Shipwreck and Mississippi Mud

My Mam-ma and Mama have made these recipes for years and have passed them down to me and my brother and sister. The original recipes came from my Aunt Sudy who was my Great Granny's sister. I have a cookbook she wrote years ago, and it is FULL of YUMMY recipes! Good 'ole Southern cooking at its best. Here are two of the recipes I made today. Both are super easy and super tasty!!!

Shipwreck

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion-chopped

1 medium green bell pepper-chopped

1 small pkg. egg noodles

1 jar (4 oz) chopped pimentos

1 can cream style corn

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Brown beef, onion, and pepper together stirring over medium heat. Cook noodles according to directions. Drain well. Blend noodles with beef mixture. Stir in pimentos, corn, and soups. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour into 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top. Continue baking 10 minutes or until cheese melts.



This is a very hearty meal!



Mississippi Mud Cake

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 sticks margarine or butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes in a greased and floured pan. Take out of oven and cover with miniature marshmallows. Bring to a boil in a saucepan the following:

1 stick margarine or butter

6 Tbs milk

3 Tbs cocoa

Stir in 1 box powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Spread this over top of cake.



This cake is insanely delicious!



Me! Me! Me! No... J.O.Y.

Too often we are ME-centered. How can I feel happy? How can I look better? How can I get everything in life I want? Why do these things happen to ME? Why can't anyone understand how I feel? Why is no one calling/texting ME? Why do people care about everyone else except ME? etc etc.

Well, the truth is...this world is not about ME. We were not created to bring happiness to ourselves. We were not created to bring glory to ourselves. We were not created to make a bunch of money and continuously buy, buy, buy and want more, more, more. We are in this world for a specific reason.

God tells us, "You have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created." Revelation 4:11. We were created to bring God glory. We are here to love God and to love others. We are called according to His purpose. We are most like Jesus (OUR SAVIOR!) when we love and serve others, and in doing this we further His kingdom.

John 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."

We must have the mentality of a Christ-centered lifestyle. When we know Who we are loving, serving, and bringing glory to, then everything falls into place. When we replace our thoughts of "I need a break from my family" with "How can I better serve my family today", our world changes. Seriously. When we replace "She ate the last cookie" with "I'm glad she got the last cookie", our world changes. When we replace "I have to do all the work around here" with "Thank you, Lord, for a family to take care of", our world changes. When we replace "These kids are driving me nuts" with "For this child I prayed", our world changes. When we replace "I cannot live with that man/woman for one more second" with "Love is patient. Love is kind.", our world changes.

We live a selfish world. The world tells us to look out for #1. But I can tell you this from experience, my world changes every day that I focus less on ME and more on others. 

JESUS first, OTHERS second, YOURSELF last. = JOY

And what is absolutely so neat about this is that not only will we have joy as a reward here on this earth, but Jesus has promised a reward in heaven for serving others.

::Hebrews 6:10 "For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints."::

::Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." ::

::Hebrews 13:16 "And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased."::

This is my goal every day. In all honesty, it is sometimes very difficulty to put others first. Our nature is to immediately think, "well, what about me?". But I am fighting against that. Satan wants me to think about me. And he will not win this battle. God is good to me, and I want to be good to Him which means serving Him and others. I know that staying close to God through prayer and keeping my head and heart in the Word will help me achieve this daily goal. It's hard, but it's SO worth it. :)

Front Door-First Impression

It's that time of year when I'm feeling especially crafty. I love to recreate things around the house, and this week it's the front door. We don't really have much of a front porch, so I just call it the front door. :) It's time for a little sprucing up and cleaning, and THEN some new decorations at a cheap-O price. I've learned to be very frugal as a stay-at-home, homeschooling Mama. I have set a budget for this "front door" project at $15. My goal is to have mums, pumpkins, and a new homemade wreath. Can it be done for $15? We shall see...

Here is a before pic {Ele felt she needed to be in the pic ;)} and I'll post the after later in the week when my new "first impression" is complete!

Thankful Monday

Is it possible to have joy on a Monday? Absolutely! I am so thankful for many many things. But at this very moment I am very thankful for my family. God has blessed me way beyond what I deserve, and some of my biggest blessings are Brooks, Tinleigh, and Eleighana Ruhman! They bring me joy every day of my life. Brooks is the best husband ever. He is so supportive, loving, and a great Christian man. He is our leader in every way. Thankful for that man! Tinleigh is my big 8-year-old girl. She has the biggest heart and loves everyone she meets. She cares so much about other people. I love that about her. She is saved and knows what it means to tell others about Jesus. Thankful for this big girl! Eleighana is my 4-year-old baby girl. She is a ball of energy and keeps me on my toes. She is a sweety and a bit shy until you've been around her for about 30 minutes. Thankful for this baby girl! Like I said, God has blessed me far more than what I deserve. And I. AM. THANKFUL!