Grandma's coming and cabbage soup

Well it is spring break in North Alabama this week and this means my kids do not have preschool. Since I am supposed to work tonight I have asked my 92 year old grandmother to come over tomorrow to help me. I usually go to her house on Wednesdays and do her laundry and run her errands but this time we are going to bring the laundry to my house and she is going to spend the day and help me keep an eye on the girls while I attempt to cat nap on the couch. Then my parents and sister are coming over for dinner. Tomorrow night I am making cabbage soup. It is actually already made :). I diced up all of my ingredients and put them in the crockpot in the refrigerator. When I get home in the morning all I will have to do is plug it up and turn it on low and let it cook until dinner. The other advantage to grandma coming is CORNBREAD! I don't know why but no one makes cornbread like Grandma. Needless to say I am looking forward to tomorrow night. So here is the recipe for cabbage soup:

8 ounces smoke turkey sausage diced into thin half moons
3 potatoes peeled and diced
1 onion diced
2 carrots diced (I actually used up the last 1/2 bag of shredded carrot instead)
1 head of cabbage cut into bite size pieces
1 carton of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

I place the potatoes, onions, carrots, and smoked sausage in the bottom of the crockpot. Then I top with the cabbage, add the chicken stock, and then add water until it just covers the cabbage. Salt and pepper to taste. (I have also just boiled this soup on the stove... just depends on your time. ENJOY

Saturdays and Mrs. Elizabeth lasagna

I love Saturdays at our house. You never know what we will do (if anything) but I always enjoy spending time with my family and catching up on rest. Since I worked last night I spent a good bit of my day sleeping but that did not keep Josh and the girls from having a busy day together. This morning Josh took Amery and registered her for Upward soccer. For those not familiar with Upward it is a sports group that teaches the kids how to play the game while also incorporating devotional time. The don't keep score in the games because they just want the kids to learn how to play and enjoy playing. Needless to say my little red head is VERY excited about this. Then we had a wonderful visit with my inlaws. We just love having Mamaw and Papaw come visit and play :). Tonight I left the brunette with Daddy for some one on one time and took the red head with me to the grocery store. I do not know who enjoys those times more... the kids or the parents.

So now for a recipe. This recipe is referred to as Mrs Elizabeth lasagna. Mrs. Elizabeth is a wonderful lady from our church and the brunette's preschool teacher. When the brunette was born Mrs. Elizabeth provided a meal to our family and it was such a hit I had to get the recipe. It is almost always on our biweekly menu.

4 ounces of egg noodles boiled and drained
1 pound of hamburger browned and drained
1 cup of spaghetti sauce
8 ounces of cream cheese
8 ounces of cottage cheese
4 ounces of sour cream
2 cups of mozzarella cheese

Place boiled and drained egg noodles in the bottom of a square casserole dish. Combine cream cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream and spread over noodles. Combine spaghetti sauce and hamburger meat and pour over cheese mixture top with shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I love to mix this in the morning and refrigerate it so the flavors have more time to blend... if you do this just increase baking time. We serve this with garlic cheese bread and a vegetable. Enjoy!

sunny day :)

It was a sunny and beautiful afternoon at our house. This is the first time the weather has been nice and one of my kids has not been sick... so we took advantage of it. We ended nap time a little early and headed outside with the water bottles, a bowl full of strawberries, and the side walk chalk. The girls also found their bikes that were parked at the side of the house. The played and giggled, giggled and played. A little over an hour it began to get cool and the girls were covered in chalk so we headed in for baths and dinner. The fresh air was wonderful and it sure helped the girls when it came to bedtime tonight:).

Now for the Cracker Barrel green bean recipe. I must admit I am a fan of copy cat recipes. The original recipe I found calls for 3 cans of green beans but I find it cheaper and better tasting to go with the frozen variety. So here goes:

1 pound bag of frozen green beans
4 slices of bacon (I have used regular or turkey)
1/2 a chopped onion
1/4 cup of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Slice bacon into bite-size pieces. Saute bacon and onion until bacon just starts to crisp up and onions are turning translucent. Add frozen green beans and stir to coat with the grease. Cover the green beans with water and salt and pepper to taste. Then add a 1/4 cup of sugar (I use a little less probably) and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook 30-45 minutes until green beans are tender and have cooked down.

This is not our every day green bean recipe but we do love to serve them when cooking a good country spread. Enjoy!

yes... it has been a while

Well it has been a long time since I posted to my blog. After much encouraging by my husband and many request from friends for recipes I am going to try to get back to posting a couple of times a week. Of course my family comes first so sometimes this blog will have to take a back burner.

So what has been happening in the Hill household? LOTS! The kids are growing like weeds. We have battled lots of sickness this winter and I am looking forward to the warm spring days when the windows go up and the germs go out. I have cut back some at work, we are almost done paying off our debt, we changed the kids preschool for the fall, we joined a new church and are hosting life groups... and that is just a small piece of what has been going on.

So now for the part my husband and friends are encouraging me to do... I will try to update a recipe with each post. This week I made beef tips and gravy using my Uncle Cecil's roast and gravy recipe. It is very simple and I make it in the crockpot. I usually get it started when I am done cleaning up breakfast and by dinner it is perfect.

1 package beef stew meat
1 pack of lipton onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small bottle of A1 steak sauce

Mix the soups and steak sauce and pour over the stew meat and cook on low all day (I use my small crockpot because the insert fits in the dishwasher but this can make a mess so you might consider those crockpot liners) Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles.

I serve this with mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. In my next post I will give the recipe I use for copy cat Cracker Barrel green beans. Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day :)

time for change

Have you ever felt God tugging at your heart about a time for change. Ever had Him smack you in the head a few times to convince you. Well that is where the Hill household is right now. It is a path I have never been down in my adult life and Josh has only done it one other time. We pray for wisdom and guidance. I will be a long process so I will let you know when we make a decision.

Now for a recipe :)
corn and yellow rice casserole courtesy of the inlaws

1 package of yellow rice mix cooked according to package directions
2 cans mexicorn undrained
1 stick of butter
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

stir in the stick of butter in the hot prepped rice. then mix in soup, 2 cans of mexicorn, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. pour into a greased casserole dish and top with the other cup of cheddar cheese. bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes... yum yum


Enjoy

Long Time No Post

Well things got a little crazy after I started my blog. We have had financial issues so I have been working extra shifts. Amery got sick with a cold. Abby is getting over RSV and double ear infections. We have not been able to keep up with house work or cooking much less blogging. We are on the mend now and hopefully will get better about blogging.

So now for a recipe finally. (this is to make you happy sis)

Swiss chicken

1 pound of chicken (i like the thin cut chicken breast)
2 cups of shredded swiss or a piece of sliced swiss per piece of chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 a can of milk
bread crumbs (or crushed ritz ... whatever I have on hand)
3 tablespoons of melted butter

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray. Place chicken in the baking dish. Top with swiss cheese. Combine soup and milk and pour over chicken and cheese. Tops with crushed ritz or bread crumbs and drizzle melted butter over. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until chicken is done and cheese is melted and bubbly. (I have also used leftover cooked chicken to make this and if I am in a big hurry I buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and pull the meat off and use that. Just make it with whatever you have on hand.)

I hope you enjoy it. This is on the menu in the Hill household this week.

Almost New Years

Well I was going to do a post about my family's new years resolutions tonight. However, it was a long day at work and I decided to go into work in the morning extra to help take care of everyones tax deductions... I mean babies :). It is really sad that people in our society have inductions and c-sections on new years just to have a tax deduction.

Everyone be safe and enjoy ringing in the new year!