Sometimes, it is just all about the Glaze on your ham.

Betty Crocker has put together five simple ham glaze recipes that have 5 ingredients or less. It’s that easy!

All you need to do is decide which one you’d like to try first. From everyday to exotic, there is definitely something for everyone.

“I also happen to be a whole-time glazer. What is that? I like to brush on the glaze the entire time the ham is in the oven (like basting a turkey). But if that’s not for you, no worries. You can just add the glaze towards the end of the cooking time.

Here’s a quick tip: Cutting a diamond pattern into the top of the ham will ensure that the glaze gets down into it, making the meat extra flavorful. A must do!

So grab your ham and decide which glaze you’re going to try first!” Paula Jones

Click here to view 5 Glazes for your Perfect Easter or anytime Ham.

EnJoy! Be Blessed

Executive Mom

Here are some great ideas and links to help you bake your perfect Easter ham.  If you are a new cook or a seasoned one,  you will like these tips and ideas. Or if you are a visual person there is a video on how to Bake a basic ham .

I thought  this recipe was a great one:

Sticky Baked Ham Recipe- Better Homes and Gardens

1

5-8 lb. fully cooked ham half (shank or butt end)

1/2

cup packed brown sugar

1/4

cup balsamic vinegar

1/4

cup grainy Dijon mustard

• 1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a roasting pan with foil.
• 2 Place the ham in the roasting pan cut side down. Roast the ham uncovered for 1 (for a 5 lb. ham) to 2 hours hours (for an 8 lb. ham).
• 3 Meanwhile, combine the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Brush the ham with the glaze; continue roasting for an additional 30 minutes, basting with glaze every 10 minutes. Ham should be baked to an internal temperature of 140° F. Remove from oven; let the ham rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve.

EnJoy! Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

Executive Mom

Katie JoMar commented:

• HOT HOT HOT water
• 1 cup of laundry detergent
• 1 cup powdered dish washer detergent
• 1 cup bleach
• 1/2 cup borax

After filling the washing machine with HOT water….I also dumped in a large-sized pot of water I had brought to a boil on the stove. I was looking for HOT HOT HOT water, just like Katie said.

Another thing to remember is to add the above ingredients to as small a load size as possible. You are looking for CONCENTRATED cleaning power, and the more water you have in the tub, the less concentrated it will be. Shoot for BARELY enough water to cover the article.

Let soak for as long as you can stand it!  I managed to stay away from it for a couple of hours. Overnight would work too.

Enjoy!

One Good Thing

Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

Executive Mom

Many times we really need to stop and look at the past and the problems along our journey. What was really behind us, what bumps and hurdles did we jump over in order to get thru the year? Is the road in our rear view bumpy, curvy, treacherous or smooth?

So what does this really mean for our New Year? Pondering the Past Year can be heart wrenching or uplifting depending on how you look at things. Make a decision and move forward. If 2012 was a horrible year, identify those things, thoughts and patterns that made it so and make a plan not to have this happen again. If things were out of your control be thankful for the journey of making you stronger and be joyous that you have moved out of this time in your life and are ready for a new fresh start.

What needs tweaking in your life? Your budget (yes the B word again), Your home family time? Your work ethics? Your organizational procedures at home or work? Identify your most immediate need (i.e. taxes, bills, family) and a long term need that you would like to accomplish this year. Set your goals realistic  and push yourself to complete them. Put it on a dry erase board for your family or employer to see. It will help you every day when you see your handwriting to know that you really want to do this!

Then move forward. Is it a new career? To pay your bills on time? A new client? Organizing an area of your home? A project? All these things will need dedicated time. Set that time aside every week until your goal is accomplished. A goal is only a thought unless you take the reigns and make it happen.

Quote of the Day
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C. S. Lewis

Take some time this week and set your goals, remember the bumps from 2012 and be realistic on why they were there. Many may have been self induced

. Try to move forward learning from your mistakes and put a step forward to  your new Goals for 2013.

Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

Executive Mom

Have you noticed that your business is

 heading in a

different direction?

Do you find yourself having to revamp your

marketing plan to match your newly evolving

 sales items and or customers?

How in the world do you make the changes in your web-based marketing plan easily to go with the flow of ever-changing tides of sales and changing currents of hot items in your business. It is easy, the main thing you have to remember is flexibility. If you keep your options and your mind open to these ever-changing marketing waves of marketing strategies you will be just fine.

Start out with your presence on the internet. Do you have a website that is stagnant? Is it easily changed and updated? Does your company want to focus on one thing or promote a certain item during the month? This can be easily done with a Word Press Website without having to re-invent the wheel each time you make a change.

Blog,…Did I hear you cringe when I said the word Blog…Blogs- once considered diaries A stay at home moms venting place of ideas-has become a great source of information these days on most websites. Blogs can consist of daily articles, photos, ideas, retail items, directions, reviews, and more. These are great little areas where you can draw your reader into your website. Want to add coupons to your site? Add a blog and change it as often as you wish.

Domain names, buy several! It is so easy and inexpensive to do this. Imagine you are driving your car to your favorite shoe retail store. On your way you see all these signs that say ” Brown shoes for sale” ” High Heels for sale” “Shoe store sale city address and city inserted here” “purses belts and more” “Discount” “Shop Now!” It would make you want to drive your car right into the parking lot…right? You can do that with your website. Drive your traffic right to you and away from your competition! Make your internet presence count! With a few domain name additions you will have your phone ringing off the hook!

Just a few changes can make a world of difference with your web-based marketing. To be efficient you really need to dedicate at least 2 hours a day to updating all your company information. Remember that your customers will see your website, your Google page, and your FB page way before they pick up the phone to call you. It is just as important as dressing your business for the day. So open your website up, put out a new welcome mat and some pretty new decorations and get ready for your customers to stop by!

Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

I woke early and nuzzled next to my wonderful husband, Manley. I told him ” What a wonderful day, we have food in the refrigerator, family on their way to see us, kids on their way to our home, dear friends spending the day with us. These are all such great things to be Thankful for”

I rose early, as usual. I love to be the first one up in my home. My first cup of coffee just tastes better that way for some reason. As I walked thru my kitchen, which was a mess from the late night cooking and grocery shopping spree, I was thankful. Thankful for the ability to buy groceries this year and the biggest turkey I could find! A whopping 25 lb bird!

After setting the coffee pot to brew, I staggered into the family room, still half asleep. That cup of coffee could not come soon  enough for me this morning. I tripped over video controllers and noticed that my couch had been moved into a position it had never been before, directly in front of the TV. About 4 feet from it!  My son and his friend had a monster video game athon last night and the sleepy teens had left the room in a disarray. A smile came across my face, thankful for the boys, and also a bit thankful that I get the opportunity to wake them very early this morning to arrange their rearrangement of furniture.

My sweet animals snuggled up to me for a good morning hug and kiss as they do every morning. What a blessing to be loved by even these small and large creatures. Both of our dogs were abandoned at one time or another and we rescued them. I am thankful we did as I look in their small eyes and realize that they too love to be loved.

So as I am sitting here typing my blog, I realize a few things. It is 6 AM and my guests arrive in 6 hours. My home is a mess and rearranged, my kitchen has flour and canned goods all over the counters, I have many pies and casseroles to make, my bathrooms need to be cleaned and the carpet vacuumed, shoes are scattered across the house, the walls are scuffed from children going in and out, our landscaping is not complete, and all the things that I had planned to do before today have not been done.

But there is such a great joy in my heart.

We are so blessed to have  wonderful family and friends. I know without a shadow of doubt that my dear husband will wake up and take charge after his second cup of coffee, and I will creatively orchestrate the final food items for the mid day meal. The bathrooms will be cleaned, the carpets will be vacuumed and everything that is out of place will be put back or shoved into a closet.

Soon laughter will fill our home as we eat, drink and enjoy each other and our family and friends. This year I have added a new daughter to our family which is a blessing. Our far away family will call and we will catch up with them. Card games will begin and the men will go out on the back acre to scope in their guns for the year.This was what we prayed for when we built our home 4 years ago. Blessings.

What a crazy wonderful life we have. I am very thankful for every moment.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Enjoy every single moment today.

Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice. 

Meister Eckhart

I know you have been there, when the cheese in front of you is just out of reach, but within site. The feeling that your blessing is just around the corner but the corner seems to be the longest one in your life.

Everyone has been here. It is called your  journey in life. Saying that does not make it any easier to navigate, it just helps to put things into perspective.

I loved the photo above. I even thought about making it a poster size for my office. At times that is the way we feel in the rat race. We keep going and going and going. Most would say that is the definition of insanity. Which may very well be if you are trying to accomplish something you are not supposed to do. But, on the other hand,

But what if it is part of your journey? What if these situations are areas where you need to learn in order to move forward in life. Patience, knowledge, wisdom. All these come to us thru walking thru the areas of life that are the toughest.

Once you have crossed thru that part of  the journey, it is clear as a bell why you walked thru that part of your life. It does not make it any easier to walk the walk at times!

I had tea with a dear friend yesterday, she reminded me that no matter what the situation or circumstances that your journey has taken you, you can dictate your emotions which can influence the outcome. How you handle the hurdles and curves of the journey can greatly affect not only the length of the walk but it can influence and build up others along the way.

I challenge you today, use your journey as a God Given Tool. Use the things that you have learned along the way to help others avoid the pot holes in their journey.  I am very grateful for those who have helped me along mine.

Be Blessed,

Executive Mom

Countdown to Christmas

Calendars make counting down the days to Christmas even more fun because they’re stuffed with surprises — and they’re easy to make. Tack 25 decorated, candy- or trinket-filled envelopes to a corkboard or similar surface in a tree shape; top the arrangement with a bow. Or transform a sheet metal memo board into an advent calendar by writing the numbers 1 to 25 across one side in red or green and adorning it with a pretty bow or ribbon. Add one magnet from the festive Countdown to Christmas Magnet Set to the front of the calendar for each day. With fun shapes such as candy canes, mittens, and gingerbread men, your little ones will delight in the countdown to the big day.

Gracedrops….Like Raindrops falling from the sky.

Yes we can walk in gracedrops every day.

Have you ever been there? Standing in the rain shower allowing the drops of grace mark each step, each moment, each person you meet? It is an amazing journey, one that is easily overlooked by most, including me. But after this weekends events, I am trying harder to capture them all!

Circumstances that had controlled our last few weeks were beyond comprehension to most. Help from the Police department and Legal help was almost slow and non existent at times. In the middle of this our lives and business were falling apart.

Yet there was a peace. Manley and I both felt it. We had done all that we could do, crossed all our T’s and dotted our i’s as some say. We had filed all the reports, presented all the receipts and now we wait. With a business badly broken, stolen items making it almost impossible to make business continue, and our bank account next to empty, we walked in grace.

A dear friend reminded me that this is when you see GOD work the most!  When your life is a storm and you feel the peace, remember that GOD is working hard behind the scenes. If you look really hard you will see the grace drops falling down on you every day, every moment if you look hard enough.

Veterans day weekend our business had been nearly destroyed by someone whom we trusted. Now we walked in grace to move forward thru the rubble left by someone who chose the path he took and made. An intentional path of chaos.  After the year we had,  a car wreck that almost took the lives of 3 of our children, we really did not need to deal with this. Words that we did not like became part of our everyday vocabulary at times this year. Words like: medflight, hospital, T boned, theft- 1, Felony, burglary, Sheriff Department, Lawyer.

God must have wanted us to take this journey. So Manley and I  held hands together and marched forward. One step at a time, each step looking and seeking his Grace.

One morning after compiling my stolen inventory list, I received a message on FB from  friend from elementary school. Now if that is not weird enough, his message said ” Be strong in the Lord Sis”, and then the next day ” Checking in on you, I pray you are getting a release. The Lord is our light and salvation in whom shall you fear, no one!” Before this day, I had not spoken with him since I was in 8th grade- a very long time ago!

Gracedrops…..

And then I received a random text message from a friend who I see every once in a while, it said : “Praying for you this AM, Have a good day!”  I quickly answered thank you, how did you know? She said “The Holy Spirit told me!” I said HE was right on…She responded “He always is!”

Gracedrops…….

On Sunday mornings we usually get the kids ready for church and head out for the day. A morning full of Church, family and Sunday school. This Sunday was a bit different. Manley had to go to the  shop to help get the “Ox out of the Mud” which was approaching a consuming level. He was upset and exhausted after the previous weeks events.

I grabbed his arm and ran him over to the front window and said “Look in the driveway”.  he said “What are you talking about?” I said “Look!” Our driveway was filled with vehicles, it looked like a car lot! Our children’s vehicles. He looked at me and the smile came across his sweet face. “Yes” he said “I get it.”  This is what is important at this moment during this time. So quickly, we ran to the Dollar General and gathered up eggs and bacon for an ultimate French Toast breakfast for the children, trying hard to get started before they woke up.

Gracedrops…….

To many these may be random events, they may be insignificant but I choose to observe them as my blessings as I walk thru this adventure. I ran across this poem today and thought I would share….

May I walk this day
in the realm of grace,
walking with You
my feet firmly on your earth-path,
my heart loving all as kindred,
my words and deeds alive with justice.

May I walk as blessing,
meeting blessing at every turn
in every challenge, blessing,
in all opposition, blessing,
in harm’s way, blessing.

May I walk each step in this moment of grace,
alert to hear You
and awake enough to say
a simple Yes.

- Robert Corin Morris
Wrestling with Grace

Be Blessed today and watch out for those Gracedrops, you just might need an umbrella!

Executive Mom

Oh, Christmas Tree

Trace a cookie cutter onto felt, then punch multiple holes. Glue plastic beads over holes and hang in a window.