Serving Others - And Loving It!

I can never say enough about how much I respect and am grateful to be a part of the Premier Designs Jewelry company and family of jewelry ladies (and hard working men in many of the husband-wife teams).  The core values, high standards and founding principles are rock solid on the Bible's teachings.  The company is ALL about honoring God, serving others and enriching lives.  Just good, warm feelings!

Mike and I agreed to invest in this company and own my own jewelry business almost five years ago.  It started out being a way for me to have a "girls' night out" and to meet new, wonderful ladies.  And I most certainly have met some of the most wonderful friends because of God using Premier to introduce them to me. 

The company has been in business for 26 years now.  As Premier has seen wonderful growth, so have I in my self and my heart in serving others.  Every so often I find that I have wondered off track by thinking about the monetary goals and successes that Premier has blessed me with, and then I get knocked over by a gentle reminder to get back to beating a true servant's heart.

Joan Horner, who along with her husband Andy founded Premier Designs, has left behind many wise insights to a "servant heart".  But the two that have really spoken to me lately are: "This new year, look ahead and strive to add something positive to each life you come in contact with, expecting nothing in return." and "Being a role model does not make you a celebrity, it makes you a servant with huge responsibilities."

Click to learn more about Premier Designs Jewelry.  Or to see an example of just how truly generous this company is, click on Premier Designs' Blog to learn more about The Big $20 Million Giveaway that is taking place from October 29th - December 16th.  Premier Jewelers across the nation have already knocked it out of the park before the seven week time frame for this goal - last week we tallied $22 Million in FREE Jewelry that has been given to ladies who have hosted home shows from October 29th until now!  Pretty amazing!

On a side note, but related because this is about serving my family, I have been working on being more efficient with our evening meal times and planning for those times together at the dinner table.  The crockpot has been an instrumental help to make this actually happen without steam coming out of my ears as I chase a five year-old around the house and stuff Cheerios, grapes, cheese, dog treats (ha!) or whatever is the closest food item nearby to appease the bottomless pit we call an almost two year-old until dinner is ready.

The crockpot has been the cure to all the evening madness.  I walk in, the house smells yummy and "alla peanut butter and jelly sandwiches", as the Count on Sesame Street says, dinner is served.  Brilliant!  The only thing better would be to have Betty Crocker herself welcoming us home every evening with a homemade meal already divinely spread out on the table.

I want one of those...one Betty Crocker please, Santa???  I would settle for a larger crockpot with a timer.  Have you noticed how much my two little men are eating?  Can you imagine what their eating patterns are going to be like in 10 years?  Yikes!  Scratch that request Santa, I need an army of Betty Crockers and 10 crockpots, pretty please! 

I have been fortunate enough to find a couple of really good, extremely easy recipes that make enough to even have leftovers.  And my coworkers have all "awed" and drooled over those lunchtime leftovers, so I thought I would make it easy for everyone and share the most recently found, attempted and kid-approved recipes.

No-Peek Beef Casserole
2 lb. stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 (4 oz) can whole mushrooms (We don't like mushrooms, so I left them out.)
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of celery soup

Combine ingredients in a Crockpot and stir together well.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 - 12 hours.  Serve over noodles or rice.  You may cook this on HIGH 5 - 6 hours.  Servings: 4 - 5.  NOTE:  I added approx. a cup of chicken broth to add moisture to ensure that the meat didn't scorch or stick.


Easy Corn Chowder
2 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 bag (16 oz) frozen corn kernels
3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (I substituted with paprika.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled

Place all ingredients except for the heavy cream and bacon into the slow cooker.  Cover; cook on LOW 7 - 8 hours.  Partially mash soup mixture with potato masher to thicken.  Stir in cream; cook on HIGH, uncovered, until hot.  Season to taste. Garnish with bacon.

My kiddos had two helpings each... and mom had one and a half plus leftovers the next day for lunch!