Down at the Cross

by Elisha Hoffman


Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Glory to His name, glory to His name:
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

 

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

 

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

 

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
Plunge in today, and be made complete;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Easy Cheesy Kielbasa and Beans

I few weeks back, while I was searching for a specific cookbook, I came across one that I had forgotten about.  I decided to pull it from my shelf, dust it off and take a peak.  While there are a lot of recipes in this book that looked great for some reason I had not yet tried them.  Until now.
 
So far, we have 2 new FAMILY favorites! Plus several more on my list to try out.

This one that I am going to share with you is delicious, even the Hubster said it was a new family favorite! It is very hearty and fits quite nicely into the comfort foods category.

Ingredients  

Makes about 20 cups

• 1 lb ground chuck
• 1 green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 lb sausage (the recipe calls for thinly sliced kielbasa, but I used cooked Italian sausage)
• 2 (10 oz) cans tomato soup (undiluted)
• 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 (10 oz) can tomatoes and green chiles (undrained)
• 4 (16 oz) cans pinto beans (undrained)
• 4 (15 oz ) cans pork and beans (undrained)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook first 3 ingredients in a stockpot over medium-high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove from pot, and drain.
2. Brown sausage in stockpot; drain and return to pot. Add ground chuck mixture, tomato soup, and next 6 ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Stir in cheese.  Enjoy!

I served this over rice.  The rice went really well with it and also helped to stretch this into 2 meals.  

NOTE: To prepare in a slow cooker, brown ground chuck and sausage as directed. Place ground chuck mixture, sausage, and next 7 ingredients in a 5-quart slow cooker. Cook, covered, at LOW 8 to 10 hours. Stir in cheese just before serving.

Have you all found any new family favorites lately? 

Menu Plan Monday 1/14/13

Back by popular demand, Menu Plan Monday! {smile}

Here's what I am planning on serving this week:

Breakfasts
Cereal & Bananas (2x)
Eggs, Toast & Oranges
Baked Oatmeal & Apple Slices
Waffles & Berries
Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
Egg & Cheese Wraps

Lunches
Left overs
Nuggets & Sweet Potato Fries
Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa & Sour Cream
Egg Salad Sandwiches, Fruit & Chips
PB&J's, Fruit & Chips
Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese, Carrots
Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Ants on a Log (celery, cream cheese, raisins)

Dinners
BLT's, Tomato Soup, Broccoli
Tacos, Corn
Cowboy BBQ (recipe coming soon)
Potato Soup, Homemade Bread
Homemade Pizza - I am letting the kids made their own mini pizzas.
Easy Cheesy Kielbasa and Beans (look out for the recipe for this new family favorite on Wednesday!)
Breakfast Night - I am either going to do a Quiche or Pancakes and Eggs

Snacks
Yogurt
Apples & Peanut Butter
Ants on a Log
Playgroup Granola
Popcorn
Homemade Trail Mix

Showers of Blessing

This beautiful and encouraging hymn was written by Daniel Whittle in 1883. 

This song was inspired by Ezekiel 34:26: And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

There shall be showers of blessing:

This is the promise of love;

There shall be seasons refreshing,

Sent from the Savior above.

Refrain

Showers of blessing,

Showers of blessing we need:

Mercy drops round us are falling,

But for the showers we plead.

 

There shall be showers of blessing,

Precious reviving again;

Over the hills and the valleys,

Sound of abundance of rain.

Refrain

 

There shall be showers of blessing;

Send them upon us, O Lord;

Grant to us now a refreshing,

Come, and now honor Thy Word.

Refrain

 

There shall be showers of blessing:

Oh, that today they might fall,

Now as to God we’re confessing,

Now as on Jesus we call!

Refrain

 

There shall be showers of blessing,

If we but trust and obey;

There shall be seasons refreshing,

If we let God have His way.

Refrain

A Fresh Start in the New Year

As the new year starts I have several things on my heart that I want to focus more on. Here they are, not in any particular order

1) This is one is actually the most important thing so I will list it first. I want to purpose to be in the Word every single day this year. No matter what is going on or how I am feeling or how busy I am. Even if it is just a chapter or just a few verses. Lately, being busy has caused me to neglect to be faithful in the Word. I am choosing to be more of a Mary and less of a Martha this year (Luke 38-42).

2) I am also going to purpose to eat better. I used to eat much healthier then I do now and I had dropped a good bit of weight when I did. Once I got pregnant with number 4 I fell off the wagon into the dark abyss of junk food. I have some health issues and really know better than to be eating just whatever. I have been given the knowledge of what I should and should not be eating, I have just not been following it. So, I am adding juicing and salads back into my world.

3) Remember that part time job I had mentioned. Well, I decided it was not in my best interest to continue with it. This evening was actully my last shift. While the income was a blessing, the bigger goal for me is to get my child care license in place. I have learned over the last few months that Wonder Mom, I am not! There is a limit to what I can accomplish and retain my sanity, I had hit that limit. So for now, the goal is homeschool and getting the childcare going. I have completed 2 of the 4 classes I need so far. Plus I have several inspections to get through. It's a process, but my goal is to really focus on getting it going, hopefully by spring.

4) I also have been praying about my blog. I do love to blog. Doing reviews has been a lot of fun for us. I am hoping to get some things going soon, in addition to continuing with the TOS Crew. I would like to expand my blog beyond reviews. Still praying on this one.

5) A better routine. We do so much better when there is a set routine instead of just loose goosey. I know some mom's are great at "flying by the seat of their pants". I am not one of them. My kids and I do much better when there is an expected flow for the day. We don't run by a super strict 8:30 we do this and 9:00 we do that, but having structure is extremely helpful for us.
I came up with a new routine for our school days. We hae been uing it almost a week now, and so far so good, although it may need a little tweaking as we go on.

The new year is a wonderful time to start fresh. How about you, do you have any new plans or goals this year?