Yummy Dinner!

Well, if you are looking for a yummy dinner look no further. Best part is it's a crockpot meal so not much to it! Those are my favorite. I found this recipe on one of my best friend's blog Deep South Sweets. Check out her blog for great recipes, decorating and more.

Here is the recipe for Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin. I served it with baked potatoes, green beans and bread.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of pork tenderloin or pork loin (this came to two whole tenderloins for me - watch for them to go on sale and then freeze until ready to use)
1/2 cup water

Rub
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced finely

Glaze
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce

Directions:
Place 1/2 cup water in crock pot.

Mix together sage, kosher salt, pepper and garlic in a small bowl until well combined. It might be a little clumpy due to the garlic and that is ok!

Use the sage mixture and rub it all over your pork to get even and equal coverage.

Place the pork in the crock pot, put your crock pot lid on a cook on low for 6-8 hours.

One hour before the cooking time is complete, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water and soy sauce in a small sauce pan.

Heat over medium low heat and stir often until thickened to a honey/syrup consistency. Don't let it come to a boil as vinegar mixtures will not thicken at a boil.

Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the remaining cooking time (I just spooned it over the meat and used the back of the spoon to distribute evenly).

Once done cooking, remove pork from crock pot and serve with remaining glaze.
Original recipe found at C and C Marriage Factory.

So, throw it in the crockpot and enjoy a great meal for dinner!

Santa! I know him!!

I know, crazy 2 posts in 2 days, don't get used to it :)

So a friend asked a question on fb today "We should be focusing on Christ, but instead, we spend the majority of the Christmas season LYING to our children. Will my child's unfounded faith in Santa, the Toothfairy, and the Easter Bunny that I have instilled in them harm the faith in God that I work so diligently to root?"

So, here are my two cents.

I was taught to believe in Santa. All through grade school I had a best friend who didn't believe in Santa. She would tell me there was no Santa and I would tell her yes there was. We went on and on until finally one day I asked my mom about Santa. I still remember we were in my mom's bathroom getting ready for school. She closed the door and let me in on the secret. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed but really more in the fact that I was wrong and not that there was no Santa. I then got excited because now I was in the know :) I now got to play along and pretend for my little sister.

Although my faith in God has had its roller coaster effect I don't correlate that to me believing in Santa and then finding out the truth. See there is a Santa just not how I had imagined as a child. There is no jolly, big elf who comes down my chimney to leave me gifts and then fly away on his 8 tiny reindeer. Santa in my house as a child was actually a dad and mom who loved their girls so much and wanted to let their imaginations play.

Now as a mom of 4 we have 2 who know the truth and 2 who are too young. Our girls found out the truth about Santa and don't show any signs of disaster because of it. They play along for their little brothers still and don't hold the lie of Santa against us. When the time comes and my boys ask me about Santa I will tell them the truth too, that Santa is actually just Mommy and Daddy.

I think that part of being a child is letting your imagination play and having fun! I let my boys dress up as Raphael Ninja Turtle and Spiderman, my oldest son has an imaginary friend who is named Collin and comes over to play. To me Santa, the tooth fairy and Easter bunny are just that pretend. Kids have to grow up too fast anyway no reason to pop a bubble before it's ready.

Christmas is a celebration with family and friends. The focus on Jesus has to be instilled in the home everyday and not just on Christmas and Easter. My friend who posted that comment believes that so I am not attacking her. I believe that if you are teaching your children everyday about Jesus and God then their faith will not waiver because of playing pretend about Santa.

So that is my two cents, take it or leave it!

Thankfulness!

I know, it's been two months and hopefully someone still checks on me from time to time. There has been so much happen in the last 2 months that I haven't had time to catch a breath much less write a blog post. But I have decided to return to the blog world and share my random thoughts once again.

Since it's November we hear lots about being thankful. The Thanksgiving holiday brings out the family gatherings and the word thankful gets thrown around a lot. I hope that you aren't just thankful around the holidays but I have to say that sometimes that is the only time I share what I am thankful for. On facebook many are saying what they are thankful for and I think that is great! I want to challenge you though to not only be thankful during the month of November or the holiday season but always. And share the things that you are thankful for with your families, friends and whomever else when the time comes up. I have the habit of when someone comes to mind I send them a note, email, text or call. It's amazing how when you share that you are thankful for that person how it effects your day and maybe even someone elses.

So, here are some people/things that I am thankful for:
*My wonderful Savior
*My faithful husband
*My 4 blessings
*My family
*My amazing accountability group
*My amazing, close friends who I like to think of as sisters more than friends (you know who you are)
*Our home
*Our congregation family

Those are just some I could go on and on but I will save you. So what are you thankful for? Don't only tell the person that you are thankful for them but remember to thank God for blessing you with all that He does!

Psalm 118:1"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."