I'm Thankful For....

Beautiful days with hot sun and a good breeze!

This is something I never fully appreciated until I lived thru a PNG rainy season!  Before, I had a clothes dryer, and it didn't matter what time of day I did laundry, or what the weather was outside.  Now, one of my favorite things is a full day of sun, with a gentle breeze so I can get several loads of clothes dry, and not have to race out in a panic at the first sound of rain plunking on a metal roof! =) 

So I'll thoroughly enjoy the bright sunshine today!

Finding the Perfect Chili

I've been on a hunt to find the perfect Chili recipe.  I have my "classic" chili that I have been making for years, but I've been looking to update it.  So I've been reading recipes and trying to find that one chili that you taste and say "that's it!  that's the perfect chili!".  Just the right spiciness, the right bean-to-mince ratio, the right consistency.

So last night I tried a new recipe.  It's not quite perfect, but it's getting there.  I think it needed a little more kick.  And market beans, despite a long cooking time, are still a little harder than the kidney or pinto beans you get in a can.  But the consistency was perfect!  I think I'll try this one again, and add some more hot peppers/chili powder.

This is the recipe I made:

2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (*I used 3)
4 teaspoons tomato paste (I used maybe a tablespoon more and added some water to make it the consistency of tomato sauce)
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder (*I would use possible 1/2-1 TBSP more next time)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with liquid (*I might possibly leave this out, but add more tomato sauce)
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 (15.25 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (*or @ 4 cups of red market beans)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste 
 *I also added in 2 finely chopped green chili peppers from my garden... they are more on the mild side for a pepper


In a large skillet over medium heat, combine onion, garlic, and tomato paste (and pepper). Cover and cook for 5 minutes. 
Stir in butter until melted. Stir in flour, oregano, cumin, chili powder, tomatoes and beef. Cook uncovered for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Stir in the beans and cook for another 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. 

 **I then transferred everything to my crock pot and turned it on for about 2 hours to let the flavors set more.
Yummy!

Rainy Day at the Taylor House

It's rainy season here in PNG.  So that means rain, mud, more rain, lots more mud.  Fun stuff.  NOT.
Some days I give in and let the kids play in the mud and rain to their heart's content.  Other days I just can't handle the thought of scrubbing more muddy kids and clothes.
Today, when the rain started, I made all the kids come inside to play.  They found lots of ways to entertain themselves though.
There was playdough and the Wii, computer and board games and a special treat (or at least it's been hard to come by here) Popcorn!
They did end up again outside, jumping on a neighbor's trampoline in the rain.  And then Nathan fell in the mud on the way home.  Sigh. 

And of course, playing around with the camera and trying to get a great shot of my little guy and 

 

I

New Years Eve

I'm behind, I know.  It's been a busy couple of days!

On New Years Eve, our friends invited us to come over in the evening for some fun activities to finish out 2011.
After dinner we headed over to our friend's house, hoping for decent weather so we could roast marshmallows around a campfire and have steel wool fireworks.  But the weather all day was gloomy and rainy.  We weren't there long before the rain started up again.  The kids didn't seem to mind.  We brought over glow sticks and they had fun playing with those before the fire was ready.

good friends!

Matt in all his glowing glory

The kids didn't care that they were soaking!  They had fun cooking their marshmallows.

Then it was time for fireworks.  We don't have "real" fireworks, but if you tie steel wool to a string, and then light it on fire and swing it around really fast, well you get some pretty cool displays.

We moved inside the house where it was warm and dry and snacked on cookies and cinnamon rolls while we played a game and the kids watched a movie.
Amazingly enough, all the kids were still going strong at 10:30, except for Julianne who (about an hour before) just lay down and fell asleep on the hard, cold wood floor!  I guess she was tired.

Today

Here's just a tiny snapshot into my life today.

Today I am:

Listening to: my kids play with their neighbors and some of their best friends... the 3 McEvoy boys

Shopping:  the store opened today for the first time in 10 days, so I was restocking supplies and getting things for meals this week

Trying: out a new recipe for dinner tonight -- cheddar chicken with brown rice cooked in chicken boullion and carrots and broccoli sticks on the side.

Purging:  the boy's room today.  Cleaned out cupboards of out-grown clothes, threw away trash and broken toys and put everything in it's proper place.

Planning:  Matt is off for a shopping trip to Lae tomorrow so I'm making a massive shopping list of everything I can think of that would be cheaper to get there.  I'm so excited to have my chest freezer to store things in now!

Enjoying:  Elijah's smiles.  I could swear that he laughed when I was playing with him last night.

Hoping for:  continued sun today so that my laundry and E's diapers dry

Looking ahead to: Bible study tonight

Wondering: what the chances are that any of the Christmas packages from the Grandparents will arrive this week

Debating:  if I should do my aerobics video today, or take a day off.  I'm shooting for 5 times a week of exercise, and I've done the last 2 days.  We'll see how crazy the afternoon is.

Christmas

Yesterday, Christmas, we woke up to grey clouds.  I always like it when it's grey, or rainy on Christmas, since that makes it feel a little more like wintery Christmas weather.

E's first Christmas!

We had a nice, relaxed morning.  The kids opened the few presents we had for them (none of the packages from the Grandparents arrived in time), and we had our traditional Christmas brunch.  Hot chocolate with whipped cream is a must.  We also had an egg and ham breakfast casserole, and hash browns.  Some years we do a special coffee cake, or cinnamon rolls.  But this year we stuck with savory.

Then we spent the rest of the morning trying out new Wii and computer games.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the Troolin's house.  We had fun visiting and making potato pancakes, then we sat down to a yummy dinner of Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn and green bean casseroles, rolls and jello.  And of course, lots of delicious Christmas cookies that Sarah had made!

Kaitlyn helping to make the potato pancakes

The Girls (or most of them)

The Boys (and Rebekah)

The Spread

After the kids and dads played a short game of baseball in the yard, us adults played Carcassone Castle while the kids played a variety of other games, or made a puzzle.

It was a really fun day, and we loved the time we spent with good friends.

His first Christmas was just too much for him! =)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We hope you have a wonderful day as we celebrate our Saviour's birth!!!