Black Eyed Pea Gumbo Chili

So I haven't ever blogged a recipe before but I thought I would give it a try. I have entered into the Pinterest scene recently and am loving the recipes that I am finding that are all Chip friendly or adaptable to his needs. This one, however, is all Tony's request! He LOVES black eyed peas - ok, so it is a weird southern thing and for those of you who don't even know what Black eyed peas are, they are essentially a legume that we Southerners have turned into a pea and we usually eat them with our New Years Dinner for luck. Anyway, Tony loves them and we were pinched for dinner on Sunday and i didn't have anything that i really 'wanted' and really were lacking grocery wise and certainly didn't feel like going to the grocery store. This is when this happened:    

and it was WONDERFUL!

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable oil
Sausage, Kielbasa, ham steak (really whatever you want but you want about 1 cups worth, cut up
1 yellow onion, diced
2 Cups of cooked black eyed peas or 2 cans of black eyed peas rinsed and drained
32 oz Beef Broth
2 teaspoons of Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
cooked white rice

Brown the meat in vegetable oil for a few minutes until it becomes caramelized well (approx 5 minutes). Then add the onion, stirring occasionally, cook until it becomes golden (another approx 5 minutes).
Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and let simmer for approx 25 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Now if you have ever had Gumbo, you will recognize the similarities in this meal. The beef broth and bay leaf and serving it over white rice creates almost a Gumbo feel while you have the chili powder and cumin that gives it a chili taste.

I hope that you try this before you knock it! It is so good, super yummy, and was a nice, hearty, warm meal to have on a cold day. You can take this recipe and adapt it however you would like it, too. You could use Turkey sausage or a spicy sausage if your tastes prefer that. You could also add some ground red pepper for a little heat if that is what you like. It is delicious and definitely goes in our notebook of a favorite recipe of the Sharps!

writers block = New things to come!

So I haven't blogged in quite a while, and really, I am spending some serious prayer about what the Lord wants to do with my blog. I feel like I am being led to do something really special with my blog in the year 2013 and so I am thinking about it and keeping it in the front of my prayers right now. Until then, I will leave you all with some really fun pictures I have taken lately! God bless and you will hear from me soon about what I will be doing on here in the upcoming year!

making Christmas sugar cookies

watching these things bake is TORTURE

decorating!!!

hmmmmmm..... should we taste test it?

taste of approval!

taste of.... scary?!?!

now for Jesus' Birthday Cake!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve silly faces!

Christmas eve EXHAUSTED face! headed to bed!

checking out what Santa left in our stocking!

Christmas breakfast of champions: Franks in a blanket and Jesus' Birthday Cake!!!

Jesus' Finished cake :D

Handprints in the snow :D

a White Christmas!!! WOW

White Christmas ended up still going! We are up to 8 inches!

the boys are shoveling!

gosh it's bright!

we are up to 9 inches!

our family Auburn Snowman! 

what a cute face!

TEN INCHES

even our Snowman got snowed on!

   

we've never seen icicles before.....

especially these, real ones!

isn't he cute!?!? :D i think so!

i'm not even sure but what this should not end up here!

  

Southern new years meeting Northern!

Northern New Years meeting Southern!

Christmas offers abundance..... ETERNAL LIFE

I had a blog typed and was inserting pictures recently and the Lord told me to not post it. I sometimes find myself blogging for nobody but me, as a release, vent, or whatever else you might want to call it. Sometimes, though, I think, maybe I can reach out, touch and help, just one more person through this outlet of mine, and other times, I think, this is my way of journaling (per spell check, "journaling" is not a word!?!?) my emotions, feelings, and where I am on my journey this side of Heaven. 

I have recently found myself battling the Christmas season with a scrooge outlook and am pretty certain, after talking with a lot of people, that I am not alone in this. The 'hustle and bustle' of the season that we have all come to expect and just accept is an emotion and a result of Satan trying his hardest to take the focus off of Christmas for what it truly is and turn it to the world. Isn't that what he is so good at doing?!?! John 10:10a says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.." Christmas is not about Satan coming to steal, kill, and destroy, but about our Savior coming to take his place on Earth and save those who believe in him. As I am blogging about this, I can't help but go on and get ahead of myself and tell you the GOOD NEWS, that in John 10:10b Jesus finished that statement by remembering Christmas day! He finishes by saying "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 

In this world, there are multitudes of moments that we don't understand, actions and attitudes that we can't fathom, and days when we get swept into the current of the world and forget, and Jesus recognizes that when it happens! He knows that we get distracted, that we take our eyes off the prize, that we sometimes put down our cross to carry something else, and in those moments, he offers love, grace, and forgiveness. 

For those who don't know Jesus, Christmas is an opportunity to share the Love that you have found through Him and to offer salvation to the friend or family member that is wandering in the darkness. But what about those of us who dearly love Jesus and try to live our lives according to His will? What about those of us who get lost in the shuffle, or even feel inadequate that there aren't enough 'things' to go around to all of those we want to buy gifts for, because, there just isn't enough in the bank to cover it all? This is where I have recognized a meaning of Christmas that I haven't recognized before... This is where I remember why He came! Yes, I have always known that Jesus' coming was the reason for the Season and all of those other sayings, and I have always know that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly - but don't we sometimes just steamroll over that point? Matthew Henry has an incredible insight into this that makes you realize that "life and... have it more abundantly" is much more than just mere 'stuff' on Earth. Matthew Henry says this:

"Life is inclusive of all good, and stands in opposition to the death threatened; that we might have life, as a criminal has when he is pardoned, as a sick man when he is cured, a dead man when he is raised; that we might be justified, sanctified, and at last glorified. 2. That they might have it more abundantly,... more abundant than that which was lost and forfeited by sin, more abundant than that which was promised by the law of Moses, length of days in Canaan, more abundant than could have been expected or than we are able to ask or think. But it may be construed without a note of comparison, that they might have abundance, or might have it abundantly. Christ came to give life and perisson ti--something more, something better, life with advantage; that in Christ we might not only live, but live comfortably, live plentifully, live and rejoice. Life in abundance is eternal life, life without death or fear of death, life and much more."

Jesus' birth on the day that we celebrate Christmas is a promise of ETERNAL LIFE. When we have Christ, we have an advantage over Satan that one day we will ultimately and ETERNALLY live comfortably, plentifully, without death or fear of death! It is a promise of abundance with Him, one day, feasting at His heavenly banquet! Celebrating the final coming of Christ and worshiping Him for all eternity! 


In the hustle and bustle, and in the down days of recovery after Christmas, remember: Christ came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Nothing this side of Heaven will ever compare to it, but we must always remember! So in all of this, and during this moment, wish someone a Merry Christmas to share the love of Jesus, write someone a letter or even, in this modern day, text someone an uplifting word, and recognize the meaning of the baby lying in a manger - that baby was the Savior coming to Earth to give us eternal life in Him!

Merry Christmas!!!

take a moment to do something completely selfless

swinging with daddy!

look, run, and LEAP

So i'm not really sure what to blog about today but i have lots of fun pictures i'd like to share so a blog seems necessary! The holiday season is approaching and we are getting ready for our first Christmas in Pennsylvania. We are so blessed by technology and the opportunity to still "see" our families during the holidays. It is amazing at how Skype makes 1,000 miles seem much closer.

beautiful boy of mine

fun family picture - just chilling

Things here have been interesting lately. I cut my hand a few weeks back and ended up with stitches and am still having some issues with it. We will see what ends up with that. Chip is doing great. His allergies are amazingly great here in PA. We were certainly unsure what his allergies would be like here in PA and so far, so good. Spring will be another story, but we are experiencing our first 'real' winter where things actually die and pollination stops. In Alabama, it is always warm, things are always blooming, and mold is always in the air, so this is a welcome break for him and us! He is loving the cool weather but he's not so fond of playing outside in it. We bundle him up and send him out anyway - knock the stinky boy off and
wear out some energy!

mesmerize by the trains at the
local train show

Tony is doing incredible. Faith Church is an amazing place to worship, and incredible family to be a part of, and an incredible community to serve with and within! We are loving it and gearing up for the Christmas season. This weekend will be the kids' program and Chip is SO excited because he gets to be a Shepherd! Then we will have 3 Christmas Eve services hosting approx 1500 people. We are most excited, though, that we will be serving Christmas Lunch at the same place we served Thanksgiving Lunch at. We walked away from the Thanksgiving serving more blessed than we could have ever imagined, along with meeting people that knew some friends of ours from Dothan. After that, we will probably go do dinner with some friends here who have invited us over and we will spend the day there. Not sure when we will open gifts, but as we are trying to keep in the front of our minds, this day is not about us at all. Christmas is about being the hands and feet of Jesus to a world and city that need His love! Merry Christmas to all, take a moment to do something completely selfless, and God bless you this Christmas season! I will leave you with some fun Christmas tree decorating pictures! Enjoy the face and innocence of a 4-year old putting up his Star of Christmas - the best part - Jesus' light!!!