Cooking, Cooking, Cooking

For some reason, the cooking bug bit me around the beginning of the year. Maybe it was because I saw the “Eat from the Pantry Challenge” and thought that it would be a good idea to find some new recipes to make with all of the food in my pantry & freezer. I have enjoyed trying several new recipes as well as cooking some of our old favorites.

A few of them include:
Beef Stew
BBQ Ribs
Sweet & Sour Meat Loaf
Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole
Chicken Curry

Roast with Carrots & Potatoes


Tonight I made one of our favorites…Sweet & Sour Meatloaf. I got this recipe from one of my sweet friends that I met the semester that I lived in Memphis and attended graduate school. I had a great time meeting some wonderful friends at Bellevue Baptist Church, one of which was Laura (Wood) Drury…and come to find out she had gone to Ouachita the year before I did and was really good friends with my college roommate (what a small world). Anyway, I remember her sweet mom making this for us and I LOVED it! We have made it numerous times over the past 18 years! (I can’t believe I’ve been out of college for 18 years now! How old am I???)

So here’s the recipe and a few pictures of how it turned out tonight. I served it with broccoli & roasted red potatoes. And I’m happy to report that Evan ate every bit of it. Maybe he’ll stop being so picky soon, but his little brother is picking up his bad habits and wouldn’t try any of it!

Sweet & Sour Meat Loaf
(From Laura Wood Drury)

1½ lb. ground beef
1 c. dry bread crumbs
1 t. salt
¼ t. pepper
2 eggs
1 t. instant minced onions
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce, divided

Topping/Sauce
½ of the can of tomato sauce
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. vinegar
½ c. sugar
2 t. prepared mustard

Mix together beef, bread, salt, pepper, and eggs. Add onion & ½ of tomato sauce. Form into loaf in 9x5x3 pan. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes. In saucepan, combing topping ingredients. Bring to boil. Pour over meatloaf after the 50 minutes and bake 10 minutes more. (Makes about 6 servings)

I’ll have to post some of the other recipes soon. Will you let me know what your favorite recipe is? I’d love to try some more new recipes.

Memory Verse #3

Wow! I can’t believe it’s already FEBRUARY 1, 2010! I’m so excited to share our family’s next verse to memorize! Here's what I put on my "dress-me-up" plate in the kitchen, so I'll see it every time I'm in there:

Psalm 119:9-11 (NIV)
How can young man keep his way pure?
By living according to Your word.
I seek You with all my heart;
Do not let me stray from Your commands.
I have hidden Your word in my heart
That I might not sin against You.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of learning so many things about Psalm 119 from Beth Moore at the SMT Celebration. One of the things she talked about was how we needed to learn to live our lives more for Jesus. She said by memorizing His word, we will know how to live better. She talked about the parable of the sower and the seed and how the good seed was pressed into the soil to grow and flourish. She said that these verses made her think about how we need to press the Word into our hearts and let it soak in and change our hearts. She then talked about Psalm 119:9-11.

I remember memorizing verse 11 when I was little, but I haven’t thought about the 3 verses together. She talked about how we can teach our children to grow as Christians (verse 9), so I thought this would be the perfect passage to work on with Evan and Ethan this month. Sometimes I think Ethan is too young to memorize but he can sing just about any little song that he hears over & over, so I don’t give him enough credit.

Here are my two precious responsibilities that I must "train up" for Jesus!


So what verse are you memorizing this month? Will you please share it with me…either by the McLinky or with a comment? I’d love to hear it!

Drawing closer to Him in 2010!

Kim

A Little This & A Little That...

We have kept pretty busy the last few weeks, and I’ve thought of several things I’d like to write about. But sometimes this blogging kind of overwhelms me…I always want to write things in just the right way and it is pretty time-consuming. So I just avoid it all together.

Here is a little of this & that…a few things that have been going on in the Beechem family…they really don’t go together but I want to remember these little events of our lives in January 2010…

1. Martin Luther King Jr Celebration…
A few weeks ago, Eric had the opportunity to sing at the MLK Celebration at Johnson Chapel in Malakoff. We were the only white people in a small crowd of about 75, but we had a blast! At first, I did not plan on going with Eric, but the boys were visiting Grammy & PawPaw in Texarkana, so I decided to go. And I’m so glad I did!

He attended last year but didn’t sing a special. This year, the lady in charge asked him to sing as well. They had about 10 specials—groups & solos from various churches in the area. There was even a church choir from a Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas! I find it interesting that white people & black people worship in such different ways. I love the way they worshipped that night! It was so neat to hear the congregation encourage the singers throughout each song…with clapping, “amens,” & singing along. Eric sang “I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel.” They encouraged him with amens throughout the song and by the end, the entire congregation was singing along! It was great! When we left that night, we were uplifted and had truly worshipped God!

2. Jehovah-Jireh…The Lord Will Provide
God has been bringing this name to mind a lot lately—the preacher at the MLK Celebration used it in her prayer and then another choir sang a song with it in there. Jehovah-Jireh is the name that Abraham gave God when he was on the mountain about to sacrifice his son, Isaac. At that moment, God provided a ram in the thicket (Genesis 22:13-14). How many times do we need to remember that God is our Jehovah-Jireh? He WILL provide for all of our needs!

3. Curry Chicken
I was motivated by a few bloggers to participate in the “Eat From Your Pantry” for the month of January. I wasn’t perfect but I was more intentional than I’ve ever been. I inventoried my freezer & pantry, and I looked through my favorite cookbooks. I’ve enjoyed cooking some new recipes, I kept way under our budget on groceries, and I’m motivated to keep doing more! On Monday night, I made a new recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook…CURRY CHICKEN! It took a lot longer to cook than I thought it would, but it was SOOOO good! It reminded me of the curry dish that I had when I was in college at Ouachita. My BSU director and his wife (Ian & Sharon Cosh) were from South Africa, and I remember them having a group of us over for dinner where they served some type of curry dish. I don’t even remember why we were there, but I have always remembered how good the food was! Maybe some day, I’ll see them again and ask for their recipe. :)

4. Ethan’s Frowny Face
At Kids First, Ethan has a take-home folder that has a calendar on it. Each day, he gets a little face indicating what kind of day he had. He usually gets a green happy face, meaning he’s been a good boy. A few days last semester he got a yellow face, saying that he had to get a warning about his behavior, but Thursday, he got the worst: a RED FROWNY FACE! We could not imagine what our perfect little boy could have done! :) (Please note sarcasm here.) Daddy asked his teacher the next day, only to find out that he was building towers with blocks & knocking them down…but not just knocking them down…hitting them as hard as he could to see if the blocks would fly across the room. (Actually, this is a “trick” that his Uncle Kevin has taught him. My brother is going to be in trouble now!) His teacher said she warned him not to do it again and then Ethan gave her a very dirty look. I know the look. He’s been giving it to us a lot lately! I guess the “terrible twos” have finally hit him…at about 3½! After Daddy & I both talked to Ethan, I was working with Evan on his homework in the kitchen. I noticed that Ethan had been quiet for awhile, so I went to look for him. I went in our bedroom and said, "Ethan, where are you?" He said, "I'm up here." I couldn't believe he had figured out how to climb up on my bathroom counter! Then, he had to show me how he did it! He's our little dare-devil!

5. My Lips
For the past few weeks, my lips have gradually gotten worse and worse. It’s way past being chapped! Last Sunday & Monday I looked like I had a bad botox job! I guess some people pay good money to get their lips to be plump…mine were swollen & they HURT! I was so miserable & embarrassed on Monday that I called the doctor but he couldn’t get me in until late Tuesday. By then, the swelling was gone & I felt stupid going then, so I cancelled. Then, on Wednesday the infection hit the corners of my lips and they seemed to be growing across my face now. So I called my dermatologist in Texarkana and went to see her on Friday afternoon…we were going to visit our family there anyway. Well, she diagnosed me with big & yucky words like “dermatitis” & “fungus.” Lovely! And she prescribed these creams to put on them for the next THREE weeks! So…$88 later, I may be on the road to recovery. So do you think I could have gotten real botox for that much money? I wonder if that hurts as much as this does?

OK, those are my random thoughts for this week…

I’ll be back tomorrow for our next memory verse! I can’t believe it’s already going to be February! I hope you are thinking of the next verse you’d like to “hide in your heart!”

Until tomorrow…

Book Suggestions

The other day, my friend, Jenna, asked some of the ladies in our Bible study group at church to tell each other what books we've read to help us become a better wife, mom, and homemaker. I thought this was an excellent idea! I started taking inventory of my book shelf and found that I have so many books that I've read on home organizing, being a better wife, parenting, etc. But I have probably just as many that I've bought and never taken the time to read. This year, I'm going to make a plan to start reading more. I'm praying that reading these books will help me become more like Christ and will help me be a better wife and mom.

So here goes...

Books I’m currently reading:
The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation. (I decided I needed to read the Bible through again this year, so I asked Daddy if I could borrow this translation. It’s a really easy read! I’ve only done this a couple of times in my life. It’s a huge commitment, but once I start, I really get into it! I LOVE reading the stories in Genesis! This Bible is written in chronological order, so it’s a different way to read it, too.)

Jesus Calling, Sarah Young (This is a 365-day devotional book with short passages each day. It’s like a conversation that Jesus is having with you personally using scripture. It’s really neat.)

Preparing Him for the Other Woman (A Mother’s Guide to Raising Her Son to Love a Wife & Lead a Family), Sheri Rose Shepherd (Thanks, Jenna! This is a great book! Good, practical ideas for every stage of life.)

The Gift of Dyslexia, Ronald D. Davis (This was recommended to me to help me with Evan. I’m really enjoying it too.)

The Love Dare, Stephen & Alex Kendrick (The book made famous by Fireproof. OK, I started reading this & trying to do the daily tasks last summer & got bogged down & stopped. During the New Year “Resolution” time, I decided I should try to do it again & finish this time. I’m trying to accomplish a task genuinely before moving to the next “day.” I’m now on day 5 finally & it’s now January 24! Instead of a 40-day plan, it might be a 40-week or 40-year plan for me!)

Great Devotionals:
Night Light, A Devotional for Couples, Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
15 Minute Devotions for Couples, Bob & Emilie Barnes
Diamonds in the Dust, Joni Eareckson Tada
10-Minute Time Outs for Busy Women, Grace Fox
More Faith in My Day (10 Minute Meditations for Women from Proverbs), Emilie Barnes
15 Minutes of Peace with God, Emilie Barnes
Managing Your Moods, Women of Faith

Excellent Organizing Books (Home Management, etc.)
Sink Reflections, Marla Cilley (The Fly Lady)***** Excellent organizing book!
Life Management for Busy Women, Elizabeth George
Keep It Simple for Busy Women, Emilie Barnes
Smart Organizing, Sandra Felton
Creative Home Organizer, Emilie Barnes
The 15 Minute Organizer, Emilie Barnes (Can you tell I like Emilie Barnes?)
Taking Care of the Me in Mommy, Lisa Whelchel (EXCELLENT book!)
The Quick-Fix Home Organizer, Emilie Barnes
Organizing Magic (40 days to a well-ordered home & life), Sandra Felton (I should have started this with our 40 day fast)


Books I’ve Read & need to again:
The Spirit of Loveliness, Emilie Barnes
How to be a Winner & Influence Anybody (The Fruit of the Spirit as the Essence of Leadership), James Merritt
The Dream Giver, Bruce Wilkinson
Cure for the Common Life (Living in Your Sweet Spot), Max Lucado
Calm My Anxious Heart, Linda Dillow
Creative Counterpart, Linda Dillow
For Women Only, Shaunti Feldhahn
Women Who Do Too Much (How to stop doing it all & start enjoying your life), Patricia Sprinkle (Excellent book!)
Conflict FREE Living, Joyce Meyer (Excellent)

Books I’ve started & need to finish (so bad about that):
Creative Correction, Lisa Whelchel
Grace Based Parenting, Dr. Tim Kimmel
Love & Respect, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Bringing Up Boys, Dr. James Dobson (OK, I’ve been looking all over the house for this book for 2 months and could never find it! And I just looked on my book shelf to gather these books and it is sitting right there! How weird!)
The Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie Omartian
Let Go, Sheila Walsh
Me & My Big Mouth (Your Answer is Right Under Your Nose), Joyce Meyer
A Positive Plan for Creating More Calm, Less Stress, Karol Ladd

Books I have & need to start AND finish (why do I buy these & never read them??):
Shaping the Next Generation (Helping Parents Seize Their Brief Window of Opportunity), David & Elaine Atchison
A Positive Plan for Creating more Fun, Less Whining, Karol Ladd
The Confident Woman, Joyce Meyer

Well, that's my huge list. Now it's your turn. What books have you read that helped you become a better wife, mom, and/or home manager? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration

January 22-23, 2010
Houston's First Baptist Church
Hosted by Beth Moore & her two daughters, Amanda & Melissa, and the Living Proof staff

Wow! What a blessed weekend we have had! This weekend, I got to join 508 women at Houston’s First Baptist Church to celebrate our commitment to memorize 24 scriptures throughout 2009. There were about 2000 women that joined the Siesta SMT on Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministries blog last year, and 508 were able to attend the celebration this weekend! There were ladies from 42 states and Canada!

As Beth Moore was telling us how excited she was to have this time together and how God was surely pleased at all of our efforts, the math teacher in me started multiplying how many verses that we collectively memorized. Just in that room, there were 508 women x 24 verses (at least…many times many people had 2-3 verse passages to memorize) = 12,192 verses! Wow! And 2000 women x 24 verses = 48,000 memory verses! Double Wow! How exciting!

She kept saying how God was surely smiling over our efforts! It was really neat on Saturday morning at 10:30 when we had to split up in pairs and move all around the church to recite our verses together. It was neat to see everyone with their little spirals of notecards. They have become quite precious treasures to us all! I was proud that my sister, Shellye, and I were able to recite all of our 24 verses with very little prompting!

We had such a wonderful time of singing and learning! During the two teaching sessions, Beth Moore took us through many passages of Psalm 119. Before she got into the lessons she told us some background on the book.

*Did you know that Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in Psalms) has 176 verses and that those verses are broken up into 22 passages of 8 verses each? (She jokingly said that she was going to have us memorize the chapter together!)

*Did you know the writer titled each one of those 8-verse passages with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order (Aleph to Taw)?

*Did you know that each verse in each of those 8-verse passages began with the corresponding letter? (ex., Aleph passage…each verse began with “A,” the 2nd passage each verse began with “B,” and so on.)

*How cool is that? The writer was definitely under some major divine inspiration to write all 176 verses in that pattern!!!

After the background information, she taught us 8 points that created a run-on sentence, using many verses of Psalm 119. I was amazed at all of the truths that she pointed out to us! It was such a wonderful time of learning!

Here’s the run-on sentence:
I’m a resident alien… (Psalm 119:17-24, 57, 1 Peter 2:11)
seeking direction… (Psalm 119:105-112, 125, 66, Luke 24:45)
in deep want of wonder…(Psalm 119:18)
in peril and need… (Psalm 119:25, 28, 107, 65, 58, 113)
troubled by humanity… (Psalm 119:81-88, 118-119, Psalm 139:19-22, Ezekiel 33:10-11)
–especially my own— (Psalm 19:12-14, Psalm 119:133, 9-11)
knowing that to follow is the only free road… (Psalm 119:30-32)
for a straying sheep longing to be found. (Psalm 119:169-176)

After the session on Friday night, we had a meet ‘n greet time where they served chocolate sheet cake & had a huge coffee bar. Well, I’m not tempted by coffee whatsoever, but I LOVE chocolate. However, I can’t have any right now…that’s one thing I gave up for our church’s 40-day fast as we are preparing for revival.

OK, my first verse of the year came into play. It’s 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it!”

My mind was really spinning…I was thinking, "Would it be so bad? I am at a Beth Moore conference, after all! And it’s just one piece of cake!"

The lady handed me and my sister one. I told Shellye, “I’m not supposed to eat this. Should I?” She said, “You better not.” So I thought, I could just take it to Eric—that’s my way out that God provided! (Well, it didn’t make it to Eric because Shellye threw it away when we got in line to MEET BETH MOORE!) :) I was so proud (in the humblest sense of the word) for overcoming that temptation!

So…the weekend was a blast! And we even got to take our picture with Beth Moore and her daughters and Travis Cottrell, the awesome worship leader! I am SO VERY THANKFUL for Beth Moore & LPM for providing this wonderful celebration to us FREE OF CHARGE! What a wonderful blessing for us all!

Travis Cottrell leading us in worship.

Beth, Amanda, & Melissa talked to us and gave out door prizes at the beginning of each session.

My sister, Shellye, Beth Moore, and me

Shellye came with her friends from church, Paula & Kristie.

Shellye, Amanda, and me

Shellye, Melissa, and me.

Saturday morning...Beth Moore & her daughters were so funny together!

After the conference, Eric & the boys picked me up at the church. They got to come in & meet Travis Cottrell too!

Eric was quite envious that I got to be there and he didn't. It was a treat for him to meet Travis & tell him that our choir just performed his Glorious Day worship concert.

Before the SMT Celebration, Eric, Evan, Ethan, and I spent the day at NASA’s Space Center Houston! We had a blast! Evan and Ethan loved every minute of it and would have stayed all night if they could! Evan’s decided he’d love to work as an engineer for NASA now! Here are a few highlights from our day…and we picked a great day to go…no crowds at all!

Can you see Ethan way down there? I thought it was a neat perspective picture.

I love how Ethan has his neck stretched so far back to see the top of the rocket!

We all had to try on the astronaut helmets. They were SOOOO heavy! Eric reminded us that in space they would feel weightless.


This is heavy, but it sure is fun!

Memory Verse #2 for 2010

Being part of Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memory Team through her Living Proof Ministries (LPM) blog during 2009 created a great habit of memorizing two verses per month. Now, when the 1st and 15th of each month rolls around, I am automatically thinking about what verse I NEED to memorize next. And God always shows me just the right verse for the situation or circumstance that I’m going through at the time. (Sometimes I come up with so many verses that I just make a list in the back of my spiral of possible verses to memorize.)

Although Beth Moore is not continuing this fabulous tradition for 2010, I have a deep desire to do so. Awhile back I asked if anyone else wanted to join me this year, and I think I only had my friend Jenna take me up on the offer. And that’s ok.

However, if you would like to memorize 1-2 verses per month this year, I’d love to have you link up below and join us.

Would you consider joining me in memorizing some Scripture this year? We will check in on the 1st & 15th of each month to hold each other accountable. Here's a link to all of the Siesta Scripture Memory Team entries from last year. The first one has some wonderful tips on how to memorize.

So…enough about that. Here is my verse for this time.

Proverbs 10:19 (NIV)
“When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.”

I came across this verse several days ago in my morning devotional as I’m reading a Proverb a day this month. I thought it was perfect for me because I tend to open my mouth a little TOO much at times and get myself in trouble or feel really badly later. So…I need to just learn to keep my mouth shut more! J

Yesterday, I came up with a way to “post” my verse in the kitchen so the whole family could work on it.


I have had this “dress me up” plate from Southern Living at Home for at least 4 years and have never even taken it out of the box until this Christmas. I enjoyed writing Christmas wishes and welcoming guests throughout December. It’s so cute that I really didn’t want to put it away. And that’s when I had this idea to write my memory verse on it. What do you think?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you! (I’m SO excited that I learned how to do this McLinky thing now! I just finished going through this little tutorial on the McLinky website. I hope it works!)

Drawing closer to Him in 2010!
Kim

Random Thoughts for The Day

Random Thought #1. How to Spend about $1000 in a matter of SIX hours...

A. 10:00 am: Have your husband go to the dentist to get a cavity filled and to get fitted for a crown. (Total AFTER insurance=approx. $450)
B. 4:00 pm: Have the repairman tell you that your 15 year old Maytag dryer isn't worth saving. (Total approx. $440)
C. 5:00 pm: Buy groceries + a birthday gift + baby shower gift at Wal-mart (Total approx. $150)

Yep...that's actually MORE than $1000...and just when we started reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover and started on this new envelope system. Isn't that the way it always works? I am very thankful that God has blessed me with just as big a tightwad, I mean frugal, husband as I am and that we have savings for weeks like this.

Random Thought #2. Goodbye, Dear Dryer, You've Been A Good Friend to Us!

So...my dryer has been on the downhill slide for several months now but we've been in major denial. We had a repair man fix a few belts a while back and he said that this model of Maytag was really good and we'd be able to keep getting it fixed...blah, blah, blah. Well, it's been getting progressively worse...I can't even describe the loud obnoxious noises that it's been making for the last several weeks! And that's beside the fact that it's not been drying really well...sometimes I'll put it on the delicate cycle and open the door and it's BURNING hot! Other times, the regular cycle would put out no heat at all. This week the repair man gave us the diagnosis and it was only about $100 more to buy a new one. And so we did. And I'm SOOOOO glad they delivered TODAY! My laundry has been piling up SO high this week waiting for the new dryer. I have been so good to get in the "one load a day keeps the piles away" routine and now I'm all messed up. So far I've done 5 loads since the new installation at 2:30 this afternoon...I think I have about 5 more to get caught up.

So goodbye dear Maytag...our first major purchase right before we got married (just about this time of year 15 years ago)...we had to buy this lovely washer/dryer pair for 12 months/no interest back then. No savings...both new teachers...not much money to our names. Those were the days! :)
But because of you, dear dyer, this is what has become of my laundry sorter...

And this is what has become of the boys' bathroom pantry...

And hello, sweet QUIET Whirlpool. Thanks to you, my piles are dwindling load by load. Please be as faithful as our Maytag and give us a good 15 years, OK?

Random Thought #3. I am SO EXCITED about going to the Beth Moore Scripture Memory Team Celebration in just 12 days! Not only is this a FREE conference (our scripture spirals are the admission ticket) with none other than Travis Cottrell leading in worship, but Shellye & I won a FREE room at the Omni Hotel too! And we got an email the other day that there are only about 450 people attending. That means we may be able to reach out and shake her hand! Wow! I do believe my spiritual tank will be full after this special weekend...but I do need to keep practicing my verses...we have to say them to someone during the conference. I'm good at it when I practice alone, but sometimes I just have to glance at the spiral to get one word here & there. I need to start saying them out loud to Eric, Evan, & Ethan...maybe that will help me.

I must say that checking in on the 1st & 15th of every month for a year has really created a worthwhile habit for me. I have really enjoyed memorizing these verses and it's amazing how God has provided just the right verse for whatever time I need it. I'm so hooked that I'm working on my 2010 spiral for this year! One of my goals for the year is to work with Evan & Ethan to memorize at least 1 verse per month with them. Evan is at the age I was when I competed in Bible Drill, and I still remember those verses and know my books of the Bible. It's so important to "hide His word in my heart so I might not sin again Him." And it's so much easier to memorize with a young brain like theirs instead of an almost 40-year old brain like mine.

OK, those are my 3 Random Thoughts for today...I'll have more tomorrow. We're looking forward to the choir singing Revelation Song at church tomorrow. What an annointed song it is...never gets old!