Friday Favorite: Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes

This week we celebrated my husband's birthday. My husband loves bacon.

My son taped this sign on the door to greet my husband when he came home from work.

We celebrated by trying out bacon recipes. Let me say it again, my husband loves bacon.

We had bacon and eggs for breakfast. Chocolate covered bacon in the afternoon. For dinner, we had chicken thighs wrapped in bacon, sweet potatoes bites wrapped in bacon (and fresh corn) and a maple bacon cake for dessert.

My husband is still snacking on the chocolate covered bacon. I probably won't eat bacon for weeks. 

We were delighted with sweet potatoes bites. Such a savory vegetable recipe! The bacon adds a nice flavor to the sweet goodness of the potatoes.

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes

2 medium-small sweet potatoes
1 lb bacon
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (I used regular chili powder)
1 Tbsp sea salt (I didn't have sea salt so I used one tsp salt)
4 Tbsp maple syrup (optional - but I recommend it)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them lengthwise into quarters. Then cut each quarter in half, and then half again. You'll wind up with about 32 bites.

Melt butter over low-heat an stir in chili powder and salt. Toss the potatoes in the spiced melted butter to coat.

Cut the bacon slices in half, so you have 32 mini slices of bacon. Wrap each sweet potatoes bite with a half slice of bacon. Use a toothpick to hold the bacon in place.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, turning once halfway through. They are done when the bacon is crispy and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

Remove from heat and drizzle with maple syrup.

Let cool before serving.

I am linking up today with Food on Fridays. Be sure to stop by and check out more food related posts.

WFMW: Minecraft Party

This year my oldest son requested a Minecraft celebration for his 11th birthday.

Are you familiar with Minecraft? It has quite a following... but I figure you either know what it is or have never heard of it.
Minecraft is a game about placing blocks to build anything you can imagine. It is a game that is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. Gameplay in its commercial release has two principal modes: Survival, which requires players to acquire resources themselves and maintain their health and hunger; and Creative, where the player has an unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and no concept of health or hunger.

For birthdays, our kids wake up to a house full of  birthday decorations.

For the table setting, I made Minecraft plates and cups. I glued a Minecraft face on the cups. For the plates, I glued a Minecraft face on green plates. Then, I glued (hot glued around the edges) a clear plate on top. 

Minecraft blocks were part of the table decorations. I also hung some from the ceiling. 

 The kids loved them. 

Follow this link to  create the Minecraft blocks: The Ultimate Guide to Minecraft Paper Products.
They were surprisingly easy to make.


I made my son's creeper shirt using freezer paper stenciling.

 For a birthday sign, I printed some Minecraft images and then I used a Minecraft word generator to add the words I wanted to the Creeper signs. You can find that generator here: Minecraft MemeGenerator

I ordered the Minecraft pic ax and then used the packaging to make another decorative sign. 
I made the Minecraft Steve heads using paper, glue, and card board boxes.

The Steve heads were a huge hit with the kids. Here's a picture of my boys with them in the morning before school.

You can order Steve heads online but it was much cheaper to make them, especially when I was making four of them.

I found the Steve head template and directions here: SteveLange.net

As an afternoon snack, I made block brownies.

I made a Creeper Birthday Cake using green icing and chocolate bars.

It was a Creeper-filled Minecraft birthday. 

I am linking this post up to Works-For-Me-Wednesday.


My son's excitement about his party worked for me. I spent a lot of time searching the internet for ideas. If you have a Minecraft fan in your house, I hope you will benefit from these ideas and links. 


Be sure to stop by We are That Family to check out the other Works-For-Me ideas.

Swimming

My momma is important to me and although Mother's Day has come and gone, I want to write a bit about why I love her.

I am thankful for my mom.
She taught me not to give up on anything. Never quit. Work hard for what you want. Treasure what you love.

I treasure my mom. She is everything to me- motivation, encouragement, entertainment and even frustration. I love her without reserve.
I want to be like her and I want to learn from her.

I am thankful that she has never given up on me.

I am thankful for her good looks, which she passed on to me.

I am thankful for her commitment to family.

I am thankful that she loves college football. I am super-duper thankful that she let me go to the University of Alabama when her heart belongs to the University of Tennessee.

She shows me what it looks like to care deeply: demonstrating love, concern and worry. She taught me the importance of prayer when worries abound.

She taught me to say "please" and "thank you," "yes ma'am" and "no ma'm" and "ya'll."

She believes in commitment.

She makes me laugh. She remembers everything - conversations since 1982 - but she cannot recall how to login to her phone voice mail.

My mom is inspirational. She has just recently become an avid bike rider. She loves to hike.

I am thankful for my mom's laugh.

I am thankful for my mom's hand in my dad's.

My mom is a swim instructor. She's been teaching for over 50 years.
She teaches people the skills they need to move through water.

She taught me how to swim, not sink~ and to live fully.

My mom is invaluable to me.

May the 4th be with You

Little Things

Last night my daughter argued with my husband about whether or not he would be married to me forever. She wants to marry her Daddy.

In the middle of the night one of my sons crawled into our bed. He was frightened after a terrible nightmare. We tucked him in his bed but his apprehension didn't subside quickly. My husband went to his room, snuggled and told him about the magical powers in his room (like his blanket that makes him invisible when he is covered up).

This morning, my son quickly grabbed his lunch box off of the counter, knocking off our sugar bowl. The floor was a mess of sugar and bits of china. My son's face was covered in despair with tears filling his eyes. I hugged him and held him tight, while explaining that accidents happen.

This afternoon I printed 4 copies of AYSO forms. My youngest is now old enough to play soccer. I a m not sure how that happened. It sure will be exciting getting each of the kids to their four different team practices and games. It will be insanity, I'm sure.

My days (and nights) are full of the little things. Little meaningful moments that have the power to amuse, comfort, and challenge. Little moments that may mean a lot to someone but may pass without a second thought.

My desire is to be full of grace and faith in the little things.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17