pulled pork chili

I had some leftover pulled pork in the fridge and wanted to make a warm fall meal. I threw together a few ingredients for chili, cooked some noodles, added some cheese, and dinner was ready. Yum!

Pulled Pork Chili

2 pounds cooked pulled pork
2 16oz cans diced tomatoes
2 16oz cans light red kidney beans
2 16oz cans tomato sauce
1 1.4lb can whole black beans
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt
pepper

Warm the pork, add tomatoes, sauce, and beans. Simmer. Add spices and continue to simmer until flavors blend. Serve warm over pasta. Top with cheese.

weekend project: songbook wreath

songbook wreath

This is a super easy project to make for those who like wreaths. I personally like natural or neutral wreaths that don't attract too much attention, yet add a little something to the decor.  For this project you will need four things:

1. a foam wreath (I purchased mine from JoAnn's)
2. an old songbook (I typically don't tear up books, but this one was falling apart)
3. white muslin (scrap material works just as well)
4. push pins

Take the muslin and cut into 3-inch strips. Wrap the strips around the wreath to cover the foam. Next take the pages from the songbook and neatly wad into rosettes. Take the pushpin and push rosette into topside of the wreath. I put the first rosette in, then did the next one 90-degrees around and so on, and then filled in evenly. You can dress it up with ribbon to suit your color scheme, or a flower too. 

foam wreath

muslin, songbook, and push pins

the rosettes pinned on the wreath

be mindful of character bloopers

And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Let me tell you, trying to do a photoshoot with 4 kids, four years old and younger was testifying to the fruit of my spirit....and I found myself praying for a change of heart. To be honest, I ought to post the "blooper" shots, because it takes the bloopers to appreciate the good ones. :-) So while I was capturing the moment on the outside with the kids, I was capturing the moment on the inside for me. I have a little editing to do myself! 

Here are the kiddos...

looking serious

my little beauty, elauna,  almost 5 

miss claire, almost 1

mr. frederick, almost 3

 

he is such a cutie

4 sets of eyes at the same time...amazing :-)

miss O

The lovely Miss O. I was so fortunate to spend time with this little beauty this weekend, and she showed up on my doorstep decked out! Oh, I just wanted to kiss those cheeks and stare into her big blues. We had such fun! Thanks, Autie E, for letting her spend the day!

my favorite

the beach [2012]

The beach is always a place of quiet mystery for me. We were able to go with my whole family this year and it was such a wonderful time. I especially enjoyed waking before the sun came up and heading to the beach for a morning walk and time of prayer.

The first morning I felt the Lord just ask me to listen. The waves crashing. The water creeping up the beach. Footsteps of people walking. Seagulls calling to one another. The wind in the grass. Laughter of children. There is something deeply profound about observing the beauty of His creation. From James... be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

My mother loved finding the Coquina shells (they look like tiny angel wings) and they washed up in pairs on our shore. (We don't collect shells that are alive). One day as the tide was going out, we saw hundreds of them wiggling their way back into the sand after the water had washed over them. They would bury themselves back into the sand so quickly that we would stand there after each wave and match in amazement.  How did they know to do this?

Another morning there was a cloud line to the east and I was able to watch as the sun came up. It was the most beautiful sunrise! I just waited in anticipation because each passing moment was more beautiful than the last. From Psalm 73... but as for me, it is good to be near God.

a green find

Today at times felt like a mad rush to get everything on my list done, from teaching my daughter the date, to cleaning the inside of the car.....and somewhere in the middle of the day I remembered I needed to check my tomatoes too. I was picking away at the tomatoes when I looked at my pepper plants...I was so excited! This was my first year growing green peppers. (I actually had forgotten about them). I guess it is the little joys during the day that make me stop and appreciate all I have been given.

To celebrate my find, I will share a recipe. This was a recipe my mom learned in Home Ec when she was in high school.

Johnny Marzetti

1 - 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 medium onion, diced
1 package egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 green pepper, diced
1/4 pound cheese
1 cup bread crumbs, buttered

Brown meat and onion in skillet. Add green peppers. Cook noodles and combine with meat mixture. Add tomato soup and mushroom soup. Put in 9x13 casserole dish. Add cheese on top to lightly cover, then add bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Extending your harvest: I keep green peppers in the freezer by washing them, quartering and removing seeds. Put in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer.

zoo party

Family friends invited us to a zoo party at their house today with a few animals from the Columbus Zoo. It was great fun. The handlers allowed the children to touch most of the animals if they wanted, though my kids would rather watch the Boa instead of touch it. (I touched it). The animals were beautiful - I especially liked the Snow Leopard. Thank you, Neil, Kristen, Marlen, Virgil and Toni! Love to you all!