Give me something good to eat!

Psalm 116:7 "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." In the hustle, bustle, and sometimes chaos of life it can be so easy to forget this simple yet forever constant fact - the Lord has been good to you. He is with you in every situation, circumstance, trial, trouble, and joy of daily life. How is he good? He sent His holy and perfect son to die on the cross in our rightful place for our sins, forever removing every stain and blemish by his powerful blood and presenting us white as snow to his Father. Be at rest today and always. The Lord has been oh-so-good to you.

To celebrate Halloween without directly celebrating Halloween at school, we learned about owls, bats, spiders and other nocturnal things this week, in addition to having a fall party.  The kids were obsessed with the giant books showing all kinds of creepy, crawly photographs. We made our own spiders out of styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. After reading a book about how spiders had 8 eyes and 8 legs, we set to work creating our own. 8 tiny googly eyes plus 8 pipe cleaner pieces plus paint plus glue equals one giant mess! One of the other teachers commented that my little cowboy looked like he just got done working on a car with all the black paint smeared down his button-down and jeans. But hey, learning is often messy, especially with this age! The spiders turned out so cute...legs and eyes literally poking out all over the place. If we wanted to be super anatomically correct we would have used two styrofoam balls per kid since we learned that spiders' bodies have two parts but they say hindsight is 20/20. The kids also made owls on construction paper. They dipped their palms in paint and (were supposed to) put their fingers all together to make the body (palm is head, fingers at bottom are talons...you see where I'm headed?) We need to work on our understanding of positional words I think since the more I told them to put their fingers together the farther they strained to get their little fingers as far apart as possible haha! Then they dipped their hands in paint again and, with fingers intentionally spread this time, made the wings. Then came the GIANT googly eyes and a paper beak. Then finally, glue and feathers of all different crazy colors. It was hilarious. One of my boys literally but one feather on each wing and one on the body and called it a day. One of my girls put so many feathers on hers you couldn't even see the ginormous eyes. My favorites had to be the ones that glued everything, feathers, eyes, and beak, in the space around the painted body. So cute!!

We went to a little Halloween get-together with a group of my husband's friends and I volunteered to be the sweets-provider. I got this recipe from my aunt, tweaked it slightly most wonderful, most moist (moistest?) dessert that rocked our worlds. Wait for it......Reese's Pieces Cupcakes!! I'll give you a sneak peak at what will get you drooling with three little words...peanut butter buttercream. My aunt's original recipe was for peanut butter cup cupcakes but I was out of some of the ingredients so I improvised. Is your mouth watering in anticipation yet?? And yes, this cupcake is also known as the "death to all diets" but they say it's all about moderation. Therefore, have your cupcake and engulf it too :)

Reese's Pieces Cupcakes

1 package devil's food cake mix

1 (5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup water

Peanut butter Buttercream Frosting:

3 sticks butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tbsp vanilla

2 lbs. confectioner's sugar, sifted

6-8 Tbsp. heavy cream (if using milk, amount will be less)

*I used milk, can't remember how much but I just added it until I got the consistency I wanted. It might have been about 3 tablespoons.

NOTE ABOUT FROSTING: WILL MAKE A TON. THIS IS NOT A TEST. 

I had so much frosting left over that I made a whole 'nother batch the very next day and took all 24 new cupcakes to work. Moral of the story: halve the frosting recipe :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with liners or spray with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, beat together cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, and water. Beat for two minutes on medium speed until well combined.

3. Distribute batter evenly between muffin tins (mine made 27 cupcakes total), about 3 tablespoons of batter per muffin well. 

4. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until top of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes and allow to fully cool on wire rack before frosting.

For frosting:

1. Cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. Turn mixer to low and slowly add in confectioner's sugar, continuing to mix until well blended.

2. Add vanilla and milk. Blend on low until moistened. Add additional milk if needed until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

I apologize for the low quality of this photo, and the subsequent lack of phots of the following meals. My poor camera has reached the end of it's time with me. R.I.P. Sony.

I found this next recipe on my new obsession....PINTEREST! It came from a blog (crockpot365.blogspot.com) where a woman used her crockpot every day for a year! Now that is true commitment. And a great resource for us crockpot users (there's just something about coming home to a meal magically cooked and ready by a small, shiny machine). It's almost like having my own Rosey.

Crockpot Tamale Pie

Cornbread topping:

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk 

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

Tamale filling:

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 can fire roasted tomatoes (I used a can of Rotel)

1 can drained corn

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup shredded cheese

**You can add browned meat of your choice if you so desire. I was in a hurry before work so I omitted it and you really didn't miss it!

1. Spray crockpot with cooking spray.

2. Add in filling ingredients (including cheese) and stir well to distribute spices.

3. In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for cornbread topping.

4. Pour batter over filling, spreading with a spatula.

5. Cover and cook on low for 4-7 hours or on high for 2-4.

Sad story about the cook time: I turned it on before I left for work and just happened to get off late that day. The edges of my poor tamale pie were burned black!! And the rest of the cornbread topping was a little darker than I would have preferred. But we made do and just add from the middle outward. On her blog, the woman said hers was ready at hour 6 so I would definitely NOT recommend cooking it for 8 and a half hours!! But oh man, tougher cornbread texture aside this meal was SO good and SO easy!! We are going to have it again on a weekend when I can better control the cook time.

The Lord provided us with a nice little taste of cold fall weather this week so we were definitely in the mood for warm food. I got this recipe off of Pinterest as well, originally from howto-simplify.com. When they say simple they mean it! So easy to prepare and so flavorful. I took the leftovers to work and was in heaven...could even ignore the havoc that was being wrecked by the small children surrounding me. Actually I had to fend for my chili as they all wanted to stir it for me haha!

White Chicken Chili

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 c. cooked chicken, shredded

2 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 can (4 oz.) green chilies

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 box (32 oz.) chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice from 1 lime

1. In large pot, saute the onion in olive oil.

2. Add chicken, beans, corn, green chilies (with juice from can), cumin, and oregano. Stir to combine, then add chicken broth.

3. Bring to a boil and simmer 20-30 minutes to allow broth to reduce. Add salt, pepper, and lime juice.

4. Top with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, avocado, or tortilla chips.

I chose to top ours with a tiny bit of sour cream mixed in, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and a very light sprinkle of chili powder. O.M.G. Such a yummy comfort food with just the right amount of spice. Y'all have to try this one!! It will be a keeper I guarantee :)

Taste and See!

Psalm 34:8-10 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." We serve such a good God! There are some days when I am just astounded and amazed by His goodness. I mean, the very fact that we get another day on this earth is a testament to His goodness! And what a promise - that if we seek His face, we will lack no good thing. He so yearns to pour out blessings and every good thing on His children. All we have to do is turn to Him and open our hearts. And if there seems to be lions at your door or around every corner, don't worry! Because they, unlike us, will grow weak and hungry! Amen to that!

So I am so happy to say that I finally reached week 9 of Couch to 5K! I must say, I would have thought that Clarisse would show a little more enthusiasm. She was just "You've made some progress (said with a long O sound) over the last few weeks". Uhhh you think?? Of course, I only listened to her introduction to make sure I was supposed to run for 30 minutes, then switched over to Forrest Gump at the gym instead of her strange compilation of musical items. Forrest and I actually "just started runn-an" together (please read that in a Forrest Gump accent), which made the time fly by. I cannot believe and would have never guessed that I would actually get to the end of this program! I don't have a very good track record at keeping at things...softball...soccer... If you have started KEEP GOING! YOU CAN DO IT!

We tried several new Mexican recipes this week and both were absolutely delicious. I found both on one of my most frequently visited blogs "Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour". I highly recommend both those and the couple recipes to follow! You can't go wrong with any of them this week!

Mexican Casserole Tostadas

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1-2 tsp cumin

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped (I omitted since I didn't have it on hand and those red ones are expensive! Preschool teacher budget rules the grocery list)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 can black beans, drained

1 1/2 cups salsa

4 oz. cream cheese

2 tomatoes, chopped (I omitted...not a fan)

1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese

Corn tortillas for tostadas

Oil for frying

1. Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to skillet with onion and cumin. Saute until chicken is cooked.

2. When chicken is cooked, add bell peppers and saute for 2 minutes.

3. Add salsa and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Add cream cheese and stir until melted.

5. Add black beans and tomatoes, stir well, and transfer to 8x8 baking dish.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, top with cheese, and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes.

This dish is so delicious and versatile you can literally put it with anything (rice, tortilla, chips, etc.) I tried out making my own tostadas (uhh who knew it was so easy and why have I not been doing this my whole life??) Just heat some oil in the bottom of a skillet, pop those corn tortillas in, and turn when golden and crispy. Don't forget to poke some holes in them before frying and drain excess oil off on a paper towel. Scoop a big ol' helping of the casserole onto each tostada and enjoy!!

 Chicken Enchilada Pasta (and so much more!)

This recipe is seriously the best bang for your buck. I made it as it was originally intended, as a pasta sauce, and ended up with about a gallon of leftover sauce. I ended up taking it to work one day as a tortilla soup (just added some black beans and topped with crushed chips) since it already has chicken in it. Then I used it another day as enchilada filling (added black beans, roll it up in a tortilla, oh yum). If you want something to stretch for all kinds of meals, this is the one for you!

2-3chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 Tbsp. oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced (I used green again)

1 4-oz. can green chiles

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 10-oz. green enchilada sauce

2/3 cup red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup sour cream

Penne pasta

1. Cook chicken and shred. Boil pasta according to pasta and chop all veggies.

2. Heat oil in skillet and cook onions for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and peppers and cook another 3-5 minutes.

3. Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and enchilada sauces. Simmer for 8-10 minutes.

4. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add sour cream and cook on LOW until well mixed throughout.

5. Drain pasta, return to pot, and pour sauce over noodles.

Seriously, you have to try it!!! Mexican flavor with pasta....my two favorite things in the world!

We've been talking about fall the past couple weeks at the preschool....although these poor Texan children are seriously deprived of any fall colors outside. Since we've been exploring apples, pumpkins, gourds, and the like, on Friday we made homemade applesauce! So easy and made the room smell delicious!

Homemade Applesauce

8 red apples

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Peel, core and cut apples into bite-sized pieces. This is the most time-consuming part...everything else is a breeze!

2. Add apples, sugar, water, and cinnamon to crockpot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours.

3. When apples become soft, mash using a potato masher.

4. After the first few hours, reduce heat to low and cook for another 2-3 hours.

5. Mash periodically until you get your desired consistency. Add more sugar if desired.

I believe I ate more than all my kids did combined! Except my little cowboy who would just walk over and help himself to more...and was surprisingly good at wielding the giant ladle! Of course I had two picky ones that wouldn't even try it, despite how excited they were as they helped me prepare it, simply because it was a darker color than store bought applesauce. Seriously kids?? Its apples, sugar, and cinnamon...there is nothing in there that you don't like. I really had to fight the urge to ban them from leaving the table until they tried one bite like my mom used to do and I will do with my own kids. The argument "you don't know if you like it unless you try it" had no effect on these pickies. I used all sorts of method of persuasion to attempt to get them to try one teeny-tiny bite but once the whining and brink of tears came, I surrendered. Their loss means more for Mrs. Sawah!

So I just thought I'd share a really easy way to make a super fast and super yummy meal. Many of you probably know this trick already but I'm still going to share it with those who may have been like me for most of my life and had zero kitchen sense (what do you mean you have to turn on the burner to make a grilled cheese? Ohhhh I accidentally turned on the fan...whoops.) So a staple in our place is a jar of alfredo sauce. I know many have reservations about jarred alfredo but the Classico Four Cheese is actually pretty good. Normally I make my chicken, boil my pasta, toss it in with a nice helping of sauce (don't even bother heating it up), add some pepper, Italian seasoning and cheese and we're good to go. Well this time I thought I'd try to put a tiny bit of effort into it and oh my goodness what a difference it made...yet still took no time at all! First I sauteed some green onion and garlic in olive oil until I could start to smell the garlic and the onions were becoming transparent. Then I added the sauce to the pan and thinned it out with a splash of chicken stock. Let it simmer. To the linguine I added zucchini ribbons (saw this on Rachael Ray one time and was intrigued.) Peel your zucchini with a vegetable peeler and make long "ribbons". Pop those in with your pasta for the last 4 or so minutes of cook time. I normally just cut up zucchini or squash to add to the pasta but this looked so much prettier and was easy to twirl on your fork with the long pasta strands. Drain the pasta and zucchini, pour doctored sauce over everything, top with Italian seasoning (we like alot of it in our household) and lots of cheese. I swear, the garlic, onions, and chicken stock make all the difference in the world!! I'm never plopping the sauce in the pot and calling it good again.....well, I say that now....

Flat Pasta with Creamy Corn

Don't let the name fool you ...and don't think of old people creamed corn!! I got this recipe from Rachael Ray's website and for some reason was just drawn to it. We tried it out last night and oh my goodness....so tasty! The sauce was very light and buttery, leaving us full but not miserable like many cream sauces can do. So good and so easy to make...the only effort you put in is chopping up some veggies! I halved it and had just the right amount leftover to take to work tomorrow. This is the un-halved recipe:

6 ears of corn on the cob, husked (or 3 cups thawed frozen corn or canned corn)

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound pancetta or lean, center-cut bacon (I used Great Value bacon...surprise surprise)

1 Fresno chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped OR 1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. thyme, finely chopped (I used dried)

1 small red onion, very finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup shelled fava beans (or defrosted shelled edamame or lima beans...I used the latter)

1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock

3 Tbsp. butter

1 pound egg tagliatelle or other wide-cut pasta

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (I had plans to use dried....just realized I completely forgot it ha!)

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, for topping (Or if you are like me....GreatVal Italian blend shredded cheese for $2!)

1. Into large bowl, scrape corn off of cobs, as well as cobs themselves, catching juices. Or open up a can of sweet corn and keep a little bit of the juice.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and bring large pot of water to boil for the pasta.

3. Add olive oil to the hot skillet and add bacon. Cook to render the fat and crisp, 3-4 minutes.

4. Add corn and juices and cook for 3-4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic; stir for 5 minutes.

6. Add fava beans/edamame/lima beans and deglaze pan with chicken stock or wine.

7. Stir in butter and reduce heat to low. (I might have added a little extra butter)

8. Salt boiling water and boil pasta according to package directions. Add 1 cup of starchy cooking water to corn mix (next time I'd add less than that. I ended up draining some excess liquid from the leftovers).

9. Drain pasta, toss with corn, top with parsley and cheese.

Taste and see :)

The Tale of Two Bear Hunts

Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." When I read this I heard the plea and deep desire for God's teaching and guidance in his life. We serve the greatest teacher that has ever been and ever will be and as for me, I want to learn the most from HIM. I also love the last part of this psalm "my hope is in you all day long". Personally, I can find myself extremely far at the end of the day from where I began. I begin my mornings with a daily devotional and some time spent reading the Word with my cup (ok, that's actually plural) of coffee. I have found this to truly bring a sense of peace and readiness to my day. However, as the day progresses, it can be so easy to forget that peace and hope with which the day begin when faced with all of the demands of life (and of three-year-olds!). But it is my prayer that I secure my hope in the Lord all day long. After all, each minute of every day that we are blessed to breathe on this earth comes from Him!

We tried out the BEST recipe ever this weekend! I got it, yet again, from one of my fave blogs "Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour". It was one of those where after the first bite I did my signature move when the food is really good - slap my knee, shake my head slowly, and not say anything than a combined "Mmm"/grunt. James finds it highly amusing the amount of satisfaction I get out of food ha! I also emailed the recipe to my mom dictating to her that she had to make it this week. That good.

Crispy Southwestern Chicken Wraps

1 cup cooked white rice

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 green onion, finely sliced

1/2 green or red bell pepper

1/4 cup cilantro (I omitted)

juice of 1 lime

1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese

Sour cream

6 tortillas *

The original recipe called for burrito size tortillas. I only had the regular small ones which just meant I had to eat more  of them :)

1. Cook and shred chicken while cooking rice.

2. Combine rice with spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic salt).

3. Add the black beans, chicken, onion, pepper, cilantro, and lime juice. The recipe called for topping the cheese in the next step with the sour cream but I just added a little bit here to make it creamy. 

4. Sprinkle tortillas with cheese. Top with chicken mixture. Roll up and toast on each side in skillet until golden brown (I had to secure mine with toothpicks to keep all the deliciousness inside).

Enjoy!!! Hopefully it gets a "Mmm"/grunt out of you too!

Saturday was a day full of deep-cleaning (gotta capitalize when the mood strikes right?), fall decorating, and football watching. And I finally took pictures of our fully completed, moved in, and decorated duplex although we have been settled for months. It was amazing to compare those pics to the ones we took on the very first day we moved in! So glad we covered up those dingy white walls with some paint - seriously close to miraculous the difference a gallon of paint can make. Sunday morning rolls around and I decide that instead of getting up super early and completing the last of week 5 runs before Sunday School and church, I'll just do it later....Allow me to tell you my horrific story:

I decide around 5:30 after spending the afternoon working on different crafts for my sister's upcoming bridal shower (pics to come after the shower in case she reads this before - I can't wait to share!) that I would go out and complete this run. Why I decided to do this when it is literally 99 degrees outside, not including heat index, and I have the beginnings of a cold I truly will never know. But I pumped myself up by repeating the phrase "30 minutes and you're done" as I hunted for my sports bra and a pair of shorts, getting distracted at least two or three times (I found myself sweeping the living room midway through getting dressed - seriously? Ritalin I think I need you). Worst. Decision. Ever. Although it was only thirty minutes long like usual Clarisse greeted me with a cheery "this week you will be running for twenty minutes without stopping or walking". Oh great. I know I have complained about the five minute requirements before so I offer an official retraction of those complaints issued and signed by yours truly. C-dawg, as I like to sometimes call her, kept insisting that this was all a mental challenge and that physically, I was ready. Maybe I would have been ready had I completed the run at 6:30 in the morning like usual when it is much, much, MUCH cooler/even pleasant. But no. Although I somehow managed to finish the run without stopping, I believe I suffered from some degree of heat exhaustion/mental confusion. I seriously considered rolling in the delightful stream of water running along the gutter and veered dangerously close as I huffed, puffed, and dragged my feet home. With about 5 minutes left I turned down a street in search of some shade and relief from the blaring sun. I didn't even make it to the cul-de-sac before making an awkward turnaround that brought back memories of high school days where you realize you are going the wrong way to a class and you just have to awkwardly turn around in the middle of the hallway. I would always give a little "Oh yeah!" like I forgot something to give my turnaround some sort of foundation. Anyways, there were some children playing in the cul-de-sac with their parents watching nearby and with the extremely slow pace at which I was "jogging", I did not want these fine suburban parents to think I was a creeper. With a final push I made it to the end. However, the reason I believe I suffered from heat exhaustion (ok, maybe just a little case of over-heating) was because despite how extremely hot I was I stopped sweating. Don't let my soaking shirt fool you, cars passing by, I literally poured water on myself from my water bottle. Dramatic? Perhaps a little but I at least waited until no one was around before I attempted to cool down. Alas, it was futile, for my water was practically boiling. Thank you, Texas sun. Anyhoo, I got home, realized my face was the exact shade of coral-red as my shirt, and turned on a freezing cold shower. The only time I turned on the slightest amount of hot water in my (somewhat) long shower was to shave my legs because let's face it, shaving your legs when cold is another form of torture. Unfortunately, my sad saga does not end there. As I was standing in the freezing water for the first few minutes I realized I should most likely stretch my legs after running for that length of time. I swear only this would happen to me...as I went to lift my left foot behind me and hold it to the back of my thigh to stretch, I hit the faucet and whacked the (pardon my french) crap out of my foot, instantly leaving a half-inch crater/blood-under-the-skin bruise. Really Sarah? And it had to happen in the beginning of my supposedly-refreshing shower so that for the remaining time, all I could think of was the pain shooting down to my foot. Oh, but don't worry, as I got out of the tub I hit the same foot at the exact same spot on the edge, causing it to bleed. Dear Lord, I need Your help and I need it bad. Let's just say, James came home from football practice to a very sad little girl. On the bright side, we had queso! I dare you to find a situation in which hot, melty cheese does not remedy. It's impossible. The best part was that when I told James on the phone that I had an injury I had to add "A real one this time!" Usually when I show him my injuries his first word is "Where?" My three-year-olds and I have much in common. It's why we get along so well :)

So that concludes my long, drawn-out tale of my Sunday evening. How was yours?

Monday. Dooms Day. Just kidding but I firmly believe that my kiddos did not get any sleep whatsoever the entire weekend and brought all that overly tired energy to school with them. It was one of those mornings where I was absolutely exhausted by 10:58 a.m. (I arrive at 10:00....yeah.). But during blessed nap time, in addition to fervently praying for the Holy Spirit to transcend upon all of the little bodies in the room and magically make them wake up with sweet, peaceful, gentle little souls, I {very} hastily pulled together a bear hunt. Allow me to introduce to you Dr. Jean. For all those non-teachers or moms that are not familiar with Dr. Jean, she is a lady who sings songs that children absolutely love. The downside? Her accent!!! I don't know where she is from but she has a voice that literally drives me up the wall. I sincerely apologize to any Dr. Jean fanatics out there but in my defense I do greatly appreciate her music. She has one song, "The Cool Bear Hunt" that the kids practically beg me for every day. In the song, you pack an imaginary backpack with the essentials - crackers, milk, and a flashlight, then set off on an incredible bear hunt through a candy factory, a peanut butter river, and even a jello swamp in search of a bear with "big green eyes and a fuzzy little tail". Well, our already small classroom was WAY too small for the amount of energy radiating from my kids so I decided we would conduct our own bear hunt on the playground after our afternoon snack. So back to nap time: I drew, traced, cut out, adorned, laminated, and cut out again 18 little bears that looked like the outline of a rabbit if you turn them upside-down. Then I raced out to the playground in the last 5 minutes of their nap to duct tape them in secret spots all over the place. I totally get why my dad always loved doing egg hunts for me and my sister growing up - it is so much fun seeing the kids hunt and get SO excited when they find them! I wish I had a video camera, they were absolutely precious! Of course, there are always those kids that get extremely sad and upset when they are not finding any bears (despite the fact they just found three). I was that child. The kids had so much fun that they begged for another bear hunt. So I sent them in with the teacher assistant, re-taped all those little bears (why did I take the tape off and throw it away after the first hunt, I don't know), and run around in the 100 degree weather like a crazy person. But so worth it!!

Pretty cute for working in a serious time crunch huh? And the eyelashes were a must.

Quiet your soul, Quiet your hunger

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." How incredible is our God that he should rejoice over us with singing while we are so unworthy of this deep affection and unbelievable love? I think my favorite part of this verse is he promise to quiet you with his love. At times, according to my husband, I can be a bit too loud and get riled-up and I just picture God whispering and soothing me with his love.  He is also there to quiet you when you get stressed or anxious, letting self-defeating thoughts or doubts enter your mind about your ability to be who God has called you to be. Let His love wash over you today and refresh you. Let his joyous singing over you, his precious child, encourage you. Let his mighty power to save call you back to Him.

I apologize on my lack of blogging recently. Life has gotten super busy but I have many random, odd things to update you on...where to begin....

So, we got an email the other day from our cable/internet provider about the suspicious (and enormous) amount of Internet use through Netflix recently. Apparently our Mad Men addiction has been found out! However, we still refuse treatment. Instead, to counteract the withdrawal symptoms we had been experiencing, we got hooked on another show supplied to us by Netflix...Parks and Recreation! (Or PAR as we like to call it. The first time I said that James thought I was trying to spell out "park" and just forgot the "k"....really? I'm a teacher here!) Unfortunately, we might have already finished all the seasons. But in our defense there were not as many seasons to begin with and the episodes are only averaging about 27-ish minutes! We don't need help!! (Denial, anyone?)

In the C25K update, I just finished the second day of week 4. The first one was quite a shock...I don't know where Clarisse is getting this from? After the usual 5-minute warm-up walk, it is 3 minutes of running, 90 seconds of walking (which is like the time it takes me to take a drink of water and will myself to continue living), 5 minutes of running, then 2 and a half minutes of walking. Then repeat! As I was complaining to myself and a bird watching me from the stoplight, I almost forgot that the whole point of this thing is to run for longer than running from Chick-fil-A to my car on a rainy day so as not to let the rain ruin my crispy waffle fries. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to this so-called "five minute" thing. Also, a gnat literally flew into my mouth. Today was slightly better. I didn't as tired as quickly, although by the end of the last five-minute run (before which Clarisse always says, "You've got just one run left, keep going!" Yeah, but it's for 5 minutes. I believe that far outweighs the excitement one feels knowing it's the last one), I definitely got my running mullet on. That's where you pump your arms like you are running at a good, hard pace, but your legs are moving so slowly it's more like a walk with a slight spring in it. Running on the top, walking on the bottom. Oh yeah. Finally, I was taking my three-minute running segment into a neighborhood when this guy, with his military haircut shining in the morning sun and his t-shirt dripping with gross exertion, came flying by me, Forrest Gump style (head slightly back, arms pumping ridiculously, sprinting). Although he did have to run with his arms away from his body because, as we all know so well, our biceps sometimes refuse to let us put our arms touch our sides. I just really hate it when that happens to me. Between the deep breaths I was suppose to be concentrating on as dictated by Clarisse, a quiet, gasping "show-off" might have escaped. I also fulfilled my dream of listening to British rap.

As far as school is going, these kids are definitely showing their true colors. What a group of, let's say, "bold" or "strong" personalities I got! But in all the challenging times, they still say and do the cutest things, which just
keeps me coming back. One of my precious little girls, whose mom very accurately describes her as the dog from the movie "Up" that gets distracted by squirrels, was sitting on my lap the other day on the playground, facing me with her tiny little legs wrapped around my waist. She began to inquire about my freckles on my chest and arms, wondering why I have polka-dots and asking if they can come off haha! Yesterday, during lunch, this same little one wanted my opinion on Cheetos. After I shared that I do in fact find Cheetos most agreeable, she offered me one of her way-too-bright-orange-to-be-natural snacks. I declined, asking her to eat it instead because it was her lunch. She continued to push the Cheeto closer and closer to my face, saying, "The airplane is cominnnnggggg". Haha, I wonder where she has heard that one before?

This week, to practice their scissor skills, I boiled a big pot of spaghetti and brought the cooked noodles to school. Piling up the noodles in big pans with fairly deep sides in an attempt to keep most of the noodles off of the floor, I set out scissors and let them go to town. Oh my goodness, we sat there for so long cutting and cutting and cutting and cutting some more. Alot of my boys were really engaged in this activity which was awesome considering many boys tend to shy away from fine motor skills like cutting or painting. After most of the noodles had been cut into small pieces, we started hunting for the elusive noodles that somehow had escaped. We also painted with ice on a huge piece of butcher paper on the floor. What a mess! But it was a fun, learning-filled mess! They noticed that the ice was melting and somehow (gasp!) turned into...water! I love it when they discover new things that seem so small to us. Keeps life in perspective :)

In food news, we got the cookie bug the other day so I made some oatmeal raisin cookies. Except, I had one teeny little box of raisins so I made craisin-raisin-oatmeal cookes instead! Seriously, this dough was SO addicting! I think from dough alone we probably inhaled at least 3 cookies. Each time I set a ball of dough on the cookie sheet I had to eat it off of my fingers. Dough on the sheet, dough for me, dough on the sheet, dough for me. Of course then we had to try the baked ones too, in order to make sure they really were good. I can say with complete assurance that yes, these cookies are good, not only raw but baked as well. And the craisins really add a nice touch! I think James was iffy when I told him my master plan of mixing the two, but the tartness goes so well with the sweetness and cinnamon.

Oatmeal (Craisin) Raisin Cookies

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup raisins (or craisins, or both)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

2 cups oatmeal

3/4 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)

1. Combine eggs, raisins, and vanilla and let stand for 1 hour, covered with saran wrap. This is seriously the secret to this family recipe!!! Do not omit!!

2. Cream together butter and both kinds of sugar.

3. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda to mixture. Mix well.

4. Blend in egg-raisin mixutre, oatmeal, and nuts if using. Dough will be stiff.

5. Drop heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet or roll into small balls and flatten slightly.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

I also tried a recipe from my family that I had not made before...crispy sesame chicken! So tasty and so easy! James had a super long day yesterday and didn't get home til 9:00 so we definitely pigged out on this one! I made a few changes and additions.

Crispy Sesame Chicken

(This makes 4 servings, I halved it when I made it.)

1 1/4 cups cornflake crumbs

1/4 cup sesame seeds

3/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

dash of red pepper

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 Tbsp. honey

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 

(I cut mine into bite-size pieces. Cooked way faster and easier to eat!)

vegetable cooking spray

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large ziploc baggie, set aside.

2. Combine yogurt and honey in shallow dish, stir well to mix.

3. Add chicken (breasts or pieces if you cut it like me) to yogurt mixture, turning to coat.

4. Remove chicken from mixture and add to bag. Seal and shake to coat.

5. Place chicken on baking sheet coated with cooking spray and drizzle with melted butter.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minuted (my small pieces cooked in about 15 minutes) or until done.

Here's where I made some additions: I mixed up another batch of the yogurt-honey mix and added the spices that you made for the chicken (paprika, salt, ginger, and black pepper - I didn't have red). Then I cut up broccoli, green onions, green bell pepper, and shredded carrots and stir-fried them in a skillet in oil over high heat. I made some microwave brown rice, added the veggies and yogurt mixture, stirred together, then topped with the sesame chicken. The yogurt mixture helped the rice stick together more (no one likes dry rice, it's all about the sauce!) And the veggies made it a complete meal!