I'm in the process of concocting taco soup while I type. It's not hard. It's actually super, super easy. Easier than tacos themselves if such a thing were possible. Here's the scoop.
How I Do It:
1. Rinse around 1.5 to 2 cups of dried beans in a colander.
2. Dump the beans in the crock pot, salt them (like 1.5 tsp.), and cover them by an inch or so in water.
3. Cook them on low if you need them to take a while or high if you're in a hurry. It makes almost no difference.
4. Check periodically to make sure the water isn't all absorbed. If it is, add more.
5. Once the beans are done, add these things--
a. A pound of browned ground beef
b. A couple cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
c. A can of Rotel tomatoes or tomatoes with chilies, undrained (if I've got this)
d. 2 cans of undrained corn
e. A pack of taco seasoning
6. Stir it all together, and cook it for like 4 hours on high or all day on low. I mean, you guys know crock pots. No one sets a timer.
7. Serve with grated cheese on top and tortilla chips on the side. I personally use my spoon only for directing the soup to the chip.
"Suggestions" The Original Recipe Calls For That I Ignore:
1. They say to use 2 cans of kidney beans and 2 cans of pinto beans in lieu of cooking your own beans.
2. They say to add a pack of ranch dressing mix. I had bought a pack before I made this the first time, but once I started putting things together, I noticed the pack was open or something, so I did without, and we liked it. So I've decided not to mess with a good thing. I don't like ranch dressing anyway, so I'm just as happy.
There you have it.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Well, maybe he's not ready yet.
I didn't marry my husband for his vast theological library. I really didn't. But I do love reading. I get really absorbed in whatever I'm reading. That statement is true almost without exception. I've been known to get fascinated with the back of a cereal box if it's got a catchy introduction. I plow through books, determined to get to the end, wrap it up in my mind, and move on to the next one.
Enter Baby. Enough said.
So, now I've got a new favorite thing. My MP3 player. I gave up trying to get a good picture of it, but you all know what one looks like. I load stuff on there, hook it up to these cheap speakers we bought at Ross, put the whole get-up on top of the fridge, and I've got a home audio system that fills the entire kitchen with the sound of educational literature . . . if the dishwasher isn't making too much noise.
I've listened to sermon series my pastor preached before I began attending. (His sermons are available here, by the way.) I've listened to some seminary courses available for free download at various evangelical schools. And I've gotten several things from librivox.org. What a great idea. Someday, when I'm not planning my day's activities around naps, I'm going to volunteer for this organization. These people volunteer to record public-domain books and upload them to this site. So people like me can pick what we'd like to "read" and hear it broadcast on our refrigerators.
It's a great set-up. I used to think it would somehow have an educational effect on my 17-month-old, but those delusions were shot down yesterday. I was multitasking in the kitchen--figuring out how to cut up a chicken while getting caught up on the Battle of Sedgemoor from The History of England from the Accession of James II. Wouldn't it be great, thought I, if British history becomes a passion for this little guy as a result of hearing this entire multi-volume work read by dedicated Libravox volunteers? Then reality struck, as I looked up to see whether he was taking notes, and discovered, to my dismay, the following sight.
Ah well. Maybe we'll try something more on his age level next. I wonder if Libravox does Dr. Seuss.
Enter Baby. Enough said.
So, now I've got a new favorite thing. My MP3 player. I gave up trying to get a good picture of it, but you all know what one looks like. I load stuff on there, hook it up to these cheap speakers we bought at Ross, put the whole get-up on top of the fridge, and I've got a home audio system that fills the entire kitchen with the sound of educational literature . . . if the dishwasher isn't making too much noise.
I've listened to sermon series my pastor preached before I began attending. (His sermons are available here, by the way.) I've listened to some seminary courses available for free download at various evangelical schools. And I've gotten several things from librivox.org. What a great idea. Someday, when I'm not planning my day's activities around naps, I'm going to volunteer for this organization. These people volunteer to record public-domain books and upload them to this site. So people like me can pick what we'd like to "read" and hear it broadcast on our refrigerators.
It's a great set-up. I used to think it would somehow have an educational effect on my 17-month-old, but those delusions were shot down yesterday. I was multitasking in the kitchen--figuring out how to cut up a chicken while getting caught up on the Battle of Sedgemoor from The History of England from the Accession of James II. Wouldn't it be great, thought I, if British history becomes a passion for this little guy as a result of hearing this entire multi-volume work read by dedicated Libravox volunteers? Then reality struck, as I looked up to see whether he was taking notes, and discovered, to my dismay, the following sight.
Ah well. Maybe we'll try something more on his age level next. I wonder if Libravox does Dr. Seuss.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
On Poverty
Throughout history, let's face it, every period has had its "haves" and its "have nots." Sometimes some "haves" let the "have nots" have it. I'm not saying that being a "have" makes a person rude, cruel, arrogant, elitist, or whatever scathing epithets economic philosophers have hurled at them for generations. But if a rude, arrogant, cruel elitist happened to be a "have" in most historical epochs, woe be to the "have nots" under his control. Scorn and ridicule toward the "have nots" peppered the conversation of the "haves" if they discussed them at all.
Well, times have changed. They have improved for the most part. If you live in this country, you're a "have." No questions asked. But if you isolate the US, you'll find "haves" and "have nots" here to.
Where am I going with this? Here's my thesis: Frugal "have nots" must take care not to think and behave with the snobbishness so detested in the worst of the "haves."
Huh? Okay, here's the background. Yesterday, my husband comes home from his job holding a printout of his W-2. It's tax time, and it turns out that the government isn't going to keep any of the money they had withheld from his paycheck throughout the year. That must mean we fall below some line they've set.
I started thinking that this isn't exactly what I think of when I picture poverty. Granted, we don't have cable, but we've got high speed internet, 2 vehicles, a house, a kid, a stay-at-home mom, 7 bags of Hersheys Bliss in the cabinet, and a box of this expensive Barbour Foods frozen chicken Parmesan in the freezer.
How do I respond to this? I experienced a moment of gratitude for all the Lord has blessed us with. We don't feel impoverished by any means. And I realized that part of what He has used to make our income accomplish so much is the generosity of our wonderful family.
But then, I lapsed into snobbishness. I began thinking of the calls that are broadcast on the Dave Ramsey radio show. "Hi, I only make $4,000 a month, and my wife brings in like $2,500, and we'd love for her to stay home with the baby that's on the way, but I don't know if we can make it happen." I feel like calling myself and saying, "Let me introduce you to a coupon." But that's kind of sarcastic, isn't it?
I've spent some time on money-saving blogs, and one thing that kind of nebulously made me uncomfortable in the comments and occasionally the posts I finally put my finger on. The "have nots" can sometimes look with condescending haughtiness on the "haves" who don't carefully save and economize. "Look how much stuff I have on such a small income!" And the inference is, "What's your problem?"
The bottom line is we don't know other people's situations. We do better to thank God for His faithfulness in providing our needs. And should He choose to send prosperity above and beyond what we can use ourselves, let's look for ways to share with "have less-es" in our lives . . . or maybe even with "haves mores" who may just need some kindness rather than condescension.
Well, times have changed. They have improved for the most part. If you live in this country, you're a "have." No questions asked. But if you isolate the US, you'll find "haves" and "have nots" here to.
Where am I going with this? Here's my thesis: Frugal "have nots" must take care not to think and behave with the snobbishness so detested in the worst of the "haves."
Huh? Okay, here's the background. Yesterday, my husband comes home from his job holding a printout of his W-2. It's tax time, and it turns out that the government isn't going to keep any of the money they had withheld from his paycheck throughout the year. That must mean we fall below some line they've set.
I started thinking that this isn't exactly what I think of when I picture poverty. Granted, we don't have cable, but we've got high speed internet, 2 vehicles, a house, a kid, a stay-at-home mom, 7 bags of Hersheys Bliss in the cabinet, and a box of this expensive Barbour Foods frozen chicken Parmesan in the freezer.
How do I respond to this? I experienced a moment of gratitude for all the Lord has blessed us with. We don't feel impoverished by any means. And I realized that part of what He has used to make our income accomplish so much is the generosity of our wonderful family.
But then, I lapsed into snobbishness. I began thinking of the calls that are broadcast on the Dave Ramsey radio show. "Hi, I only make $4,000 a month, and my wife brings in like $2,500, and we'd love for her to stay home with the baby that's on the way, but I don't know if we can make it happen." I feel like calling myself and saying, "Let me introduce you to a coupon." But that's kind of sarcastic, isn't it?
I've spent some time on money-saving blogs, and one thing that kind of nebulously made me uncomfortable in the comments and occasionally the posts I finally put my finger on. The "have nots" can sometimes look with condescending haughtiness on the "haves" who don't carefully save and economize. "Look how much stuff I have on such a small income!" And the inference is, "What's your problem?"
The bottom line is we don't know other people's situations. We do better to thank God for His faithfulness in providing our needs. And should He choose to send prosperity above and beyond what we can use ourselves, let's look for ways to share with "have less-es" in our lives . . . or maybe even with "haves mores" who may just need some kindness rather than condescension.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Publix Keeps Me Coming Back for More. . . Cookies
Deborah suggested I join the Publix cookie club. Well, I'm not technically in the club, I guess. That would be Paul. Believe me, he's the one who eats the cookies. But having him in the club makes Publix a happier place for me. If your little Cookie Monster is not in the club, initiation is easy. Just pull a hungry little kid up (in a vroom-vroom cart if you can find one) to the bakery and ask for a cookie card. They'll dole out a cookie and punch the card. Once the card is all punched, you can enter it in a drawing for a big cookie. So your little one munches while you shop. Or at least until you get out of the produce section.
After we picked up our, that is his, cookie, we found the following groceries:
3 toaster strudels
1 Coffee Mate creamer
a pack of .59 a pound chicken legs
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes
2 boxes of Keebler cookies or "Teetees! Teetees!" (this is where the cookie club loot came in especially handy)
and the penny item was a big roll of paper towels
All for the low, low price of $7.89.
Which, they tell me, is a savings of $17.15. That would mean that I "saved" 69% by getting sale stuff and using coupons. And if I had to recommend one thing, I would say to get the tomatoes. They work great for taco soup, and you make money if you use the coupon from the Advantage flier in conjuction with the .30/1 manufacturer coupon from last week's (I think) insert.
That's my super savings. I've never been so attached to a grocery store. I love this place.
Oh. You want to know how to make taco soup? Okay, we'll see what we can do. Stay tuned.
After we picked up our, that is his, cookie, we found the following groceries:
3 toaster strudels
1 Coffee Mate creamer
a pack of .59 a pound chicken legs
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes
2 boxes of Keebler cookies or "Teetees! Teetees!" (this is where the cookie club loot came in especially handy)
and the penny item was a big roll of paper towels
All for the low, low price of $7.89.
Which, they tell me, is a savings of $17.15. That would mean that I "saved" 69% by getting sale stuff and using coupons. And if I had to recommend one thing, I would say to get the tomatoes. They work great for taco soup, and you make money if you use the coupon from the Advantage flier in conjuction with the .30/1 manufacturer coupon from last week's (I think) insert.
That's my super savings. I've never been so attached to a grocery store. I love this place.
Oh. You want to know how to make taco soup? Okay, we'll see what we can do. Stay tuned.
Routine Take 2
Now, about the green marker. As you can see, "Write a blog post" has not been markered lately. But for those of you still hanging in, here's the promised Green Marker System detailed for your edification.
I have this small white board with magnets stuck to my fridge. On top of the fridge (among other things, ahee) is a green dry erase marker we got when Office either Depot or Max was offering a full rebate on a pack of dry erase markers. The others are still in a drawer. For some reason we started with green.
So anyhow, here's the innovative plan. I take a couple of minutes at the beginning of the day listing on the white board the stuff I want to do that day. The official rule is "You have to finish it that day if it's on the board." The real rule is "You may not erase it until it's done, even it takes all week to get to it." Either way, the stuff usually gets done, because who wants a green testimony to her procrastination staring her in the face every time she goes to get the milk?
That's what I do. And I find that just having a basic idea of where I'd like the house and life in general to be at the end of the day contributes significantly to accomplishing more and staying on task. And erasing stuff is way fun.
I have this small white board with magnets stuck to my fridge. On top of the fridge (among other things, ahee) is a green dry erase marker we got when Office either Depot or Max was offering a full rebate on a pack of dry erase markers. The others are still in a drawer. For some reason we started with green.
So anyhow, here's the innovative plan. I take a couple of minutes at the beginning of the day listing on the white board the stuff I want to do that day. The official rule is "You have to finish it that day if it's on the board." The real rule is "You may not erase it until it's done, even it takes all week to get to it." Either way, the stuff usually gets done, because who wants a green testimony to her procrastination staring her in the face every time she goes to get the milk?
That's what I do. And I find that just having a basic idea of where I'd like the house and life in general to be at the end of the day contributes significantly to accomplishing more and staying on task. And erasing stuff is way fun.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Routine
Can't live with it; can't live without it. When I coast, I long for it; when I'm in a rut, I seek to cast it off. It's what we strive for until we actually attain it. How many more pithy cliches can I use?
I got to thinking about my routine when I read this post yesterday. [Side note] I know people don't mean it this way, but when someone says, "I'm a little unconventional," I hear, "I'm more innovative than you." So, I'm not going to say that. I'm going to say that no one will write a book about the way I structure my days. It's probably very conventional, actually. It's just that no one talks about it because it's not the way in which organized people recommend the rest of us live.
So, maybe you're the "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday" type. I thought I was until I became a stay-at-homer. Then it's like, "But I washed last Monday. . . and Thursday and Saturday. There's not enough to wash today. But I never did iron on Tuesday. But the baby will pull the cord and kill himself by dragging a heavy piece of searing hot metal on his head. I have to wait until he's asleep. I've been here all day. Can't we get out of the house and take a walk or something? I feel like the little guy is all trapped. Besides, there's that stuff at CVS that would be free after extra bucks. My day would go so much smoother if I had a routine. But if I had a routine, stuff would be monotonous." I sound like Charlie Brown.
So, the best routine for me is more like this:
Get up
Have a time in the Word while drinking a hot beverage
Take a shower
Prepare breakfast/pack a lunch
Do anything that requires Paul be asleep
Get Paul up, changed, dressed
Feed him breakfast
Go from there
Now, it's the "go from there" that's flexible. That's where the green marker (free after rebate) comes in. But I've got to have material for later, so that's when we'll explain the green marker system of organization.
I got to thinking about my routine when I read this post yesterday. [Side note] I know people don't mean it this way, but when someone says, "I'm a little unconventional," I hear, "I'm more innovative than you." So, I'm not going to say that. I'm going to say that no one will write a book about the way I structure my days. It's probably very conventional, actually. It's just that no one talks about it because it's not the way in which organized people recommend the rest of us live.
So, maybe you're the "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday" type. I thought I was until I became a stay-at-homer. Then it's like, "But I washed last Monday. . . and Thursday and Saturday. There's not enough to wash today. But I never did iron on Tuesday. But the baby will pull the cord and kill himself by dragging a heavy piece of searing hot metal on his head. I have to wait until he's asleep. I've been here all day. Can't we get out of the house and take a walk or something? I feel like the little guy is all trapped. Besides, there's that stuff at CVS that would be free after extra bucks. My day would go so much smoother if I had a routine. But if I had a routine, stuff would be monotonous." I sound like Charlie Brown.
So, the best routine for me is more like this:
Get up
Have a time in the Word while drinking a hot beverage
Take a shower
Prepare breakfast/pack a lunch
Do anything that requires Paul be asleep
Get Paul up, changed, dressed
Feed him breakfast
Go from there
Now, it's the "go from there" that's flexible. That's where the green marker (free after rebate) comes in. But I've got to have material for later, so that's when we'll explain the green marker system of organization.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Stepping Heavenward
I have just finished reading the biography of Elizabeth Prentiss, author of the hymn, "More Love to Thee." It is a well written book by Sharon James that gives an honest account of the life of this godly woman. It praises her duly while providing helpful analysis of her writings as well as some of her viewpoints.
Elizabeth Prentiss sought in her life to grow in her love for her Savior as her most famous hymn describes. A friend of hers wrote of her:
If reading more good literature was a resolution for 2009, I would like to try to convince you to add Prentiss's Stepping Heavenward to your list.
Elizabeth Prentiss sought in her life to grow in her love for her Savior as her most famous hymn describes. A friend of hers wrote of her:
Believing in Christ was to her not so much a duty as the deepest joy of her life, heightening all other joys, and she was not satisfied until her friends shared with her in this experience. She believed it to be attainable by all, founded on a complete submitting of the human to the Divine will in all things, great and small (Elizabeth Prentiss, 'More Love to Thee', by Sharon James pp. 208-9).I would definitely commend the biography to you, but if you are limited to one Prentiss book, I would suggest her own work, Stepping Heavenward. I have read this book three times through, and each time I found more to identify with. Though it is written and set in the 19th century, the emotions and reactions displayed and experienced by the heroine are so characteristic of the way women think, that I believe any Christian woman would benefit from the godly, practical wisdom in it.
If reading more good literature was a resolution for 2009, I would like to try to convince you to add Prentiss's Stepping Heavenward to your list.
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