The Joy of Grace

Try it Tuesday Jan 19

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Well, I think another weekly post may be evolving…Try it Tuesday!

I love trying new recipes. The easier, the better. The yummier, the wonderfulness of it. With a bit of healthiness thrown in there…just keep it mind the word bit there. I did learn to cook from quite the Southern cook (Honey) and we Southerners do love our butter, sugar and sour cream!

So, here’s my goal: try a new recipe each week and if it’s good, I’ll share it with you the following Tuesday. Go ahead. Try it out too. And, if you don’t want to, that’s okay…we love company and we especially love to eat with company.

Just so you know: I’m quite the fan of Southern Living. So, a lot of the recipes will probably be from there, as is this one. Bon appetit!

Turkey-Black Bean Chili

6-8 servings

3 (15 oz.) cans of black beans

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 lb. ground turkey

1 T. olive oil

4 t. chili powder

1 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1 (14 oz.) can low-sodium fat-free chicken broth

2 (14.5 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers

1. Drain and rinse 2 cans of black beans. (Don’t drain 3rd can.)

2. Saute chopped onion and ground turkey in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring often, 8-10 minutes or until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in chili powder and next 3 ingredients; saute 1 minute. Stir in drained and undrained beans, chicken broth, and diced tomatoes.

3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve chili with desired toppings.

Toppings: sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, slicked jalepeno peppers, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes, lime wedges, corn chips

Laurin’s pick for toppings: Cheese, chips and lime wedges

Aaron’s (my sweet husband who has quite the culinary take on things) Suggestion: Don’t add so many black beans…maybe 2 cans instead of 3.

Ten Things Thursday Jan 14

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1. Let me start off with an apology today. To the 15 or so people that I could think of that have stayed in our guest bedroom/playroom/computer room/and now Wii room: I am sorry for the sheets that totally and embarrassingly felt like sandpaper on which you slept. Aaron and I slept on them the other night and it was quite overwhelming as I thought of all the precious family and friends who slept on them. I am sorry. They have been replaced. Please come again.

Aubrey’s world…

2. We are learning that Aubrey takes things very literally. When told to bow her head for prayer, she literally gets her hands on her head and uses them to bow her head.

3. “Fass” is her new favorite thing to say as she climbs the stairs. You may assume she is saying “fast”. No. No. We are also learning that Aubrey does not do anything fast so we are teaching her what it means to focus instead. We say focus to her as she climbs the stairs in hopes that she will not let things like a piece of lint on the floor, a scratch on the wall, and such as things like this distract her so that she may be focused, and in doing so, actually go a little bit faster. She is definitely our “stop and smell the flowers” child.

Savannah’s world…

4. Baby. Fever. Someone has got it and it’s not the mommy. It is big sister Savannah.

5. Perhaps I should not have let her go in the infant nursery room with me Sunday at church for that 4 minutes while we were waiting for her teacher to get to the classroom. On the way home, she told us she really wanted a baby. A baby brother. She even told Aubrey that next time around, we would be getting a brother.

6. She wants to name him Jonas.

7. She has also started calling me Mother. I have not a clue where she got that. She looked up at me in the grocery store the other day, sighed, and said: “Mother, I really want a baby brother. I mean, really. really. really.” (sigh).

8. All that to say, I will say that when I do keep the infants in the nursery at church, my stomach no longer churns when I think about the baby stage. I’m much more of an “over 9 months of age” kind of mom in my most natural state of mind. Thankfully, my heart is not all the time in that state and will give in one of these days I am sure.

Feeling like a bad mom moments of the week…

9. Savannah was eating Cheerios out of a sandwich baggy the other night when she crunched down on something that did not sound like a Cheerio. My thought: “Now, why would they put a stale marshmallow in a box of Cheerios?????” What it really was: 2 extra strength Tylenol that I had put in a baggie and unknowingly put Cheerios for Savannah in that same baggie. Aaron immediately pulled up the number for Poison Control and they assured us that the possible 1 Tylenol she ate (I stumbled upon some sort of sense after my initial marshmallow thought and grabbed the pill from her mouth) would do no harm.

10. At the grocery store the other day, S and A were “looking” at something at the checkout (gum or something like that) while I was paying. I told them: “Girls, in one minute it will be time to go.” I think A only heard the “time to go” part and starts running full force past me, past all the aisles, and right out the door. Not the outside door, thankfully. I had to sprint to catch her. Yeah, I know. She should have stopped and come the first time I called her. She didn’t. I felt like a bad mom with a crazy child who doesn’t listen to me. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Be still my soul Jan 13

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Around 5:00 yesterday, I was feeling tired, cranky and in a plain bad mood.

Aubrey-Bob would not take a nap. She began to suffer around 5ish for that. I let it get to me, hence the tiredness, crankiness, and bad moodish-ness.

We get in the van around 6. She’s moaning. I’m just about to start up too.

A song came on the radio. I don’t remember the exact words but this is what I got out of it…

God, You are on Your throne.

You are holy.

In the midst of no naps and moaning, You are on your throne.

Around 5:00 yesterday in Haiti, God was on His throne too.

There’s not a plant or flower below,

But makes Thy glories known;

And clouds arise, and tempests blow,

By order from His throne.

Issac Watts

I just can’t stop thinking about that earthquake today. I just can’t stop thinking about God and His glory in it.

The wind of the earth shook Haiti yesterday.

Praise the Lord from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all deeps,

fire and hail, snow and mist,

stormy wind fulfilling His word!

Psalm 148:7-8

I’ve taken great delight in the snow lately. When spring comes, I’ll be in awe of the lush colors of spring. In fall, I will barely be able to drive because of the fall leaves and the brillance of the season.

God is Creator.

I think about the tornado that ripped through my sweet Grandmother’s house so many years ago. I think about Hurricane Katrina. I think about this earthquake.

God is Creator.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job 1:20-21

I truly shudder to think of how much I have really not suffered. This much I know.

But more than that, I shudder at the way I get in a tired, cranky, and bad mood when things don’t turn out like I think they should.

A long line at Target. A traffic jam. Being late to something. A virus. A no nap afternoon.

What then shall we do? How then shall we live? Should we have a “Bring on the suffering!” mentality about life?

I think not.

I think we should pray more.

Be more thankful.

And let our souls be more still in the presence of God Almighty.

Because the winds will come. So will the sun. The storms may shake us sooner than we think. But we’ll no doubt see a rainbow too. The waves and the fire will sweep over us. But so will warmth and breezes.

How then shall we live?

Let us learn to glorify Him more today than yesterday. And let us rejoice that He may just give us tomorrow to do the same.

Be still my soul! Your God will undertake

To guide the future as He has the past;

Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysteries shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul! The waves and wind still know

His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Katharina von Schlegel

You think it is okay when….? Jan 11

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Some things are just okay.

Take decorating your home for instance. You like what you like. I like what I like.

It’s okay that I kept out a few “Christmas” decorations for January and February….

I guess it’s okay too that I’m not a photographer. Forgive please. To clarify, the Christmas decor in this pic are the ornament balls, which I, must add, have hot pink, purple, orange, and blue in them. Savannah gave me the idea that they look like snowmen and we sure are loving the snow around here, so why not?

Giving us a winter flair through snowflake and heart ornaments…

And Mr. Snowman is here to stay for awhile. He serves hot water just in case you were wondering his purpse….

So, yes, some things are okay. And some things are not. Black/White.

And then you’ve got gray which may need a bit more of an opinion clarification, like….

1. Is it okay when I use the handicapped bathroom with the girls at a public place? I mean, I would never park in a handicapped parking place, and yet I use the handicapped bathroom. But I may just be mortified if I walked out of that bathroom one day and someone actually needed the facitilies that it offered was waiting on it and there I am, just a mom with 2 kids who likes the bigness of it. So, do you think it is okay?

2. Is it okay that I let my girls play with the toys at Pottery Barn Kids when I have no intention of buying them? It’s this really neat kitchen and doll house…they could play for hours though I just let them do it a few minutes when we’re at the mall and have time to waste. We never get any bad looks or stares from the employees, just smiles. But, still. I have to wonder…do you think it’s okay?

Is it okay that I just have 2 “is it okay questions”???