Everything Has Changed--But the Best Stuff HAS NOT CHANGED

I’m sitting this morning drinking my coffee on the front porch. It’s the best time and place for peace and reflection. And prayer. Have you found that time and place for yourself? I pray you do. 

I’m enjoying the Daily Hope email devotions from Pastor Rick Warren. Many of you will remember his book “Purpose-Driven Life”. If you’re looking for a way to focus your life and live with purpose and be inspired by God, it’s a great place to start.

Anyway, after reading today’s devotion about how Jesus left us a “tour guide for life” in the Holy Spirit after he ascended to heaven (thank you God!), I closed my eyes to reflect and pray and I was struck by some things. 

Right now it feels like the whole world is upside down. I made the mistake of letting the first things I read this morning be some news of violence and tragedy, then of political hostility, then of virus case numbers and complications. And I laid in bed and prayed, “Jesus! Come back soon! This world is a disaster!” Nothing feels like it used to or like it should. It seems like everything has changed.

But as I sit here on this porch I am surrounded by the sounds of dozens of species of birds singing and calling out to each other. They were prompted by the rising of the sun to start their song, just like yesterday. Are they praising God for causing another sunrise? I think it sounds like that. And that is something that remains the same this spring even though the world is upside down compared to last spring. That birds still sing for God has not changed.

My humanness wants to yell out to them, “Why are you still singing? Do you know what is going on in the world? This is a mess. There’s so much despair. Don’t you know today isn’t as song-worthy as it should be? Are you fools?!” But I know better. I think they know something I’m forgetting to think about when I want to say those things to them. 

They know God is still on the throne. That He knows each of them fully and cares for them, the bird and also the flowers. He tells us that in His word. (Luke 12) And He insists that He cares for us even more. Knowing His heart, He is surely grieving and aching for us in this suffering. Even more so, He is longing for us to look to Him and draw near to Him and lean into him for hope, comfort, reassurance and love. That’s the best possible outcome from this situation, that we will grow closer to Him. He has always been about relationship with us. That has not changed.

The birds are singing such a strong joyful song. I can’t help but think they are reacting to the knowledge of how wide and long and deep and high the love of God is for them. And for us! You too! These birds seem to know that His love is overwhelming and they’re compelled to cry out in praise in response. God’s love is unconditional and extravagant. That has not changed. 

God knew we would go through this. It seems like everyday we are hit again with a new blow of change and difficulty. But this is no surprise to God. And just as He knew this would happen, He has promised to provide for us the strength and wisdom to navigate it if we are following his lead and depending on him for that strength and wisdom beyond our own. It’s ours to have because He is our ever-loving, never failing Father. That has not changed.

We have a hope that goes beyond this present set of circumstances. God doesn’t promise that walking with Him will mean no pain, no difficulty, no challenge, an easy life. He does promise that He will provide the strength to stand up under our burdens when we depend on Him for that strength. And He doesn’t promise that we’ll even survive every challenge. Not on earth anyway. The promise remains that we have an eternal home without pain and suffering in heaven. That is the hope we depend on. That heaven is there and Our Father will welcome us home there no matter how this ends has not changed. 

It seems everything has changed if we look around. But if we look up, we see that the biggest, most important things have not changed. Not one bit. Thank you God!

--Krista

Chicken Tortilla Soup-- In Honor of Mom

 

We're posting this one this weekend because it's Mother's Day and this is Nanny's (Todd's mom) FAVORITE!! Sorry Nanny! We're making this Chicken Tortilla soup without you. Blame it on the virus! 





We miss you! When do grandparents reopen??!






Chicken tortilla soup has been a many years long, trial and error recipe. Eventually, Todd became inspired by Blue Zones and he wanted to find a way to make beans a star of this recipe. That's how the magic happened. 

It can be something you make in the winter as the perfect cozy warm thing, but it has such a great medley of flavors that it works well in summer as well! 

Let's get started! 

Ingredients:

• 3 strips Bacon, cut into small squares
• 1 T. oil, canola or olive, or Bacon fat
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 yellow pepper diced
• 1 c. sweet corn
• 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
• 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes 
• 1-1/2 t chili powder
• 1-1/2 t cumin
• 1 t oregano
• 1/2 t granulated garlic
• 1/2 t salt
• 1-1/2 lbs finger pulled chicken breast meat, precooked
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 1 T. chicken base
• 3 oz. (half of a 6 oz can) tomato paste
• 15 oz. can of black beans
• 15 oz. can pinto beans
• 3 T. corn meal
• Tortilla chips (a base layer for each bowl)
• Shredded cheddar (a sprinkling for each bowl)
• 1 avocado, diced
• Cilantro, chopped, to garnish
• Sour cream (a dollop for each bowl)
• Wedges of lime 

Instructions:

Heat up the oil in the Dutch Oven (DO). Cook the Bacon (we capitalize Bacon because it's Bacon) until crispy.

Remove the bacon from the DO and set it aside in a bowl to be used as a garnish at the end. 

Too bad for this guy...we're smarter this time. 

Add the onions into the DO and carmelize (until softened), stir deglazing the DO in the process.

Add in the peppers and cook until softened. Next, go in the can of tomatoes and chilies (juices and all) and the sweet corn. Now pour over the spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic and salt) and stir together.  

Stir in the chicken. 

Add in chicken stock, chicken base and tomato paste. Bring it all to a simmer.   

  

Drain and rinse the beans--The stars of the show. Add them in and bring it back to a simmer.

Sprinkle corn meal in. Then, bring to a simmer for at least 25 minutes to melt all the flavors together. 

Time to prepare your serving bowls. Take a small handful of tortilla chips, crush them and layer them across the bottom of the bowl. Grate cheddar cheese over the chips. This is the hidden secret that your diners won't even realize makes it so, so good! Here's steps 1, 2 and 3: 

Get your lime, cilantro, avocado, sour cream and bacon ready. 

And Todd will help you bring all the magic together!

This one can't be beat. 

And we'd both just like to say how very blessed we are to have mothers that love and serve and care for us and our kiddos so much. We are counting our blessings and feeling rich this weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. It's the hardest, most full time, most fulfilling hat a woman can wear and we are so, so grateful for the investment our mamas have made in us and our family!

 

Covid Life Lessons #1

Quarantine is teaching me a lot of things. It's been a little over eight weeks since I "went to work" and man it has been a challenge at times. I've gone through some serious grief, anxiety, depression and anger. But there is some beauty in this slowness, this isolation with my family, this being together with them. All. The. Time. I'm learning things I wouldn't have learned if this wasn't happening and the world was still moving as fast as usual. 

I'm learning...

1. My natural self. I know that sounds weird. But stick with me. I don't mean "natural" in the "letting myself go" sort of way, though I haven't used a hair product in 2 months and I've VERY rarely put on any make-up. But with the external pressures of alarm clocks and dress-code expectations and such, I'm learning I'm naturally a stay up until 11 pm and get up at 8 am kind of gal. Granted, I get up and check email and enter grades before I ever drink coffee or shower now so that's a little different. I'm learning that I'm a high messy bun, leggings and hoodies gal. I haven't worn real shoes since March 13 and my feet are loving it. I did paint my toenails this week and loved feeling pretty in some way, so I guess I'm not all natural, naturally. I prefer not to watch TV but give me all the books and the music. If it weren't for other people that live here, we might not even have TVs...

2. I like my husband. I really do. We're both teachers, so we get to be together for weeks and months at a time during school breaks, but this is different. We're home. Together. Constantly. And we're both working. And parenting. And homeschooling. And this is a weird uncertain time with worry and stress of its own but... Man, this guy and I make a great team! We are checking in with each other all the time and tag-teaming back and forth with work and school and parenting and looking out for each other. We "temperature check" each other. What percentage are you at right now, babe? 40%? Ok. I've got 70% so I'll step up for you tonight and put the kids to bed. We don't keep score. It doesn't matter how many nights he or I have had more than the other. It's about now and how we're doing moment by moment. (He just sat down next to me and I'm in my happy place now...doesn't matter where we're sitting.) Basically, I got locked in with my best friend and we like each other even more now. I'm so thankful. I knew we liked each other before but this challenge and concentrated time together has helped us learn how to team together better and solidified that we really do like each other. 

3. We ALL needed this. Man, did you not feel like society and life and everything were spinning so fast we had all lost a bit of ourselves? We didn't even have time to think about that. I have time to think and pray and listen to music and find beautiful things and walk and get my hands in the dirt and throw a ball for my dog and consider. Just consider. What is important? What is not important? What do I want my life to look like when we all re-emerge? What will I never go back to doing? What will I go back to doing? Wow. These are valuable questions. We've basically all been given a forced retreat to make plans and intentions and set priorities. I hope we're using this time wisely as such. 

4. We are responsible for each other. I teach CPR through the American Red Cross. In an old video, a pair of coworkers are eating together and notice another diner is slumped over his food. One expresses concern, while the other replies, "It's not OUR problem." That has always just caused a fire to rise up in my chest. We are all each other's problem! No...we are all each other's responsibility and honor to serve. We do not live in isolation. We live dependent on and affected by the actions of others. God gave me the people in my life and he gave me to them. Right now, my husband is shopping for two other households with more vulnerable people than ourselves. We are keeping ourselves isolated so we can keep them safe. We are wearing masks if we leave our house or get out of the car. I feel responsible to do what is best for each person I come in contact with. I have always felt that God places me in the moments he places me in for His purpose and I will do my best to serve those I cross paths with accordingly.

5. There is SO MUCH NOISE in our "normal." In my corner of the world, I cannot drive down the road or stand in line to pay for groceries without being hit by advertising. I have not watched a commercial, seen a marketing billboard or heard a radio advertisement in two months. There are not logos, and symbols and posters on the walls of my home asking me to buy something. I get to choose when I let in media right now. And my heart is healthier for it!

It's like a hot summer day in the PNW today. It's nearly 90 degrees in mid-May! So Todd and I had to walk early today. (Getting our steps these days has to be on purpose or it doesn't happen.) As I was walking, we commented on plants and bushes and dogs and birds. And I said, "I am going to miss this time." That's where I've landed for today. There have been tears. There have been nights awake dreading what's next. There has been anger and a feeling of having been robbed. But today, I am thankful for the lessons this time is affording me and the quality of life I am getting to enjoy in a home I love, with kids I love, with a husband I love and like and the lessons my God is teaching my heart. 

-- Krista

What are you loving and hating about this time? What are you celebrating? In what areas do you need support?

Poblano Pork Green Chili

Some of you will be familiar with Colorado green chili. Well this is not that! (There are some similarities though). We're not in Colorado. We add beans whenever possible (read about Blue Zones!) and we're using poblano peppers. And also, we add on of our favorite secret ingredients. More on that later.  

Get that dutch oven (DO) ready!! This should surprise no one anymore...

Ingredients

3-4 lbs pork shoulder, in 1/2" cubes
5-6 poblano peppers
2 jalapeno peppers
1 15 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 c. water
4 c. chicken stock
2 onions diced
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
2 15 oz cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 T. minced garlic, or 8 cloves minced
1/4 c. flour
Bacon fat
1 lime
Sour cream to top
Cilantro

Instructions

Pour the water into the DO, then the pork and salt. Cook with the lid on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.







Time to roast the poblanos and jalapenos. Remove the seeds and halve them. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. 

Spread the poblano and jalapeno halves around the baking sheet (option to sprinkle oil, salt and pepper over them if you like) and place in the oven on broil (not preheated) for about 15 minutes until the skins are blackened. Yes, we're going to burn them!






Stay in a hurry and dice up your 2 onions. 










Turn the heat on the DO to medium-high, take off the lid and cook off all of the water from the pork while stirring it. This should take about another 20 minutes. 

When the peppers are nice and blackened, remove them 
from the oven. 

Spoon them into a glass bowl and seal with plastic wrap to allow them to finish cooking themselves down. The skins will detach themselves. It will take about 10 minutes.

Turn the oven to 325 degrees F. 

Dutch oven evaporation update....It's still going. You may feel like the water will never cook off. But it will! Don't pour it off. You need all the pork juice! Cook for about 5 minutes after the water is gone to get some browning on the meat. 

You know you're good when there's a nice fawn on the bottom of the dutch oven. We'll deglaze next with the onions and Bacon fat. (If you're new here...you should know we always capitalize Bacon...because. Duh. It's Bacon!)








Spoon the pork out of the dutch oven and then add 1 T of Bacon fat to the DO. (canola oil if you don't have Bacon fat). And add in the onions and let them sweat on medium heat until caramelized. 

This process also deglazes the pan so we can make good use of those delicious pork bit that are coating the DO.

Remove the the peppers from the bowl and peel away all the skins. Set the jalapenos aside for now.









Give the poblanos a rough cut and put them with the tomatoes into a food processor. 









And call in your mini chef to blitz (pulsing not holding) them until well mixed, not pureed. You don't want to lose those chunks completely!

Add in the garlic and cumin to the DO and cook for about 1 minute, until your house smells delicious.

Fold in the flour for about a minute, then pour over your chicken stock stirring intermittently. Bring almost to a boil. 







Then add in the processed vegetables and pork. Fold together. Bring to a simmer, cover and put in the oven for about an hour.

Toward the end of the hour while the DO is in the oven, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Rinse and drain the beans. Mince the jalapenos, slice the lime and chop the cilantro.

Take the DO out of the oven and add the beans. Replace the lid and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Then follow along here to finish and dish up! 

We make this one when we feel like we want something comforting to warm us from the inside but is outside the box. It's a unique soup that hits all sorts of flavor notes and gives that warmth with an exciting spicy hit. We dare you not to have seconds...nevermind. Go for it!

Kalua Pork-Bring That Luau Love Home!

 One of our favorite places to visit in the winter is Hawaii. Any island really. We're in the Pacific Northwest. We do not get sun here for months on end! And we need it! The big island has so much adventure to offer and we've been there a handful of times in the last several years. But, most recently we traveled to Kauai on a family vacation with Todd's parents. 

It's hard to believe, with all that has changed in these last several weeks that we got back just two months ago. Here, you need a taste of paradise right about now I'm sure:

When you go to Hawaii, going to a luau is one of the big attractions. The best ones are full of culture, family and tradition. This time, big thanks to Nanny and Papa, we hit the luau jackpot and celebrated Valentine's day at the Smith Family Farm luau between Princeville and Lihue. 








(Valentine's dates have a lot to live up to now!)






We got to tour their gorgeous botanical gardens and learn all about their method for roasting their pig the traditional way in a sand pit. 

Our girls learned to hula, we were treated to a rich lesson in history and a variety of traditional dances from the Polynesian islands and our bellies were filled with tender pork goodness the real ground-pit way. 

This luau is a true multi-generational family enterprise and we loved getting to know and honor beautiful Auntie! It was the best Valentine's day ever!!

Mahalo Nanny and Papa!

Since burying a pig in the backyard isn't really how we do things in the PNW, (and let's face it...our beaches don't really offer SAND) this is Todd's way of bringing the luau love home. This recipe is how we get back to Hawaii life with our tastebuds when we can't get back there in real life! 

Alright, now here's how to get some of that Aloha into your belly!

PHASE ONE: The Kalua Pork

Ingredients
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp coarse black pepper
2-1/2 lbs pork shoulder
2 tsp liquid smoke
1-1/2 cups water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

To start, combine the garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Take the mixture and completely cover the pork shoulder. I like to cut my pork shoulder in half so there is more surface area for the rub. 

Make sure to use all of the mixture. The meat will keep soaking it through so keep adding until you're out of it.

 

Rub 1 tsp of liquid smoke into each half of your pork shoulder.

Place them in the dutch oven (DO) and add the water into an open space not over the pork shoulder. Don't rinse off that amazing rub.

Place the DO in the oven for three and a half hours.

After three and a half hours have passed we will remove the DO from the oven and let it sit for 30 minutes without ever removing the lid. But once you do, you should probably make a ceremony of it. 

Take out the pork and shred it in a bowl. Once it's shredded into bits, pour over about half the juice that is left in the DO.

 

PHASE TWO: Pineapple Coleslaw

Ingredients

1 cup Napa/green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame seed oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup freshly diced pineapple

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the pineapple and let rest for 2 hours.

PHASE THREE: Asian Barbecue Sauce

3/4 cup hoisin sauces
1-1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 tsp spicy chili garlic sauce


Combine all and mix.

PHASE FOUR: Kimchi Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp spicy chili garlic sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1-1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon juice or juice of 1 wedge of lemon
salt to taste (pinch)
pepper to taste (pinch)


Combine all and mix.



Phase 5: Assembly

Additional ingredients
Hamburger buns
Dried french onions

Instructions

Gather everything together and add the pineapple into the slaw.

Toast the hamburger buns.

On the bottom half of the bun, spread the Kimchi aioli.

Add a good pile of the shredded pork.

Then top it with a drizzle of the barbecue sauce. 

Stir the pineapple into the coleslaw and stack a generous pile of coleslaw onto the pork.

Top with a small handful of dried french onions for some crispy crunch.

Spread another spoonful of Kimchi aioli on the top half of the bun and finish it off. 

Pause to smell and admire your work of art.

It's time to eat! Take off your apron, get your Hawaiian shirt ready! Turn on some of that island music and turn up the thermostat. You're basically there!

Enjoy your dinner mini-vacay and we wish you a lot of Aloha!

Mahalo for reading. Tell us what you think! What's your favorite thing to do, see or taste on the islands?