chili part 2

Success!!!

I got the recipe from The Early Show on CBS.

Any kind of hot dogs and buns that you like.
2 pounds lean ground beef (I used turkey burger and hamburger)
1 onion, pealed and grated
1 12-oz can tomato paste
1 16-oz can tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP white wine vinegar

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, combine the beef (do not brown first), grated onion, tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, sugar, garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined. Add bay leaves. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for approximately 2 hours. Stir in white vinegar and simmer another 30 minutes.


Jason then added to his a sausage dog, bun, sour cream, cheese, onions, green peppers


Freeze any leftovers for later. My boys loved it! Jason ate some the next day and said it was just as good reheated as it was the first night.

Enjoy!


~Steph

Chili

I am trying to make homemade chili for my husband tonight. With this recipe you mix all the ingredients and let it simmer for 2 hours. We are going to use sausage dogs which are Jason's favorite for making chili dogs. I also got corn on the cob and strawberries. I really hope this works out! Update to come.....

My excercising....

It is time to update on my exercise/diet. Today I put on some pants today that, in my denial part of gaining wt, I had decided had shrunk in the dryer. They had gotten so tight that they hurt my stomach either sitting or standing. I of course didn't want to admit that I needed to go and buy the next size up. Today I put them on and had room to spare. Wonder how many more outfits will have the same magical thing happen :)

I won't put what my wt is, but I am only 3 lbs from my first mini goal. I am 1/4 of the way done. This goal once I make it will put me down past the wt I haven't been able to get under since my pregnancy with Stephen, almost 9 years ago. My wall of defeat some might call it.

I know people look at me and wonder what I am talking about. A lot of people question "what wt do YOU need to loose?" Well I guess I hide it because I promise you it is there. When my winter wt started staying on and I went 10 lbs past it and had to get bigger sizes, I would say it was time to look into it. When you stand on the scale and see the truth and so it makes you depressed, you know it is time for a change. For those that read this and know some of my struggles of the past, I promise I am being careful and open about all that I am doing to diet. Jason is my accountability partner and he is making sure that I am eating. He even knows how much I weigh (scary) and what I am trying to get to.

I started exercising May 1st and I am still going. My water intake has increased to what it should be. For 2 weeks I was using a free website to monitor my intake and to learn what portion sizes should look like. Now I am monitoring myself. The calorie counting was too much for me and was stressful. I could see myself going down a bad path if I had kept on that routine. I am mindful of what I put into my mouth and I am no longer just sit down and start eating. I have also learned a lot about what I was doing and how I got here. I have a bit more to go and then it is time to maintain, but I know that I am on track and I will make it to the goal.

I feel healthier and more active. I am going and doing more with my boys, which was the main goal. I haven't had issues with low blood sugars or my digestive system. My migraine headaches have even gone away and I am not having to take daily pain medication. I feel GREAT! I know that God intended for me to be active and healthy.

2010 Summer adventures of my boys and me.

I made a goal of taking my boys and doing something every weekend this summer, it could be a big trip or small outing. We got started early. Last week we went on a hike up Multnomah Falls with a friend. This last weekend I took them to Cashmere Washington to see my cousin and family.

I am not a road trip type of person. I never have been. Air travel is just as bad for me. I am a very active person and to make me sit somewhere for 3-6 hours is torture to me and all around. That being said, my kids are amazing travelers. They were awake the whole 5 1/2 hour drive. Never did they get frustrated and only when we were like 15 min from our destination did the words "are we almost there" come out of them. I had them supplied with snacks, books and a notebook to draw in. We talked and looked at scenery. They were fascinated when we went from our mountainous NW to sagebrush and back into mountains. We only stopped 2 times on the way there and 3 times on the way back.

While we were at my cousins they were very good. We did have one accident with a vase, but all together they were AMAZING! I saw the changes and growth that they have gone through over the last few years. We took a bike ride together and played in the park. One of the reasons we went to visit was to see my cousin's daughter dance in her recital. My boys sat for 2 hours watching the girls dance and never once complained.

I am so thankful for what the Lord has done in my boys and in me as a mother. I can see the maturity as they get older and the behavior training working.

#141-148
I am thankful for:
~the love waiting for me at both ends of my long trip
~my boys being such good travelers
~and company to me
~the beauty of the mountains
~my boys and I share a love for hiking and biking
~living in an area that offers so many free ways to spend a day as a family
~that my cousin and her husband gave me a GPS they were no longer in need of...now I will never get lost
~learning that my Church family missed me after being gone 1 weekend

devotion time

1 John 2:28-29
And now, dear children continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame since we know that God is always right, we also know that all who do what is right are his children. ~NLT~

I read this in my devotion time today and felt it was important enough to share.

Time to get to work and bless my family!

For the first few years of my marriage I worked outside of the home and tried kept a house clean and together. 5 years back I became a "stay at home Mom with a daycare". I HATE cleaning and I dreaded everyday that I had to clean, do laundry and dishes. I knew that it was my "job" but it was not enjoyable. I took my frustration to a very wise woman to get advice on what to do and how much of "my responsibility" my husband should be doing. HAHA like always when we are unhappy we look at it as someone Else's fault. The amazing woman told me that I need to look at each job that I hated and say I am blessing my family by doing this.

Now that I have been looking at my daily jobs in this new way it is easier to do the brainless and irritating tasks of my day. I still don't like having to do laundry, dishes and cleaning toilets, but as I do each job I went from telling myself that I am blessing my family to praying for them. I pray over Stephen as I straighten his toys and get them protected from the daycare kids. I ask God to be with Eric and to teach me how to help him in his difficult journey through life, as I put his laundry up on his bed and remove the dirty clothing. I pray over my marriage and Jason as I make the bed and sweep the bedroom floor. I sing praise songs to Jesus as I do dishes and fold clothing. My actual "job" as a stay at home Mom and wife is to bring the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit into my home, so that when my guys get back they are met with peace, cleanliness and love.

I LOVE my job. I had to learn and be taught, but I do truly love my job. I don't like folding laundry, but I love who I do it for. Now I will get back to blessing my family as I do the laundry for the week. Praise the Lord in all that you do and for all that you are!

#133 ~ an amazing weekend with my boys as we hiked up Multnomah falls
#134 ~ My Best Friend who I can tell anything to and not be judged
#135 ~ The mothers heart of a woman at Church. She saw that I just needed to be held and to cry. #136 ~ As she did this she was thanking God for is love and for me.
#137 ~ That my oldest son is maturing in his faith and wants to be in the adult service
#138 ~ and he is listening and learning
#139 ~ The beauty all around us that God created.
#140 ~ My "job" that I do to bless my family. ♥

He gave us the right to become children of God.

He gave us the right to become children of God.

Ephesians 1:3-14 (New International Version)

Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[a] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[b] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11In him we were also chosen,[c] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.


~
Christ has made it possible for us to become God's children and he loves us! God chose us, we are perfect in his sight. He delights in us, His children. I love that God chose us. I love that he knew me and who I would become before I was ever conceived. I will no longer let the world tell me who I am because He has shown me who He sees me to be. "I am Your beloved, your creation and You love me as I am. You have called me chosen for your kingdom, unashamed to call me Your own. I am Your beloved."