Cranberry Jell-o Salad

1 12oz bag of fresh, whole cranberries

Wash cranberries. Boil in (2cups) water until they pop +5 minutes. While hot, stir in sugar, jell-o, pineapple, & nuts. Pour into 9×13 pan and refrigerate overnight.

Prepare whipping cream mixture: In a separate bowl, crumble cream cheese. Add marshmallows. Pour whipping cream over all and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving, whip cream cheese mixture until it thickens and is smooth. Spread over jell-o. Serve!

About this time every year we recognize both the tragedy and the beauty of Jesus’ work on the cross, and celebrate His Resurrection on “Resurrection Sunday”. I assume that if you are reading this, you are believer and understand the implications of the cross… I’ll quickly quote one of my favorite hymns and then get to the point of this post…

“Jesus paid it all! All to Him I owe… sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

I noticed one day as I drove by a small church close to our home the three crosses we most often see on display in the yard of some churches at Easter, one adorned with the royal purple sash that portrays Christ’s royalty. As you know, there were three crosses at Calvary, and two men crucified next to Jesus. One man taunted Jesus, insisting that if He were really the son of God that He would take Himself down off the cross. The other man said to Jesus, “I am a sinner and my punishment is just. Forgive me, Lord, and remember me on your throne. Jesus told the man, “This day you will be with me in paradise.”

I love that! Redemption literally ON the cross! But as I drove by the small church by my house, with 3 crosses in the yard I wondered to myself… “Why would they put up all 3 crosses on display? Isn’t the one cross the one we celebrate?”

As quickly as I thought the thought, I was reminded of the truth that Jesus died for BOTH men on both of the crosses; the one who repented and the one who taunted. The only difference between the two was whether they accepted the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, or if they refused. It’s a choice we all will make. I’ve been both of these men. I have spit in the face of Jesus, yet he still died for me. While I was still sinning, He died for ME.

We all carry a cross in this life. Either the one built from our own sin, or the cross Jesus carried up to Calvary; the cross where my sin debt was paid in full. The cross I gladly pick up and follow after Jesus with. Following Jesus isn’t easy. We aren’t guaranteed a better life as a believer. We ARE offered an eternal one…

The best part of the story remains… Yes Jesus died… but the story doesn’t end there! Glory to God, 3 days later he rebuilt the temple, and walked out of the tomb! He lives today, I spoke with him just this morning…

Eli goes to Tia Choo-Choo’s twice a week now for about 5hrs each day. He LOVES Tia and LOVES going to her house. She was coming to the car to greet him, but he now runs to her door to knock and greet her. She’s pretty awesome.

I recently went to my first “Wildtree Tasting” about 3 weeks ago, BEFORE we gave organic or natural a 2nd thought. I loved everything I tried. I assumed the prices would be more than I could afford, and was really only going to support a friend. I was determined not to spend a dime though, with our family being on the Dave Ramsey “get out of debt” diet. The friend I carpooled with bought me a container of their Alfredo Extraordinaire. I loved it at the tasting, but wasn’t sold on why this would be better than what I could find at the store anyway.

Once the order cam in and I received my mix, I decided to see what I could find organically that would be similar to what I got from Wildtree and compare.  I did find an organic mix at HyVee. Now I’m only in week 2 of “going organic” and so far, HyVee has been the only store I’ve really frequented for our organic foods because of it’s location relative to our home, so there may be something else out there, but I wasn’t excited about what I found at HyVee. Price-wise it’s comparable per serving. HyVee’s Simply Organic Alfredo mix was pennies cheaper per serving, HOWEVER – it contained one ingredient I did not see on Wildtree’s version of the same thing. Silicon Dioxide (for anti-caking). From what I can tell from Wikipedia, silicon dioxide will pass through your body completely intact. Your body will not absorb it, or be affected by it, again, if it’s ingested or you eat it. However if you inhale Silicon Dioxide, you could be in trouble. So tell me if I’m off here…. Silicone Dioxide in my mixes is okay, but I should probably where a mask while preparing them. Um… I think Wildtree can have my pennies and I’ll continue to cook without wearing a mask.

Oh, and now that we’re talking about wearing mask’s in the kitchen… Dr. Oz says cooking with my non-stick pans would kill a canary if I had one. Another post on another day. That man will be the death of me for sure (if said pans don’t do me in first.)

In the meantime, if you’d like to check out this Wildtree thing, or get more information, comment below and I’ll send you my new rep’s contact info! I’m going to another “tasting” (I rock at those.) next weekend, and I’m thinking about hosting one in September sometime.

Question – What’s more important to you, Organic or All-Natural, and why? I’d love to hear what you think!

The other reason we resisted organics was the cost. This was a big one. I always felt like I was doing my family a solid by saving $$ when going to the store. The thing that changed it for me was hearing a friend of mine say, “For me, I see the savings on the medicines I know longer have to buy! I can regulate my mood, blood sugar, and overall health by the things I feed my body. I’m actually saving $$.”

So I talked to John about it (btw – John was raised in an organic environment by his Mom and step-Dad) and he was cool! We decided to buy 100% organic for one month and see how we felt about it at the end of the month. And if we couldn’t find something organic easily, then “all-natural” was our 2nd choice. (What’s the difference between “organic” and “all natural”? The best info I could find was HERE, but research for yourself. You’ll definitely want to be educated on the difference if you decide to go down this road.)

I started at Wal-Mart, knowing their prices are usually lower and that they do have some things offered organically. There selection isn’t best, but prices are. I have found things like popcorn, granola bars & cereal, some produce, and “all-natural” lunch meat. (The “all-natural” usually means there are no weird, hard to pronounce additives. I decided if I couldn’t pronounce it, I wasn’t eating it.) I still buy things like paper towels, shampoo, soap, etc in the “regular” isles and at Wal-Mart. Saving $$ is still a bonus.

My next stop was HyVee. I’ve shopped at HyVee occasionally for quick items, but NEVER walked through their organic section of the store. I visited the edge once seeing what milk alternatives they offered for Eli, but that was as deep as I went. I couldn’t afford anything in there, and it probably tasted like cardboard anyway. (Where did I get this train of thinking? I’m guessing from years of dieting, and the misconception that things that are good for you taste awful?) I took Drew, the more excited of my children, with me to HyVee. WE HAD A BLAST! I still can’t believe all that is offered organically, and how good it is! It the same things we’ve been eating, but grown and produced without pesticides, antibiotics & growth hormones, chemicals, or additives like high-fructose corn syrup.

The food and our meals this past week have been amazing! Same things we’ve always eaten, but they have TASTE! Grapes have been the most noticeable to me as far as fruit. Never been a grape lover, but organic grapes… I swear they are the BEST ever. Turns out pesticides (poisons) make food taste kinda yucky in my opinion. Weird, huh?  Chicken is another. YUM! Drew likes the pasta. We are eating far less too. I associate this with the elimination of high-fructose corn syrup.

So, we did spend about $50 more on groceries than we usually do. And it did hurt a bit. HOWEVER – the satisfaction of knowing I packed a lunch that is 100% natural and organic is heads and shoulders above the satisfaction I had packing a cheap (cheaper than school) lunch. I know my kids are getting the nutrients they need from their food, without all the junk. Worth it

Stay tuned for my FAVORITE find so far!

This summer we…

Visited the farm (Deanna Rose)

and saw a few 3D movies!

We loved visiting the model train station.

For extra adventure, we took the back road to Colorado

and had a blast doing so!

We ALL got spoiled by our Grammy & Grampy.

Had the adventure of a lifetime riding  the Zepher to Glenwood Springs,

then risked our lives riding the gondola up the mountain (YIKES!)

We rode all the rides,

played all the games,

enjoyed all the scenery,

but always looked out for bears!

John & I FINALLY got our wedding picture taken!

Then we rode the rides again!

We celebrated Drew’s 11^th birthday, and as you can see the cake nearly set on fire!

And the very next day… we sent him off to 10 day boy scout camp.

We enjoyed visiting Drew at camp, ’till he nearly killed us on the “scenic” route (over the river & through the woods) to the infamous “lookout point”.

John finally got to go on a couple of the campouts with the boys too.

And of course we did lots of realxin’!

But through it all… we PRAISED GOD!

During our most recent trip the boys rescued one tiny, and adorable, baby turtle and three frogs. This was Eli’s first adventure in Wildlife Rescue at Mimi’s. It was pretty exciting for him!

My favorite part is the Wildlife Release. Mostly because the beautiful pond at Mimi’s makes for pretty amazing pictures!

Three boys later, I finally “get” the Thomas the Train craze… Eli is all about Thomas, trains, and anything with wheels. I don’t know how or why some kids get the thomas bug, but I have to admit John and I are as crazy about Thomas as Eli is!

Last weekend we were able to take Eli to his very first meeting of Thomas in Baldwin City, KS. He was over the top excited when he saw the life sized version of his favorite Train. There were lots of fun activites while we waited to take a ride on Thomas. Eli’s favorite was just watching the model train run on it’s track. I think he could have stood there all day! We got lots of cute pics!

As that Saturday approached, so did a lingering rain storm. Determined to get our money’s worth despite the rain, I took the boys over to enjoy the rides early that Saturday morning, with plans for John to meet us after Eli’s nap. It sprinkled on and off the entire time we were there. The boys, including Eli, were troopers though! The rain made it quite an adventure!! Above is one of my favorite pics of the day of all the English boys in their rain ponchos; wet but happy! Below are a couple more of my wet crew during the concert. We had so much fun!

Coincidentally we also discovered that the Train at World’s of Fun is named ELI! How cool is that?!