Taste and See Thursday

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe is from Kraft Magazine

It's Taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8) Thursday. Wow, I can't believe it's been three whole weeks already... that means I've actually continued this taste and see recipe thing for that long. Okay I'm excited about it and I hope some of you are too.

This is one of those recipes that I tried on a whim to make for the family. It ended up being so much better than I thought and now it's our new favorite for enchiladas.

In fact as I'm writing this I wish this is what I was making today instead of my chicken pot pie, oh well .

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:35 min

Marinate chicken with 1 cup of Kraft Sun dried Tomato Dressing (it really helps) Then grill chicken or cook it in oven in shallow baking pan at 400 F for 20 minutes.

PS.. I use 1 whole thing of cream cheese rather that 1/2 of it!

Makes:4 servings, two enchiladas each
What You Need
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cooked small chicken breasts (about 1 lb.), shredded
1 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack Cheese, divided
8 TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Flour Tortillas
Make It
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Heat large skillet spayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add chicken, 1/4 cup of the salsa, cream cheese, cilantro and cumin; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese; mix well.
SPOON about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam-side down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining 3/4 cup salsa and remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until heated through.

This is super yummy with shredded lettuce on it and salsa and sour cream !!!

Enjoy

Tara

My thankful list

It's Sunday.... time to put my list up..

I'm thankful for......


1. That I haven't had to cook all weekend as Chad is at class ... we miss him though.

2. For God always knowing my deepest desire, every moment need ( I have lots, tend to be sensitive) and is always there when I feel He is not.

3. A great 20 minute conversation with a stranger at Mc D's this week and how that has prompted me to give.

4. Lindsey and her enthusiasm for school and learning. She is such a little sweetheart and I'm glad God knew she would be the perfect fit for our family.

5. I'm thankful for fun fall comfort food, my creme brulee (Paula Dean) candle, Comfy cotton sweat sets ( I own like 5 sets at least). My smaller jeans fitting ( one pair).

6. I'm thankful for wanting to set a goal... not sure what to do or what cause to support but that it's a desire of my heart to do a race again. Any one interested?

Looking forward to what your thankful for, Please post . .. I know you have one.

Hugs,
Tara

I am reading this book called Looking for God by Nancy Ortberg. I am enjoying it and recommend it. Of course someone gave it to me to read and I am thankful. This lady is a great storyteller, her stories will touch you and challenge you.

Here's an excerpt from her book.

"We all have black holes in our souls that keep anything from filling us up for too long. They keep us in a constant state of neediness, always seeking reinforcement through pleasure and comfort and busyness. But if we allow ourselves to experience the longing, refusing easy answers for the aches and pains, we'll slowly build solid bedrock of God in our souls. Those alone places create a foundation that closes up the black hole for good. We all need to hear God's voice. Our longings, aches, and pains are thin threads to that voice. Stay long enough in the aloneness, and you'll find that the silence of God becomes a whisper, and then the whisper becomes the voice that you recognize."

The Psalmist shows God's voice break through in

(46:10)-" Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
In my own life I am trying to be still, that's hard but so much needed.

Thank you Lord for always encouraging me when I'm not feeling the best. I am reminded that that I need not rely on my feelings for my failures today. I am so glad there will be day where there will be no more tears or pain. I am thankful for how you provide so much comfort.

Taste and see Thursdays!

Today I am excited because it's Taste and see Thursdays. Why did I pick Thursday? Okay I'm glad you asked, I've always love thursday because like most people it's the day before the weekend, there usually is good t.v shows on this night and it's usually just a fun day. Okay so I havent' been watching t.v. lately.. I did watch s.v.u. the other day and I haven't watched anything and let me tell you it is still affecting me. Anyways, I'll just skip shows now until we get abc then bring on the shows for me. Plus I don't have time, with my full time job of kids, pretending to cook well, facebook and blogging and exersise there isn't too much time for t.v.

Okay sorry for my tangent.... let's get back to the good stuff here. I tried this delish delishious apple crisp the other day from my friend Jill. So this is funny as if you know her you know what I mean. I then rave to Jill how great her apple crisp is, she informs me it's a family recipe....
Me in all my questions (for those who know me I ask like 2.2 billion questions) anyway I ask her where she got it, if I can have it, I'm all about hearing stories. So Miss Jill then tells me she got it from her family cookbook which is poorly organized in a binder thing that she got for christmas. Okay people I then ask to see the binder. I then just tell Jill how it is (we have that relationship) I am kinda bold here, funny though. I say something like " Wow, that is so neat Jill, You need to appreciate this. I'd love to have one of these". Jill goes on to say something like " Oh I know but it's poorly organized", I then again state she needs to appreciate it. Anyways, in all good fun she cracks me up.
What I love about Jill is that she does not hold back, if she thinks something she will tell you HONESTLY. There is something very bold about her that I don't have. She is not a people pleaser and I think that's a good thing. Jill is very giving and always comes up with some fun kid activity all the time. Thanks for always organizing things and always including me and others in it. I'm always learning funny things from you. P.S. I think I might make a binder thing for a family gift sometime. Can you help Jill? tee hee hee

Jill's family Apple Crisp-

4 cups sliced apples
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup butter
Butter a 10x2x6 pan, place 4 cups of sliced apples in pan. Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, water and butter. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Cook at 350* for 40 minutes or until apples are done.

Teachable moments

Okay any minute they could wake up..

But for now I'm going to blog.. I am watching 5 little ones under 4 today. I know I'm taking on a kinda tough task, because I normally only have one little one at home all day. Lindsey is in kindergarten, so she leaves after breakfast. All the other little people stay here all day long! Whew... anyways they've been a sweet blessing to me today... no crazy things have happened, everyone is safe. I can see how children are such a blessing, and big families have so much fun together.. always someone to play with/ fight with.

We've had our share of not sharing today and the 2 two year olds have been in time out a couple of times today. I love to see them work things out.. they are so forgiving and sweet. When my little guy decides to not share/ take a toy/ not make a good choice I've put him on the chair and he sits.. and I make him then say sorry to one of the 4 that he's done something to and hug and it's such a moment to see the instant sorry (and really mean it) and then hug . ( I'm cheesy i make'em hug) but on their own they choose to kiss.. I love it.

Luckily, I'm not at my wits in. I love knowing that this is teaching them an important lesson of forgiveness. As an adult, I can learn from that instant forgiveness a child feels and then forgets. How often have I forgiven but still held on to some type of bitterness. I've been praying for the last 2 days for a change in my heart.

According the Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
I really want that teachable heart. Funny that on my prayer list I had for yesterday I prayed for teachable moments with children.. Who knew.

Thank you Lord for always amazing me how you answer prayer, thanks for using sweet little ones to help me examine my own heart. I am constantly amazed that You do as you said you'd do. Thank you for teaching to me to ask, even if small. I am being renewed each and everyday and everyday count it joy to be able to be yours.

I'm thankful for...

1. I'm thankful for my relationship with God and how I may look the same on the outside, yet God is changing me so much on the inside.


2. Beginning of new friendships and how encouraging that is (love you all)


3. Prayer time as a family before each kid goes to bed... I love it! I love how Drew won't go to sleep until both mommy and daddy have to "pay" for pray.


4. I'm thankful the many encouraging blogs I'm reading and how they are such an encouragement to me and my walk. (Thank you stiletto army1)


5. I'm thankful for cool weather and the beautiful drive yesterday down the Mississippi river, it was such a great reflective time.


6. I'm grateful that God using my running time as some great time to spend meditating/ praying/examining myself. (Ran over an hour non-stop yesterday, lots of discussions to be had)

I am also thankful for you.. as you are reading this you took time from your day to glance at my little list... may it be a small window into my heart and stir you to think what are you thankful for this week.

Playing with chalk water

Okay I have my pictures out of order.. first they played with chalk. This keep my little people very busy on a lazy Saturday. We really needed some fam time so this was one of the most relaxing Saturdays we have had in quite a while. Drew loved getting dowsed with water.


In your face kind of girl


I like my brother so much!





The kids were pretty excited that I let them play in the water and make a big mess. Clothes can wash and baths can be taken.... even if mr. drew just had one.


Drew's normal saturday gear (Hawkeye stuff) Go Hawks!





I love Saturdays... fun time with both my kids all day long!



Can't help but think of the song One Life To Love by 33 Miles. Gist of the song... you only get one shot at this. For me it's the mother thing.. always a encouragement to me. I do feel so blessed and definately feel like I've found my path these days.

Taste and see ....

Taste and see that the Lord is good Thursdays! ( Ps 34:8)

Okay I now have a title for every Thursday, I'm excited about this day. I'm planning on putting up a fun recipe here that I love, most of them are probably going to come from dear friends or family... or a favorite from a cookbook. Let me tell you I love cookbooks, my new favorite one is the Ivy Bakeshop cookbook. It's the bomb! Ha Ha just had to use some 1995 jargon from my senior year.

The recipe for today is from my friend Donna. Let me brag on her and then I'll share her sweet treat with you. Donna is a friend, like a sister to me. I would say we kinda have the relationship of kindred spirits. She and I are a lot alike and different at the same time. She is wonderful though, someone who loves Jesus with all her heart, soul, strength kind of person. I want that... you know to love God like that. I love how she is such a giver of her time... she and I share in this area we both are involved in many things, almost like full time job things but not getting paid jobs :)

Thanks Donna for being a leader of Bible studies, a Titus 2 woman and a purpose driven woman of God. If you don't know her, you should she is a real blessing to all with whom she associates. I wanna be like that. Thanks for using your gifts to bless others. I could go on and on, I could also go on and on about many others too, that are like Donna. Maybe I will, another Thursday.

Okay so here's the wondeeefulll recipe:

Best ever Banana Bread- from Donna

1st set aside 1/2 cup milk and 1 T vinegar. Mix and let sit

Cream 3 Cups sugar, 2 Sticks of margarine, add 4 eggs. Then add 2 1/2 cups of flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
2 1/2 Cups of mashed banana
Now add the first thing you did, the vinegar mixture. It will look curdy. (That's a good thing)

Grease 3 pans
Now put mixture in the pans and top with chocolate chips... i like lots
Makes 3 loaves
Bake @ 350* for 55 minutes

Side note: I like to bake one at a time... works better in my oven. The choco chips end up going to the bottom of pan so when you flip it out you will see. This is divine!

What's noble?

Okay Let's just say I'd like to be noble...


To me a noble person is reserved for some upperclass aristocrat. Not a midwest living, small town mommy of two. Well, as I decided to find out what noble means in the first place I went to the Bible first... read some 9 passages and then thought, yeah that's noble. But first you may need to know what the word means before using it in context. So that means I have to dig out my dictionary..oh boy I don't have one, but I can look it up on dictionary.com. So noble according to the website means:

Admirable in dignity, of conception manner of expression; of an exalted moral or mental character or excellence.

So there you have it... that's noble according to the dictionary.. I'm still not sure I understand. Let's dig deeper. As I pull out my NIV bible and my online bible (yes I'm loving it) I see Ruth. Ruth probably exemplifies noble character, in fact she is told that "All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character" Ruth 3:11. I love that here Ruth is the leftover-grain-picker-upper (that's her job) yet she is known as noble, I'm sure she did her job with fervour as if serving the Lord. I wanna be like that.
The 2nd woman told in the bible that is of noble character is our well known Proverbs 31 woman. She is told in 31:29 " Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
I like the New Living Translation for that same verse it says "There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!"
I still love the Proverbs 31 woman though, even if I can't measure up... who says I have to though. God only wants me to find Him, seek Him, love Him.
In Proverbs 12:4, this woman is described as being a noble woman once again and being her husband's crown. I like that she is described like Ruth, and probably brings him honor and joy.
I too, like Ruth and this Proverbs 31 woman want to honor God first. I'm so glad the our Father in heaven sees our heart... and loves us anyway.

Thank you Lord for using the simple word noble to focus more on you, to seek you and then find You. I pray that I will be Proverbs 31 woman, not seeking perfection, but finding comfort, rest and contentment in your arms. Thank you for the gift of eternal life, Thank you for your Word.

My thankful list

Okay as I am writing I am avoiding responsibility. I should right now be doing something... ya know the L word. I'll spell it out for you .. L-A-U-N-D-R-Y. But I am avoiding it by reading blogs, writing blogs and everything in between , like googling the sound a cicada.
I think when a stay at home mom has some alone time it's like one big party. Sometimes I like to do the folding of the laundry... today I'm going to put if off for awhile.
Okay so what I really want to write about is not really anything ordinary like laundry but things I'm thankful for this week:

• I'm thankful for God stiring in me a desire to serve him

• A long walk yesterday, great reflection

• Family time making smores

• Drew counting... it's so cute

• Real genuine friendships

• What and how God uses my daily quiet time to teach me and apply God's word to some area of my life.

• The beauty in Fall, cool nights, warm afternoons, windows open ( and the birds haven't been waking me up... Yes!

• The Christian music channel on my T.V.

Okay that's my thankful list... what are you thankful for this week?

The little things

You know sometimes I'm just great at little things.. like keeping the dishes clean, (not put away) and laundry, I'm the queen of starting it and then not finishing it for awhile. Why is that??

I think I'm sometimes just ADD with it...I'm one of those that walk to the basement to get a specific something and then go down there, start some laundry that I never finished from earlier, pick up some toy the kids left out and the W-H-A-M.........

I remember I'm suppose to get something from the downstairs... ( I store lots of kitchen items down there and tons of who knows what on shelves). So what do I do...... I go back up the stairs to figure out what I forgot downstairs in the first place. Hmmmm am I getting that old that my memory is only about 2 minutes long for my short term? Hmmmm...............sometimes I remember what it is I was looking for, but more often than not I forget.

I usually shrug it off. One thing I can't shrug off and it really really annoys my husband is when I lose something. I think I turn green, red, and purple all at the same time. It is my loss of control that really bugs me. You know you can't find that one certain paper that you know was their like 2 days ago. I don't like to not be in control. Hmmm I think God has had some talks with me about this subject.

At any rate, I do know I'm not the best of at control and I do know that when I let go and let God, things are smoother. I have definitely felt like the fool in Proverbs 29:11 which says
" A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control"

Although I can still get very impatient you know trying my way to find things, God is again trying to lovingly tell me that it doesn't matter.. and I often see it later after my mess up of what I could of done different. As I read through the proverbs I am thankful for all the wisdom.

I pray that God you will give me your eyes so I can see You and work through things I'm not always good at. I keep missing things and I want to not miss those things.. even the little things that happen throughout the day. Please let me see your people as you do. Please give me eyes to see, arms to hold and a heart to pour out ... In your name.

Tara .....who just read Proverbs 16:32 & 17:1 and thinks she should apply that also to what she just wrote.... Hmmmmm

Family Reunion

Mom and Mark enjoying all the great food

Mom doing what she does best.. eat and cook!


Chad playing catch with the little people


This photo looks like Drew is really listening to Daddy! I thought it was cute.

Mark's family here

More Coovert family



This is Lizzie, she is my cousin Eric Dunlap's daughter. Lindsey had never met her until this day and they played all day. They were so cute holding hands everywhere they went. Most the day they would bounce from the park to Grandma's camper or Lizzie's camper. I never saw her, at one point I went to check on the girls at the park and I told Lindsey that Lizzie was her cousin. Lindsey was so excited.. she doesn't have any girl cousins (first cousins that is) Well, obviously Lizzie's is not a first cousin but Lindsey was so happy about her "new cousin" she was telling everyone at church Sunday. In fact a friend asked her to come over after church and Lindsey said no because she wanted to go see her new cousin at the camper.



Great Aunt Nancy and Drew

We brought out the bean bag game out.. it's always fun. Especially when you win.. I only won when Chad and I were not partners.

swimming does a body good

I love to swim. Let me clarify that, I love to swim outdoors with the kids for fun and a good dose of vitamin D. Right now I'm talking about the the kind of swimming you do in a indoor pool, the flip turn, lactic acid sets, leg cramp and feeling like you just swallowed the entire pool. I haven't always loved it though. Just recently I learned to swim, four years ago to be exact. It's not something I wanted to learn to do or even remotely thought much about. I didn't even know there was more than two strokes in swimming, but I could save my life if I drowned.

About the time Lindsey was 18 months I started taking classes at the local YMCA. It was summertime so the classes consist of like five people max. I really just like to soak things in so I do what I do best, listen to people's conversations. You know you can learn a lot about a person by what they talk about. One time I overhead these people talk about training hard for something called a triathlon. I didn't even know what that was, I had to keep listening to their conversations to find out what it was. Well, before long I was gaining confidence in this exercise thing and I decided that if I could learn how to swim, I would train for the triathlon. Wow, this is a big commitment on my part.... could I do it.. I could not even move in the water. Okay I had a great teacher who was very patient with me and some others in my same place and little by little I was learning to swim.

I can still picture that very first lap I did when the teacher said "Go". I laugh now, and the entire time I was given so much encouragement. Wow, I am so thankful that someone took time to believe in me and patiently teach me how swim.



Some great things God showed me through this whole training process:

1. The journey was so much more important to me than the actual race day


2. I like to work hard, it feels good


3. "But encourage one another daily"-Hebrews 3:13 This one was really important. It was probably the heart of what I learned. It was fun to work together, so many of us of different backgrounds, religions, political views, single, married, divorced, and all ages.


4. I got out of my comfort zone


5. I met lots of new christians


6. I need to have a passion for Jesus, just as much as I had a strong desire to train

Okay so as I think and reflect about that time in my life I can say it was a great time, and I will always cherish that season in my life.

Thank you Father God for using something as simple as swimming to teach me and mold me. I am thankful for the constant change you bring about in me and the way you work all things for good. Thanks for guidance and bringing about change that only you can give.

A trip to the pumpkin patch

The corn pool was a big hit this year for Lindsey and cousin Hayden

Drew is loving cousin Nile on our wagon ride

This is the first year Drew has been able to walk in the corn, it is so deep and last year he was just walking . So cute to see him play in the corn!

Baby "cartin" as drew says for Carson

Drew, Hayden and Lindsey are ready to go pick pumpkins in the field

Hmmm, I think we went to the field with the biggest pumpkins.. next year let's go to the small pumpkin field

I found my pumpkin

I found mine too, and I can't believe my mom gave me the cutters

Gotta love time with our cousins. Lindsey and Drew had so much fun with their Campbell cousins. It was perfect weather and we were lucky to have a private wagon ride.. fun. I think we need to go back and play. Drew and Lindsey loved the play area.. I think Lindsey liked to just be off on her own and play with Hayden.. guess I have to let her grown up and have some independance.