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

100th Post and a Tribute to Some of My Favorite Blogs…

So… I can’t believe this is my 100th post!  It seems like just yesterday, I was beginning this blog.  I remember when I started it, I was blogging in secret.  I didn’t even tell my husband at first.  Now, it has certainly evolved over time.  I was thinking about what to write for my 100th post.  I had a couple of lame ideas… like a list of 100 of my favorite foods (Blah!).  But in the end, I decided the best thing to do would be to pay tribute to some of the people who have inspired me along my journey!
First, I need to talk about the first time I ever even heard of Blogs.  I was at a seminar in 2003 for teachers when Kathleen Yancy, professional author and professor at Clemson University, mentioned them.  They sounded interesting!  The next week, I was busy setting up my very first blog for my students.  Take a peek by clicking here!  I just couldn’t delete this first blog.  Sometimes I see my former students and they say, “Hey remember when we used to do that blog thing?”  And then I tell them, “Hey, that ‘blog thing’ is still online!”  They like to go back and look at what they wrote as a seventh grader.  These students are actually out of high school now and in the working world!  I kept a blog every year with each of my classes after that.  One year I let the students set up THEIR own blogs!
Now I want to talk about some fellow bloggers.  Before I mention a few special blogs, I want to say that I read a ridiculous amount of blogs every day.  Google Reader has made it possible for me to regularly keep up with about 30 blogs in just about 20 minutes a day. 
My friend Jenn (who was actually my roommate in college and my partner in crime for many years) has been keeping blogs about as long as I have.  Cool story… when she was pregnant with her son, Sam, she started a secret blog for him.  Then when he was born, she revealed it to everyone.  I always thought that was so cool.  Now she has a very eclectic blog: re{de}fining.  She writes about everything under the sun: cooking, her children, religion, politics… it’s funny, serious, moving, and inspirational.  Check it out.
My sorority sister, Diana, also keeps an amazing blog called The Chic Life.  Her blog has been a huge inspiration to me.  Diana puts together amazing recipes with even more amazing photos.  You’ve seen me mention some of them here, like Cookie Dough Balls.
 

This week, she has written about brussels sprouts and for the first time, I want to cook them… she made them look so easy and tasty!
Lauren Zabaneh writes Foodie House.  Lauren was my very first follower, so of course I will always remember her.  Her blog is inspiring and hilarious.  Lauren is very real.  She is a mom who tells it like it is.  She will make you laugh at her stories about realizing her pants were on backwards or about poop disasters (with her kids).  But she also posts creative recipes.  I was hoping she would win Project Food Blog!
And one more…
Lisa Orgler writes The Lunch Box Project.  People, this is one of the most creative blogs I have ever seen.  Lisa loves to cook, but she’s an amazing illustrator.  She draws illustrations of her foods and posts them on her blog.  And all the illustrations are done on the back of playing cards!  She inspired me to make Joy Cupcakes. 

And she is doing a cool cupcake illustrations (from other blogger recipes) all through December.  If you love cupcakes, you have to check it out.  You can even submit one of your own recipes!
There are so many more of you who inspire me every day!  And I have to say thanks to all of you who read my blog and give me such nice compliments on it!  It’s been a fun journey and I have learned so much about photography and food and all kinds of other things!

Cheers!  Here’s to another 100 posts!
Liz

Remembering the Twin Towers

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an entry about a book I was reading to the fifth grade classes at school.  The book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, was about Philippe Petit, a stuntman who did an amazing high wire walk between the Twin Towers in August of 1974. 

Usually on September 11, I think back to that day when I was teaching and got an email from another teacher who said, "I'm not sure what's going on, but you might want to tutn on the news.  It looks like a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers!"  I remember, many of us thought, it must be a crazy accident.  I remember that I actually had the television on in my classroom and my seventh graders and I watched in horror as the towers crashed to the ground.  That day passed by in a blur, and for many nights, I saw those images in my head as I tried to sleep each night.

Today is no different-- I am remembering that day.  However, since I learned of Philippe Petit, I also love to think about this amazing thing that happened at the Twin Towers in 1974.  Every time I read the book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, I feel inspired all over again, and it gives me hope that amazing things are possible when we have faith.

I'd like to post a link to a part of the movie, "Man on Wire," a documentary about Petit and his amazing walk-- just in case you've never heard of Petit.  And even if you have-- it's worth seeing.  Whenever I need inspiration, I like to go back and watch this, because each time, it still takes my breath away.

Click the arrow below to play the video.  Just in case it doesn't show up on your computer, here is the link to the video online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEU7lrtehDs




We will always remember the horror of September 11, 2001.  However, when you think about the Twin Towers again, hopefully you will also remember this amazing feat.