needing some good hymn recommendations~

I grew up in a church that sings hymns. I love hymns. Now, don't get me wrong, I love worship at the church we attend now, and we do sing an occasional hymn, but I miss singing them regularly. I love going back to visit my old church and being there during worship. It's also fun to visit during VBS, but the singing, while loads of fun, just isn't quite the same :o) One of my most vivid memories of sitting through church when I was little is when my friend Heather and I would race to find certain hymns in the book, as quietly as possible...of course.

Some of you know that I am very close to my grandmother as I grew up next door to her, and she often stayed at our house. My very earliest memories are of her rocking me and singing The Old Rugged Cross. Back when I used to actually play my piano, hymns were just about my favorite things to play. Once I was older, I used to play What A Friend We Have in Jesus for my grandmother over and over while she would sing along. Sweet memories.

Hymns have such a rich history. We have a book, Then Sings My Soul, that gives the history behind a lot of the great hymns. Oftentimes, knowing the history and circumstances the hymns was written in, gives even more perspective and depth of meaning. Such as It Is Well. I would love for my children to grow up familar with some of the great ones and be able to enjoy and appreciate them.

I am looking for some really good hymn renditions to put on my ipod. I prefer band or instrumental accompaniament, not just acapella. I tend to prefer men's voices (as with all my gruff little deep voiced boys running around here I don't handle high pitches as well), but if you have a really good version with a woman singing or a chior-type, I can always listen to the sample on itunes. If you have a good acapella version I'm up for that as well. And just instrumental is okay too, I can always sing along!

Some of my favorites that I would really like to find some good versions of...

All to Jesus I Surrender

Blessed Assurance

Come, Ye that Love the Lord

Give Me the Bible

Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah!

Have You Been to Jesus?

I Know Not Why God's Wondrous Grace (I Know Whom I Have Believed)

I Need Thee Every Hour

I Stand Amazed

I Will Sing the Wondrous Story

I'm Pressing On (Higher Ground)

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

O to be Like Thee!

On a Hill Far Away (The Old Rugged Cross)

On Jordan's Stormy Banks

Praise the Lord (Ye Heavens Adore Him)

Shall We Gather at the River?

Sing On

Sing the Wondrous Love (When We All Get to Heaven)

Standing on the Promises

There's a Call Comes Ringing (Send the Light)

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

We Priase Thee, O God (Revive Us Again)

When Peace Like a River (It is Well with My Soul)

When the Trumpet of the Lord Shall Sound (When the Roll is Called)

When Upon Life's Billows (Count Your Blessings)

When We Walk with the Lord (Trust and Obey)

Would You Be Free (Power in the Blood)

Years I Spent in Vanity (At Calvary)

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

Amazing Grace

For the Beauty of the Earth

Holy, Holy, Holy!

O Thou Fount of Every Blessing

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Christ, We Do All Adore Thee

O Lord, Our Lord

And my very favorite ever...

Our God He is Alive (There is Beyond the Azure Blue)

And two other songs, while not hymns, are in the hymnal, and I would like to have a good version of both:

My Country, 'Tis of Thee and O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (America the Beautiful)

Well, this may be a long shot, but if anyone could point me in the right direction, or even just to a general hymn cd that's pretty good that might have some of these on it, that would be great!

Happy Friday :o)

Barbeque Beef Brisket~

We try and not eat very much pork around here, so we really enjoy having this bbq. It's a little more work than picking some up from Whitt's, but I just make it in bulk and then grab a bag out of the freezer when we want barbeque. It is adapted from Don't Panic, Dinner's In The Freezer!

Barbeque Beef Brisket

**This is a little tricky, measuring wise. I will list the amounts for what it gives as 2 servings, but once it is made, just bag up however much you think your family would eat at a time.

Ingredients:

*8 lbs beef brisket (this is definitely cheaper if you can get it from Sams or Costco) (can substitute chuck steak, but I've never done this.)

*1/4c.+ liquid smoke

*2tsp crushed bay leaves (I always have whole, so I just tear them up into little pieces.)

*1/4c. chili powder

*1T. pepper

*1T. salt

*several bottles of your favorite barbeque sauce, depends on how saucy you like your barbeque

Directions:

**Combine salt, pepper, chili powder, and bay leaves in a small bowl.

**Rub meat completely with liquid smoke.

**Place meat, fat side up, in large roasting pan. (I think I usually use 2 9x13 cake pans.)

**Sprinkle dry seasoning mixture on top. Cover tightly.

**Bake for approximately 4 hours at 325 degrees.

**Scrape seasoning and fat off meat. Cut in very thin slices across the grain or shred.

**Mix with barbeque sauce of choice.

**Freeze in desired portion sizes. I freeze in quart size freezer bags.

White Chicken Chili~

There is always a mad dash at our house between Glen, myself, Anna, and Caleb whenever we have this. The little kids could care less. More for us!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

*5c. chicken broth

*2c. chicken

*1 small can chopped green chilis

*pinch cayenne pepper (I omit this)

*1/2c. chopped onion (or more, we like onion)

*2 cloves minced garlic

*2-3 cans great northern beans, drained (or any other bean you prefer)

*1/2 tsp. oregano

*1/8 tsp. cumin (or more if you prefer)

*2T. cornstarch mixed with 1/4c. water

Directions:

*Combine all ingredients in large stock pot.

*Cook 30 minutes at medium heat. Stir often and watch carefully, it will stick.

*Reduce heat to low, cook an additional 20 minutes. Continue to stir often and watch carefully.

**Like most soups, this is better if it sits for awhile. It's yummy from the beginning too, though.

**This sometimes is more watery than I like. You could either use less broth, use more ingredients, add more cornstarch, or remove some of the mixture, blend in a blender, and then add back to the pot.

**I freeze this like I freeze other soups. In a gallon size, double lock ziplock bag, and I double the bags.

**If you keep the ingredients on hand, this can be made in a flash. I always try and have bags of shredded chicken and chopped onion in the freezer, as well as chicken broth on hand.

**For a large family, you would probably want to double.

**Thanks to my wonderful book club friend, Julie, for another winner! Yes, I get most of my recipes from friends. :o)

James' Tomato Basil Soup~

I want to make sure and say up front, loud and clear, that this recipe is from my friends, James and Lori Todd. It is completely theirs, and it is fabulous! It gets rave reviews and recipe requests every single time I take it anywhere or give it to anyone.. I am only posting it here on my blog so that I can save it as a url to my delicious site.

Chef James' Fabulous Tomato Basil Soup~

Ingredients:

*28oz. crused tomatos (I use Tuttorossi w/ Basil, I always find it on the bottom shelf at the store)

*(3) 14.5oz cans Del Monte Petite Cut Diced Tomatos w/ Garlic & Olive Oil (brand here is important!)

*2/3 stick of butter

*fresh torn basil if handy (I don't usually have this, and I'm not sure how it would freeze)

*2/3 tube Gourmet Garden Crushed Basil (this is in a tube, I find it in the produce section at Publix, it is like a paste.)

*salt/pepper to taste (I find the canned tomatos are pretty salty, so I don't usually need extra salt.)

*fresh grated parmesan for topping

*4oz. heavy cream (I have made it without this before for my dairy-free friends. It is still very yummy, but it is yummier with it.)

*can add two cans of mixed veggies (or frozen) to make more of a tomato veggie soup (this is what I do when I make it for us.)

Directions:

**add all ingredients except parmesan and cream

**heat through without boiling

**add 4oz heavy cream before serving (If freezing, I do go ahead and add the cream.)

**garnish with grated parmesan

**serve with gluten free cornbread

**This freezes fine. I usually freeze it in gallon size double lock freezer bags, and I double the bags to avoid potential mess.

**This is also a very, very quick and easy soup to make for company or friends having babies, etc. and if you keep the ingredients on hand, can be thrown together in about five minutes.

**For our family (currently feeding 8), I have to double it if we want leftovers.

**I have added zucchini, squash, corn, etc. to this as well instead of the mixed veggies

**Thanks again to James and Lori for the recipe EVERYONE raves about!

Chicken Enchiladas~

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

*app 4c. rotesserie chicken meat or however much you like (or any cooked, shredded chicken, I get the chickens from costco)

*2 cans green enchilada sauce (this is the mild kind)

*1/2 can red enchilada sauce (you could use more if you like it spicier)

* large block monterey jack cheese, shredded

*2-3 T. butter

*2 yellow peppers sliced into strips

*2 onions cut up

*1 can green chilis (optional)

*any other veggies you want to add

*corn or flour tortillas to layer with
(I pour some olive oil on a plate and dip the corn tortillas in the oil quickly before layering them, I don't really know if it's necessary or not. I'm pretty sure if you use flour tortillas this wouldn't be necessary, but the corn tortillas are kind of grainy.)


1. Cook peppers and onion in butter until tender (and any other veggies you want to add)
2. Mix chicken meat with enchilada sauce and pepper/onion mixture.
3. Spray bottom of a 9x13 pan.
4. Layer chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese. Top with extra cheese.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.


**If preparing for the freezer, just layer and freeze. I cook it when thawed.
**You could also put some of the mixture into a tortilla, roll up, and freeze that way. I would then pour a little more enchilada sauce and shreeded cheese on top. Since we have to use corn tortillas and they are so small, I just layer it like a casserole.

**Depending on your family size, this could make anywhere from 1-3 meals.

**This is loosely adapted from my friend, Jennifer Brewer. Thanks, Jennifer!

Chicken Soup w. Barley & Lentils~

Chicken Soup w. Barley & Lentils

or double lentils if you're gluten free,

which we are,

for the last few years anyway.

But whatever.

Ingredients:
2c. Chopped onion
4 cloves minced garlic
4T. Butter
60oz + chicken broth
3c. Water
3c. Cooked chicken

1c. Dry lentils, rinsed and drained
1c. Barley (substitute 1c. lentils if gluten free for a total of 2c. lentils)
1/2 tsp. each basil, oregano, and rosemary
3c. + sliced carrots (I use baby carrots halved to make it easy)
(2) 14.5 oz cans cut tomatos


Directions:
** In a large pot (I use my largest stock pot), cook onion and garlic until tender.
** Stir in water, broth, lentils, barley, and herbs.
** Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
** Stir in chicken and carrots. Simmer, covered, for an additional 20 min or until carrots are just tender. Stir frequently as sometimes it sticks.
** Add undrained tomatos and heat through.



**This is good when first made, but even better if it sets up for a day. You can leave it on the stove for a long time to enhance the flavor, just watch it carefully. It does stick. After a while, it may thicken up, I just add more broth, water, herbs, etc. and you can do this numerous times and really make it stretch with no loss of flavor.

**If you keep cooked chicken and chopped veggies on hand, this is a very easy and very quick meal to make.

**If freezing, I usually freeze in double seal ziplock bags, and I double the bags to protect against potential mess. If I had more freezer space, I would freeze in gladware containers.


**I originally got this recipe from my good friend, Heather Norman. Thanks, Heather!