Tasty Tuesday - Oatmeal Molasses Bread

Even though most of my family prefers store bought bread to homemade, I still like trying different varieties to see how they turn out.  This week I tried this oatmeal-molasses one and it was really simple to make, more like a quick bread.  And almost everyone said they liked it!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour

Directions:
Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.  Mix boiling water, oats, butter, molasses, and salt in a large bowl and then cool to lukewarm.  Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to oat mixture along with egg and 1 1/2 cups of the flour.  Beat 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl frequently.  Stir in the remaining flour.  Spread the batter evenly in the pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let rise in warm place for 1 1/2 hour.  Bake 50-55 minutes at 375 degrees or until loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped.  Remove from pan to wire rack.

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Sunshine Award!

Recently Melanie at Out of the Miry Clay honored me with a Sunshine Award!  Thank you so much, Melanie!

There are 2 rules for accepting this award:

1) Thank the person who gave it to you
2) Pass it on to 8 other blogs that bring a beautiful ray of Sunshine into your day!

So I am going to pass this on to 8 bloggers who make my days a little brighter and I hope you will go visit them too!

• Jodi at Granola Mom 4 God
• Beth at Happily Domestic
• Kim at Home is Where Your Story Begins
• Jamie~Lynn
• Theresa at Loving Life on the Farm
• Conny at The Life of an Ordinary HausFrau
• The McJason's
• Jaime Lynn at Training Up Kaitlyn

Tasty Tuesday - Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew

A while back I came across a recipe for Cowboy Stew that sounded really good and looked easy to make.  I changed it a little to fit our family and it turned out delicious!  It is really easy to just throw into the crock pot in the morning and have it ready at dinner time.  It made the whole house smell so good while it was cooking too!

Ingredients:
1-2lbs of stew meat cut into 1" pieces
2 potatoes cut into bite size pieces
2 carrots cut into 1" pieces
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 big cans of baked beans in BBQ sauce

Directions:
Dump all into your crock pot, stir, cover, and let cook 8-10 hours.

Hubby says it would be really good with corn in too, so I might try dumping in some frozen corn next time.  This would go really well with homemade crescent rolls!

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Merry Christmas!

What child is this, who, laid to rest

On Mary's lap, is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:

Haste, haste to bring him laud,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,

Come peasant king to own Him,

The King of kings, salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise the song on high,

The Virgin sings her lullaby:

Joy, joy, for Christ is born,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

God Loves Me More Than That (Review)

I recently received the book God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.  This is a beautifully written and illustrated book for kids about a little boy who wants to know how much God loves him.  Each answer of how high, wide, deep, even how heavy God's love is are all very easy ways for children to grasp how much God loves them.  The colorful illustrations by David Hohn bring each of the answers to life and are beautifully done.  My kids loved reading this book together.  Each question and answer got them thinking of other ways to answer and they came up with a lot of them!  Even though it is hard to fully understand the depth of God's love for us, I think this book does a great job of helping do this by looking at it through the eyes of a child.  I highly recommend this book!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.