Friday, February 27, 2009

Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Chili (and Fun Pictures of My Clan)










Some day, I will start taking pictures of food to post along with my recipes, but until then, I'll just keep posting pictures of my children. They're cuter than the dishes I prepare, anyway.

We took a field trip to the Newport Aquarium with our homeschool group today. We had so much fun, despite the fact that Elizabeth has been under the weather all week and was not feeling her best. She insisted she wanted to go. She fell asleep before we got to the penguins, which are her favorites, but she enjoyed the time she was awake. I took my crew and one of Hannah's friends. There were twelve families in all on the trip. We didn't have the first problem (unless you count the time I took a wrong turn and had to do a u-turn on the interstate). The kids -- and the adults -- were well behaved and fun! Thank God for a safe trip, and for the opportunity to do exciting things like this with my little ones.

I'll share more stories later.

Now, the recipe. This is another from Kraftfoods. I emailed to ask if I could reprint their recipes on my high-traffic (he, he) blog. I got a very nice response telling me I could do so as long as I copied the recipe exactly as it appears and included a nice little quote. Then I accidentally deleted the email without copying the quote. Talented, I am. The gist of it, though, was as follows. This recipe courtesy of Kraftfoods.com. Visit Kraftfoods.com to sign up for their newsletter and family magazine, Kraft Food and Family.

I made this in the crockpot yesterday. I love chili, but I've never made it with salsa. This was super easy and super tasty. Nutritious, too. Try it on a busy day. If you live near me and are expecting snow this weekend, it would be great to warm up with after playing out in the snow, or after church, or after watching the UK game, if you can sit down and watch a basketball game without falling asleep. I remember that I used to enjoy that a great deal, but I don't seem to find the time these days. I digress. I was talking about food. Make this. It's yummy! Go here to print the recipe. (I don't know if it is totally lame to copy and paste recipes from another site onto my blog, but I didn't come up with the recipe on my own and can't take credit for it. It's still so good, though, and I want to share.)


What You Need
1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (15 oz.) light red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1-1/2 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Mild Salsa
1 can (16 oz.) no-salt added tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed, drained
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese
Make It

BROWN meat; drain. Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients except cheese; stir. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 5 to 6 hours (or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours).

STIR just before serving. Serve topped with the cheese.
TACO BELL® and HOME ORIGINALS® are trademarks owned and licensed by Taco Bell Corp.
Kraft Kitchens Tips
Serving Suggestion
Serve with a simple side of RITZ Crackers.
Serving Suggestion
For added color and flavor, top individual bowls of chili with BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream, OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Bits and/or coarsely crushed PREMIUM Saltine Crackers.

Enjoy! I'm preparing for another long night with my 2 year old, who is so over the sleeping thing. I'm open to suggestions if anyone knows the secret to getting her to go to bed at night and stay there until morning.

Bev

Monday, February 23, 2009

Chicken Pot Pie, and A Funny Kid




I just wanted to share this funny picture of Hope. She bounced into the dining room like this at bedtime last night. I don't know what else to say. She's a funny child.

I also want to encourage you to try a new recipe.

A few weeks ago, Mark asked me to make chicken pot pie. Shortly after that, I received an email from Kraft Foods with a pot pie recipe. Hmmm. Maybe Big Brother really is watching, but hey, if he sends yummy recipes, could he be all that bad?

Actually, I already had a good pot pie recipe, but it called for using phyllo dough, which I have not mastered. I sometimes make it without the crust and we call it Chicken Pot ____. This recipe is much better. Much, much better.

The recipe calls for Neufchatel cheese, which is like fat-free cream cheese. I tried it once before in a dip recipe and it was bad, so I was very skeptical. Trust me, it works here. (You could use the real stuff, too, I would imagine.) I like some ff foods, but my husband and children won't go near them. They loved this. It also calls for Light Zesty Italian Dressing, which my grocery store was out of, so I used FF Caesar Italian. It worked. It really is delicious.

You can print the recipe here. Sign up here to receive weekly emails from Kraft with recipes and fun ideas. They also have a free magazine you can register to receive. We've found several favorites in it, including an ice cream cake made with ice cream sandwiches and cookies that my children often request for birthday cakes. (For what it's worth, I have no connection to Kraft Foods. I'm just sharing what I think is good information.)

Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie


What You Need

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup KRAFT Light Zesty Italian Dressing
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)

HEAT oven to 375°F. Cook chicken in dressing in large skillet on medium heat 2 min. Add Neufchatel cheese; cook and stir until melted. Add flour; mix well. Add broth and vegetables; simmer 5 min.

POUR mixture into deep dish 10-inch pie plate. Arrange pie crust over filling; flute edges. Cut 4 slits in crust to allow steam to escape.

BAKE 30 min. or until crust is golden brown.

Really, it's that simple. Please make this. (If you have a big family, make two. My crew downed all but one serving, which Mark quickly claimed for lunch the next day -- and he does not often ask for leftovers.)






Have a fabulous day!

Bev

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Rainforest Trail Mix

We love trail mix at our house, and there are seemingly endless combinations you can use to make it. Here is another one you can try. I found it on the Nick Jr. website:. This is a really fun way to get children helping in the kitchen, even the little ones.

Diego's version:
3 cups mixed nuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried bananas
3/4 cup coconut
1 cup dried pineapple

Pour ingredients into a large bowl. Stir until evenly mixed. Enjoy!

My slightly different version:
1 container mixed nuts
1 really generous cup chocolate chips
1 bag tropical dried fruit
1 bag dried apricots (My children like these. I cut each apricot into fourths.)
1/2 can sweetened coconut flakes

Take Hope's hand out of chocolate chips. Take Elizabeth's hand out of chocolate chips. Repeat. Take Hope to table to color because she is not helping. Replace chocolate chips eaten by happy children. Help Elizabeth pour all ingredients into bowl. Help Elizabeth stir. Tell Elizabeth to stop picking out chocolate chips.

Store in airtight container.

If there is any left, we will have this with lunch tomorrow at our co-op. Yummy!

Enjoy!

PS -- Check out this blog. I just read about it on a news site.

Monday, February 16, 2009

It's a Llama




Elizabeth loves animals. We have so many stuffed animals, plastic animals, animals of various shapes and sizes in our house. She plays with them all day. She carts them from room to room, she pretends with them, she rescues them. She really enjoys them. Hope likes them, too, but she doesn’t insist on being surrounded by her menagerie at night like Elizabeth does.

She knows about animals, too. She has learned from Diego and the Wonder Pets (seriously!). Robert also teaches her a lot. When we go to the library, he always checks out a book or two on her level to read to her. (Is that the sweetest thing? I did not teach him to do that.) We have lots of books and magazines about animals, so she has lots of resources. (In educator speak, that is called having a print-rich environment. The Kentucky Department of Education would approve.)

Last week, I was reading a condensed version of the Lion King to her. When we got to the page with Timon and Pumbaa (yes, I looked up how to spell those names), I told her Pumbaa was a warthog, but I didn’t know what Timon was.

“That’s a meerkat, Mommy.”

“How do you know that? Did Robert teach you?”

“Uhm, no. It just looks like a meerkat.”

Forget fifth graders. I’m not smarter than a four-year-old.

So anyway, I’m saying all this to get to a point. Mark had the day off today, so I took the opportunity to leave the older children at home with him, doing chores and school work, to have some time out with my little girls. I rarely get out with just Elizabeth and Hope. I remember why now. Elizabeth is a delight to travel with. Hope still needs some practice. But I so wanted to enjoy a little Mommy time with them.

Our first stop was the bookstore. I told the girls they could each get one book. We found the clearance table and each chose a nice book. I had one thing to look for, and then we could go. Then they saw the animals. Did I mention that my girls like animals. The books were dropped and they began to plead. I honestly did not mind giving in because, believe it or not, these are not children who go into a store and cry for everything they see. They often ask for books (or critters, of course).

We began to look through the choices. Hope was pulling Backyardigans and Wonder Pets off the shelf faster than I could pick them up, when I saw a Boots the Monkey doll. (For those who do not know, Boots is the best friend of Dora the Explorer. For those who do not know, Dora the Explorer is a fabulous cartoon for preschoolers, at least in this mom's opinion.) Elizabeth has been asking her grandparents for a Boots doll for two years. They have searched high and low. They’ve bid on eBay. They’ve Googled. There are gazillions of Dora dolls, but apparently her best friend Boots is not as popular. I was so excited.

“Elizabeth! Look! They have Boots!”

“Yes, and they have llamas!”

Llamas? I am certain that I did not know what a llama was when I was four, but hey, I couldn’t recognize a meerkat last week, so that’s not saying much.

“But don’t you want a Boots doll? You’ve been looking for one for so long.”

“No. I just want a llama.”

I should have picked up Boots, too, but by this point Hope was getting frustrated at me for not letting her have ALL the animals, and she began to wail. I just wanted to get out of Dodge. Hope doesn’t cry. She wails. I don’t know what else to call it. Maybe howling is a fair description. So howling, wailing, whatever. It was loud. In the quiet bookstore. I did what any loving mom would do. I stuck a paci in her mouth. (Please don’t tell me she is too old for a pacifier. I don’t care. When the paci is not there she reaches for her thumb or finger. I’d rather deal with the paci. We have other issues to work on right now. The paci will go when it goes.)

It didn’t work. She can wail around the pacifier. I have some talented children. I found a chair in the back and sat down with her, holding her tightly until she calmed down. Elizabeth picked out an animal for Hope and we headed to the checkout. But we had to pass the animal shelf again, and thus the wailing began again. All I could do was scoop her squirmy body up and scoot along to the front of the store. Elizabeth, who makes up for this good stuff at other times, walked quietly beside me, cradling her precious llama. I paid for our selections, with a crying (but no longer fighting) child in my arms and we left.

How special this was turning out to be.

We made another stop at Walmart, where Hope was able to remain calm enough not to alert the security folks. I even decided we would have some lunch together at Subway. Elizabeth wanted pizza, which she didn’t touch. Hope fought to stay awake. And I just sat back and smiled at my little beauties. They are so sweet. Even when it’s 3:00 a.m. and they want to color or eat raisins. Even when they have meltdowns at the most inopportune times. They are still incredible, all five of my children are. I am thankful.

My husband and my parents wanted Elizabeth to have the Boots doll. She’s wanted one for so long, and really doesn’t ask for big things. In fact, she doesn’t ask for much at all. So when Mark went out for a haircut this afternoon, he picked it up for her. (So sweet.) Once she saw it, she decided she would be willing to keep it. She’s tucked in bed now, surrounded by her squeaky mouse, her dolphin, her puppy, her llama, and Boots. A dozen or more animals are at the foot of the bed.

These days will pass too quickly, so I want to enjoy and remember them all. I don’t know what I’ll do when she starts asking for real animals. Mark my word – we are not having a squeaky mouse or a monkey in this house, and I don’t think we have room for a llama.

:-)

Blessings,
Bev

Saturday, February 14, 2009

...

I don't understand.

I don't understand why fathers and mothers are taken from children who need them. I don't understand why children must suffer and are taken from parents who love them. I don't understand.

Today, I attended the funeral of SB (no names since I don't have permission to share this story). He was the 46-year-old father of four and husband to a beautiful wife who loved and adored him. It was heart-breaking.

On Monday, members of our homeschool organization received an email saying one of our members, SB, had died unexpectedly. He was riding his bicycle to work, as I assume he did often, when he collapsed in the middle of the street. I think he had a heart attack, but I am not certain.

S and his wife K have four children ranging in age from 5-17. They are a homeschool family. S worked as an accountant for the city. They were active in the church. Their two older children compete on a swim team. They are good people and he was a good dad.

I don't understand why God took him. I know that God does not owe me an explanation. I know that we are not promised tomorrow. I know everything God does is good. But how can it be good to take fathers from children, husbands from wives?

I know we are supposed to be thankful for the years God gave S to his family and friends. I know we are to praise God for his sovereignty. The pastor today reminded us that S belonged to him (God) and not to us. I understand that.

But it still seems too much to bear. When K and the children walked in before the service today, I could not hold back my tears. My heart breaks for them. I believe K is strong and wise, and I believe she will be okay. I believe the children will work through this grief and continue to grow and prosper, making their mother proud and honoring their father's memory.

But it seems so wrong. Five-year-olds shouldn't have to attend their father's funeral. Seventeen-year-olds need their dads. Thirteen year old girls need dads. Eight-year-old boys, full of energy and intelligence, need to grow up with their dads. K needs and loves S. It's too sad.

I admit that I have faced very little personal tragedy in my life. I've dealt with divorce of parents and ALL the baggage that goes with it; I've dealt with personal and family trials, but nothing like this. However, before we met, Mark lost two children in a car accident. I cannot fathom the pain and sadness. He moved on because he had to. He had three other children to raise on his own. He could not fall apart. He treasures the memory of his oldest children. We speak of them often and keep pictures on the wall. He has recovered as much as possible. But I know it still hurts.

K will do what she has to do. But it breaks my heart that she has lost her partner. When two become one, what happens when one is taken away, especially suddenly, unexpectedly, and way too early? How does a body heal? How does a heart heal?

I don't understand.

I don't understand why Osama Bin Laden gets to live while really good people are taken. Why do men and women who murder their children, who neglect or abuse helpless little ones, get to continue eating and breathing while fathers who love their children, who provide for them, who lead them spiritually, who are good, are taken? How can that be good?

How can it be good that Mark lost his little ones? Why does God do that?

I love my Lord. I know my every breath comes from him. I know I am worthy of nothing but death and hell. I know that in biblical terms, none of us is good. I am not challenging God. I am just expressing my feelings with all honesty. I don't understand, and I am sad.

I admit that I am also scared. I am scared of what would happen to us if Mark were taken from us. It seems we just got started building our lives. (Four and a half years is such a short time.) I am scared of how we would make it financially, not to mention the incredible hurt and loss. I am scared of how I could continue to homeschool, which is so important to us. How would I raise the children and make important decisions? I am scared.

Oh, how it scares me to think of God taking me from my family. They need me. I know that. The older ones have already lost so much, and Elizabeth and Hope need their mother. Mark needs me.

Life is hard and uncertain. Oh, may I remember how short it can be, and learn to focus on the important things. May I be a better wife and mother. May I be a better friend, and better servant, a better Christian. May our family find a way to minister to K and her children.

I still don't understand. It still hurts. I cannot fathom what the coming days and months will be like for this family. How I pray that God will wrap his arms around them and comfort them as only he can. How I pray that God will provide financially such that their lives can continue in something of a normal fashion. I pray they can continue to homeschool, that the children can go to college, that they can continue to swim and do all the things they love. I pray that K finds joy and comfort, that her heart heals.

I also humbly pray that God will forgive my foolishness and help me to trust in him with all my heart and lean not into my own understanding. May I acknowledge him in all my ways, and may he direct my paths. May my children grow to do so as well.

Bev

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My Four Year Old




My sweet Elizabeth turned four years old today. What a joy she is to my life. She was also an important part of bringing our family together. I've told this story before, but I want to share it here.

Everything in my world changed the day I married Mark. I became a wife, a mom, and a Texan all in the same moment. I do not recommend taking on all three challenges at once. Seriously. Do not let love blind you. Take it slowly.

Dallas is a big, hot place. Living there is a lot different than living in a small mountain town. You must get on the interstate to go to the grocery store. You must drive 180 mph when you are on the interstate. The interstate is always under construction. The people who are in charge of roads and stuff are forever building huge, multi-layered clover leaf things (pardon my technical language) to make room for the traffic, which means there is only one tiny lane available on which to drive 180 mph with thousands of other drivers, drivers who do not allow for safe stopping distance and who don't care that you are new and are still adjusting to life in the big city. This is only the beginning. If you have to make major life changes, at least stay close to home to do it. But let me move past that part.

Imagine all the other changes and adjustments. I became Mom to three energetic, smart children who were not used to having a mom around to care for them. I came into a house that had been run by a bachelor trying to work full time and feed, clothe, and homeschool those three energetic children. Ladies, your home is not dirty or messy. Trust me. I didn't know how to drive anywhere at first, and I certainly didn't know any neighbors. Our church was on the other side of the city, an hour away (how do I always manage to do that?). (Another side note, in the Texas heat, I was the only ding-dong on my street who opened my blinds during the day. I hated the heat, but I needed light!) It was all crazy and I often felt very alone.

The adjustments were not easy for the children, either. It had been just them and their dad for some time. They were a team. They had survived the divorce together. They got through losing their older brother and sister in a car wreck. They were a tight-knit team. They loved having a new mom to love them. They loved that I was now the cook (with all due respect to Mark and his oatmeal with apple juice and other delectable dishes). But I was different. My rules were different. My way of cleaning, of homeschooling, of organizing, of doing EVERYTHING was different than they were used to. I was an extra set of eyes to see what they were getting in to! Did Dad really think they were going to obey this new lady? Right.

It often seemed like I was the outsider invading this peaceful circle. The way they did things might not have been perfect, but it worked for them and they didn't want me coming in and changing things.

As if learning to be a family was not enough, I got pregnant. If I didn't know better, I would insist it happened when Mark and I exchanged rings during the wedding. It was really that fast. (We love to tease our friend Kim, who gently warned us, "Oh, it takes a while for couples' bodies to get in sync. Be prepared that it will likely take you a while to conceive.") A Texas summer, three children, a new husband (!), and morning sickness, which I am certain was named by a man who obviously knew nothing about pregnancy, or else he would have known that the sickness does not only occur in the morning. Oh, and I was more homesick than I could ever imagine. It was not pretty those first few months.

Then Elizabeth came. She was beautiful and perfect and full of joy. Her siblings loved her right away, and she connected with them. I honestly think she was the bond that God used to bring us all together. We were a family. The us and them feelings did not go away over night, but there was something about having Elizabeth that took away any divisions. Even now, Elizabeth lights up when she sees her siblings and they love when she bounces into the room.

Before Elizabeth was born , Mark was offered a job in Kentucky. The company agreed to let him wait until after the baby came to start work. I cannot express how happy I was to be going home (with due respect to Texans...). After an unplanned, early C-section delivery, I came home from the hospital with the task of finishing our packing and getting us ready for the move. Mark and Hannah got a nasty bug which knocked them out and sent them to bed for several days, and Elizabeth was jaundiced and had to spend several days and nights in a portable tanning bed contraption to help her heal. It was up to the boys, who were 8 and 9 at the time, and me to pack, care for the baby, care for the sick, take care of the dog, and survive. (Did I mention that I was recovering from a C-section?) Again, it was crazy.

But we did it. God blessed our feeble efforts. We worked together. We grew closer. And, praise God, we made it home. (I insisted that I would have strapped Elizabeth to my chest and walked the entire 1000 miles.) Life is still crazy in our home. It's just a different kind of crazy. We love it, most days.

Elizabeth is certainly an important part who we are. Happy Birthday, my precious darling. Thank you for loving me, for teaching me about joy, for loving your Daddy and your siblings. Thank you for the light you bring to your grandparents' eyes, which melts my heart. Thank you for crawling in my bed in the middle of the night and whispering, "Mommy, can I sleep in your bed?" Thank you for snuggling up next to me and putting those tiny, precious hands on my face. I love you more than I ever dreamed possible. May God bless you and draw you close to himself, may he give you the joy of salvation and may you have many, many, many more joyful birthdays.

Mom

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ice and Snow and Cold, Oh My









Oh, it has been an interesting week here in central Kentucky. The fun started on Tuesday last week (I think) with freezing rain that coated every surface and left a thick layer of ice. Wide spread power outages followed. I was awakened Tuesday night to a flash of light (still don't know what it was) and the sound of my garage door opening a bit. That happened two more times, then everything went quiet. It scared my socks off. Well, I wasn't wearing socks because I was in bed, but it really, really frightened me. I thought our fuse box (right term?) had caught on fire, so I woke Mark and sent him downstairs to check everything. Once he assured me that there was no fire, just broken power lines, I added an extra blanket to everyone's bed, opened my blinds so I could watch the dark, and tried to go back to sleep.

Hope decided it was more fun to play in the dark than to sleep (at 1:00 in the morning!), so I did not sleep. I added layers to her pajamas and watched the neighborhood while she played with Little Ponies in the dark. I have interesting children. Throughout the night, I saw frequent flashes of light as power lines around the area snapped from the weight of the ice. It was scary and fascinating at the same time. Hope did eventually go back to sleep, and so did I, but we were both up again before dawn.

We knew the storm was coming, and we tried to prepare. I asked Mark to stop at the grocery store on his way home from work on Monday to get a few supplies. I wanted to make sure we had plenty to eat if we got snowed in. He got home really late with his shirt tail hanging out and his hair all mussed. He looked rough.

"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked.

"I'm not the only person who stopped on the way home for essentials. Everyone has been listening to Bill Meck." He paused to take a deep breath. "I tried to get milk, but two ladies fought me for the last gallon. I thought I had it, but then an eight year old rammed me with a cart, so I gave up." He held up a mashed loaf of bread. "I did get bread though. Tell me we needed bread. I snatched it off the shelf as a snarky blonde woman was reaching for it. She said some nasty words and grumbled something about taking food from a pregnant lady, but I just kept going."

He was pretty pathetic. But I digress. We had plenty to eat, but we did not have an alternative source of heat. Mark got out early on Wednesday morning to look for a generator or heater, but you don't wait until the storm arrives to look for such supplies. There were none left in the region. Since we did not know how long it would last, we took the children to a motel. Our power was back on that night, but there are still people in the area without power. The ice storm was followed by a short snow storm that dumped about two or three inches of snow on top of the ice. Icing on a cake? Frosting on a popsicle? Crazy.

By the way, in the midst of feeding children and packing for the motel, my dad called from eastern Kentucky and reminded me that I have a brand new kerosene heater in his storage building. I used to live in a little house in the country. When I bought my home, I purchased a kerosene heater because little storms often kick the power off. When I married Mark and moved to Texas, I didn't think we would need the heater, so I asked Dad to hold on to it or pass it along to someone who could use it. When we moved back to Kentucky, I forgot about the heater. Hmph. It's in my garage now. Kerosene is smelly, but at least it will keep us warm if we are without heat again.

Saturday and Sunday brought warmer temperatures and lots of thawing, but there is still a thick layer of ice on my driveway and in my backyard. It's snowing again today, so I have two more inches of snow on top of the nice slick ice. At least the trees and other plants are okay now. It's amazing to see all the tree branches along the streets here. So many broke from the weight of the ice. I don't remember ever seeing trees and bushes completed coated in ice and bent over touching the ground. It has all been quite an experience.

I could say so much more, but it's probably only interesting to me. In all seriousness, the storm was a mere inconvenience for my family. There are others who truly suffered. Twenty-four people lost their lives in Kentucky. As many died from carbon monoxide poisoning as did from hypothermia. So tragic. Please continue to pray for those still without power or who have lost loved ones.

My crazy, er, darling sons are about to go out to sled on our frozen pond (backyard). If I don't spend the afternoon at the ER, I'll take pictures and post again.

Thanks to those of you who have asked where I've been. I love blogging, but it takes time and I really am trying to keep my home and school in order. The blog has to take a lower number on the priority list. I will try to be more consistent, though. I do love writing.

Blessings,
Bev