Sausage Recipe and a Blog Train!

I wanted to post pictures of the beautiful full moon that is happening tonight! But, the trees around the house are in the way of it's view! I'm hoping that later on tonight it will be higher in the sky....or at least above the trees so I can get a picture of it!

For those of you who know that sausage does not agree with me (probably the grease in it), I found a recipe that does! And, it is very good! So I wanted to share it with you. I got this recipe from the 6 Weeks Makeover plan that I purchased back in 2005, but, alas, 5 years later and still no Makeover! Of course, not taking it out of the box may have something to do with it......I'm just saying!

But, I do like the recipes that I have tried and this sausage recipe happens to be one of them! It is a no-salt version, so you may want to add salt, but it is really good without the salt!

The picture below the recipe is the picture I took of it after I fried it.

Turkey Sausage Patties (obviously, I'm not using it as patties - Tim likes to mix it in omlets)
1 lb. lean ground turkey breast (I just use the frozen chubs of ground turkey)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 c. chicken broth (sodium free)
Combine turkey and dry spices in large bowl. Mix together thoroughly.
Add chicken broth, mixing well. Let stand 15-20 minutes.
Form turkey into 8 patties, approx. 3/4 inch thick.
Cook patties in non-stick skillet over medium heat, 7-8 minutes on each side, or until thoroughly cooked.

Here's an option for those who like it hot:
Add 1 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper and 3 TBSP. tomato paste (sodium free).

And, here's an Italian option (would probably work well on pizza):
Add 1/2 tsp. marjoram, 1/2 tsp coriander and 1/2 tsp. rosemary.



OK, the other thing I wanted to share with you is a blog train that the designers at Faith Sisters (which I am a part of) are having a blog train beginning tomorrow and going through the 31st. So, be sure and check in at my designer blog tomorrow (click on the preview of my portion shown here to go to the blog). There are about 20 parts that will be available, I believe! And, one of the designers chose two of the papers in my portion to make coordinating alpha's with. And, they are really cute!

OK, that's it for me! Have a blessed week!

Marvelous, Infinite, Matchless Grace.....

http://www.candiddiversions.com/2010/10/words-for-wednesday.html
Freely bestowed on all who believe! Isn't that just amazing!

The words on our church sign prompted me to do some thinking.......and thanking.......today. "There is no reason for grace but grace." Period. End of discussion. I can ask the question, and often do, "Why did the God of the Universe choose to bestow His saving grace on a sinner like me?" But, it is something my finite mind will never be able to fathom or comprehend! The only thing that explains it is the word itself.....GRACE! Grace, grace! God's grace!

One of my blogging friends, Candid Diversions, has this quote on her blog today:
"An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others. - A.W. Tozer"

That is grace, too! Not only did He save me by His grace, but He is with me ALL the time! I don't have to wonder if He will help me in this circumstance, but maybe not in the other. NO! He avails ALL of Himself to me ALL the time! And He does to ALL His children ALL the time!

The subject of God's Grace is so marvelous, it can't be fitted into one blog post! Here are a couple of songs that have been going through my head today (click on the title to hear the music). Thanks be to God for His Marvelous, Infinite, Matchless Grace!

Only a Sinner Saved by Grace
Naught have I gotten but what I received;
Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase;
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!
Refrain
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!

Once I was foolish, and sin ruled my heart,
Causing my footsteps from God to depart;
Jesus hath found me, happy my case;
I now am a sinner, saved by grace!

Refrain
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!

Tears unavailing, no merit had I;
Mercy had saved me, or else I must die;
Sin had alarmed me fearing God’s face;
But now I’m a sinner saved by grace!

Refrain
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!

Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
Loving his Savior to tell what he knows;
Once more to tell it would I embrace
I’m only a sinner saved by grace!

Refrain
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!

Grace Greater Than Our Sin
1. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,   grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!   Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,   there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.  Refrain:  Grace, grace, God's grace,   grace that will pardon and cleanse within;   grace, grace, God's grace,   grace that is greater than all our sin!   2. Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,   threaten the soul with infinite loss;   grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,   points to the refuge, the mighty cross.   (Refrain)   3. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.   What can avail to wash it away?   Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,   brighter than snow you may be today.   (Refrain)   4. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,   freely bestowed on all who believe!   You that are longing to see his face,   will you this moment his grace receive?   (Refrain)

Current Project

I woke up with a headache, which has been with me all day long! But, I managed to get some work done, in spite of the headache!

Walked
Got groceries
Made turkey sausage for freezing
Fixed one patty with an egg and pepper jack cheese on 1 slice of bread for lunch. YUMMY!
Washed dirty dishes (by hand)
Swept floors
Laid down for 45 minutes (did not help the headache)
Prepared Jambalaya for dinner
Did some designing before and after dinner
Giving you a sneak peek at my newest creation I'm working on before I go do some crocheting

Short and sweet! Nite, nite!

Bargains.....

I remembered that I had never shown you the great bargains I found with some of my birthday money!

I bought the sweater jacket and the skirt. I could not have matched my turtleneck any closer!

Here are some everyday blouses that I will be able to wear with lots of different things.
Here is a blue jean jumper.
These jackets are made by Sag Harbor, Alfred Dunner and J.G. Hook (in that order) and are washable and will go with lots of things I have already!
This is the same J.G. Hook jacket as in the picture above, but it isn't washed out here. I bought the skirt to wear with the jacket.
I also bought this skirt to go with the jacket.

So there you have it! So far, so good!

One Down.....a FEW more to go!

Remember my post of the "Plum Pudding" sweater that I commented that I thought it looked more pink than plum? Well, I was able to finish the sweater while we traveled this weekend. Here are 3 pictures of it. I still need to put buttons on it and tie up the loose thread ends, but I won't do that until I get the other sweater done to see if it will possibly be more purple than pink. If so, I will put pink buttons on this one and it will belong to Kara. And I'll put purple buttons on the other one for Hannah. Then I have one for Ryan to make, Camo greens and browns.

I love how this sweater turned out. I used the pattern for the back and the sleeves. But, the front and the collar were my own doings. The front was supposed to be one piece, too. And, instead of a collar, there was supposed to be a hood. But, since the thread is pretty thick, I thought this would be better as an over-sweater rather than a tunic type sweater. I plan to make a matching pair of leg warmers (not for Ryan, of course!). And if I get really ambitious, I may make matching scarves and gloves! But, don't hold your breath! :)

That variegated yarn looks sort of psychedelic, doesn't it?!
Here's a close up of the front so you can see the collar a little better.
And, here is a close up of the sleeve so you can see how it is joined. I sure hope these sleeves are long enough! They are 11" long, so if you, Liz and Jessica, could check Hannah and Kara's arm length from the shoulder for me, I would appreciate it! Also, because Kara is longer-waisted than Hannah, could you measure from the middle of their shoulders to their belly button (both Kara and Hannah)? I want to make sure the sweater is going to be long enough. If not, I think I can add a cute ruffle to the sleeves and the waist! Thanks, Liz and Jessica!

Home Again, Home Again.....

We ended up our travels by going to Blowing Rock, NC and window shopping in the historic district. Prices are waaaaaay too high, as they usually are at such shops! Then we headed home, stopping at Applebees for lunch (and eating the leftovers for supper.....my favorite part! :)

The first layout is actually 2 pages put together. You will definitely have to click on that one to be able to see it half way decently. All of these pages were made with my kit, Sweater Weather. Enjoy!


On this one, since the crotches were a little too close for comfort, I used my blending and copying method to disguise the problem areas! I'll have to remember that the next time I get creative! :)

Color Around Every Turn..........

We continued our journey down the Blue Ridge Parkway today. We actually went into section #5 for our trip to Linville Falls and Linville Caverns, about 30 miles south of Boone. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.


Color Around Every Turn.....

We arrived at Linville Falls at 11:15 a.m. We had to hike to the Falls. We crossed a bridge over the waters that flowed to the falls.
Other side of the bridge.....water flowing towards the bridge.
Some wild flowers along the water. The wind was blowing so hard at times that I'm surprised this picture turned out as clear as it did.
I took lots of pictures trying to capture all the leaves that were blowing and falling.
Upper falls.

More hiking to view the lower falls. Beautiful colors!
There are two spots to view the lower and upper falls from. The lower elevation of the two is from Chimney View.
Hiking today reminded me HOW out of shape I have become!! WHEW! I was GLAD for the many stops to take pictures. Including this creative moment, LOL! I wanted to capture those beautiful leaves way up at the top of the trees, but I wanted us to be in the picture, too! I laid the camera on a log and guessed at the angle for capturing the trees...and us! The first try was a good guestimate, but was too dark, so I turned the flash on. PERFECT!
OK, FINALLY! This is the Erwin View from a higher elevation than the Chimney View. I'm soooo glad there were no more Views! :) You can see the lower falls and just a bit of the upper falls.
This is the wide angle view.
After the Falls tour, we headed to the Caverns. It was guided tour, so we had to wait for about 1/2 hour before our tour started. These trout are at the mouth of the caverns. The employees feed them every morning, so I guess they must hang out here all day!
These stalactites were broken off during a flood in the cavern in the 1980's I believe.
Fake bat!
Below us - stagnated water, but clear. I thought the flash bounced off glass til our guide explained that it was stagnated water. There have been lines dropped 250 feet down into the waters and the bottom was not reached. There have been divers to try to find out how deep it goes, but it is too narrow. It is very narrow where we are all standing on this grate (a group of maybe 10 people).
Here shows the single file space we had to walk through. The guide warned that if anyone was claustrophobic that they might want to stay behind or at least at the end of the line!
REAL bat! Reminded me of a tiny mouse.
Yep, 25 minutes later, the trout are still there! There are 3 different kinds.....brown, rainbow and speckled.
We headed back to Boone and went to a Christian bookstore and a regular bookstore.....AFTER we ate lunch (at 4:00, I might add) LOL! Now we are hanging out in the hotel.

We have really enjoyed the view this weekend! Beautiful!!

The Hills Are Alive With Color!

After the hectic week of revival last week, Tim wanted to escape for a few days. So, we took another portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, beginning at mile marker 200. Below are a few of the pictures from today. Enjoy the mini trip! Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

We left the house at 9:00 so we could eat breakfast first. Thanks to Bro. Jones for the birthday gift certificate to BreakfastTime, we enjoyed this wonderful meal! I couldn't eat all of it! By 9:40 we were on the road.
When we left Winston, this was what the skies looked like. We had rain early in the morning. It was supposed to clear out by the afternoon and be sunny. We hoped the same was to be true on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Heading north on 52, I took this picture of Pilot Mountain. You can see that we ARE starting to finally see some color in our trees.
We exited 52 at Mt. Airy, NC. We soon crossed over into Virginia where we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway at around 11:00. You can see that the roads are still wet.
I thought the sky was beautiful for this picture!
We stopped at one overlook and, as the sign says, it is a view of the Piedmont area of NC. In the far distance is Pilot Mountain. I do not know how far away at this point we are from that nob.
Just a taste of the colors we saw throughout the whole trip on the Parkway today.
One of Tim's goals today was to stop at Cumberland Knob. We are standing on it in this picture. Not too thrilling...and quite disappointing after the huffing and puffing I did to get there! I am soooooo outta shape!
The rest of the trip was spent making stops at various sites and shops along the way:
1. Brinegar Cabin, (see more here - http://northcarolinamountaindreams.com/462/brinegar-cabin/). I thought I read or heard that their cabin was the sole survivor of a flood. Tim and I wondered how a flood would occur in the mountains.
2. Northwest Trading Post, where we bought a jar of Black Raspberry Seedless Jam for $5.75.
3. Then stopped at a Garden and Craft Shop about 1/4 mile from the Trading Post. They had the same exact jar of jam for $4.19! Go figure! We just laughed! What can you do?!
4. We ate lunch at one of the overlooks, Jumpinoff Rock, I believe. It was 3:30!

5. Next stop, Boone, NC. We are staying here tonight and tomorrow night. We will go to the Linville Falls and Linville Caverns tomorrow and possibly Grandfather Mountain and Chimney Rock. Saturday we will finish up this section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and head back home on I40, probably stopping at Mt. Mitchell on the way down, which is near mile marker 360 of the parkway. So, that gives you some idea of about how many miles we will be traveling, just on the parkway itself, this trip.

This section of the Blue Ridge Parkway (section 4) runs from mile marker 220 to 370. We did section 1 earlier in the year. Since our goal was to see the leaves in the mountains, that is why sections 2 and 3 have been skipped for now.

Birthday Celebration @ 55

Yep! Two nickels! That's about what I feel I'm worth sometimes! But, I guess some people think differently! All of my wonderful family and friends who lavished me with cards, gifts and birthday wishes in some electronic way. Here are some of the wishes and gifts I received in the order received:


1. From DH - Michael W. Smith's new CD, "Wonder" and a funny card:



...rest of the card reads...

For example, when I burp, that means you're one great cook! And when I make a vulgar sound, I love the way you look.

When I (rarely) pass some gas it means that I'm content. And when I answer with a grunt, you've got my full consent...

When I snore in bed at night, it's you I'm dreaming of. And when I don't say anything...I'm overcome with LOVE!


2. From Kara, Michael and Jessica - money for buying some church clothes and a card made by Kara (Kara always makes me a card and then mommy makes notes on the card to help explain it):

My arrow is pointing to Kara's "I heart you"


Hmmmm.........I am thinking Kara knows me pretty well........I'm becoming VERY round AND I'm a nut! :) LOVE IT!

3. From Liz and the kids always decorate a card with drawing/stickers:

Bath & Body Works hand soap in "Pumpkin" and "Caramel Apple" flavors.....YUM!

The decorated card from the kids.....the front reads....."Happy Birthday, Grandma! Now open this card slowly and carefully....
inside reads..... we wouldn't want all the hugs and kisses I put inside to get away! Have a Terrific Day I Love You!


Liz's card (with insert showing what is inside)


And, Liz, I have to say that I did have an outstanding birthday! But, NO birthday could ever match the outstanding occasions of giving birth to my babies!!!!!

4. From Tim's mom - money and this beautiful card.

inside reads.......And so this brings a birthday prayer For blessings from above And all the joy and happiness You're so deserving of.


5. AND, much to my surprise, at the church dinner on Saturday night before revival, I was presented with this beautiful birthday cake (pudding in the middle) and sung to. Also, a few people gave me gifts.....totally unexpected......all of it!



Bro. Jones gave me this beautiful card with the gift certificate (I wondered why it took him so long at Walmart that day! :)
inside the card reads.....A special birthday prayer that God will fill all your days with love, blessings, and the happiness you so deeply deserve. Have a Wonderful Birthday - Bob & Sue Jones. I gave him a hug to pass on to his wife!


A dear, sweet saint in her 80's, gave me this card with money. I told her it was a beautiful card and that I love butterflies.....

inside reads.....May today and every day be filled with wishes come true. Love, Vera Cole


Ed and Virginia Matthews gave me this wonderful journal and some wash cloths and a beautiful card.

The card reads: On your Birthday ..... And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Gen. 1:31) Then God created a special person with a warm and loving heart and a kind and generous spirit...And God saw that the person was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a beautiful day. Your birthday. Many Blessings to You. We love you.

What a sweet card!

Last, but not least.....the former pastor's daughters had this beautiful planter delivered to the house on Friday.

And this card from the Parkses (former pastor and wife)....the inside reads.....God bless you on your birthday, God keep you all year through, And always, may His tender love bring happiness to you.

So, not to forget to mention all the wonderful comments to my facebook wall from my family and friends, that is a run down of everything received to date! I'm in the process of spending the money I received at the thrift stores we frequent. I'm in need of some new church clothes. Today, since it is Columbus Day, one of the thrifts was having a 50% off on ALL clothing! I got several things there and also found a few nice things at Goodwill. I'm washing everything up now. I'll post pictures of my new goodies later on!

Thanks to everyone for your words of love and kindness and the gifts! How blessed I am!