Recipe: One Pot Red Beans and Rice

Today I had to scramble to figure out dinner because when I opened up the package of my whole chicken, it stunk like rotten eggs :(  I'm not certain why because when I buy whole chickens they always go directly to the freezer and it was in the fridge to thaw only just over 24 hours, so it couldn't have been spoiled from that short time.  But I didn't want to chance it so we threw it away:(

 

I had some sausage in the freezer and within a couple hours of being out it was thawed so I could use it for dinner.  These ingredients are something I often just have in the pantry, so it's a perfect go-to meal. 

 

I got the recipe from E-meals.com when I was a member in 2011.  It was one that I have kept and keep using.  It was always my one sausage recipe I used until I discovered this one pot cheesy sausage pasta recipe. 

 

 

It's easy.  It's one pot.  It's freezable.  It's yummy. It's a kid pleaser.  It's a winner in this house!

 

 

Ingredients:

-Smoked Sausage (turkey, beef, etc.)

-15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

-15 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (I use a can of diced tomatoes and eye ball what I want of the green chili verde salsa)

-1 t chili powder

-1 cup water

1 cup instant rice, uncooked

 

 

 

Directions:

 

1. Cut sausage and sautee until browned.  This time I added some onion and celery in it!

2. Add all other ingredients EXCEPT rice. 

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Add rice.

 

5. Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 10 min or until water is absorbed

6. Serve and enjoy! We serve with biscuits.  You could add more beans to make it go farther...as we had NO leftovers from this the last time we made it....that tells you how much we like it:)

Project 52: October 5-11

Sunday Snapshot:

Daddy was gone this weekend, so this is what it looks like when I place Colt up and run back with the camera! haha

Pizza night this week was a new recipe! Seven Layer pizza--refried beans, taco meat, and all the toppings! It was yummy

 

Brent unexpectedly worked from home on Monday, so I was able to run out on an errand to Target.  I took the little guy with me while the three bigs napped.  It was fun to have Colt be able to ride in the cart.  I love that face to face interaction I get when he is in the cart.  Usually he is always in the ergo for our weekly grocery shopping trips with all four kids.

 

Tuesday was Grandma's birthday! We started off the day at Joe's Farm Grill for breakfast

 

Then ended the day at The Melting Pot for dinner!

 

The kids enjoyed this activity this week. It was fun to watch them and it lasted much longer than I expected! Works on flexibility too:)

Saturday Daddy was at a men's conference, so the kids and I went to the park for most of the morning.  So happy the weather is great now for that.  Colt climbed all the way up the top of the stairs!

he actually is happy here even though it looks like a sad face! :)

My Mommy Minute: October 10

Hi friend,
This is one of those weeks that every single one of these are so so good. No particular order, but each is worth your time.  Some longer than others, all rich with wisdom and encouragement.  Enjoy!

"To be a mother is by no means second class.  Men may have the authority in the home, but the women have the influence.  The mother, more than the father, is the one who molds and shapes those little lives from day one."
-John MacArthur

When Motherhood Drains Your Happiness by Carolyn Mahaney at GirlTalk
"But if we’ve become resentful of the demands of motherhood, discouraged and depressed in our routine, irritated and impatient with our children, chances are, we’ve lost sight of our God-given purpose as a mother."

The Inconvenience of Motherhood by Amanda Walker at The Aquila Report
"But this shaping can only happen as we give over our rights to ourselves and allow God the freedom to shape us."

Funner Part 3: Emotional Control by Rachel Jankovic at Femina
Part 1 and Part 2 were a previous My Mommy Minute post in case you missed them!

 

Remember, You Are Not Managing an Inconvenience, You Are Raising a Human Being by Rachel Miller at Daughter of the Reformation
"Exactly when did they go from precious blessings entrusted to me by God to small, loud, challenging things sent by God to interrupt my day?"

To The Mom Who Doesn't Recognize the Woman in the Mirror by Tricia Gillespie at The Domestic Fringe
"Those children who call you mom will leave a permanent mark, making you look different to those around you.  It’s a good kind of different."

 

9 months!

Colt was 9 months on September 10.  He is crawling all over the place! With the other three kids they rocked for a while, scooted and army crawled, and slowly started to crawl.  With Colt, it was just one day he started crawling and he hasn't stopped.  He loves crawling around to see what his older siblings are doing:)





Colt had a hair cut this month....which mama clearly needs some practice!



Colt started pulling himself up at exactly 9 months

 

 



no picture laying down this month! He only wanted to crawl and rip it!



 

Only For a Season

I remember not long ago (and not long before that, and before that time, too) that my survival was held together by the blessing of paper plates, generous people dropping off meals, and my husband cleaning up after dinner while I camped out in the rocking chair.

 

I remember what feels like long ago (but really wasn't that long!) when my house was spotless and I always had freshly pedicured toes.  When the clothes went straight from the dryer folded into the basket as I pulled them out. I remember spending hours during the summer months after my first year of teaching listening to sermons, journaling, and praying. 

 

There is a season for everything...some seasons are cyclical and some never return. I don't think my house will ever be spotless again, but I do hope that God's will would be to give us another child by any means He sees fit and force us to live off paper plates again.

 

For now, I'm finally able to use those paper plates for crafts with my kids again.

And for now, there sits a large pile of my husband's dress shirts on our bedroom floor that need to be ironed.

 

These were the thoughts I was having while I was making three meals at one time yesterday. Butternut squash in the crockpot, prepping shephard's pie for dinner (from scratch for the first time!) and prepping a freezer meal for another day.

 

My little helper:)

I surely don't say all this to boast.  I say all this as a reflection and encouragement for those hard seasons.  Right now, I am able to arrange my time at home and use my time to bless my husband, children, and others outside my home.  There are seasons of life though, that the body of Christ will be a blessing to us and minister to us when we are in need.  Both are such a time of blessing and rejoicing. 

It is easy to get down and feel dehydrated at times--even at times of great joy, like welcoming a new baby.  Time in the Word is hard to make, quiet time is rare, and it is just plain hard to keep our eyes open at times when we are surviving on sporadic hours of sleep. Our hearts pay the price. God is good all the time and in every season there is a reason to praise Him.

Survive.  Because sometimes that is the season.  But it's only for a season.  Then things will shift.  Recognize when that shift happens and allow it, embrace it, and thrive.  Recognize there are hard seasons, but be ready and willing to move out of them. And in every season, pray The Lord would restore to the joy of our salvation. 

I hope you are keeping your head above water.  I don't know your season.  But remember, it is only for a season.  And I know that I will look back and miss those seasons of barely keeping my head above water.  Even in the seasons of 'easier' living now when I have a toddler who can dress herself and fill her own cup of water, there is still so much pouring out of our lives that we do even as our children gain independence. There are still times I feel like I'm sinking (that's why it was nice to feel productive in the kitchen). I think in every season we can find little areas where we are just surviving but also where we are thriving.  I speak to myself the most when I say "Don't wish that away."  It may be winter, but summer will come. 

And our God is The God of every season. 

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

"So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?" 

Ecclesiastes 3:22

Red bird

Week 2 of our Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? unit.  This week's focus was "red bird" and was another great week!

 

The six categories I hope to help direct our activities each week:

 

1. Bible verse/story:

 

Genesis 1:21 "So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

 

Psalm 50:11 "I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine."

 

 

2. Color focus:

Red- red bird and red apples

So many red items! This entertained them for so long!

One extension activity I did with Raelynn was in that foam tray (which I clean and save from meat purchases) is giving her a bunch of letters, making sure the letters of her name are included.  She find the letters and spells her name.

 

3. Hands On Craft:

Apple Tree

First the kids glued the tree on the paper with the pre cut parts.  They each had some red modeling clay and were instructed to make apples.  They did really well!

Then I had the sudden idea of making more 'permanent' apples than just play dough and modeling clay.  They each ripped red paper to make apples (ripping paper is great for motor development and actually a pre-cutting skill)

 

But just paper apples is not enough! Then they did some dot marker apples

And finally, we added in some thumbprint apples with red ink.

 

 

Other Craft:

Paper Plate Red Bird
Just a paper plate painted red, folded in half and the hand is the wing.
 


4. Memorable experience:

Lipstick Kisses and Homemade Birdfeeder

What little girl doesn't love playing in mommy's makeup? I usually don't wear lipstick, so Raelynn was confused why my lips were so red, haha.  She had a lot of fun with this activity and didn't want to stop.

 

 

LOVE this one! Shows her excitement:)

The bird feeder is an activity everyone participated in.  It was a sticky icky mess, but it was worth it.  The kids have been getting so excited when they see birds eating the treats we made them!  The reviews on the recipe I used were very mixed, so I was a bit skeptical, but they have held up together just fine and the bird love them!

5. Sensory Activity:

We didn't have a specific sensory bin this week.  I have dyed red rice but never got around to getting it out.  They did have the bird seed they pressed into cookie cutters, corn flakes they crushed, and red play dough they made into apples though!

6. Food Experience:

Bird Nest Cookies
This was the highlight of the week! I saw the idea here but didn't follow that recipe.  I didn't save the link I used for the recipe, but the ingredients I used were corn flakes, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and red m&ms.  I didn't even have cupcake liners on hand, so I just stuffed some wax paper down in the cups.

The kids stuffing their 'eggs' into the nests

Other pintables and activities:

a fun maze by identifying letters

This week we did stickers into the circles

 

sorting brown and red

 

 

lacing red beads

I had these red bird stickers that Declan played with. I love how things will just pop up that I have around the house to use!