3 MORE DAYS!

As we get ready to leave Illinois and head back to Houston for a 34 hour layover the reality of us leaving is setting in. So much time and prayer has gone into this outreach and even though we have not hit 100% funding we are believing God for the remainder of our support. Everything on this Earth belongs to Him and His glory! These last few days in Illinois have been filled with meeting old friends and enjoying family. Please join us in praying for the last few people to sign up that said they wanted to be on our support team. If everyone that said they wanted to join us in this journey financially signed up, we would be at 95%. We are so blessed by everyones prayers and support up to now and pray that God blesses you in return. We love you all and will post again soon!

In God's Will,

Ryan, Britt, and Micah

Yummy Salad

I love the Cheesecake Factory. Thye have one of my favorite salad's. It has asparagus, beets, goat cheese, and candied pecans. I always add grilled chicken. We made our version at home.

Micah 6 Months Pictures

My Best Friend Christine too these wonderful pictures of our family!

Me and my little man!

Christine did an amazing job! She captured the love between Ryan and I and the playfulness of our little boy! These are such wonderful memories!

In the Mood For a Bargain

Ryan and I were driving home one afternoon and saw this dresser on the side of the road.

I knew I could do something with this FREE dresser! With paint I already had and less than $10 later....Here is our new dresser!!!

Side view!

Middle Eastern Chicken and Couscous

My newest recipe is by Rachael Ray. Ryan loves sweet and savory meals. When I saw this on tv I knew Ryan would love it. This picture is from the food network. Click on the "Rachael Ray meal" and it will take you to the recipe.

I used golden raisins and apricots and opted not to use the olives. It was an easy and comforting meal.

Love Spring, Hate Allergies!

The past 2 weeks my allergies have wiped me out. I had an earache Sunday night and still have fluid in my ears. Did you know a couple of drops of olive oil dropped in your ear will take away earaches. I had Ryan drop it in and within an hour the pain was completely gone! Other than awful allergies I am loving spring and ready for change in so many areas of my life!!!

I have been cooking, I keep forgetting to take pictures to share with you.

But I do have to share Micah's newest picture. He is already 7 months.

Oh and have to share this one....we have a coffee lover on our hands!!

The cup was empty, Micah grabbed it while daddy was walking through the kitchen.

Can't wait to take my little man on a mommy and me date and he can get a hot cocoa.

Asparagus

Asparagus is one of my favorite veggies. This recipe is a must try! Super Easy too!!!

Simply throw the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Set your oven on broil, check them after a few minutes and toss them around to make sure they are cooking on all sides. By broiling them they are a little crispy but tender.

Small Group

We got a new computer! I have not been able to post anything due to computer problems, so I will have to catch you all up. We have a wonderful group of friends that meet every Thursday night for small group. A couple of weeks ago we had an intimate time of Prayer and Worship. I made some yummy cupcakes!

This is an easy recipe. The cupcakes are made from a boxed cake mix, the frosting is homemade whipped cream with 2 Cups heavy whipping cream and 2 Tbs sugar. Then topped them with strawberries.

I pray everyone has a Great week!!! I am enjoying Spring Break with my wonderful Husband!

International Week at The Toliver's

Hope everyone is enjoying their week! This past week I felt a bit adventurous and thought I would try some of Ryan's favorite foods. The first recipe is Chicken Bryani, which is Ryan's favorite Indian dish.

I cut up chicken, bell peppers and added frozen pea's. The Briyani paste made the dish very spicy.

The chicken mixture was atop Basmati Rice, which is an Indian rice. It is skinnier and longer than regular white rice.

The meal is topped off with raita a cucumber yogurt sauce. The following night I made Beef Currry. I slow cooked cubed beef in yogurt, tomato sauce and beef broth.

I made an authentic Indian bread called naan. These dishes may be a little out there for many of you, but if you have not tried Indian food I recommend trying it at least one time. You may be surprised ;-)!

Tomato Soup

The weather has been a little chilly still, so I thought a yummy tomato soup would be a healthy comfort food for dinner. I started out by sauteing onions, garlic and carrots in oliver oil.

Then added 2 cups chicken broth, 1 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes and a bay leaf. I let that simmer for about 30 minutes and finished it off in the blender.

Healthy Tidbit:Tomatoes contain lycopene. This carotenoid that is found in tomatoes (and everything made from them) has been extensively studied for its antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties.

The soup is topped with a dollop of creme frache. (Which was inspired by my sweet cousin Karis) For those of you have never tried creme fraiche, it is has a similar taste to sour cream with a rich buttery flavor. It added a creamy fresh flavor to an otherwise average bowl of soup.

Vegetable Market

Hello Everyone, hope you are having a wonderful week. I sure am! Yesterday Micah and I visited a nearby organic vegetable market. It had a wide variety of fruits and veggies.

I have been making Micah's baby food. So I stocked up to start freezing lots of pureed fruits and veggies.

I boiled pears and apples whole. Then pealed, cored and pureed them with a little water.I poured them into ice treys to freeze into individual meals. I baked a butternut squash to puree. And simply pureed 3 mangoes.

It is a joy to know that I am providing the best food possible for Micah.

Valentine's Day

Ryan and I had a wonderful Valentine's weekend. Friday night we went downtown to a great Steak house. Then Saturday night we

had dinner in. I made a healthy vegetarian pasta.

My sweet husband brought me flowers and we enjoyed a glass of one of our

favorite wines. 14 Hands Cabernet.

Ryan and I met 3 years ago this Valentine's. What a wonderful journey this has been.

Chocolate Hazelnut Creme Cake

For this weeks recipe, I made a delicious cake by Giada from the Food network. I saw her making it on her show and just had to make it! She had orange zest on the top, I did not. I don't like orange and chocolate together.

The frosting was soooo good!! It is made with marscapone; I think I liked it so much because it resembled cheesecake.

Instead of the orange zest I used mini chocolate chips.

Micah's First Visit to The Beach

We took Papa and Micah to Galveston. Check out how handsome our little man is! It was a bit chilly, but we had a wonderful time!

"Fish Fry" Without the Fry

My Father in law was visiting for the week, Rich is a wonderful cook! One night we had Orange Roughy and Salmon.

The Salmon had fresh basil and lemon on it was cooked on the grill.

I pan seared the Orange Roughy using my favorite marinade. This marinade is also super yummy on grilled chicken and as a salad dressing. All it is is Olive Oil, Vinegar, and Dijon Mustard. I topped the fish with fresh parmesan and toasted hazelnuts. Yum!!

Micah Turned 5 Months!!

He is growing so fast. He is rolling from his back onto his tummy, then he cries because he can't figure out how to roll back over. He sticks everything in his mouth. Such a cutee!!!
Ryan and I had a date night in.

I made homeade pizza, made with all organic ingredients.

We finished the night with a movie and Caramel Lattes. The beautiful flowers in the background were a surprise from my sweet husband on Friday.

Breakfast For Dinner

This French Toast recipe is inspired by my monthly breakfast get togethers with the girls. We go to a quaint Cafe that has the best French Toast. Who knew that adding lemon zest to the egg batter would get "This is the best French Toast I have ever had" from Ryan. Ryan has already asked for me to make them again!!

I used Texas size bread ( Brioche would probably be even better) and put lemon zest from one lemon and a little vanilla extract in the egg batter.

Had to share this silly picture of Daddy and Micah. Micah loves bananas

Beautiful Weekend

The weather was great over this weekend, sunny with the temp in the mid 70's. We took a Sunday afternoon walk to soak in the sun.

Micah was tuckered out after our walk through Market Street. He got compliments on his cool shades. Such a sweet boy.
Last night I tried a new recipe out of the Food and Wine Magazine. Brussels Sprouts and Smoky Onions on Cheddar toast. I have never made Brussels sprout before. They were seasoned with Paprika and had a wonderful flavor. I will make this again and omit the cheddar toast.

We also had shrimp cocktail with our meal. It was yummy, healthy, and quick.

I will also be sharing some of recipes I use when hosting gathering at our house. Hope you enjoy!

Goals are being accomplished

This has been a really good week. Ryan and I met with a Bed and Breakfast owner last Saturday. She took us around her property and told us the ins and outs of being an Inn keeper. Mary was such a warm and welcoming Hostess. I had put together a mock website for her to show her what an updated website would look like. She really liked it but was unfortunatley in the process of having a new website put together. I did get a couple of ideas from her on bringing in business with the wed design. I can either let this discourage me to stop or keep plugging away. The thought that keeps coming to my mind is just quit because it won't amount to anything any ways. Sounds just like the words of the enemy, huh?! I am determined to follow this through to the end. God has promised that what I put my hand to will prosper and that he has plans to prosper me and give me a hope...so I will keep moving forward!!!
This weeks new recipe was chilled asparagus soup with crumbled goat cheese. Ryan really liked it. I thought it was so so, but Ryan said it was a keeper. Working out has been okay this week. I ran 3 miles on sunday and have taken Micah on several walks with the beautiful weather. I will start putting pictures up so that this will be a little more interesting!!!

New Year's Resolutions

A new year and a new decade lies ahead. I always prayerfully make goals for each up coming year and this year is no exception. My husband said to me this is a year of "Just do it" and I have to agree, this a must to work hard to make the dreams in our heart happen. While in Bible School I had big dreams of changing the world for God and leaving a legacy behind and so far I look back and have not seen this grand goal come to pass. I have tried many things, have had many successes and even more failures as I look through my own understanding. I have thought about doing many things that I thought I might be good at, but have never fully stepped because of a fear of failure.
As I look at the many friends around me who are in the midst of accomplishing their dreams, I am realizing the hard work it took for them to get there. I guess I had the notion that doing what you loved wouldn't take hard work to get there and that you would love every aspect of what you did. I was very wrong.
So I as I look to this new year I have made a commitment to myself to finish my goals to completion because I know that they will get me closer to my "Big Dreams". I know it will take hard work, late nights, maybe a little failure but a lot of success! I want to be like the servant Jesus spoke about that used his talents wisely. I commit to no longer allow fear or even laziness keep me in the same old place.
I am posting my goals so that this will be a way of keeping myself accountable to finish these goals. I want to keep an account of how I am doing with accomplishing the goals I feel God has placed in my heart.
Being a new mom I want to get back into shape and know that I determine the health of my family by my grocery shopping and cooking. I am also learning about web design and graphics. So here are my goals:
-Try a new Recipe each week
Last weeks recipe was Beef Bourguignon ( A recipe by Julia Childs)
This week I will be making a Roasted Red Pepper and Ricotta Pizza
-Learn about Graphic Design and Web design
I will be going to Christine's house once a week to learn
Taking a web design class at the college
-Work out 2-3 times a week
With Micah nursing I am having to monitor the amount of calories I am losing.
-Finding outlets through out the week for me to just be me
A women's bible study
Simply going to Starbucks and looking at magazines or reading a book.
-Most of all my relationship with God
Continue growing closer to my Lord

This is going to be an awesome year for us all!!! Let's trust God to be Huge in our lives!!!