2013

Jared and I had the privilege of planning our church's yearly Christmas Banquet. I thoroughly enjoy planning, decorating, and cooking for banquets and things so I was really looking forward to doing it. We planned our previous church's Valentine's banquet almost every year that we were there and found that we worked well as a team. This is the first year that I have also had the opportunity to prepare the food besides planning and decorating. I had some awesome help in every aspect so I don't suggest trying to pull something like this off unless you can recruit some help at every stage.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 21

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.

Day 21: This chapter is all about looking at your progress instead of looking at the areas that still need improvement. Your progress toward discipline in one area will undoubtedly affect other areas in your life. "Success builds on success." So keep working at developing your one habit, don't give up even when you don't feel like you're making progress. "One day soon, you may wake up and realize you've changed your whole life...beginning with one simple habit."

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 20

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19.

Day 20: Crystal talks about little jobs (things that can be done in 2 minutes or less) and how we need to just do them instead of writing them down or procrastinating. We could save a lot of time (and mind power) if we would just do these little things instead of repeatedly thinking about and trying to remember to do them. "Each time you clear brain space by getting a trivial task completed and off the list, you're making room for heavy-duty thought processes. Think about all of the problems you could solve, or all the ways you could let your creativity flow if you didn't have a dozen nibbling tasks torturing your brain."
Crystal suggests that you make a list of these tiny tasks each morning when you get up and then do them as quickly as possible. It will help give you some extra motivation and sense of accomplishment.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 19

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18.

Day 19:
Get it done early. "This principle applies to your home and family life as well as your business. Whenever possible, get it - whatever it may be - done early and eliminate the stress and frustration of being pulled in a million directions." Crystal talks about how she had a problem with always being late. I can totally relate to this as I have struggled with it as well. "Why complete a task now, when I can wait 30 more minutes and do it in a mad rush?" Pretty silly thinking, but many times I find myself doing it. Procrastination brings extra stress so why do we do it? It's a wrong mentality that we need to change. Well, at least, I need to change. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to be on time for everything at once. Start slowly by focusing on one event at a time.