Bitter Sweet White Water Rafting

My friend Amber is moving so we decided to have one last hoorah with her while we still could. We decided to go white water rafting on the Upper Pigeon in Gatlinburg. It was a ton of fun even though it rained while we were on the river, but it didn't matter we were getting drenched anyways. Afterward we got a yummy lunch and then hit up the outlets to get some smokin' deals on clothes for the kids. All in all it was a fun day but sad because Amber is leaving us. I'm sure we will still have some fun adventures in the future to plan together though. This is not goodbye but see you later. Love you Amber I will miss you!

This goes out to all the Babies daddys!

Can you feel that?

Yesterday I was standing in the yard contemplating mowing the front yard aka death hill and a little breeze blew by and Josh was standing there and I looked at him and I said, oooh did you feel that? He just looked at me with a weird face. I told him that in that breeze I could feel a little coolness in it and I said this is football weather. I feel it coming! Then he just got a big smile on his face. See Josh has told me that it was pretty cool to have a wife that is into football as much as he is. Sometimes I think more. For instance last fall when I was livin' large and pregnant with Landon, we were watching the AL/TN game. Well that was a pretty intense game and at the very end Cody blocked a field goal that would have made TN the winners. Well I was already pacing before that happened because I was so nervous but as soon as it was blocked I started yelling and jumping up and down  (9 months pregnant). At first I thought my water had broke but no instead I peed my pants. LOL! Well you see that is how I roll during games. You can hear me outside a couple of blocks over yelling at my tv. This is pretty much the same for the rest of my family too. Sometimes I think I can hear them yelling in Alabama all the way up here in East Tennessee. So I decided to post this lovely video.  Just so you know I am counting down! 11 days 11 hours and 11 minutes till kick off! ROLL TIDE ROLL!  Just copy and paste the link in your browser! You know you want to watch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLGWTQxbVck 

Watermelon, Baby Lettuce and Pecan Salad

This salad is a triple threat, it is sweet, savory, and spicy! It was so good that my husband as I were licking the vinaigrette out of our bowls!

3/4 c	candied pecans. ( i use b.loyds, paula deen is on the cover on the package .)
5 c	watermelon seeded and cubed
1 pkg	baby lettuce leaves
	pepper jelly vinaigrette dressing
1 c	crumbled feta cheese
	pepper jelly vinaigrette dressing recipe:
1/4 c	rice wine vinegar
1/4 c	pepper jelly (any flavor) i like the red jalepeno pepper jelly.
1 Tbsp	fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp	grated onion
1 tsp	salt
1/4 tsp	pepper
1/4 c	vegetable oil

to make the vinaigrette dressing: Whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Gradually add the oil in whisking until blended. Set a side

For the Salad: You can serve this family style on a platter or in individual bowls. Place the lettuce down first

next place the watermelon on top of lettuce, sprinkle with feta cheese then nuts.

last drizzle the dressing on top.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

If you like lemons you will love this! It taste like food from a fancy Italian restaurant. Godetevi il cibo!

• 3 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2-inch strips
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or as needed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons minced Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place a serving platter into the oven to warm.
2. Season the chicken breast pieces with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour. Shake off excess flour. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet; pan-fry the chicken pieces until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Work in batches and do not crowd skillet, adding oil as needed . Place the chicken pieces onto the warmed platter in the oven. When finished with all the chicken, drain most of the oil from the skillet, leaving a thin coating on the surface of the pan.
3. Cook and stir the minced garlic in the skillet until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth. Scrape and dissolve any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the lemon slices and bring the mixture to a boil. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces to about 2/3 cup, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the lemon juice and capers; simmer until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes more. Drop the butter into the skillet and swirl it into the sauce by tilting the skillet until the butter is melted and incorporated. Add the parsley; remove from heat and set aside.
4. Arrange the chicken on serving plates and spoon sauce over each portion to serve.

Chocolate popcorn!

NO, your eyes are not deceiving you this popcorn is green! We  love this popcorn. You can do it in any color you want. My Kids like the green that way it is "monster" popcorn. My kids love it so much I have to cut them off and eat the rest myself. LOL! I hope yall enjoy this easy tasty treat!

3 Popped bags of microwave popcorn (I like butter flavor)
1 1b of melting chocolate
food coloring ( any color)
salt to taste

Pop the 3 bags of popcorn
Next melt the chocolate in  the microwave, melting in 45 sec intervals mixing between melting
After chocolate is done melting you can add any color of food coloring you like. Or you can just leave it white.
Place half the popcorn in a very large bowl.
Dump half of the chocolate into the popcorn bowl and mix well.
Dump the remaining popcorn on top and pour the rest of the chocolate over the popcorn.
While mixing the popcorn sprinkle salt on, so you get that sweet and salty flavor.
Mix until popcorn is covered with chocolate.
let the popcorn set before serving.
* do not put the popcorn in the fridge, it will stick to the side of the bowl.

Going Postal at the post office!

I now know why people go in the post office and shoot the place up! They better be glad I wasn't packing heat today! So my morning was going just fine. I checked online to see when the post office opened up and it said 8:30 and since Landon woke me up at 6:30am this morning I was all ready to go with everyone fed and  dressed by 8:25am this morning. So I grab both my packages and make my merry way out the door with all 3 kids and having a nice drive listening to Norah Jones. I pull in and I'm like, sweet there is no one else here. Wonderful no lines! So I tell the kids to wait in the car. ( Don't Judge, this is the post office in Gray. You pull right up to the door and you can see the van right out the window. Oh and I left the car running so it wouldn't get hot too!)  So I go in there plop my packages on the counter and he weighs the first one and tells me the price, I'm like ok. So this is when the story turns bad. He takes the other one and weighs it. He tells me the price and I'm like WHAT THE HECK! You see the first box was a shoe box with some treats inside that I taped up with a paper bag.  The second one "the problem box" was a used post office flat rate box. I didn't think it was going to be an issue. I just thought that since I didn't buy the box there that he could just weigh it and charge me the weight of the box and not the flat rate crap. He then went on to tell me that the boxes are free and your only charged when you use them. This box had already been used too! They sure are making some money off these boxes. I was thinking to myself that I might just swing by every post office in town and load up on some big boxes when it's time to move. Hey they're free right? I went on to tell him that it was media mail because I was mailing a 14 year old girl a whole bunch of extra Jane Austen novels I had. You know just trying to do a good deed and crap. Oh and for those that don't know media mail is a whole lot cheaper than standard mail. So when he first put the "problem package" on the scale he said it was going to be over $10 to mail. And when I said if it was in a box from home how much with media mail would it be? It was only going to be $3 bucks. Ok so you can see why I was getting angry. That's a big difference for us broke folks. So I told him well can I just mark out the post office lingo on the box and he said no. Now I do Keep a Sharpe in my car and I was more than happy to go and cross it out. You see the post office has signs that say if your package has extra writing on it that all you have to do is cross it out with a marker. Well I guess that just applies to "other" boxes and not theirs. So I said well so you have any extra brown paper I can wrap around this. He said no. But he said I can purchase some. Really Guy do you really think I'm going to give yall any extra money????  When did the post office started making commission anyways!?!So I said listen I have  3 kids in the car, so you mean I have to drive back to my house and wrap this up? He said yes. WHAT A JACK A$$! I said fine and I started storming out of there and he said mam you need to pay for this other package. Ugggggg! I turned back around payed for it and it they didn't have stinking swinging doors I would have slammed the door! LOL So I get back in the car and drive all the back home grab a brown paper bag cut it up and wrap it around the "problem package" and drive back with Landon crying because now it is time for his morning nap. On the way back I am just steaming mad! I have all these thoughts that are in my head on what I will do or say when I get back in there. Like hmmm maybe I will just unleash my kids on that place and they can just destroy it while I'm standing in line. Boxes and supplies everywhere that would be great! The mental thought just made me smile. But back to reality I didn't want to purchase insurance on my package so I thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to do that. They might just accidentally lose my package or something. So I went back in there threw my package on the counter and said here it's wrapped up! He goes to weigh it and tells me that it's $3 dollars I take my debit card out pay and I sitting there showing him my ID again and he says, smartly " oh don't worry you don't have to show me that I remember you". I just wanted to tell him you better remember me mister I might not be so nice next time. So now you see why I got so mad. I also see that since this is a Govt ran business that is going bankrupt that I hope he doesn't get his cushy retirement! This is what we have to look forward to with our new health care soon people. Long lines, people with attitude and a whole lot of extra paper work that you have to go through to get anything done! Yay for no customer service!

Butterscotch Isle Apple Salad

I recently made this for a church picnic. I made the sugar free, fat free recipe and it was pretty good. Well I didn't want it to be "pretty good" so I decided to make the real deal, so now it is DELISH!

1 pkg of instant butterscotch pudding
2 cups of milk
1 cup (1 8oz can) crushed pineapple packed in fruit juice, undrained
1 cup of coolwhip
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 Cups (4 small cored, unpeeled, and diced Red Delicious apples)
1/4 cup of  flaked coconut
1 Tbsp of flaked coconut to sprinkle on top

In a large bowl combine the pudding mix and milk with a wire wisk. Let it set in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Next after pudding has set, blend in the cool whip, crushed pineapple with juice and coconut extract.

Add the apples and coconut to the butterscotch mix. Blend it well.

Finish it off with a sprinkle of the extra coconut on top.

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Tip: You can do two apples and two pears to change it up a bit too!

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

We have this family at church whose son died in a boating accident a couple of years ago. On Sunday the husband bore his testimony about this video and the accident that happened to his own family. Both this video and my friend that bore his testimony brought tears to my eyes. I hope that one day I too can forgive others like the man in the video and become more like Christ.  I have not had anything even close to this happening to me but yet I struggle sometimes when someone wrongs me. I know that it is something I need to work on and I know that after watching this that I really need to step up. What a great example this man is. He truly understands the Atonement.
*Please copy the link below and paste it in your browser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU

The Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie

This Chicken Pot Pie is so good. It is a great meal to prepare because you don't have to make any sides with it because it's an all in one dish. The Essence of Emeril seasoning really makes this dish special.

3 Large Chicken breast cut up.
2 bags frozen mixed veggies (thawed)
2 cans of cream of Chicken soup
1 1/2 Tbsp of Essence of Emeril seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of milk (divided)
1 1/2 sticks of margarine (melted)
1 1/2 cup of self rising flour


Spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Line the bottom of the dish with cut up chicken breast(bite size pieces) Sprinkle the Emeril's seasoning on top of chicken.

Pour both bags of  thawed mixed veggies on top of chicken pieces. (do not mix)

Thin the cream of chicken soup with about 1/2 cup of milk. You can add more if you like. Pour over chicken and veggies. 

FOR THE CRUST:

In a small bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups of milk, melted margarine and flour. Salt and pepper to taste. Beat together thoroughly with a whisk. Carefully pour this mixture over the soup, making sure it covers it completely.

Bake at 400 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until browned