Welcome to McMama's......

...loved ones served daily.

The girls devoured this simple, but oh so tasty meal.

Shh...I'm going to share my secret.

Cut chicken breast into strips.

Marinade in buttermilk seasoned with:

McCormicks Garlic & Herb

(it's kind of orange in color)

or

your favorite seasoning.

We love seasoning, so I'm going to leave the amount up to you.

Just remember that most of the seasonong is going to stay in the buttermilk.

Leave the strips covered in the refrigerator over night.

You can grill, broil, fry, or bake them.

My family is small, so I can make a big batch and cook as needed for a couple of days.

I like to grill it and place it over a salad.

My husband likes me to add cayenne, batter, fry, and serve with fettuccini.

Eloise prefers to eat hers plain with a bowl of red beans.

It's so easy.

It took me less than 10 minutes to cook and serve the girls.

God Bless and Enjoy!

Happy......

...Late Valentines/Chinese New Year/Mardi Gras Break (if you're a local)!!!!

Eloise spent Saturday collecting little red envelopes from her relatives. It is customary for all married adults to give money to any unmarried person who enters their home on Chinese New Year.

This year we decided to do without the cards and chocolates.

Saturday evening I bought the above flowers to make our table a little more festive.

Hubby and I cooked a delicious meal and we had a family Valentine's Dinner.

Today we will be headed to the park for our church's annual Mardi Gras Day

family Picnic. The adults will BBQ and play table games while the children run around like little crazy people burning all their extra energy.

Whoever you are....

No matter where you are...

have a Happy Day!

Sweet Treats With Zero Calories.....

Just look at the wonderful hand made goodies from my dear friend Michelle over at

 B Skep Chronicles

The Oakmoss & Lavender soap smells heavenly. I am going to savor it.

As for the "apples" ....

You must have read my mind!

I wanted them from the moment I saw them on your blog,

but I couldn't bring myself to wash dishes with them.

They will be going into the Hope Chest that my husband is going to build for my daughter's 10th birthday.

Not that she will be using them any time soon, I just figured that we could start filling it as I begin to teach her to make crafty things. When she does finaly leave the nest, she will have a trunk full of love and memories.

Gifts like these are so much sweeter than those that are mass produced in China.

This was such a pleasant Valentine's Surprise.

P.S. Eloise will be posting on her blog about the cards your girls sent her.

Love & Prayers,

For The Locals....

For those of you who attend the greatest church on Earth -sorry I'm a bit partial- I am pleased to announce my two newest blogs. They are meant to be a resource for you.

 If you scroll down past all of the pictures of food on my sidebar, you will find two buttons. One says, "Living & Loving" click this to view the ladies department blog. The other says, "Sister Beppi & Friends" click this to view the Sunday school blog.

Both still need a little tweaking, but I am pleased so far. In the future I will be working on a blog for the youth group and another for our music department. You will be able to have access to info that is announced, but you may have forgotten or lost the bulletin etc...

I hope these are helpful.

Love & Prayers,

The Big Day.....

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the total destruction of our parish, many people said we would never recover. They said that It would be a minimum of 2 years before our 1st school could open. They said a lot of things, but nearly 4 1/2 years later I see an entirely different picture.

Our first school opened approx. 2 months after the storm. Our highschool recently opened a new sky walk for students to cross over the highway to our new campus additions. The new section is still under construction, but the classrooms and office for the ninth grade academy are complete. When it is finished it will also house a huge swimming pool, theater with orchestra pit, public library, coffee shop, and what appears to be a multi-level parking garage. Our highschool was recently rated one of the top 20 in the entire nation.

In addition to a thriving school system, our community is home to many local businesses and several chains, but today marks something special to me. Previous to the storm,we had just celebrated a grand opening. My daughter had watched the building progress every day on our drive to her school. We were so excited that we no longer had to travel to other cities; as it was in walking distance from our house. In fact we stopped there as we were pulling out of town to evacuate. I remember feeling numb as I watched the employees wrap all of the brand new photo equipment, electronics, and registers with heavy duty plastic wrap.

Tired of waiting???..........

So were we, but today our wait has ended.

I heard from friends that the highschool band marched up and down the aisles to entertain the first customers when the doors opened. I had to get Eloise off to school, so I missed it  ;o(

The pictures aren't great, because the usual photographer(me) was busy shopping. Well any way, here they are:

You guessed it.

Walmart Super Center!

Over 300 new jobs!!!

No more outrageous grocery prices from the other stores!

No more big, empty, blighted building!

No more wasting tons of gas to go shopping!

See...I'm not the only one who thought this was big news! LOL

Really this isn't about Wally World or IHOP or any of the other great things that are opening up; It's about this community. We got in here and worked hard for this place we call home.

Great Things Come to Those Who Wait....

This is a picture of my latest miracle.

Yes, I said miracle.
I don't know what else to call it,

when I am able to purchase a dryer that originally retailed at around $1500

for $97 (that wasn't a typo) plus tax.

My old impatient self tried to overtake me,

 because I could really use a washer
 that doesn't require hand tools (notice the dial in top pic) to operate.

I could have bought the matching washer,
but I would have to special order it and put it on credit,

 because it is still over $1000.

Thank you Jesus for giving me the strength
to resist the temptation.

In tough economic times it is crazy to go into debt,

besides I know God is going to find me another great deal.

I don't really care if it matches, but it would be a bonus ;o)

  

Now if you'll excuse me.....

I have some playing laundry to do!

P.S. We just updated Eloise's Blog. I added a link button in my sidebar just above, "Blogs I like to visit".On her blog we added a link button for "Sketch Tuesday" and one that brings you back to my blog. If you have time, check it out, and let us know what you think about her new look.