creamy, crunchy cauliflower

I think all of us have pretty quirky things about us that make us unmistakeably individual.   These unique and sometimes strange things often serve as interesting conversation starters with our acquaintances, or memorable stories to share in the company of good friends.   If nothing else, our individuality helps create laughter in situations where we otherwise might not have anything to laugh about.    With that said, there are a couple of things you should know about me:
The most interesting thing I can tell you to date is that I have at least two extra bones in my body that don't otherwise belong there.   On a much less interesting note, I absolutely love soup.   In fact, I love soup so much that I usually spend most of summer bookmarking recipes in anticipation of my fall and winter soup lineup.   This past summer I was so overzealous about my recipe search that I actually found enough recipes to make a new soup every single week all winter long.   At first the task seemed kind of daunting, but then I found my groove and ended up falling in love with my early Saturday morning soup ritual.   I think Saturday soup day will remain one of my favorite things about this past winter.  

The other less interesting thing I have to share is that one of my favorite things about working is packing my lunch everyday.   Seriously.   I take so much enjoyment from the process of planning and preparing my lunches that I usually know exactly what I am having for lunch weeks in advance.   I always pray for my upcoming day as I gather my different lunch items, which has become a critical element in combating my working blues.   I also tend to remember funny things that happened to me at work while I'm unpacking my lunch bag, which helps keep my joy in check and spirits high.   Let me also note that lunch time is the only time of day that I sit in non-child-sized furniture so really my whole body thanks me when it's time for lunch.   

So, when you add my less interesting things together (Saturday soup day + packing lunches), it has the potential to result in something amazing, such as Cheesy White Chili with Cauliflower.   After a very long winter and a whole lot of dirty soup spoons, I can honestly say that this soup has made it unquestioningly into my favorites.    Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Cheesy White Chili with Cauliflower 

1 tbsp vegetable oil 

2 onions, finely chopped 

4 cloves of garlic, minced 

1-2 jalapeno peppers, minced 

1 tbsp cumin seeds 

1 tbsp diced oregano leaves 

1 tbsp chili powder 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cracked peppercorns 

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups vegetable stock 

3 cups cauliflower florets, cooked for 4 minutes in salted boiling water and drained 

1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips 

2 cups Monterey Jack cheese

1 can chopped mild green chilies 

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat.   Add onions and cook until softened.   Add garlic, jalapeno pepper, cumin seeds, oregano, chili powder, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring for 1 minute.   Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware.   Add beans and stock and stir to combine.  

2. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours. 

3. Stir in cauliflower, green pepper, cheese, & chilies.  Cover and cook on high for 25 - 30 minutes, until green peppers are softened and cauliflower is heated through.   

cruising the caribbean

I think anytime you do something for the very first time, the milestones are endless.   Spring break stands as my most recent milestone because it marks months of teaching as well as significant growth personally and professionally.    Despite the numerous milestones that I have decorating the memory of this past year, the truth is that I haven't really paused long enough to celebrate any of them.   So, in order to slow my momentum, appreciate all that has been accomplished in the 12 months, and provide a much needed escape, I flew to Florida, got on a boat and didn't come back for 5 days.       

Here are some pictures documenting my journey:

I went with my good friend April.  We both really enjoyed dressing up for dinner each night.

We went to Haiti and Jamaica.  We snorkeled both places.   It was awesome.

I even got to celebrate my birthday on the ship!  

 5 days is the perfect amount of time to be at sea.   Any less and I would have just been getting started, any more and I would have started to miss land.    The food was amazing and we even got to make some new friends.   Cruising the Caribbean was a great way to spend spring break!

exhausted.

It's 9:21 on a school night and the only reason I'm still awake is because I started doing my laundry earlier, didn't have time to dry it due to a birthday gig I needed to attend and then realized that it would be at least 24 hours before I would be home again to throw my clothes in the dryer if I didn't stay up to do it tonight.  So here I am, redeeming my time before I venture to the laundry room to collect my dry clothes and turn my lights off for good. 

For the sake of time and to also avoid writing another update exclusively about my job, I've got 3 updates to share:

(And since I spend the majority of my time and energy teaching, my first update of the evening is of course, about my job)

I have been teaching for 6 1/2 months and only have 3 1/2 months to go before I wrap up my very first 'year' as a licensed teacher.   It's been ultra challenging (especially lately) but beautifully rewarding.  I am still amazed that I have the capacity to learn and teach Science.  And even after really hard days, I breath a sigh of relief when I remind myself that I am out of grad school and working.  Getting paid to do hard things is really different than paying thousands of dollars to do hard things.   Part of the sweetness of it all comes directly from how challenging it was to get here.   Difficulty breeds perspective.

Difficulty also has a way of bringing me to memorable points of surrender and causing me to be far more reliant on God than I would ever choose to be.  Part of the challenge of post-college life is the lack of Christian community that I have.  So, out of a desire to spend more time in the Word of God and to increase the positive relationships in my life, I joined a Bible study on prayer at my church.  I have been praying that God would bring some older, wiser women into my life who had the capacity and desire to speak into my life and care for me.   While I am not certain that God has answered that prayer directly just yet, I know that I am taking steps to move towards wise women.  There is something deeply important about intentionally being in fellowship with people who are also choosing to spend time in the Bible.  

There is also something deeply important about making time to rest!  As of late this is something that I have not been very good at.   In order to make time for the responsibility of my job, working out , friends, lesson preparation and life tasks, I have been sleeping way less than I should be.   Thankfully, I am approaching spring break and will be heading out of town for the week.   Normally I don't need to go anywhere to feel rested, but this time around this trip is just what the doctor ordered.   I have created a routine of such intense productivity that I don't trust myself to stay home and not feel pressured to get numerous things done each day I'm off.   I am already planning on eating lots, sleeping even more and reading as many books as time allows.   In the mean time, I am praying that I will start sleeping more and doing less so that I can make it to spring break without collapsing in tears of exhaustion.  I'll let you know how it goes :)  

Sam the Scientist

Sam has friends in each class who help take care of him when we watch the Magic School Bus.  I'm glad to know that he is such a hit with the kiddos!

beautifully purple

One summer when I was at CYIA camp (Christian Youth In Action), my mom sent me a small purple journal that was beautifully decorated with beads.   The book was too pretty to treat as something ordinary, so I turned it into my "encouragement book".   At the end of the 2 weeks of training in 2002, I asked all of my friends to write in it for me.   Encouragement is such an important part of my life-source so this book created an avenue for me to document sweet memories and preserve kind words. 

What I didn't realize when I initially passed this book around was that years later, it would serve as a window into my character at that point in my life.   This book survived 2 CYIA training camps and 2 mission trips.   Despite the fact that this book represents a pretty substantial amount of my teenage years, the messages are consistent.  People thanked me for encouraging them, noted my leadership and affirmed a gifting in teaching.  It's been almost a decade since this my encouragement book received it's first letter and something tells me that if I had people write in it today, I would find similar themes scrawled on the pages of this beautifully purple book. 

I share all of this, only to say 2 things:
First, that it is important to tell people why you value them.   
Second, God is capable of making known to us exactly who He wants us to be far earlier than we expect Him to.   Time just yields more opportunities to be sanctified and refined. 

I cannot handle any more snow.   For real.  

these are a few of my favorite things

It's always refreshing to wake up on Saturday morning and realize that I have had a good week.   Especially when you know that it's a good week despite things that have gone wrong.   Such hangups include the suspension on my car breaking & having to remind my students "it's not nice to lick the teacher".   So, in light of the not-so-favorite things, something wonderful happened: my friend Kim sent me pictures from her wedding! 

 

 Now that these pictures have arrived, I think it's time to break out the scrapbooking supplies! 

Another favorite thing this week was discovering that I can make super delicious hot chocolate from scratch:

Double Rich Hot Chocolate

·         ½ cup granulated sugar

·         ½ cup hot water

·         ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         4 cups of milk

·         1/8 tsp salt

·         ¾ tsp vanilla extract.

Mix cocoa, sugar, warm water and salt in a saucepan.  Over medium heat, stir constantly until mixture boils.  Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Stir in the milk add heat, but do not boil.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Blend well.  Serve immediately.  

It's been a good week!