Easter/Friendship Brunch

I was so blessed yesterday to have 4 of the 7 women in my Wednesday night Bible study over to my house. I hosted an Easter/Friendship Brunch and we had a great time! In the picture above are from left to right Beverly, Irene, Joanne, Christina and me. (We missed you Donia, Janet and Chris!)

My regular blog readers will remember that I hosted a similar brunch for the same ladies at Christmas time. I had not thought about hosting another so soon, but when Joanne and Irene approached me with the idea I was happy to do it.

As Christians we believe that we have "spiritual gifts" which are talents and abilities that are given to us by God to be used to serve Him in ministry and other areas. In fact there is a spiritual gifts test that you can take if you are searching for areas to serve at church and you are just not sure what you are good at or where your talents lie. In taking that test in 2004 I found that one of the areas I scored high in was hospitality. I LOVE to entertain in my home and was active in the hospitality ministry of our last church. This involved helping to plan and execute many different events like a Mother's Day tea and a Christmas boutique and desert. I give a great deal of credit for my passion for hospitality to my Mom Mitzi. For those who knew her and attended even one of her parties, including family birthdays, holiday get togethers and least of all my wedding...then you know where I get this passion for hospitality. I learned from the best. I remember from the time I was young I used to watch her in action and often helped her to prepare for parties. Everything from menu planning,decorating the house for the holiday at hand, to preparing a dining room table center piece; I learned from watching and helping her.

Below are pictures of the dining room table I set for the brunch. I am always excited to have the opportunity to use my Nana's dishes that were left to me after she passed away. This time I used this beautiful Franciscan set called Desert Rose. It is the perfect set of dishes to use for spring dining...especially Easter!

Below is a full shot of the table and the centerpiece. After covering the table in a pretty sage/sea foam green table cloth, I used a cute wooden basket full of silk flowers and faux Easter eggs that I bought at Home Goods last year as the anchor of my centerpiece. Additionally I added a strip of Easter grass and fun painted wooden Easter eggs to finish the look.

I set up a "beverage station" in my kitchen where the girls could choose from coffee, tea, juice and water.

I absolutely LOVE making these cupcakes for Easter! My Mom was always the room mom in all of my elementary school classes and these are the cupcakes she would make for the class Easter parties. I have carried on the tradition and made them for Kate and Kyle's elementary school classes as well as for many other occasions. The ladies loved the cupcakes!

To make these just make your favorite cake mix and follow the directions for cupcakes. Once baked and cooled, frost them with white frosting. Take about 2 cups of coconut and drop 2 drops of green food coloring into the coconut and stir well. Sprinkle the coconut liberally on top of  each cup cake and place 2-3 jelly beans on top of each cupcake in the center. Press down gently to prevent the jelly beans from rolling off. Finally, take a green pipe cleaner (you can find a bag of 20 for under $2 at Michaels) and stick each end into the cupcake to make a "basket handle". Be sure to stick the ends of the pipe cleaners about a 1/4 inch in from the edge of the cupcake. If you get it too close to the edge it will pop out the side and ruin the cupcake! The result is a darling cupcake that looks like an Easter basket with "eggs" on top!

Once the gals arrived we enjoyed a potluck brunch that we all contributed to. Then we played a few games that I put together. The Easter themed games included a word search, a bible trivia and Pictionary. Here are some candid shots of the girls playing games and enjoying fellowship.

Joanne won the Bible trivia game (not surprised there!) and Bev won the word search. Here they are with their prizes.

We had such a great time playing Pictionary at the Christmas brunch that I knew we had to play it again at the Easter brunch. Here are a few pics from the game.

Christina begins to draw.... 

...as Joanne looks on and tries to figure out what she is drawing.

...it's an "Easter Bonnet"!

                                                       Irene's word was "empty tomb"

After a fun game where Christina was clearly the champion of guessing...everyone ended up winning a prize since I had enough for everyone.

Here they are with their prizes for being champion Pictionary players!

...and Joanne got a little silly at that point!

After the games we sat around and visited for quite a while before it was time for everyone to go. Of course we had to get a couple of group shots before everyone left.

As can be seen from this post, the Easter/Friendship Brunch was a blessing for us all.

RECIPES!

The reason I'm doing this post is mostly to help out my daughter Kate who is just starting to cook meals for her and her boyfriend Travis. I gave her a recipe file binder with many of my favorite recipes in it, along with new pots and pans and other various kitchen gadgets for Christmas to help her start in her cooking journey. Another great resource for her is this blog. I have been posting recipes here for the past 2 years. The recipes on this blog are PERFECT for new cooks! I show pictures of most every step in the preparation process. Also know that the only recipes I post on my blog are recipes that are tried and true and that myself and my family all LOVE. You can be assured that the recipe you are making will be delicious!

I just spent 3 hours going back and labeling all of my recipe posts properly and tweaked several recipes with the gluten free version for those who are gluten free. (I went gluten free a year ago for health reasons)

If you look to the right side margin of this blog post you will notice there is a list of labels. For instance there is a label called "Casseroles". If you click on that label, all of my casserole recipes will pop up. I know many of my blog readers have tried many of my recipes over the past two years and may not have taken the time to write them out or are not sure how to get back to them on my blog. The problem is now solved. If you want to make my red velvet cupcakes for instance, you just click on the label "deserts" and all my desert recipes will pop up including the red velvet cupcakes. Additionally I have given several labels to each recipe. For example Quesadilla Casserole is listed under MAIN DISHES, MEXICAN DISHES, MAIN DISHES, GLUTEN FREE. This way if you have a hankering for Mexican food for instance, you can click on the label Mexican Dishes and any of my recipes that are mexican will be there. There should be no trouble finding the recipe you are looking for going forward.

Below is a list of ALL my recipes that are in my blog up until this point. I am listing each recipe under one of it's respective labels. If you want to you can print out this post and put it in your recipe binder or box so you have a reminder of all of the recipes on my blog. Keep in mind that I have not listed the recipes in the same order as they pop up under each label. You will need to scroll through all of the recipes under each label to find the recipe you want

I hope you all enjoy either re-visiting my recipes, or if you are new to my blog...discovering them for the first time. Going forward I plan on posting gluten free deserts and many more exciting recipes.  Joyful Cooking!

(90% of my recipes give traditional and gluten free options...however any recipe listed below with a * is NOT gluten free.)

Casseroles

Quesadilla Casserole
*Chicken Divan
Shepard's Pie
*King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Chicken Chile Enchiladas

Fish

Mahi Mahi Tacos
Salmon Cakes
*Fish Tacos

Main Dishes

Swiss Steak
Mushroom and Beef Stew
Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
*Chicken Pot Pie
Taco Pie
Chicken and Dumplings
Parmesan Meatballs
Jean's Spaghetti
*Spicy Peanut & Chicken Wraps
*Mom's Pot Roast
*Meatloaf
*Mexican Soup
Chicken Marsala
Vegetable Lasagna
Pasta Primavera

Sandwiches

*Tropical Chicken Salad on Croissants
Low Calorie Breakfast Sandwiches

Salads

Pasta Salad
Curried Chicken and Rice Salad
Green Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Spinach, Fruit and Poppy Seed Salad

Side Dishes

Baked Asparagus

Deserts

none of the below deserts are gluten free

Chocolate Chip Bread
Sunshine Kisses
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Carmel Apple Squares
Pumpkin Squares with cream cheese frosting
Creepy Crunch Mix

A day with Kyle

I had such a wonderful day today with my son Kyle. As I've mentioned many times.....Kyle is an avid golfer. He is taking full advantage of the rest of the school year with his flexible schedule doing Independent Study by spending lots of time out on the golf course. Since he isn't driving yet....guess who takes him during the week while Kevin is at work? Why me of course!.....and I love it. It's so great to see Kyle in his element playing golf.

Today I talked him in to letting me get a few pics of him. Since Christmas he has lost 35 pounds. Doesn't he look great!!? I'm so proud of Kyle and how he has embraced a new way of eating. He is 100% gluten and sugar free and eats very healthy. What started out as a diet to help him with his chronic vestibular migraines ended up being a great weight loss plan! Kyle has more energy and feels so much better. It is just WONDERFUL to see him feeling and looking so good.

Today he golfed all day at our local course and I drove him around in the cart and enjoyed watching him and taking pics. Below are a few candid shots of him playing golf. He is playing twice a week now...once with me during the week and every Saturday with Kevin. He is also spending a couple days each week on the driving range and practice putting greens. We are additionally in the process of setting up private lessons for him on top of that to help improve and perfect his game. His goal is to try out for the High School team in the Spring of 2013. Today after he played he had the opportunity to sit and watch the two local high school teams practicing.  I could tell he was just dying to jump in there with them! With his hard work and dedication I know that by this time next year he will be ready to be on a team and compete.

The view from the 5th hole. I LOVE the beauty of this course. Being out on the golf course is so serene and beautiful. I now I understand why my husband, Dad and Kyle all love this game. I only wish I could play too...but with my old back injury I don't dare try. For me...golf is a spectator sport only.

Create JOY

I just purchased the stamp set "Creative Elements" from Stampin Up! and had a wonderful time using it in this scrap book layout. The pics of Kate were taken this past 4th of July weekend at my Dad and Polly's house. I love the vibrant colors in her top and used several of those colors when putting together this lay out.

I used chip board letters that I painted with yellow acrylic paint to create the "JOY". The "Create" stamp was the perfect companion for JOY for the title of "Create Joy"

I  chose 2 of my favorite hand stamped cards to share that I made at an event at my friend Krista's house called "Stamp a stack". Krista is my Stampin Up! consultant and I made 2 each of these lovely cards. The above card is my absolute favorite! I love the lively spring colors.

This too is a beautiful card. The colors and style are very victorian, soft and elegant. It's nice to have a few new cards for my card box. I love making and giving hand made cards and feel so fortunate to have found Krista who teaches classes, clubs and workshops for Stampin Up! I'm enjoying being a part of a group of women who love to paper craft.

Valentine's stamp projects and home decor

When we moved to our new city back in July I started looking for a Stampin Up! or Close to my Heart representative. Since I've been in clubs through both companies and love the stamps, paper and crafting accessories from both companies, I was open to either. My goal was to join a card or scrap book club so that I could meet new friends and have fun making new projects too.  I literally could not find any reps for either company in my city. I pretty much gave up on the idea when in December at my church Women's dinner and boutique I met Krista J with Stampin Up! She was there selling many fun Christmas gifts she had made and of course to advertise her business. I knew within a few moments of meeting Krista that I had met someone really special. I was so excited to get started stamping with her. I joined a scrap book club that meets at her house one Friday a month. We make two lay outs that she has pre-designed and cut the paper for. She also has frequent classes and I recently attended her Valentine's craft class as well. Krista is SUPER creative and buys a ton of the newest products to share and work with so it's a special treat to attend her classes and club. Below is what I made at the Valentine Craft Class.

This darling "cup" can be used to hold pencils or candy or whatever else you can think of. It is now sitting on my desk full of pencils and pens.

                                       Here is a valentine card I made.
                                          I love the dimensional heart.

This hanging 3-D project was my favorite thing that we made. We started with making the large "rosette" using a scoring board and then assembled the rest using several die cut hearts etc. I think it looks great hanging on the door in our home.

Below is a Valentine themed scrap book layout that I did at scrap book club this past week. Additionally we made a winter themed layout that I will show in a separate post.  

I love the whimsical nature of this layout. We used these darling stamps with gnomes! This layout will be perfect for some pictures from one of Kate's valentine parties as an elementary school student.

I love the little "gnome" sayings like, "to gnome you is to love you".  I will show these pages again once I get the pictures on them.

 Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday. Those who know me well know that I am totally in LOVE with love and romance. So naturally I'm one that decorates for this holiday. My iron corner standing shelf unit is the best place to display my decorations.

I made the piece of art in the frame a few years back using scrap book paper, stickers and accessories. The angel is from my willow creek angel collection that is out all year round and the heart was made by my Mom.

I made these "be mine" blocks several years back from a kit I purchased at a scrap book store in Las Vegas.

                                      The book and tin were gifts from my Mom years ago.

                                            These heart shaped boxes were made by my Mom.

The love hanging was purchased at Michael's a few years ago.

I made all the heart ornaments on this little "Valentine tree"  several years ago as well.

May you and yours have a very happy Valentine's Day. May it be spent with someone you love!

Recipe: Mahi Mahi Tacos (gluten free)

Going forward, all of the recipes I post will be gluten free. However, in most recipes I will give a non-gluten free version of the recipe for those who are not gluten free. I have been gluten free for a year now and Kyle has been gluten free for  over a month. (more on why we are gluten free in a future post)

These Mahi Mahi tacos are one of the easiest, most delicious recipes I have found recently. It comes from a Weight Watcher's magazine and the total point value for 2 tacos is 4 points. One of the things I LOVE about Mahi Mahi is that it is an odorless, mild fish and although I'm not a big fan of fish in general...I love Mahi Mahi. If you don't have access to Mahi Mahi you can use any white fish of your choice....such as grouper, tilapia, cod or halibut.

Here is what you will need:

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 limes: 2 T fresh lime juice (the juice of one lime)

1 lime to cut in wedges and serve with tacos

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. Mrs. Dash salt-free Southwest chipotle seasoning

1/4 t. salt (optional)

4 (6-oz) Mahi Mahi filets (or other white fish of choice)*I buy frozen Mahi Mahi fillets from Trader Joes

1/4 c. gluten free flour blend (I use Bob's Red Mill All purpose baking flour) if you are ok with gluten than use all-purpose flour

2 T olive oil

8 corn tortillas

1 cup preshredded cabbage or iceberg lettuce

*salsa of choice for garnish*

Directions:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside in fridge.

2. Rinse fish fillets and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into strips as seen below.

Generously sprinkle Mrs. Dash seasoning on both sides of fish strips.

Coat each fish fillet in flour twice. Pat the flour in to fish.

Heat 2 T. of olive oil in large skillet. Fry prepared fish approx 4 min. on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove filets to paper towel to absorb any extra oil.

Set your table with condiments for the tacos. ie: cabbage, salsa, lime wedges, cumin/chili powder sour cream sauce you prepared earlier, corn tortillas etc.. I like to serve these tacos with a side of spanish rice and black beans.

Prepare your taco. In a heated corn tortilla spread out 1 T of the sour cream sauce. Place a fish fillet in center of tortilla. Top with cabbage or lettuce and salsa and ENJOY!