What a sweet idea. Cheesy, but very sweet. I actually think I might get these for me and Shanon (aka: boyfriend that lives in LA). They still aren’t available for purchase yet, but the website says they hope to be available soon.

I remember being young enough that the only way to tell one school day from another was what was for lunch that day.

I still remember that Thursday was pizza day, Wednesday was soup or chili day. (w/grade school peanut butter sandwiches.  I’m 40-plus and haven’t come across that peanut butter since.)

Tuesday was Sloppy Joe Day.  I still remember that first Sloppy Joe Day sitting down with my tray with the long slot for silverware  and the square indentation to keep your milk carton from spilling.  But this was not a Sloppy Joe.

This was some mixture of hamburger and a red ketchup’y/bbq’y sauce on a bun.  Years later I would see Manwich commercials and think “Ohhh, this is what they think Sloppy Joes are.”

At our house Sloppy Joe’s were hamburger and mushroom soup mixed together and served on a bun with a slice of american cheese.

I made them for dinner tonight.  One of Mom’s simplest recipes yet still one of my favorites.

Red sauce sloppy joes.  Please…

Neither are high on my wanna-eat list unless they’re fried, but I’ve GOT to start exercising some control over my diet. Plus my nephew/roommate is back from Christmas break and I want to try and cook for him occasionally.

Maybe it’s because it was beyond the “best by” date but I’ve had no luck preparing brown rice when I enjoyed it, but I won’t give up. It wasn’t terrible with the apple’y/cranberry’y sauce on it.

It’s from a slow cooker cookbook I picked up along the way. If you try it let me know what you think!

CRANBERRY CHICKEN

• 2 medium apples, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 2lbs total)
• 1 16-ounce can whole cranberry sauce
• 1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 6-ounce pkgs long grain & wild rice mix (I just used brown from a box)

In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker combine apples & onion. Add chicken pieces. In a medium bowl combine cranberry sauce, lemonade concentrate, tapioca, honey & salt. Pour over mixture in cooker.

Cover & cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Cook the rice according to the package directions. Serve chicken & apple mixture over hot cooked rice.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 565 calories, 2 g total fat(1 g sat. fat), 88 mg chol, 993 mg sodium, 96 g carbo, 4 g fiber, 40 g pro

This time of the year always reminds me of the poem below because it makes me reflect on the past year and its blessings – The good, the bad and the ugly. This short, anonymous story poem makes me think about the people I’ve met and the people whom I’ve lost contact with. It makes me look ahead to the new year and evaluate my present relationships, contemplating who is “A Reason, Season Or A Lifetime.”

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

- Author Unknown

There’s lots of eating, laughing and baking. I actually tend to learn a couple things every year too. For example, I learned how to making icing from scratch and that wax paper shouldn’t go in the oven… (whoops!)

This year my best friend Andrea and her daughter Hayli came too! Andrea learned a couple things at Christmas Cookie Day too, like how much sugar cookie dough can really spread when it’s baking… notice the gigantic weirdly shaped cookie on the left. haha

It’s a messy and fun day! It’s been a tradition for years, and I’m sure we’ll carry it on for many years to come. Does your family do similar type of holiday traditions?