6 Wonderful Months

Today our precious baby boy turns 6 months old! The months have flown by, but his Daddy and I have enjoyed every single moment of having him in our lives. I still remember when we found out about this sweet miracle from God (it was on his Daddy's birthday!) and we were completely overjoyed! We've savored each smile, each milestone, each of his many expressions. We're in awe of God's wondrous gift, and privileged that we have the responsibility of raising this amazing little boy for the Lord.



This "Thankful Thursday" I'm praising the Lord for the blessing of my precious son!! I truly don't have words to describe how grateful I am to be a mother to my sweet Landon Justus! He has filled our hearts with more joy than we could ever describe, we are SO thankful for him!

~We love you, Landon!!! Happy 6 month birthday, baby boy!

Mommy & Daddy

Salted Caramels

My sister and I are crazy for caramel! Seriously, if you say caramel - you have our attention. ;-)

We came across this recipe on Pinterest, (one of our other addictions), and decided to try it out. Let's just say it was a huge success!!

Warning to those of you who will attempt this recipe at home - once made, these buttery, salty, creamy caramels are impossible to stop eating!!!!

Thanks to Baking Bites for this fabulous recipe! Check it out- they have lots of other yummy inspiration to choose from!

Note, when making these: Any coarse sea salt that you like will work well. The recipe recommends flaky Maldon Sea Salt, which has a great flavor, excellent texture and a beautiful look. After all, you do eat with your eyes!

Once the caramel is prepared, you can pour it into a 9×9 glass or pyrex baking dish. The 9×9 makes caramels of a nice thickness (which I highly recommend), but if you want to make your caramels smaller (or just make a lot more of them), you can also use a 9×13 pan and get thinner caramels. Do not forget to grease the pan with butter before adding the caramel! Remember to use a very sharp, warm (run under hot water and dried) knife for best results when slicing and removing caramels from pan.

Salted Caramels

Homemade Sea Salt Caramels
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 – 2 tbsp sea salt (rec. Maldon brand)

Lightly grease a 9×9 -inch glass or pyrex baking dish with butter or a thin coat of vegetable oil.
In a large saucepan, combine water, corn syrup and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, then continue to boil until caramel turns a deep honey color (10-14 minutes).
While sugar cooks, combine cream and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 1-2 minutes on high heat, until butter is melted. Set aside.
When sugar is a deep honey color, pour in cream mixture. Caramel will bubble up vigorously. Stir until bubbles subside slightly, then stir in salt. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and continue to cook, stirring regularly with a silicone spatula, until caramel reaches 260F (5-10 minutes).
Pour caramel into prepared dish. Allow caramel to cool completely, then sprinkle evenly with sea salt.
Cut caramels into small squares or rectangles with a warm, sharp knife.
Caramels can be served immediately or wrapped in small squares of wax paper. Caramels will keep for a few weeks at room temperature.

Makes about 3-4 dozen, depending on the size of your caramels.

Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Ps 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.


I love the verse above and thought I would share it as part of our "Monday Meditation". What better to way to start off the week than with God's Word?!

Is it the desire of your heart to seek the Lord? To seek the face of the Lord requires humility on our part and a desire for holiness, for the Lord is holy!

For those of you who don't have a personal relationship with Him, the Lord desires a relationship with YOU!
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Whether saved or lost, it's pretty clear that we're to seek the Lord. Are we really serious about our soul's condition? Are we really seeking to become more Christ like? A good test is whether or not our heart is seeking the face of the Lord. I pray that is our desire!

Happy Monday!

~Lauren

Lemon Chicken Soup

I love watching Food Network and happened to be watching one of my favorite chefs, Giada De Laurentiis, making this yummy soup. I wasn't sure what I'd think of the lemon juise in the soup, but after making it I have to say that it might be one of my favorite chicken soups ever! The lemon truly brings a freshness and enhances all the other flavors. This soup is a perfect example of how you can use your Parmesan cheese rind, as seen in this post from earlier this week.

Try it, I think you'll really enjoy it!! For me, a recipe is simply a guideline and this recipe is no exception. I tweaked it to my liking, used pasta shells and made a double batch.

Lemon Chicken Soup

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces, *see Cook's Note
• 2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
• 1 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Kosher salt

Directions

In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind, if using, to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and simmer until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the broken pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the Parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

*Cook's Note: You can use any short pasta from your pantry as a substitute for spaghetti.

Italy's Secret Ingredient!

This "Quick Tip" Wednesday is actually two tips in one. :-) I LOVE Italian food, and have found that using REAL Parmesan cheese is KEY to authentic flavors in my Italian cooking. Maybe it's because almost every Italian recipe calls for it? ;-) I truly believe it's their "secret ingredient". ha!

Anyway, what I'm saying is - don't cut corners by buying the el cheapo green can that I'm not sure is even real cheese. I buy my Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese at Sam's Club and find that they're most reasonable.



Ok, second tip - you can use the rinds of your Parmesan cheese! I know Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is kind of spendy but I'm here to tell you that you can use every last bit of this cheese! How cool is that? I simply freeze the rinds (exterior of the cheese) and then when I make a pot of soup, I throw a rind in my soup and it flavors it beautifully!! The salty, nutty, buttery cheese still on the rind flavors the soup and gives it an added dimension that is absolutely delicious! Simply remove the rind before serving, or if it happens to completely dissolve in the soup - that's fine too!

Have a quick tip to share with us?? Leave a comment below and perhaps we'll choose your quick tip to be featured!! :-)

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

~Lauren