Easter Ham…

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 (8 pound) cured, bone-in picnic ham

DIRECTIONS

1. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar on the bottom of the slow cooker crock. Place the ham flat side down into the slow cooker – you might have to trim it a little to make it fit. Use your hands to rub the remaining brown sugar onto the ham. Cover, and cook on Low for 8 hours.

Enjoy!

I mentioned that we took Izzy Monday for botox and phenol injections. She is already appearing more relaxed and flexible. The phenol’s effects are immediate, the botox takes about two weeks to have full effects. The plan is that in two weeks we will go back to the physical therapist at the place we went for botox and begin serial casting on Izzy’s feet. Each week for four weeks they will remove and replace the casts to get her feet in the right position. I am not really looking forward to this four weeks for a few reasons… Izzy is already pretty heavy (about 45 pounds) and it will make everything a little harder having casts on. The main reason is I am not sure how she will handle this. They tried doing serial casting when we were in Dallas not long after her near drowning, she was still in the middle of the neurostorms and really freaked out. They had to remove them immediately because her heartrate went to 250 bpm. Anyway, I just pray that this works for her feet.

I took Izzy to the dentist today for her 10 day follow up on her dental procedures. She got a thumbs up A+. Everything looks really good, is healing perfectly. Praise God. One less thing now to think about.

We did therapy two times today. After the dentist trip and quick lunch with my buddy Melody (carryout from Panera-yum!), I came home and Jane (from church) came over to help with therapy. She usually comes on Wednesdays. Later Amanda then mom helped with the second session. It got pretty crazy around here while trying to cook dinner, realizing it was time for Bailey’s track to be finished, trying to do therapy… I need to clone myself so I can be in three places at once. I know we all have moments like this! Izzy did really well in assisted crawling today which was good because I wasn’t sure what the phenol and botox would do with her muscles and the crawling.

We… as a family… are continuing our nightly chain prayers. The kids really enjoy it and come to us to remind us in the evenings. Matt and I were laying down to go to sleep last night and were talking about the interesting things the kids pray for. Such sweet prayers going up. Speaking of prayers, I feel so blessed to know so many are raising Izzy and our family up in prayer now. It is very comforting and I know that God is guiding our steps.

“I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.” Psalm 34:1 NLT

I have been out and about all morning. I took Iz to school this morning, and then went to look for OU (Oklahoma University) fleece material. I had made a fleece blanket (you know, the type you make by cutting strips and tying it together?) Anyway, I have put that over Izzy in the past on cold days and they are having a fundraiser/carnival this weekend and Izzy’s class is doing a OU basket for the auction. I asked what they had gotten so far and they quickly asked if I could make an OU blanket like Izzy’s purple blanket. I luckily found the fleece this morning so that’s what I’ll be working on this afternoon. I’ll try to post a pic when I finish. I am not really into sports memorabilia, but some really are so hopefully this will help the basket raise more money for the dreamcatcher playground at the school. This playground is really a blessing, the swings are so cool and Izzy loves to swing on them. This is a pic of her swinging…

Anyway, it is Thursday… and that means time for more slow cooker recipes (which I love by the way). Better late than never. Head over to Sandra’s blog for more…

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pounds rump roast
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
• 6 French rolls
• 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
4. Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.

We will be at the hospital Thursday morning (I’m actually typing this Wednesday night) with Izzy to get her dental work done. We have to arrive at 6:30 a.m. and will probably spend most of the day there. After Izzy’s near drowning accident, she did what they call neurostorming… this was extremely high heart rates, clenched fists, gritted teeth, high muscle tone so much so that her liver stopped working properly like an athlete that over trains. She was fed through a tube in her tummy called a g-tube. This neurostorming was terrible, and it lasted for about eight weeks. After we came home from the hospital, it was our mission to get her to be able to eat by mouth. I started with yogurt and Popsicles. I remember the speech therapist saying that we had to be so careful that she did not aspirate. Her motor skills are the main target of her damage… which includes everything you can think of including swallowing. Izzy passed a swallow study and we were able to have the g-tube removed about six months after her accident. This was pretty miraculous in itself. Her teeth, however, were still pretty tightly clenched. I was feeding her pedisure with a thickening agent to assure adequate calories in the beginning and then would try rinsing and brushing after every meal. The problem was her mouth was so tight I couldn’t get her mouth rinsed well enough and the grinding during the neurostorms along with that caused her teeth to almost melt. The back teeth went first because I could get the front pretty rinsed. Now her mouth is much looser, we do a lot of oral exercises and I can rinse with clear water now and she doesn’t choke. I still brush her teeth about four times daily. It was just too late. So, she is having her two front teeth pulled along with her little bottom tooth (she lost one little bottom tooth last month) and the rest of her teeth will require baby root canals and crowns.

Pork Chop & Potato Dinner
What You
Need:
6 bone-in pork chops
1 T olive oil
1-30 oz. package frozen
hash browns, thawed
1.5 C shredded cheddar cheese
1-10 3/4 oz can condensed cream of celery soup (undiluted)
1/2 C milk
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1-2.8 oz can french-fried onions
What To Do:
Brown chops on both sides in a large skillet. Set aside and keep warm. Combine potatoes, 1 C cheese, soup, milk, sour cream, seasoned salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir in half the onions if using them. Place mixture in a greased 5-quart slow cooker. Place pork chops on top of potato mixture. Cook on high for 2.5 to 3 hours (until meat juices run clear). Sprinkle with remaining cheese and onions, if used. Cover and allow to cook for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

…I made the San Fransisco pork chops that were on my menu last night. I somehow forgot they were supposed to go in the crockpot so I scrambled to get it done… they did turn out really great and I imagine I will make them again (in the crockpot this time!) This recipe is on my menu for dinner tonight and I think it will be good. This will be the third time I have cooked with curry and the first two times I enjoyed the smells and flavors of this spice.

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

chicken
1 jar (16 oz.) Salsa
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. curry powder
1 cup Sour Cream
PLACE chicken in slow cooker. Combine salsa, onions and curry powder; pour over chicken. Cover with lid.
COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours).
REMOVE chicken to serving platter; cover to keep warm. Add sour cream to slow cooker; stir until well blended. Serve over the chicken. I’m serving mine with rice & veggies… maybe a salad too!

You can go to Sandra’s SAHM blog to sign up and then post your favorite slow cooker recipe, this has been so great ~ learning all these new and easy recipes! My next step is creating a notebook instead of keeping them all on my favorites.

Roast with gravy…

1 rump roast
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 onion sliced

Slice onions, lay in bottom of crock pot, put roast on top, cover with dry soup mix and then add canned soup. You can add mushrooms if you like them.

Cook all day on low and serve with potatoes or rice… makes delicious gravy.