French Toast Brunch Casserole

French Toast Brunch Casserole
from the kitchen of Debbie Walker

ingredients
1 stick butter
1C brown sugar
2t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
2T karo syrup
12 slices of bread
8 eggs
1 1/12 C milk
cinnamon

directions
Melt butter and mix in brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon,  Karo syrup and spread in the bottom of 9x12 pan (you can use any pan just fit the bread to the pan and make sure it can hold 2 layers of 6 slices of bread or you'll need to adjust the other ingredients)
Add six slices of bread to cover the mixture and then six slices on top of those. (I used Wonder whole grain white)
Beat well, eggs and milk and pour over bread (if your shape of pan causes you to use more bread, just add another egg with milk to fill up the pan enough to cover the bread. (You can use any kind of milk, I used half and half  - I know, whew)
Sprinkle all of casserole with cinnamon, and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or longer to get  a little brown on top.

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole
from the kitchen of Wendy Connelly

ingredients:
1 roasted chicken from Sam's Club, white meat cut/torn into 1" pieces
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 c. kluski noodles, cooked
¼ stick butter
1 roll Ritz crackers
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

directions:
Mix chicken, sour cream, soup, and noodles-pour chicken mixture into 2-quart dish. Melt ¼ stick butter; mix butter with Ritz crackers and poppy seeds; pour on top of chicken mixture. Bake at 350˚ for 30 min. Serve with Strawberry Spinach Salad. Serves 6.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup
from the kitchen of Wendy Connelly

ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cans low-sod. chicken broth
4 cups half & half
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
2 cans creamed corn
1 roasted chicken, shredded
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 packet fajita seasoning (no MSG)
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
16 oz. tortilla chips
8 oz. shredded Pepper Jack
8 oz. sour cream

directions:
In a large pot over medium heat, sauté garlic and onion in butter for 5 min. Add flour and stir well, cooking 1 min. more. Add broth and half & half. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Add the soup, salsa, corn, chicken, cumin, fajita seasoning, and 2 Tbsp. cilantro. Stir and continue to heat 15 min. Crumble tortilla chips into bowls, then cheese, then ladle in soup. Top with more tortilla chips, another layer of cheese, and cilantro. Dollop with sour cream. Serves 8.

Strawberry Spinach Pecan Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Caramelized Pecans
from the kitchen of Wendy Connelly

caramelized pecans ingredients:
2 c. pecan halves
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbsp. butter

directions:
Combine sugar and spices in a quart sized ziploc bag; set aside. Add pecans and egg to a separate quart-sized ziploc bag; shake to coat. Transfer egg coated pecans into the sugar/spice ziploc; shake to coat. Melt butter in non-stick pan; add pecans. Cook over medium heat for approximately 2-4 minutes; turn pecans and cook 1 minute more. Give cooked pecans another light sprinkling of sugar; set aside and allow to cool.

strawberry spinach salad ingredients:
1 bag prewashed spinach or spring mix
1 pint strawberries, washed and cut in half or quarters
2 c. caramelized pecans (see recipe above)
Optional: blackberries, blueberries, goat or feta cheese, shallots (great with any or all of these ingredients)

dressing ingredients:
1/4 c. orange marmalade
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. oil
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

full directions:
Layer spinach, strawberries, and pecans (plus other optional ingredients) in a salad bowl. In a small jar, combine marmalade, sugar, vinegar, oil, and mustard; shake well. Pour marmalade dressing over salad greens and toss, or serve dressing on the side.

Holiday Strata

Holiday Strata
from the kitchen of Wendy Connelly


ingredients:
1 loaf French bread, cut into small cubes (I prefer the take-n-bake breads, from HyVee, baked according to package directions)
2 c cheese (cheddar or Swiss)
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
6 eggs
2 c milk
butter/margarine
*Christmas Strata Addt'l Ingred.: 1 lb. Jimmy Dean hot sausage & 1 chopped red pepper, sauteed together, and 1/2 c. green onion
*Easter Strata Addt'l Ingred.: 2 c. chopped asparagus, 1/2 c. mushrooms, and 1 small yellow onion sauteed together, and 1 c. cut up ham (great with ham leftovers)


directions:
Butter or spray bottom of 9x13" pan.  Add half the bread slices, all of the *Christmas/Easter ingredients, 1 1/2 c. cheese, and Parmesan cheese.  Top with remaining bread and remaining 1/2 c. cheese.  In a separate bowl, beat together 6 eggs with 2 c. milk.  Add salt/pepper to taste.  Pour eggs mixture evenly over bread, press down to moisten.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 24 (I usually make this the night before a big holiday so it's ready in the morning).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake uncovered 40 minutes.

Leader Bio-Michelle

Whose Day Highlight: Michelle N.

Family Stats: Husband Bob; children Ava (8) and Nicklaus (6)

Spiritual gifts: Discernment, Hospitality, Shepherding

Spiritual Pathways: Relational, Contemplative, Serving

Passions: Living my life for Him; family, mentoring, relationships, decorating, handywork-creative, entertaining

Pet Peeves: People eating with their mouths open

Secret Shames: HGTV

Books That You Love: The Help, The Shack, Redeeming Love, The Bible, Face to Face

Can’t Live Without: My Lord, Bob, kids, chocolate, coffee, sushi

Favorite Room In Your House: dining room

Favorite Tradition: Early morning Easter, family breakfasts on Sunday, summers at the lake

Leader Bio-Wendy

Whose Day Highlight: Wendy C.
Family Stats: husband Mark (we met on a cruise when I was thirteen and were pen-pals between Orlando, FL (me) and Ontario, Canada (him)--yes, I do believe in soul mates); kids Lorelei (5) and Gryffin (3), and our pet bunny Mr. Tubbins
Spiritual Gifts: Faith, Leadership, Wisdom
Spiritual Pathways: Worship, Creation (not just natural wonders, but I love ancient cathedrals and whimsical architecture), Activist
Passions: Family, writing, travel (I used to have flight benefits and love traveling overseas), my family blog, setting up systems or creating projects to motivate and manage family stuff
Pet Peeves: I just asked my husband what my biggest pet peeve was and realized AT THAT VERY MOMENT he was drinking from the apple cider container instead of using a cup. Whining, chomping, drivers with cell phones, cigarettes
Secret Shames: I get giddy picking earwax from people's ears. Seriously, if you see me with a Q-tip, run!
Books That You Love: Anything in the parenting section (I devour it--this is my job, and I have specific goals to raise independent, capable children who have a strong sense of who they are in Christ). I love business motivational books (Covey, Gladwell), history, religion, and generally read non-fiction, but I'm a Harry Potter fan.
Can't Live Without: Writing time (6am, Panera Bread, Saturdays); Josh Groban, King's College Choir, Loreena McKennitt--beautiful music 
Favorite Room In My House: The pirate room--I started the mural the day we had Gryffy's ultrasound and learned he was a boy. Lorelei and I are also re-doing her room for some new bunkbeds scheduled to arrive by elf-delivery Christmas 2011, which will be right up there when it's finished, too.

Favorite Traditions: Our weekly family nights in which we do family business on the weekly whiteboard, share a prayer and lesson, and always end with gooey roasted s'mores

Leader Bio-Beth

Whose Day Highlight: Beth S.
Family Stats: Husband/Eric Children/Kale-7, Emory-5, Tate-4
Spiritual Gifts: Leadership/Shepherding/Hospitality
Spiritual Pathways: Relational/Worship/Creation
Passions: Spiritual Mentoring & Wise Parenting
Pet Peeves: People who "top" other people's stories or experiences people who are too engrossed in their phones to make eye contact with you, close talkers
Secret Shames:Watching Project Runway and American Idol & McDonald's
french fries!
Books That You Love: Pride and Prejudice/ The Love Languages/The Hiding Place
Can't Live Without: Junior Mints, Dr. Pepper & OK,...my IPHONE.
Favorite Room In Your House: Kitchen, b/c that's where ALL the action happens!
Favorite Tradition: Saying "Highs and Lows" of our day with my family

Leader Bio-Kathy

Whose Day Highlight: Kathy G.
Family Stats: Husband: Dan (32 yrs); daughters: Kim (26) and Becky (23); son-in-law: Seth (26)-Kim's
Spiritual Gifts: serving, giving
Spiritual Pathways: creation, worship, service
Passions: reading, gardening, traveling
Pet Peeves: service companies who don't return calls/e-mails
Secret Shames: messy house
Books That You Love: The Help, Hunger Games (series), Sarah's Key
Can't Live Without: chocolate
Favorite Room In Your House: kitchen
Favorite Tradition: appetizers followed by church on Christmas Eve with family

Leader Bio-Rebecca

Whose Day Highlight: Rebecca H.
Family Stats: Married to my beloved, David Harris. We will be celebrating our eight wedding anniversary on October 4th. This is a second marriage for both of us. We have four children and one daughter-in-law. Braden (20) is a Marine in the United States Marine Corps. He and his wife, Lauren, are stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina. Jessica (20) (Braden’s twin) is a Nanny and lives in Branson, Missouri. We miss them, and wish they visited more often. Grace is six, and just started the first grade – big time now! She is our creative, artistic child; I never have enough wall space for all her creations! Samuel is the baby. At three, he is still sweet, but getting big way too fast! He loves Wii (actually he’s addicted to it; any suggestions on how to break this addiction?) and any sport that involves a ball!
Spiritual Gifts: (my top four b/c they are tied and/or so close) 1. Faith/Words of Knowledge 2. Administration 3. Hospitality/Intercession 4. Encouragement
Spiritual Pathways: 1. Creation; 2. Relational; 3. Activist
Passions: Jesus; my husband; my children; honest, real relationship with others; encouraging folks in the awesome, never ending love of our God; and women’s natural health options (due to my own personal journey)!
Pet Peeves: Whining (including my own!); unforgiveness (especially my own!); lack of sleep (which causes definitely one, possibly two of my previous pet peeves!). Could probably list a few more, but I won't!
Secret Shames: Ick! procrastinating; not being as “technology” savvy as I would like or should be.
Books That You Love: This is hard to narrow down, but here are my most recent ish… The Shack (Wm. Paul Young); Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers); Loving our Kids on Purpose (Danny Silk)/Parenting w/Love & Logic (Fay/Cline); and almost anything that is historical (non-fiction and fiction) (after all, I am a Southern girl!).
Can't Live Without: Well, other than God… love, grace, running water (showers, especially!), and my i-phone!
Favorite Room In Your House: Our kitchen… This is where our family gathers together. It is bright and cheery (blue and yellow with lots of red!), welcoming, warm, cozy, full of life, laughter, and a few tears. Here we nourish each other with love, relationship, and some really good food (well, sometimes the food isn’t so good, but I try!!!)
Favorite Tradition: My favorite tradition is our daily sharing time during the evening meal. This is our special time to connect and share; laugh and cry; empathize and encourage; to be each other’s biggest fan regardless of how good or bad our day…. Now, that’s the power of family!

Leader Bio-Katrina

Whose Day Highlight: Katrina K.
Family stats: husband James, Katherine almost 6, Jack 3, Ella 1
Spiritual gifts: Helps, Administration, Giving, Craftsmanship
Passions: reading, sewing, crafting, recycling, green living
Pet peeves: waste, disorganization
Secret shames: I am a bit of a couch potato
Book that you love: all of them?!
Can’t live without: iPad
Favorite room in your house: Living room, it is where we spend most of our time!
Favorite tradition: weekly family movie night where we watch a movie together and my husband makes great popcorn we all chow down on!

Leader Bio-Frann

Whose Day Highlight: Frann W.
Family Stats: Married to Charlie; Son and daughter-in-law--Scott and Katherine and their daughter, Kyleigh, 28 months; Daughter--Dana
Spiritual Gifts: Faith,Teaching, Discernment, Encouragement
Spiritual Pathways: Intellectual, Relational, Contemplative
Passions: Teaching the Jewish Roots of Christianity
Pet Peeves: When a person is habitually late and keeps others waiting
Secret Shames: They wouldn''t be secret if I shared them! OK--I'm a FOX News "Junkie"
Books That You Love: I love The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and Black, White and Red (a trilogy) by Ted Dekker
Can't Live Without: Sugar (maybe THAT should be my "secret shame"!)
Favorite Room In Your House: I actually love reading on the chaise in my bedroom
Favorite Tradition: Frying Potato Latkes for Hanukkah

Leader Bio--Cindi

Whose Day Highlight:  Cindi H.
Family Stats:  I'm married to Ron, & we have two grown daughters.
Ashlee, who's in Mothers Together, is married to Kevin Broome, & they
have two children--Remy, 6 years old, & the newest member of our
family, little Bea, who's 6 weeks old.  Our other daughter, Lindsay,
is married to Adrian Taylor, & they have two new kittens!
Spiritual Gifts:  According to the book, "What You Do Best in the Body
of Christ," my spiritual gifts are--leadership, hospitality, & faith.
Spiritual Pathways:  According to the Spiritual Pathways Assessment, I
connect best to God when I'm with others (Relational), when I'm doing
great things (Activist), & when I'm worshiping (Worship).
Passions:  This is hard to narrow down, but I chose the following:  my
love for God, my love for my family (& my concern for families
everywhere), & my desire to do my own little part to preserve the
freedoms we enjoy in this country.
Pet Peeves:  This one was hard too:  Those in our culture who desire
to remove God from every area of our lives.
Secret Shames:  Messy closets in my house!
Books That You Love:  This one was really hard:  "The Bible" (It never
fails me), "Sink Reflections" (It helps with those messy closets :) &
"The Help" (I just finished it).
Can't Live Without:  Doses of God's love, being around my family
members, & to a lesser extent, listening to "Focus on the Family",
"Family Talk" & other similar broadcasts on Christian radio, & HGTV.
Favorite Room In My House:  My family room
Favorite (Annual) Tradition:  Most summers, we go on a beach vacation to Sanibel
Island, Fla. with our entire family.
Favorite (Holiday) Tradition:  Our extended family fills a shoebox for a child through Operation Christmas Child.  Each family unit brings an item for the shoebox when
we gather for dinner on Thanksgiving Day, & I mail it before
Christmas.  It feels good to do something tangible to express our
thanks to God.

Leader Bio--Rachel

Whose Day Highlight: Rachel M.
Family stats: husband of 12 years: Josh, kids: Miles 7, Max 4, Luke 2
Spiritual gifts: faith, prophecy, intercession
Spiritual Pathways: contemplative, nature and music
Passions: photography, painting, crafts, planning parties, running and my family, of course
Pet peeves: pee on the toilet seat…the story of my life living with 4 boys
Secret shames: the bachelor, facebook and reading blogs
Book that you love: the bible, the help, redeeming love, the notebook
Can’t live without: morning coffee or evening popcorn
Favorite room in your house: my screened in porch
Favorite tradition: birthday dinners at my mom's with the entire family

Leader Bio-Liz

Whose Day Highlight: Liz S.
Family Stats: Married 14 years to Mike Sears and mom to Peter age 11 and Jonathan age 9
Spiritual Gifts: Administration, Hospitality and Helps
Spiritual Pathways: Activist, Serving and Relational
Passions: Helping people find their passion for serving beyond ourselves
Pet Peeves: being late and forgetting people's names (I can remember their whole story but not a name ... hate it)
Secret Shames: Now, now. It wouldn't be a secret would it? OK, when I get stressed I can be a yeller. God is really working with me on this one especially as a mom.
Book that you love: In the bible, the book of Hebrews. I love how it presents the whole picture of the bible: old and new testament. I love "The Same Kinda of Different as Me". It opened my eyes to the perspective of the homeless.
Can’t Live Without: Activity. I don't sit still very well. I love to be involved and be in contact with people.
Favorite Room In Your House: My kitchen especially sitting at my kitchen table looking into the backyard: I love seeing my kids playing, nature, the seasons changing, sunshine.
Favorite Tradition: We do breakfast in bed on everyone's birthday. The boys love it. We have also gone through the devotion, The Lenten Tree each year with our boys. It is a daily devotion for Lenten. I was very convicted three years ago that we made such a big deal about Christmas and didn't prepare for the Easter season. It was a great book and very simple to do as a family.

Leader Bio--April

Whose Day Highlight: April T. Family Stats: Chad, husband. Trey, son (3 yrs) Lauren, daughter (1 yr) Spiritual Gifts: Prayer, Encouragement, Hospitality Spiritual Pathways: Intellectual, Serving, Activist Passions: That my husband and I would model what a strong, Christ-centered marriage looks like for our children. That my children will know the Lord in an intimate way from a young age (I did not come to know him till I was a teenager), Pet Peeves: Most of the ones I used to have have all been eaten like a big ol' humble pie now that I am a mother...like children eating out of unpaid for packages in the shopping cart used to be one.  Now I will take orders from the cart and rip anything open so that I can get the shopping done! Secret Shames: Old episodes of Roseanne. Before the last few seasons when it got all wierd. And...I'm not ashamed, you can borrow my DVD series collection anytime! Books That You Love: anything by Joyce Meyer Can't Live Without: God, my Father.  Jesus, my Savior.  Holy Spirit, my Comforter.  And I'd be cranky without chapstick, diet. mt dew and kettle chips. Favorite Room In Your House: It'd be the one I don't have yet.  One day I'd love to have a room just for individual quiet times. Favorite Tradition: When we go to the pumpkin patch and Louisville Cider Mill in the fall.

Leader Bio--Tasha

Whose Day Highlight: Tasha C.

Family stats: husband of 16 years Scott Cook

kids: daughter Camryn age 12 (13 in October....hello teenager!)

Holden age 7

Sutton age 3

Spiritual gifts: My spiritual gifts are mercy, faith and intercession.  i am unstructured and love to be with people, connecting and going deeper.

Spiritual Pathways: I am a naturalist and love God through the outdoors... I grew up in the country from a long line of farmers.  While my dad had an office job, he continued to farm the wheat fields given to him from his grandfather.  I think this deepened my connection to nature, land, organics, flowers, water, sunshine...

Passions: I am passionate about our children and their well-being! Aren’t we all!? What they eat, what they learn, how they act, their faith, their happiness, their personalities and how they serve. I also adore reading, time with girlfriends, exercising outside, farmers markets, taking pictures, going to our cabin at Tablerock Lake and drinking loads of hot tea...earl grey with skim to be exact!

Pet peeves: the crazy cardinal that keeps pecking on the window and other loud or incessant noises.  i am overstimulated easily and love QUIET!!Secret shames: My secret shame is that I often succumb to the sin of comparison. I listen to the enemy's voice as I look at other women and their accomplishments and I stack mine to theirs and allow the devil to make me feel the loser in the comparison. I think, o look at her outfit, look at her clean house, look at her homemade goodies, look at her exercise time etc...  as I have learned about our personalities and our giftedness I have taken back control from the devil and I celebrate what others do well and I realize I have strengths of my own... so there devil!!!  This is a daily battle for me.

Book that you love: i love jodi picoult books, just read THE PLAIN TRUTH, suspenseful fiction to zone out.  i am reading a book by glynnis whitwer called I USED TO BE SO ORGANIZED.  its fabulous and soooooo true!!  lots of books i read are rec. on the proverbs 31 ministries website/blog.  most of all i love books on food and health.  i just finished THE END OF OVEREATING IN AMERICA  which was awesome.  but probably my all time favorite book is ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE by barbara kingsolver.  oh how i wish i could grow or raise everything my family eats for a whole year!  in addition i am fascinated by personalities, birth order, how to be a better mom, how to stay organized etc and have loved the books rec. last year about personalities etc. PERSONALITY PLUS and PERSONALITY PLUS FOR KIDS by florence littauer and 7 WAYS TO BE A SMARTER MOM by kacey johnson.   i highly recommend those and you can borrow mine if you want!

Can’t Live Without: dark chocolate covered almonds and tea, o and our Lord and Savior!

Favorite room in your house: ...outside!
Favorite Tradition: ICE CREAM FOR DINNER WHEN YOU LOSE A TOOTH!  our kiddos are so far apart and this is something fun we can all do together!  i also love making the annual christmas ornament out of the bottom of the tree and finding a hidden baby JESUS, missing from the nativity, on Christmas morning.

Leader Bio-Lori

Whose Day Highlight: Lori R.
Family Stats: Randy is my college sweetheart we've been married 20 years. Tripp is 17 (senior) and Parker is 15 (sophomore)
Spiritual Gifts: Leadership, Hospitality, Discernment (I love to equip leaders to lead)
Spiritual Pathways: Activist and Creation were a tie - Sunrises and sunsets get me everytime
Passions: Family, friendships and watching people live out what they're called to do
Pet Peeves: being late
Secret Shames: I like to play practical jokes on people and scare them!
Books That You Love: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Can't Live Without: Laughter and God's Word
Favorite Room In Your House: Family Room when everyone is home, the house is full and we're all together
Favorite Tradition: Going to my parents for Christmas in CA.  There are 25 of us and it's complete chaos..but it's home.

Leader Bio-Kyran

Whose Day Highlight: Kyran W.
Family stats: Husband Rob, son Robert 3 Years old
Spiritual gifts: Administration, Hospitality, Encouragement
Spiritual Pathways: Worship Music, Nature
Passions: Art, Dance
Pet peeves: Not calling me back
Secret shames: Any reality show with dancing or singing
Book that you love: American Dreams Series by Michael Phillips
Can’t live without: Chocolate of any kind
Favorite room in your house: Family Room-Love my couch
Favorite tradition: picking out pumpkins and gourds and eating cider donuts at Louisburg

Leader Bio-Hollie

Whose Day Highlight:   Hollie Muther
Family Stats:  Married, Three children (Quinn-13,Maddy-11,Davis-6)
Spiritual Gifts: Faith, Serving, Giving, Mercy, Helps
Spiritual Pathways: Worship, Contemplative, Intellectual
Passions:  Art, Photography, teaching my children to serve others
Pet Peeves:  People who use toothpicks and leave them hanging out of their mouth while in a conversation!

Secret Shames:  Cake for breakfast

Books That You Love: The Shack, Daily Light, Any of Jaymie Oliver"s Cookbooks
Can't Live Without:  Coffee, Heartland, Friends, Family
Favorite Room In Your House: Family Room

Leader Bio-Jena

Whose Day Highlight: Jena M.
Family Stats: hubby Josh and I will be celebrating 12 years in December, Jalen (8), Joslyn (2.5) and Juliana (1)
Spiritual Gifts: teaching, leadership, and hospitality
Spiritual Pathways: When I contemplate the grace of God and what he has done for a sinner like me I know His peace and joy.
Passions: providing learning opportunities for my kiddos, being active, writing, painting, reading, family and friends
Pet Peeves: full trash cans, fruit/veggie stickers in my kitchen sink, Internet advertising,
Books That You Love: where do I start?  anything by Jane Austen or Edith Wharton, non-fiction Christian literature that speaks truth and ruffles my feathers, Deanne Gist books, Redeeming Love, Stepping Heavenward, and if I may be so humble...Twilight.
Can't Live Without: Jesus, my sweet sisters in Christ, Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Tea,
Favorite Room In Your House:  since we're moving into our new house soon I will say my dream room instead. I'd love a kitchen so warm and inviting that when you show up on my doorstep unannounced you can instantly feel at home sitting in my kitchen over a warm cup of tea. Just know that dishes will be sitting in the sink and tiny handprints will purposefully be left untouched on the stainless fridge. 
Favorite tradition:  My husband's side of the family has a week long Christmas celebration and an entire day is set aside for Nerf Gun Battles.  Everyone (there's about 20 of us) is divided up into 2 teams, safety glasses are distributed, and the battle begins.  No house is safe, so look out if you volunteer to host (which we have done this year!)

Leader Bio-Jade

Whose Day Highlight: Jade V.
Family Stats: Married  for (almost) 10 years Kyle.  We have two daughters, McKInley is 7 and Mollie is 5.
Spiritual Gifts: Hospitality/Leadership/Administration; I am structured and love to be with people, so I sometimes struggle with finding a balancing my time between getting my list done and connecting with people. I usually pick people, but it sure does feel good to cross things off my list!
Spiritual Pathways: I connected with God mostly through serving others.
Passions: Growing deeper with women, crafting, planning parties, and anything that has to do with my family.  I am passionate about making sure that I am being the mom that I want my girls to grow up to be.  I want them to see that I know that taking care of their body, mind and soul is important because they see that modeled at home.
Pet Peeves: Disorganization, running late (I don't care if others are late, but I cannot stand it when I am running late); 

Secret Shame: Online "timewasters" -facebook, pinterest, blogs-I love them all, but It is seriously so easy to spend too much time on them.
Books That You Love: Redeeming Love, The Help, Three Cups of Tea, Having A Martha Spirit In a Mary World (totally changed my life and perspective on my pace for life); A Mother's Heart (I have read this book over and over and I gain a newfound passion for Mothering each time) and of course, the Bible.
Can't Live Without: A cup of coffee in the morning and a Diet Coke and little bit of dark chocolate in the afternoon. This is my recipe for a happy day!
Favorite Room In Your House: My living room because it is our gathering place and is where we play games, read books and do puzzles together.

Favorite Tradition: Our daily connection time either at dinner or bedtime when we share our favorite thing about the day.

Leader Bio-Sara

Whose Day Highlight: Sara  S.
Family Stats: Husband Ward, Nelson 25, Quinn 22, Grant 20
Spiritual Gifts: Hospitality, Leadership, Encouragement
Spiritual Pathways: Nature and People
Passions: Kids! I’ve always loved their whimsy, always respected their gravity.
Pet Peeves: I’m way too opinionated about fonts. If I get an email or document in Times New Roman or Comic Sans I often change it before I read it because those fonts bug me so much. That makes me sound pretty petty.
Books That You Love: To Kill a Mockingbird, Gilead, Peace Like a River
Can't Live Without: My husband’s chocolate chip cookies, phone calls from my adult sons, dirt roads and soft paths
Favorite Room In Your House: Dining Room. We had dinner there almost every night together when the boys were home. We also always like to have extra people at our table. There has been lots of laughter around my dining room table, lots of life shared.

Leader Bio-Tara

Whose Day Highlight- Tara Gazaway
Family Stats- My husband, Matt, and I met on a blind date and have been married 7 years. We have two girls, Eva (4 yrs) and Isabel (2 yrs).
Spiritual Gifts – Administration, Wisdom, Leadership
Spiritual Pathways- Activist, Relational, Worship
Passions- Family, being part of a team, excellence, truth, God’s love, authenticity, cooking, cake decorating
Pet Peeves- Disarray, unclear communication, a meal without color
Secret Shames- I’m a political junky, love spreadsheets, need deadlines to complete things, and would eat popcorn twice a day if I could.
Books That You Love- Story of Esther in Haddassah, One Night with the King.
“Can’t Live Without” – Unique restaurants, popcorn, coffee, Bible and journal
Favorite Room In Your House- During this phase of my life, I love my master bedroom because it is like a retreat to me.
Favorite Tradition- Eating German Chocolate Cake every year for my birthday

Leader Bio-Melba

Whose Day Highlight: Melba Mueller
Family Stats: Happily married to the love of my life , architect keith mueller from St Louis Mo for 23 years, 2 kids, Lily 13 and Cale 10 born in Overland Park Kansas , bilingual English/Spanish.
Spiritual Gifts: faith , The Creative Arts, healing , word of knowledge, wisdom, teaching, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, pastor
Spiritual Pathways: worship, relational, serving, intellectual, contemplative
Passions: God the Father , Jesus The Son, The Spirit.  My marriage ,My kids,  music, dancing, cooking, friends, traveling,  foreign languages, movies, reading
Pet Peeves: messy rooms, messy kitchen, dust, dirty bathrooms, messy basements, baskets filled with laundry, Yuck!!
Secret Shames: growing up with maids, felt shameful when they would serve me.
Books That You Love: The greek mythology (when I was young), the Left Behind series (the first 4 books), The Shack, The bridges of madison County, One last dance, Psychology today, Barefoot contessa , Space magazine, Redeeming Love, Bill Clinton's Bio, the Help,
Can't Live Without: God, Jesus, my family, music, food, The Ocean
Favorite Room In Your House: My prayer dent/ music room as you walk into my home. Tiny, filled with crosses and guitars and piano. Love to sit there and talk to God, worship. My kitchen, love to cook, dance and entertain.

Leader Bio-Erin

Whose Day Highlight: Erin D.
Family Stats: Husband: Jason, son: Jack (8), daughter: Dylan (6), son: Tyler (2), yellow lab named Truman (12)
Spiritual Gifts: Encouragement, Administrative/ Leadership, Hospitality
Spiritual Pathways: Intellectual, Relational, Worship
Passions: Children, Education, Running, Cooking & being the best wife & mom I can be
Pet Peeves: gum chewing (really anything that has to do with gum period) and whining
Secret Shames: Curling up on the couch in the middle of the afternoon while my kids are at school and my 2 year old naps with a good book & a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream! And, I like to hide my favorite candy in the pantry where my husband can't find it! 

Books that you Love: The Help (my all time favorite), The Hunger Games (don't get me started!), Sarah's Key, and a good Nicholas Sparks love story
Can't Live Without: My family, of course, running, and my morning cup of coffee
Favorite Room In Your House: our bedroom, it's so cozy & peaceful. The paint color is Secret Garden, and that says it all!
Favorite Tradition: Our evening family dinners where we all share the highs & lows from our days and going to Colorado each summer, swimming, hiking, biking & enjoying being in the beautiful outdoors!

Speaker Bio-Michelle

Whose Day Highlight: Michelle Pemberton
Family stats: single mom-Stacy 21 senior in college Amy 17 senior in high school
Spiritual gifts: Leadership, Teaching and Administration

Spiritual Pathways: Intellectual and Contemplative. I love time with God to think with Him, write and read.
Passions: Learning, my sheltie Ron, Jesus, reading, writing, talking deeply, chocolate, laughing loudly, flavored coffee in the morning, activating (getting stuff done)
Pet peeves: that my children often do not listen to my voice mails
Secret shames: I don’t wear cute shoes I wear comfortable shoes-I envy cute shoe wearers.
Book that you love: Anything by John Ortberg
TV show you watch: Top Chef and Chopped I watch it with Amy ( I am not much of a cook but enjoy these shows)
Favorite room in your house: my study which is painted blue(my favorite color) has all my books, pictures and my grandmother’s love seat where I have my study time in the morning with my sleeping dog by my side.

Leader Bio-Whitney

Whose Day Highlight: Whitney Eicherl
Family Stats: married with one child, daughter Leighton, 15 months
Spiritual Gifts: Administrative (planning), Creative Arts (photography, marketing)
Spiritual Pathways: Intellectual, activist
Passions: My daughter, photography, travel, continually learning
Pet Peeves: wasting time, being late, messy house
Secret Shames: I can’t get enough of the Real Housewives series on Bravo
Books That You Love: I have a one year old… books have become a thing of the past!
Can't Live Without: Diet Coke
Favorite Room In Your House: Living room/family room

Slow Cooked Roast with Mushrooms and Barley

Slow Cooked Roast with Mushrooms and Barley
from the kitchen of Tara G.

Yield: 8 servings Cooking
Time: 8 hours on LOW or 5 hours on HIGH in 6 quart slow cooker

ingredients:
1 (3 lb) boneless beef chuck roast
1 T veg oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 (3 in long) fresh rosemary sprigs
8 oz cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves 10 large garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1.25 C low sodium beef broth
½ C medium pearl barley 2 C fresh baby peas or frozen, defrosted
1/3 C sour cream

directions:
In large skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides over med-high heat. Place meat in slow cooker and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter rosemary sprigs, mushrooms, onion, bay leaves and garlic around roast. Pour broth around meat. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. Quickly add the barley to the liquid, cover and continue to cook for 3 more hours on LOW or 2 more hours on HIGH, until the beef and barley are tender. Remove bay leaves.

Transfer roast to carving board, slice, and place meat on serving platter. Stir the peas and sour cream into the cooking liquid left in the insert. Stir well to combine and then pour the sauce over the meat.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
from the kitchen of Katrina Kanary

ingredients:
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 big box instand chocolate pudding cake mix (or other flavor)
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 c water
1/2 c oil
12 oz chocolate chips (1 bag--I put these in last because it's easier to mix)

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan. Mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl, adding chocolate chips last. Pour batter into greased bundt pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  It is done when it no longer jiggles when you gently shake the pan.  You can jazz it up by sifting powdered sugar over it or drizzling a basic powdered sugar icing over it.