Susan Merrill's Blog, page 21

Sesame Chicken, Spinach Salad and Caramel Sauce

So school is in full swing, activities are piling on top of each other and the calendar is becoming your worst enemy. Let’s be honest, we could all use a little help right about now!

Take some time this weekend to get ahead with Jackie Brown’s Mom on a Mission freezer recipe – sesame chicken. She is a master freezer cook who wants to inspire, help, and bless you with her recipes. So make a little extra to put away for another day. Pair the sesame chicken with a spinach salad and ice cream or a...

Chicken Parmesan Soup and Pound Cake Cookies

Soup is the perfect food in my opinion. Hot and all in one for the most part. Sometimes I add salad but not always. This is a recipe I like to double, serve and freeze the rest for another day.

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Main Dish
Chicken Parmesan Soup 2014-09-09 09:48:14 Save Recipe Print Ingredients 1 (24-oz) package frozen fully cooked breaded chicken breast tenders 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella chee...

When the Going Gets Tough: Sports

So your son grew up playing baseball. He joined the team with his neighborhood friends and enjoyed playing catch, hitting the ball, and of course sliding into home base. But as he got older, little league turned into travel ball and things just weren’t the same. Things got harder as the competition and the pressure increased.

When the going gets tough in sports, how do we keep our kids going strong? It’s not easy. Sports are not just for fun anymore. In fact, by the time a child is about 10 t...

Just Be You

Once we start playing the comparison game, it’s hard to stop.

There’s my friend Marcie—the perfect mom with her counters always sparkling, her carpet clutter-free, and her kids smiling like little angels.

There’s my friend Laura—the peaceful mom with her endless patience and tenderness with her children.

Then there’s me—texting my kids to ask where they are, unsuccessfully attempting to cook a simple dinner, and hiding in the laundry room behind growing piles of dirty clothes.

Sometimes, we hear...

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings and Football Rice Krispies

FALL!!! I love it because I crave comfort food. And you can’t have hot steamy comfort food in the heat of summer. Of course I am in Florida and it still feels like summer but psychologically this midwest girl thinks it’s fall. So I just have to crank up the air conditioning.

In any case, this is a Merrill family favorite because I served it a lot! Straight from one of my favorite kitchen tools, the slow cooker. I have combined it with a dessert from our favorite fall sport–football. I tried to...

Is Your Child Becoming Your Identical?

When I’m with my husband, I strive to be a good wife. When I’m with my kids, I strive to be a good mom. When I’m at work, I strive to be a good boss. But in those few moments I have alone, I start to wonder what makes me me. And I can’t help thinking, “Who am I? Am I spending my whole life people pleasing?”

In the new movie, The Identical, I watched a young man struggle with the very same question. On the one hand, his father is pushing him to follow in his footsteps in ministry (I followed in...

Finding Joy in the Chaos

“Life is about finding the joy in the chaos and the crazy.”

-Sondra to Ally, Moms’ Night Out

What happens when moms are swallowed up into the chaos of life? They (or at least I) go bonkers! Funny? Only in hindsight. My life becomes messywhen I can’t control the circumstances my family is in and I start reacting in an often unbecoming way. Then I get discouraged with myself and spiral downward into dejected despair. Finding joy in the chaos of motherhood is the antecedent to despair.

Twice since...

Basil Lemon Chicken, Roasted Okra and Squash, Campfire S’Mores

This is one of my monthly go to recipes for many reasons: everyone will eat it, it is flavorful enough for company, the ingredients are simple and yippee–you cook the chicken on the grill! What is it that I love about the grill? I am sure it is psychological but I am convinced there is less clean up. Here is the other great thing about the marinade/sauce in this recipe — you can use it on chicken, fish, pasta (hot or cold!). It’s versatile.

Have I sold you yet? I made this for Grant’s going of...

Recipe for a Great Marriage

Flour on my forehead and egg yolk on my elbow. A splash of milk on my cheek and a tiny bit of sugar on the tip of my nose.I don’t know about you, but this is what I sometimes looks like when I cook. In the midst of craziness, I love learning what ingredients go well together, learning how much is too much, and even learning how to change a recipe up to suit my tastes. It can be messy, but it’s fun to experiment. In the same way, marriage takes lots of messy practice, patience, and perseveran...

9 Habits for a Happy Home

Thinking about everything I’ve got to get done today makes my head spin. And spinning stresses me out.There are a million things that seem to be pulling me in a million different directions—from work to friends to keeping track of the kids and their needs… It’s overwhelming! And that is not what I want. I want to have a happy home.

And I’m sure a lot of you feel the same. But before we go crazy with all the things that need to get done before our heads hit the pillow tonight, maybe it’s time t...