Shepherd Fish Fry ::: How-To

Several asked after this post for our fish fry recipe ... it is soooo easy! We don't even have one of those fancy deep fryers. We just use a tall pot (like a stock pot) and put about 3+ inches of oil at the bottom of it. (We used regular vegetable oil). For your batter, all you need is pancake batter and 7-Up. That's it! Buy a box of Bisquick and dump a couple cups into a bowl. Slowly add your 7-Up until it's a nice consistency. You don't want it too thick, and you don't want it too thin (so that it runs off your fish as you dip it). It's hard to explain ... next time we cook up fish I'll try and remember to take a picture a la Pioneer Woman. LOL I can tell you that it looks thinner than regular pancake batter would look. Then, you drop them gently in your hot oil (and the oil needs to be good and hot!) until they are a golden brown. Pull them out and let them drain on a paper towel to remove the excess grease. A note: when you are frying your fish, don't put too many in at one time - we probably cook 5-6 pieces at a time. Otherwise, they will lay on top of each other and start sticking to the bottom of your pan or each other. Then it's just a mess to get them out and to clean your pan later. Less is more in this case. :) (Oh, the hush puppies were just a bag mix from Martha White ... bought at Walmart. If you are frying fish, hush puppies are a must!)

Anyway, that's our secret batter recipe in a nutshell. My Dad got this recipe many, many years ago from a friend that worked in the meat industry. At the time, this was the way that Captain D's prepared all their fried fish. I don't know if that's changed, but it is our family's recipe and VERY tasty as you can see from this crazy girl below. :)

ScrapHappy ::: A Recent 30-Minute Thursday Challenge

The challenge: scrap your favorite song. This is a song that I've been wanting to scrap ever since Travis played it for me ... all about Daddy's and daughters. Written out here with a picture of him with each of his girls from our summer vacation.

If you leap awake
In the mirror of a bad dream
And for a fraction of a second
You can't remember where you are
Just open your window
And follow your memory upstream
To the meadow in the mountain
Where we counted every falling star

I believe the light that shines on you
Will shine on you forever
And though I can't guarantee
There's nothing scary hiding under your bed
I’m gonna stand guard
Like a postcard of a Golden Retriever
And never leave till I leave you
With a sweet dream in your head

Trust your intuition
It's just like going fishing
You cast your line
And hope you'll get a bite
But you don't need to waste your time
Worrying about the market place
Try to help the human race
Struggling to survive its harshest night

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

Butterfinger Cake

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
10 oz. cola or diet cola
1 egg white
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 T. peanut butter
8 oz. frozen whipped topping (such as cool whip), thawed
7 Nestle fun-size Butterfinger candy bars

Combine cake mix, cola and egg white. Bake according to cake mix instructions in a greased 9x13 pan.

A few minutes before the cake is to be done, combine sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in a saucepan. Cook and stir on low to make creamy and warm.

When cake is done and still hot, poke holes in top of cake with a knife and pour peanut butter mixture over top of cake. You may have to spread the mixture a little to help it go down into the holes. Sprinkle top with half of the chopped Butterfingers. Cook cake completely.

Cover with Cool Whip and sprinkle remaining Butterfingers over top. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Yum, and double yum. I'm also thinking a substitution of caramel for the peanut butter and some heath toffee bars might be exceptionally yummy as well.

What's On My Nightstand ::: July 29

This month, I'm taking part in a new book lover's carnival over at Five Minutes for Books. I love the idea of peeking in to everyone's current pile o' pages and I fear that my Amazon wish list will suffer from all the book suggestions! :)


My current pile ... which doesn't actually reside on my nightstand, but on the side table in our family room ... is above. I'm currently reading Along Came a Cowboy which was sent to me for review. The first few chapters had me questioning whether this was going to have enough "meat" to make it worth my time, but the characters are winning me over. Apparently this is also the 2nd book in a series, but I haven't found myself lost even though I haven't read book #1. House of Wolves is also a review book that I hope to get to shortly - I've not read anything by the author so I have no idea what to expect on this one!

I'm currently using No Other Gods by Kelly Minter as my summer Bible study. So far, I've been more than challenged to look for different idols that I've put up in my life instead of the true God. (Not to mention this book comes with some seriously delicious recipes in it. I'm going to try out the Butterfinger cake and will report back!)

The last two books are ones that I haven't started yet, but are ones I want to get to soon! For the Children's Sake is one that has been recommended to me over and over - I've only heard good things about this one! And Five Little Peppers and How They Grew is one that I want to read/preview as a possible read-aloud book with my girls down the road. I don't think they are quite ready for it yet (it's a pretty big book), but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it more than once. *wink* :)

If you want to play along, head over to Five Minutes for Books and post your nightstand reading list! I'm planning to be back next month!

Shepherd Fish Fry ::: Yum

Shepherd Fish Fry ::: Yum


Originally uploaded by stephaniedshepherd

More pics up over on Flickr, but we had a yummy good time tonight eating fried fish that Daddy caught last week at Lake Texoma. All the girls pronounced it good, although admittedly Elizabeth with most enamored with the hush puppies! :)

The Simple Woman's Daybook ::: July 28

Do visit Peggy's to see all the other daybook posts this week!

FOR TODAY

Outside my Window ... hot, steamy, summer. Welcome to the south!

I am thinking ... about how much I am looking forward to this week! Minimal errands, our family is back together, and, as far as I know, I am just watching my own children this week. :) (We had a GREAT time with the cousins in our six days of day camp, but we need to get back on our routines and do a little catch-up on some things around the house).

I am thankful for ... Some new clothes ... my Dad took my sister shopping for a few new birthday outfits and I also benefited with a few goodies. A very unexpected blessing!

From the kitchen ... I need to have a grocery and menu plan by mid-week, but I think we will be having a fish fry tomorrow night to cook up some fish Travis brought home from his guys' trip last week! Yum! I also have to make a snack for my last summer Bible study get together on Wednesday and can't decide what to make. I'm torn between a new recipe for a Butterfinger cake or this yummy fruit salsa that you eat with cinnamon tortilla chips that I've made before.

I am creating ... some scrapbook layouts - I did three last week while Travis was traveling. :) This week, I hope to do some more, as well as make a notebook for Christmas planning. Yes, it's early, but I have some things I want to make this year and need to make a plan how I expect to get it all done.

I am going ... to make haircut appointments for all us girls this week (minus baby E). N1 especially wants to get her hair cut, and we DO need to trim it up so it's little less tangle-y.

I am wearing ... black sleep pants and t-shirt.

I am reading ... Along Came a Cowboy (a review book I recently received). While Travis was gone, I read three books (I have a hard time going to sleep while he's away): The Shack by William Young, The Jewel of Gresham Green by Lawana Blackwell, and All Through the Night by Davis Bunn. I think it's about time to pick up something non-fiction. :)

I am hoping ... for a quiet week, lots of time to settle back into just us at home since it seems things have been a little upside down since our family vacation at the beginning of the month.

I am hearing ... E tottering around and being extremely cute. :)

Around the house ... Laundry day today! Otherwise on the agenda this week is a needed mop of the kitchen and bathroom and a plan to go through my closet and dresser and clean them out.

One of my favorite things ... my journal, writing things down, and taping little memories in there.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... other than scheduling haircuts and women's Bible study on Wednesday, we have nothing. However, this coming weekend is another story. The girls are going to the grandparents and my sister's, respectively, and T and I have a kid-free weekend here at home for our anniversary. :) I'm looking forward to sleeping in past 6:30 a.m., maybe going to see a movie and eating out, and just hanging with my favorite person. I'm a little sad my girls will be gone (especially E since this is her first time away from me overnight *sniffsniff*) but I really need this recharge.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... I think this was my favorite pic from our "day camp" trip to the zoo. N1's first time on a carousel by herself riding one of the animals. I love the laughing expression on her face here!

I think this is cool

Starting School

Several weeks ago, I shared a few plans for our pre-K that we would be embarking on at the beginning of July. Plans have been derailed just a bit over the last few weeks ... vacation took us a little further into July and we need several days of re-entry from that; that was followed by "day camp" with the cousins for six days. Our schedule and planning sort-of went out the window so, with a little reshuffling, we are starting up this Monday!

Our theme this coming week is going to be the United States. I was able to find some nice sized wall maps at Target (in their $1 section) and bought both a US map and World map to hang in our learning area. Some of the activities we will be doing this week are:

• locating our country on the world map, locating our state on the USA map (and where our Ohio grandparents live), and locating Washington D.C. on the map


• talking about symbols of the United States (the flag, the White House, the Liberty Bell, the eagle, etc.) Using information from Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government website for this.


• a bald eagle lunch bag craft (I want to start having a craft time on Thursdays this year ... more on this later).


• listen to the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. N1 hears the pledge every week at Awana and I want to work with her on officially committing it to memory this fall.

We'll also be working on our letter of the week ("w" in our Explode the Code books) and some dot-to-dot pages that have larger numbers in them (not just dot-to-dot to 10, but 30 or 40+). Lastly, we made a HUGE trip to the library on Thursday and so lots of reading is in our future, along with several books about the US. If any of those are winners, I'll post later on which ones we really enjoyed!

Anyway, this is our humble beginnings. My plan for the following week, Lord willing, is to spend a week on the Olympics and China. I always look forward to the opening ceremonies and the games and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to tie in to this big event. We'll be using material put together by Candace at His Mercy is New ... I probably won't do as much as she has laid out since her girls are a little bit older, but I thoroughly appreciate the head start that she is giving me here! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend! We are expecting Travis home from a fishing trip any minute and are ready to hang out and play with him this evening. :)

Friday Felicities ::: 7/25

Things that make me happy...

• this book - The Jewel of Gresham Green - a continuation of a story that I have been hoping would be written for years and it did not disappoint!


• anticipation of seeing The X-Files Movie next weekend (hopefully!) Yes, there is a little bit of the science fiction geek in me, as long as it is not too creepy. :)


• breakfast burritos


• a freshly vacuumed floor


• a huge stack of books from the library


• Proverbs 15:1 - a verse that has been at the front of my mind continually the last couple weeks

Hosted by Becky - link up if you play along!

I am probably biased...

But this video cracks me up. If you have a Wii, and you have gotten a decently high school on any of the games, then you have seen the little happy dance performed by your Mii. Well, this is Noelle's version. And it makes me laugh every. single. time. she does it. So, indulge this mother and tell me that my baby is pretty darn cute. :)

Clipboard Fun

So, Travis is having a little R&R right now and I had the house to myself last night. I was a little too wound up to sleep so I started a project that has been percolating for a few weeks. The girls are always stealing my clipboard so with them on sale at Wal-Mart for .97 cents a piece it was time to act. :)

This took a little more time that I thought it would, but the girls love them. I cut out everyone's name and an accompanying piece of clip art and then used my Xyron to adhere it to the clipboard. (Travis bought me my Xyron machine either the Christmas we were engaged or our first married one - I have used it a ton!)

I will confess that once I showed them to Noelle she decided that she needed Hello Kitty like I had so we took her sheep off ... not recommended since Xyron adhesive REALLY sticks! But we made her a cat and covered where some of the paper was stuck to the clipboard with a piece of pink cardstock. Lastly, I covered it all with a piece of contact paper so that any loose edges that might eventually stick up were not too tempting for little fingers.

A final touch, if you want:



Ribbon on the little clip. What would a girlie clipboard be without a bow on top. (Also good for covering that sometimes sharp hook-thing to protect little feet). I think these are going to get a lot of use !