New Year, New Life

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time since I last posted. There has been much going on in the past few months. So much that it left my head swirling. My oldest started her first year of REAL school, my husband and I repaired our relationship a point where we are better now than we have ever been. I have watched God move in my life and use my circumstances to move in the lives of others. I have watched relationships grow and strengthen, while at the same time my pride, stubbornness and pigheadedness fell apart.

This last year has been interesting to say the least. There are been more downs than there have been ups. With job loss for both of us, a tanked credit score, a notice that our house was about to go into the foreclosure process, and a rocky marriage (to put in mildly), this has been a year of unending challenges. But it has also been a year where I watched God move. Where He changed me and my outlook. Where he broke down my pride and showed me that I HAVE to depend on Him. Where He used people to mister to my spiritual and physical needs. Where we never went without. Where we still have our home. So has this been a good year? Yes. Has it been an easy year? No, not by a long shot.

But now that we have ushered in a whole new year. 2010, I know that I have climbed this mountain, this season is coming to a close. What a relief that is for me. I am excited and nervous about this new season that 2010 is ushering in. My husband finally got a job. The job he had been wanting since he got out of the Army. He was finally hired on as a defense contractor. He has been doing training (and a lot of waiting) in Georgia the past three weeks and headed out to Kuwait this morning. This job will provide us with a lot of financial stability. Heck more financial stability that we could have asked for. You know how in Job, God gave Job back everything he lost 2 fold, well thats what this job is pretty much going to do for us financially. It will be like 3 years of Army salary all rolled into one. So it has me excited that we will get to do so many things that we haven't been able to do like travel to see family, enroll the girls in a sport or other extra curricular activity, pay all of our past due bills off, etc. But all this still comes with a price tag, Jeff has to leave for a year...

So my new season comes with it's own set of challenges, it's own mountain to climb. But I know that God has really good things in store for us this year. He used my situation to make me a better person, to make me see that EVERYTHING in this life comes from Him. To ask (as he commands). Because if you don't ask, how can you receive.

One of my favorite sayings goes like this:

A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she's in hot water.

God showed me that I'm strong like a double shot of espresso, but only that strong when I put my faith in Him.



Now I must warn you that I'm probably going to be rearranging the blog a bit. With this new year and new season, I think my blog needs a face lift. What I come up with should be interesting. ;)

Lots and Lots going on...

So there has been a lot going on around here.

• Kylie started school and she's loving it.
  
• We've had a family trip to Miller Farm with our church.
  
• AWANAs started last week.
  
• I had been running around like a crazy person to find someone to help with the utility bill.
  
• We went to a parade
  
• I have been experimenting with new frugal money saving recipes. Beetroot Hummus anyone?
  
• I'm taking a dicipleship prayer class at my church. In other words how to pray more effectively.
  
• And we have been getting our socks blessed off by the wonderful people that God has put into our lives.
  

I know this is not much of an update. But I will have more soon to include pictures and hopefully some recipes.

I have been out of it lately but I have some wonderful things to share. So check back with me soon!

I Miss You, My Hawai'i

Do you know that song? It's by Na Leo Pilimehana. Probably if you're not from Hawaii, you have NO clue who I am talking about.

I have been feeling extremely nostalgic lately. Thinking about the "good 'ol days" and remembering growing up in the lush island paradise known as Hawai'i. I am and always will be a Hawaii girl at heart. Being so far away from the seashore is just killing me. Maybe that's part of my problem, part of the reason why I have been in so much of a funk lately.

I haven't been home in 4 years!!! I have not seen the ocean, smelled the salty air, or inhaled the intoxicating fragrance of ginger or gardenia. I miss seeing the palm trees and feeling the trade winds on my face. The feel of the sand between my toes and the warm clear ocean water lapping at my thighs. My soul longs for the shores of Waimea and Waikiki. My heart longs to see my family and hug my Gramma one more time. My tongue longs for the flavors of home. For poke and laulau, haupia and Okinawan sweet potato, malasadas and manapuas.

So what can you do when you are thousands of miles away from home and feeling so incredibly homesick that you can't stand it? Well for me, I dig out some old cookbooks. I can't go to Hawai'i right now but I can bring some of the flavors from home into my kitchen.

This cookbook was my Grandma's.



My Dad gave me a whole bunch of her cookbooks when I was home in 2005 (she passed away in 2001). I have no idea exactly how old this one is because there is no copyright date in it. I do know that it was given to my Grandma as a gift in 1966.



And I do know that it is old. Well old to me. Just look at the funky graphics.



Anywho, I tried two recipes from this cookbook tonight. We had the Chinese Beef Tomato and I attempted the Malasadas recipe. Notes on the Malasada recipe to come.



Doesn't it look yummy? And before you ask, yes I did take a huge bite out of it before I took a picture. That is the reason why the fork is dirty. I had to make sure that it wasn't poison before I posted the recipe right?

Chinese Beef Tomato

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola oil
3/4 lb sirloin tip, thinly sliced and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 C water
2 stalks celery, cut on the diagonal
1/2 onion cut into chunks
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into chunks
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tbsp water

Brown garlic in oil and then add your seasoned meat and brown lightly.
Add sugar, salt, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and water into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add celery, onion, green bell pepper, and tomatoes, simmer for 2 minutes.
Add your cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with the 1 1/2 tbsp water) and cook another minute or until sauce is thick and glossy.

Serve over rice.

Now a note about the malasadas. I have been craving malasadas since the Punahou carnival in February. All my friends and classmates were posting about how they were working the Malasada booth. And being unemployed, I can't exactly go out and buy some though there is a Vietnamese restaurant up the street that makes a pretty decent knock off.

Anyways there is a recipe in the cookbook for malasadas so I decided to try it. I followed the directions, got the oil up to 375 like the directions said and well...they cooked to fast leaving the outside nice and brown and the inside like goo. So once I get the recipe right, I will post it with some pics.

Just Breathe...

Well it's been quite an interesting last few weeks...

• I lost my job
  
• Jeff got approved for a job, but can't get hired right now because they are on a hiring freeze.
  
• Kylie starts Kindergarten (real school) on Monday and will be riding the bus home...2 guesses on the part I'm most nervous about.
  
• I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself in 5 years and I am in desperate desperate need of a vacation.
  
• I've been calling around to different assistance groups and we don't qualify either because A. Jeff and I have no current job and therefore can't produce a workable budget for next month, B. Jeff is no longer active duty military, or C. Jeff is not "wounded enough" to qualify for assistance.
  

So what does this woman do when pushed up against a wall and feels like she can't breathe? Chop all her hair off!!



Oh yeah and did I mention that my camera is not working right. Go figure!

Do you like it? I do. What I didn't like was getting made fun of when I got home. Not like I haven't been having a crappy enough time the past couple of weeks but I had to come home and hear Jeff start in on me about "Dude" this and "I'm married to a man" that. What a way to pop someone's bubble not to mention hurting their feelings. Plus to top it off, he takes a subject and rolls with it until someone is on the verge of tears and then doesn't feel bad about it because it was "just a joke" and "not his fault if you take it the wrong way".

But I digress...

Just please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers these next few weeks. I'm a little tired of my situation and a LOT frustrated. I need deliverance NOW or I might just leave (by myself) and hop the next flight to Hawaii and camp out on the beach for the rest of my life.

After writing this post, I went to my living room to vacuum up the cereal crumbs from this morning and wouldn't you know it, my vacuum stopped working. Chock it up to another perfect day!

Recipe Review: A Year of Crockpotting's Brown Sugar Chicken

I have been rather lazy lately and not wanting to cook so what does someone on a budget with no air conditioning do? Break out their crock pot!!

I have been making all kinds of stuff from garlic studded pot roast to slow cooker "roasted" chicken. So good and perfect for the lazy chef. You just throw everything in the slowcooker and let it cook all day! Well in my search for even more crockpot goodies, I remembered that Brown Sugar Chicken recipe over at A Year of Crockpotting. She says that her kids call it "Candy Chicken" because it's so sweet. The original recipe calls for a WHOLE CUP of brown sugar. I firmly believe that I feed my children enough sugar what with all my baking escapades and all so after reading the reviews I cut the amount of sugar in half but pretty much did nothing else to the recipe and you know what? OMG it's so good!! It reminds me of my Grandma's Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs. That's exactly what this sauce tasted like.

So for those of you who don't feel like venturing over to A Year of Crockpotting, here is the recipe that I used. Also, I think the term "Sweet and Sour Chicken" is more appropriate. There wasn't much of a brown sugar taste left after I cut the amount of sugar in half...

Sweet and Sour Chicken


10 bone-in skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (it's good and essential I promise!!)
2/3 cup vinegar (I used half white and half apple cider vinegar)
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper


Use a 4 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

I promise that you will want to ladle the broth over the rice. It's so yummy!!

This is something I will DEFINATELY make again.

Incidentally I served this with Jasmine Rice and Cucumber and Onion Salad. My Cucumber and Onion Salad recipe will be coming soon. It's a perfect use up for all those summer cucumbers and so yummy too!!

For Sale! Get it while you can!

Just thought I would throw this out there but I have some things for sale right now and I don't know if anyone is interested but here goes...

http://s910.photobucket.com/albums/ac301/kristi-proverb31/

Leave a comment if you see something you like. The Punchbowl is already spoken for.

Contentment? What's that?

"I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern form me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:10-13 NIV

This morning I got up early and I was still feeling the effects of yesterday's heat exhaustion (don't work in the yard during mid-day when the sun is blazing). So I called in to work and said that I wasn't going to come in. The idea of driving to work with a mind splitting headache was just not a happy thought. The house was quiet early in the morning so I went to the kitchen grabbed a cool wet cloth, a tall glass of ice water and an Excedrin and plopped myself down on the couch with my iPod. While checking email and looking at Facebook I had an urge to check my bible verses app and see what brilliant quote it would bring me today. The past couple of days it hasn't brought me anything inspiring or relevant to what I have been going through lately but this morning, it was like a slap in the face (in a good way, if there is such a thing). This morning it brought me Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Most days I will get my quote and find it in the bible so I can read what comes before it and what comes after it. It's extremely important to understand not just the quote but also what precedes and follows it. What precedes that quote is powerful! Being content no matter what.

It is no secret that I am not content. I was doing some self examination after reading this quote. Why am I not content. Well there is the obvious my husband being jobless, having virtually 0 dollars in our account, creditor calls everyday. But I think I could handle all of that. I think I could be content if I didn't... have kids. It hurts me to see my kids going without things. They have food and a roof over their heads but apart from Church we don't really go anywhere. They don't get to get out and see the world. We have the occasional hike or trip to the park but that's about it (cause gas costs money too you know). When my friends are talking about swim lessons and mutton busting my heart hurts for my children knowing that they can't have that. I realize that stuff is material. I realize that stuff is not important in the grand scheme of things but I feel as if my children are deprived on some level because I can't afford any of that, no summer programs, no T-ball, no soccer, nothing. I mean we don't even have grass in the backyard for them to play on. To me it's sad, it makes me feel like a bad parent and leaves me with a feeling of discontent. But I sit here and imagine what it would be like to just feel satisfied all the time no matter what life throws at you. What a dream that would be! To just be okay all the time, not worrying about anything because you know that at some point anything you need or have ever needed will be met.

I remember the days of plenty. I remember not having to struggle and that makes this period in my life even harder. I remember being able to take trips and not just to the zoo but back home to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Oregon. I remember vacations and eating out and even just the basic of paying my mortgage on time. And it's hard to put all of that out of my mind and just live in the moment and be satisfied with what today holds and not think about what tomorrow will bring.

The flesh worries, the flesh stresses out but when you live in the spirit the worries of the flesh disappear. I want to live in the spirit. I want to be like Paul and feel satisfied no matter what life brings to me. Most days I can. Some days are easier than others to be satisfied and content, but recently I have been growing more and more frustrated with my husband. And it's been harder and harder to feel content and satisfied. I have been feeling very angry and resentful and I know I shouldn't but I do. I don't talk about it with him and that's mostly the reason why I haven't blogged in so long cause if you can't say anything nice... But I'm trying to deal with it. I'm clinging so hard to my faith that God will deliver me and I keep telling myself that it will be soon. Realistically I know that everything happens in God's time and not mine but lately I've been feeling that God is trying to do something good NOW but Jeff is holding it back. I'm probably projecting, but that's how I feel.

Pray for me!