New Year resolutions: Without a Word

To be honest I’m not big into the whole New Year’s resolutions, so obviously if I’m making a public resolution it is something I really want to accomplish.   So here is the story, it all started about a month ago.

It all began a wintery Sunday morning in December ,   Joey and I arrived to church a few minutes late and entered to a discussion on the role of a husband to love his wife.  As we went around and shared how each of us are loved in different ways our always introspective teacher directed our attention to Eph. 5:25-27, specifically what does it mean to “make her holy.”   The men had some ideas, being a good example, being a leader, showing restraint, the list went on.  Then my lovely husband said some times this might be corrective in nature, putting things in perspective, encouraging an apology, ending gossip.

Conversation quickly turned to “is it ok for a wife to correct her husband."   We all seemed to feel that sometimes something just needs to be said and that it was ok for us to “make him holy.”  One lady much wiser than me said, she noticed that if she corrected or said something to her husband it only seemed to lead to frustration, but if she let it go and prayed, things seemed to resolve themselves.  Wow, good for her, but my husband sometimes need pointed in the right direction, right. He is still the leader, I just want him to know my opinion, gain some perspective, for him to see things the way I do.  Because for goodness sake I have the best ideas, they are usually fool proof.

Well that afternoon I kept thinking of 1 Peter 3:4, a verse I had memorized nearly 25 years ago.  So I decided I should turn there and check it out.  I read verse 1, “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,”

“Without a word”, I had to read it again, probably 5 times, clearly this is an answer to our Sunday school discussion, but no i should read it again.  Sure enough nothing changed it still said, “Without a word”.  If you know me even a slight bit you know I’m not the quietest person and I’m a fixer.  I’ve learned that I can only “fix” those I’m close too; I’m not trying to be bossy, just to help you do the task in an easier manor.  I guess that is either bossy or pushy, but they say the first step is to recognizing you have a problem. 

So my resolution is to work towards the gentle and quiet spirit talked about in 1 Peter 3 by trying my hardest to live daily “WITHOUT A WORD.”

Taco Tuesday: Tortilla soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipies, Joey and I love it so much that we served it at our rehersal dinner.  It is hearty and has the perfect amount of kick to warm your soul on a cold day. This recipie is addapted from Joey's good friend's mom, the original recipe was very good but I'm not a recipe follower so after making hers once or twice I addapted to the things I commonly had in my house and just threw some other things things in, the result- deliciousness.  

You will need:
1 large onion
1 Jalapeno
2 cloves minced garlic
2  drained cans of Black Beans
1 frozen bag of corn
4 cups of chicken
1 packet of Taco seasoning
1 large can of V8
Stock in a Box (chicken or veg)
4 cans of Rotel
1 T of dried cilantro
1 T ground Cumin
1 T chili powder

Step 1- Chop onion, garlic and jalapeno, saute in a large stock pot on med high heat. (5 Min)
Step 2- Add corn and saute a few more minutes, then add the remaining ingredients
Step 3- Let simmer for 15 minutes or more
Step 4- Serve with chips, cheese,  and sour cream, some times I also add green onions and black olives.

this soup is hearty enough to omit the chicken and have a vegetarian meal.

Kid friendly Christmas Craft

I attempted three times to post this yesterday and each time something screwed up.  I had to stop attempting or I was sure to lose the Christmas spirit. It seemed only appropriate that on the first day of December I post a Christmas craft, but with Joey out of town I had no one to couteract my lack of computer competency.   For all my DIY friends and momma's looking for something to do with your children this one is easy.  I have discoverd that when making this with my class we did it "wrong".  We still ended up with an Ornament, but it would of been smaller and easier to fit on a tree if we had done it correctly.

You will need: about 4 toilet paper rolls or 2 paper towel rolls to make one ornament. In addition you will need two pipe cleaners and optional would be paint and or gitter and we covered ours in Mod Podge to seel in the glitter. 

Step 1- Flatten then decorate your cardboard roll, cover in Mod Podge and let dry.
Step 2- Cut the roll into one inch sections, they should look like little circles.. (this is the step we messed up, we used ten whole rolls for our first set, on our second set we cut them correctly and the look is much more delicate.)
Step 3- Use a hole punch and put a hole about 3/4 of an inch in on each side of the cut roll.
Step 4- Cut about 3 inches off one pipe cleaner and twist it to the other.  Thread the smaller pipe cleaner through the bottom set of holes, thread the larger through the top set of holes.
 Step 5- Bring the small pipe cleaner together and twist creating a circle, then repeat with the longer pipe cleaner.

Now hang your pretty star on the Tree.   I wish I had taken photos of the small stars too, but we did this at school and I only got ones of the large.

Taco Tuesday- Black Bean Salsa

So I feel bad that I didn't post this last week as planned, but Tuesday was out of control.  My class does thanksgiving and between Monday and Tuesday I had already spent 16hrs in the kitchen cooking/cleaning and the last thing on my mind was posting this recipe.  

Minnie this one is for you and Drew, 
BLACK BEAN SALSA!

Ingredients:

1 Can Black Beans

2 Cups Frozen Corn

1 med size Red Onion

1 Green Pepper

4 Jalapenos

1 med size Tomato

Fresh Cilantro

Juice of one Lime

1 T Cumin

Salt and Pepper

Use a large bowl, this makes a lot, place drained beans and corn in the bowl, add vegetables as you chop them. Remember I like it spicy so use fewer Jalapenos if you're not a fan of the heat and make sure you de-seed the jalapenos. If you love spicy you can also chop the Jalapenos with the seeds in (Yummy!)  Stir together with some cilantro the juice of the lime and salt and pepper.  The secret ingredient is hidden in the next photo, you as little or as much as you like!

This can be eaten as a salad, with chips, or on a tortilla.

50 X 30

I feel like all my recent post have been on turning … 30 .  This is one of the things I meant to write about in September, but if you read the “dark truth about thirty” you’ll remember that I was a bit under the weather that month and also went back to work, so needless to say I’m finally getting around to writing this.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

So 50 by 30 is in reference to a bucket list item Joey and I crossed off our list this summer.  Seven years ago I was privileged to marry an amazing man who had many of the same passions as I yet also balances my weakness and shortcomings

 Hounaunau Bay, Hawaii

Growing up, I had always dreamed of taking road trips and I’m not talking about an 8 hour drive to grandmas.  I dreamt of driving across the country not knowing when or where you were going to stop/sleep and being in a new place each day.  

Glacier National Park, Montaina
 (not my photo, some how we lost all our Glacier photos)

Well the summer before Joey and I met, he had done a road trip covering the states west of the Mississippi River.  Needless to say, it wasn’t right when we got married but shortly thereafter we started taking road trips… longest 9000 miles in 3 weeks shortest 300 miles in 5 days.

Calf Creek, Escalante, Utah

It took us three years to visit the 48 contiguous states and I was ok with ending there, but in 2010 Joey’s mom took us to Alaska for our birthdays and although it wasn’t a road trip we did take a cruise which meant we were in a different place each day.

Honolulu, Hawaii
(Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head Crater,  Pearl Harbor, Luau)

So, we couldn’t stop now we had one more state till we hit all 50!  So this summer we went to Hawaii, visiting Oahu and doing our shortest road trip around The Big Island. 

Savannah, GA

 The 50 is referring to visiting the 50 states and 30 is in reference to the fact that we did it before either of us turned 30!

Arches National Park, Ut.
(notice the little arch beneath) 

My top 10 places in the United States are represented by the Photos! Although this list is not quite fair, by far my favorite states are Utah and Hawaii, they both offer so much beauty but there are some really amazing places, both city and scenic, in the United States.

Volcano National Park, HI

Needless to say I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful and fun country.

Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, AK
(the glacier is 7 miles wide and it is 300 ft above water, equivalent of 30 stories)

Also, like any girl my favorite city is New York, it just doesn’t seem to count as a “road trip” since we usually just go there.  Oh and trying to find photos of the top 10 I realized I love Sana Monica, CA.  Also some romantic New England areas are the Thousand Islands, NY,  Bar Harbor, ME, and New Port, RI. 

Seattle, WA

PS. I wouldn't recommend doing 9000 miles in 3 weeks; all you do is Drive J

Taco Tuesday: Guacamole

This is one of my favorite Taco Tuesday staples.  Avocados are so good for you, full of omega 3’s and other good fats.  Defiantly something you can feel good about eating, and even more so when you make it yourself.  You can find some good pre-made guacamole in your local market, but I have never found one I like as much as this recipe.  It is so easy anyone can make it!  Now some times Avocados are a bit pricy, I only make guacamole when I can find them for around a dollar or less.

You will need the following:
2 Avocados

½  a small red onion finely chopped

1 small tomato finely chopped and de-seeded

2 Jalapenos de-seeded and finely chopped (you can do less or more depending on your heat preference)

1 garlic clove pressed

1 Tbsp of Cumin

½ a lime

Basically you mix all these together then take a fork and mash, be sure to add salt and pepper to taste or it will be rather bland.

Here are three tips that I find helpful:

1. To cut the Avocado, once you have the two halves take you knife and whack the seed then pull the knife back, the seed should come right out.  Use a spoon to scrape the avocado off of the skin.

2. Chop the onion last, so you don’t have to smell it (cry) while you cut the other ingredients.  

3. When following the recipe adjust for your “spice” level.  I love spicy so I put the jalapenos in seeds in all, but normally you would de-seed before chopping, the seeds are where much of the heat comes from.  You may want to try it the first time with just one.

I served it with leftover chicken and black beans that where re-heated together and then seasoned with gluten free Old El Paso original taco seasoning mix.

YUMMY

Taco Tuesday

Mexican food, traditions, and alliteration!  

Who would have ever thought one day could bring so much.  About 5 years ago Joey and began celebrating Taco Tuesday, the best part is we get to participate every week.  It has been exciting to find how many others celebrate too, even The Simpson’s!  This point was only driven home when my friend Carrie and I traveled to LA for spring break and discussed our love of Taco Tuesday before we even arrived and decided that the most important part of the trip was celebrating this day.   We both were so excited about Taco Tuesday that we had breakfast at a Taco Truck and when we made new friends from Switzerland we insisted that they join us for dinner so that they could experience Taco Tuesday.  Yeah I am that serious.  

the usual Taco Tuesday culprits! 

Now Joey and I don’t always take it literally, sometimes we do a quesadilla or tortilla soup, but usually we have turkey burger, black bean salsa, and guacamole.  So my hope is to do a few posts about my favorite Taco Tuesday recipes and post it early enough that you can make it at home!

I love tortilla's that are warmed like this, about 5 sec on each side

So this week is just a teaser… in the next few weeks I will post guacamole, black bean salsa, and chicken tortilla soup.  Perhaps I might post some other foods as well, but I wrote these three recipes, all the other things I make are written by others. 

Yummy!

Next Week: Guacamole