Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

BruCrew Top Ten

Hello, hello!!! So I would say that it was because I was so incredibly busy this summer, so that's why Top Ten took a break for a while. Yeah, let's go with that and not the fact that I'm lazy and just didn't do it. LOL! Perks of being your own boss...you get to make the rules. Gotta love that! Anyway, I'm back today to share a few of my favorites from the past 2 months.

1. Last month my hubby and I went with a few other couples/friends on our church staff retreat. It was a nice time to just get away and relax and get to know each other more. We spent the few days praying for our church family, biking, eating, and exploring Lake Geneva.

One of the days we biked into town, then Jeremy and I decided to find a few bakeries. Bike and dessert crawl...does biking to 2 different bakeries count as a crawl? We actually found another one, but it was closed on that particular day. Not that I really needed more dessert after downing half of the chocolate pie and lemon tart and then most of the coconut cream. Jeremy is the dessert light weight in our family...I have to help him out most days in this area. It's rough but that's another job I excel at 🙂

2. The BruCrew does a White Sox game. My mother in law gets tickets through her work for these crazy awesome up close seats to a few White Sox games a year. This year the boys and I were able to join them for one of the games. It is always fun to eat game food and hang out with family. Too bad the White Sox had probably one of the worst games ever. Most people left in the 7th inning because they were losing so bad...we listened to the score after we got home. 16-0! Yup, glad we left early too.

3. First day Back to School photos are a must. Our kids thought they were getting out of it this year because it was rainy that morning. But by the time we left it was just misting. Most days I do not like the giant tree in our front yard (it blocks my light in our windows...food photographer problems), but today it shielded the camera from the mist. Lucky for the kids it was one of the fastest back to school picture taking sessions. Maybe one of these years I'll just take them the weekend before. Ya know, like a dry run for the first day of school.

4. Do your kids pack their lunch boxes for school? Produce for Kids has a new Power Your Lunchbox Pledge that parents can sign up for. There are lots of lunch box ideas, coupons, and tips on how to pack a healthier lunch.

5. I sure hope my "little" girl will always like dressing like her mama. The other day she wore a t-shirt and scarf to go run errands with me, and I realized how long it had been since I had pulled out a scarf too. I pulled out a t-shirt and scarf that day too. Good thing she is so good natured...she is a good sport for letting me copy her clothing for the day. Hopefully that never changes!!!

6. This summer I became a legal driver again. Yes, I was driving illegally for oh, about a 1 ½ years. If you let your license expire for over 6 months, you need to retake the written test. I stressed out about that one for a good week before I sucked it up and went and took it. I'm not sure how many I actually missed because I was so excited when the lady told me I passed. And yes, I did stop outside the BMV for funny pictures. If you follow my Instagram, you probably already saw the jumping picture 🙂

7. This summer I had a chance to try Oatworks smoothies. These fruit smoothies are packed with 100% fruit juice and the power of two bowls of oatmeal. The added fiber keeps you full longer and helps you be energized to get your day started...or to restart your day if you drink one later. I really liked having one of these as a start to my day. They were smooth and delicious! The oats are blended into the fruit juice so well. You would never know there is oatmeal in the drink. Smooth and creamy and perfect for grabbing on the go for any busy school morning!

I love checking out the fun things that my fellow bloggers are making. Here a few that I found on pinterest that look amazing!!!

8. A giant cookie loaded with peanut butter and chocolate...I am definitely drooling over this Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake from Baker by Nature.

9. I have a thing for fudge, so when I saw this S'mores Fudge from Spoonful of Flavor, it was calling my name. Those gooey toasted marshmallows look so good!!!

10. Healthy bites of cookie dough...I'll take about 15 of these Monster Cookie Dough Energy Bites from Life Made Simple

Have a wonderful day and make sure you take time to relax this coming weekend. Our craziness starts today with soccer games every day until Sunday. Go team BruCrew!!!! We are looking forward to a quiet day of rest on Sunday afternoon.

Salted Caramel Brownie Brittle Muddy Buddies

Want an easy no bake treat to munch on this week? This Salted Caramel Brownie Brittle Muddy Buddies is perfect for school lunches, after school snacking, or that occasional midnight snacking fest.

Crushed Salted Caramel Brownie Brittle coats this chocolate covered Chex cereal. This snack mix is so good, so make extra!!!!

Earlier this year I had a chance to try a sample of Brownie Brittle. Let's just say that little bag of goodness did not last long enough in my hands. My kids were climbing all over me trying to get the last piece. Our family was definitely a fan from that very first bag.

This past May I attended the BlogHer Food conference in May where one of the vendors was Brownie Brittle. I kept making my way around the vendor floor to snag more bags of the crispy brownie wafers. My logic was that I was making sure I had enough samples to take home for each of my children. I'm such a giver you know.

In reality, it was for my own snacking pleasure because a few of those sample bags may have disappeared on the flight home.

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Oreo Pumpkin Gooey Bars

Fall is almost here! Time to get ready for all things pumpkin. These Oreo Pumpkin Gooey Bars are a delicious and great way to jump into the pumpkin baking season.

Yesterday morning we got up early to go to the gym, and it was 57 degrees out!

People, it is still August!!! It isn't supposed to be that chilly around here yet!

I have decided that it must be mother nature's way of telling me that it is time to pull out the pumpkin. Woo hoo! I am all over that. Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. Cooler temps, changing leaves, bonfires...and PUMPKIN!!!

Every year I go a little bit crazy with the pumpkin baking. Who else remembers the Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake from a few years ago? They are one of my all time favorites. [Read more...]

I Am Second

I am second...and liking it.

It's so easy to have God as #1 on a Sunday, but Monday comes and guess who takes over that position? I jump in and say my life is numero uno.

We all have things going on in our life. Family, health, and job issues plague us every single day. If we let those take over our thought process, God gets pushed out of the way.

God loves each and every one of us with a fierce love. He wants the best for us, and He is able to do anything for us. His only request is for us to put Him as the first thing in our lives.

Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of Heaven. His love endures forever.

Do you know how hard that is?

I don't know about you, but I have control issues. I want to keep my hands in everything. My head knows the phrase "let go and let God", but my heart doesn't always follow. My kids, my husband, my finances, my job...all these things I try to control by my actions. One way I have been convicted of this in the past few months has been with this blog. A year and a half ago my husband left a great paying job to become a full time pastor at our church. Scary? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Fearful? Yes. Challenged? Yes. In my heart I knew I could turn my hobby blog into something more substantial to help out with our finances. So over the past 1 and a ½ years I have put my heart and soul into this "job". And I absolutely love it!!!!

There have been so many awesome opportunities, and God has blessed our family in so many ways.

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

The problem...

I have slowly pushed God into that second place. Somedays He was even in fifth place.

Oh, it didn't start out that way. I mean to take a step of faith like leaving a good paying job to go into ministry requires a lot of faith and trust in our God. A faith in our loving God that He will provide.

I didn't ever doubt that! But...slowly in a year's time I started to rely on myself to earn and get those job opportunities. And those jobs did keep coming. But I wasn't happy.

One thing I realized is that I needed to take a step back in blog areas.

One of my biggest traffic days as a blogger is Sunday. I have always tried to capitalize on that by posting a new recipe Sunday mornings. My goal was to have this post written by Saturday night, but that goal slowly evaporated. I am perpetually late to everything, so come Sunday morning I was still trying to finish writing a blog post and trying to get ready for church.

Talk about a conflict of interest!!!!

My heart attitude was wrong, and the focus had become all about me and what I could do. I wasn't focused on worship or listening to the Word those days. All my mind was consumed with was making sure things were shared, so I could see a good page view day.

It was a very good day when I realized I needed to put God back on that throne of #1. I knew God was speaking to my heart about NOT posting on Sundays. So, I changed up my posting schedule. For the past few months Saturday has been my new recipe day. No, it isn't as good as posting on a Sunday, but I know that I obeyed the tug in my heart to change things. I believe that God will honor that. It might not be how I would choose, but you know what, I'm ok with that.

If you get my email newsletter, it does come out a day late, so hopefully everyone looks at the date and realizes it isn't a Sunday post. I know it isn't something that anyone probably even noticed, but for some reason I felt that familiar tug to share my thought process with you.

Giving God back control has been a game changer for me. I feel happier! I know God is able to fulfill my heart desires to provide for my family. So traffic, shmaffic!!! I can honestly say I don't care if it tanks over a Sunday because there is no new recipe. I Am Second!!!! And putting God as #1 in my heart and life is how I want to live.

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Allowing God to work in our lives can be scary. But He is able, and He won't fail. Sometimes it isn't how we would do it or how we think it should look, but when we let go, God can do amazing things with us. Serving God with your whole heart, mind, and soul will bring peace and joy. Just remember to lean on Him during those times of weakness and ask for His guidance and forgiveness when we mess up.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him.

Veggie Supreme Pasta Bake

This Veggie Supreme Pasta Bake is easy to make and loaded with cheese and veggies. An easy dinner recipe for busy nights gets two thumbs up every time.

I don't know about your school year, but ours is always extremely busy the first month and a half. Our two boys are playing soccer, and our daughter is playing volleyball and learning tap dance.

Talk about a crazy schedule trying to juggle all those practices and games with our work and life schedule. I'm still trying to figure out where homework is going to fit in.

Even with the craziness of the sports schedule, we still try to sit down for dinner as a family as much as possible. That family time is very important to us.

Obviously, there are going to be some nights where we just grab something quick like these Buffalo Chicken Wraps or Raspberry Chipotle Turkey Thins as we drop off the school bags and head back out the door for a game.

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Oreo Banana Split Ice Box Cake

Layers of Chocolate and Berry Oreos and a no bake banana cheesecake makes this Oreo Banana Split Ice Box Cake an impressive dessert to cut in to.

So, a couple weeks ago I bombarded you with lots of Banana Split treats like this Banana Split Popcorn and this Banana Split Bundt Cake.

You would think that after a week of Banana Split everything, I would want to take a break from that flavor combo for a while. But no, I had one more fun dessert swirling in my head that I couldn't wait to make.

I had one pack of the Berry Oreos and the Chocolate Oreos that I managed to keep hidden from the cookie monster that lives with us. This cookie monster just looks like a normal hungry teen boy...but I'm on to him. [Read more...]

Spicy Chicken Panini

This Spicy Chicken Panini recipe is a great dinner or lunch idea when you are running short on time. The gourmet sandwich can be made using leftovers from a previous dinner.

A few months ago we bought a panini press. Now sometimes when we buy an appliance or item, the novelty of it wears off with in a month or so, and then we wonder why we ever needed it.

We used the Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler to make this Cheesy Beef Panini, and a few other sandwiches in the first week. And I am happy to report the sandwich maker is still going strong. Our oldest son loves using this little machine. I love that the plates can come off and are easily washed. It's a win win for everyone.

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Blackberry Diet Dr. Pepper

Blackberry Diet Dr. Pepper: Adding blackberry syrup to your favorite drink is refreshing on a hot summer day.

Diet Dr. Pepper has been my favorite drink for the longest time. Yes, I know the diet part of any drink isn't the healthiest for you, but I have made my peace with it.

This particular drink was all I drank while I was pregnant with our youngest. Who knows if that is why he ended up the smallest baby I had. All I know is that I craved Diet Dr. Pepper the entire pregnancy.

And I haven't stopped drinking it. 11 years later it is my choice of pop. I even used it in these Cherry Dr. Pepper Jello Squares earlier this year. What else can I make with it???

Ok, quick question...do you call it pop or soda??? I grew up calling it soda in the East, then I moved to the Midwest and became a pop convert. [Read more...]

Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes

Hiding an Oreo cookie inside a cupcake is a fun way to surprise everyone when you serve cupcakes for dessert. These Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes have plenty of peanut butter and chocolate to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.

Usually I am totally a box mix kind of girl when it comes to cupcakes, but lately I have been playing around with some homemade versions in my kitchen. It all started with these Vanilla Cherry Pie Cupcakes, and now I am slightly hooked on trying to come up with some new versions based on that recipe.

Now for all you fans of boxed cake mixes...do not worry!!! I have not given up on my favorite box mixes. There will be plenty of cupcake and cookie love from those boxes around here. I have not completely gone all homemade on you. Believe me, I still believe in the art of semi-homemade baking. [Read more...]

Frosted Animal Cookie Muddy Buddies

Frosted Animal Cookie Muddy Buddies: White chocolate covered Chex cereal coated in crushed animal cookie crumbs and lots of sprinkles. You might want to make a double batch of this. One for you and one for everyone else.

Crushed animal cookies and chocolate coat this easy muddy buddies snack mix. It will disappear in a hurry!

So, I found out a piece of interesting information. If you let your driver's license expire more than 6 months, they make you take a written test again.

How do I know this? Well...let's just say mine has been expired for a while. And by a while, I really mean more than a year. Now before you give me grief, I honestly didn't know it was expired for about a year. I know, I know. I should keep up on these things more. But in my defense I haven't been stopped for any driving offenses, so I'm thinking this is good track record.

Now the last few months...yeah, I might have known, but I didn't do any thing . But last week we bought a new (to us) vehicle. The guys in the auto dealer might have given me a hard time about it. Plus, with our loan I now have to get it updated.

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