Recipe: Mom's Zucchini Bread

Yesterday, I wrote about baking zucchini bread...I thought I would share my mom's recipe with you. It is yummy and simple! I baked 3 batches...we are enjoying some right now...I am freezing some for later...and I am sending one to a friend who had surgery this week. :)

Mom's Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon (I did a tad extra :)

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup nuts (optional but oh so good with them!)

Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients while stirring. This mixture will be very thick. Add zucchini and nuts. Mix well and pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 min. - 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Enjoy!

Comfort...

We are finally blessed with a touch of cool...fall-like weather...here in Nevada! Today, the cool temperatures put my soul into the baking mood...after a long and hot summer! :) I made deluxe macaroni and cheese (homemade and baked...no better comfort food!) and a baked, creamy and cheesy squash casserole topped with a buttery crumb topping for dinner tonight.

Good, ole fall comfort food again!

I also baked 3 batches of my mom's zucchini bread! Now, I am not the baker of the family...that would be my sister, Rachel. :) I love to cook and don't do much baking. So perhaps it is my pregnant nesting instincts kicking in or something! LOL! It was just fun...relaxing...and good for my soul today. My 4 yr. old helped me with all the baking and such. We enjoyed each other's company...baking in our aprons and our hair tied back. She wanted to lick every bowl and spoon possible...and asked so many questions...as a 4 yr. old does! LOL!

My thoughts went to the topic of food...baking and cooking in a homey kitchen...moms and daughters in aprons...the smells and tastes mingled in our noses and mouths...and one word came to my mind...

COMFORT.

There was just something comforting about seeing your mom or grandma in a kitchen growing up. Making dinner...baking a pie...mixing up a batch of cookies...

I guess it really didn't matter what she was making...it all was comforting.

Today, my 7 yr. old was finishing her school work in the school room but I kept hearing the door open...knowing she was checking to see if the zucchini bread was done yet...and if perhaps we were eating some without her! She would come out and smell it and say how good it smelled!

What a fun comfort to my daughters to sit down at the dining room table with two pieces of Mom's zucchini bread...warm from the oven...with a glass of cold milk!

It makes our homemaking roles so much more important, doesn't it? We are not just cleaning our home...making dinner...folding the laundry, etc.

We are creating...comfort.

I am glad for my role as wife and mom! It is truly a blessing! Have a wonderful Saturday!

August Days...

I hope you all had a blessed weekend!

On Friday, I was blessed to have a date with my hubby! :) I met him after work and we were able to make some church visits together. One of our visits was to an elderly couple...she has attended our church one time. In our visit, we found out her husband was 87 yrs. old and had served in WWII for England. He still has a faint British accent. :) He too lived in Hammond, IN and worked in downtown Chicago for some years. We were pleased to be able to meet him and are praying for his health.

After our visits, we had a nice dinner at Applebees with a gift card from one of our

church members. :)

Saturday, we were pleased to be involved with a special fundraiser here in Reno. My hubby is a volunteer fire fighter and all the volunteer departments put together a fundraiser. This fundraiser was for one of the fire fighter's families. This family has a son that has a rare disease and needs 24 hr. care. His medical bills total around $750,000 a year. These people took the time to put together an event including a spaghetti dinner, etc. to raise money for this family.

Just making a difference in your community and to a family that you do not know...will change your perspective. So many times, we as Christians, will only help those in our church or church family. We do not venture out into the community. My husband is very passionate about making a difference in our cummunity...not for the benefit of our church...but just to love people. I challenge you to try this sometime. Work in a soup kitchen...help at a Boys and Girls Club...volunteer at a homeless shelter. You will be amazed the difference it will make in your heart and life.

Sunday, we had another wonderful service at our church! I am sure I say that every Sunday...but it is true! :) I see people stepping up to want to serve and volunteer and it blesses my heart! I am thrilled to listen to my husband preach every Sunday!

After church, we had lunch with a great couple-David and Danyelle Zimlich and Danyelle's sister, Cortney-at Olive Garden. I KNOW God has great plans in store for this couple and young lady and we are thrilled to have a little part in that!

By the way, don't ever write anyone off in "your book"! We are so quick to judge by a few outer actions. We then in turn write someone off in our book of serving God. Who are we to make that judgment? I am glad God didn't write any of us off of His book! None of us are deserving to serve God but remember...all He uses is sinners! :) Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow, the girls and I are taking a field trip to the Sacramento Zoo! I will try to post pictures in the next few days. Have a good week!

School begins...and more!

Another busy week...

Saturday was my father-in-law's 67th birthday. :) The girls and I made a birthday dinner for him and our family. I made salisbury steak, cottage mashed potatoes, sauteed squash and Parmesan breaded zucchini (from our neighbors' gardens) and cherry cheesecake for dessert. He is a blessing to have live close to our family and we love him so much!

Sunday, we had a wonderful day at our church! I enjoyed the fellowship of ice cream and watermelon after the service! :) We have such wonderful people in our church! After the service, I took one of our lady visitors to Wal-Mart and such to do a few errands.

Monday, we started our 2010-2011 school year! I home school our two oldest daughters. Addie is in 2nd grade and Autumn is in K-5 this year. We use the Abeka DVD program and we love it! It is our 3rd year home schooling using this program. Every year I love it more! :) I used the Abeka program when I attended a Christian school from 1st - 4th grade...so it is a bit of nostalgia for me. :) This year, we are using the office/guest room as our school room with both of the girls in it. They have their own school desks, school crates for supplies and workbooks, DVD players/TV's. I also have my own teacher desk which is super nice this year.

In the afternoon, the girls had their fall dentist appts. for their cleaning.

We have our first field trip this coming Monday to the Sacramento Zoo!

Tuesday, after school, we had an appointment to have our new van detailed (which was free when we bought it :). The girls and I walked to McDonald's and had lunch and played in the play place while we waited. We also accomplished a few other errands before returning home.

Today is laundry day...school time...and extra catch-up things. The weather cooled off to around 90 and there is a wonderful breeze today! I am having BBQ chicken, ranch pasta salad and some more good garden veggies for dinner. Have a wonderful day!

Sunday Weekly Update

Sunday weekly update...

Today was the 9th week of our church...we had 45 in attendance-pretty much a packed house in our conference room! :) We had 6 adult visitors and 4 teen/junior visitors. One of our visitors was a lady who had received a postcard on her door and my husband and I counseled with her and she was finally able to come. Another adult visitor was a co-worker of my husband's at Sportsman's Warehouse. We also had an 18 yr. old lady visitor saved led to the Lord by Mrs. Danyelle Zimlich!

We enjoyed fellowship together after the service with ice cream and watermelon which was welcome on this 95 degree day! :)

I am constantly amazed and thrilled at what God is doing with the people of SVBC!

Answered Prayer

Today, just another small yet great blessing from my Lord! :)

For awhile now, I have been looking for a portable DVD player or a small TV to purchase for our daughter, Autumn, to use for watching her Abeka school DVD's for this year for kindergarten. Everyone either wanted way too much money for something used...they wouldn't answer my e-mails in response to their ads...and I just didn't want to purchase something brand new if I didn't have to. So two days ago I prayed and said...Lord, please help me to find something at a good price and before school starts.

This morning, I answered an ad on Craig's List and picked up a 13 inch TV this morning one neighborhood over from ours for only $10!!!! School starts on Monday...and two days before...God answered my prayer! HE is so awesome and I just love to brag on HIM!! :)

Recipe: Cowboy Casserole

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile so here is one I tried recently...my hubby loved it and ate all the leftovers! :) Enjoy!

Cowboy Casserole

1 lb. ground beef

2 cans of whole kernel corn

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup mayo or sour cream

salt and pepper

1 bag of Tator Tots

In a skillet, fry the ground beef. Drain. Adde the corn, soup, milk, mayo or sour cream and salt and pepper. In a 9x13 baking dish, spray with cooking spray. Make one even layer of tater tots. Spread ground beef mixture over top. Make another layer of tater tots. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Our new mini-van!

Another blessing of the weekend...

A few months before we had our first daughter, Addie, we only had a small truck of my husband's since we were first married. We went down to Kentucky for a preaching engagement for my husband and through a church member of that church...we came home with a new car! This was in May and our first daughter was born the 2nd of August. God provided us with a wonderful vehicle!

We have had that same car-our Dodge Stratus-since May of 2003. A little over 7 years now and 3 kids later. :) We now have our 4th baby girl on the way...due in less than 7 weeks. God recently provided us a way to now (finally!) get a mini-van for our growing family! You may say...you like to cut it close...but I like to think that it is God working just on time! :)

On Friday, we were able to purchase this Saturn Relay...2005...All-wheel drive (which is great here in the mountains in the winter)...with only 44,000 miles on it! It is decked out with all kinds of great features! It is so roomy and deluxe and I just LOVE it!!! And to top it off...our 3 daughters have been praying for a mini-van...with a TV in it. Well, God loves to answer their prayers too because our new van has a TV/DVD player installed in it!

Again and again...God is GOOD!

Weekend Update-SVBC-Teen Tubing Activity

We had a wonderful weekend for our church! On Saturday, we had an all-day tubing teen activity from 10am to 5pm. Pastor Eric, Bro. Shaun, and Bro. David took the teens down the Truckee River on tubes. Tubing is something I never experienced until I moved here...but it is a lot of fun floating down the river on tubes. :) Miss Shannon, Miss Danyelle and myself stayed at the park to prepare the food and the games. It was nearly a 3 hr. float down the river with people falling in...people tipping over in the rapids, tubes popping, etc! LOL! Everyone had a blast though.

Just as they got back to the park, it started storming! So we ended up eating our hot dogs, chips, cookies and watermelon in the rain! Everyone was soaking wet from tubing so the rain froze them! LOL! (Do you think teenagers thought to bring a towel or a change of clothes? Of course not! LOL!) The men built a fire in one of the big fire pits so that helped some. After we ate, they played a few games like egg toss and bobbing for apples, etc.

We had 13 teens attend and we look forward to seeing God working more in their lives as our church keeps reaching others for Christ!

On Sunday, we had 36 in attendance for our morning service! (This was our 7th week.) We had 2 new adult visitors (that were actually staying at the hotel and saw our sign :) and 2 teen visitors. At the end of the service, one of the teen girls accepted Christ. Mrs. Traynor was able to lead her to the Lord...and it happened to be the same day as her spiritual birthday! When Pastor Eric asked for her decision, Mrs. Traynor started crying and that set everyone off! It was a blessing to see Brianna-a daughter of one of our newest families-come to know our Saviour!

The Lord is just so wonderful even though we don't deserve it! Praise to Him!

Video: Addie's 7th Birthday-8-2-10

This is Addie's 7th birthday party. :)

Video: Addie-Bowling-8-4-10

This is a video of Addie bowling on Eric's birthday!

Video: Autumn-Bowling-8-4-10

This is a video of Autumn bowling...she's four. :)

SVBC-Church Skating Party!

Our oldest...Addie.

The kiddos watching the action!

The hubby and I.

Autumn did so well...she really kept at it all night!

Pastor Eric takes our neighbor and church member, Tom, around for a few laps! :)

Miss Danyelle helps Autumn. :)

My hubby and his dad.

On Tuesday, August 3rd, we had a church skating party at Roller Kingdom. There was actually 2 churches there...ours-Sierra View Baptist and our friends-Liberty Baptist. We had a great attendance and a wonderful time of fellowship! Our church paid for pizza...30 pizzas and not a slice left! :) We also were able to celebrate my husband's 30th birthday with everyone which meant a lot to him. It is so great to spend time with God's people!

Eric's 30th Birthday

Eric and Autumn

They had so much fun!

Her expression is priceless! :) She didn't get all the pins down!

Eric and Sierra

Happy 30th, honey!

Hot August Nights, an annual event in Reno, is going on right now. It is a classic car show. These beautiful cars are all over the city! I took a few pictures of some for my dad. :)

Yesterday was my husband's 30th birthday! We celebrated with our church friends and family on Tuesday night at the skating party so...he had the day off so we enjoyed a family day! We went bowling at the Grand Sierra which are having dollar days-a dollar a game and a dollar for shoes which is a screaming deal! The girls had a ball! After, we had an early dinner at Claim Jumper which is a yummy restaurant. Eric and Addie got free birthday meals and Addie got a free birthday cupcake. We made a stop at Wal-Mart - Addie had a gift card from Papa Tastet to spend. :) We then went to the mall to do some dress clothes shopping for Eric with his birthday money. We didn't find anything though.

We surprised Eric with tickets to a NFL game this fall to see his favorite team...the Miami Dolphins play! He has never been to a pro football game so we are very excited to go! :)

Addie's 7th Birthday Party

Here are a few pictures from our oldest daughter's birthday party. She turned 7 yrs. old on Monday, August 2nd. We had a little party with her friends at the park. :)

Everyday and Extra Special Blessings!

Does it seem like I just post about all the blessings that the Lord gives to me? :) It is my pleasure to do so...to brag on my Lord and the people that He uses!

My neighbor and church member, Trish Enk, stopped over this past week to my home. She gave me more girl clothes...a baby bouncer for our new baby girl...and a gift certificate for a 60 minute prenatal massage at a spa/salon!! She is constantly giving and immensely enjoys it! I am so grateful for her and her generosity!

I did pick up those desks from Craig's List and love them! The girls also love them and look forward to starting school in a few weeks in our "new school room"!

Today, we received a package in the mail from Grandma Raeanne and Grandpa Jerry (my husband's mom and stepdad-who lives in Alaska). She sent the cutest pillow and blanket sets...called Pillow Pets. I had never heard of them but my sister said they were on TV and her daughter wants one! :) They are most adorable and the girls love them!

She also sent a Wal-Mart gift card for our oldest for her birthday which was yesterday. I was able to order an Easy Bake Oven for Addie's birthday (her wish :) AND two matching bed sets for the girls' bunk beds!! They have never had new and their "own" bed sets - they always just used extra hand me down blankets and sheet sets...not matching. :) We ordered Addie's gift plus the bed sets with $ .40 to spare!! They are so adorable and will arrive in time for the start of school. (Photo above!)

She also sent a gift card to Burlington to buy needed things for the new baby! What a blessing and how fun! I plan to go there tomorrow and look around! I hope to find a similar crib set to the girls for the new baby.

Addie also received birthday money from her Papa and Nana Holt, her Papa Tastet and her Auntie Rachel...for some new things for this fall! I mean...don't all girls need new clothes and such? :)

On Sunday morning, we had a wonderful service with 25 in attendance and one new visitor! On Sunday evening, we joined in the service at Liberty Baptist Church. They had several men preach including our own, Pastor Eric. :) Afterwards, we had a dessert fellowship and a ping pong tournament. Pastor Eric and I were blessed to have 20 of our church folk attend LBC that evening for that event!

More updates to come! Have a wonderful day!