Freezer Meal Ministry

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I had the honor of spending a few hours this morning with these lovely ladies...doing some of the good Lord's work. In just a few hours and a few trips to Walmart we had made 36 pints of chicken and rice soup, 33 individual lasagnas, and a 4 dozen breakfast sandwiches. The purpose of these meals is to have food ready to be given to those in need. Weather it be a shut-in, a family, a widow or widower, these meals could help make their day so much easier. Food is a basic need and we wanted to be able to fulfill the need.

I am utterly in awe of the work that these ladies completed in a short time. It amazes me the work that can be completed by just a few hands to help others. 

It was such a fun morning working together. 

I guess the purpose of this blog wasn't just to share this fun filled morning but to say why this was so important to me. Every member of a church needs to have a place a place they feel comfortable, useful, and feel they are following the Lords direction. For quite some I have been trying to find my place...yes I am involved in my church always have been but I never really have felt like I had found what the Lord wanted me to do. That was until I saw the sign-up for the service Sunday one of our women's group is putting together. 

One of the categories was freezer meals...I didn't really know what that meant but I knew I loved to cook and help others. Then one Sunday a lady said they were needing someone to take the lead on the freezer meal category. In that moment I knew I had found my place. The next day I had volunteered to get the ball rolling on this. With in the week a meal prep day was planned with ingredient lists and a plan for the day formulated. I simply sent an e-mail asking for volunteers to help plus people to bring ingredients. Seriously within an hour I had all I needed. These ladies could move mountains in minutes I swear!

This morning I felt His presence guiding me and I knew I was doing exactly what I should be doing! So thank you to the members of my church for allowing me to lead this, and thank you to all those who helped make it a success. Lastly the Lord is guiding you...listen he will send you right where you need to be!

Shrimp Tacos with Lime and Jalapeno Slaw

So I read that today is National Taco Day!!! Why didn't I know of this glorious holiday before? And why oh why do I have to work on this day! On top of it being National Taco Day...it is TACO TUESDAY!!! I am finally bringing you a new recipe! But if you take a close look at this picture that is grass in the back ground yes green green grass. Not exactly October grass that is more like spring grass May 24th grass to be exact. You have got it right I have had this recipe ready for a post since May. But it just hasn't happened apparently having a baby, going on maternity leave, managing our house, getting my kid ready for school, starting kindergarten, starting daycare, and going back to work prohibited me from actually achieving this being blogged. 

But trust me it is worth the wait! Especially since it is on this all important holiday! These have quickly become a favorite in our family! Charlot especially LOVES them a requests them pretty much weekly. That kid loves shrimp and when you throw it into a taco it can't get much better. I actually made these for my Daddy-o and the Hubs for Father's Day and they both were quite pleased with their delicious dinner. 

Any who here is the recipe make these tonight to celebrate! We won't be having tacos tonight in celebration we had tacos Saturday night, nacho soup Sunday night, and taco bowls Last night. I feel it is time for a change although if I put tacos on the table tonight the other two solid food eaters in my home would rejoice. They are sure to turn into a taco! 

Shrimp Tacos with Lime and Jalapeno Slaw

1 lb Large Raw Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined) 

1 Can Mango Nectar (can be found in the Hispanic Section of your store) 

1 TSP Chipolte Powder

1 TSP Cumin

1 Garlic Clove (Minced)

1 TSP Salt

1 Lime (Juice and Zest)

Charred Tortillas 

1 bag of Slaw Mix

1 Jalapeno diced (seeds and membrane removed)

1/2 Plain Greek Yogurt

1/4 Mayo (use the real stuff)

1 lime (Juice and Zest)

1 TSP Apple Cider Vinegar

Splash of milk to thin

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Mix Shrimp, Nectar, Chipolte Powder, Cumin, Garlic, Salt, and Lime in a large zip top bag and marinate for at least 1/2 an hour and up to a hour. In the meantime mix slaw dressing of yogurt, mayo, lime, vinegar, milk, salt and pepper stick it in the fridge for flavors to combine. Don't Dress the slaw until ready to serve you want the cabbage to still have some crunch. Heat a large skillet with EVOO. Remove shirmp from marinade, sear off the shrimp careful to not over cook. Char some tortillas either over your gas flames or with your broiler. Dress the slaw. Place 4-5 shrimp in a tortilla top with some slaw and serve!

BPT Pizza

I am a sucker for easy I repeat quick and easy week night meals! I think most people are I mean by the time you get everyone home and settled down and going on homework or getting ready for whatever activity you have that night spending several hours on supper just isn't a happening thing! Thus is why I love this pizza, the toppings are super easy to prep ahead of time and if you want you can use a premade crust you could literally have supper on the table in less than 15 minutes! 

Now I love a good BLT, just as soon as the tomatoes start to ripen you can bet that I am going to fixing BLT's. And this pizza is just a rift on a BLT but instead of the lettuce (L) I used jarred pesto for the sauce. It added such a fresh flavored to the pizza and married perfectly with the tomatoes. Even the hubs who is not a lover of basil (the main ingredient in pesto) thought this pizza was delicious! I can't say the same for my kiddo but that is kind of the nice thing about pizza night is I can make her a pepperoni pizza pretty easily without feeling like I am making her a seperate meal. I am not a short order cook after all, I remind her of that frequently! Anyway if you want a really tasty pizza that is a departure from the norm give this one a try! 

BPT Pizza

1 pizza crust rolled thin (either make your own or purchse one)

1/4 cup Pesto (you could make your own here too!)

8 peices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)

1 Cup Mozzarella Shredded Cheese

2 Roma Tomatoes

1/4 Cup Parmsean Cheese Grated

Pre-Heat oven to 400 degrees. Parbake your pizza crust so that when you have it topped it will only need to cook for about 10 minutes more. Once your crust is ready spred the pesto over the entire crust try not to get it to thick. Top with bacon crumbles, followed by mozzarella cheese. Thinly slice your tomoatoes and place over the pizza, then finish with sprinkling the parmsean over all of it. Bake pizza for an additional 10-12 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is nice and bubbly. ENJOY! 

An Afternoon at the Fair

This is my last recap of the Missouri State Fair 2016 since it has been over for nearly month I feel it's fitting that finally get around to wrapping it up! Ha! These are all pictures from an afternoon I took and left the hog barn with both kiddos just to check out the fair. The hubs wanted to continue watching the shows that were going on so we headed out and explored.

First stop was with Auto the talking car for some reason I couldn't locate my phone so of course no picture was taken. But I will say my kiddo loves auto she proceeded to see him three more times before the end of the fair. Then lo and behold I found my phone while we were checking out the highway gardens. Just as I found it I saw this occuring, super sanitary no, but super cute of her kissing barrel bob yes!

I tried to do a little photo shoot in the highway gardens, which are absolutely beautiful. I got a few cute shots not perfect but hey most of life isn't perfect!

A really kind lady offered to take my picture with the kiddos as well. I look a lot sweaty but I love having this photo to remember this day by!

After the photo shoot Charlot was ready to go check out the Ag. building because she knew the corn man would be there! First we checked out the corn play area in this building, such a cute and fun place for little ones.

Look at that smile the corn man (who I find a bit creepy) was located!

To wrap up our little trip out of the hog barn she got to see the fire dog, he was so cute and asked her to scratch his ear. Which she loved!

I'm so thankful to be raising my kiddos to love the state fair the same as I did as a kid. And we will be ready to make new memories at next years fair.

3 Months....

Mr. Conrad turned a wopping 3 months old yesterday! I know everyone says it but seriously these three months have flown by. Last nights photo shoot was a little diffcult as he didn't really want to look at me with the camera he was more interested in what his sister was doing as you can see in the above photo. The love I get to witness between the two of them each day is amazing and fills my heart with so much joy!

Also I had dressed him yesterday in a cute little John Deere shirt and jeans because I thought it would be super cute for the photo shoot...well apparently he didn't have the same feelings. When I walked into Telpha's (our sitter) yesterday he was in his cute little spare outfit. I guess he felt a blow out of epic porportions was necessary, poor Telpha.

This was the shot I took of him telling me all about his day at Telpha's and the blow out. Seriously this guys talks all the time, cooing, giggling, squealing, all of the above. Sweetest sounds ever.

And this is the face a a little boy who decided another blow out was necessary, I think he was telling me he was sorry!

But after a quick bath we are all smiles and giggles again! 

Oh Conrad you are so so loved and make our little family even more awesome each and everyday.