Cooking: Tex-Mex Chicken Casserole

We love Mexican food. We I love chicken. And what good southerner doesn't love a casserole. This recipe is all that and more.

Ingredients:
2 cups penne pasta, cooked
2 cups chicken, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup corn
Salt & pepper
1 jar salsa verde
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Lightly crushed tortilla chips
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & spray a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place cooked pasta, chicken, black beans, tomatoes & corn in prepared dish. Season with salt & pepper, then toss to mix.
3. In another bowl, combine the salsa & sour cream. Pour evenly over chicken mixture. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheeses, then cover with foil & bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove foil & bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted & bubbly. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips & cilantro. Serve using a slotted spoon.

So, of course I did something different here... but the catch is, I didn't do it on purpose. More than once I read this recipe wrong. Instead of salsa verde, I just saw salsa. And instead of 3/4 cup sour cream, I saw whole package of sour cream :) So, since Trey isn't a tomato fan, I put the salsa in without the diced tomatoes. And I used the blend of cheddar cheeses we already had at the house. My taste tester was a fan, but would like something a little more spicy next time. Also, for just 2 people, I would cut the recipe in half... all except for the chicken. It makes a LOT of food.

those little moments

It hit me. It finally hit me. I'm not a short car ride or even a day's trip away from home, away from our close family & friends. I'm currently on the other side of North America... and will soon be on the other side of the world all together. You'd think I would have already realized this... but it didn't hit me until today.

I wake up to start my day and I check my email, my facebook, and twitter. Except, I didn't make it quite to twitter. I had to stop at facebook because our good friends welcomed their little girl into the world EARLY this morning. And that's when it all hit. I won't be able to go to the hospital and visit the Griffin family. I won't be able to make dinner to take over to their house and hold Leah while they eat. I won't be able to watch her grow up.

And the thing is, Leah is not the only little one coming into the world while we're gone. My brother and sister-in-law will welcome Owen into the world in June... not to mention countless other pregnant friends. We're at that age. Everyone seems to be married, and what comes after marriage... as the old playground rhyme goes - first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage. I realized that some of these children will think I live inside a computer. They'll only know me through Skype until they're 3 years old.

All of this emotion today has really been hard on me. I have to return to my calling. I'm following my God and what he has called me to do with my life. I'm here with my best friend and love of my life and we're on this journey together. As long as God has called me to be here and on the other side of the world, I'll go. I'll be away from so many that I love and long to watch grow up because more than anything, I long to be following God's call on my life.

For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the precious new family.

Why Vancouver?

I have heard this saying numerous times. The first time I heard this said was when speaking to the immigration officials for the better part aof half hour. I was explaining to them why my wife and I were coming to Vancouver. The saying for training, urban training, cross-cultural training, mega city training, all of these answers fell on deaf ears. Their response, “ok, but I don’t understand why Vancouver?” The past several days have clearly answered this question for me personally. I asked this same question, why Vancouver? God has called me to West Africa, clearly Vancouver does not represent West Africa in any shape or fashion. However, the demographics are still the same. LOST. I was talking to this guy in an area of town which we are beginning to do ministry in, his statistic, “there are less than 3% evangelical Christians in Vancouver. By Company standards this is near the 2% margin of declaring a territory unreached. This astonishing stat amazes me since we are extremely close to the U.S. border. However, 700 out of every 1000 are non-evangelical. Astonishing. This statistic rang true the past few days as we, as well as our co-workers have been engaging the city with a specific survey/conversation/pictures/tool.The most common responses to this engagement tool, “I’m Muslim, but that’s great you believe that,” “well, nature is God,” “everything is God,” “we have thousands of gods.” All actual responses, all actually showing the spiritual nature of the city. The city is absolutely lost and has absolutely no clue that it is. The last response and conversation today ended with a man responding to Kristen, “Sweetie, we are all Gods.” This is the world we live in, a lost world dying and going to hell, with no inclination of any hope. Some hide behind other religions, some behind their money, but all currently with the same destiny. They are going to a Godless eternity. So, my question to you, what is the Southern Baptist Church going to do about it? Praise God, there are fellow church planters here Southern Baptist are supporting, but is that enough? Is there enough pleading to God on the behalf on Eldon. Eldon, a homosexual, his only prayer request was for humanity. That is my prayer request for you to have, for humanity. For the souls of the 1.6 billion people with little to no access to the Gospel. Ask, “God where are you calling me to? Some, their workplace. Some, a different part of the city they never go. Some, a change of professions. Some, are called to go to someplace across the ocean where the name of Christ has never been heard of. So tell God you are willing to go wherever he leads. Pray for the people of Vancouver who are lost and have no idea to the contrary. So why Vancouver, for people like Eldon, who know something is wrong in this world but have no idea why or what can be done about it.

TREY

Cooking: turkey sliders & corn on the cob

So, who doesn't like a slider. Anything that is a miniature version is always better, right? It seems like you aren't eating as much. I found a recipe on Pinterest for leftover ham after Thanksgiving & Christmas. Ham Sliders. However, Trey's not a fan of ham... so we went for Turkey Sliders.

Here's the link for the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

24 good white dinner rolls

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. You do not have to use all of the sauce! Just use enough to cover the tops. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

OK, and here's what I did different. I only made 6 sliders, since there is only 2 of us. However, what I did wrong was making the full amount of sauce :) let's just say it was a little strong tasting. I also used turkey instead of ham and only mayo (no miracle whip). And no onion.. since I bought a whole onion and did not want my eyes watering for just 1 tablespoon worth of onion.

Overall, there was approval in the household. We did have to scrape the excess sauce off the top and bottom, but Trey ate
the leftovers the next day.

Now for the corn. I've never made anything so easy. As I was searching for how to cook corn on the cob I went to several websites because I could not believe it could be that easy. What do you do?? Simply heat the oven to 350 degrees & place the cobs straight on the rack. Bake for 30 minutes and voila. That's it. Add some butter and salt & there you have delicious corn on the cob.

Cooking: Easy Shepherd's Pie

One of Trey's favorite dishes is Shepherd's Pie. I've wanted to make this for him before, but it's pretty intimidating. So what did I do? Google: Easy Shepherd's Pie. Google helps with all of those questions :) So here's the link to the recipe I found & the recipe with my taste tester's thoughts.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Directions

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Overall, my taste tester approved. He doesn't like carrots, so the veggies we used were onion, corn, peas, & green beans. Next time, I'll put some carrots in there. Also, one more potato.. probably medium sized.. for just a little bid more mashed potatoes. My cousin suggested (via facebook) to add taco seasoning to the ground beef. After we ate it, we decided that it would definitely add some great flavor.

As a beginner cooker, accomplishing Shepherd's Pie was a big task for me. BUT I will say it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!

Cooking: Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

I don't like to cook. At all. It doesn't mean I can't cook, I just don't actually enjoy it. When I was younger I dreamed of a husband that loved to cook. And I got that! Trey actually enjoys the whole cooking thing. I don't understand that mindset. When we were at home we had the ability and accessibility to eat out a lot... so I didn't have to cook much. I did master box macaroni & cheese & we ate that with almost every meal. Here, however, eating out here is very expensive. Our first lunch in town, we ate at the mall food court & spent $20 at a fast food taco place... and were still hungry after we ate what we ordered. Once we get to Africa, I'll be cooking lots. Therefore, I'm using the time here to practice my cooking skills. So, I'll be giving you some of these recipes I'm trying out here & let you know what my official taste tester (a.k.a. Trey) thinks about the food.


The first recipe to share is Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie. I found the recipe on Pinterest, which is where I'm finding most of my new recipes. I will be sure to always post the link to the original recipe, as to not take credit for anything!

my actual pot pie! Yummy!

ingredients:

1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (about 8 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package (8 ½ ounces) corn muffin mix
¾ cup milk
1 egg
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

instructions:

1.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Stir soup, corn and chicken in a 9" pie plate.

2.  Stir the muffin mix, milk and egg with a fork in a small bowl until the ingredients are mixed. Spoon over the chicken mixture.

3.  Bake for 30 minutes until the cornbread is golden. Sprinkle with the cheese. Serve with sliced fresh tomatoes.

The only difference we had was no fresh sliced tomatoes, since my taste tester is not a fan! But I'm sure that would be delicious.

Now, here's what I would change the next time I make the recipe. I would add different veggies. Maybe 1 ½ cups of mixed veggies. My mom always told me in order to get different nutrients make sure my plate was "colorful". This meal was pretty yellow. Also, my taste tester said he would have liked the cornbread to be a little sweeter. And I thought some cheese inside the pie would have been delicious.

Try it out & let me know what you think! It is really a simple, quick meal! I'm still not much of a fan of cooking, but I do feel extremely accomplished after each meal :)

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

Last Monday, we had the day off to rest & explore. We chose to explore more than resting, and it was well worth it. The morning started out with about an hour & a half trek from our apartment to a suspension bridge. We took all forms of the public transportation... SkyTrain, SeaBus, & Bus. We went with another family who is here in Vancouver training with us. They have 3 little boys (5, 3, & almost 1) who loved every minute of the exploration.

The bridge was really neat & beautiful! But the best part was on the other side of the bridge. It was absolutely gorgeous. I love going to the beach and taking in the beauty of the waves crashing, looking off into the horizon, but this was a different kind of beauty. This was northwest beauty. We enjoyed hiking through the woods & taking it all it. It was really peaceful. Shows how creative our God is in His artwork.

After that, we walked around Chinatown for a bit with some other friends. Lots of people, stores, and colors. It was really a neat area. In the middle of Chinatown was a beautiful garden that we ventured into. We enjoyed watching our friend's little boy take it all in & play around. He loved to talk to the ducks & run through the bamboo. The garden was a nice place to go in the middle of chaos.

And then we headed back to our apartment, stopping by the grocery store along the way. In the grocery store we met a couple from Africa and have since built a relationship with them. We're excited to see where this relationship might go. Once we thought we were done with our fun for the day, another set of friends came over for dinner with their sweet little boy. We enjoyed our time with them as well! Needless to say, we didn't relax much on Monday, but it was well worth it. We got to take in so many different sights & sounds of our new city. We look forward to having time to go back to each of these places.

10 things learned our first week in Canada

Author: Kristen

1. You have to rent shopping carts.
2. Always carry reusable shopping bags or pay 5 cents a bag.
3. It's probably going to rain on you when carrying 8 bags of groceries.
4. Our neighbors love their Spanish & Hungarian music, and cooking their ethnic food.
5. Canadians love their hockey.
6. A Looney is $1 and a Tooney is $2.
7. In the states, bigger is better when buying in bulk. Here, the easier to carry the better.
8. Recycling is a must.
9. Take your shoes off when entering a house/apartment.
10. Canadians want you to enjoy your time in their country.

We've had quite a time learning all of these. Some of the things seem like no big deal, and they aren't... just different. As much as there is alike, there are still differences that take some time to get used to. Soon we'll have some pictures & videos up for you to enjoy. Now, I'm going to go watch some Vancouver Canucks Hockey with Trey.