Tackle It on Tuesday: Homemade Pizza Sauce

This past week I tackled - Homemade Pizza Sauce

One thing my family loves to eat is pizza, especially homemade pizza! We keep our pizza pretty basic: homemade pizza dough, homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, little bit of cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

On the day that I have made up a batch of sauce, of course we will have pizza that night for dinner.

Homemade pizza and pizza sauce

Homemade pizza and pizza sauce

I bet you are wondering how I freeze up the rest of that pizza sauce. So glad you asked! I take individual snack size bags and put in about 1/4-1/2 cup of sauce. I just kind of eyeball it, no magic here. Then all of those individual bags, I place them in one big freezer bag.

Homemade pizza sauce, ready for the  freezer

Homemade pizza sauce, ready for the  freezer

Then that one big freezer bag hangs out in my freezer with all of that wonderful pizza sauce, ready for the next time we have homemade pizza. One nice thing about storing the pizza sauce in those individual snack size bags? Makes thawing quick and easy. 

Yes, we do like to get pizza from our favorite pizza place in town. But having the ingredients on hand for homemade pizza makes it do-able to have a homemade dinner in about an hour. 

To tackle this week - Letters from Scrap Fabric

One project I have pinned is to make Letters from Scrap Fabric. Since I have quite a bit of scrap fabric, I thought this would be a good way for me to use up some of my scrap fabric and make a fun project to sell to earn money for my next Compassion trip.

Letters from Fabric Scraps project

Letters from Fabric Scraps project

Think this is something you would like to purchase? Be sure to like my Facebook page, Gifts from Our Little Corner, where I am selling homemade items to earn money for my Compassion travels. Then check back next week to see how I tackled this project!

What project are you working on this week?

Hope Rising by Scott Todd: Review and Giveaway

Now, I know I have talked about before here on my blog that I really did not enjoy English class in high school. The thought of reading a book, then having to put into words a review of the book is enough to make me cringe. But a blogging friend of mine share with me a link to BookLook Bloggers, which is a book review web site which will give bloggers a free copy of a book in exchange for reviewing the book on your blog. I decided to take a peek and was excited to see they had the following book available for review:

Hope Rising by Scott Todd

As a Compassion sponsor and advocate, I was excited to see another book written by Scott Todd, who is the Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy for Compassion International.

Summary - The basic summary of this book is that God is doing a work around the world to end extreme poverty, but there is still work to do. Each one of us has been called by God to take care of our brother in need (1 John 3:17-18). As an individual, poverty is a big problem that seems really overwhelming to tackle on our own. But there are steps that each and every one of us can take to reach out to at least one person to make a difference.

My reaction - I loved the book!

  1. This 193 page book is broken up into five parts with a total of 30 chapters, which makes it a manageable book to read in a short period of time.
  2. Dr. Todd provides some alarming statistics on many topics, but also shares how we have been making strides in many areas to give us hope for ending extreme poverty in the near future.
  3. The book is about giving each one of us hope, the hope that by doing something we can make a difference.
  4. The chapter on 'Stewards of Power' was inspiring to me: "We are all stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, including the power we have to make things happen." God allowed us to be born in this country for a reason. He has given us many resources, talents, and gifts. In our own power, we are weak. But in His power, He can accomplish great things when we are willing to follow Him.
  5. Dr. Todd shares that "if we don't tell them about Jesus, what will we truly accomplish?" Feeding the poor, building wells, and providing clothing is not going to save those living in extreme poverty. Teaching them about the love of Jesus, this is where their hope lives. And this is being done effectively through the local churches in many communities around the world.
  6. We are reminded in this book that God wants us to care for the poor. Dr. Todd shares many Bible verses in this book about God's call for us to remember the poor. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you feel God calling you to make a difference for children growing up in extreme poverty in many countries around the world. I know that for some, this is not the call they feel God leading them to. But if you love God, you need to love His people. And sometimes loving His people means sacrificing a little of your time and/or money so that a child can live another day.

Giveaway! - Would you like to have a copy of this book? I happened to pre-order a copy of this book before I signed up to do a review, so I have one to giveaway! How to enter? Just comment below, 'I would love this book'! Yep, that simple. Be sure to leave a comment by Wednesday, May 28th at midnight PST. (Giveaway open to residents of the United States only.)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tackle It on Tuesday: Civil War dress progress

Last week, I started working on a Civil War dress for a friend of mine. I knew I would not be able to have the whole dress finished by this Tuesday, which is okay. Some tasks take a bit longer, some can be finished a bit quicker. But making a bit of progress on some of these bigger tasks over each and every day gets you closer to the goal of finishing!

Bodice and sleeves are almost done!

Bodice and sleeves are almost done!

Over the next couple of days, I need to finish up the bodice and sleeves, then start working on the skirt. Hoping I can finish this big project up in the next day or two so my friend can wear it to a Civil War event this upcoming weekend!

In addition to working on this dress, today I need to put together a batch of pizza sauce.

Homemade pizza sauce ingredients

Homemade pizza sauce ingredients

When I cleaned out my freezer a couple of weeks ago, I realized we were out of homemade pizza sauce! We like to have homemade pizza about once a week, usually on Friday nights. I will share more about our pizza next week, so stay tuned!

What project are you tackling this week?

Compassion Share & Tell: May 2014

Hey Compassion sponsors! Have you written to your sponsored child lately? Those kids love letters from you and I am here to encourage you to write them them! You can write them online, or mail them a handwritten letter, or even just a card. The point is to take time out of your day to let them know that they matter to you.

This month, I am sending something a little special to each of my kids. Want to see what I am sending?

May Compassion mailing to my sponsored kids

May Compassion mailing to my sponsored kids

This month, here is what I am sending to my kids:

Here is what I wrote to Lina:

Hello Lina,

We recently received an updated photograph of you, so I wanted to send to you the photographs I have of you. You are growing up into a lovely young woman!

This month I want to share with you Romans 8:31. Remember that God is always watching over you. He loves you! And I love you too!

Short and sweet, letters don't need to be long and drawn out. Just a reminder to these kids that they are in my thoughts and prayers. 

Will you take time to write to your sponsored child today?