Wordless Wednesday: Keeping Cool

Quick, Easy Dinner!

Now that Matt is working a job that he is consistently home for dinner, one of my family goals is to be better about meal planning. It seems like what works for most people, from what I've read on others' blogs, is having a list of regular meals that you all like and that are easy/inexpensive and rotating them so that no one gets tired of them. I'm still working on that one- I like to cook, but get overwhelmed sometimes when I don't know what to make.

One of our favorite 'regulars' that is quick/easy/cheap is a layered mexican style dip. Matt's sister Leanne brought this to us after my Mom died, and it has been a favorite ever since! I've even made it for company- it is a great, laid-back Saturday night in kind of meal (and who doesn't love dip for dinner?!)

Step 1:
Line a baking dish with 2 cans of refried beans. Smooth it out a little flat with a spatula. If I have a little leftover black beans or spanish rice from another meal, I will usually add it in here.
Step 2:
Brown about a pound (for 2-4 people) of ground beef in a pan with one packet of McCormick's Cheesy Taco powder. Taco night has never been better since we discovered this stuff! Cook according to directions on the packet, and spread in a layer over the beans.
Step 3:
Spread a large jar of picante sauce or THICK salsa evenly over the meat layer. You don't want liquid-y salsa or it will make your dip soupy (we like Pace picante).
Optional Step 4:
If it were just me, this is the part where I would spread an entire container of sour cream over the whole thing because I love it. Matt however, is an avid hater of SC and refuses to eat anything it has touched, so I leave it off and just add it later to my own serving. (Funny story- when Leanne originally brought it to us, she only put SC on one half because she knew Matt hated it!) Obviously, any of these steps are optional if you don't like or can't eat one of them, and you may want to add something extra I didn't mention here like guacamole!

Step 5:
Spread 1/2 to 3/4 of a package of shredded cheese smoothly over the salsa layer. I use Harris Teeter's Nacho & Taco Mexican blend because it's cheap and good. Yum.
Step 6:
Bake at 375 until it's hot through the middle and the cheese is nice and melty, usually about 25-30 minutes. Serve into bowls and enjoy with taco chips! We love Sanitas brand (also from HT)- a large bag is always only $2 regularly priced, and they are delicious! I even like them better than Tostitos.
And finally, enjoy feeding your family a delicious, home-cooked meal that didn't take you all day in the kitchen! We're enjoying this one for dinner tonight!

Wordless Wednesday: Singin' in the Rain

Goings-Ons!

I am officially a mother who let her one and a half year old ride a horse. Firstly, because it was just about the nicest, calmest horse ever (I gave him a good once-over before I let Kenna go anywhere near him). Secondly, because her Daddy and Granddaddy were up there with her and thirdly, because she loved it. I seriously think she thought Pontouf had just grown a couple of feet taller (and hooves).
Yep, we all rode the horse!
Our oldest niece Ansley turned 6 this month, and the horse was at her birthday party. You have never seen so many excited little girls riding a real horse! Sadly, my camera battery died after taking about 3 pictures, so we have no picture of the birthday girl! Thankfully, I'm sure her mommy and daddy do. I have a little "wow" moment thinking that she is turning 6, because that means we've almost been married for 6 years! We both still clearly remember sitting at one of those awkward "everybody knows you're about to get engaged and we're still getting used to the idea" dinners with my family, and then got the call that Leanne was having her baby. And that baby is now a big 6 year old!

It actually didn't surprise me that Kenna liked riding the horse, because she has proven herself to be one tough little cookie recently. One of her new favorite things is to take walks with us in the evening around the neighborhood, up to the mailbox, or up to the pool during the day. She is little Miss Independent and wants to walk all by herself, and gets going a little too fast. Several times now she's tripped and scraped up her knees and it didn't even phase her. The only time it stopped her was when they were already scabbed up, and she tripped at the pool and reopened them. Now her little knees are a mix of old and new boo boos.
Baby's first boo-boos... nothing some pink Hello Kitty band-aids can't fix! (I admit that pink Hello Kitty band-aids are one of the things I was looking forward to as a Mommy of a little girl).

We also went and met a new friend this week! My sophomore year of high school, my good friend Mary asked my good friend Austin to the Winterfest dance. Eleven years later, they are married and have a sweet newborn little boy, Emory Jackson! Kenna loved him, and tried to share toys with him- namely the Wii remote, which she thought was a phone. It was hard to get a picture of him while also keeping her from chasing their poor unsuspecting cats.
Luckily, Kenna had no problem making herself right at home at her new friend's house, falling asleep on their awesome couch (that we used to watch movies on in high school!) and giving Mary and I a chance to talk breastfeeding and cloth diapering. We had not really gotten to hang out since we had dinner together almost a year ago, before she was even pregnant with Emory! I love that no matter how well she has researched an issue (and she has!) she still wants to hear another mom's experience or opinion. It was fun getting to hear her birth story and remembering mine with Kenna. Still hard to believe that my tiny newborn is this long, tall toddler now!
Congrats, Mary and Austin! Emory is so precious!

Trusting God with my Stuff

Matthew 6:28-34

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I've (Lindsey) been thinking about this verse SO much recently. It's amazing how, even in the times in life when you can see God's provision so clearly right in the times you need it, that you can look forward to the things you still want/need as more important than looking back at how far God has brought you. I love that verse 32 says your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Father God is a great father. He knows that we need shelter and food and the physical things that nourish and protect us and keep us healthy. He is not ignorant to the fact that we can't survive without them. He also knows that we have wants and dreams beyond just what we need to survive.

But I also love knowing how perfect His motives are and His plan is in that true fatherly sense. I can imagine it in a small sense with Kenna- sometimes she wants certain things that I know she does not need and won't be good for her in the long run. It's hard to tell her no (especially when she's learning to ask nicely!) but as her parent I know she will come to trust me because of the love that I have for her as her parent. How much more immense is my father God's love for me, and yet still I rebel from it. Still I ask for things I do not need, and whine sometimes if I do not get them.

It's scary sometimes when you wonder if you can make one paycheck stretch until the next one. When the car breaks down, or there's a leak that skyrockets your water bill, or an accidental injury (thankfully nothing major) that still causes a trip to the doctor and a prescription. I would by no means call these things suffering, but our daily stresses that can so easily distract us from the goodness of God's mercy. I'm always relieved to know that God himself walked this earth and knows exactly what it's like to have stress take a toll on you. So I take verse 30 to heart that God says He loves me enough to take care of me, and my faith in Him should reflect that I trust Him to provide. He's not worried about my 401K or my retirement fund or even my child's college fund. My goal is supposed to be "seeking His righteousness," by trying to change every thought and action from selfishness to something that will glorify Him by serving others with a cheerful and grateful heart- easier said than done, especially when I am focused on myself and my perceived needs. Tomorrow and everything it holds belongs to Him, not me.

The bottom line is that we have what we need. We own a car that can get us to and from jobs that pay our bills. That alone makes us "wealthier" than 93% of the world. I think about that often. How much would your life fall apart without your car to get you to and from all the places you go? I panic when the battery dies in my car, yet I know we can run out to Wal-mart and get another one, and probably have the car back up and running within the hour. And for some reason, God still chooses to allow us to have much more beyond that... a comfortable home, plenty of clothing, (too much) good food to eat, computers to use, and fun things to do. (That percentage, by the way, is from a really great book called The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision).

God has really been challenging me recently on my attitude towards my "stuff." I realized that since I started couponing, I've given more "feedback" to companies complaining about bad service or an incorrect advertisement, etc than I ever would have in the past. And while I can rationalize it all I want as being a good steward of our money/spending wisely/making the most of what we have- in my heart it is self-righteousness, trying to take matters into my own hands to provide for myself instead of trusting God.

I want to travel light while passing through this place that is not my eternal home. I want what I can give to others to be more important to me than what I have. And very most of all, I never want to value my possessions or my ability to accumulate possessions more than I value my loving Father who has provided them for me in the first place.