Praise-giving

Well, my Thanksgiving post is a little delayed. But that's okay. We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family last weekend, and managed to cook a moist turkey! :) A few items of praise (in no particular order), and some recipes for you...

- I praise God this year for our new home. It is lots of work, but it gives me such joy to be able to settle here, and to share our home with friends and family! We were so blessed to have the ability to buy our home, and to find it after searching for so long!

- I praise God for my sweet husband and my healthy baby. They make my life so meaningful and fun! My husband is so patient, so helpful, and such a good daddy! And little J brings so much laughter to my life. God has also used them to sanctify me - showing me where my priorities or motives are missing the mark, and lovingly drawing me back to Himself.

- I praise God for my wonderful extended family and friends. You all are such a support to me and my family in so many ways. From moving to childcare to prayer to celebrations... you've got us covered! :) Thank you.

- I praise God for our jobs, especially in such a challenging economy. I praise God for His creation; the more I have learned about nutrition and cooking and babies, the more I am in awe of God's provision and creative power! I praise God for our dear church, and the great encouragement they are to us. I praise Him for good health.

- Above all, I praise God this Thanksgiving for His unfailing love. That a Father would sacrifice his only beloved Son in order to pay for my failures... is unfathomable. He is so kind, so full of grace and mercy toward me, although I have fallen so short of His glory. Thank you, Lord.


And some recipes...

Butternut Squash Soup (modified from this Food Network recipe)

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
One medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 7 to 8 cups)
6 cups chicken stock
Dash of ground sage
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
3 tbsp cream cheese (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large stockpot, add the butter and oil and melt together over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the squash and the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and add sage, nutmeg, and cloves. Continue to boil until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add cream cheese. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the soup warm over low heat.

I think this would also work well in a crockpot, if you added the cream cheese at the very end. :)

This soup was a great first-course for Thanksgiving! Even my husband, who doesn't like squash, admitted that the soup was good! It's nice and creamy - great for a cold fall or winter day. I'm sure it would freeze up well too, so you could make a big batch and save half for later!

Turkey Breast and Gravy
I mainly used this recipe from Food Network. I didn't really follow the gravy recipe, though. For gravy, I used the dripping from the pan, mixed with half of the gravy packet that came with the turkey (the other half spilled into the sink... oops!), added some salt and pepper, and thickened with a water/flour mixture. It turned out great! The turkey was nice and moist, and didn't take as long to cook as a whole turkey. We did a 9-lb bird for 6 people, and had plenty of leftovers to make turkey-barley soup!

I would share the turkey-barley soup recipe. But I just made it up. Basically I simmered the turkey carcass overnight to make the broth, then removed the bones, and added the leftover turkey and some extra chicken broth. I put in some chopped carrots, celery, and garlic (onion would be good, but we were out), onion powder, thyme, pepper, wild rice and seasoning packet, and barley. Cooked in the crockpot for 8 hours and had lots of good soup! :)


Happy cooking... and Happy belated Thanksgiving! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

My Baby is a Toddler

I think I first began to suspect it when he threw his first temper-tantrum. We were about to leave SuperTarget, and he was hungry and tired. As Kyle bolted for the check-out line, I scooped up the little man and began to follow. J would have nothing to do with it. He wiggled, hit, and kicked to get down. And then, let loose an ear-piercing scream. I waved Kyle on to the check-out, and speed-walked to the door, face red.

I'm sure this scenario will repeat itself many times, now that my baby is a toddler. But I will always remember the intensity of that first tantrum.

The second clue was that he can not stand having his diaper changed anymore. The second I lay him on the changing table, he rolls to his belly and sits (or stands) up. I am not sure how to solve this problem, other than to do my best to distract him, and be quick! Oh, the frustration of taking off a smelly diaper and having J sit up, getting it everywhere.

The hardest part of parenting has always been having enough energy. But toddlerhood takes things to a whole new level!

Now that I'm done complaining, this is what I love about my 14-month-old:

1. He knows who I am. He calls me mama, and Kyle dada.

2. He copies words and actions. He calls most spots "moles"... what a funny word for a toddler to know! He also says some variation of... nana (this means grandma and banana), papa, bug, bird, dog, num-num (food), ba-ba, bath, no, uh-oh, more, and star. :) Can't wait for those words to become sentences - it will be nice to actually know what he wants and needs, and what he's thinking!

3. He loves bugs. Loves watching them on the window outside, touching them, squishing them... ick!

4. He snuggles and kisses. I always wanted a cuddly baby, and he finally will cuddle... for a second.

5. He plays soccer. Seriously. He can kick a ball, at the age of 14 months.

6. He loves playing tag. We run around the kitchen table, chasing each other.

7. He loves to laugh. He will laugh at the randomest things, and sometimes for no reason at all. He has the funniest laugh ever.

8. He dances to music. Never for long enough to catch is on video, but it's the cutest darn thing ever!

9. He loves playing outside. When he wants to go outside, he'll bring me my shoes, like "mama, it's time to go!" :)

10. His personality is really starting to show. I love seeing him become his own person.

Now that my baby is a toddler, I'm starting to get that longing for another baby... but leaving that one in God's hands (and hopefully until J is a bit more independent!).

Life Update

I have been horribly remiss in updating this blog. But I told myself in the beginning - this will not be a chore. This will not be one more thing on my to-do list. This is just an outlet when I need one. And now, after moving into our new house, having the little man's 1st birthday party the day after, 6 weeks of working overtime, and 1 week of the flu ... I am ready for an outlet! :) A few pictures from the craziness:

Early September, buying our first house!

The day after moving, we had 30 people over for the little man's 1st birthday party. Our dear friends at The Enchanted Image photography (search Facebook to contact) took some family photos, and photos of the party:

I will spare you pictures of the flu (just kidding... there were none!). :) I am so thankful to be back to almost-full health. That was my first bad illness as a mama, and it is so hard to let everyone else care for your child while you are incapacitated!

Since life has slown down, we have been doing more decorating/organizing/unpacking of our home. My wonderful grandma makes drapes for a living, and agreed to make some for us! The bedroom ones are my personal favorite:

Now that I am not overworked or sick, I have taken my commuting time on the bus to read In Defense of Food. Since being pregnant and having a baby, I am much more conscious/worried/concerned about what my family eats. But there are so many different types of food (normal, natural, organic, local, vitamin-enhanced, etc.) out there, that it's hard to know what to buy, much less how to cook it! I often get overwhelmed at the question "What's for dinner?" - my husband will testify to that! :) But this book has helped me to clarify my views on food, and inspire me to start changing some of our eating habits.

The moral of the story is "Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not too much." Seems logical, if not overly simple! Here is some of what I took from the book:

• Most of what we eat today is refined corn, rice, soy, or wheat.
• Refined and processed food has had most of its nutrients removed in order to preserve shelf life.
• Americans' eating habits are more informed by commercials than by tradition.
• Western diseases (diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc.) seem to follow when a Western diet is introduced to new cultures.
• We should eat FOOD. Food that our great-grandmothers would recognize as food. Food that is not full of added chemicals, pesticides, refined sugar, etc.
• When we eat real food, we will not be hungry as often. Processed foods generally release energy much faster than whole foods, thus making you hungry more quickly.
• Animals who become our meat are generally not healthy because they are given an unnatural diet of seeds, rather than grass/leafy plants. They are then pumped full of hormones and antibiotics in order to make them healthier. Ick.

It's hard to sum up all that I learned from reading this book. But I highly recommend it. The one thing I wasn't a fan of was the author's evolutionary bias. But the premise of the book makes sense from a biblical perspective:
1. Eat food - It makes sense that God would want people to eat real, nutritious food that He provided for us, rather than food that has been processed to the point of having little nutrition.
2. Mostly plants - In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were first told to eat from the trees and the plants. Not until after they sinned was the first animal killed, and animals began to be eaten. So, it seems that people were originally meant to subsist on plants, rather than animals. I hope to start incorporating more fruits and veggies into my family's diet, and relying less on meat (with the exception of more wild seafood).
3. Not too much - Obviously, God did not create food to be gorged upon. He created it to nourish us. He created a mechanism that allows our stomach to tell our brain that it is full. Thus, we should not eat until we are overly full.

So, after processing all this, I hope to continue the process of buying more local/organic food. I also want to start buying a lot less processed food, and more fruits and veggies. In the Spring, I hope to plant a garden to cut down on some of the costs of buying fresh food. And overall, I want to start creating more nutritious meals for my family. :)

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31