Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup (3oz) finely chopped pepperoni (I only had half the amount on hand and thought it still turned out great)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I used an Italian blend of cheeses)
2 Tbsp. parsley
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Pizza sauce for dipping (optional)

1. Preheat over to 450 F. Lightly grease 2 large baking sheets; set aside. In a large saucepan combine water and shortening. Bring to boiling. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes.

2. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Stir in pepperoni, cheese, parsley, garlic powder, and black pepper.

3. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Position the 2 baking sheets on separate oven racks. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until firm and golden brown, switching oven racks halfway through baking. Transfer to wire rack. Repeat, as needed, for remaining dough. Serve warm. If desired, serve with pizza sauce. Makes about 40 puffs. Enjoy!

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Tasty Tuesday

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

Often in the family room you revert back to childish behaviors, not always appropriate or productive to building adult relationships. This can especially cause a problem when one person is ready to grow up and the other is not. When faced with reality you may need your grown-up sibling by your side or maybe you don’t want to feel like a child around your parents anymore. Some patterns will keep repeating themselves. The key is to recognize them and change.  Keeping in mind you can’t change another individual, only yourself. In the book The Nine Rooms of Happiness they use a formula to demonstrate this: A+B=C (A is you, B is the other individual, C is your relationship) Change yourself (A) and that will change the relationship (C).

One of the good things about family (I think) is that they can be brutally honest. My son, who is only 5 years old, already tells me—at least once a week—to go change my clothes because they don’t look good. He is the fashion police for our home. (The problem is: how much fashion sense can a child who wants to wear pajamas all day really have?)

As we get feedback (referred to as “pinging” in the book) from family we learn how to measure ourselves. We learn what is true and false and who we can trust—what feedback to listen to and what to ignore. Limits are essential and need to be placed on relationships. Sometimes limits or boundaries are needed to keep yourself safe.

The following quote pretty well sums up what you are trying to do in the family room to make yourself happy:

“In the family room, the people there know you the best; which means they know where you’ve come from, but they may not always know where you want to go (or even who you are today). They continue to see you as the “kid sister” or “daughter,” which will always be true, but it’s only part of the picture. You need to let them see you grow and evolve, but that doesn’t mean leaving them behind. You can still be part of the family in a new way, one that reflects your contemporary self. And happier too.”

Philadelphia Sugar Cookies
1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat cream cheese, sugar, butter, and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Refrigerate one hour. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut cookies and place 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 325 F for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 min before placing cookies on wire rack. Cool completely and frost.

I doubled this and it made about 55 cookies. I’m not sure how much dough was eaten in the process of making them

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Tasty Tuesday

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

6 cups diced peeled potatoes*
5 cups water
2 cups diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
4 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups diced cooked ham
1 (12ounce) cans evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except milk and cheese in a large crock pot.
2. Cover. Cook on low 7-8 hours, or until vegetables are tender.
3. Stir in milk and cheese.
4. Stir until the cheese melts.

*To cut down on time you can use frozen hash browns (diced, not shredded) for the 6 cups of potatoes.

Check out other inspiring recipes at:
Tasty Tuesday

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

According to The Nine Rooms of Happiness,”The basement is where all your childhood hurts and torments are stowed away in cabinets and under the stairs. You would rather not revisit them, but you have to in order to understand how you think and feel today.”

We all have something in our lives that happened that we will never forget. We may not even realize that we are still reacting to it. We may take that memory and try to prove that person wrong or we may think they were right and become weak in that area.

Fear comes from the basement. Lucy Danziger shares in The Nine Rooms of Happiness how her fear of sharks kept her from  swimming in open water. This was keeping her from accomplishing her dream of completing a triathlon. Once she faced her fear and did exactly what she feared by getting in the water. She began to enjoy swimming in open water and completed her dream of doing a triathlon. This act of courage helped her to face other fears form her past that had held her back. She had the attitude of I overcame that fear, so I can overcome this. She was no longer paralyzed.

I can relate to her story. Though I’m not afraid of sharks, I’m very afraid of coming across as stupid. An individual in my past had made reference to my poor handwriting, poor grammar, and mispronouncing of words. It didn’t matter that I had great grades in school, especially English. Because of what he said I stopped making comments in class and hated writing. My  husband would leave me sweet notes when we first got married. I can’t count the number of times I wrote him a note and then ripped it up because I was sure he would think I was stupid. I now know he would of loved the notes of love and encouragement. I’ve also come to realize that my ability to write isn’t as horrible as I had thought. I have room for improvement, but that will only happen as I continue to work on it.  I find it liberating to face this fear. My confidence in many areas of life have improved as I, at first, forced myself and later came to enjoy participating in class discussions, blogging, emailing, and writing notes of encouragement to those I love.

I love this visualization of the house . The basement “may be the largest room in the house, but it’s also not in the house, it’s under it. That means you can always climb the stairs, turn out the light, and go to any room you choose without taking the baggage with you.”

One last thought to ponder as you explore your basement.

“The past should inform the present, but you don’t want to get stuck in it. You can’t steer the car by looking in the rear view mirror without crashing. To go forward, focus on what’s ahead of you in the road, not what you’ve passed. A glimpse in the mirror can be helpful, but your future lies in front of you. Look ahead.”

Texas Sheet Cake
1 c. butter, melted
1 c. water (hot)
3 Tbsp. cocoa
½ c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda

Mix together melted butter, hot water, and cocoa. Set aside.

Cream eggs, milk, and vanilla together. Add to cocoa mixture. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and soda. Add to mixture and beat well. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° F for 25 minutes.

Frosting:
¾ c. butter, softened
6 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1lb powdered sugar

Mix ingredients together. Frost cake while warm.

Come back every Tuesday to add your recipe to Delicious Dishes (or just be inspired!)

If you’d like to add a recipe link to Delicious Dishes, please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL, so that everyone can find the recipe months from now.

Check out other inspiring recipes at:
Tasty Tuesday

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

Gold Star Wednesday

Balancing Beauty & Beadlam

Money Saving Mom

Daily Worth

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Groupon

Denver Bargains

What are your favorite blogs and websites? I always love finding something new.

Last week my 6 year old asked to learn how to make meatballs, something I’ve never made. We tried out a very simple recipe that I could see him making by himself in the near future. The best part….The family loved it!

Easy Spaghetti & Meatballs
From-Campbell’s Collection

1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons water
1/3  cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 jar (28 ounces) spaghetti sauce
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (We did penne pasta, much easier for children to eat)

1. Mix beef, water, bread crumbs and egg. Shape meat mixture into 12 (2-inch) meatballs. Arrange in 2-quart shallow microwave-safe baking dish.

2. Microwave on High 5 minutes (mine took 7 minutes) or until meatballs are no longer pink (160 F). Pour off fat. Pour Pasta sauce over meatballs. Cover and microwave 3 minutes more or until sauce is hot. Serve over spaghetti. Serves 4

Campbell’s Collection is full of wonderful simple recipes.

Come back every Tuesday to add your recipe to Delicious Dishes (or just be inspired!)

If you’d like to add a recipe link to Delicious Dishes, please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL, so that everyone can find the recipe months from now.

Check out other inspiring recipes at:
Tasty Tuesday

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

Gold Star Wednesday

Women sometimes say that they lose part of their brains when they have children. But if this is true then what excuse do we men have? Fathers, at least the ones who actually participate in raising their children, seem to lose part of their minds too. You can usually spot these fathers in stores by the little handprints on their clothes, the pink jacket or toy they are carrying, and the blank stare on their face—seemingly oblivious to the orbiting child yelling “I want this! I want this!”

I am not suggesting that fathers have it worse than mothers. No not at all, children take their toll on all parents. It begins the day they are born. The unsuspecting parents don’t realize that the sleep they are missing those first couple of weeks will never be recovered. They can’t guess that they will never again be able to finish a thought without being interrupted, have a clean car, or use the restroom in peace.

No one can prepare you for parenthood.

But, the other side is just as bewildering. There is no way to explain the overwhelming love and inadequacy that you feel the very first time you hold your baby in your arms. Or the pride and amazement that you have as they learn to do the most simple things like walking or riding a bike. They say the funniest things and make wonderful memories. They truly change you and make your life better in unexpected ways.

Children require that you give of yourself. They force you out of your selfish little world and demand constant attention. It can be very difficult, but also very rewarding. It is easy to just see the negative and forget the benefits. Often when I am starting to feel frustrated with my children because I am not able to do whatever it is that I want to do, I remember the words that Jesus spoke in the New Testament to his disciples who were trying to keep the children from bothering Him. “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Suddenly, my sandwich doesn’t seem so important.

“The unhappy woman
believes she should be happy
all the time.

The happy women
believes that there will be times
when she is unhappy.”

Which woman are you?

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