Mexican Chicken Stew and Spiritual Gifts

Happy Sunday to everyone!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  We had another weekend of amazing weather here in South Carolina.  Today, it was about 80 degrees here!  Can you believe it?  In February???  The weather in the south is so unpredictable in the spring and fall.  It could be 80 one week and then 40 the next!  I actually would like it to be just a little bit cooler.  When we start running the air conditioner, our power bill skyrockets!  I was hoping for a few more weeks or months of little-to-no air conditioning. 

This morning, I slept in a little (until 8:00)!  Woo hoo!  Amazing.  I used to think sleeping in meant sleeping until noon.  Now if I sleep until 8, it’s a small miracle!

I have a new breakfast favorite. 

Toasted whole wheat flat bread, topped with ham slices and a fried egg.  LOVE runny eggs!  This breakfast will really stick with you for a while, too.

While I ate, I was busy taking a “Spiritual Gifts” quiz.  Stay tuned for more information on that.

I quickly ate lunch and then threw ingredients in the crock pot for dinner tonight before heading out the door to Zumba!

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we had a “Souper Bowl Party” at work. 

Everyone brought in soups and stews, and we voted on our favorites.  I have been wanting to make the winning stew for a couple of weeks, so today I finally did! 

This PRIZE-WINNING recipe is courtesy of my coworker, Jennifer. 

Mexican Chicken Chili:

• 1 package of boneless chicken breast
• 1 can of corn, drained
• 1 can of black beans, washed and drained
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes and chilis
• 1 large jar of salsa

Dump everything in the crockpot and cook until the chicken shreds when stirring.  Great on rice, baked potatoes, chips, and as burritos. Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and jalapenos.  EASY!

Well, you know me… I never stick to a recipe completely.  The only changes I made were due to available ingredients in my pantry.  I started with 3 frozen chicken breasts.  I added in a cup of frozen corn kernels, 2 cans of light red kidney beans (I didn’t have black), and 2 cans of Ro-Tel.  I omitted the salsa and the taco seasoning.  I added some cumin, diced onion, and cayenne pepper.  I cooked on high for 2-3 hours, then turned it down to low for an hour.  I took out the chicken, shredded it, put it back in, and stirred.  Then it was ready to go.  I ate it like a chili, with tortilla chips on the side and cheddar sprinkled over the top. 

It was delish!  If I’d had sour cream on hand, I would have used that as a topping, too. 

Thanks, Jennifer for the recipe!

So… about that quiz from this morning… I wasn’t sure whether I was going to write about this today or not… because I normally don’t get too spiritual on my blog.  But I decided I am just gonna “put it out there” anyway.

Our Sunday School class is reading a book called Equipped for Every Good Work.  It’s all about finding out what your spiritual gifts are, so that you can find places and ways to be involved in the church.  I was really interested in taking this quiz to see what my gifts might be.  Ryan and I both took it.  This quiz was no joke!  200 questions!!!  It took me 2 cups of coffee to get through it.  It turned out that my spiritual gifts were Faith and Healing!  When I saw that, I was like, “Wait!  What?”  But then I started thinking about it.

I think that if I had taken this quiz 2 or 3 years ago, I probably would have gotten completely different results.  But several things over the past couple of years have really taught me about letting go and keeping the faith.  When Ryan lost his job and ended up with a job with much lower pay, I wondered how we would make it through.  And I was pretty angry at what was happening to our family.  But he’s had an amazing year, and even though money is tight sometimes… we’ve learned that sometimes there is a plan that we can’t always see.  Sometimes you have to have faith that everything is going to work out the way it is supposed to… even when it happens in a way other than what we would expect. 

A good friend of mine said to me a few months back,

“If you’re going to worry, why pray? 

If you’re going to pray, why worry?” 

That quote has really stuck with me, and I am really trying to live by that now.  You know what?  It’s making like a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable. 

So… I’ll leave you on that note… Have a great week!

Liz