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Thursday, July 12, 2012

Stupid Easy Chicken Soft Tacos

I've teased my husband for years that he has to have some kind of Hispanic or Italian genetics in his bloodline somewhere. If I made tacos or pasta every day he'd be a happy camper.

Thanks to the wonder that we know as Pinterest, I have found dozens of recipes (or maybe a few more than dozens!) that I'm trying one by one to build our go-to, family friendly recipe collection. Eventually, I'd like to make one of those monthly menu planning calendars (also an idea from Pinterest) because I'm one of those people that methodically plan and calculate every move to maximize my time, space and money, aka borderline OCD. Guilty as charged. But don't judge me yet; I've found that the theory proves itself to be true- our grocery bills really are smaller when I plan recipes with similar ingredients to buy in bulk and/or keep stock of what's in the cabinets so I can use what we already have on hand.

But that's a whole other topic that we'll discuss later. Right now, on to the recipe!

Chicken Soft Tacos (from Crockin' Girls)
  • 1 Pound of Chicken
  • 2 Packages of Taco seasoning (low sodium)
  • 1 Can of Rotel
  • 1 Can of Black beans (I rinse mine before tossing them into the crock pot to get rid of that slimey goop that surrounds them!)
  • 1 Cup of Frozen corn
  • Chicken broth
Directions
  1. Put first five ingredients in slow cooker and pour in enough chicken broth to cover everything.
  2. Cook on low for approximately 5 hours or until chicken is cooked through and the house smells AMAZING!
  3. Shred chicken and return to pot.
  4. Serve with warm corn tortillas, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, etc...

I get asked to make these at least every other week or so. We've also cooked them on high for 2-3 hours for an easy Sunday lunch instead of going out... Just chop your tomatoes, onions, etc. on Saturday night or Sunday morning, flip it on before you leave and when you get back, it's ready! Doesn't get much easier than that!

Enjoy!

Cassie

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Purple Threads- Defined

The Virtuous Woman. If you've read Proverbs 31 or anything written about it, you've read about her; who she is, what she does, and why she does it. If you haven't, let me include it here:

10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.
11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

13 She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.
14 She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.
16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.
18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.
19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.
20 She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.
21 She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes.

22 She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
23 Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders.
24 She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
31 Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.


The description of a Virtuous Woman is something the Lord has brought to my attention many times over the past few years. Have I always listened? No, of course not. Do we ever listen at first? No, of course not. Not usually, anyway.

The more time goes on, the more I realize the importance of the life of a Virtuous Woman. Society today presents us with a distorted, ungodly model of what its expectations are for womanhood- professionally successful in business, self-centered and driven to prove she is man's equal. God did not create woman to be man's equal, she was created to be his helper (Genesis 2:18). Man was made keeper of God's creation, and woman made to help him.

My desire is to be like the woman God has asked me to be in His Word, and this blog was birthed out of that desire so that, through my study and search for Godly womanhood, I may help other women of every age become God's design, as well. I want to provide you with ideas for cooking healthy but inexpensive meals for your family, tips and tricks for housekeeping and personal hygiene, finding and wearing modest apparel, financial wisdom and anything else that I find on my journey.

The name, 'Purple Threads', refers to verse 22 of the chapter ("she dresses in fine linen and purple gowns"), but is also related to verse 25 ("she is clothed in strength and dignity"). It also refers to the "threads" in the "tapestry" of one's life.

With these thoughts in mind, I have come up with a "mission statement" for this endeavor.
The mission of Purple Threads is to engage women of all ages in finding their purpose as women of God, to equip them for productivity by means of God’s Word and time-conscious tools, to empower them with spiritual authority in their life so that they may embark on the fulfillment of God's destiny for their life.
This blog is a new adventure for me, so I'm looking for your input as the reader for ideas on posts. Please leave comments with your ideas! I'm looking forward to hearing from YOU!

Cassie