Joy...

I can honestly say that I don't live with a lot of joy in my life.  Certainly there are joyful moments, but do I feel the lasting contentment that comes with joy?  No.  I do not.  Instead, I'd say that in my head, I'm always looking for what's wrong, and how to improve upon it.  For years, I've said, "What's wrong with that?"  I find problems.  There is a need for people who do that.  I find problems and I solve them.  It's a commodity.  But like every weakness, this is an overflow of a strength.... and it robs me of joy.  Nice to know. 

Then today I read this fabulous quote:  "Joy is a deeply-rooted confidence that God is in control.” - TRUSTING GOD (Jaynes, Smith, Southerland), and I was reminded that everytime I find problems and stress out about them, and think about what I need to DO, DO, DO  --  that I'm not resting in the fact that God is in control.  He gave me the skills and aptitude to solve whatever life throws at me!  I have nothing to worry about.  And that when I really trust in God, that nothing will be a problem-- and all there is room for is joy. 

Just the thought is comforting.  Just the thought that I can have confidence in God to run it is joyful.  I don't know why I've been trying to run it.  Who do I think I am?  Compared to God?  Less than a speck on a flea.  And yet, he trusts me enough to give me skills to run things, and to handle it.  So why don't I rest in him? 

Horray for a Paradym Shift!  Joy is a deeply-rooted confidence that God is in control!  :)

He's growing up so fast!

My son is now about 15 months old, and overnight it seems like he get's it.

Two days ago, my mom was talking to Gregory about his bath tub experience and she said the whole story to him, and then said, "Tell me Gregory!"  After an exaggerated deep breath, he said to her, "It's true." 

Tonight, I said to Gregory, "Would you like a smoothie?" 
"Mooie?"
"Yes, a smoothie.  You'll have to sit here in the high chair while I make it."
After two-three minutes he asked, "Is it all done yet?" (It sounded like that too.)

He's so helpful too.  Tonight he helped me put away his toys, his cheerios when he spilled them, and also helped me pick up all the hangers.  :) 

When it was time to put pajamas on, I said, "Gregory, it's time to put on your pajamas." and he came running.  When I was done, he gave me a hug and said, "all done." 
Then I say, "Gregory, it's time to brush your teeth."  And he runs to the bathroom, and knocks on the door.

I'm trying to remember to treasure every moment, because it goes so fast, and soon he'll be grown up. 

Pumpkin Whip Pie

I recently had a huge taste for pumpkin, but wanted a light low fat recipe that would leave little guilt about what I ate. 

Here's my recipe for Pumpkin Whip Pie:

2 containers of fat free cool whip.
2 large boxes of fat free, sugar free instant vanilla pudding
1 can of pumpkin
1tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ginger
dash nutmeg
2 Tbl Sugar
Graham cracker crust

Whip up everything but the crust, spread in crust, refridgerate for 2 hours, enjoy! 

Simple, fast, easy, delightful!

Can I comb your hair, Mom?

I was playing with my son last night in his room.  We were on the floor and in usual boy fashion he was banging, pounding, and playing.  Abruptly, he ran from the room, and returned holding a comb. 
"Dis?"  he said to me.
I said, "It's a comb." 
He walked up closely to me, and began combing my hair.  I melted into a puddle.  He combed my hair for several moments and ran out of the room, returning again with a brush.
"Dis?"  he asked.
"It's a brush."  I said.  He starts the same process of brushing my hair.  Then he alternated, some with the comb, some with the brush.  So terribly sweet.

YUMMY!!!!!! Cream of Mushroom and Potato Soup

I've been making soups once or twice a week for my meals at work, and also for supplements to meals.  I've tried to make sure that the soups are from scratch, and include items from meals that I made or that Greg made previously so that we're not wasting food.  We accidentally bought too many potatoes at the grocery store this week, so I made mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, and used some of the leftovers to make the soup.  We also had some mushrooms that were good but wouldn't have made it 2 more days.  So here's my soup recipe made from leftovers, and extras.

Cream of Mushroom and Potato Soup

2 cups of mushrooms chopped
3 cups of mashed potatoes
2Tbl butter, seperated
1 Tbl whole wheat flour
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of mixed veggies cooked
2 chicken bullion cubes
4 cups of water
1/8 cup of chives

Saute mushrooms with one TBL of butter.  Set aside.  melt remaining TBL of butter in 4 qt saucepan and stir in flour.  Slowly wisk in milk, and bring up temp and let it get creamy.  stir constantly with wisk.  after bubbling, keep stirring and add bullion cubes.  Then add mushrooms, potatoes, and veggies.  Use a handheld mixer to blend.  Slowly add 4 cups of water while blending.  Add chives.  Cook til bubbly again, and serve.

Makes 9 cups. 

Creamy Yumminess!

I plan on using two cups of this soup to make a chicken casserole either tomorrow or the day after that. 

Stove Top Rice Pudding

I was looking for an easy stove top rice pudding recipe to use on the stove (because my oven is broke), and I found a few recipes that looked great but called for HUGE amounts of recipe, and many ingredients.  In order to cook frugally, one must use fewer ingredients.  It saves money.  I wanted my rice pudding to be both great and economical.  Here's what I came up with:

1 1/2 cups rice, cooked.
2 TBL Sweetend Condensed Milk
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
one egg
1/4 cup of raisins

Turn the stove on to medium heat and add to a medium sized pan rice, sweetend condensed milk, milk, and egg.  Stir until egg is worked into mixture.  Add spices and raisins.  Bring to a vigorous simmer.  Stir VERY often.  Cook for about 8 minutes until mixture is thickened and raisins are soft.

Voila!  Serve warm.  :)

What Soup Was Made For

Somewhere in the last 20 years, with the advent of the Food Network, I think I stopped thinking about food in my pantry as a cumulative to be used together, but as a series of ingredients to fit whatever recipe I had.  If I didn't have what was in the recipe, I either went to the store to get the ingredients, or I didn't make the recipe.  But now that Greg and I are grocery shopping once a week, and not going out to eat, it's forcing me to look at the items in my pantry differently.  Now I look at items to see what recipes I can create.  So here's to the leftover ingredients that I had and the delicious Black Bean Soup that I made. 

(We've been keeping a bag or two of beans in the house, and then we soak them overnight, boil them, and use them for various things all week.  Black Beans were what we used this week.  The baby loves to eat beans which provide him with protein, and we love having more protein in our meals too!  We're also doing this with pasta too!)

Black Bean Soup-- From leftovers.

1 onion sliced (not left over)

1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (not left over)

2 cups of black beans ready to use

1 cup of peas

2 cups of pasta

3 strips of leftover bacon

2tsp of Italian Seasoning

1/8 tsp of cumin powder

add pepper to taste

2 chicken bullion cubes

Saute onion, and add tomatoes stir add chicken bullion cubes, then add 2 cups of black beans, and peas and 8 cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add cooked pasta, bacon and spices. let simmer for 10-20 min.  And Voila!    A simple soup made from leftovers, and the flavors were wonderful! 

I'm finding that I'm absolutely enjoying trying to stretch every penny out of my pantry!  :)