CD Review: Coming Alive

I had the privilege of attending Casey Darnell’s concert last Thursday night. Casey has been a worship leader at our church for many years and is one of my favorites. (Shhhh… don’t tell the other guys.) At his concert, he introduced us to all the songs on his new CD, Coming Alive. It was an amazing night, and I enjoyed every minute.

This CD is an amazing mix of worship music. There are songs like “When the Waters Rise” that reach your very soul and remind you that God is with you ALWAYS, even when you feel like you’re drowning. This is actually one of the Princess’s favorite songs. She listens to it every night before she goes to bed. It was one of my Katie’s favorite songs, and Casey was kind enough to sing it at her memorial service. This song speaks to me in so many ways and hearing Casey tell us the back story on Thursday confirmed that he too knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed with grief and clinging hard to our Father’s love.

Then, there are songs like the title song, Coming Alive, that just make you smile and want to jump for Jesus. It’s a song you can’t help but belt out as you drive through town. It makes your heart happy to celebrate that Jesus is indeed alive.

Coming Alive is available on iTunes today. I suggest you go get it. Now!

If you want a hard copy…I always like a hard copy, you can win one here at the House of Hills. Yep, I love it so much I’m giving a copy away.

To enter:

  • Go and listen to clips of Coming Alive. What song would you most like hear in it’s entirety?

Additional Entries:

  1. Like Casey Darnell on Facebook (and come back and comment)
  2. Follow Casey Darnell on Twitter (and come back and comment)
  3. Like House of Hills on Facebook (and come back and comment)

Contest closes Saturday, June 25th at noon so get your entries in!

Disclaimer: Opinions of Coming Alive are all my own. I was honored to get to serve at his concert and was provided with a CD to give away. I would have bought one to give away though. Love it that much.

 

 

Cook for Thanksgiving TODAY! (Giveaway)

Once a Month Mom Holiday 2010 eCookbookWe all know that I love Freezer Cooking and Batch Cooking and…well, I just like cooking in general don’t I. However, I really love cooking when I’m not in a rush to cook. I like cooking when I can cook when I want to and how much I want to. I like cooking when I have actual time to cook. Then, when it’s time for dinner, I just pull something from the fridge or freezer, and it’s ready in a snap. This, my friends, makes me so happy.

Tricia at Once a Month Mom understands this happiness. That is why I love her. She understands that a full freezer means a stress free mealtime. She understands that a bit of work on one day can result in weeks of meals that flow to the table with ease. She understands it so well that she gives us (that’s right you too) monthly meal ideas for FREE! That’s right! Every month, there is a new menu on OnceAMonthMom.com all ready for you to enjoy. You should really check it out.

Now that I have told you how AWESOME Tricia is, I’m going to take it up a notch. Oooo I sound like an infomercial. Tricia has created a Holiday eCookbook for us this year. I am SO EXCITED! In fact, I was so excited when I heard about it that I bought one before I got her email telling me she wanted me to review it for her and give one away. Yep! I’m giving away a copy people! Get those fingers ready.

This eCookbook is a step-by-step resource for cooking Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinner ahead and freezing it. Like all Once A Month Mom menus it contains grocery lists, instructions, recipe cards and labels. Since it is a holiday menu, there are resources for those serving a family of 8 and those serving a family of 16. Here are the recipes that are contained in the ecookbook:

  • Veggie Pizza
  • Pumpkin Cheeseball
  • Scalloped Corn
  • Freezer Mashed Potatoes
  • Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes**
  • Slow Cooker Stuffing**
  • Make Ahead Butterhorn Rolls
  • Turkey Baste**
  • Cranberry Mustard Ham Glaze**
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • Caramel Apple Pie Trifle

**Indicates newly created recipes.

Here are some additional features:

  • A choice of preparing an 8 serving or 16 serving dinner.
  • Step-By-Step instructions for cooking your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners ahead and freezing the items.
  • Grocery lists for the 8 serving or 16 serving dinner.
  • Customized labels for each of your prepared items.
  • Recipe cards containing photographs and some step-by-step photos as well.
  • Recipe cards for each of the recipes.

Did you see that recipe list? FABULOUS! Did you see that there are grocery lists for 8 OR 16 servings? AWESOME! Did you see that there are labels? LOVE IT! For some reason I really do love the labels. It’s my Type A personality I guess. Did you see that there are photos! AMAZING!

You can order and download your own copy of The Once A Month Mom Holiday eCookbook for only $9.99. You’re going to want to get it today so that you can cook this weekend. Wouldn’t you love to have the majority of your Thanksgiving dinner already made two weeks before the day? Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!

Tricia has generously given me one copy of her eCookbook to give away to one of my readers. Enter by leaving a comment and telling me which recipe from the eCookbook you would most like to try.

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each):

This giveaway is open until Sunday, November 14th, when I will draw a winner at random. Feel free to purchase your copy in the meantime. If you win, you will be refunded the cost of purchase.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of the eCookbook to review and one to share with my readers. All opinions of how fabulous The Once A Month Mom is are my own.

**UPDATE**

Congratulations to Earleen for winning the Holiday eCookbook!

Earleen wants to try the Turkey Baste. I do too!

Thanks for everyone who participated.

Crockpot Applesauce

The Princess and I went apple picking last weekend. We not only had a great time picking the apples, we also got a great deal on huge bags of apples from their store. While I was there, I texted with my mom to see if she wanted some apples to make applesauce. She did and told me EXACTLY which types to get as instructed by her cousin Hazel. (Hazel has lived on a farm for like her entire life, and I totally trust her for all things homemade.) So, when I got home, I went looking for an EASY applesauce recipe. I mean I needed it to be EASY since I don’t have any special apple cutting, mashing, straining equipment.

I quickly found a recipe for Crock Pot Applesauce from FishMama. She never disappoints. It literally was apples, water, and optional sugar. That worked for me.

The recipe calls for 16 apples. I used 8 GOLDEN DELICIOUS 8 STAYMAN WINESAP apples. I used my Pampered Chef corer to core and cut each apple. Then I pealed each piece. Could I have done this another way? I’m sure I could have, but this worked for me. I was watching football while I was peeling, so it went quick.

I then put all the apples in the crockpot with 1/4 cup of water and let them cook on high for 4 hours. At hour 3, they started to bubble a bit, so I took a fork and mixed them. They were already falling apart. By hour 4, they were total mush. I didn’t even have to mash. I literally just mixed the entire pot with a fork.

Then, I had to decide if I wanted to add sugar. So, I took a taste. OH. MY. WORD. It was SO GOOD. Like, I spooned out a bowl and ate it right then. It didn’t need anything – no sugar – no cinnamon. It was pure God made goodness.

Now, what’s really funny is…nobody but me eats applesauce in our house. And, I don’t eat it that much. So why in the world would I spend time peeling all those apples and making homemade applesauce? Because I bake with it. A LOT! When a recipe calls for oil, I use half oil and half applesauce. Typically, I need 1/2 cup of applesauce for a recipe. So, I buy applesauce in those cute little cups. That can get pricey, and this homemade applesauce is WAY better than any store-bought applesauce. All the applesauce I made this week (2 batches) went into cute little 1/2 cup containers and put in the freezer.

Well, except for the couple bowls I had to eat. I’m telling you – it’s delicious. I might have to go get one right now.

Things I Love Thursday: Mark It!

I have an addiction. I will admit it. It’s an addiction. I LOVE LOVE LOVE school supplies. Seriously! In August, when all the school supplies are out in those big bins, it’s truly heaven on earth for me. And now that the Princess has a school supply list – OH MY! It’s a wonderful thing. I actually have to hold back and make sure I take her with me when shopping her list.

She gets mad if I leave her out, because…are you ready for this…my addiction is hereditary. It is. The Princess gets the same gleam in her eye when she walks down the school supplies aisle. I think we both just grin from ear to ear. It’s a true bonding experience. It can also be an expensive one.

Last week I had to go to the office supply store before my work retreat and the Princess of course came with me to see what she could throw in the cart unnoticed. There were several things I needed to pick up and all in the color orange. It’s a long story, but let’s just say that my company’s signature color is orange. In a MAJOR way. Now, just to let you know – orange pens are hard to find. In fact, you can’t find an orange ball point pen. But, you can find orange markers. And, you can sometimes find markers available for single unit purchase at the office supply store. We came home with these beauties.

Aren’t they gorgeous. Pardon my photography. I’m not good, but the markers are AMAZING!!!! Seriously, AMAZING! The orange one is mine. The blue one belongs belonged to the Princess. I gave an orange one to everyone on my team, and they were all raving about them. In fact, two gals have told me that they let their kids have the other goodies I gave them, but they won’t let them near the marker. I’ve been walking around with my orange one in my pocket since I got home. I use it for everything. (And now I’ve confiscated the Princess’s blue one  -ha ha ha – evil laughter.)

“What are they?” you ask – since you can’t read the pen on my fabulous photography. They’re the BIC Mark it! Ultra Fine Point Permanent Marker that would be the official name. I went and checked on the BIC website and they come in 36 colors – oh my! That almost makes me tear up with joy. Thirty-six colors!!!!! I see a trip to Staples in my future. That’s where I got the two I already have. They had a fabulous display and everything. It was LOVELY.

**Sigh** I’m in love… with markers….

What do you love? Check out what others love over at Diaper Diaries. You might find something new to adore.

I wasn’t given these markers. I purchased them myself. All opinions are mine and only mine.