Yummy Really Good Salad

...I don't know about you...but a Salad recipe sounds like a great recipe, to kick off healthy eating for 2011:)!




Really Good Salad

Spinach, washed and bite size
2-3 green onion tops chopped
1-2 cans Mandarin oranges (optional- I leave out)
1-2 cups of berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc. ( I use strawberries and blueberries)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 avocado peeled and sliced (optional-I leave out)


1/4 sugar
1 cup sliced almonds


Combine almonds and sugar in saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until sugar melts and is browned.  Turn almonds out onto a cookie sheet to cool.  Toss ingredients together.

Raspberry Dressing
1/3 cup raspberry vinegar
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup vegetable oil
1 T. poppy seeds
Combine jam and vinegar in electric blender, process 20 seconds.  With blender on high, gradually add vegetable oil in a slow steady stream.  Stir in poppy seeds.

...I made this for Thanksgiving and Christmas...and it was a hit!  I doubled the dressing, so I could use it on other small salads through out the week too!
~Tori

John 10:10

We pray you had a blessed 2010 Christmas...

What were your favorite Christmas Memories you made this year?


I loved being with family...

I loved having over little girls to help us decorate cookies, it reminds me of when my girls were younger...and the Christmas excitement was so contagious...still is by my teenage girls!

I loved showing up unexpectedly with friends at a Nursing Home to shower the residents with hugs, cookies, caroling and the reading of the Biblical Account of the Christmas story...

I loved reading the Christmas story as a family by our fireplace after our Church Candlelight Service

then still making our traditional Reindeer food with glitter so Santa and his reindeer could find their way to our home by the reflection of the glitter (my girls are 14 & 12...and we still love the "little things")

and you must strategically lay it out so each reindeer gets its own proper portion! 

I loved finding a service project "Coat Drive" that we got my girls friends  (7th and 8th grade girls) involved in ...of giving Coats out in our Community to the needy

I loved making happy Birthday Jesus Cupcakes this year...a little different version than our typical cake we make...

CupCake is round = because Jesus was born into a world that is round.

we used M&M's this year...

brown for our sins.

 red velvet cake mix and red M&M's for Jesus' blood shed for our sins.

 green for life = ours in our new heart.

Frosting is white = stands for Jesus' purity & righteousness.

Gold Star M&M in middle of cake top = star of Bethlehem = led wise men to Jesus.

Light candle then read Christmas story out of Bible.

 Let our lights shine before men! 

Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

I loved playing games with all our family members...

I loved the yummy foods that were prepared by loving hands...my first year to make a prime rib...it was fabulous!

I loved having an unexpected Family of  Carolers show up on our doorstep!

I loved watching family members play "Just Dance"...hilarious...lots of memories made here!

I loved making homemade gifts for everyone this year...

I loved giving both sets of my parents a Photo book with handwritten letters in the cover from each of my girls , explaining to their grandparents how special they are to them. (there were lots of tears here!)

I loved the fact that we were a happy, healthy family and were able to reflect on so many things we have to be thankful for this year!

From My family to yours...I hope that you were able to make MANY LASTING MEMORIES

 that will have eternal impact!

Love,

Tori Miller

Sky Ranch SkyMom Ministry Director

Merry Christmas from Sky Ranch SkyMoms

A little child,

a shining star,

A stable, rude,

the door ajar.

Yet in that place

so crude, forlorn,

The Hope of all the

world was born.

~ Anonymous

Treasured friends, we pray that the God of abundantly more than we could ever imagine, fills you with more joy and blessings than your heart can contain. And may the promise of the birth of Christ fill all your tomorrows with hope.

Merry Christmas and a Very Blessed New Year!

Sky Ranch SkyMoms Ministry

Where's the line to see Jesus?

Merry Christmas~

I know your day is busy but thought this would be a blessing and an encouragement to keep our focus on the "real" reason for Christmas. Go to the attached link and watch this video.
 http://wheresthelinetoseejesus.com/

SkyRanch SkyMoms wishes you a blessed Christmas!

Tori Miller

The Candy Cane Story

The Candy Cane Story

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would remind people of the true meaning of Christmas; so he made the candy cane to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker then shaped his cane into the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down to to reclaim the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Christmas Candy Cane Poem about Jesus

Look at the Candy Cane
What do you see?
Stripes that are red
Like the blood shed for me
White is for my Savior
Who’s sinless and pure!
“J” is for Jesus My Lord, that’s for sure!
Turn it around
And a staff you will see
Jesus my shepherd
Was born for Me!

Christmas Decorating...Tori Style!

Ok, So I must admit...along with my many things enjoy doing... DECORATING is one at the top of my list!  So, when it come to Christmas time I just cant stand it...I start pulling out the Christmas boxes right before Halloween weekend!

Now don't panic,  I did decorate this year for Fall, I only leave it out for September and October...( I just do your typical Fall items, pumpkins, gourds, fall wreaths etc. AND no witches, black cats, or ghosts for me!!!) but by October 25ish...I start putting away all the pumpkins, and OUT COMES CHRISTMAS!!!

This year all the outdoor lights were on the house, all the Christmas trees (8 trees this year) and Christmas Decor extravaganza was up and operating in our home October 28th!

So you might be thinking...what about Halloween.... and yes, I welcomed every little trick or treater with a "Merry Christmas".  You should of seen the confused looks on the faces of the three year olds and the laughs I got from the parents!  I just loved handing out the Halloween candy in my Christmas pj's and Santa Hat!

And for Thanksgiving we just get to enjoy the glow of all the Christmas lights even more!

I am already planning next year, rather than the typical Haalloween candy, I  will be handing out CANDY CANES  with the Story of the Candy Cane attached to it!

So here is a glimpse into my home decorated for Christmas since October!

 

 

~Tori Miller