Show Us Your Life-Best Grilling Recipes

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life today and it's all about grill recipes this time. I have to say it has just been to darn hot in the south to grill. We do alot more grilling in the fall and spring than in the summer. Neither one of us want to stand outside and make dinner when it's this hot.

I do love to grill though. I love how the food tastes. It's just so yummy. Here is one of my favorite burger recipes that I make with turkey. If you've read my blog for long you know that I am a huge fan of organic meats. If I make any beef at home, I make sure it's grass fed, organic beef with no hormones or antibiotics. In this burger however, I use turkey because it's leaner and it makes the burgers so moist. So without further adieu....

Five Spice Turkey Cheeseburger

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon diced white onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey
4 slices Gouda cheese
4 onion rolls, halved
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves (optional)
4 pineapple rings

Directions
1.Whisk together the bread crumbs, egg white, onion, soy sauce, minced ginger, five-spice powder, ground ginger, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix in turkey until just combined. Shape turkey mixture into four patties.
2.Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3.Cook on the preheated grill until the patties are no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes per side for well done. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Place a slice of gouda cheese on each patty; continue grilling until cheese has melted, about 1 minute. While the turkey patties are cooking, place the pineapple rings on the grill until softened, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
4.Assemble the burgers by placing a turkey patty on half of an onion roll, then top with the grilled pineapple. Divide the spinach leaves evenly among the burgers, then top with the other half of the onion roll.

Happy Grilling!

Pregnancy Update-Week 13

I am so thrilled to finally be in my 2nd trimester. Thank you Jesus! I am praying that the migraines that have been plaguing me will finally go away. Last night I resorted to a Coke, which I never drink, just to see if that would help. Sure enough, it did.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 13 Weeks
Total Weight Gain: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I actually had to get my maternity jeans out of storage already. Crazy how early I popped with my fourth.
Best Moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat
Gender: Hoping to find out August 5th
Movement: None yet
Food Craving: Mexican Food and Pink Snowballs (strange I know)
What I miss: Being able to walk up the stairs and not be out of breath
Sleep: I'm already having to use the bathroom three times a night.
What I am looking forward to: Finding out the sex
Belly Button: In and will probably stay that way. It never popped out in my previous pregnancies, but I guess there is a first for everything.
Stretch Marks: I have them on my hips, but never got them on my belly. Hope it stays that way. Symptoms: Migraines, YUCK!

Tuesday's Tip-Chalk Ink

I stumbled across this product this past weekend and I thought it would make a great Tuesday's Tip. It's called Chalk Ink and it's fabulous. It's what Starbucks and other coffee houses and sandwich shoppes have been using for years to get their menu boards looking so nice.

I love chalkboards. I'm not sure why I just do. However writing on them with chalk is another story. It's hard for me to get my handwriting to look nice on the board.

I decided to surf the web and see what I could find that would be more like a pen. I knew they existed, I just needed to find out where I could buy them. I was so excited when I found them, however I was not thrilled about the price. A four pack of Chalk Ink is $18.99 so I decided to check Michael's to see if they had them. Low and behold they did and their price was even better at $11.49. Now of course I didn't even pay that price.

I love coupons and I knew I could get them for half off. Did you know Michael's takes Jo-Ann and Hobby Lobby coupons? You bet they do. I had a 50% off coupon for Jo-Ann's so the markers cost me $6.50 including tax. Now that's a bargain.

They also have a pack of earth tones colors that are really pretty that I am going to get. They were out of them when I was there. The great thing about Chalk Ink is no matter how long it's been on a chalk board you can wipe it right off with a wet paper towel, but it won't smear if you touch it. It also writes on ceramic and glass and there is no chalk dust to deal with. How great is that? It's the little things that excite me these days.

I have a big chalk board that I love that's in our kitchen and I decided to write memory verses on it so the kids could learn a new one each week. I love it and it looks so much nicer in the Chalk Ink, even though my handwriting is not that great.

(This is not a great picture because I took it with my iPhone at night, but you get the idea).

Disclaimer: This is my opinion. I do not get paid to endorse any products that I suggest. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on t.v. I am just a mom who enjoys researching the ingredients in the products my family uses and the foods that we eat. Thank you.

Tomorrow

Last week I decided to let the girls watch "Annie". It was one of my favorite movies growing up. My sisters (I have 3) and I would watch it all the time. We would sing all the songs. I didn't know if the girls would even sit still to watch it, but I knew they loved music so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Holy cow, Batman. They loved it. They want to watch it everyday. It's so funny to watch them sing the songs and see if they get the words right. For the most part they do, but then there are times they insert their own words. Hilarious.

Wednesday night Brooklyn was at her nana and papa's for the night so we just had Sydney. We took her out to dinner and then came home and after her bath we watched Annie. She was singing her heart out, so Brian took his new iPhone and started to record her. Here is her first take.

She had just come out of the bath so her hair was wild and all over the place. I wish I would have pulled it back so you can see more of her face, but oh well. It's priceless.

Here is the one minute version of "Tomorrow" sung by Miss Sydney Kate.

I love that my girl loves to sing. She loves to make up her own songs. She loves to sing about Jesus which is the best. We have these DVD's from Cedarmont Kids that are great. If you don't have them you can get them from LifeWay. They are like 20 years old, but the kids love them. They are all the songs that I grew up singing and you get 3 DVD's for the price of 1. There is no sweeter sound then your children singing their lungs out for the Lord.

Wow!

Ok, I knew y'all would like my bro-in-law, I just didn't know how much. I love reading your comments. Thank you for posting them. I love the ones that posted for their friends. That made me laugh because that's so something I would have done. I think it's great.

Thank you again Kelly for hosting. What a great idea and so much fun. I sent Eddy an email to check out all the comments on my blog. If you left me your information, I am going to copy it all down and give a list to him. Don't be surprised if you get an email from him. He does leave for Haiti in a week so it might be after he gets back.

Thanks again for stopping by. Now it's my turn to check out all the links and see if I can find a guy for my sister who is single and an amazing catch. We'll see what happens. Have a great weekend.

Show Us Your Life-Single Boys

Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life and today it's single boys. This one was easy for me because I knew I wanted to introduce you to my brother-in-law, Eddy. Eddy is my husband's youngest brother and lives near us in Nashville. Around our house he's known as Uncle Eddy and the girls love him.

Eddy is 29 and a model. He's been in Kentucky all week shooting for Zappos.com. You can see him right here. A fun fact about Eddy is that he made it to the top 50 for the Bachlorette this season. He was flown out to LA to meet with producers of the show, but was told that his personality didn't mesh with Ali's so he didn't make the show. I don't watch the show so I don't have a clue, but Eddy is one fun loving guy so it's hard for me to believe. The producers love him so I think it's just a matter of time before he's on the show. We will see.

Most importantly, Eddy loves the Lord. He and Brian will be leaving to go to Haiti for a week to serve those that have been affected by the earthquake. I know it will be a life changing trip for both of them and can't wait to hear all about it.

Pregnancy Update

I decided to do a weekly update since I didn't have a blog when I was pregnant with the girls. I thought it would be a neat thing to do this time around so I can see my progress. I plan to post a photo this weekend. I just haven't had time to take one.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 Weeks
Total Weight Gain: 0 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I actually had to get my maternity jeans out of storage already. Crazy how early I popped with my fourth.
Best Moment this week: Getting to take a nap
Gender: Hoping to find out August 5th

Movement: None yet
Food Craving: Mexican Food and Pink Snowballs (strange I know)
What I miss: Being able to walk up the stairs and not be out of breath
Sleep: I'm already having to use the bathroom three times a night.
What I am looking forward to: Finding out the sex

Belly Button: In and will probably stay that way. It never popped out in my previous pregnancies, but I guess there is a first for everything.
Stretch Marks: I have them on my hips, but never got them on my belly. Hope it stays that way. Symptoms: Lower back pain and headaches. Had to get a prescription for the headaches.

Are You Listening?

I was driving in my car this morning after dropping off Sydney at summer school when an amazing song came on the radio. I had never heard it before but the title caught my attention. (I was listening to Sirius and the title and singer shows up on the screen.) It read, "Kirk Franklin Haiti Initiative", and it was titled, "Are you Listening" I knew I better get some kleenex.

Sure enough the first two lines of the song made me bawl. Now I know these days I am hormonal, but I think even if I wasn't pregnant it still would have hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe you have heard of it, maybe you haven't. I immediately came home and looked on YouTube to see if they had a video. Sure enough they did. Here it is.



My husband Brian and his brother Eddy leave for Haiti in 2 weeks. I am so proud of them for going and serving the Haitian people. I know it will be life changing for both of them.

It has been 6 months since the earthquake and it is no longer in the headlines as much as it was, but the people are still desperate for help. What can you do to help them? Maybe you can take some time to go over and serve? That may not be possible and I totally understand. Maybe you can get your kids involved and collect flip flops to send over to Haiti. Now that back to school stuff is in the stores flip flops will be going on sale. You can probably find them for $2 a pair. Kids are in desperate need of shoes from what we've been told by the people heading up my husband's trip. Can you imagine the destruction and if it was your child being forced to walk around bare footed among debris? I can't.

I leave you with one question today, "Are you listening?"

Show Us Your Life-Favorite Verse

Kelly from Kelly's Korner Blog is hosting Show Us Your Life. Today it's your favorite verse.

I've had a favorite verse since high school. I even had it printed on the back of my Letterman's jacket. I even used it when I was in Christian music and I would sign my name on CD's and pictures, I would put Phil 4:13 under my signature. My hope is that the person buying our CD would look up the verse and be encouraged.

Philippians 4:13 reads, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". I never knew how much I would need this verse until I became a mom. Funny how God knew that even when I was back in high school.

There are days when I think, I just can't do this. Especially now being pregnant and taking care of 2 little girls. I am just plain exhausted. Then I remember this verse. I love that it says, ALL things. Not some things, but ALL things through Christ. I can't rely on my own strength, but Christ to provide the strength that I need.

I hope this verse can encourage you in tough times. If you have a favorite verse, please leave it in my comments so I can look it up. Have a great weekend.

Ready, Set, Go

Today we had our neighborhood bike parade to celebrate the 4th of July. The girls love this holiday and so do I. The night before we went to Party City to get some decorations for their bikes. They had so much fun decorating and getting ready for the parade.

This year they added a race to it before the parade. That made it extra fun. Brooklyn is highly competitive so she tried with all her might to win. She came pretty close.


The fire dept was there and they lead the parade. It's so fun to see all the bikes and wagons decorated. The kids had a blast. It was already pretty hot at 9am, but they had drinks, Chickfila biscuits and popsicles to help with the heat.

The girls were wearing Old Navy tshirts we got for $5. The best part about it was for each shirt you bought, Old Navy donated a shirt to the troops. Pretty cool.We hope you all have a safe and happy 4th. We are so thankful for our Freedom and those that are serving and have served our country for that freedom. We can't thank you enough.