Thursday, January 26, 2012

Southwestern Zucchini-Corn Chowder


chris and i are incorporating more vegetarian dishes into our menu. i made this the other night and it was yummy! taken from one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks called Vegetarian Express.

1 1/2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped**
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced**
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes or the equivalent of drained, canned plum tomatoes**
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice**
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
10 ounce package (2 cups) frozen corn kernels
3 cups water or canned vegetable stock
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt-free herb and spice blend
1 cup low-fat milk or soy milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot. Saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper over moderate heat, covered, until all are tender about 5 minutes.

2. While the onion-garlic mixture is sauteing, prepare the tomatoes and zucchini. sprinkle the flour into the onion0garlic mixture and stir until blended.

3. add the remaining ingredients to the pot except the last two. bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, then lower the heat and cook at a gentle but steady simmer for 10 minutes.

4. stir in the milk or soy milk, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

**i took the super lazy way out and used frozen veggies for all the above and canned tomatoes and soy milk and it still tasted wonderful

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

such a slaker

wow, i couldn't even make it 15 days. my plan was to write down something every day that I praised God for and I couldn't even do it for 2 weeks. what does that say about me? slacker? lazy? unmotivated? or life got in the way? it's dissappointing and frustrating, thats for sure. It's not like I don't daily praise and thank God for His blessings, but I've found that it's easier to put a daily word on to something that he's done rather than something he is without repeating myself. does that make sense? i wanted to challenge myself to find words of praise for attributions, or as the defination below states-perfections, and not works. i will keep on praising Him for who He is, even if i don't notate it daily here or on facebook. cause I think ultimately its between me and God anyway. as we say in church "God is Good. All the Time."

From Webster's 1828 dictionary:

" Praise-. To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works."


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

blogging, praise and whatnot

i find that when i do some blogging i usually have to be in the right mood. otherwise it just isn't really me. don't know if that makes sense to you, but its perfectly clear in my mind. anyway, i was recently asked to do some blogging for an organization. just a couple times a month to update their activities and stuff. i am excited to be able to help them out. and i'm glad its not an every day type of thing, cause you cant just turn on the blog mood whenever you feel like it. see, its a process...

but i digress. actually i don't digress, cause i don't really have a point to begin with. see, thats totally me.

so. 2012. how's it going for you? i've found my word of the year: Praise to be challenging. every day i am writing down something to praise God for/about. it's on facebook. and i'll prob make a master list every month or so here just so i can remind myself what i wrote and not repeat myself.

its only been 11 days and already there has been some praise in the storm. i got in trouble about a documentation misunderstanding i had at work. pretty serious too-if it happens again i'm fired. walked out the door. done. but thankfully its not something i see myself repeating. unless i'm spaced out or something. but if i was like that i really shouldnt be at work anyway. but i digress. yes, i actually digress! anyway, that was a hard day. even though it was all my fault i didn't feel much like praising. and then i got to feeling sick over the weekend. exhausted. fever. still not sure what was going on. and yesterday at work they sent a memo around saying they were chomping down on the restroom/break/lunch rule. if you go over the allowed time for each thing more than 3 times in one two week pay period you are gonna get in serious trouble. well, i can pretty much see myself falling into that category. not to get too personal, but my digestive track doesnt always fall into other people's required timeframe. so, i'm just not sure what's gonna happen with the whole work thing. but its upsetting because when i do the claims helpdesk work i really really like it and don't want to mess that up. regardless, i am trying daily to trust God and praise Him no matter what happens. pray for me that i keep that attitude if you think about it. thanks!

caitlin has been a source of amusement as always. in fact this week she stumbled upon a family secret: she told me i was an accident! (no, not really a family secret...or is it??) and yesterday she told me i was clever because i drove the right way home. thats good. i don't want to be anything less than clever in her eyes.

i should prob go before i get snarky. easy to do when you are in a blog mood. take care everyone.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Word for 2012: Praise

Instead of making a list of resolutions I know I won't keep, Im gonna do what I did last year: a word of the year.

Last year at this time things for the Kinion family were pretty rough. So I decided my word for 2011 would be trust. Trusting in Gods will and perfect plan. Trusting in my marriage. Trusting that our needs would be met. And you know what? Things worked out better than I could have asked. I'm not saying it was always easy, but we pressed on and God was faithful.

So what will the word be for 2012? Ideally I'd say health. But realistically I know that sets me up for discouragement and I want something positive. Hm..how about contentment. But I feel like im already pretty content and I want something challenging.

It seems to me that in light of the blessings we recd in 2011 the best word for 2012 is praise. Its so easy to praise Him when things are going well, but not so easy to during tough times. I want to be able to praise Him in all things.

So, will you join me? Maybe you have a different challenge word for this year, but let's make 2012 a year of positive growth shall we?!

Monday, December 26, 2011

2011

This year I:
  • gave hugs and kisses
  • cried
  • have been amazed at the miraculous
  • anticipated great things
  • have been surprised by blessings
  • had intense oral surgery
  • snuggled with kitties
  • made new friends
  • forgave
  • learned new skills
  • witnessed Caitlin's change from toddler to young girl
  • laughed
  • said goodbye
  • wondered where the groceries would come from
  • relied on God. Alot.
  • rec'd hugs and kisses
  • watched a kung-fu soccer movie
  • gained weight and lost my concern about it
  • fixed my car and dreamed of a new one
  • trusted
  • visited with my brothers and inlaws
  • read some good books
  • doubted
  • saw Josh Groban in concert
  • discovered I like avocado
  • had 2 jobs
  • got to hold a newborn baby
  • did not give up on my marriage
  • had to get reading glasses
  • enjoyed our new family tradition of the Advent wreath
  • loved and was loved
  • found peace

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas 2011 in pictures

Christmas was amazing. Many thanks to all for the gifts! Below are pictures and short commentary of the day. I will be back tomorrow with some more thoughts.


At breakfast today we light the Christ candle and sang happy birthday to Jesus. then we ate orange cinnamon rolls which Caitlin called Jesus' birthday cake.

Christmas eve we had our best friends over to hang out. Caitlin made a bug with the game Cooties she got.

Oh how she loves her Opa!

Having fun with Opa and Mamaw!

Princess Caitlin

Fun bear cookies and the princess dress up clothes in the chest behind her.

opening gifts at Opa and Mamaw's.

her awesome bike helmet

Caitlin and her Christmas loot.

What Santa got Chris

She loved her big stuffed dog!

Caitlin sees the Christmas scene in the morning.


Some people from our church anonymously got Caitlin some toys for Christmas as well as a bike. her very first bike!!! and she loves it so much. so if you are reading this and you know who the gift giving people are please please tell them we say THANK YOU!! Caitlin's first bike ride.



Friday, November 25, 2011

Christmas rant...


i don't normally go off about my beliefs. but this year for some reason Christmas and the foundation of it is really hitting me in my heart.

chris and i both grew up in a traditional church that celebrated Advent with the candle wreath: 3 purple candles, 1 pink candle, and a white Christ candle in the middle. (for a great description of the meaning of Advent wreath see here (http://www.crivoice.org/cyadvent.html ) Our current church being more contemporary does not do that. so this year we wanted to start the tradition at home.

well, i needed to acquire the candles and candle holder. so off i go to the store. do you know how hard it is to find unscented candles anymore? i searched 6 stores before finding one that carried unscented candles.every place has those nice scented kind in the jars but just a plain one? forget it. now i am on the hunt for a candle holder specifically one for 5 candles. i've been to two stores so far. no luck. more frustration. so i thought, ok, i'll go to Family Christian Store and get a set that includes the candles and the holder. nope. all they had was a 4 candle holder. c'mon people, seriously?? how many more stores will i have to go to?

i never thought it would be this difficult to find an Advent wreath. to find something that is a symbol of the arriving and coming of our Lord. to find an outward expression of the One that lies inside us. the "reason for the season". but yet, everywhere you look you see Santa. some dude in a fuzzy suit that drops down chimneys delivering presents. every kid knows who that is. a perpetual lie that i refuse to pass on to Caitlin. but how many kids know who Jesus is? in fact, in one store i saw one of those kid Advent calenders to count down till Christmas. and who was on this? Santa. how ironic. a false figure on a calendar counting down to the birth of the Truth.

is America really headed away from the church? i realize this may seem petty over some candles and a candle holder, but its resonating a more deeper reaction inside me. removing 'In God We Trust' is ok but telling someone Merry Christmas or having a CHRISTMAS TREE is offensive? i just don't get it. i really dont.

ok, i'm done.