CHRISTMAS CANVAS!

This is my latest canvas. It is very big--3 feet by 4 feet. It will go up for auction next Thursday night at a local fundraiser for the AAU team that my son coaches and my granddaughter plays for. My husband says he hopes it doesn't sell--I kinda do too--He thinks it will look good in our family room during the Christmas season.

I want to give credit where credit is due. I saw a picture of a canvas very similar to this in a Christmas Ideas magazine last year and took the idea from that. Kijsa is the artist and you can see her incredible art here.

<

MURAL I JUST PAINTED!

Be sure to check out Kellys Korner and see all the children's and babies' rooms.

My son and his wife just bought a house last week and asked us to come help them paint. While the others paint painted, I painted a mural on my granddaughter's wall. This is how it turned out--I liked it so much I decided to use a picture of it for a while at the top of my blog. This is her reading nook. She is a "Little House on the Prairie" fan. The room is painted a sky blue and she wanted to feel like she was lying out in the middle of a meadow or prairie as she reads.

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping by!

MEMORIAL DAY AT THE LAKE!

If you click on this picture, you can see LeeSa in the far background.

From left: Vivian, Donna, Joyce, yours truly and Marilyn

Marcus, Lucas and Elijah

Larry and I spent Memorial Day, 2009, with great friends, Bob and Joyce, Vivian and Charles, Hoppy and Donna, Brent, Lisa and Elijah, and Marilyn, Marcus and Lucas. I should have taken a picture of the steaks that Bob cooked for us. They were soooooooooo good!! It was a wonderful day with lots of fellowship, food, fun, and laughter.

LeeSa, where we you girl? I know, I know, taking a break with a cup of coffee while we did all the work of watching Elijah! Just kidding! Just kidding!

MEMORIAL DAY, 2009

I am taking the liberty to reprint a post I made last year on Memorial Day.

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS BELOW

Today's blog is dedicated to my father, who came to be known as Daddy Boyd in his latter years. He served his country that he loved so dearly in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Besides helping build the Burma Road, he was also a courier, flying "The Hump" several times. After one trip that required throwing parachutes etc. overboard to get enough altitude to clear the Himalayas, he decided that once on precious American soil again, he would never again fly on an airplane. He kept his word. But he always liked to joke that he wasn't afraid of flying..............................he was afraid of NOT flying.

Last night we watched the Memorial Day Concert from Washington D.C. I came to appreciate even more than ever all those who have fought for their country and especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. "Freedom is not free" can sound so trite at times but it is so true. Millions of Americans have laid down their lives so that we can live freely each day. How most of us take for granted our daily lives of freedom, our ability to come and go so easily, to go from state to state without passports or official identification, something many countries require nowadays.

In honor of all those, I want to include some of the favorite verses of TAPS.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky,
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well: Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.


Nighty, night, Daddy Boyd, I'll see you in the morning!

REDEEMING LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a new title on My Favorite Books list and it is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Remember Hosea in the Bible and his love for Gomer? This is an awesome, inspiring love story--the greatest love story ever told because it is an analogy of God's love for each of us.

This is a page turner--I guarantee most of you will NOT be disappointed--in fact, it is my humble opinion that you will be inspired to love and be loved in a way that you never have before. Happy reading!!

--click here to find out where to buy new and used copies--

Chicken Ranch Taco Soup!

Well, I didn't know what else to call it but it is so, so good.



3 chicken breasts cooked in skillet in olive oil and white cooking wine


1 chopped green pepper


1 chopped yellow onion


1 can fat-free refried beans


1 can stewed tomatoes


1 can Rotel with lime and cilantro


1 can red kidney beans rinsed and drained


1 can black beans rinsed and drained


1 can chicken broth


1 pkg Hidden Valley BUTTERMILK ranch dressing mix


1 pkg taco seasoning mix-- (I googled homemade taco seasoning mix and use this recipe instead of buying the mix)


salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any)


4 or 5 fresh crushed garlic cloves  (optional)


1 small to medium-sized handful of chopped cilantro (I leave mine kinda big--less work and we like it better)  (this is also optional)


After chicken is done, cut into bite-sized pieces and put in the soup mixture. You can simmer on top of the stove for a couple of hours or place in crock pot for several hours. If this is a little spicy for your taste buds, add another can of stewed tomatoes or a cup or so of water to tone it down a little. We love, love, love spicy at our house. The spicier the better.


Serve with any or all of the following: fat-free sour cream, guacamole, reduced fat grated Mexican cheese  (Of course you don't have to use fat-free or reduced fat!)

Enjoy!

SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY!

Be sure to check out kellyskornerblog.com

Looking from my kitchen eating nook into the dining room.Also from kitchen--I love the raw silk drapes. The colors in them bring the color of the wall in dining room and living room together. It wouldn't have worked without them. I couldn't afford the material AND to have them made so my sister-in-law and I made them--mostly my SIL--thanks Gay!


We planted hydrangeas last year and are already reaping the rewards. They are loaded with blossoms. Will show them in a few weeks when we show yards.








This picture is looking from our dining room into our small living room. Even though that room is small, it is the one the adults always gravitate to when the family is all together. It is so cozy so there will sometimes be as many as 8 adults in that one room and sometimes add a few children or teenagers.




Looking from dining room into living room. I only showed my family room a few weeks ago so thought I would give you a little glimpse of our living room. The buffet on the far wall is my favorite piece of furniture in this room.




From the dining room, looking into the living room and entry hall. The two paintings are ones that I have done.

CILANTRO CHICKEN SALAD!

The ingredients

Lunch is served!

Cilantro Chicken Salad

1- 13 oz can chicken breast

1 or 2 (or to taste--I like a lot) chopped green onions --you may substitute purple onions but I don't think it is as good

1 stalk of chopped celery

1/4 to 1/3 cup of Hellman's mayo with olive oil

small handful of cilantro (measurement is before chopping and this ingredient is NOT optional)--chop this to your desired consistency--I like it left kinda big--

some people add a tablespoon or so of low sodium soy sauce--I may try some next time but love it without this ingredient--

2 T. or so of slivered almonds

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and serve on your favorite whole grain bread. We like it in a tortilla wrap. I added hummus, green onions, celery, and strawberries on the side.

SOUTHWESTERN GROUND SIRLOIN CHILI

2 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
1 medium onion
1 red bell pepper (I leave the peppers in fairly large chunks)
1 yellow or orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper (optional)--add if you like lots of pepper
2 T. olive oil
1/2 to 1 bunch of chopped fresh cilantro
4 T. chili powder
3 T. ground cumin
2 T. chopped garlic in oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp or "to taste" salt
1 tsp or "to taste" freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Place the ground sirloin in a skillet and brown, drain off any excess grease. Place the rest of the ingredients in the skillet with the meat and cook slowly until done. Sometimes I do all of this in my crock pot. If needed, drain.

This is good served as a separate dish with black beans and a salad or use as a base for a soup or wrapped in a tortilla with reduced-fat cheese.

If you use for a soup, add

1 can fat-free refried beans
1 can Rotel with lime and cilantro
1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour to fully season.

Stay tuned for a Cilantro Chicken Salad recipe in a few days and an update on the shakes.

Three Bean and Cilantro Salad

Oh my gosh, I made a "take off" of one of MckMama's recipes (sorry, I don't know how to do the little linkie thing but I am going to learn soon) and it was awesome. I served this with a ground sirloin dish on whole wheat tortillas. I will try to get that recipe on before the end of the weekend.

I used these ingredients (all except the oregano--decided not to use that)

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

drain and wash all beans

1 cucumber chopped--I like to leave it in medium-sized chunks

several grape tomatoes or if using cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 bunch of green onions sliced--I use about half of the green part also

1 large handful of cilantro--this is NOT optional--I chop it but not a lot

about 1/4 cup of pine nuts

1/2 to 1 tsp. of oregano--if you like more, put more--just go easy til you get it just right)

sea salt to taste

freshly ground pepper to taste

about 3 T. of olive oil

about 2 T of lemon juice or to taste--I like it really tangy

about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of Splenda (this is the secret ingredient)

1 squirt of lime juice-a tsp or so

You can eat this right away or refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour before serving. It is good either way.

Right before serving, I put about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of fat-free feta cheese on it and mix in--

ENJOY! I made this for the first time today and it was wonderful. My daughter-in-law stopped by and I gave her a bowl. She snarfed it down and said it was perfect and wanted the recipe.

If you are so natural that you don't use Splenda, I guess you will have to forego this recipe, no, just kidding, I think a tiny bit of sugar would do--just don't get it too sweet. Go easy.

KRIS ALLEN

GINGER PORK!!! YUM

UPDATE #2--Hubby and I have been having a blender shake every night this week (we are now in our third week of this eating plan so we only started the shake this week)--

This serves 2 people

1 1/2 cups of fat free or skim milk
2 packages Equal
6 medium strawberries
1/4 to 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (last night I used banana but used just a little more, maybe a teaspoon)
9 ice cubes put in one at a time through the top of the blender
about 1/2 tsp of Splenda
blend until frothy and most of the ice is crushed

Enjoy!!

Okay the kicker: Tonight I didn't have any strawberries so I used about 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and black walnut extract--was really good!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: This post will be really hard to believe if you read my post a couple of weeks ago entitled: MY NEXT HOUSE WILL NOT HAVE A KITCHEN! Suffice it to say that we needed to start eating better and I decided to bite the bullet and start cooking regularly again.






For the past two weeks, my husband and I have been eating very, very well and losing weight. He has lost about 14 lbs and I have lost at least 5. I have only weighed one time and only plan on weighing once every 2 to 3 weeks. Basically, it is a Semi-South Beach eating plan. I have adjusted a little bit here and there just to make it a really "long-term" deal.

Now, I don't think pork is on South Beach but afterall, isn't it "the other white meat?" This meal included a squash and zucchini dish, the pork chops with vegetables, fresh green beans from the produce section of the grocery store, and a salad.

The Pork Chops
I really don't measure anything most of the time but will try to give you an idea of what I did.

First of all, I put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a skillet with a teaspoon of Gourmet brand ginger paste (I couldn't find fresh ginger or would have used it), a tablespoon or so of lite soy sauce, and about a third cup of cooking sherry, along with fresh ground black pepper and salt. I meant to add some fresh garlic but forgot. I added it the last time I prepared this dish and it was really good.

I cut up a big Vidalia onion in slices (any yellow sweet onion will do), 6 to 8 medium-sized mushrooms, and a yellow pepper. Any of these are optional or add your favorite vegetables. When the pork chops were about 3/4 cooked, I added the vegetables. Cooked them low to medium for a while and toward the end turned the fire up really high to get some real browning going on. I love the taste that leaves on the meat and the veggies. Oh, I also added a few green onions, mostly the green of the onion.



Normally I serve a small baked sweet potato with this meal but the ones I chose the other day at the store had ruined (I have never had this happen before with sweet potatoes) SO I served left-over squash and zucchini and green beans.


I prepare almost all of my vegetables this way:
Olive oil, white cooking wine and butter, however since we have been on this eating plan, I use Smart Balance instead. I basically cooked the vegetables on low to medium for quite a while and then turn up the heat really high toward the end of cooking time to get a really browned taste. I cook the green beans the same except I don't put the heat to them at the end. Same with fresh asparagus.



Now for my favorite part, the salad:

I use heart of romaine lettuce, lots of fat-free Feta cheese (look hard in the deli section of your grocer--sometimes it is kinda hard to find--I used to buy the reduced fat but haven't been able to find it in a couple of years--, seedless cucumbers, green onions, and tomatoes. Tonight I added an avocado but really like this salad better without it.


The dressing consists of a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon or so of lemon juice, about a tablespoon of oregano leaves, salt, pepper and the secret to the whole thing--Splenda to taste--maybe a half teaspoon or so. Too little and it's good, too much, it's not so good, if you hit it just right, this dressing is absolutely incredible. For a change, I substitute either Balsamic vinegar OR white cooking wine in place of the lemon juice. I buy the lemon juice in the little yellow plastic lemony looking thingie in the produce section. I put all of this directly onto the salad and then mix like crazy. The salad needs to be eaten very soon after adding the dressing.


I really don't want this to become a "recipe blog," but if you check back every few days or so, I will try to update what we are eating, if we are still losing weight, and a few "loose" recipes.


Oh, by the way, we have left off all potatoes (except sweet potatoes and didn't have them for the first two weeks, sugar, pasta, and bread except we do have a large whole wheat tortilla most days--I either fill it with tuna or chicken salad or some brand of deli turkey. This is our lunch many days.

Stay tuned--I will give you more ideas for sides to eat with your sandwich.

SEMI-SOUTH BEACH EATING!! YUM

More Mother's Day 2009

My very first Mother's Day ever--1967! Wow! Where have the years gone?

1968

1973

Not sure of the year!






My card this year from Ashton and Noelle!

My sweet card from Jeff and Kim.

And from Michael's wife, Traci

And last but not least, of course, from Larry Dale.

BULLSEYE!!!!!!!!!

The Person Who Has God and Everything Else!

Recently someone commented on a post of mine that brought this old quote back to me. The person who has God and everything else has nothing more than the person who has God alone. Do we really believe that? In a society where success is measured by kind and number of cars we drive, the size and number of diamonds we wear, and the sizes of our homes and the neighborhoods they are in, one has to wonder if we really believe that.

2-4-6-8-WHO DO I APPRECIATE?

I just received this Mother's Day card from one of my smart-alecky sons. LOL --I thought it was really cute but sent him an email telling him that he was "cute" but wrong. You see, I didn't pray to find out everything that they did wrong. What I did pray was that God would see that they got caught whenever they did wrong. And I really didn't care who caught them as long as it was someone responsible who loved them and had their best interest at heart. As far as I'm concerned, God more than did His job. Yay! God (cheering now) You did it!! The only curious thing about it was this: It seemed as though every time God caught them at something they weren't supposed to be doing, He thought I ought to know. Subsequently, my sons not only thought I had eyes like the ones in the card above but also in the back of my head. That is also where my son got his information to support sending this erroneous MD card.

Of course, listening to them talk now (ages 42, 39, 36) the dreaded "You just wait until your father gets home," was one of my favorite phrases that instilled a tiny bit of angst the fear of God in them for the rest of the day, however long that was.
Just for the record (as long as they were home, at least) they were wonderful kids and caused me few real discipline problems.

2-4-6-8 Who do I appreciate for helping me be the coolest mom around?? First of all, God, second of all, my husband, and yes, those awesome sons of mine. Thank you for making it easy to be a great mother. ahem as MckMama says. I love you!!

If you don't know who MckMama is, you simply must check out her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE!

Please check out Show Us Where You Live Friday at http://www.kellyskorner.blog.com/

The canvas over the sofa is one that I painted. The words are from scripture and read, "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." I have many favorite scriptures and this is one of them.

This is the room we "live in." My husband usually frequents the recliner and I am usally on this end of the sofa with my laptop on the leg extension--it makes a great desk!

Directly across from my end of the sofa is this picture of Jesus. At Christmas this year, a lady painted this canvas while we sang worship songs and our preacher preached the morning sermon. I had most of my family with me and it was a very awesome time of worshiping together. I asked her after church if she sold her paintings and she did so I bought it. Her name is Nancy Posey and she works out of the Dallas area.

This the desktop computer area and there is a Yamaha Clavinova (digital piano that the grandchildren love) to the right. The room you can see through the double doors is our entry hall. My husband spends a lot of time on the computer and it's great to have it in the living area so we can be together.




The area where the picture of Jesus is will be used for seasonal canvases. I am working on one now for Christmas. It is red with gold lettering and says, "Every tree throughout the world bloomed and bore fruit on Christmas Eve. Nature silently but brilliantly celebrated the Birth of Christ." I think it will be pretty there during the holidays.

This is the far end of the room the other direction which has a door that leads to the patio and backyard. The flowers on the table are irises and the blooms from hostas--they are from our yard.

This is probably my favorite piece of furniture. I didn't pay a lot for it--got a really good deal--but it houses mementos and pictures of the ones in this world that I love the dearest. Our son Jeff, and his wife, Kim, are in the second compartment top left--there is another picture of him on the far right, second row down. Sorry, I know this will be boring to some but I am also posting this for posterity's sake, hoping maybe someday my descendants might check it out. As you will discover on down the page, we are a huge basketball family. Jeff is assistant coach at Arkansas Baptist. We won the state 3-A championship this year. His wife, Kim, works for Goodwill Industries--don't forget to be charitable!!

Jeff and Kim's children, Kailey and Kendall, are on the far right on the second row down. Chris and Andrea's children, Ashton and Noelle, are on the far left second rown down. The bottom two pictures are of me--one as a senior in college and the other as a child of about 4 or 5. The picture directly above my senior college picture is of my mom and dad, Boyd and Glenna Faye.

I will include this for Kelly since she is such a big Razorback fan. My husband played basketball for the Razorbacks in the early 60's and this is his official Razorback photo (yea, the one where I chopped the head off--sorry, Honey.) Michael and Traci's children, Katelyn, Caroline and Kennedy are on the far left, top row. I alsolutely love the bottom left picture. It is a picture of my husband when he was a little boy, on his tricycle, in his bathrobe (early in the morning--everyone used to wear bathrobes while they ate breakfast) and one of his dogs--I think this dog is named Blackie--go figure!!

Michael and his wife, Traci, are on the top right--her wedding portrait and his official Arkansas Razorback basketball picture. Yes, he played for the Razorbacks also back in the late 1980's. Traci is the children's director for a church here in this area. The hydrangeas are from my yard last year. I put them there when they were fresh-- they dried beautifully and I have never removed them.

Chris and his wife, Andrea are on the top right. They lived in Pennsylvania for 6 years and just recently moved back to Oklahoma. We are so glad to have them back in the area! Chris is a youth pastor and has just started back to school for his master's in counseling. His wife homeschools their children and is active in Classical Conversations. (check it out--makes me want to go back to school)