Christmas Traditions

Look at me will you?! Two days in a row!! I am sitting at my desk surrounded by Christmas lights. The fireplace making the room cozy and warm while the wind is whipping outside. The house smells like cinnamon and pomanders. Jonny is heading out to get the four of us bigger folk some dinner so we can have a fun evening sitting in front of the fireplace and watching "A Christmas Story", one of my all time favorites.
Both boys just went down for bed with Vicks in the humidifier to hopefully soothe their atrocious coughs, and Ally is reading a book to Molly so she can head off to cuddle under her covers.
All is peaceful and quiet in the house.
My Christmas shopping is officially done, and as of this afternoon, most of my gifts are wrapped and I got my Christmas cards ready to be put in the mail.
Things feel strangely calm around here.
I thought I would steal a few moments to share with you some of our families favorite traditions. I was recently asked to teach a class on traditions in a friends church, so these are all very fresh in my mind.
When I was first married, Jonny and I put up our very formal tree sometime the beginning of October. I was bound and bent on starting up the fireplace even though it was Indian summer. The house got so hot that we had the air conditioner running and all the windows open as well. I decorated my house with my few pewny what-nots and bought an Ann Murray cassette.
I wanted so badly to have a certain type of Christmas, but being a new bride, I had no idea what that certain type of Christmas should look like.
A few years later, after Ally and Meghan came along, I decided we needed a more friendly tree and so I hit the after Christmas sales and stocked up on snowman, Santa, and candy ornaments.
We also started making Christmas cookies and having a tree-decorating night with Nana and Papa and all kinds of finger foods.
Then as our family continued to grow, I discovered the pickle ornament. After seeing someone open one of these interesting ornaments at an ornament exchange and hearing the oohs and aahs that filled the room, I was instantly curious. The tradition is to hide the pickle somewhere in the depths of the tree and whoever finds it first gets to open the first gift.
In our house, we let whoever finds it, be the gift passer-outer. Our kids really enjoy this tradition.

Another tradition we have is going to Silver Dollar City and having the kids picture made with Santa. Then we pay to have it put in an ornament and hang it on the tree. Our tree is covered with ornaments that start when Meghan was a baby to now having five children surrounding the smiling Santa (which by the way, our family has deemed the "Real Santa").
I have come to the conclusion that by the time our kids are grown, I will have to have a tree that is especially designated to hold the Silver Dollar City ornaments.
Something else we've started in the past few years, is a shopping day with me and the big girls.
When we first started, it consisted of lunch at McDonalds and trying to make their five dollars stretch for everyone on their list. It has now become on of my favorite nights of the year. We went last night and had the best time! The girls now have allowances, not to mention the little odd jobs we've found for them around the house the last couple of months. So they had a nice stash put aside to spend. We started out with a little shopping, then had sushi at Oceans Zen. I quickly figured out that my girls are growing up when the host kept insisting that we wait in the bar and have a drink until our table was ready. We spent dinner laughing over how easy it is to embarrass Ally and how frequently Meghan would look at herself in the mirror to make sure that the face she just made, didn't in any way detract from her lovely outfit.
Then we headed off to the mall to finish our shopping, then ended the night with "The Chronicles of Narnia". It was a marvelous evening!

I have realized through the years that you don't force traditions. Traditions happen slowly and often by accident. You don't necessarily use everyone you grew up with. You make your own. Write them down. I recommend buying a Christmas journal. It might sound silly, but I keep track of every gift I buy each year, how much it cost, what we had for dinner, what parties we hosted, who we sent Christmas cards to, and how God has worked on our family that year to make that particular Christmas different from the one before. I so enjoy pulling it out and reviewing each year.
I hope that you have found your special Christmas traditions that you enjoy with your family. I would love to hear about some of them. I'm always looking for something new to try each year.

Good night readers:-)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!

Well I'm finally getting a few minutes together to post about the season that I have been looking foward to posting about since last February. But now that it's upon me, I haven't been able to find two seconds together. My problem is that I'm constantly trying to get everything done well before Christmas so that the days before, I have nothing to do but play board games with my girls, sip hot cocoa, and watch Christmas movies. That day usually comes January 2nd when it's time to start school again:-(

The Springfield News Leader came this past Monday morning and took pictures of our house to feature in the paper Sunday December 19th. So between getting ready for that, shopping for the perfect gifts, wrapping these perfect gifts, making Christmas candy, making sure the pantry is stocked up with all the last minute things that one needs to make Christmas dinner that the store always runs out of, and repairing all of the ornaments that the boys keep breaking, the hot cocoa and board games evenings have been few and far between.

Every year starting in December, I have this nightmare that it's Christmas Eve and I haven't done anything. The tree isn't up, the gifts aren't bought, the food isn't prepared. Ever watched "Christmas with the Kranks"? That is my nightmare so perfectly pictured, that while everyone else is laughing, I'm biting my nails hoping that this year she gets to the ham in time, or that Frosty doesn't fall off the roof, or that the store does have white chocolate.

You needn't worry about me though. I am determined to relax the remainder of this month. I am anxiously anticipating my shopping trip with the big girls tonight along with dinner and a movie. I had a wonderful evening in Branson with Jonny last night looking at lights and eating a delicious dinner. I am stocked up on hot cocoa and I bought a new board game yesterday while Meghan and I were out shopping for winter gear just in case in snows this year.

That is the one bummer about living in this area, is that inevitably, if we buy snow gear it never snows, and if we don't guess what? A snowstorm.

Apparently everyone else in Springfield has realized the same thing. Which is why last year when Christmas Eve day came and the big snow was in the forecast, everyone and their brother, including my husband and daughters ran for the nearest Target or Wal-Mart to see if they could snag a pair of boots or a sled.

Oh well. This year I will be prepared no matter what happens. As Jonny pointed out last night, a Proverbs 31 woman doesn't worry about the cold because her house is dressed in scarves and snow boots;-)

I am planning on redecorating my blog next week after the pictures that the New Leader took are available. It's positively silly how excited I am to see pictures of my own house.

I also am going to try my hardest to get on here again in the next couple of days and post some of my favorite holiday recipes for you.

Strawberry salad, English toffee, popcorn balls, and buckeyes are just some of the recipes I am anxious to share with you.

I need to skidder off now to get myself ready for my night with Ally and Meg. If you're out looking at Christmas lights one night, be sure to drive by and see Jonny's masterpiece. The house looks better than it ever has this year!! He even did the tree house!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Great Fall Meals

This is without a doubt my favorite time of year! It always seems to make me want to be in my kitchen more than usual. I love pouring over soup recipes, trying out new desserts, and setting out the honey and apple butter to go on whatever bread I put with dinner. I keep a candle burning on the counter and light the old oil lamp to make it feel even cozier. I never feel like grilling or making light meals in October or November. I always find myself craving something more savory and hearty. I have already blogged about different soup recipes and my chili, but there are so many great things to put in the big pot and let simmer all day. This past weekend, I found a huge, bright red, dutch oven at TJMaxx and decided that it belonged on my stove. It is now full of beans and the leftover ham from last night. The whole house smells wonderful and I have the peace of mind that dinner is already prepared and all I have to do is pop some biscuits in the oven this evening.

I found a new soup recipe last year and made it again last week. It's called Taco Soup and is really hearty and delicious. All you do is brown 1 and 1/2 pounds of ground chuck with 1 onion diced, then add a can of pinto beans and a can of chili beans, a large can of diced tomatoes, a can of rotel, two cans of chili with no beans, 1 pound of Velveeta, and a packet of taco seasoning. After this has simmered for just a bit, add in 2 cups of sour cream and heat through. Serve it with cornbread and you have a simple, delicious meal!

Another great meal to remember is ham. It is a little expensive but it goes so far and makes so many meals. Last night, I basted my pre-cooked ham with a sauce made out of yellow mustard, brown sugar, and coke. Then I slow cooked it covered, all afternoon. Right before I served it, I basted it one more time then let it cook without the lid on for about ten minutes.
After that meal, you have ham sandwiches for the next couple of days, and then when you're tired of sandwiches, dump it into a pot with your favorite canned beans, add extra water and some minced onion.
You have just served at least four meals off of one ham!

If you're family likes spicy Cajun food, I found a recipe for jambalaya and changed it up a little. It is one of my family's favorites.
I'll try to give you the recipe as close to the way I make it as possible.

Jambalaya
Brown 2 cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot. Add 2 14 and 1/2 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of chicken broth, and two cups of uncooked instant rice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer about half an hour. Then add a package of smoked sausage cut up and browned, cooked ham or chicken (whichever your prefer) and a cup or two of shrimp (depending on how much you like shrimp. We LOVE it so I add quite a bit.).
Then add spices to your liking. Salt, pepper, Tony Cacheras, (the more of this you add, the more Cajun it will taste. I put in alot!), garlic salt, whatever spices you like in your Cajun food.

Of course don't forget roast! I posted different roast recipes back in January under "Regarding Roasts" so if you need a new idea for your roast, check back in my blog archives.

Well I have to hop off here now and go start one of the huge baskets of ironing screaming at me from down in the laundry room. I hope this gets you in the cooking mood and if it doesn't, then read "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. If that doesn't get you into your kitchen, then nothing will!
Bye for now!!

It's finally chilly outside!! Time for chili inside!!

I am determined to mend my ways when it comes to my blogging habits. I have had my mind fuller than usual with school, schedules, meal planning, church, and other new activities.
But I've really missed getting on here and sharing my thoughts with you!
It has seemed for the past three months, that my imagination has been on vacation or otherwise engaged, keeping me from coming up with any new and exciting ideas to give you. But I must admit that I've been looking forward to fall and holiday posts since I first started blogging.

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!! I find myself marveling at God's ingenious handiwork more than usual when it blinds me every time I get in the car or walk down the road. I love looking at the beautiful colors, taking the kids to the pumpkin place, watching Ally and Meg rake up the front yard then run in and get the little ones to come make a mess of their piles, sitting around the firepit making smores, and making chili.
Which leads me to today's topic. Chili seems to have the widest variety of recipes of any food that you can prepare. There is chicken chili, chili with beans, chili over rice, white chili, spicy chili, turkey chili, slow cooked chili, canned chili, shrimp chili, green chili, and vegetarian chili. I have never in my life tasted two bowls of chili from two different kitchens that tasted even at all the same. I have been to chili cook-offs where there were twenty different kinds of chili and they were all completely different.
I have seen people use all different kinds of secret ingredients to make their chili special. I've heard of peanut butter, sour cream, ground cloves, coke, cider vinegar, mushrooms, brown sugar, cheese, cumin, jalapenos, onion, peppers, barley, and carrots.
What is also funny, is that without fail, that woman's family thinks that their Mom's chili is "The best!". I totally agree!!

When I first got married, my version of chili consisted of ground beef, canned tomatoes and ground cloves. I was perfectly content with that but my poor husband was definitely not. He preferred his chili full of huge kidney beans and poured over rice. Being from the south, I had simply never heard of filling your chili with beans and pouring it over rice. But wanting to make his stomach happy, I decided to come up with my own recipe.

After attending a yearly fall party at some friends house, I was introduced to a very hearty chili recipe. This one was very beany with very little juice in it. The exact opposite of my recipe. Jonny could only have been happier if their had been a large barrel of rice next to it.
I got the recipe from this lady and for a year or so, followed it faithfully. My problem was that I HATE kidney beans!! I think they are way too...thick? Meaty? Beany? Well too something or other.
I also like a little more juice in mine, just in case you want to dip your cracker in or crumble up a little cornbread in it.
So I took this recipe, and did what I very often do. I changed it!
Not everything mind you. This lady had found some great ingredients that add an incredible flavor to any chili. Such as cider vinegar, and sauteed onions.
I have now found the perfect chili for my family. Every single one of us is happy with it. At least, that's what they tell me.
I have never tried to write my recipe down, because I do it a little different every time since it is all in my head. This will be my greatest effort in sharing it with you.

Brown 1 to 1 and 1/2 pounds of ground chuck with 1 or 2 large onions until no pink remains. I don't always drain off the grease unless their is alot of it. If there is just a little in the bottom, it adds really great flavor. Then I add a can of black beans, a can of great northern beans, a can of chili beans, and a can of pinto beans. Be sure and drain these. Next I put in a large can of tomato sauce and a large can of diced petite tomatoes. Then I add a package of mild chili seasoning. Stir all this letting it simmer as you keep adding things. As far as my spices go, this part will certainly frustrate you, because I leave all my spices on the counter and keep adding more of this and more of that until it tastes just right. Which would explain why I'm always full before it's done.
I add lots of chili powder. Probably two tablespoons full. Then I throw in two bay leaves, salt, pepper, parsley, and about three tablespoons of cider vinegar. I also toss in a pinch of dry pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Just enough to make Jonny happy without killing the rest of us.
The cider vinegar is definitely the trick. Don't leave it out!!

This is the best I can do, and in case you haven't found your secret chili recipe yet, you can share mine. As long as you promise to do a little thing or two to make officially "your own":-)

My goal is to see you next Tuesday around this same time!

Time For School!!

Just to let you know what is going on with us, school has officially begun in the Jeppsen house.
This is my first year to teach three children and I have been a little concerned about the scheduling around here. I have been trying to figure out how I am going to teach both big girls their school, teach Molly how to write her name and read, keep the boys out of trouble and sufficiently entertained, clean house, do laundry, iron, grocery shop, cook, sort fall clothes, give each child the attention they need, etc. Not to mention running each morning, making sure that I have the time I need with God, and time to visit with Jonny.
The stress has gotten to me. But it is times like these that God steps in and gives us wisdom when we ask for it. This time He gave it to me in the form of my Mom and a very experienced couple that we are friends with. These people gave me the best advice on making sure that I am training their character before anything else, making sure not to be so hard on myself that I take no joy in this experience, and the best advice of all...realizing that God is able to equip them for the plans He has for them, even if I do not have the knowledge to give them all that they might need for these plans.

The burden that had been weighing down on me for some weeks, slowly began to lift and along with the burden being lifted, came the ability thus far, to be able to make things work.

Last night I made a schedule for the girls and put it on top of the books that they would need to work with today. My girls really like order and knowing what is expected of them.
This saved them having to come to me all day and ask what they should be doing next. They were able to work quietly all day only needing my help a couple of times.

This was my schedule today:
7:00- Up and at 'em (Me and the big girls)
Quiet time for me, the girls make bed, clean room, get dressed, read Bible
7:30- Boys up, Breakfast
8:00- Girls chores, Boys movie, Me laundry
8:45- Make sure little ones are dressed and house is in order
9:00- Girls schoolwork, Boys play time in the playroom, Me pay bills
10:00- Boys movie, Molly letters and counting
10:30- Boys quiet reading time, Molly flash cards
11:00- All kids outside for half hour, me more quiet time ( I needed more than usual today)
11:30- Girls schoolwork, little kids play together in the bedroom
12:00- Lunch for the little ones then down for a LONG nap
12:30- Lunch with girls and a little TV
1:00- Girls more school, Molly movie, me laundry

That is basically all that was scheduled for today. The girls finished school at about 3:00, boys napped until 3:30, Molly played outside or in her room, and I made dinner and checked schoolwork.
The day was good but extremely long. I'm afraid that bedtime for the entire family is going to come shortly after this post is completed.
Due to this rather busy schedule, I'm afraid that for at least a little while, blogs will continue to be few and far between. Just during this one, I have been interrupted about seven hundred times! Good luck to all you out there who are either just sending all their kids off to school, just starting school at your own house, or taking care of your homes and husbands as summer comes to a close.
Hope to talk to you soon:~)

Need Some New Ideas? Try Grilling!

I remember Shop Girl from "You've Got Mail" saying "I like to start my letters as if we're already in the middle of a conversation". I couldn't agree more. Tonight's idea came to me after I just finished off the all-time best steak that I have ever eaten in all my born days. My favorite steak until tonight, has always been the filet at Oceans Zen. No longer. As of tonight, my new favorite is the steak that Jonny threw on the grill and cooked (or shall we say, didn't cook) to perfection. It was a filet and it was perfectly medium rare and seasoned with nothing but salt. It was so amazingly tasty that I'm practically jumping up and down that there is one extra piece to fight over. It's a good thing that I'm the one who stays home during the day;-)

As much as I adore trying out new recipes, mixing up savory stews, baking fresh bread, and pulling cookies out of the oven, I am always ready for the nice break in the summertime.
You see, around here Jonny is the summertime cook. Other than the occasional chicken salad, or fried chicken, we eat grilled food all summer long.
I know that so many people get stuck in a rut and think that grilling means chicken or burgers every night. Not true.
We have, over the years discovered many different delicious foods to throw on the grill.
The more I read, the more I have found that if you can eat it, you can grill it.

Some of our first choices are burgers (done up with Dad's secret sauce) and fresh ears of corn. I have been told that you should first soak your corn in buckets of water, but I never seem to remember this trick until it's time for dinner. I have to admit to you though, that I cannot imagine how Jonny's corn can be improved by soaking it in water. It comes off the grill piping hot and perfectly juicy.
Another idea is steak which can obviously be pricey unless you find it on sail. Steaks are one thing that Jonny is always willing to splurge on being that it is his favorite food. All that he does is rub each side liberally in kosher salt and grill it for just a few minutes over charcoal. Delicious!
Here are some more that are pretty obvious;

Meats
Chicken (try a lemon butter marinade)
Pork Chops (not my personal favorite)
Salmon (make the sour cream/dill sauce)
Shrimp
Ribs (Jonny cooks them in foil for two hours and then pops them in the oven for a bit)
Sausages
Bratwursts
Hot Dog
Brisket (use liquid smoke, soy sauce, and Coke)

Veggies
Squash
Zucchini
New Potatoes
Cherry Tomatoes (not for long!)
Mushrooms (although I HATE those things!!)
Asparagus

Fruits
Pineapple (YUM YUM!!)
Bananas

There are hundreds of other things but these came to mind first. I even saw on the Today show last week, that you can grill watermelon! They simply threw it on the grill and then tossed it with some yellow tomatoes and goat cheese. It looked marvelous!!

Well I hope that this has helped you at least get your mind going in some new directions and given you some new ideas.
Tonight my daughter is breaking in the new tree house, by sleeping there with a friend. I swept it out real well, then filled it with fluffy blankets and strung Christmas lights up in the beams. If it weren't so impossibly hot out there, I would be tempted to join them!
Good night to you my friends.

Southern Feast!

Tomorrow night my favorite people in the world will all be gathered for a feast that may sound foreign to you. We are all going up to Mom and Dad's with my brother and sister-in-law and their two little ones. We are cooking up one of our all time favorite meals, that we have to start preparing for tomorrow morning.
The menu will be:
Fried Steak
Fried Chicken
Purple Hull Peas
Fried Okra
Fried Squash
New Potatoes
Fresh Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Fresh Peach Cobbler

Have you ever see the word "fried" so many times in one menu? Obviously we are not worried about our waistlines tomorrow night!
This meal is absolutely impossible to prepare without a trip down south. Most people up here have never even heard of purple hull peas unless their frozen. I've even heard people say that they're the same thing as black-eyed peas. WRONG!!! Purple hull peas are totally different and much, much better than black-eyed. The okra is something else that is difficult to find fresh in this area. As for the tomatoes, well you northerners have absolutely no idea what you are missing until you taste a south Arkansas tomato. There is a stand in Price Cutter that claims to sell them, but they are no where near as good as true southern tomatoes. They are shaped different and instead of being an orangish yellowish color, they are a brilliant red and smell so strong that you could tell it was a fresh tomato even if you had a clothespin on your nose.
They are the only kind of tomatoes that I like to eat sliced with some salt and pepper.

The peaches are another thing that you simply cannot find up this way. I don't care if you find a booth that says "fresh peaches" on the brightly painted sign. If I were to give you a taste of peaches from the south, you would spit these northern peaches out in the dirt. I guarantee it!!
A truly delicious peach should have little red speckles mixed in with the flesh. The juices should run down your arm the entire time you're eating it. It should smell so strong that you can stand back five feet with your eyes closed and still know right where to put your hand.

I am so dreadfully sorry to make your mouth water so profusely and then rub the drool right off your chin with a rough beach towel by telling you that you have to drive three to five hours away to make it a possibility. This will not be considered my kindest post.

As per my hairdressers suggestion, I posted pictures of my house on hgtv.com and I cannot believe how much fun that has been. Constant comments for the past two days! I have been checking my email like a child checks on the cookies in the oven!!
I'm afraid I depend too much on compliments. Oh well, something else for the Lord to work on!
Good Night all!!

Molly's Antics

This is my Molly. She is doing what she often does, laughing with her sister. Molly has been one of the most interesting adventures that I have ever walked in my thirty one years. Molly was born six years after my second daughter. She was much looked forward to and much prepared for. Her room was everything that a little girl could ever dream of. We couldn't wait for her to enter our world.
And then she came.
Molly hated our world for the first year of her life. She did nothing but scream and cry. She was always demanding attention. I remember the first time she ever sat down in her bouncy seat and didn't cry for a full five minutes. We were so hopeful at that point. As beautiful as she was, I seriously began wondering if I had made a mistake in interrupting our quiet, simple little family of four.
The bigger girls really struggled with not resenting the fact that we could never go out to eat or to see a movie because Molly would scream the entire time and we would have to take turns pacing and dancing with her. These acts would never make her happy, but would simply make the screaming a little less shrill.

Finally after the longest year of our lives, she turned one. It seemed at that point, she just decided to be happy. Since that day, she has either been wailing dramatically or laughing hysterically. She cannot stand to play by herself and never can seem to get enough snuggling.
She detests wearing anything except "fancy" dresses and hates it when I insist on something "tasual" (casual).

Molly has been making us laugh now for three years almost continuously. I thought that because of the number of comments I get each time I have posted on Facebook, some of the hilarious things that she has said, that I would devote an entire post to some of the more hilarious ones.
There by giving some of you who are just discovering that you have a personality type similar to this one, hope that there will many more days of laughter than there will be of tears. Just to help you understand her language, remember that Molly doesn't say her hard "k" sound so well. She tries her doggondest, but it just won't come out so well.

I will start with my Mom's favorite. It happened last year and is one of the first truly hilarious moments of our families "Mollyisms".
I was sitting in the floor of the nursery changing one of the boys diapers. Molly walks in and says "Where is dat nudder one baby?" Being the game player I frequently am, I asked her "What nudder one baby?" She looks at me as if I'm crazy and says "You know!! Dat nudder one baby dat matches dis one!"

Another one came this spring. Molly had a friend over to play one afternoon and being little girls, there was a little drama going on. Well her friend was busy playing something else and at that moment, not feeling like playing with Molly. So Molly comes up crying to Ally, "She hates me!!" Ally ready to come to the defense of her little sister stand up ready for ultimate big sister protection and asks her "Did she tell you she hates you?". Molly in a rare moment of complete honesty, shrugs her shoulders and remarks "Well, she was finkin' it!"

My next example sounds a little violent, but if you would be good enough to consider that she has been watching "Five Mile Creek" with all of us, you might more understand a four year olds thoughts. Her big sister Meg was doing something which I am sure was not necessarily the kindest thing although I have never been told what exactly it was. So Molly comes into the living room to "tell on her". She proceeds to tell her Daddy all about it, then surprises him by leaning into him and quietly asking "Do you fint we should shoot her?"
Jonny who has a bad habit of not making a big deal out of what I consider to be huge deals, simply says that he doesn't necessarily think that shooting Meg would be the best course of action. He thinks nothing more of it until I came downstairs wondering why Molly had come quietly into my room looking through my closet. When I asked her what she was looking for, thinking she was wanting to get into my jewelry box, she matter of factly announces that she is looking for Dad's gun. (Don't get to upset. It's only a pellet gun.)

Moving right along to a more feminine example. We were walking through the Landing with Mom one spring afternoon and Molly is skipping along behind stopping at every single flower pot to smell the flowers. She starts telling Nana how "these flowers are the most beeaauuutiful flowers" she has ever seen. Nana always the teacher tells her that those are Pansies. A few seconds later we hear her mumbling "Well they loot lite flowers to me".

Our next example will make Ally absolutely blush to the roots of her hair, but must be put on here. Molly was sitting on the potty which she does frequently. If you ask her why she has to go potty so often, she will simply tell you "I'm just a heavy drinker". Well in this particular gas station we were getting to know (we know every single one between here and Florida)
she was having a little trouble. After she finally is done, she looks up at me and with a red little face asks "Was dat diarrhea?" I told her no, it was not. She then wipes her little brow and says "Well dood, tause I was feelin' a little tonstipated!"

Well my memory is failing me now and I cannot think of any other silly Molly stories, although I am pretty sure that you have read enough to give you an idea of what my life has been like raising my precious little rascal.

I am now off to tackle two huge baskets of ironing that seriously make me want to dump them in a closet and pretend like I don't own them. See you soon!

The Best Dinner Experience I've Ever Had

Wow! It has been a REALLY LONG TIME since I have posted anything on here! It has just been a rather busy summer so far. You would think that after this extremely long silence, that I would have this long list of amazing recipes for you. But alas...I have nothing to share with you in the cooking department. At least not tonight.
But I still had to tell you about the Jeppsen's dinner time this evening. Last night while I should have been sleeping to help myself get over the nasty sinus infection my family caught from a hot tub while we were in Branson this past weekend (I advise you to stay away from those nasty things!), I was propped up on my pillows reading an old book that my Mom used when she was raising me and my brother and sister. It is called "Teaching Your Children to Love Each Other" and it is a wonderful book! Anyway, I noticed that at the end of each chapter, there is a discussion question for parents and one for families. Well maybe not exactly a question, more like a discussion idea.
The idea for children struck me as so wonderful, that I decided to give it try tonight at the table.

As soon as the rather noisy prayer was over (our boys believe in intercessory prayer and insist on bowing their little heads and "helping" Daddy pray), I informed the family that tonight we would be going around the table person by person and doing two different things. First each person had to say three things that they like about themselves. Only one of those things could be about the physical appearance. Except of course in Molly's case. She proceeded to tell us how she loves her nose, her lovely eyes, her beautiful blond hair, and so on and so forth. Oh well, she'll get the idea one day.
Absolutely no laughing was permitted after one slight snicker after one of them said she likes how sweet she is. The idea was not bragging, but more speaking positively.

Second, after everyone had gone around the table telling what they like about themselves (Charlie and Danny made it rather clear that they like their ability to smear spaghetti noodles over every single square inch of their little bodies), we then started all over again only this time each person had to say one thing he or she liked about everyone else at the table.

It took the entire mealtime to finish this excercise, but as soon as we were done, I asked everyone how they felt. Everyone, including Jonny admitted that they felt so much better about themselves and were thinking so much more positively. I can't wait to read the next idea tonight. Ally even came and found me later on asking me what other questions the book had.

Funny how little we seem to notice the things that can be said to constantly make others feel less important or incapable, and it was positively wonderful seeing each childs beaming face as I told them right in front of everyone else, what I thought was so special about them.

I highly recommend practices like this whenever you get the chance. I'm so excited to see what it does as far as helping my children learn to love each other.

Well there now. That was a little longer than I expected, but as soon as we were done with dinner, I knew I had to share this with you. So long dear friends. Hopefully we can continue this one sided chat again soon!

My Menu for this Week

I have posted pictures of my house on facebook. There are far too many to put on here. I think I posted about 40 to 50 pictures! Feel free to go on my profile and have a look!

I am so excited that everything is finally done and I can now relax in my finished house!

I thought I would post my menu for this week in case some of you needed inspiration for some new dishes.

Tonight I am making my personal all time favorite, Ham and Cheese Rolls! I can't remember if I've posted this recipe before, but just in case I haven't it will be at the end of this post.

Monday Grilled Steak, Baked Potato, Steamed Broccoli, and Grilled Corn

Tuesday We went to the pool and Jonny bought us pizza. So I have moved last nights meal to Friday.

Wednesday Ham and Cheese Rolls, Strawberry Spinach Salad, Frothy Orange Soda, and Shortbread and Sherbet

Thursday Hamburgers, Seven Layer Dip, Fresh Veggies, and Fruit Pizza

Friday Roast Beef, Scalloped Potatoes, Fried Okra, and more Steamed Broccoli

I have really missed cooking for the past four months. Between eating healthy and my house being a wreck, it seems like forever since I have been in my kitchen! I am loving pulling out some old recipes and serving them to my family. Do not get me wrong, we are continuing our efforts to eat healthier. Not to mention getting LOTS more exercise. But I am really ready to do a little of my favorite kind of cooking again.

Now to address some of the dishes I will be serving this week. The sherbet and shortbread might sound a little odd to you unless you are a fan of Pollyanna. Remember the part where Aunt Polly is having a town meeting, and the grumpy cook is in the kitchen whipping up a quick, summertime feast for a hundred or so. Pollyanna is busy dipping soft shortbread cookies into a large bucket of lime sherbet. My girls thought it looked absolutely delicious, and now I enjoy serving it to them on these hot evenings.

The seven layer dip I actually make with eight layers, because I usually add ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning. That goes on the bottom, then refried beans, french onion dip, guacamole, cheese, tomato, lettuce and sliced olives. Serve it with Tostitos whole grain chips and it is most incredible!

The Frothy Orange Soda I got out of a new magazine. The recipe is 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1 cup Sprite. In a blender add orange juice and ice cream. Cover and process until smooth. Stir in soda. Serve in chilled glasses.

Last but not least the Ham and Cheese Rolls. These just happen to be my all time favorite food in the entire world!!!! You simply grate up a block of swiss cheese and add four little cans of ham chopped up. Then slice up a bunch of green onion and stir into ham and cheese mixture. Then add enough yellow mustard to make it slightly sticky. I have never measured it, but I would guess about two to three tablespoons. Then form into balls and wrap a crescent roll around each ball. Dip in beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Try to keep all your edges closed so your cheese doesn't melt all over the pan. I have also recently discovered that greasing your pan REALLY helps. Bake at 350 until golden brown.

Hope this gives you some new ideas! Don't be afraid of working in your kitchen when the weather is this hot. Just find new things to prepare that don't take your standing over the hot stove for hours. And certainly remember to use your grill as much as you can! Maybe my next post should be "Good Grilling Ideas";-)

Open House Time!!

I know you were beginning to think it would never come, but we are finally finished with everything and ready to show it off!! Open house is this Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00. The girls and I are making some refreshments so bring your friends and family and stop in and visit us! We would love to see you!
I promise to post more pictures of the rest of the house, but I am waiting until next week after the "Big Reveal".
After realizing that I still had way to much stuff around here, I had my second yard sale week before last, and surprisingly enough, made enough money to go ahead and fix up my family room! I had already prepared myself for not getting to do that for quite a while. But it is now one of very favorite rooms in the house!

On a different note, I made up a new recipe last night. I know, I know, you thought I had forgotten about cooking. But now that everything is done, remodel, trip to Dallas, yard sale, I now have time to cook again. Due to the fact that Jonny gave me a little more money for the Dallas trip than we had agreed on (I just had to have the gorgeous white coffee table from TJMaxx Home Store!), I have once again been trying to use up what I have in the freezer and pantry. This does not always mean the most healthy meals, but we are still trying to do much better about our sugar intake and chips are rarely eaten at the Jeppsen house. Monday night I made tater-tot casserole and as much as my little folks loved it, I feel very unhealthy even admitting to you that I cooked it!

Back to the point. In searching through some of favorite cookbooks last night, trying to figure out what to do with a bag of chicken breasts and very little else, I couldn't find one recipe where I had everything that it called for. So I combined a little of this and a little of that, and PRESTO!! I came up with what we will "Crumbly Chicken Casserole". My entire family loved it and it was as easy as pie. I just boiled the bag of chicken, then shredded it. Then in a separate bowl I combined two cans of Cream of Mushroom soup ( I was out of Cream of Chicken, which is what I really prefer), half a block of Velveeta cut into little pieces, a packet of Ranch DIP mix (not Ranch dressing mix), and threw in the chicken. Then I greased a casserole dish and poured in my mixture. Last I crumbled up a sleeve and a half of Ritz crackers (thank you stock piling!) and sprinkled them over the top and drizzled on a stick of melted butter. Then I baked it until bubbly at 350. Can you feel yourself getting fatter? It was absolutely delicious!! I was so impressed with myself that I just made it up that I had to brag on myself to you today!!!!

Tonight I am making chicken salad in pitas with mangoes and strawberries. I am so loving this summertime weather! Maybe we'll even take the kids for an evening swim!
Good Bye for now!

PS...I think I use to many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memorial Day Menu

How can even possibly begin to apologize enough for my extended silence? I cannot even describe how busy life has been around here! The boys have managed to escape from the house and into the street, find where the butcher knives were hidden, steal and lose Molly's toothbrush, terrorize the dog, chase each other with the bottle of Clorox spray that is kept in a "child safety" locked cabinet, figure out how to take the padlock off the pool gate, and open the impossibly hard to open back gate. Not to mention they figured out how to pop all the keys off the keyboard, so my spelling might be a little wacky since I have no right shift key, no "E" key, and I'm missing a few others that I'm not sure what they are suppose to be! I have spent much time collapsed on the floor wondering if they will ever make it to age three. I now realize how much more time I should spend praying for their continued and miraculous safety.

Not to mention all the work that has been going on around here. Jonny brought three of his guys over here on Friday and had them work on anything that I decided was important. Fun, fun, fun!! They got alot done on the tree house, hung light fixtures, painted the hall, and cleaned up the back yard. Then yesterday, Jonny and I cleaned out the garage and guess what?! Time for another yard sale!! This weekend to be exact. I am selling my really nice double stroller, and my jogging stroller.

But enough about my business. Let's get back to the purpose for this post! This is my Memorial Day Menu:
Hamburgers (with special sauce!)
Hot Dogs
Potato Salad
Baked Beans
Guacamole and chips
Homemade Salsa
Pasta Salad
Deviled Eggs
Berry Trifle
Lemonade Pie
Mexican Bottled Coke

Is your mouth watering just a little? I have already posted the recipe for most of these things, but I will add the salsa today. This is my Mom's recipe and I have to say that although I hate almost everything that is in this recipe, mixed together it is the best salsa I've ever tasted!
It is not hard at all, the key is to find really delicious tomatoes.
Simply chop up 3 large tomatoes and 3 green onions. Then add 1 can of chopped black olives and 1 can of chopped green chilies. Then pour in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 3 teaspoons of white vinegar. Season with garlic salt and salt and pepper.
Really delicious and so fresh! I highly recommend trying this one!

I found a new magazine today that I am sooo excited about! It is "Taste of Home Great American Cookout". It has all kinds of delicious looking recipes in it, and I can't wait to try some of them! I will say that the Circus Peanut Gelatin sort of made my stomach turn. But other than that, I'm looking forward to adding some new recipes to my usual cookout menu.

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday tomorrow filled with good food and great fellowship!

Oh by the way, the house is just about done, and I am still planning on having an open house hopefully before the middle of June. I will post when it's coming. Night all!!

What exactly do you do with an eggplant?

I have been asked this question more than once. I have to tell you that it is one of my all time favorite vegetables...deep fried in parmesan that is!
I have heard of people putting in stir fry or in soups. But I'm not completely positive that it would be so delicious on it's own.
My personal favorite is to dip it in beaten egg and then dried parmesan and fry it at 350 until both sides are golden brown. The only problem with this is that the only way I know to get the bitterness out of it, is to sprinkle both sides with salt and place it between paper towels and blot out the moisture. This makes for an extremely salty dish. Which in my opinion is not a true problem but in fact a delight! Not so much for my poor fingers and feet the next morning.
You should really try this dish. It is better than potato chips and perfect for sommersizing!
Before we started eating this way, we would dip the eggplant in flour and fry it. Not nearly as wonderful as using parmesan.

Also if you use it in lasagna instead of pasta, it is a superb low carb meal. I have had people turn their noses up at the idea, but I would encourage you to try it before you knock it. Just be sure that you do the salting trick first so it won't taste bitter.

Oh by the way, THE KITCHEN IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't put up pictures just yet because I am planning an open house next month. But I will post them right after that.
Just allow me to tell you that I absolutely love it!!!!
I can't even believe how perfect it turned out. Everything better than I hoped for.

For my last thought, I have to tell you the little gift I got this morning. I did the unthinkable and took all five kids grocery shopping this morning. Sam's and Wal-Mart and did all my grocery shopping for the week. I can't even believe how well behaved my kids were! The totally shocked me. No squabbling, no running off, only one trip to the bathroom, no arguing. The only request was Molly asking for Cuties. They did so well, and I so enjoyed being with them, that when I checked out, the lady at the counter told me how and pretty and unstressed I looked! I could've hugged her!!

I am off to bed now. Good night Sweet Readers.

Fried Chicken and Deviled Eggs

Two dishes I promised you back in the chilly days. Neither one of these are actual recipes, just my own personal method.

For frying chicken
I have heard many people doing many different things with their chicken. I have seen people tenderize it. I have seen people use the entire chicken. I have seen people make up a concoction of corn meal, flour, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. I have seen it deep fried, pan fried, and baked.
Very seldom have I met a piece of fried chicken that I didn't like, unless of course it was a thigh. I personally think that fried thighs are disgusting. There is always that weird looking black thing in there somewhere.
My way of frying chicken is to use breast meat. I buy the boneless, skinless because I think that it makes the juiciest chicken. The bone-in with skin works as well, just takes longer to cook. I have tried using the chicken tenders, but they often turn out very dry.
I have also found that the best way to fry anything, is to use an electric skillet. This does a great job of regulating the temperature of the oil and I have never burned my oil in a skillet like I do when I fry on the stove.
I like to put quite alot of oil in the pan so that it gets the sides of the chicken. Be sure that your oil is around 350 degrees before you put in the chicken.
As far as seasoning the chicken, all I do is liberally salt both sides of each piece, then dip and thoroughly coat it in flour that has pepper in it. I fry the first side with the lid on then turn it over when it's golden brown and fry with the lid off. This helps keep it nice and crispy but not dry.
Now for the Somersizing way to eat fried chicken. Yep it can be done! Simply omit the flour. Salt and pepper and fry. You will be amazed at how good it is. I just cook it a little longer so that it's nice and crisp. I am going to try and dip it in egg and parmesan one day before I fry it. This works great with eggplant, so I don't see why it won't work with chicken.

As far as deviled eggs, I have found that everyone has their own special way of making these. Most of you probably have already found your tricks to great eggs, so this is for those of you that are new to cooking. I like my eggs very salty (of course) and more mustard than most people.
I simply boil the eggs (bring to a boil then continue boiling for ten minutes) then drain and fill with cold water. Then I peel the shells off and cut them in half long ways. Pull out the yolk with a spoon and put in a small bowl. I recommend buying an adorable deviled egg try. For some reason it seems to make this dish so much more fun! Then using a pastry blender or fork, mash the yolks until fine and crumbly. Then I put in enough mayo and mustard to make it the consistency of your liking. My mom uses mostly mayo with just a touch of mustard, but I use alot of mustard in mine. Then I salt and pepper it and using a spoon (or a pastry bag if you want them fancy) fill each hole in the white part and spread around leaving just a little white visible on each egg. Meghan prefers them with Paprika sprinkled on them, but I am not partial to the taste of Paprika on my eggs. To store them, simply pop in a couple of toothpicks to keep your plastic wrap from sticking, and refrigerate.
I know that right now it is all the rage to use farm fresh eggs, but I will warn you that peeling those things can be an absolutely booger! I have heard of trying everything from peeling them piping hot, to soaking them in ice water and have still never found anything that works. Good luck with that!!
By the way, deviled eggs are a perfect Somersizing side dish! They are considered your proteins.

That just about wraps it up. I'm off to organize my pantry! Talk to you soon!!

New Ideas and New Recipes!

I have this entirely new idea for you today. This will explain my lack of putting new recipes on my blog as of late. I have hesitated writing this lest you think that I go through dietary changes as quickly as I go through paint colors. But I have used this idea in the past and it has always worked extremely well for me and my parents. For the past month and a half, we have been Sommersizing. Ever heard of it? Well allow me to explain. This is not a diet but simply a healthy, smart way of eating that allows you to have most of your favorite things and not feel deprived or hungry. The trick is not deprivation but combination. You can have all the proteins that you want as well as most of the whole grain carbs you love. You simply cannot combine the two together. Sound to good to be true? I am living proof that it is not. I have stuck with this many times and always had amazing results. My main problem is continuing to stick with it. There is level one for those wanting to actually lose weight, and level two for those simply trying to maintain their weight.

I will briefly explain the rules to you, but I highly recommend buying the books. There are three of them but the first one is really all you need. It is by Suzanne Somers and is called "Eat Great, Lose Weight".

The hardest part of this for me, is that you are not allowed any sugar. Not even potatoes, corn, carrots, or bananas. But the wonderful part is that when you go out to eat, you don't have to order the dry salmon on a bed of unflavorful rice with a side of unseasoned broccoli. You can order steak with sauteed onion and a large side salad with Ranch dressing. The salad can have meat, cheese, eggs, and veggies on it. You can also order a juicy cheeseburger without the bun, top it with bacon and order veggies on the side.

It is very important to eat your carbs because they are what give you energy and keep your metabolism going. That is one reason I love this way of eating in comparison to "low carbing".

She also has a list of "funky foods" that include: olives, caffeine, avocados, nuts, peanut butter, and a few others. These are foods that have too many proteins and carbs at the same time. You may find that you can eat some of these and still lose weight. I allow myself nuts and they have never hindered my weight loss at all.

Another rule is that you cannot combine fruit with any other foods. This is not just from a weight loss stand, but also common sense. Have you ever tried to top off your meal with a bowl of strawberries? Your fruit tries to go down much quicker than your other foods and can cause a nasty upset stomach. You are however allowed to eat any fruit you want (excluding bananas) just eat it by itself.

The time rules are as follows: Wait three hours between protein meal and carb meals. Wait thirty minutes after eating fruit before you eat carbs and wait one hour after fruits to eat protein. Wait two hours after protein or carbs before you at fruit.

Some of my favorite foods to eat are: Proteins; turkey, sausages with melted cheese, sharp cheddar, grilled chicken, hamburgers with pickles and tomato, eggplant dipped in parmesan and fried, lasagana made with eggplant instead of pasta, broccoli with cheese sauce, roast with onions, grilled chicken salad with boiled eggs. Carbs; whole grain bagels, beans and brown rice, whole grain spaghetti with homemade (no meat) sauce, whole grain toast with no fat cottage cheese. Dessert; fresh pineapple, strawberries with Splenda, purple grapes, grapefruit with Splenda.

This way of eating has not only helped me to lose weight, but has also helped my girls to learn to eat healthier and has kept my little ones allergy problems to a minimum. I highly recommend giving it a try. I guarantee you that you will like it better than dieting!

I will be posting recipes for this way of eating along with regular recipes too for those of you who are not interested in trying this. Feel free to ask any questions you think of and because I have borrowed all three books from my Mom, I will probably be able to answer them.

Now onto a couple of recipes that I don't claim to be good for you, just mighty good to you!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (by Melahnie Rogers)
1 cup parkay (very important to use only Parkay)
1 package inst. vanilla pudding
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
Mix together

2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Add to first mixture

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

These cookies are soooo amazingly moist and different from regular cookies.

Never Fail Pie Crust (Robyn Knight)
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 Tbsp water
Put flour in bowl, take out 1/6 of flour and mix with water to make smooth paste. Cut shortening and salt into flour, add paste. Mix with fork until ball is formed. Roll out between wax paper. The less played with the better.

Now this recipe being written, I no longer make my own pie crust after discovering Pillsbury ready made crust. I think it is delicious and ridiculously easy. But for those of you who have always wanted to tackle your own pie crust, this one is a hit!

Sour Cream Enchiladas
I thought that I had already posted this one, but when I checked back, I couldn't find it anywhere. This is another one that I have no recipe for so have fun experimenting!
I boil a three pound bag of chicken then cool and shred. Then in a large bowl I combine equal parts of sour cream and cream of chicken soup. I always make alot so I use about two large cans of soup and two medium containers of sour cream. Then I put in a can or two of chopped green chilies. Depending on if your cooking for kids. Add the chicken, then put in a cup or two of shredded cheddar cheese. Then I put a scoop or two in about ten or twelve tortilla shells and fold them up and line them in a large casserole dish. Next I pour the rest of the cream mixture over the top and top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is nice and bubbly.
Very easy and one of my families favorites! This is one of my favorite dishes to take to people because it is so easy to double and so far everyone has loved it.

Hope you enjoy todays post! Have a great day!!

How sweet to be home

After a perfectly lovely week on the beach with my sweet family, I am home in my own castle. We had a marvelous time running on the beach (I can't say lounging because with five babies trying to test the water, we never sat for more than thirty seconds), eating fresh crab legs, watching cable tv, visiting with Mom and Dad and Nate and Steph, and knowing each day that there was absolutely no schedule to keep.

The week started with a huge storm which I was completely panicking over. Where on earth would we run with seven children if a hurricane blew in?! But I now look back and realize that it was a wonderfully relaxing day watching the rain on the beach and hearing the waves crash. We sat in our sitting area off our bedroom and watched the storm. But then the sun came out and we had the best time watching Danny, Charlie, and Alek building sandcastles. Those boys had the best time of their lives! We all got as brown as berries and only half of our crew got sunburned.

We tried to be adventurous and make the trip home in only one day. That was perhaps a little on the foolish side. We left that morning at 8:30 and by 10:00 that night, our kids had had enough. Danny started screaming so loud only stopping if I had my hand on his leg. Which trying to reach around behind my seat for that long totally put my arm to sleep. By the time we hit Cabool, everyone in our car was crying besides Meg and Jonny.

We spent yesterday unpacking the trailer we had to rent to cart all our stuff, and putting everything away. Then grocery shopping. It was not exactly the most exciting Mother's Day ever, but it has made for a very relaxing day today. I must say that I'm not extremely fond of the chilly weather we have returned to. Coming from sunshine and sleeveless tops to turning on the heater and the fireplace and putting the boys in footed sleepers has been a little disappointing. But extremely condusive to laying around doing nothing today.

Now that vacation and remodeling are about wrapped up, I intend to do a better job of keeping up with my blog. Time to start cooking again!!

Have to run now. The couch is calling my name!!

Taking a little trip!

Well my friends, I bid you a fond farewell for the next week and a half. I am off to Destin with my family! We are leaving tomorrow morning and will not be back until Mothers Day. Packing for this many people is no picnic let me tell you. My list includes such things as: sunscreen, aloe vera, playpens, pillows, toys, books, movies, diapers, spanking spoons, pacifiers, cameras, ipods, colors, blankets, sand toys, Magic Erasers (who knows what my boys will find to destroy!), first aid kit, sunglasses for seven people, hats, and countless others things that I'm so afraid I will forget.

This is our first real vacation in six years. The last time we saw the beach, Meghan was four. The kids are so excited that we have talked about nothing else. The girls have every detail planned out including what pajamas they will wear what night and what the first things they will say to each other when they wake up will be. Poor Molly has absolutely no concept of time just yet, and so when Monday rolled around and we told her we were leaving for Florida this week, she thought that meant this day. Needless to say when bedtime came and we weren't in the car yet, she was distraught to say the least!
She also has no idea what the beach really is. She knows that there will be waves that will splash your feet, but that's about it. So when we took her to Branson and had lunch on the rather pitiful lake, she hollers out "Is that the ocean?!"
She is in for a nice surprise:-)

My kitchen is very nearly close to being done. Jonny is slapping the last coat of paint on the floor tonight so it can dry while we're gone. And then just a little more painting when we get home. It has really turned out nice and I am very pleased with it. Can't wait to show it off to you!

I have to run now. There is much to be done. Have a wonderful weekend and I wish you much sun although I'm afraid you're not going to get it:-(
See you in a week and a half!

Guacamole!!

In all my many years of eating at mexican restaurants, I've never been at all interested in trying their guacamole. It has always looked like a pile of green smush to me and the few times I've been brave enough to stick a teensy bite in my mouth, I've always found it to taste just like it looks. I always thought it looked kind of cool to dip your crunchy chip into it, kind of like I've always thought that drinking coffee looks cozy but I still cannot make myself drink that nasty stuff.

So one day, I was in Sam's getting ready for a barbecue on the back porch when I saw them. A huge bag of beautiful ripe avocados. Not liking the texture of those interesting things AT ALL, I had no idea what to do with them, but I bought them anyway.
So I get them home and decide to experiment with my own version of guacamole, knowing full well that I will not be eating any of it.
I added a little of this and a little of that. Honestly clueless as to what one might put in guacamole never having eaten enough to know what it consists of. So I started guessing. A little later, after I figured that I had done all the damage to the poor avocados that I could, I cautiously dip in a chip and gingerly place a tiny portion on my tongue. It was purely a "Green Eggs and Ham" moment! I felt like saying "I do! I like guacamole!" It was amazingly delicious!!!
I will admit to you that I still do not care for anyones guacamole except my own. This is not being prideful, just honest. Although in all honesty, I have not tasted yours yet, so I could possibly like that too.

This is my recipe, and guess what??!! No measurements again:-(
I live by the motto, keep adding stuff till it tastes right.
I buy avocados from Sam's because they're really big and usually nice and ripe. Not to mention much cheaper. I am not sure how many are in the bag, but I would guess about six or seven. Peel and smash them up real good in a bowl.
Then I add the fresh salsa that you can also only buy at Sam's. It's in the refrigerated section and is so deliciously fresh. Much, much, much better than a jar of salsa. I put in as much I think looks like normal guacamole, then I add a little more because it's just so good!
Next I juice two limes. Don't ask me why, because I usually only use the juice from one. But once again my fear of not having enough always makes me juice two. I don't recommend the lime juice from the bottle. Fresh is so much better!
Then I pour in enough so that it tastes nice and tart plus it keeps the avocados from turning brown. Once again, remember that you can always add more later.
Dump in enough garlic salt until it tastes so delicious that you start drooling. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
Done and done! Very easy. Very fast. Very delicious!
UUmmm not that I'm bragging or anything. Let's just say I got lucky this time. Unlike the time I tried to make up my own tortilla soup:-(

Gotta run! Tonight is bath night and I have seven peoples clothes to pick out. Have a blessed Sunday friends!

What a marvelous suggestion!

Thanks to Casie's wonderful idea of approaching the subject of manners, you may call me Miss Manners tonight! I'm totally kidding. Although it seems sometimes that my family could sure use a visit from that lady!

The only reason that I'm so excited about writing this is that I hope to figure out exactly what I believe and act on in the process of sharing it with you. Can this qualify as talk now think later?

The subject of manners is one that is seldom brought up in any circle these days and one that in my opinion, is a sad loss indeed. Not to mention that for we as adults, is our loss as well.
I have sat at my table many a night and wished that my children were as respectful and well-behaved at home as they thankfully are at others homes.

In response to Casie's question about teaching our children to mind their manners at other peoples homes, I have found one thing to be true. As offensive as it might be to hear one of my older girls tell the hostess that they didn't care for dinner, I have never been offended at any 3 or 5 year old who voiced their honest opinion as long as it was properly dealt with by the parents. No one can fault a pre-schooler for being honest. It is something that they are hopefully taught everyday in everything they do. This is an excellent training opportunity for the parents.
My suggestion would be that when they inevitably express their opinions, you take that opportunity to, without embarrassment, quietly take them by the hand, lead them from the room and have a chat with them. Explain to them that what they said although perhaps true, was hurtful to their hostess. Remind them that this meal was made especially for your family's enjoyment and much work went into the preparation. Help your child to remember that they should only speak positive encouraging words and help them quickly practice a compliment that they can pay her. Then take the child back into the table, have her apologize without making a big deal of things, and go back to your conversation saving her and everyone else at the table any embarrassment.

As far as at your own table, I suggest coming up with a list of things to work on such as saying "Please pass the rolls" or "Thank you so much Mom for making dinner tonight". Not to mention the other obvious rules such as no bodily functions at the table. And one day I hope to accomplish this one:-( If it wasn't already difficult enough, I had to go and have two boys who are one big constant bodily function and everyone thinks it's hilarious!
I have many times had to warn my girls that if they couldn't mind their manners and behave themselves at the table, that they would be taking their plate to the island and eating their dinner all by themselves.
Get your husband to help you enforce these rules. I guarantee you that you will be glad you exercised these practices at home when your children reward you by behaving themselves beautifully in public.

All righty then, now that I have told you all exactly what I think, I believe I will start enforcing more of it! No more elbows on the table! Napkins in the lap Charlie! Danny take your feet off your high chair tray! Girls stop laughing at that, it's disgusting!

As I have told you before, I do not in any way, consider myself to be an expert. I am only giving you my own opinion because I always seem to have plenty of those things:-( I would absolutely love to hear some steps that you have taken to enforce good table manners!

Without further adieu...Lemonade Pie

I have been promising this recipe for so long that I'm sure you have given up on ever getting it. But finally as promised, the most delicious, succulent, creamy, tart, dessert you've ever tasted.

Lemonade Pie

Two (5) ounce cans evaporated milk

2 (3.4 ounce) packages lemon instant pudding mix

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese softened

1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade, partially thawed

1 (9 ounce) ready-made graham cracker crust

Garnishes: whipped cream, fresh mint sprigs, lemon slices

1. Whisk together evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl 2 minutes or until thickened.

2.Beat cream cheeses at medium speed with an electric mixer, using whisk attachment, until fluffy. Add lemonade concentrate, beating until blended; add pudding mixture, and beat until blended.

3. Pour into crust; freeze 4 hours or until firm. Garnish, if desired.

This came right out of Southern Living magazine and I have not changed the recipe in any way, shape, or form. I promise.

This recipe needs no help whatsoever! A couple of tips though. BE SURE that your cream cheese is softened or else the pie will be full of little lumps that are not so wonderful. Then as far as garnish goes, I always thinly slice a lemon in a large curly-q, then twist it and place it on top of the pie. Mint leaves are absolutely gorgeous!

One more recipe to make up for my long silence. My version of chicken salad. I am aware that there are hundreds of different ways to make this, but the only two recipes that I'm really crazy about are mine and Spring Creek Tea Room. Is that bragging? :-(

Once again, I have absolutely no measurements at all, so bare with me.

I boil a three pound bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Then cool and shred. I cut up loads of grapes into halves because I just love lots of grapes in my chicken salad. Then I cut up a three or four stalks of celery into pretty small pieces. Celery is not my favorite vegetable by any means. I consider it only a tool to get ranch dip into my mouth. But nevertheless, it does add a nice crunch. Then I put in a small bag of sliced almonds (if you're lucky, you can find the seasoned ones. They are delicious!!) and some Lawry's seasoning salt. Then I add enough mayonnaise to make it nice and creamy. Top it off with some salt and pepper (watch out with the amount of salt, the Lawry's is really salty) and mix together. I love to serve it in a pita pocket. But I have been convicted of sneaking into the fridge and eating it right out of the bowl!

Now to the news which I know that you are all sitting on the edge of your seats to hear! The remodel is coming along. Way too slow for my taste, but getting there nonetheless. I have it all set back up including new pretties hanging from the pot rack. The back-splash is put in, just not grouted yet. The counter-tops are being finished as we speak. The floor is painted but let's not talk about that unpleasentry just yet. The fireplace is painted and the new light is put in. All that is left is a little painting, a little trim work, and some wallpaper.

I am planning an open house the middle to the end of May. But first I have to find some old mirrors in different sizes. Let me know if you know where I can snag some. I'm going to paint them red and hang them in the hall.

Must run now. Coming soon: Guacamole and deviled eggs with bacon!

Training your kids to eat what's put before them

The idea for this post came to me the other night while reading H. Clay Trumbull's "Hints on Child Training". I realized how frequently in this day and age we hear parents saying things like, "My child won't eat salad" or "My child hates fruit". Then proceed to give him or her whatever they demand simply to "keep them from starving". Do not get me wrong, I have been guilty of doing the same exact thing. You would think that having five kids would make me be more strict about what they eat considering that I cannot afford to keep everyone happy nor do I have the time to cook something different for every single person. But alas, I have found myself giving into demands rather than taking the time to enforce what I know is good for them physically and emotionally. The physical is obvious, but emotional you might ask. I firmly believe that it is vital for a child to know the rules and be forced to live by them. It not only brings order to your home, but gives your child an extreme sense of security.

Anyway, back to the book. This book was recommended to me by one of my favorite mentors whom I consider to be an excellent example of what a good mother should be. It is however, not an easy read. The book was written in 1890 and when he made the statement "All progress in knowledge is a result of continued questioning. Whence? What? Why? Wherefore? Whither? These are the starting-points of investigation and research to young and to old alike", it took me forever to figure out how on earth we got who, what, when, where and why out of those five words.

The reason that I love this book though, is because he teaches us that we should be training our children to adapt to our world our rules and our God instead of the common teaching in even Christian books that seems to imply that we do everything we can to make things as comfortable and easy for our children as possible.

One of the chapters was "Training a child's appetite" and I was extremely convicted as I read it. Imagine cooking whatever you wanted to try without worrying if your kids would eat it or not. One of the points that Trumbell made was that there are children all over the world who eat different kinds of things that there habitat offers and they are never given the choice of chicken fingers or hamburgers. I will quote my favorite section of this chapter.
"That a child inherits tastes in the matter of food and drink cannot be questioned; but this fact does not forbid the training of a child's tastes away from it's inborn tendencies; it merely adds an element to be considered in the training process. A child born in the tropics soon learns to like the luscious fruits which are given to him freely; while a child born in the arctic regions learns with the same rapidity to like the grosser diet of fish and oil which is his chief supply of food. In one region the people live mainly on roots and berries; in yet another they devour raw flesh or drink fresh blood; in yet another, they eat dried locusts or grasshoppers; in yet another, it is milk or honey which is their chief means of sustaining life."

After reading this I realized with startling clarity that cannibal children probably never look up at their parents and whine "I don't feel like eating people today!" You laugh, but it is all too true. Yet we allow our children the luxury of picking and choosing exactly what they will or won't eat.
I have had parents bring their children to my house for dinner and then let them pick through the dishes only to discover that they don't like any of it and are allowed to move on to dessert.
Call me old fashioned, but when I was growing up by golly, you ate what was put before you or suffered the consequences later on at home. Not only that but you pretended to enjoy it and thanked the hostess for serving it. Whatever happened to this practice I ask you?

Due to my three youngest having pretty strong food allergies which I am so sad to admit, that I think it is because I was unable to nurse any of them for longer than a month, my kids cannot have alot of the snack foods offered today. Chicken nuggets, peanut butter, whales, white bread, instant oatmeal and multiple other things bring about unwanted consequences and these consequences are slowly but surely forcing me to feed my family more the way that Holly mentioned in her comment on a previous post. More whole grains, cheese, veggies, and lots of fruit. The result has been well worth the effort. I have learned that when I serve biscuits with dinner, my boys will eat nothing but that. But yet if no bread is served, then after a few spankings they eventually realize that the salad, green beans, and chicken is all that there is and without fail, will end up eating exactly what we have on the table.

One more short point and I will shut up. I am amazed at the parents who tell me that their children will not eat what is served to them at mealtime, and yet I have watched them fill their children all through the day with whatever snack they can find. The poor kids are so full that by the time dinner rolls around there is no way they could stuff in another bite. So instead of eating the more than likely, more healthy dinner that you have prepared, they are filling up on dry cereal, cookies, chips, and crackers that do absolutely nothing for them besides fill them up. Trust me when I tell you that if your child is hungry enough, he will eat whatever you give him.

If you are still reading them I am impressed with you. I tend to get a little long winded when I talk about children because God has blessed me with multiple older mothers who have been generous enough to share their time and knowledge with me. I am so grateful for my Mom, Jill, Michelle, Valerie, and Carol. Mom's like you are rare and valuable. If you do not have a mentor, then I encourage you to pray and ask God for one. He promises to give wisdom to those that ask for it, and He also tells us to learn from the older women. Allow them the joy of sharing their wisdom that they have gained through their mistakes and realize how blessed you are to hear about what you should avoid before you make the same mistake.

Thank you for reading. I love you guys so much and cannot tell you what your encouragement through either comments or messages have meant to me.

My attempt at writing down my potato salad recipe

No pictures just yet, but we are making great progress! The floor is now painted although I'm afraid that my fear of going too bright made me go too light. We are going to wait to put on the second coat until right before we go on vacation the first of May. I think I'll have to make that coat a little brighter. Mom came today and helped me put everything back in the cabinets. Considering that Jonny forgot to put plastic up over the doors, everything single thing had to be washed and dryed and not having a dishwasher just yet, everything had to be done by hand. It was a chore and a half let me tell you!!
I'm really hoping to have pictures by next week. Hopefully we will be mostly done by that time.

All righty then, how about a recipe? I can't get to my Southern Living magazine to give you the lemonade pie because of the wet floor, so I will give you one that really has no recipe. I just made it up myself. Hopefully you don't get too frustrated by the lack of measurements.
This is my very own recipe for potato salad. It is very southern, so if you are not a fan of southern foods, then steer clear of this one.

Peel and cut up however many potatoes it will take to feed your clan. I usually do a minimum of five pounds and sometimes as much as ten pounds. It tastes even better left over!
Boil until soft, then drain. Add enough sour cream and mayonnaise to make almost creamy enough (equal portions of both) remembering that you can always add more but can't take any out. Then stir in desired amount of yellow mustard. I personally like lots of mustard as does my family. This needs lots of salt because it just seems to drink it right up. Pepper as well. Then the special secret which you cannot skimp on or it just doesn't turn out right. Use the baby Claussen pickles from the refrigerated section. I usually use half a jar for five pounds of potatoes. Cut them into smallish pieces (not too small). Then if you dare, I sometimes add some of the pickle juice as well. It just really makes it a little more...pickely shall we say.
Refrigerate and serve cold. Although Jonny likes his warm I am not crazy about it this way.

There you go. I did my best. Feel free to ask question if I did not make something clear, and I'll do my best to help you.
I can't wait to keep sharing my favorite summer recipes with you! Bring on the barbecues and picnics!!

And she returns

A million apologies sweet readers! I have been living between two houses for the past two and a half weeks and am not quite done with the going back and forth yet. The kitchen is getting closer and closer every day, but is in no way done yet. I have beautiful white cabinets, a bright red back door and island, a white fireplace, a stainless steel pot rack, partially finished marble tile counter tops, and a mess. I am able to tell at this point, that this kitchen is going to be B..E..A...utiful!!! But whatever you do, do not drop in on me for a peek just yet! I would be mortified for you to see the mess. I need an idea on what kind of an event to have for letting you have a look when it's all done. Open house? Afternoon tea? I have to say that my brain is so tired from all the little details that frankly, I don't really have an really care about, such as, what size do I want the trim, or what type of wood should the floor be made of, or what kind of hardware do I want inside the cabinet doors? Needless to say I have been unable to come up with a good idea for having everyone come see my new kitchen. Feel free to offer suggestions.
Jonny has been working night and day to get everything done quickly, and the girls have been more help than any cleaning company could ever dream of being. But I still have alot of dusting, ironing, and laundry to do. Not to mention putting all the kitchen stuff back. It makes me tired to look at it.

I have been asked to continue the recipes, and I promise to get on that soon. But right now my family has been surviving on the bare necessities as far as food goes and cooking in that kitchen is not quite yet, pleasant shall we say.

I will make you a deal that as soon as the remodel is done, I will put up the best dessert you will ever place on your tongue. Lemonade Pie!

As far as the rest of this week goes, I have to do a ridiculously massive pile of ironing, dust and put away everything in the kitchen, do laundry that has already been done once but got mixed with the clean laundry and now it's anyone's guess as to what is clean and what is dirty, plan Molly's birthday this Saturday, move out of here into Mom and Dad's again this weekend, clean up my entire house, fit in school that we are thankfully almost finished with, and finish pulling all the winter clothes out of the closets and taking them to Children's Orchard.

I do have a wonderful report on the yard sale! There were four of us doing it and the only piece of furniture we had was Mom's desk that she asked $4o for. Yet we manged to make over $1500!! The turnout was unbelievable!!!! We had specifically prayed for nice weather and lots of people, and starting at 8:30 Friday morning we only had one five minute slot where the driveway was not flooded with people. We were finally able to shut down at 5:15 that evening. Then Saturday morning dawned cold and windy and overcast. I looked at Beth and asked her if she would be willing to pack everything up and save it for another yard sale at my house in May. Not an hour later, people started showing up and once again, we never had a moment without people there until about 2:30 in the afternoon when we realized that we had almost nothing left to sell. So we pulled everything into the garage and right then, it started raining! Can you believe that! Don't tell me that God doesn't care about yard sales!!

Have to run now. The nasty ironing basket is calling my name. Have a lovely day friends!!

My thoughts on secret recipes

Let me start by apologizing for my lousy spelling in my last title. Funnily enough, no one told me that "whetting" was misspelled. I was doing laundry the next day and thinking about my post (I have a bad habit of going over my blogs later in my head, making sure there are no mistakes or I didn't forget anything), when with shock and horror I realized that I totally misspelled wet!
Oh well, it's not like I'm a teacher or anything. Oh dear, I guess I am. Well let's hope I'm better with math than I am at spelling.

On with the point here. I am so desperately ready to share some of my favorite summer time recipes with you, but I am determined to wait until it is above fifty degrees. I was thinking this morning "What recipes should I start with?" Some of the dishes I get the most compliments on, I have opted to keep a "Jeppsen family secret". But today I asked myself, why. Why have such a wonderful recipe and then not share it with others? So I have decided to give out for the first time ever, the recipes for some of my favorite summer dishes.
There are however, two that I am not allowed to share with you, as they are not Jeppsen recipes, but Gray recipes and they have been handed down through birth or marriage only.
These are baked beans and the secret sauce for hamburgers.
My own two special secrets will be potato salad and guacamole. Not today though. As soon as it gets warm I promise to get right on here and share them with you. Only keep in mind, that I NEVER measure anything out when I make them. Every time it is done through taste and error.
Some other favorites that I can't wait to pass on: Lemonade Pie (best dessert ever!!!),
strawberry soup, chicken salad, deviled eggs, tuna fish (I promise that you will like this one!), creamy fruit salad, and my own way of frying chicken.

On another note, I had the best day today with Meg and Molly! We went to Target, Hobby Lobby, (no matter what it is that I'm looking for, I always seem to end up at these two stores), lunch at Panera, and then to Petsmart to hold all the birds, puppies, mice (gross), ferrets (again gross), and every other type of little fuzzy thing. They had the best time, and I had the best time watching them. Especially when Molly felt my purse on her back and thought it was a bird. She screamed like no good child should ever scream in public. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't see straight. Days like these seem so far and few between, but I so enjoy them.

I really should go start the ironing again. Does it seem to you that I do this too often? Me too!
What I really want to do is go find more yard sale stuff!

Whetting your whistle

So I thought I'd better return to my original intent with this blog and share a few recipes with you. But given the fact that me and my kitchen are becoming increasingly less familiar with each other, I've had to reach down pretty far to come up with an idea. I will tell you that I'm so proud of myself. Last Friday I realized how crazy and torn up my house has been, and that dinner has been a rather iffy occurrence. Canned soup or fast food. So I took the bag of thawed chicken I had in the fridge and boiled the whole thing up. Then I made a huge dish of sour cream enchiladas and another huge dish of chicken and rice. Then I popped both into the fridge and made the enchiladas Saturday and the chicken and rice is for tonight. I made sure there were enough for lots of leftovers too. These are two of the three dishes that Jonny will eat leftover. "Genius" I was calling myself!

For any of you newbies reading this, I have the recipe for both of these dishes in my post "The More the Merrier".

I thought I would list some punch recipes, some refreshing drinks, some hot drinks, a great smoothie, and tell you "Northerners" just exactly how you make sweet tea.

As far as punch goes, my all time favorite albeit a trifle girlie, is Hawaiian Punch with 7-up and raspberry sherbet. Simply pour equal amounts of both liquids and pop in a few scoop of sherbet. So sweet and delicious! Not to mention pretty.

Another one is white grape juice, club soda, and sprite. Much more elegant looking and rather beautiful in a clear punch cup with all of it's bubbles.

I also discovered a couple of years ago that a delicious easy drink to serve in the summer, is a can or two of frozen flavored lemonade and instead of adding three cans of water, add three cans of club soda. Delicious!!

Now for a smoothie recipe. I will have to admit to you that I found those frozen Yoplait smoothie kits on sale at Wal-Mart and I had coupons as well. I stocked up on ten of them and they are quite remarkable. But as far as a homeade recipe goes, here's one from Good Housekeeping about thirteen years ago.

Cool Summer Smoothie

8 ounces strawberry yogurt

1/2 tub Cool Whip

1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries

Blend until smooth

Here's another one

Sparkling Grape Juice-Lemonade

1 bunch seedless grapes (about 1/3 pound)

1 (750ml) bottle sparkling white grape juice, chilled

1/4 cup thawed frozen lemonade concentrate

Place grapes in a zip-top plastic bag. Seal (duh). Do not remove grapes from stems. Freeze completely, about four hours.

Gently stir together grape juice and lemonade in a large pitcher. Add frozen grapes to pitcher. Serve immediately.

Sparkling Wine-Fruit Refresher (sans wine)

1 cup Sprite chilled

1 cup assorted berries

1 (6 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint or basil leaves, torn

3 (12 ounce) cans orange flavored sparkling water chilled

Combine first four ingredients in a large pitcher. Gently stir in sparkling water. Serve immediately.

Now if you're in the mood for something a little warmer and spicier here is an old recipe for Instant Hot Spice Tea.

1/2 cup instant tea

2 cups Tang

2 cups sugar

2 packages Wylers lemonade mix

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix. Use a couple of heaping teaspoons in a mug of hot water.

This recipe is rather interesting, and you may have to tweak it a little. I cannot find Wylers lemonade and have never figured out if should be sweetened or not. Also that seems like a whole lot of Tang to me. But it a nice drink for one of these many nasty days we've had lately.

As far as the sweet tea goes, McAllisters doesn't have to be the only place to get good tea around here. You can make it yourself and it is extremely easy. Simply put three large tea bags in a four cup glass measuring cup filled with water. Microwave 5 to 8 minutes or until really dark. Then in a gallon pitcher filled about 1/4 of the way with cold water, add 1 cup of sugar (my Nonny adds alot more than that, but I have found that most of you don't like it that sweet at all). Stir until dissolved then pour in tea. Keep adding cold water to the tea bags until your pitcher is full.

And there you go!

I have heard from several of you that you cannot comment on here because of all the steps you have to go through. I have tried to modify this so that anyone can comment. Let me know if you're still having a problem.

Hope you enjoy this and that you find a couple of favorites for your family!