Recipe of the Week

Everyone in my family really likes this. I love it because it is easy to prepare and is comfort food for those days when you feel like something simple yet delicious. I don't know if anyone else craves tomatoes like I do when they are pregnant but this fits the bill for me. All of my pregnancies pretty much all I can stand to eat is tuna on crackers, tomato anything as long as it has a more light fresh tomato taste rather than a long simmered condensed taste, buffalo chicken anything and fruit. This recipe if the result of three recipes combined: skinnytaste's stuffed bell pepper soup(the general idea of it), my mother-in-laws lasagna sauce(sauce base), and my mother's cabbage rolls(seasonings). Actually four recipes combined because my mothers cabbage roll stuffing calls for a combination of ground beef and pork sausage and I just used the beef and added the seasonings from my favorite pork sausage to the tomato base. So credit goes to a number of people. Besides just eating it plain my husband and I really like scooping it up with multi-grain chips. You could substitute the bell peppers for chopped cabbage and have deconstructed cabbage rolls.

Deconstructed Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 lb 95% lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup finely diced onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cans (14.5 oz each) cans petite diced tomatoes

6 Oz. can tomato paste

1-2 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth (depending on how thick you want it)

1 tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp. sage leaves (if ground sage maybe 1/4 tsp. or to taste)

1 Tbsp. parsley

½ tsp. ground fennel seeds (optional)

1 tsp. apple cider or red wine vinegar

2 tsp. salt

fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium size pot, brown ground meat on high heat and season with salt. Drain fat if any, reduce heat to medium-low, then add onions and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.Add tomatoes (you can blend these if your family does not like tomato chunks), tomato sauce, tomato paste, chicken broth, marjoram, sage, fennel, vinegar and pepper to taste. Simmer uncovered on medium-low heat for 20 minutes then stir in chopped bell peppers. Serve about 1 1/3 cups of soup in each bowl and top with 3-4 Tbsp cooked rice and stir in.

currant happenings

I thought that I would just put a little note up as I have not written any thing for a long time. Chelsey has been keeping everyone very well informed about life with the girls. Makayla is getting all 4 of her top middle (yes, 4 teeth at once!) teeth right now, so she has been a grump! But we are having a lot of fun with Jada and Makayla. The other day Jada and I were moving our arms around with music, and it was so fun how she would copy every move that I did, all with a huge smile on her face. My family always makes me smile, and I love them a lot. There is not much better in life than having a happy family to come home to :)

In other news, we have a few adventures we starting. As you know, I've applied to get into the Canadian Government, with the dept of foreign affairs & International Trade. I'm still waiting to hear back to see if I get into the next phase of the application process. Last year I made it into the first round interviews, but failed to go further. I am hoping that this year I get further along into it. I hope that I hear back soon from them, as I am tired of waiting to know. It takes the average person anywhere from 3 - 5 years before they get into the government posts, so I'll keep trying a couple more years. If the Government does not pan out, I am thinking of trying to become an account manager with a bank. I think that that route could also take advantage of the skills I have. We will see what happens. Working at AWC Communications is a good enough job for now, but I've already decided that it is not what I want to be for a long time career. I enjoy working with people (most of the time), and I enjoy the money we get, but working retail and mall hours is what gets to me after a while.

The second thing that Chelsey and I are doing is Scuba. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, and I'm lucky enough to have a wife who is supportive and thinks that it sounds like fun, so is going to do it with me. We have signed up to do classes starting in February! That is so close! It will be every Tuesday, as well as one Tuesday in March. We are then thinking of taking a trip with the dive shop to the BC to get our open water certification during Easter weekend. So it will be a fun adventure learning to explore under water. My older brother Brent has his open water, and I think that it was a lot of his influence and stories about it that got me interested in a long time ago. I just had an opportunity (or the money) before to do so.

Well, that is what is going on from Mike's POV.

Recipe of the Week

Two new delicious breakfast ideas for you. These look to good to be healthy right? Well would you believe me if I told you that these are both sugar-free and butter free. They do not taste sugar-free or butter free though. These are sweet, moist and melt in your mouth. I got both of these recipes from www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com . This website has been my go to for baked goods lately. She uses substitutes for the not so healthy ingredients that too many of our breakfast foods and desserts are loaded with like apple sauce and other pureed or mashed fruit and vegetables, beans and nut butters. Nothing I have tried from her site taste "healthy" or like diet food either. The cinnamon bun baked oatmeal is so good when I close my eyes and don't see that it is oatmeal I could swear I am eating a gooey, moist, flavourful and delicious cinnamon bun. I like it better than most cinnamon buns I have had and just as much as the best ones I have had.

Cinnamon Bun Baked Oatmeal
2 cups quick oats
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2/3 cup milk, juice or water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil or almond butter (if using oil scale the liquid back)
1 cup raisins and/or chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all ingredients and pour into custard cups, ramekins or muffin tin that have been greased. Bake 15 minutes or until firm and then broil for 3 minutes (optional, just browns the tops).   Beat 1/2 pack cream cheese and 2 Tbsp. honey. Spread over the top of each baked oatmeal. If you are lactose intolerant the is a recipe on the website for vegan cinnamon bun frosting using soy products.

Breakfast cookies
You can make them any flavor you want. Ideas are peanut butter banana, peanut butter chocolate chip, pumpkin pie or spice cake, oatmeal raisin... The ones in the picture are peanut butter banana chocolate chip.

2 cups quick oats
1 cup apple sauce, pumpkin puree or mashed banana
1/2 cup almond butter or peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir apple sauce and nut butter until well combined. Mix in honey and vanilla. Add the remaining ingredients. Place in 2 Tbsp. mounds on cookie sheet and bake 14 minutes.

It Amazes Me How Smart and Capable Jada Is

Today Jada had re-positioned her bowl so it wasn't very stable and when she tried to eat out of it it fell to the floor spilling the food everywhere. I told her "oops, that was an accident!" and I showed her where to put her bowl on the table so if wouldn't fall off. Then I told her we needed to clean up the mess and I told her to get a cloth from the sink. Then I put my hands over her hands and guided her through the motion of gathering the food up into a pile, and picking it up with the cloth and then taking it to the garbage and shaking out the cloth until all the food was off it then going to the sink and washing out the cloth and repeating until all the mess was cleaned up. It was so incredibly successful. After two times of going through the motions with her I let her try it by herself. Although it wasn't perfect she mimicked what I had just taught her and did a good job at cleaning the rest of it up and remembered to shake the cloth out in the garbage and then wash it out in the sink. This taught me to never under-estimate what even a kid at her age (2 1/2) is capable of learning if we are in the attitude of and diligent at fulfilling our role as a teacher. I got the idea for this from a e-book I have been reading that I bought from www.raiseyourkidsright.com I have been looking at this book for almost a year and just recently bought it. The whole book is lessons on life skills (ie: hard work, cooperation, patience, self-control, ect.) that she suggests teaching your children in a family class scheduled once a week (aka. Family Home Evening). She also gives examples of how to teach them throughout the week and in everyday life. I don't know if she is LDS or not but I thought the connection was neat. Also I have been studying a lot on parenting from prophets and apostles as well as examples in the scriptures and the way these lessons are set up are right in line with what I have learned from that study. She stresses that all teaching must be done in love with a calm tone or else no real learning will take place. George Albert Smith and Gordon B. Hinkely talk a lot about this. She stresses the importance of the parents having the mindset of being teachers and verbally expressing to the children that they are their teachers. Ex. Telling your child "I am your teacher, your teacher at school teaches you things like math and science and I teach you at home things that will help you be happy and successful in life such as kindness, responsibility, hard work,etc." The lesson plans a full of discussion and questions that help the children come to conclusions themselves and internalize the lessons. There are also suggestions for preparing the children ahead of time and getting them thinking about it. Example: on the Work lesson she suggests showing them examples of things that take work and things that don't throughout the week such as a beautiful park and a overgrown lawn and asking them which one they like better and just leaving it at that and then bringing up their answers in the lesson and discussing it together. Another idea of her I really like for follow- up is having a list of these skills and qualities on the fridge and recognizing when the kids do something that falls under one of the things listed and asking them which quality on the list their sister or themselves just exhibited. She has another lesson that helps them recognize the thoughts and feelings that come from their brain and their heart and how to use them together in harmony (helps them learn self-control and appropriate reaction). When the kids are in the middle of an arguement or have done something noble you can ask them did this feeling or thought come from the brain or the heart and help them recognize it or compliment them on using the appropriate reaction. I think this book is a great teaching tool. I love to share whatever I find that I think is really valueable.

Congratulations

Both my sister Becca and my sister-in-law Cait recently announced they are pregnant. We are so happy for you both and want to say congratulations. Both are due in September!

Recipe of the Week

My family loves this recipe for Santa Fe Chicken. The original recipe is from skinny taste and I have made some changes. My favorite Black Bean recipe, also from that site, has made it's way into my version of Santa Fe Chicken because they are way too delicious. The recipe makes about 3 cups of beans but my Santa Fe Chicken only uses one cup. You can divide the bean recipe into thirds or you can just make the whole things and have quick lunch or supper the next day. I highly recommend this as anything I have put them in become absolutely delicious. Here are some ideas for using the remaining beans. For a very simple, quick lunch or dinner add some sliced smoky or good quality hot dog, heat and serve over a thick slice of toasted bread, use to make a quesadilla with some corn and chicken or beef, puree the bean to sauce consistency and mix into taco meat for a more nutritious and delicious taco, nachos or salad. For a yummy snack or appetizer you can add a little salsa and cheese on top of the taco meat/beans and scoop it up with chips or cut sweet bell peppers into scoops. For a little more work but well worth it: make Latin flavored rice and slow cooker shredded meat with the beans for burritos or a salad bowl (add shredded lettace, pico de gallo or salsa, avacado and cheese. I also love beans over rice with fried chicken or slow cooker pork or beef roast or just beans and rice. Skinnytaste.com has an excellent rice recipe called Latin Yellow Rice to make rice and beans or burritos or salad bowl. She also has many delicious Latin flavored shredded meat recipes such as carnitas, sweet baracoa pork, pernil or chicken ropa vieja if you want to make burritos or a salad bowl with the beans. If you are really pressed for time you can add one cup undrained black beans instead of the Cuban style black beans.

Santa Fe Chicken

3 chicken breasts
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup cuban style black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chicken broth
3 scallions chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
1 Tbsp. sugar or to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine everything except chicken and cilantro in crock pot. Season chicken with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Take chicken out and shred it then add back into crock pot with cilantro and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning and serve over rice.

Cuban Style Black Beans

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 onion,
2 cloves minced
2 scallions,
2 tbsp. red bell pepper
3 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
19 oz. can black beans, undrained
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
few pinches cumin
pinch oregano
1 tsp. red wine or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt and pepper

Chop onion, garlic, scallions and red bell pepper in a mini food processor. Add oil to pan on medium heat. Add vegetables and saute until soft. Add beans, water, bay leaf, cumin, oregano, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add cilantro and take off heat.

New Years

We had a good new years eve. For the Girls we had a new years birthday party with birthday cake and sparklers. And we sang happy birthday to the new year. Jada is really into birthdays right now. The girls have changed so much this year. Makayla was born in March and is now almost 10 months. She is crawling, walking around furniture, and very much her own person. Jada only knew a handful of words at the start of this year and she is now speaking quite fluently. She is mommy's little helper and Makayla's second mom. She had been making progress learning to share with her sister and cleaning up after herself. She got potty trained this year. She is a very sweet little girl, they both are.
My parents came to our new years party and mike and i played a game and had some snacks with them after the kids went to bed. That was fun. Jada says so many humorous things. At dinner we wanted her to eat and she told us "I'm too busy!", we all laughed and Jada got her "I did something cute" face.
Mike and i got settled in our new place in lethbridge and we have been doing well. Mike is applying for the government again this year. We would like for him to get the job and at the same time don't want to move. I am sure many of you know how that feels.
For New years resolutions we are both continuing our goals of living a healthy lifestyle. The stakes 100 day challenge (daily personal and family scripture study and prayer, family home evening and a family service activity each week.) we have made our own and we have added on to it. We are striving to be at least 5 minutes early for church and to keep the sabbath day holy.

I really feel inspired to share my testimony of these things.
 Sabbath day was always strictly observed in the home I grew up in. I complained alot about it as a child but after I started obeying the commandments with real intent and testimony in my teenage years, not just because they were rules in my parents house, the keeping the sabbath became very dear to me. The sacrifices I personally made to keep this commandment brought about many faith promoting experiences as I saw the Lord bless me. Sacrifices such as not doing my homework or studying that day and I started to see that even though I had one less day to do these things my grades improved. After the trial of my faith the Lord blessed me with better employment (better wage, hours, and benefits) then I would have got if I did not be faithful to my conviction to put strict obedience to God above temporal things. And exercise my faith. At one point I had struggled for weeks to find employment because I would not work Sunday and I started to doubt a little and I prayed to God and in the midst of my prayer the phone rang and it was the bishop asking me to speak in church on keeping the sabbath day holy.
Joseph Smith said "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation."
I like to change it and say "If chelsey is not willing to sacrifice all things to be obedient to the commandments of God then she cannot gain the faith necessary unto life and salvation."
And this has been so true in my life. The last few years I have become lax in being as mormon is described quick to observe the commandments of God and I saw faith that once carried my through many hard trials and opened the windows of heaven which poured out blessings, become weak and spiritual knowledge obtained forgotten and the spirit that once burned within me become distant. Just the simple things of daily scripture study, prayer, and sabbath day made that huge of a difference. And there are many more commandments and duties we have as members of Christ church that have added blessings. I have made a renewed commitment to be strick to obey the difference I can see in my life is tremendous.

Through out the church there are so many interpretation on what it means to keep the sabbath day holy and every family does it different. If you are raising children or just starting your family and trying to decide how you will observe this commandment in your home I strongly urge you to keep in mind how powerful this commandment can be in the lives of your children unto producing faith. Much needed faith that will be a safeguard for them.
My patriarchal blessing tells me that it is important that I prepare myself by having a strong testimony. Seek the Lord and study the scriptures and he will enlighten me so that my testimony will be a safeguard for me against all evil.
The world our children are raised in is even more morally degraded then the one we grew up in. But we don`t need to fear for them if we have prepared them well.
Though the sabbath day is called a day of rest, more important than emphasis on rest is an emphasis on it being a holy day. A day of worship, one in which men turn their whole souls to the Lord, renew their covenants with him, and feed their souls upon the things of the spirit.
I strongly believe that observance of this commandment will make the difference in our lives between worldly and righteous if we do truly devote that day to spiritually uplifting activities with an attitude of worship.
I asked the question to myself ``How can I be prepared to becoming the kind of person who gives their life to glorify God and labor in his work (in other words, become a true disciple of Christ) if I can not sacrifice one day