bread | Living My Full Life

Giving a devotional on the book of Esther at my church. I loved it! I’m so glad my mom could come, too. She had to do some unexpected traveling that day for a family emergency, but made sure she saw me speak first. Thanks, mom! If anyone wants me to post about the actual devotional, I would love to.

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How hard working and talented my husband is. Kitchen renovations have been happening in the Zottola household!

Renovations

How wonderfully challenging it is to write and edit a book.

Book

How much I adore animals. Everything about them makes me so happy. I would love to have another dog. And a cat or two. I just need to convince Jimmy ;).

Pet sitting

How lovely freshly baked bread and cookies smell and taste.

Baking

That I can’t trust Lola as much as I’d like to. The little miss has been quite the escape artist lately! I was mowing the lawn on Saturday and she snuck out our back door (while Jimmy was working on our kitchen renovations) and blew past me. I ran after her and thankfully caught her. Jimmy carried her home and she looked so guilty. It was actually really cute, haha. It’s comforting to know she still has lots of spunk, even though she’s almost 10-years-old.

Lola

And just for fun, one thing I’d like to forget is the feeling of accidentally dropping our oven on my foot while Jimmy and I were moving it. I thought about posting a picture buuuuut I don’t think anyone really wants to see it ;).

What is one thing you want to remember?

What is one thing you want to forget?

On Sunday morning my mom and I woke up bright and early and made beef stew together for my family to enjoy after church. I had never made it before, but it was fun and ended up tasting great!

Beef Stew

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon basil

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon celery seed

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 pound stew beef (cut into 1-inch cubes)

3 cups water

5 cups cut-up vegetables (like potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery!)

Directions

1. Coat the beef with flour. Heat oil in large soup pan on medium heat and add the beef; cook until browned on all sides.

2. Combine the spices in a small bowl and stir them into the pan. Add the water.

3. Bring to boil and cover. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables; simmer 45 minutes or until beef and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. (Thicken stew with more flour, if desired) Enjoy!