This is not a food blog.

But I love to cook, and I love to share yummy food! I hope you enjoy these.

I love me some banana bread! This scrumptious (and not low-fat) loaf involved cream cheese and a cinnamon and brown sugar streusel through the middle. If I'd had chopped walnuts I would have included those too.

This is shrimp pizza. There was even less left after I took this picture.
My version of this pizza involved a 12" thin crust, a white sauce with powdered mustard and red pepper flakes, and then lots of shrimp. Oh, and mozzarella cheese. Don't skimp!
[I found the recipe on kraftfoods.com and substituted the red pepper flakes for cayenne pepper since that's what I had on hand.]

Banana muffins. These were a test recipe, and not too bad for not having any butter or oil in them. However, we make up for the fat lack and slather butter on top. Yum.

And here to showcase my homemade baby food is my very favorite daughter!
I call this, "Baby a la Blueberry". (Isn't she cute??)

I realize this has nothing to do with food, except for the fact that I make food for these two people. But I love this picture. This is one of Ava's favorite things to do with her daddy. Those two are quickly becoming best buds, which makes my heart (and my face) smile!

Let me leave you with some encouragement from my favorite Book:
"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Psalm 103:1-5

Busy Busy!

We have been excited and in a state of semi-exhaustion lately!

For those of you who are dying to know, we are getting a house! Well, we are excited about it, but we know that until we have the keys, it's not really ours. So we are moving forward with anticipation and maybe a little trepidation too. God has opened every door for this to happen. It's incredible! And, if it is His will, June 2nd will be the day.

Allow me to clarify something. One major point in all our house-hunting has been if it suits our "family mission". Do we have something written in stone as to that point? No. However, questions we have asked are:

"Can we be hospitable here?"
"Does it allow room for our kids to grow?"
"Does is suit our immediate and future needs?"

Granted, we don't know every need we will have. However, it is very important to us to have a home that is in a good location, has room to play, and room to host many people. This house has all that and more! God has been so good, and we are looking forward to seeing how He will use His house through us for His glory.

And it's just in time for Ava to have room to learn to crawl. Bonus!

I will post pictures when it's solid and sold.

Thanks for praying...we're feelin' it!

Dessert...is delicious!

It's called Apple Pear Crisp Fake-Out. I cannot remember where I found this recipe, and I saved it, uncredited, to my computer. I have a hunch it was Pioneer Woman...bear with me if I criticize your favorite gal of all time. ;)

Here's how it breaks down:
You put canned pears with apple pie filling in a pan, just as if you were making crisp. I have a feeling you should go with your gut on what looks right. I just used a 20oz can of filling, and a 29oz can of pears.


Next, you top it with yummy crumbly topping and bake. (My sister, Stef, once used too-dry cookie dough as a topping for an experimental strawberry crisp dessert. I want to try something similar on a crisp. I went with the recipe on this one, though.)


Now the only thing left to do is properly smother it in vanilla ice cream and indulge!

It's really good! I'll give it 8.5 out of 10 stars. One star removed because you can definitely still taste the pears! It's no substitute for the real deal. Another half star removed because I made all the crumble for the original 9x13 pan recipe, and used less filling, and still used all the crumble (okay, so I ate some...) on the top. I would almost double the crumble for a full big pan.

If you want a change of pace, this is the dessert for you! And it may have less sugar than other crisps...but that is not a proven fact. Please don't quote me on that one.

It is easy, it is tasty. You won't regret trying it!

Easter Morning...

we got all dressed up!