BIRMINGHAM

HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!

What a Big Boy

My Baby Bear is growing up sooo fast--I can't believe how much he learns and discovers every day!

A Spoonful of Sugar...

Well, a ton of brown sugar...makes anything delicious. Here is a "new" recipe. I wanted to make a meatloaf for dinner but I wasn't sure if Pat was a fan, and I, for one, am not a HUGE fan of the same old, mundane, tasteless, bland meatloaf that calls for salt, pepper, an egg and oatmeal smothered in ketchup to hide the fact that its mushy and has no flavor...NO NO NO, this is a special meatloaf. Here is the basic recipe...

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cup saltine crumbs, finely crushed

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. 2
   Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
3. 3
   Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.
4. 4
   In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf.
5. 5
   Place on top of the ketchup and bake for 1 hour or until clear juices appear. 
6. 
   

I made a few "alterations and additions". I put about 1/4-1/2 an inch of brown sugar on the bottom of the pan. Instead of just ketchup, I mixed in some of 'Tony Roma's' Original Bar-B-Que sauce and covered the brown sugar with it. In the actual meat, I added some green bell peppers and celery (which I chopped up in a food processor) and also put a little bit of the Tony Roma's sauce in it, as well as a little bit of fresh garlic (only a little bit, though). 
It only took about 45 minutes to cook, so, with 15 minutes left, I put a little bit of my ketchup/bar-b-que mix on top of the meatloaf and let it finish cooking..... 
We also had sauteed spinach and fresh green beans that were boiled with salt, pepper, and BUTTER----YUMMO

OH EM GEE---Ask my hubby...it was delicious.
Try it for yourself--Add your favorite things or take out some...
One thing I LOVELOVELOVE about cooking is experimenting. When you know the foundation to a recipe--you can taylor it to whatever mood you're in....Hope you enjoy this one.

SURPRISE!!!!

I am soooo excited. My dad's birthday is October 8 and my mom's birthday was August 1...their anniversary was August 6 and we weren't able to do much for them with the move and new baby and everything else sucking up our funds...
I have the BIGGEST surprise in store for them!!! Stay tuned to find out what--It'll be the middle of October but everyone loves suspense, right?!

He Will Come...

...like a thief in the night, NO ONE knows exactly when we will rise to meet Him or when he is coming back...but it will be wuick and we better be ready!!!
This past Spring, the South went through tornadoes like we have never had before. There was so much destruction in so many places...this past year, Japan had a horrible tsunami/earthquake and many many lives were lost....there are wars and RUMORS OF WARS in the middle east...and TODAY, there was an earthquake on the EAST COAST?????!!!!! WHAT? There are never earthquakes there...Think we aren't getting closer? Think again. "This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again." (Matthew 24:21)
I know, recently, there was a lot of hooplah about the day the world would end and Christ was coming back...well, it didn't happen. As a Christian, were we really surprised? "But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows... You have no idea what day your Master will show up." (Matthew 24:36;41) hmmm...only God knows, and we have people guessing the date...and believers, born again believers, listening to them over what God has said.
We shouldn't doubt that it is coming though. Obviously we are closer and closer to it as each day passes. But I truly believe the beginning has already started...there are signs everywhere.
We are now able to use the internet, technology, airplanes, cars, boats, etc to reach more and more people all over the world. "...the good news...will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country." (Matthew 24:14)
That's my thoughts for now...There are prophecies being fulfilled everyday and I truly believe God is starting the process.
Saturday night, at church, Dr. Ed Hinson said something that really made sense and was an AH-HAH moment... "Plan as though you have your WHOLE life to live for God-Live your life as though He is coming tonight."
Who knows...He could.
"

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

My Baby Boy.....

I Can Show You the World...

Well, not really. But I have been trying to open Pat's eyes to the wonders of fresh foods and vegetables.
We don't have the money to go out to eat anyway, but I have started to really enjoy cooking and trying out different recipes.
This past week, Pat was on night watch-12am to 8am- so I was cooking for myself (which makes things a little easier since I am on a diet) I made a DELICIOUS salad of spinach and then baked a DELICIOUS lemon pepper chicken breast and sliced it and put it on top. Also, I made up a "recipe" for fresh asparagus. By preheating the oven to 400 degrees, laying the asparagus in a single layer in a baking dish and then sprinkling olive oil and McCormik's Lemon Pepper seasoning on it (it doesn't take much) and baking it until it is tender---SOOOOOO GOOD!

Call me a fatty, but I ended up eating the entirety of that Pyrex dish of asparagus-I figured it's a vegetable so it would be okay.
Tonight, I made a London Broil (simple enough) and a salad. I don't know if anyone has tried this but J Alexander's has an AMAZING grilled artichoke, so I thought I would try and find a recipe for one. I ended up baking it with olive oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic and sprinkled with sea salt. Though it was good, it needed J's sauce. I have one artichoke left so the next time, I am going to try grilling it and making a dipping sauce...Here are pictures from tonights dinner.