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.

Boob Tube

I've been giving some thought to what I would do if I had only a few weeks left to live. It is too overwhelming, however, for me to contemplate what I would do; it's easier for me to determine what I would not do. What I would not do is watch any more television. I've noticed that the people we watch on t.v. never watch t.v. They are too busy living interesting lives and having fun and being funny. Would we enjoy watching people on t.v. if they were watching television? No! We want to watch them live interesting lives and have fun and be funny. We want to view their relationships and compare them to our own. But why don't we, instead of watching other people live, just live our own lives? Take the extra time to visit a friend or family member? Take the time to write a letter or to develop a talent? Go take a walk, ride a bike, enjoy the breeze on our skins.
Now in this light, I will admit to watching movies and television. I do it occasionally--more often than I'd like to. My family does it more than I'd like. But really, more often than not I leave a viewing session feeling less than uplifted. Sometimes I leave it feeling like I've eaten a bowl of ice cream with a cockroach planted in the middle of it.
Life is a wonderful gift; when it is too late is often when we realize that it is also all too fleeting.
So tonight, instead of watching television, I'm going to enjoy the peaches and cream of giving my baby a bath, kissing his soft skin, and inhaling the smell of his velvety brown head. I'm going to listen for the slap of his hands on the tile as he crawls across the kitchen floor. I'm going to make a beautiful salad for my husband, with green lettuce and lovely red tomatoes, meats, and cheeses. I'm going to play games with my older children, listen to them, and look into their eyes and let them know I love them.
Looking at the stars, observing the sky, smelling the rain, living each moment. I think if I do these things I don't have to worry whether or not I have two weeks or twenty years left to live, because I'm living genuinely, living my own life. Striving to live each day the way I would live it if it was my last. And there's no cockroach in that ice cream.

More Comfort Food--Homemade Mac and Cheese

1 1/2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 c milk
1 c (4 oz)shredded cheddar
2 oz processed American cheese (abt 3 slices)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside. In a medium-large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until mixture is smooth and thick. Reduce heat, then stir in cheeses, salt and pepper. Continue mixing until cheese is melted.
Pour over cooked macaroni and combine. Serve immediately.