Great Meat Marinade

This is a wonderful meat marinade recipe. It is good for steak, pork, and chicken. It is reusable marinade but not after you use it on chicken, due to the throw up factor or what some people call, salmonella.

I once had salmonella poisoning, so did my daughter and my husband and some friends we were eating with. It hit us about 24 hours after eating. My daughter just threw up a few times bc she only ate a little. I was pregnant at the time with Jacob so I chowed down. Probably had two or three helpings of the stuff. Ben too. So we both started throwing up that next night. And. it. would. not. stop. I was so sick, Ben took me to the women's hospital since I was pregnant. They put me in a bed and hooked me up to an iv. Ben, bless his heart was by my side trying to be a comfort. He had to keep running to the bathroom to throw up. He looked real bad, pasty white, sweaty. At some point in the night he collapsed and they had to admit him to the hospital too. We got to share a room! They told them he was the first male ever to be admitted to the hospital. That was a proud moment for us both. We felt much better after about 24 hours and went home. We talked to our friends who also said they threw up all night, I guess they didn't have it as bad as us though. I felt really guilty......

oh yea, did I mention that I made the meal that sent us to the hospital? Sometimes it’s truly the thought that counts, isn't it? You betcha.

Oh and the night I got salmonella we were eating chicken spaghetti NOT anything marinaded. So don't get scared away. This marinade is so yummy. Try not to think about the story I just told.

OK lets begin!

You will need:

1 1/2 cups salad oil
3/4 cups soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons parsley
1 tablespoon pepper
2 1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic crushed or chopped

Combine all ingredients and stir. Then add the meat! Its really easy. Sorry I have no pictures. I usually marinade steak for 6 to 8 hours, pork about the same, and chicken just a couple of hours. I usually use the marinade up within a couple of weeks of making it. I will post some pictures of the finished products the next time I make it!

Dear Pumpkin

Hey, Pumpkin. It is the time of year when you become a trendy food ingredient. Pie. Soup. Casserole. Beer. Bread. Coffee.

Stop it.

You are not food. You are a decoration.

People pretend to like you to get closer to the whipped cream.
Notice they only like you when you are seasoned and in a pie. I will not be moved. You are not a food to these people, you are a vessel for their cinnamon and nutmeg lust. You are a delivery system for spices.

Here are the things you are good at: Being carved and placed out front of people's houses till you rot. Being shot out of a cannon. Being the head for the scarecrows around the world. Stick to what you are good at. There is no shame in it. We all have our roles.

OK glad to get that off my chest

Here is another thing that confuses me about this season. The ushering in of cornucopias. You know what I'm talking about right? The baskets that you make centerpieces that have stuff spilling out of them. I mean what is the point of a basket if it won't even hold its contents?


Here is a picture of said basket not holding it's contents.


I do love Thanksgiving however, I love all the food and family. My mom always whips up a bunch of deliciousness. It feels like when I was a kid. Which I always like to be reminded of.

Sup

Ok I know it has been forevs since I have blogged. Let me explain...
So I had surgery a few weeks back. Doc removed an ovary, my appendix, and my cervix. I had been having trouble with pain in my ovary, I already don't have a uterus, so he decided to take the right ovary and the cervix out. Then I asked him to remove my appendix while he was in there. Seemed to me with my streak I would end up having appendicitis sooner or later so it was a preemptive strike.
Anyways surgery went fine (at least I thought). This surgery is usually an outpatient surgery....meaning that you go home the same day. My doctor decided to keep me because I am usually so sick after surgery from the general anesthesia. Well that night I started hurting really bad, like worse than childbirth pain. Like worse than what I think jumping off a building might feel like. My heart rate was around 160 laying down, my blood pressure got really low, and I was white as a sheet. It all feels like a bad dream. Anyways after drawing blood and studying me for awhile they determined I was bleeding internally. So guess what? I had to go back into surgery that next morning. Turns out I lost somewhere between 4 to 6 pints of blood and was hours away from organ failure. Crazy huh? I didn't know any of this until after or I might have been freaking out. But I was pretty calm. They gave me a blood transfusion and some iron and sent me on my way.

Looking back on it now I feel so blessed that I have God to watch over me. Just think if I had gone home after surgery instead of staying in the hospital, that decision probably saved my life. But it wasn't really the doc, it was God. He knew, He cared. It is amazing to me that He loves us that much! How great are His affections!

Oh and the surgeon told me my appendix was inflamed and looked like it would rupture any day. Another miracle.

So sorry for the prolonged absence I realize your day rises and falls on my whereabouts. I apologize. :)

I hope to be back to my regular self soon. When I post again I would like to discuss peoples infatuation with all things pumpkin. It shouldn't even be classified as food. Its weird.

Another Announcement!!

Ok this post has been a long time coming and some of you already know all about what I am going to say. About 6 months ago, Ben came home from work and told me he was really feeling like God was calling us to do more for the orphans. As many of you know we have one adopted son and are in the process of adopting again. But as it turns out God has called us to more. Long and short of it, Ben and I prayed and prayed and felt such a strong calling to meet the needs of many orphans in practical ways.

We started a non-profit called The James Initiative. The idea behind this initiative is to bring hope. Bringing hope by building and sustaining orphan communities. Our first project we plan on starting is in Ethiopia. We would like to build a children's center for children to come to to get clothed and fed. We also want to build family-style homes around this center for those orphans with no mom or dad to live with "house parents" Eventually we would like there to be a school, a clinic, and agriculture. These may come about through partnerships with other non-profits. We are in the infant stage of this project. All we know is we have to follow the calling. We have a wonderful group of people already on board with this project and praying over this project. God will remain in the center of this project and at the front of all our steps. Please understand, this is God's ministry, we are just participants. It is ultimately for His glory. We are humbled to be a part of bringing hope to these children.

Right now we have incorporated and our in the process of getting our 501(c)3 status from the IRS. As far as in Ethiopia the next steps are to go and to apply for NGO(non-governmental organization) status. We need favor with the Ethiopian government that they will like our proposal and give us freedom to work in their country.
Ben and a few others are hopefully going later this fall to Ethiopia. We already have some ethiopian contacts that are going to help us once we get there.

And here's the thing...there are millions of orphans waiting for hope at this moment. The numbers and statistics can seem overwhelming, but every moment we have, is an opportunity to make a difference! It is time for radical sacrifice in our lives. When we strive to be a blessing, we in turn are blessed! I pray that our actions toward orphans reveal Christ in us. As David Platt explains in his book, we are God's plan A for the hurting world, there is no plan B. WE have to be His hands and feet.

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
2 Corinthians 9:11

Anyone who wants to be a part of the James Initiative in some way is welcome! We are very excited about what the future holds and are so thankful for those who have already stepped up to be a part! Bottom line.....Hope in Christ should be shared.

"Hope means a continual looking forward to the eternal world. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next." C.S. Lewis

Go to the website to learn more! I am hopefully going to be blogging on it as well. Here is also a video we did for an upcoming conference. Check it out!



*Statistics from the video are from UNICEF, World Health Organization, and Christian Alliance for Orphans .

There is so much more to share but I think it will take many posts to share the whole vision. Please stand with us in prayer over this initiative! He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine! Ephesians 3:20

Website is www.thejamesinitiative.org or click on The James Inititative above. I still dont know how to make links different colors. Bear with me!

Benadryl

Yes this post is about Benadryl. I have a cold. I am taking a lot of Benadryl.
Ahhh Benadryl.... There is no sleep like sick in bed on Benadryl sleep. Days can go by unnoticed. Sleep is the best thing for me when I’m sick. Benadryl turns out the lights, even if my eyes are open. I am not responsible for anything I might have said these past few days or for what I say in this post.

Anyways I realized a few things while I was laying on the couch (feeling sorry for myself) flipping through the channels. One thing was that I am one of the only people on earth who does not have a talk show. I've got to do something to remedy that. I’m equally as unqualified as anyone else to have my own show, yet there are so many who are not me who do. Perhaps I’m on a waiting list. This is what I have to believe anyway.

Secondly, I think Disney has something against mothers. Have you ever noticed there seems to be an awful lot of Disney movies where the mother is not present or killed in the opening credits? What is this about? Aladdin, Beauty & The Beast, Pinocchio, Nemo, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Ratatouille, Snow White....No mother, no no no no. What is the meaning of this? What is the purpose....beyond causing me to wonder about it the rest of the day? Because when your on Benadryl you wonder about stuff like that.

Other things i have been wondering about...

How can I get my kids to clean my whole house....

Why does my husband feel that, at the completion of his business, if there is even a square of toilet paper left on the roll, he is absolved of all roll replacement responsibilities. It’s hard to say if one square will be sufficient for the next user. It is also not his problem.

Why does Joby feel like he needs to take everything out of his drawers and pile it up in the corner of his room? What message is he sending?

Why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways?

What does hummus taste like?

So I could go on and on until you got really tired of me, tempting.... but I don't think it is going to happen.

I leave you with another thing I wonder about....why can't my boys always act this sweet to each other?

Africa stuff!!

I have some new Africa stuff to show you guys. This stuff will also be sold to benefit the adoption. Yay! I have to mention that my mom is a wonderful seamstress. I mean she's awesome, it's not human. None of her neat, creative traits passed down to me in case you were wondering. I often wonder about it.

So to start she makes these adorable security blankets or a lovey or whatever you want to call them. They are little. Here are a few examples.



She also makes these wall hangings!


and pillows! This one is a little dirty bc someone's grubby hands were all over it.


She makes things without africa on them too. I will get some pictures of those up soon! She will make anything in the colors you like, boy or girl. I didn't have a girl one pictured bc they sold! But she is making more, aren't they cute? She also does baby bedding, from bumpers, to sheets, to quilts, to pillows. She does it all! She will also monogram for free with a purchase! All prices vary, email me if you are interested in anything at carriecbutler@gmail.com and I will continue to put up pictures as she does them.

Joby Day!!

I took this picture today when Joby fell asleep with a fry in his mouth.
This post is in honor of Joby. We celebrated him being a part of our family for two years last week. Two years! But the journey of Joby started long before that. The day God planted in our hearts to adopt. What a blessing and journey it has been! I can not say enough about how adoption has changed our whole lives, changed our perspective on life. Changed everything. From the moment we saw Joby, we loved him instantly. A love so fierce and intense, my heart felt like it would burst.

Here is us at the airport the day we got him!

I think it is worth mentioning that right after this picture was taken he pooped the most awful smelling substance I had ever smelled. The smell was so powerful it was hard to decide whether Joby created the smell, or the smell created Joby. When I opened the diaper, it actually made my head snap back and my eyes water. Then I realized I wasn't alone in the bathroom. Those poor people. This smell was so substantial it actually had mass. This is one of my first memories of him. My eyes water a little just thinking about it. Anyway moving on, there is only so long one can discuss poop. I know you guys rather I didnt bring it up at all. but sometimes you need to talk about hard things.

I am so in love with this little boy. And I could go on about adoption and how it could change your life, but I will save that for another post. In the meantime here is a picture when Joby got home with his brother, sister and Daddy. Thank you Lord for these blessings.

Happiness is.............

A bathroom with a locked door.

OOPS!

Amy is a great friend of mine, she is so sweet and wonderful. We get along great and we always have a good time. This story is not about amy, she does not appear in this story.

Like I said amy and I get along great, BUT we do differ on one subject. Butter. Amy doesnt believe in it, Butter is the lifeline of my recipes. So you see this is a problem. I try to respect other peoples point of view, i just cant wrap my head around the fact that she doesnt like butter.

Anyways I was at Walmart today and guess who I saw? Amy. And guess what she was doing? She was in the dairy section checking out the butter! I couldn't believe my eyes! This is when I decided I would come up behind her and scare her. I realize this is completely childish. I don’t care. I am proudly capable of being that way at any given moment. Welcome to one of those moments.

So I creep up behind her and say "What do you think you are doing?" I was just about to say something else clever.....

Did I mention that Amy does not appear in this story?
Amy looked at me. That was the moment I realized that Amy does not appear in this story.

So the women who looked just like Amy from the back looked at me, shocked at my rudeness. Realizing my mistake, I turned about 10 shades of red and I apologized quickly and explained how she looked like someone I knew, that person would have thought what I said was funny and that I was not a crazy person. We both had a good laugh; more of a nervous laugh from me. I got what I needed from the shelf and went directly to the register to pay and get out of the store as soon as possible.

I am still a little shaken by the whole ordeal. It may be awhile before I try to scare someone in the store again.

oh and Joby dropped a dozen eggs on the floor while we were there, i almost completely forgot about that.

You've got to try these!!

Ok I was going to put the BEST cinnamon rolls as the title but it seems redundant. But these are the best. Those I have made them for have said they are better than their grandmothers, and their grandmothers, and so forth. So you see, you need to try them! Please don't let the fact that they have yeast in them scare you away. If I can make them anyone can. So lets face our fears. Here we go......

You will need:

1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour

First add the yeast to the warm water, stir and set aside.

This allows for the yeast to start doing its thing. Make sure the water is between 120 and 130 degrees. If it is too hot it will kill the yeast and if its too cold the yeast wont grow. I promise this is the most complicated this recipe gets.

Take the cup of milk, 1/4 cup shortening, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt and heat it up in the microwave until the shortening almost melts. Take it out and stir till shortening melts completely. Add the mixture to 1 1/2 cups of flour. stir completely.

Then add in 1 egg, stir, add in yeast mixture, stir again, and add the remaining 2 cups of flour. Once stirred completely turn onto floured surface and knead in more flour if it feels sticky.

Knead for a few minutes and shape into a ball, place in greased bowl. Grease the top of the dough and place a towel over the bowl and let rise in warm place (i let mine rise in the oven that I have turned on to get warm and then turned off.) Makes sure the oven is off before you place the dough in there!
Let rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Once it has doubled in size punch it down and turn onto floured surface. Divide the dough in half, cover the dough again and let rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes take half the dough and roll it out into a rectangle.

For filling you will need a stick of softened butter and sugar and cinnamon.
Take the softened butter and smear it all over the dough. Yes, with your hands!

Than add a layer of sugar and then sprinkle cinnamon all over, like so.

Roll up the rectangle long ways and cut the roll into 10 equal pieces. Place each roll into greased 9x9 circle or square pan or whatever you have.

Once you are done with this, repeat the steps with the other half of the dough. Once all the dough is in rolls cover the pans and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes in a warm place. I forgot to take a picture of this part, sorry bout that.
Here are some right out of oven! yummy!


Now for icing:
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
add enough milk to reach a drizzle consistency.
You may need to make more, if you like a lot of icing like me.

Here we go....drizzle over top and dig in! These are so delicious and yummy! These take me to my happy place. Try them!

Diaper Cream Mishap

In other news, here is a picture of my son Joby. This is what I walked in on when he was supposed to be sleeping.

Do you notice his frown? This is because he knows he is in big trouble. He had used an entire jar of diaper cream and smeared it all over his head and carpet. Oh and in case you are a mom and you keep your diaper cream within your little curious toddlers reach, Dawn dish soap gets it out! You learn so much when you have kids!

Malachi

This was sent to me in an email a long time ago. It is good stuff!

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot;then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it" If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

I wouldn't normally copy an email in my blog but it had a good message. And now I dont have to think of anything to write. You guys are rejoicing right now aren't you?

Spaghetti & Meatballs

These are the BEST meatballs in the world!

There are a lot of things I am eminently not qualified to comment on, this however is not one of them. I can guarantee you that when you make these you will love me even more than you do now. You are going to want to bring me cookies, cakes, chocolates, flowers (I like wildflowers and milk chocolate, in case you are writing this down)
Ok so lets get this show on the road!

You will need:
4 slices of bread
¼ cup Parmesan (the powder)
¼ cup of water
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tbs. Parsley
1 lb. hamburger meat

In a bowl tear the bread into small pieces, like so.

(Please try to ignore my photography skills)

Add the Parmesan, water, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley. Than add 2 cloves of crushed garlic. (warning: I am in love with garlic, it is in almost all my main dishes-it must be fresh, and it must be crushed. This is mandatory)



Stir it all up with a fork until it looks like this


Then add in the meat. Note: You can use beef, or beef/pork or if you want to be healthy (which I would not advise) then you can use ground turkey. I just use beef.
Stir it all up again, till it looks like this


Then make into balls. I make mine golf ball size, but you can make them bigger or smaller depending on your preference.


Once this is done heat up a skillet or large pan to med/high or 350. I use an electric skillet. These babies are the best, I use it to cook a lot of things. A worthy investment. Brown the meatballs on all sides.


The meatballs wont be completely cooked through, but thats ok bc they will simmer for awhile.
Once this is done start on the sauce.

The sauce recipe is as follows
1 Jar Ragu Traditional. You can make your own sauce if you are super ambitious, but since I am not ambitious at all, I choose the jar. This one is the BEST, you can use Prego or Newman’s or some specialty sauce but this particular one is the only one I can endorse. I have tried others and they have just left me disappointed. Disappointed and alone. It was very traumatic, I would like to forget all about it.

Yummy!


Ok moving on, you will need
Another 2 cloves garlic crushed
¼ cup Parmesan (the powder)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. Oregano

Mix the above and set aside

Chop some green onions,add the green onions to the meatballs to cook them a little (you can add as many green onions as you want) I forgot to take a picture of this step, so you are on your own.

After they have cooked for a few minutes add the sauce mixture to the skillet. Stir gently to cover meatballs . Cover and let simmer a few hours or less. You can really cook it as long as you want. Or as little as you want.

mmmmmmmmmm! There are not words.

Ok I forgot to plate it and take a picture, instead I scarfed it down. I don't have a lot of patience. I did get a picture of the meatball I tried while the rest were simmering. Check it.....

On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed. Ahhh good times. Enjoy!

WAITLIST!!

Yay! We are on the waitlist for our adoption! This means we are done with the paperwork and on to officially waiting for our baby girl! I am so pumped to be done with the paperwork! Gladney is saying the wait for a referral for a toddler is about 6 months. We shall see, I am kinda expecting it to take longer than that. I am hoping February is our month! No matter, God has the perfect child for our family already picked out for us. We already love her so much!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am going to start posting recipes to the blog! They are awesome ones that I love. To begin, I am going to share my chocolate chip cookie recipe! I have had a lot of people ask me for this recipe so it seems fitting to start with it. They are pure deliciousness. I could marry these cookies, take them out and show them a good time. They are better than your momma's. and my momma's. It's true, I wouldn't lie to you, at least not about this. When I post recipes I plan on taking pictures of the steps in making the recipe as well, like pioneer woman ,whom I love. But since cookies are easy to make and because I didn't think of this until after I made them, I will not be showing pictures of the cookies except in their final stages. Here is the finished product.


See how glorious? oooh boy!

Ok so grab a bowl and a fork and lets do this! (I do not use a mixer to make cookies, it tends to over whip them, but you do what you want. I am not the boss of you, I wouldn't want that job.)

1 stick of butter(not margarine). By the way none of my recipes contain margarine. Butter is the only way to go. It is the only way, ok? Butter makes the world a better place. Margarine only wishes it could be as cool, but it is an impostor and therefore has no place in my kitchen. This brings me to my second point which is none of my recipes are for dieters. Ok!

Put the room temperature stick of butter in the bowl and add:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

cream together then add

1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla (Again I go for the pure vanilla bc like I said before I didn't like impostors like imitation vanilla.)

mix completely again and then add

1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

mix completely then add

1 cup chocolate chips (I usually add a little more) Whats the harm?

once done cover and chill for a couple of hours or in your freezer for awhile or overnight. (I usually chill mine overnight bc it makes them turn out perfect every time) I can not stress this point enough folks, dough needs to be chilled, it's too soft after you make it to go straight in the oven. This is how cookies turn out flat. That and they don't have enough flour in them. If you notice this recipe is a lot like the toll house recipe but it has more flour and more sugar. Sugar helps the cookies have a little crunch on the edge and flour makes them denser. This recipe makes about 15 cookies. Double it if you want to use a whole bag of chips. I usually don't double mine bc we like fresh cookies right out the oven and don't need a lot of leftovers. Once the cookies are chilled preheat oven to 375 and ball the cookies into the size of a golf ball and place on pan (this may seem big but they turn out smaller than you think). i cook them 10 to 12 minutes. This will vary just cook until a little brown around the edges and a little on the top. do not overcook! They should have a little crust but mostly chewy and gooey and wonderfulness. If you make them let me know what you think!!