Please Pray

***Update***
Stellan is absolutely, completely, undeniably, MIRACULOUSLY HEALED!! Can I get an "Amen?!!"
It's taken me a while a ridiculous amount of time to post this update, but on  November 9th, Stellan went in for his second ablation of his heart and it was a rip-roaring success!  You can read all about that day HERE.  So many, including myself, are praising God for His hand upon this sweet babe and for restoring him to complete health.  I look foward to watching him grow and THRIVE!!

Original Post:
Along with literally THOUSANDS of other readers, I am praying for sweet little Stellan today.
If you're unfamiliar with his story, or his Mama, or the rest of the MckFamily, head over to their family blog here: http://www.mckmama.com/
Stellan, who turns 1 years old today was diagnosed with SVT in the womb, born healthy and presumably normal, but at 4 months began having bouts with SVT (super fast heart rate) once again.  He has been hospitalized and gravely ill numerous times, flown by medical helicopter to Boston where he received an ablation of his heart at 5 months and since then has had on-again/off-again bouts with SVT.
He is currently hospitalized, and this bout of SVT came on VERY suddenly and has really hit his poor little body hard.
Please take the time today to pray for him and to ask our Great God, who is the ultimate Healer to do a miracle for Stellan and their family and restore him to complete health.
Happy Birthday sweet Stellan!  Praying you get to eat your birthday cake real soon big boy!

The BEST (and easiest) Stuffed Mushroom Recipe Ever!

Trust me when I tell you that your friends will be BEGGING you for this recipe!  I know this because
a. Begging is how I came to have it (I've got no shame...) and
b. It's what happens to me every time I decide to make these delectable little morsels and take them to a party, get together, etc.

The greatest thing about this recipe (other than the begging and adulation described above) is that it's soooo easy to make with very few ingredients.  (My kind of recipe!)

Here's what you'll need:

3 packages of regular sized mushrooms, stems removed and discarded
10 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 Cup Hellman's Mayo (no substitution here, bring out the good stuff!)
1 1/2 Cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar
Lawry's Season Salt, to taste

Here's what you'll do:

• Take a 1/4 sized teaspoon or small melon baller to core out the mushroom stems and enlarge the opening of the cap slightly (to allow for more stuffing.)
• Wash mushroom caps thouroughly and set them on papertowel to drain/dry.
• Cook bacon and crumble.
• In a bowl, mix together the crumbled bacon, mayonnaise, cheese and seasoning salt.
• Fill each mushroom cap with the cheese mixture and place cheese-side up into a 9X13 baking dish.
• Broil for approximately 7 min. or until cheese is melted and just starts to brown.

Warning!  Be prepared to either:
a. gain approximately 3 pounds (from eating as many as you can yourself) or
b. spend time handing out the recipe cards you very wisely made up in advance to save you from being smothered with people vying for your attention! 
Unless that was your goal all along...in that case~~
Revel in it!! :-)

What's your favorite recipe to take to party or get together?

Dinner Diary-Bowtie Festival

I'm still loving all the inspiration and great recipes I'm getting over at Tiffany's blog Eat At Home Cooks.  If you haven't had the chance to check it out--Go there NOW!  (Well, okay, maybe not RIGHT now, but as soon as you read this post, GO!)

Tonight I tried out her recipe for Bowtie Festival and it was a HUGE hit!  Don't you just love it when you can razzle and dazzle your family? Thanks Tiffany!

I wanted to share it here, but for detailed pictures (ours was gone so fast I didn't even get a chance to take a pic!) be sure to check out Tiffany's site!

Bowtie Festival:
1 box bowtie pasta
4 Tbs. butter
2 cups half & half
1/2 cup white wine (I could only find the non-alcoholic version, which was fine with me!)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
12 oz.pre-cooked bacon, diced
2 cups Parmesan, shredded
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tomato, finely chopped (I omited this since NONE of us like tomatoes!)

Boil the pasta according to the package directions.  In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, cooking until soft.  Add the red pepper, wine and bacon to the mix and cook for a minute.  (This kept the red peppers slightly hard, next time I may try cooking them longer.) Whisk in the half and half, then the cheese, allowing the cheese to melt.  Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and put it back in the cooking pot.  Pour the sauce over it and stir it together.
(Optional: Top with the chopped tomato.)

I served Caesar salad with ours and it was sooo good!

What have YOU been cooking up in the kitchen lately?  I'd love to hear!

"Casting" Our Cares Away...

So our little one had his big appointment on Wednesday to have his cast removed.
Yeah!!  ((Can you hear the chorus of angels singing??))
It was a day we have all eagerly anticipated over the past 3 weeks.
Although we're thankful for modern medical marvels such as casts, having a 16 month old wearing one has definitely affected our day-to-day.
Of course, with no more cast, we wouldn't be able to enjoy...

• Wearing Daddy's big sock over his arm at the dinner table...

• Attempted "sponge baths" over the kitchen sink; washing his head/hair with the sprayer while his head rests comfortably on an overturned soup pot while he cries and flails his arms wildly; angry that we would DARE to force this manner of bathing on him!
  

• Cleaning the spaghetti sauce, bananas, oranges, gravy and cheerios out of his hair with wipes in an attempt to avoid the aforementioned "sink" bath.

• Constantly worrying that I would forget to pick up the dog dish full of water and he would proceed to splash to his hearts content and his cast's demise.

But alas, I need not mourn too long...

After having his pumpkin-y colored cast removed and new x-rays taken, it was determined that one of the two fractured bones still needed a little TLC and healing time so....
Hello, fall-ish Navy Blue color!

See? I don't mind a bit!

And..."Hello!" to one more week of dirty boy!

Just kidding, cause I SOOO give him a bath EVERY night.

*Ahem*