Potato Soup

If you don't already have a New Year's resolution, it should be to use your crockpot more. It will make your life so much easier : )
We used to eat this potato soup every Christmas Eve! It makes quite a bit
Potato Soup
1 lb sausage cooked with onion (I used ground venison)
1 2lbs Southern Style Hash Browns
1 can Cream of Celery
1 can Cream of Chicken
2 cups milk
2 cups water
lots of Velveeta (I use about a lb or so)
*I also added a little salt, pepper and few other spices.
*I always spray my crock pot with cooking spray before putting anything in it to avoid anything from sticking. You can also buy liners that are disposable.
*Place all ingredients in the crockpot and stir.
*If you are making this before work, do not include the velveeta. You can add the velveeta when you get home (so the velveeta doesn't over cook and stick to your crockpot).

We had this soup with these hot ham sandwiches the other day and it was a great meal for a cold, rainy day!

Bowling

So proud of my Baylor Bears for making it a bowl game for the first time in 16 years! I was 10 the last time they were in a bowl game!! The Texas Bowl was yesterday at Reliant!
Kelly and Beth came in! Woohoo!

Although the game didn't turn out well for the bears, we're still proud of them for making it to the bowl game! Maybe next year we'll win our bowl game : )


The game was over early, so we came back to watch FRIENDS, play bananagrams and talk. LOVE these girls : ) We might have also started playing with the bananagram tiles when the game was over..




Enjoy your last day of 2010. Thanks and Sic 'em!

3 years ago...

3 years ago today I became Mrs. Sage!! What a wonderful day!! I am so lucky to have found the man God had set aside for me when were so young and to have grown with him as we were in college, preparing us for marriage. I am beyond thankful for him!!

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony (aside from "I now pronounce you husband and wife") was the fact that my sweet uncle performed the ceremony and had asked us questions about why we love each other:

"Cody, she says that she fell in love with you when she first saw your heart. Now there are many small things that make her love you, from the way you hold her hand, to how you attempt to teach her every sport imaginable. She loves driving with you because then you're trapped in the car with her for hours. She loves being goofy with you. She loves that you not only tolerate her weirdness but you embrace it. She says that when you call she smiles just at the sound of your voice. She loves how you carry her suitcase no matter how much she over packs. She loves that you are patient with her, know how to comfort her, that you laugh at her jokes and that you believe in her. She loves know that for the rest of her life you will be with her and hse knows that no matter what happens in life and no matter what circumstances will come your way, your love for each other will overcome."

"Sarah Beth, he says he loves you because you understand him. You make him confident, yet keep him realistic. He loves that you can be completely honest with each other. He likes that you let him teach you things and that you actually listen to him. He loves your smile. He loves that you sacrificed your summer just to be with him to be able to see him. He likes going to church with you and growing in your faith together. He says he wants to marry you because he wants to see you everyday. He wants to support you, to be there for you, to celebrate with you and cry with you. He looks forward to growing in your relationship with each other and your relationship with God"

A glimpse into our Christmas...

Christmas Eve =
Brown Family Christmas




Christmas Eve Service
Whole Sage family Christmas
Christmas Eve Party @ the Redd's house

Christmas Day=
Sage Family Christmas
Childs Family Christmas

Meyerdierk Family Christmas
Movie time with the fam
Catching up with two of my favorite friends!!

Just call me Betty Crocker....

Here are my favorite new kitchen gadgets that I got for Christmas:
1.Pampered Chef Cutlery Food Chopper
Say goodbye to spending too much time chopping!! I used this today for onions and it was amazing!!

2. Cutco Garlic Press
I have no words to describe how much I love my garlic press : ) Again, no more chopping!!

3. The Original Dish Drying Mat
Protect those counter tops and contain the water when you take the clean dishes out of the sink.

4. A knife sharpener
I used our knives enough this year to the point that they needed to be sharpened!

5. A new spoon
After the top of my favorite spoon repeatedly fell off, Cody suggested that I might be in need of a new spoon....

What did you get for Christmas?

DIY Food Gifts

So this may be after the fact, but just in case you still need to make some gifts...
I bought a pack of 1 qt canning jars and used these mixing recipes to create a few gifts

Chocolate Chunk Hot Cocoa Mix
from REAL SIMPLE™
Makes 4 1/2 cups
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
Directions
*In a bowl, combine the cocoa, sugar, and chocolate. Store in an airtight container.
*Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 months.
*Include these instructions with your gift: "In a small saucepan, whisk 1/4 cup cocoa mix with 3/4 cup milk. Bring to a bare simmer. Serves 1."

Rocky Road Brownie Mix
From HEB
Ingredients
1 package (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten (include in the ingredient list not in gift)
1 1/2 c. biscuit mix
2 c. Hill Country Fare miniature marshmallows
3/4 c. chopped nuts
How to Prepare
* Carefully layer sugar, biscuit mix, nuts, chocolate chips and marshmallows into jar, using a funnel.
* Include the following instructions with your gift.
o Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
o Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power for 2 1/2 minutes; set aside.
o In a medium-size bowl, combine sugar, eggs, 1/4 cup water and dry mix; stir to combine. Gently stir in melted chocolate.
o Spread mixture evenly into prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool and cut into 36 brownies.

“I love You” Soup in a Jar
from Cozy Country Christmas
Ingredients
½ c. dried split peas
1/3 c. beef bouillon granules
1/4 c. pearled barley
½ c. dried lentils
¼ c. dried, minced onion
2 t. salad dressing mix
½ c. long-cooking rice, uncooked
2 to 3 bay leaves
½ c. macaroni uncooked
In a 1 ½ pint, wide-mouth jar, layer all ingredients except macaroni. Place macaroni in a decorative bag; attach to jar along with instructions. *Since I was using 1 qt jars, I placed the macaroni in a baggie and then placed it inside the jar.
Instructions:
Detach macaroni from jar and set aside. Brown one pound of ground beef over medium heat in a large soup pot; drain. Add two, 14 ½ ounce cans diced tomatoes, 6-ounce can tomato paste, 12 cups water and soup mix. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes to one hour. Stir in macaroni; cover and simmer or additional 15 minutes until macaroni is tender. Discard bay leaves. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Remember the Reason

Lest we all get caught up in the gifts, family traditions and stress of the holidays, here's a reminder of the real reason that we should celebrate, not only during December, but all year long. We serve a risen Savior, whose own father sent Him to earth knowing what He would have to do to save us from our sins. Don't forget to celebrate today the King who came down to earth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross to save us (who are so undeserving) from or sins! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Luke 1:26-35
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discernwhat sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have fond favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the Angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called "holy- the Son of God."

Luke 2:1-8
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city o David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

'Tis the season to get cavities

I love baking and what a perfect time of year to bake!!
The other day I made Linzer cookies (like the heart shaped cookies from La Madeline). They are almost more of a bisuity cookie but the jam gives them just enough sweetness. Also, when spreading the jelly, you need to use my mom vs. dad rule. When I was little I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (let's just be honest and let me share that I still take them for lunch sometimes). I could always tell the difference between when my mom and dad made my sandwiches. If my mom made the sandwich, it had jelly but not too much. When my dad made my sandwiches, he would put a lot of jelly on them (which as a child, I LOVED). Well on these cookies, you need to spread the jelly like mom or it'll come heaping out of the side. That being said, here is the recipe:
Linzer Cookies
from Ina Garten

Ingredients
* 3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cups flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup good raspberry preserves
* Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
*In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
*Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart or spade shaped cutter. Place all the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.
*Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners' sugar on the top.

Sugar cookies with cream cheese

*Make sure to note that the dough needs at least 8 hours in the fridge before rolling it out.
Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
4. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.
Icing
It’s kind of a guessing game to get the consistency just right.
I started with approximately 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 package cream cheese (at room temperature), 1 tsp vanilla and a few tablespoons of milk in my mixer. Let it mix until its smooth. If it’s too liquidy, add more powdered sugar. If it’s not smooth enough, add a little more milk.
I then divided it out into two separate bowls and added food coloring to get the desired color.

Red Velvet Cake Balls
From Bakerella
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper
Directions
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting.
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (I dropped them onto the wax paper using a spoon and waited until pulling them out of the freezer to roll them into balls.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm.

Tis the season to be jolly

Christmastime = no school = lots of time to celebrate! (*Warning...LOTS of pictures in this post!)
Austin with the besties!!

Enjoying brunch at Counter Cafe. Its teeny inside but the pancakes and breakfast sandwich were great!

Shopping on South Congress

Crepes @ Crepes Mille


Pizza at Homeslice
Coffee at Domincan Joe
A walk around Town Lake

A fun Girlie Dinner!

Baking


Birthday dinner at Russo's!!

Falalalalalalalala

LOVING Christmastime!!!
Our halls are decked

Our upstairs manly tree with reeds, feathers, and pine cones

We're feeling jolly
Wednesday was the kinder Christmas party

2010-2011 K team

Thursday we went to our church's Christmas celebration!
Saturday we went to the Dave Barnes Christmas concert! Love him!

We've jingled all the way:
Abby and I ran the 5 mile Jingle Bell fun run on Sunday afternoon

Ellie the reindeer

And in exactly 3 school days, I will be enjoying a Silent Night! : )