Requested Recipes

Here are the 2 recipes I have recently cooked, or Josh cooked, and were a SMASH it at my house and in my tummy. The taco soup recipe makes a good amount so be ready for leftovers. It is also made in just a stew pot. The Loaded Potato Chowder is a Pampered Chef recipe and I used my Deep covered baker. I'm sure if you have corning ware or something that can go in the microwave it will be ok too.

Taco soup:
About 2 lbs ground beef (I prefer ground sirloin or chuck)
2 onions cut/chopped small
2 cans shoe peg corn
2 cans light red kidney beans
1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes
2 pkgs reg Taco seasoning
2 pkgs Ranch dressing
5-6 potatoes diced (add more if needed)

Brown meat, drain.
Peel and cut potatoes, put in pot and cover with just enough water for boiling.
Add all other ingredients. If real thick, add more water.
Be sure to season with salt/pepper to taste.
Wouldn't hurt to add a little garlic powder.
Cook well. Stir a few times.

Serve with big pan of hot cornbread. Hmmmm. OR you can serve with Fritos. ALWAYS add cheese to top of soup just before serving.

Loaded Potato Chowder:

3 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 lb/1.1 kg)

3 1/2 cups (875 mL) milk, divided

4 oz (125 g) cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter

2-3 green onions with tops (1/4 cup/50 mL sliced)

4 oz (125 g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt

1/2 tsp (2 mL) coarsely ground black pepper

Optional toppings such as chopped cooked bacon, sour cream or steamed broccoli florets

1. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise with Santoku Knife; place in Deep Covered Baker. Pour 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the milk over potatoes. Microwave covered on HIGH 11 minutes. Remove baker from microwave. Move center potatoes to ends of baker and outer potatoes to center. Cover; microwave on HIGH 8-11 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Remove baker from microwave. Coarsely mash potatoes with Mix 'N Chop.

2. Meanwhile, whisk cream cheese until smooth in Classic Batter Bowl. Slowly add remaining 3 cups (750 mL) milk, whisking until smooth. Add cream cheese mixture and butter to baker. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 3-5 minutes or until mixture is hot. Slice green onions with Chef's Knife.

3. Carefully remove baker from microwave. Grate cheddar cheese over chowder using Rotary Grater; add green onions, salt and black pepper and mix using Small Mix 'N Scraper(R) until cheese is melted. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Cook's Tip: For a lighter version, omit butter. Substitute skim milk, reduced-fat (Neufchâtel) cheese and light cheddar for the 2% milk and full-fat cheeses

Ok so here it is. About a week ago I was going in and out of a dream. I was sleeping so hard but of course being 7 months preggo I had to make frequent trips to the bathroom during the night. I fell asleep while Josh was sitting next to me on his computer in the bed. When i woke up the first time I went to the bathroom and as I was coming back to bed, I noticed the light in the hallway was on. I crawled in bed and Josh turned over so I asked him if he left the light on. He said he left it on and forgot to turn it off. I was too tired to even care about our electric bill so I went back to sleep. I then woke back up couldn't decide if I had woken up because I had to go to the bathroom again or if I heard Emma or what? But I looked over Josh and the light was out in the hallway. Huh? I laid my head back down and closed my eyes. I woke up again, what seemed like a few minutes later, and the light was on again. Wha....? I laid my head back down and almost immediately opened my eyes to see if I was daydreaming and you guessed it...Lights off in hallway. Too tired to know what was going on I laid my head down closed my eyes and told myself to either go to sleep or wake up! I woke up and lights were on.

The next morning, I told Josh what had happened. I said I was sleeping in real time, or what seemed like real time, and the only way I knew I was asleep was if the light in the hallway was on or off. To all this he replied, "I was secretly planting a thought in your brain." Thanks Josh.

If you haven't seen Inception, go see it. Amazing!

Coming Back for Liza

Well after a long break, I am back writing down my inner ramblings from my life. They may not be life changing or important in any way, but I do hope that they make you laugh, smile, or forget your to-do list for a few minutes.

So basically I have been enjoying time with my in-laws and my mom for a while. My in-laws came up for a few days and when they left my mom came up 2 days later. She has been here for over a week now. It has been really good having family come in this time. I was really in a place of missing everyone and then....boom! They show up!

If you didn't know, my father in law is a serious cowboy man. He loves horses, wagons, and anything cowboy/indians. So while they were here, we visited the Frontiers Museum, the old Independence Jail, and the Deana Rose Farmstead. He didn't care that any of the wagons were historical or replicas. He would go under the ropes and look under the wagons like a young adult would look under the hood of a car. He would pull the lever brakes and turn the wheels. I just cracked up! Then we came home and watched "The Man from Snowy River." Well I think it was the perfect trip for him. HA!

My mom and I however, have been hitting my "baby due/do" list. And I mean we have been like ragging horses running around my house. Rearranging things, moving boxes, packing boxes, cleaning, moving furniture...IT'S...BEEN....AWESOME! Anyway, on my project list for us was to potty train Emma. Hey! It takes a village to raise a child. Well after one day of great success, day 2 was not good and we had to completely stop and postpone. More to come on that later. Anyway, we are winding down and gearing up for the long drive to Jackson, MS for Curtain Call. Can't wait to see everyone and all the new babies that I have heard so much about.

Tea Party Member Stuns Crowd!

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9_bP219ehQ&feature=youtube_gdata

Sent from my iPhone

Tue, 27 Apr

Turkey trip Blog 2 - Bring on the waterworks

What a day! I started off with a wonderful breakfast and then on to our first worship set of the day with just the workers. The conference hasn't started yet so all the workers are just gathering to unite and get on the same page.

The moment the first chord was struck, God was there. It was amazing to feel Him like that. I haven't experienced that in years and yet it was so familiar and peaceful. We then sat in a group and were able to hear some of the stories of the workers here. Again, tears. I felt like the group was going to think that I was a big old baby but then I look over at Christina, another girl from my team, and she is crying too. Yes! Another tender heart...HA!

After lunch, the IHOP team met for a last minute detail meeting to secure all of our plans and what happened...? Wrecked again! The Lord had different plans for us and we all found ourselves weeping before the Lord again!

We have been met with great humility, gratitude and so so so much love by everyone here. Our team came fully ready to give, and so far have only received. What a shift. There are so many thoughts and emotions stirring in my heart and mind. I know that this week is a journey that I will never forget, and it's only just begun.

Here is a health update for my mom. I know she will be worried about me until I write her something:

Mom, I'm actually doing great! I haven't had any nausea and my salivation is almost completely gone! I couldn't believe it. I went this whole day with no spitting or mints. Crazy! I am resting well and getting plenty of rest. Actually I had a little too much and am awake right now. It's 9:30pm there and 5:00am here. I went to bed at 8:45pm and slept until about 4:00am then popped up wide awake! So I just thought I would get up and then take a nap later on this afternoon. The food has been the biggest surprise. It's been wonderful! And Josh went to the market and bought fresh fruit for our room. The fruit here is amazing. He also loaded me down with chocolate. What a good man. HA! The only thing is that I have to constantly be drinking water. I get dehydrated really quickly with the altitude change and everything. And it wouldn't be that bad but they use ice here so all the water is room temp. But if that is the only thing then I would say all in all I am doing pretty well.

Please email me Emma updates. Josh and I are going crazy to not hear how she is. Love you!

Alice

Turkey Trip Blog 1 - God Knows

So our trip started with Josh and I meeting up with Khaleed and Christina at 7am Monday morning and driving to KCI airport to catch our first flight to Detroit. The car ride had lots of laughter and good conversation. This was going to be a festive trip. HA!

While looking at our flight schedule I noticed that we only had a hour in between each flight. I knew from personal experience that was going to be cutting boarding our next flight pretty close but getting our baggage to the next flight even closer. Still we forge on and hope for the best. Meanwhile, always carry a change of clothes and toiletries in your carryon.

We arrive in Detroit and meet up with Nathan Panke. As we are sitting at our gate the announcer comes on and informs us that due to air traffic, our flight to JFK will be delayed by one hour. That is the amount of time we had to make it to our international flight! Officially we were going to miss our flight. When we arrived at JFK, the first person we talked to said, "oh they have rebooked you for tomorrow for the same flight." Which was a direct flight from JFK to Istanbul. She then directed us to another gate to talk to someone there. As we walked I kept thinking back to all the flights I have taken and they never just give you one option so I just prayed that when we got to that gate, the person would offer us another route so that we could arrive on the day we were needing to arrive.

The girls decided to handle the problem so we approached a counter where every worker was mad and frustrated and hungry because it was their lunch time. It turns out there was another flight to Amsterdam and then on to Istanbul and would put us in 4 hours later than our ORIGINAL schedule! Christina and I were patient and joyful and by the end, all the ladies were laughing and telling us stories about their life. It was awesome! Then, just joking, but not really, I told the lady that since we made her day better she could just upgrade us to first class. HA! She printed off coupons for us to use at our actual gate to obtain our boarding passes. When we got to that gate, we checked in at the terminal and the lady looked at us and said, "In order to get you all on this flight, I had to upgrade your whole team." What!!! Praise God! We were ushered into business first class and served a 5 course meal, hot towels, mini travel kits, fresh squeezed juice, fully reclinable seats that let you lay down like in a bed, and a personal attendant. What an amazing God we serve!

We arrived in Turkey and got through customs with no trouble (well a little but that's another story of God's favor on us), and got to our hotel. We walk in to an amazing room with tons of space and a sea view. We go to dinner where a buffet of over 30 dishes were being served and they all tasted amazing! We set up our rooms are planning our day tomorrow. It's sure to have it's own adventures. But for now, I am going to crawl into bed and sleep a full night of sleep. That hasn't happened in 4 straight days so far.

I miss you Emma. Mommy and Daddy Love you! Have fun with your grandparents and know that we think about you all day.