Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

meal planning monday

blah.  i’ve been absolutely horrible at this meal planning business.  and do you know what that has done?  made “what’s for dinner” an absolute nightmare.  i obviously thrive on structure and planning ahead.  so, meal planning monday must make a return.  period.

monday – baked ziti and

tuesday – creamy chicken and rice casserole…this is super super yummy and it’s easy!

wednesday – baked potato chowder and bread bowls for mi familia…this is an absolute FAV of my family and there is very seldom any leftovers at all…i will put the recipe below…

thursday – hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill (at the request of the oldest little)

friday – it’s football friday (and papa is coming) so this will be a rush rush night.  more than likely we will just grab something at the game.

saturday – out to dinner with the fam 🙂

sunday – i have a wedding, which means a little mini-date, then home to have lasagna with the fam.

baked potato chowder
i make this in my crock pot and will start it first thing in the morning so it’s done in time…i also double the recipe because my fam LOVES it!  put the following in the crock pot and mix all together:
1 bag of frozen hash browns (the cubed ones, not shredded)
enough canned chicken broth to cover the hashbrowns completely
1 can of cream of chicken soup
cook until potatoes are done then add:
1 brick cream cheese
1 8 oz package shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled bacon
mix all together and continue to cook on low or warm until ready to serve…we enjoy ours in warm bread bowls…YUMMO!

All-In2Night {BOOK REVIEW}

All-In2Night
By Lynne Burgess
about the book:

All-In 2Night is a family routine. For one night of the week everyone stays home. By spending ten to twenty minutes together, you can learn and talk about the things that matter. Following on from Lynne’s original book this set of new activities is designed especially with Christian families in mind. The book includes 40 weeks of activities, designed as 1 per week of the school year. Activities include love languages, listening for God, self-esteem, the fruits of the spirit and many more. These family activities provide an opportunity to grow values, goals, hopes, feelings and the foundation for a Christ led life.

in the past year, i’ve realized more than ever how important spending time with family is.  losing my grandma coupled with the reality that my son will be leaving for college in less than 2 years has made family time so super important to me.  i think life gets so busy, and the world moves so fast, our family seems to get lost in the shuffle.  and when time is spent together, everyone has their nose immersed in technology.  genuine family time seems to be a thing of the past.  but it doesn’t have to be.  that is where author Lynne Burgess got the idea to incorporate what she calls family nights back into her home and she has shared her secrets in her latest book called All-In2Night.
the book has 40 topics that can be related to by every family.  Lynne shares how to instill God values in your children, activities you can work on with your kids and some super great conversation starters.  
this book is definitely one i would recommend to all parents.  this is such an excellent resource that i wish i had when my kids were smaller.

i received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. the opinions i have expressed are my own.

thankful ♡

this past week was truck driver appreciation week.  as most of you know {or might not}, my love is a truck driver.  i just couldn’t let this go by without thanking my husband, and all the other truckers, for everything they do. 
my husband is not an over-the-road driver, but i appreciate him non the less.  when the snow is flying and none else wants to be on the roads, that’s when he heads to work.  he hurriedly packs a lunch, slips on his carhartt jacket and insulated boots and heads out for a long night of plowing snow.  he keeps the roads cleared and safe for my family and yours.  
this is possibly the most thankless job there is.  you tolerate taunts and jeers from nearly everyone for being a “state worker”.  you either don’t plow their roads often enough, throw the snow too far in their yard, plow their driveway in or knock their mailbox down.  rather than thank you for risking your life to save their families life, they criticize every single thing you do. 
and there is always that one person that is in a ridiculous hurry, even on horrible roads.  during the storm, they will still pass the plow truck.  a few years ago this unsafe, storm passing was done by a tri-axle.  this might not seem like a big deal, but if you could see the area we live in, you would totally understand.  
i am so so super thankful for my trucker.  i am thankful for his willingness to go to work every day and work to provide for his family.  i’m thankful for his dedication to keeping the roads safe and passable for the pubic.  i’m thankful for his amazing attitude and non-complaining during the long hours, cold, sassy people, forgotten lunches and late night calls.  i’m super thankful that during the stretches of days at a time when he is out during big storms, when it feels like i haven’t spent time with him for ages, he always takes the time to call or message me just to let me know he loves me and misses me.  i can’t put into words how much i love this mans heart.
and i want to take time to thank all the other drivers.  some other drivers are over the road (driving the entire country) while some are regional or even local. some drivers do dedicated runs where they run the same route for the same company every day. some drivers are home every night, some only on weekends while others are on the road for weeks at a time.  yes, this is a job they’ve chosen.  but that doesn’t make being away from their family any easier.  
to all of you, including my love…thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!