Honey Garlic Pork Chops and Grilled Asparagus

I tried a new recipe a couple of weeks ago that was really good. Best of all, it was quick and easy! I served it with grilled asparagus and sweet corn. It was a pretty healthy meal!

You can find the recipe and nutritional information for the Pork Chops here.

As for the asparagus, brace yourself...it is pretty difficult!


Grilled Asparagus:

bundle of fresh asparagus
olive oil
spray butter
Mrs. Dash (original blend)

Wash asparagus and cut the ends off. Spread asparagus in a single layer on a long piece of tinfoil. Sprinkle olive oil and spray butter over asparagus. Then sprinkle Mrs. Dash over asparagus. Fold up foil into a pocket over asparagus. Grill on the top shelf of grill ~20 minutes or until it reaches the desired tenderness. Enjoy!

This can also be done in the oven. Preheat the oven with the pan in it. Then layer the asparagus on the heated pan. Bake ~10 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Last week, I used the marinade again for pork for kabobs we did for our Memorial Day cookout with the family.

For more recipe ideas, click the Saturday Stirrings button at the top of this post.

Keep the Promises You Make to Yourself!

I was indulging myself a while back with some Dove Dark Chocolate when I came across this admonition on the inside of my wrapper. Wow! I really needed to hear that. It got me thinking.

I will follow through with something for someone else, but I really don't keep the promises I make to myself. Whether it be to eat more healthy foods, exercise more often, blog more frequently, keep the clutter cleaned up, keep in better touch with my family and friends, or keep up with my daily quiet time, I just always seem to fall short in some way.

I have made schedules many times, written lists, even asked Andrew to keep me accountable.

What happens?

I ignore the schedule, procrastinate on my lists, and gripe at Andrew for "nagging" me about the task. Crazy isn't it?

So, I will try again! I am going to try to keep the promises I make to myself. Huh! Who needs a counselor when you have Dove chocolate?

What about you? What do you do to keep your promises to yourself?

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

I recently joined the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. It is an organization that works to get the word out about good, healthy, Christian books as they are released. It is a way to provide alternatives to other books that may not have good morals for us to read. So, what they do is offer a book tour on many blogs when the book is released, giving information about the book, or the author, and maybe even a personal review.

Add to the great purpose of the CFBA, I get to choose which books I want to host on my blog and they send me a free advance-copy! I am so excited to post my first tour. I got my first book in the mail about a week ago and finished it earlier this week. I really enjoyed it.

I am also looking forward to trying out new authors in new genres. They host Christian mystery, sci-fi, romance...you name it.

So, keep an eye out for my first CFBA book tour!

Auction Deals

Andrew and I went to a local auction last Saturday and got some great deals! I think my favorite buy had to be for the kitchen. I bought a dozen square and rectangle glass storage containers (all but one with lids) for only $11.50!

Why am I so excited about that? Well, I will tell you. I have several other glass containers, but they are all round and most of them are larger (2 qt.). These are smaller, so I can use them for some of my smaller leftovers/sides. Also, they stack so much better on the shelves or in the refrigerator. So, it conserves a lot of space. (which is much needed in my small kitchen!)












I also bought a cardioglide exercise machine for $2, a really nice green quilt with white flowers for $2, a new tea kettle for $2 and a lot more! And, the stuff I got that I don't really want? Well, that will go in our next garage sale to make up for the money I spent. Isn't great! I absolutely love auctions!

It's Here! It's Here!

I ordered an iPod Nano green, just like I wanted, with my portion of our economic stimulus money. (Thank's Uncle Sam...or should I say thanks, China?)

I am also not talking about what a schmuck I feel like since Andrew spent his money on my camera.

Anyway, it got here today and I am so excited! I am currently downloading my CDs to my iTunes so I can sync them to the iPod. How cool is this?!

Someone Call the Fire Department!

I came home last night, pretty tired after getting up at 5. We had to get ready and get Andrew to MoEx for his shuttle to the airport by 6:20. Add to that a pretty busy day at work and I was ready for a very relaxing evening.

Andrew was pretty bummed that the irises were just starting to come out as he was leaving. So, I promised to take pictures of them. When I got home, I decided to go take the pictures right away.As I rounded the house, I was surprised to see this...Not to be outdone, Lego kept begging for attention, also.
While other cats climb trees and lay on cars (which mine do also), Millie also likes to climb the house. While I have seen her up there several times, and even seen her get there once, I have never seen her get down...so I don't know if she can.She kept "talking" to me as I rounded the house. I went to the porch and tried to reach up for her. She meowed and leaned over the side, but every time I reached for her, she would bat playfully at me.
That is right, she loves it!
So, I tried to climb up on the railing of the porch to get higher, but then thought better of it (when I could not do it!). So, then, I got a chair and pulled it up to the porch. But, she still would not let me get her.
I went inside for an hour or so, but she still did not come down. I could not stand the thought of her trying to jump down and hurting herself, so I ended up going to the garage and getting a ladder. I climbed the ladder, grabbed her by the scruff and climbed back down...very carefully!

Hopefully, that will be the most exciting thing that happens while Andrew is out of town!

Menu Plan Monday- Or Not

Well, it is time for menu Plan Monday again, but I am not really planning anything this week. Andrew will be out of town from Tuesday morning until Thursday night for work. So, I will pretty much be on my own. I figured I would probably try to finish up some of our leftovers from the weekend, eat at my parents one night, and clean out the pantry.

However, I did want to share a really good recipe that we tried on Saturday night. It is for Meatball Subs. They were really simple and delicious!

We deviated slightly from this recipe. We used Hoagie buns insteat of hot dog buns. I also used shredded Parmesan cheese instead of grated in the meatballs. I used Garlic Herb Spaghetti Sauce for some added flavor. I also sprinkled some oregano on my sub as I made it.

I would highly recommend this recipe. Andrew loves Meatball Subs from Subway, and these are as good if not better than those.

Mother's Day

I thought I would put up some pictures from today. Brook (my sister-in-law) and I cooked lunch for our mom's today. We gave our gifts and visited around the table. And, of course, I had to hold Cameron for a while. :)

After we visited for a while, Andrew and I went by the cemetary and then came home. Then I did what I do most Sunday afternoons~I took a nap!

I will be honest. Today has been pretty difficult for me. While I am glad I was able to honor special moms in my life, it has been a very real reminder of what I have lost. However, I am very thankful that I had the gift of Sydney, even for a short while. It is amazing the difference even a few hours can make on a person's life.

Say Cheese!

Andrew came home with flowers and a surprise gift for me tonight. The flowers are beautiful, don't you think?











What was the surprise? Well, it was something I have been wanting for a while. You see, we have a very nice camera that our friends gave us. However, you have to put the lens on it when you want to take a picture and it is pretty bulky. Don't get me wrong...it takes awesome pictures! But it is just hard to take everywhere.

So, Andrew bought me a Nikon CoolPix Digital Camera. It is so compact and still takes great pictures! I am really excited! Now, I can carry it with me for all of those times I wish I had a camera.

He also made me a really cute card. It said,

Surprisingly, Hallmark doesn't make a "You're My Favorite" card. So...

And then on the back:

You're My Favorite!

I am also excited because the camera came with a coupon for some free photography classes for our SLR camera.

Savory Meat Loaf and Onion-Roasted Potatoes

I have been thinking about starting a new blog with recipes on it because I want an easy way to keep track of them. But, I have been dragging my feet on it. I wanted something easy to use and well organized. And, for some reason~I know, it's crazy~I just could not get myself excited about doing a recipe blog.

I recently come across a new place to host my recipes. It lets you alter the number of servings, tells you the nutritional facts, and lets you add new recipes or add to your cookbook recipes from other people. It is called Recipezaar. I am just starting to get recipes on it (there are only the two I am posting about today). But, it seems like what I have wanted. I am just doing the free version right now. But, you can upgrade to a premium version that lets you add multiple pictures and multiple cookbooks, plus more that I don't even know about, yet. Let me know what you think.

So, on to Saturday Stirrings. I tried a couple of new recipe on my menu this week. I was not sure how they would turn out, so I did not post the recipes. However, they were really good! I especially liked the potatoes. Bonus: they were really simple! So, I thought I would share them with you today.

Savory Meat Loaf

Savory Onion-Roasted Potatoes

Head over to Dee Dee's for more recipe ideas. Just click the Saturday Stirrings button.

Menu Plan Monday

Well, it has been a while, but I thought I would put up a menu for the week. I have not been very good at sticking to these menus lately. But, nonetheless, here it is...

Monday: Meat Loaf with Roasted Potatoes- Using Lipton Onion Soup Mix for both. A new recipe that I will share if it turns out well.

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Leftovers or eat in town before church.

Thursday: We will be in town, so we will probably eat there. We may be having dinner with some friends.

Friday: Breakfast- Eggs, Bacon, Biscuits

Saturday: Cheesy Chicken

Sunday: Cooking dinner for our Moms

...And Good Times Were Had By All

We left Friday afternoon with our friends, Monte and Kristi and their three boys (3 mo, 5 yr, 8 yr), to go to Branson for the weekend. On Saturday, we went to Silver Dollar City for their World-Fest Festival. Even though we did not ride a single "big kids'" ride, we had a great time. Andrew actually spent a lot of time holding the baby as most of the "little kids'" rides make him sick. :)

The morning started out pretty cold and windy. We kept asking ourselves, "What happened to the 63 degree weather we were supposed to have?!" I forgot my jacket at home and Andrew purposefully did not take his. (This is the man who would rather freeze than have to carry a jacket around that he did not really need.) Andrew ended up buying a jacket for $10. Kristi wanted to buy a new sweatshirt/jacket, so she let me wear the jacket she brought. The sun finally came out around noon and the rest of the day was beautiful!

I think the highlight of the day for me had to be watching the Zunyi Acrobats of China. They were amazing! Although, I do have to say, as a physical therapist, I was deeply disturbed by the things I saw! Bodies are not supposed to bend that way! Seriously! At one point, one girl was held up solely by something S-shaped between her mouth and another girl's mouth! At another point, there were two people flying over the crowd. I have never seen anything like this show! I definitely want to see another complete show again!

While we were there, Andrew also bought me a really cute ladybug doormat.
The next SDC festival is Bluegrass and BBQ Festival. We are hoping to get to all of the festivals this year.

I'm Seeing Blue

Saturday night, Andrew and I went on a date! That's right~a real date! We started out by going to Chili's for dinner. From there, we headed to Mizzou Arena to see the Blue Man Group concert?...show?...act?

Anyway, we saw the Blue Man Group live. I surprised him with the tickets in his "Easter basket"~really just a plastic basket that I through the tickets into, hid in the house and told him to find. I knew that he had wanted to see them last year when they came to town, but we ended up being in the hospital at that time. I wanted to find a way to thank him for how wonderful he has been over the past year. I mean, when I was completely falling apart, he was a rock for me. So, when I heard the Blue Man Group would be here again this year, I could not pass it up.

Andrew seemed to really enjoy it. I did, too but it was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that my stomach was upset throughout the entire show.

But, really, it was a lot of fun. The percussion was pretty amazing. At times, there were something like 6 percussionists drumming and changing tempo in perfect sinc. I was surprised at how much of a comedy routine they did! They poked fun of what it took to be a rock and roll band and to put on a rock show. They also had a lot of audience participation at times.

While I would probably not personally spend the money to go see them again, I am glad we got to go this time.