Taylor's War Wound

So, normally I have a "deep thought" to write about. I think I've been avoiding those types of thoughts for several months now, or perhaps am incapable of having such due to sleep deprivation. I'm hoping I get some of my brain back after all is said and done. I miss it. Anyway, I digress.

Today I'm posting Taylor's basketball tournament war wound: a large gash on the right side of his forehead, just below his hairline. He was running for the ball in the second game of the tournament and hit the bleachers 4 subdermal and 13 exterior stitched on the right side of his forehead. 

 

This was Troy's and my first experience with stitches in one of our children. I have little hope that it's one of the last, especially with our own "Stitch" bringing up the rear. ;-)

Taylor's biggest disappointment of the day was not being able to finish playing the game. The best part of his day was being brought two 1/2 gallons of Tillamook Marionberry Pie ice cream by two sympathetic moms (Erinn Thompson and Theresa Kruse).

"Pomum Granatum": Apple of Many Seeds

Isn't She Cute?

  

Today I learned that the flower of a pomegranate is a "balaustine", and the red, fleshy tubular portion from which the petals emerge is called a "calyx".

To me the blooms just look like little tropical dancing girls with bright, fluttery hula skirts, and our trees are filled with hundreds of them.

Come Halloween there will be seemingly endless pomegranates to pick;

little Kenji will be in Hog Heaven.

White Chicken Chili

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 3-4 cans chicken breast)
1 med. onion (or 5 Tbsp dry onion)
3 cloves garlic, crushed (or 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
2 4-oz cans green chiles
3 c water (reserve broth from boiling chicken)
3 tsp or 3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper (black or cayenne)
2 15-oz cans great northern beans, drained
1 can Cream of Chicken soup, optional
1 c sour cream (or 1 12-oz can evaporated milk), optional
Shredded cheese (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Cojack--whatever suits your fancy)

Boil chicken breasts on low-medium heat for 20-30 min. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit on stovetop for another 30 min. or so. After 30 min., pull out chicken breasts and dice. Reserve 3 cups of broth to put into the soup.
Combine all ingredients (except sour cream or evaporated milk and grated cheese) in a large pot. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off burner and add sour cream or evaporated milk, if desired. Serve hot. Top w/ grated cheese, if desired.

Note: I put in substitutions so that you can also use food storage items for this recipe. The Cream of Chicken soup, sour cream and/or canned milk make this recipe higher in fat, however, they give the soup a creamier, richer base. You may use low-fat versions of these ingredients without compromising flavor as well.

Scotcharoos

Mom, this one's for you. XOXO

1 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 c light Karo syrup
6 c Rice Krispies
1 c chocolate chips
1 c butterscotch chips

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup. Pour over Rice Krispies in mixing bowl and stir to coat. Press into 9" x 13" cake pan.

In a glass bowl, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave, stirring at 30-second intervals until smooth. Pour over top of Rice Krispie mixture.

Let cool to set up.

Wendy's Chili

This is supposed to be a knockoff of Wendy's chili. It's simple, hearty, and yummy. We usually eat it sprinkled with cheddar cheese and serve cornbread and honey on the side.

Wendy's Chili

1 lb. ground beef
2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1-14.5 oz. can kidney beans (with liquid)
1-14.5 oz. can pinto beans (with liquid)
1/2 c onion, diced
1-4 oz. can diced green chilies
1/4 c celery, diced
2 med. tomatoes, chopped, or 1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt ( I use garlic salt, usually)
1 c water

Brown ground beef in a stockpot and drain. Crumble into pea-sized pieces. Add remaining ingredients to browned meat and bring to a simmer over low heat. Let simmer 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. This chili also does well cooking in a crock pot on low all day.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I love autumn. Love the leaves, the rain, the cool air. I love crisp apples and cider, warm drinks, cinnamon, and pumpkin. Stole this recipe from allrecipes.com. Didn't change it one bit. We all like these, even Troy, my non-sweet-eater. They're fun and seasonal and yummy, a cake-like cookie, reminiscent of a muffin top.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies:

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 c canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt; set aside.
2. In medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture; beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls. Flatten slightly, using sugared or wet glass bottom.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool, loosen from pan, then drizzle glaze with a fork.
4. To make glaze: Combine all glaze ingredients and stir to uniformity. Add more milk as desired to achieve drizzling consistency.

One review I saw suggested using cream cheese icing--just a thought, if one is so inclined.

Completion

We all want perfection in our lives, to one degree or another. This is how we were made. This is why we strive. But, being mortal, we often try to achieve that perfection in the easiest way possible. A magic pill that will peel off the pounds. A new book to read that will transform our relationships. We tell ourselves that our lives will be perfect if only.... And then we will be happy. Because this is the ultimate goal of our perfection, isn't it? It is to be supernally happy, at peace, and comfortable in our own skins.
So I think of the ways I've thought would make me complete. Another medal in another race. A new home, a perpetually clean and orderly home, like my neighbor's house down the street. Losing 7.5 pounds. A new hair color. A different hairstyle. Clothes more like so-and-so's clothes. Living somewhere else. Etc, etc. All things about ME serving ME, me looking inward, me, me, me.
This morning as I stood washing dishes in my pajamas it occurred to me thus: We all of us are striving for completion, perfection, happiness. We many of us look for it in places where it is not to be found, not permanently. The new clothes get old, the new hair color grows out, the new car becomes less shiny. Even developing a talent won't complete a person. I too often forget that completion, wholeness, perfection come only through the Savior. And He doesn't care what I look like or how much money I make. He doesn't care if I'm thin or famous. He just asks for an honest heart, for humility, and He makes up the difference for all that I lack, if I let Him. And when I let Him, I no longer care about competing or keeping up appearances. I can stop worrying about all I haven't done or don't do that is important in the eyes of the world. I can look outward instead of inward. I can develop my gifts and use them to serve others and thereby glorify Him instead of using them to fill the endless hole in my ego. And what a better tool in His hands I can be than playing my old one-note instrument over and over.
Letting Him work in me requires faith. It requires letting go of my old security blanket. It means I stop comparing myself to everyone else, stop looking at magazine covers, stop worrying about my reflection in the mirror. It means asking Him each day to let me be of some service to Him in the world, and then listening for His answers. It means letting go of my old self and becoming new in Him. It means making mistakes, saying I'm sorry, and trying again tomorrow. I have a long row to hoe--I won't finish in this lifetime--but I will never, ever walk alone.