In case you are just joining the foot discussion, you’ll be completely lost without reading post 1 and 2 of the series first. We are talking about Spiritual Feet today… first we covered the basics, then we covered GOOD Spiritual Feet…. and now we’re talking about the BAD Spiritual Feet – and what they may look like.

The devil has feet. Where do you suppose his feet take him? I can tell you – because it’s revealed to us in scripture:

Job 1:6-7 – One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

Satan is roaming the earth. He’s not roaming without a purpose, though.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Why would Satan want someone like YOU to devour?

Because he’s mad at God, and you are how he evens the score.

Just like in the movies when the hero’s family is in danger from the bad guys – you are a child of God whom the devil wants to destroy. The sad thing is, the devil doesn’t have to really work hard on us. We are pretty easy to knock off track. All he has to do to some of us is get us busy, or tell us we are worth it, or give us some juicy gossip to share. Others he has to work on a little harder… but rest assured, he’s going to keep poking around until he finds a button that works. Leave no area of your life un-prayed for… and read “Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis if you are interested in how the mind of the devil might be working against you. It is a very interesting book!

Examples of Bad Feet:

Wandering Feet

Jeremiah 14:10 – This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

1 Timothy 6:10 – For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Bad feet are wandering feet. They are often off-track and lead others astray (even unintentionally).

Not just unbelievers wander. We all wander. Some wander in our minds, others wander in our methods, and still others wander from the faith in sinful lifestyles that eventually destroy their faith. What we don’t realize is that we are linked to so many other people, and they are watching how we act.

We are the only Bible some people will ever read.

Let that sink in for a moment.

If we do not gain direction, we may drag others down if we fall into a pit. You would think that we would want a purpose and destination in life. I know I never had one before I found Jesus. He set my mind at ease and gave me a reason for being. I don’t have to wander any more.

It is my job to follow now, and to keep my mind from wandering into sinful places. All things may be forgivable, but they still damage your mind. I can think of quite a few sins that I have been forgiven for which I regret having the memory of! If only we could video-edit our lives!

Misleading Feet

Job 18:9 – A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.

Proverbs 18:7 – A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Bad feet are feet that are filled with worldly desires, and quick to ensnare others in sin. They are prideful feet, and self-absorbed.

Misleading Feet may be similar to Wandering Feet, but it mainly speaks of those who are aware that they are not doing what is right. Before you excuse yourself, though… I still do things that fall under this category, even as a believer. None of us are perfect.

My mouth has been my undoing a countless number of times. You should ask my husband how many times he’s asked me to “be careful what I say” when we go to family gatherings. I tend to just say whatever I think – and not even realize that I’ve stepped on someone else’s feet. Sometimes “my foot gets shoved in my mouth”! Sometimes I say things I don’t want my kids to repeat, sometimes I say ugly things about others. Sometimes I make really bad choices about what I do with God’s provisions.

It is not so hard to imagine yourself as the Misleading Foot if you can get your mind around the fact that God doesn’t GRADE sin. Gluttony is just as bad as stealing. Lying is just as bad as murder. In God’s grade book there are only 2 grades. One is an A+ (and only one man got it). The other is an F (yep- you guessed it – we all have a failing grade). The good thing is, Jesus died and offered us his test to turn in as our own. So we can get in on HIS grade, and not have to miss the graduation ceremony!

Busy Feet

Proverbs 7:11 – She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home…

Proverbs 14:1 - The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Bad feet are busy-body feet. They are feet without direction that lack concrete goals. They tend to walk just for the sake of walking, and are often too tired to go where they really should be going.

OK, OK! I did include a HAND verse instead of a foot verse here, but you can get the picture of where I’m leading much better if you add both together. This has to be what I struggle most with. When we are constantly moving about, going here and there, we sometimes neglect the duties that are our priorities.

I heard a story once about filling a jar with big rocks, pebbles and sand. The big rocks are GOD, your FAMILY, your FRIENDS, and all the MOST important things. The little pebbles are also good things, but they are not quite as important. The sand are daily duties that are mundane, yet still good… even necessary things! Some of us (me included) tend to fill our lives up with the sand, and have a really hard time fitting those rocks in later! Someday, our jars will be full… and our life will be laid bare. The only things you get to keep from your jar are the rocks and maybe a few pebbles. You don’t get to take all the sand to heaven. So try and remember to fill your day up with God, Family, Friends, and good things that will outlive you.

Make memories that will build your future in heaven and not just here on earth.

Fast Feet

Matthew 18:8 - If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

Romans 3:15 – “Their feet are swift to shed blood…”

Proverbs 7:10 - Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

Bad feet are quick to rush into wrong-doing. They are careless feet that are not paying attention to what is ahead on the path.

I had to throw that third verse in there. I have just been appalled by the “clothing” that many young women are wearing these days. I have always heard it said, “If you aren’t in business, don’t advertise!” Good advice. Women who expose too much skin are encouraging the epidemic of infidelity, teen pregnancy, divorce and even sexual-related crimes.

A Muslim friend of my husbands that he met while in Iraq asked him “Are all American teenagers like Brittney Spears?” It made me think about how I wanted my daughter to turn out. She was only about 4 at the time. I am so thankful now that she’s still modest at 14.

Looking from the outside in at America through the lens of Hollywood, it’s no wonder they call us the “Big Satan”.

Even if you are an atheist, surely you believe in a moral code of conduct. What would a nation be like that had no law? Lawlessness and anarchy are not peaceful ways to live.

Each of us has an ‘Achilles Heel’. We all have a certain one or two sins that the devil knows will be an easy button to push. The list of items gets more creative the more society spirals downward in moral decline. Even God sometimes gets surprised by our sinfulness. Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself (Jeremiah 32:35, 19:5, and 7:31). The good thing is, God is ready to forgive us and able to turn our trashy lives into treasure. I am a living example of junk-yard art!

Lazy Feet

Proverbs 5:5 - Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Bad feet are lazy feet that are unwilling to change. Even though they know they are neglecting the right road, they do not want to turn back because it is familiar ground. They do not want to give up their lifestyle, even though God’s lifestyle for them would be so much more of a blessing if they gave it a chance.

A lazy pair of feet are always on the look-out for a short cut.

I think we can all find ourselves sporting these kinds of feet now and again. We are “too busy” to serve at church. We pray that “someone else” helps and encourages someone that we could be helping and encouraging ourselves. We find excuses not to do the good we know we ought to do. We remain ignorant of the details of God’s will and plan for our lives because we lack the desire, will, and energy to do a basic bible study or spend time in the Word every day.

Lazy feet are prayerless feet.We leave our life up to chance because we couldn’t be bothered to pray for God’s blessings in all the areas of our life that He longs to bless us in.

A lazy foot is one that may be well dressed on the outside and have the name brand of shoe on, but inside, there are hidden issues – and a lot of stink! We have all heard it said that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. If today is all you get, what will you do with it?

Changing Course
Jesus desires to keep us from the enemy’s traps – but he won’t force His salvation on us… that’s where our free will comes in. Jesus has feet, too. They won’t look like those same limp, bloodied feet that we imagined (as seen on countless of crosses and Sunday School art). Jesus’ feet will be a big surprise – just as his resurrected, life-filled, human feet were to the ladies who came to his tomb to wash them on the day he rose. We, too, will be amazed at those awesome feet. And I long to fall before them and worship one day in person.

Revelation 1:15 – His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

Psalm 31:8 – You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

We each get to pick the road we will take. Just like the red and blue pills in the ‘Matrix’, there are only two choices. Where are your feet headed?

Note to readers: I am breaking this down into four different posts, on four different days to make it easier to ‘digest’. I originally posted this in 2005 after just starting my blogging journey. I’m updating a few of these older posts now and then to refresh them and add new photos. I hope you enjoy the re-run! Be sure to come back next week when I revive part 4.

Stay tuned soon for more on feet { The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly }…

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Disclaimer : All verses in this post and most others are taken from the New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society unless otherwise noted.

My latest food crush grows in ditches and tastes like summer. I always hated asparagus growing up, but have come to really like it as an adult. In my early married years I tried baking it a few times, and even enjoyed success with it when I had it smothered in sauces. My white Béchamel Mornay cheese sauce was a favorite. However, I usually ended up with asparagus that dried out, so I never could understand why people loved it so much.

Once I started pan-frying it in butter, my entire perspective changed. Or maybe I just grew up a little. Or my taste buds matured. Who knows?

I ended up with a plethora of it after helping at the food pantry one day. Apparently a lot of people either don’t like it or don’t know how to cook it… and through my having more than enough to experiment with, I ended up discovering a Pinterest goldmine of recipes for it.

I made four batches of asparagus last month.

The first was just pan fried in butter with garlic, salt, and pepper. Mmmm.

The second was pan fried with butter, onion, bacon, and pepper. Double Mmmm.

(Note: I fry it until the tips are a bit tender, but there is still a soft crunch – I don’t like it stringy. If they had such a thing as al dente for asparagus, it would be the way I like it.)

With two bunches left, I decided to step out on a limb and try it for breakfast.

I cut the ends off, cut the spears in half, and toss them on the pan in some butter. I used shallots and chopped bacon for extra flavor. Then I removed it from the pan and fried two eggs in the leftover drippings. Just before eating, I placed the eggs on top and sprinkled with Parmesan. It was the best breakfast I’ve had in quite a while.

This weekend, my daughter was gone and my husband and kids had already eaten lunch, so I made myself another batch with fried eggs. This time, I used a green jalapeno cream sauce (left over from Tacodeli) along with the butter and fried some chopped jalapeno and fresh green onions with it. After topping the cooked asparagus with my two fried eggs, I sprinkled it with jalapeno jack cheese.

Boy howdy.

I’m sitting here trying not to go cook it again for a bedtime snack.

If you love asparagus and spicy foods, you would love my Texas version of eggs and asparagus! Of course, for a vegetarian version you could leave off the bacon. I feel sorry for you if you leave off the eggs. Mmmmm.

{ Eat your veggies! }

Heather

What could be better on a homeschool mama’s blog this time of year than a “Home and Garden 101″ series (which is happily sponsored by Central Pet & Garden – who are also providing my readers with a 25$ AMEX gift card give away)?

Make sure to read to the end so you can enter to win 25$ – and come back every Friday from now through the next 4 weeks to win more!

I apologize up front for not having as many photos in this post. I was busy taking video instead! Click to watch below…

- – - – - – - -

After having two babies in two years, my garden and yard became last on my project list. This spring, I decided to get out there again with my now 4 & 2 year old toddlers, the teens, and my tree-whispering, green-thumb husband. Since April, we have tackled the weeds, trimmed the trees, re-vamped the garden, planted new things, and otherwise improved our landscaping. But there’s plenty more work to be done!

While I was at the Blissdom Conference, I met the Central Pet and Garden folks, who offered to allow me to work with them on some campaigns they have this spring and summer to introduce people to their best gardening products. These are products we would have been buying anyway, so I jumped on board. It never hurts to get paid to spruce up your own yard, right? I wish they would pay me for doing my laundry, too…

A month ago I did a give away for Pennington Smart Feed fertilizer and their new clear canister garden-hose attachment. We used that on our trees and garden. Some people suggest fertilizing every month on your yard and trees, and others suggest fertilizing once each season. We are more of the once-a-season type, and usually try to fertilize in spring and early summer before it gets too hot, and then we do it again in the fall and maybe once in winter.

In the past, my husband has used Medina HastaGro (6-12-6) every month on our trees (which he actually measured out and watered in at the base of the tree, which took a bit more work). I don’t think once a month feeding is too much for trees, but I wouldn’t do the same thing with grass because I have heard that when the roots are too thick, it actually prevents the grass from looking really nice. We only fertilize the grass seasonally.

As for moving plants and trees, we normally do that in fall – before the first freeze, or in very early spring – after the last freeze. This year I missed my window with all the baby Vitex trees, so I’ll have to move them this October.

Central Pet and Garden has provided our little homeschool garden with four new products to use in our yard, and I’ve decided to make a weekly garden update and little how-to-video out of using them all – and give away a 25$ Amex to my readers each week (give-aways on Friday, winner’s announced on Wednesdays).

I’ll probably continue to share about the garden all the way through harvest now that it is well established. I can’t wait to dig up the CILANTRO forest and plant new things in my second raised bed, and to see what yummy things end up growing on my plants that are already doing well. The tomato plants have already doubled in size in a month and I have some small hot peppers growing on one of the pepper plants that came without a label. They look like De Arbol or Guajillo peppers right now… jury is out.

This past week we pulled weeds, watered, tried to figure out where the ant beds were, trimmed roses, and used Ironite Plus Lawn & Plant Food on our flower beds and trees.

Ironite Brand mineral supplements have been around for more than 55 years, helping gardeners to develop strong roots and green growth in their grasses, trees, and plants. I hadn’t used Ironite before, but it was just as easy to use as our last fertilizer – attaching to the garden spray hose. The liquid lawn and garden spray is a 6-2-1 fertilizer that feeds through the plant’s foliage and roots (and you don’t have to worry about “burn” if you spray some on the leaves). The formula is supposed to have 1% iron. Your plants need their vitamins, too!

We made a silly little how-to video showing you just how easy it is to use, and giving you an update on how our garden is growing….

If you are doing yard and garden work and want to share your photos on Twitter or Instagram, use the #HG101 hashtag so everyone following along can see them. I’m using this hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest. In fact, I created a Home and Garden 101 pin board where I’m planning to pin my garden and yard progress this year, share fun gardening and outdoor projects I find online, and more. If you want to follow along, you can.

My 16yo is going to share some about garden pests and beneficial bugs this July. He has a zillion books about bugs and has been studying them since he was barely able to read. He prevented me from killing the unsightly bed of overripe cilantro because he pointed out that the aphids that are all over them are a feeding ground for lady bugs (which I love). He also told us about how fire ants actually FARM aphids and prevent lady bugs from killing them if they can.

I’m not sure I can stand that ugly patch of Cilantro much longer. What do you think I should plant there – now that it is getting hot outside and the summer is near? Texas summers are unforgiving. I’m thinking okra, and watermelon… but I don’t want to water all summer long. Any suggestions?

Our rain fall lately has been great — which works wonders for my water bill, but prevents me from using DE powder on the fire ants. DE washes away in the rain. Which is why I’ll be using a little bit of bug spray on the fire ants if we don’t get enough straight sunshine soon. I have been seeing them on the house – and want to make sure they don’t get inside!

So – how is your garden and lawn coming along this spring? Have you used any affordable and easy fertilizers to keep your plants nourished? Want to win a 25$ gift card each Friday for the next 4 weeks during my Home and Garden 101 series?

Use the easy Rafflecopter below to enter and win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{ Check back Wednesday, the 22nd of May, to see who won! }

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Disclosure Statement
Central Garden & Pet partnered with bloggers such as me to help educate us all about their products. As part of this program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the use of the products. Central Garden & Pet believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Central Garden & Pet’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. A winner will be chosen by random and gift card fulfillment will be handled by a third party.

OH HAI there!

It’s been a while since we just had some over-the-fence neighborly talk. They say that random posts aren’t allowed, but for people who thrive on random (like my bunny-trail loving self), I beg to differ.

My brain has been on lists lately. End of school lists, grocery and pantry inventory lists, house refinance paperwork lists, to-do lists…

Take today for instance… it’s the last day of Spanish class for my kids. We’re meeting at the park for them to put on a puppet show in Spanish. I have no idea what we’re taking for our picnic. Which is in 15 minutes.

But hey — Morgan made Worm Pie, so we’re good. There are worse things than chocolate pudding for lunch, right?

What’s that you say? You want the recipe for Worm Pie? I’ll make sure and get that up this weekend. I’ve been teasing you with it since 2006. You poor thing. How are you still alive if you haven’t had Worm Pie in that many years?

OK, so after our last class in Spanish we’re going to be focusing on getting our last class in Literature wrapped up. And I’m purchasing a new Math Curriculum from Math U See for summer school. We’re starting back up on our Bible Study, too – for shame on us for slacking off for so long. The kids are excited to get back on the piano with more free time available soon… and Morgan is begging me to talk Daddy in to letting me get a real piano instead of making them continue using our keyboard. I might request prayers on that one. He’s an anti-more-furniture kind of guy.

Yesterday I took inventory of our food situation and today’s major task is to make out a menu for the next three weeks. After we get home from Spanish, put babies down for naps, and I cook a gourmet Italian meal for dinner. Mmmm.

Aaaaaaaaaaand…. do you know that EXACTLY three weeks from today, I’ll be hanging out in Austin with BlogHer Food! Imagine a blog conference, crossed with the best food you can imagine. I’ll share more about this in a dedicated post later next week. I’m going to be live-blogging from on location – sharing a lot of local restaurant reviews, and probably gaining back at least 5 of the pounds I’ve lost since January.

There will always be time for dieting later. Ahem.

Now I’m off to the park. With pudding. Wish the teenagers luck on their Spanish puppet play. This will count as an extra credit grade to remove their lowest score this year.

{ Hasta luego! }

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Quote of the day: The mighty Oak was once a little nut that stood its ground. ~ Unknown

I’ve been invited to be a part of a number of really cool campaigns that companies create to reach out to the public. This week’s campaign is one of those that rates high on the “COOL FACTOR”. I get to tell you about the Microsoft Store, today – and to offer my readers a 100$ Microsoft Store gift card (P.S. they sell Xboxes, Microsoft Points Cards for gamers, and Windows Phones there). I appologize in advance that the post is long, but I promise you’ll learn something cool about Microsoft Stores that you probably don’t know… and even if you love a few Apple products, you might just find something you’re interested in down below! Be sure to read to the bottom and comment to enter the prize!

My local Windows Store, located in Austin at the Domain Shopping Center, is wanting to reach out to Austin parents and share about what they have to offer. I’m so glad they did, because I didn’t know much about them at all before I was invited to participate… and now I’m planning a homeschool field trip with my co-op to visit this summer!

If you aren’t in Austin, no worries – there are 35 full-line Microsoft Stores with technology theaters in the back that can be rented out for FREE – check out the details below. There are 31 specialty stores, also – which don’t have a theater, but have a variety of different Microsoft products that vary by location. They are continuing to open new stores frequently, so chances are good that you’ll find one nearby.

In TEXAS, they have three full-line stores in San Antonio, Houston and Austin… and quite a few specialty stores including the Woodlands, Frisco (north of Dallas), and Arlington (opening soon).

You can find out if there’s a Microsoft Store near you at their Locator page online.

The Microsoft Stores all try and reach out to their community by participating with local groups like the Boy and Girl Scouts and the YMCA to offer classes, help the kids earn tech badges and mad digital skills, beautify the local area with tree plantings, and benefit the needy with food drives, etc. They also have a Tech Tots program and summer camps for kids, classes for adults, and offer fun ways for clubs, social media groups, and businesses to gather and network.

Here’s what you might find at the Windows Store:

• Great Products – Surface, Windows PCs, Windows Phones, Kinect, Xbox, Microsoft Points (Xbox Live Gold), Office, and tons of accessories.

• Answer Desk – free tech support (even on Mac devices that are running any sort of Windows product), no appointment necessary (but you can make one if you like), parental control options, performance tune-ups, and if you don’t go in the store, you can chat with an Answer Tech online by visiting Microsoftstore.com!

• Theater & Personal Training Space – where you can get one-on-one or workshop training by Microsoft associates, hour-long classes (they schedule free workshops and offer really good rates on training – currently they have a deal where you can get a full year’s worth of any-time personalized training for only 99$).

• Community Events – for businesses, gamers, and the community. Including things like this:

Youth Spark Summer Camps (ages 8-13), twice a week, 2 hours a day – digital movies, digital art, gaming, storyteller studio, app building, and more. These classes fill up very quick and are first-come, first-served. In Austin, they are already full for this summer.

Tech Tots Camp, ages 2-5 – learning keyboard skills, using Kinect, embracing technology (parents stay for this event), twice a week. They told me that they still had room in these classes in Austin!

Note: Summer Camp dates/times vary by store, so contact your local Microsoft store to find camp locations and/or sign up: http://content.microsoftstore.com/store/

Gaming Events – launch parties, gamer leagues and competitions, huge prizes

You can even “rent” (for free) the theater space with a 103 inch touch-screen in the Microsoft Store for birthday parties, social networking or blogging gatherings or business meetings. Food and drinks are permitted! It stays busy 70 hours a week in community service.

They love to assist the community in creating tailor-made workshops and often host co-op group classes for HOMESCHOOLERS! Just ask your local store’s Community Development Specialist to set up an event for you! They even give incentives to those who set up multiple meetings within a 12-month period by giving away a 500$ Microsoft hardware or software prize (check your store for details).

To find out more about their classes, events, programs, and products, you can visit them online, connect with them at their Facebook page, on Twitter, and even follow their Pinterest boards.

I’m so excited that they are giving my readers a chance to win a $100 Microsoft gift card (good for anything you can buy in their store). All you have to do to win is answer a question in my comments section (and Raffle-copter will give you the chance to earn extra entries based on sharing about this give-away).

Here’s How to Win:

1. Mandatory Entry: Answer this question in the comments section below – “Did you know about all the Microsoft Store offers? What is your favorite thing I mentioned that you can buy/do there?”

2. Enter on the Raffle-copter and share about this give-away for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The give-away ends at midnight on 5/15 (this Wednesday), and the winner will be listed on this Raffle-copter in this post by 5/16. You have one day to claim your prize or it will go to a runner-up. Don’t forget to participate in the Twitter party tomorrow, too – for other prizes!

For even more fun prizes and chances to win, check out the list of other participating bloggers below!

Or join us tomorrow for the #GoMicrosoft Twitter party, where @MicrosoftStore will be giving away gift certificates and prizes. I’ll be co-hosting along with a large group of fun bloggers that helped them on this campaign!

When: Tuesday, May 14, at 12 Noon CT (the party will last one hour)

Where: We’ll be on Twitter – follow the #GoMicrosoft hashtag to track the conversation. You can see the details and RSVP via this Twtvite.

TweetGrid for the party: http://bit.ly/11SJxNf

Prizes: @MicrosoftStore will be giving away six prizes to randomly selected winners. Five winners who answer trivia questions during the party will receive $25 Microsoft retail store gift cards, and one grand prize winner will be chosen for a $500 Microsoft retail store gift card!

Here’s a list of tweeters to follow:

Hosts: @MicrosoftStore, @theMotherhood, @CooperMunroe, @EmilyMcKhann

Co-Hosts:
Heather, Sprittibee – @sprittibee (THAT’S ME!)
Candy, Mommypalooza – @mommypalooz
Kelly, Kansas City Mamas – @KCMamaKelly
Kristen, Dine and Dish – @DineandDish
Mara, Kosher on a Budget – @kosheronabudget
Claudya, Unknown Mami – @UnknownMami
Heather, Rookie Moms – @rookiemoms
Jessica, It’s My Life – @kikarose
Jen, The Mom Reviews – @themomjen
TerriAnn, Cookies and Clogs – @cookiesANDclogs
Divina, Dancing Hot Dogs – @DancingHotdogs
JessieLeigh, Parenting Miracles – @micropreemies
Marianna, Green Mama’s Pad – @GreenMamasPad
Rachel, Rachel Ferrucci – @RachelFerrucci
Sarah, Sarah’s Cucina Bella – @SarahWCaron
Lisa, Crazy Adventures in Parenting – @crazyadventures
Clay, Dad Labs – @daddyclay
Kim, Prairie Mama – @prairiemama
Stephanie, The Candid Pastor’s Wife – @stephaniepete
Christine, Boston Mamas – @bostonmamas
Christy, Quirky Fusion – @QuirkyFusion
Mackenzie, The Centsible Family – @TheCentsibleFamily
Erika, Musings of a SAHM – @MusingsSAHM

Our Visit to the Microsoft Store

My husband is getting the Microsoft phone with his next AT&T plan upgrade this October. He went with me to the store when we were learning about this campaign and fell in love with it. Microsoft phones are also available with T-Mobile, Verizon, and soon to be Sprint. I thought the custom tile wallpaper with all your most used apps was neat, but another really cool feature was the lock-down kid screen feature that is similar to allowing different log-ins on your PC (very cool for parents of toddlers who allow their kids to play games on their phones and are tired of having the little guys wreck havoc with your phone settings and apps).

For the photography nut like me, I was most impressed with the Zeiss optics on the Nokia Lumia 920 (which also has stronger glass – to prevent shattering – than the other top Microsoft smart phone). Zeiss lenses are spectacular and expensive. I found myself wondering if all my favorite iPhone apps were already in the Microsoft Phone format… until then, I’m probably going to stick with my iPhone because I literally have nearly 40 photo-related apps on my phone and use at least half of them regularly. The photo apps are why I ended up giving up on Android, also. I gave my Galaxy III to my husband recently and he is using it until he can get the Microsoft Phone. Now I’m back to the 4s iPhone and waiting to see if the 6 is going to come out before Christmas before wasting an upgrade on the 5.

My teens are big Xbox fans, so I didn’t have to twist their arms to get them to go with me to the Microsoft Store. They picked up an Xbox Live Gold card and a Microsoft Points card while we were in the store. I now have two teen Minecraft addicts. Kaden bought the map pack for his Black Ops II game he and his daddy like to play together. My teens were especially interested in the new Xbox Music which is similar to Pandora and allows free streaming and a $9.99 a month unlimited download option for use when not connected to the internet.

I didn’t buy anything in the store since I already have Office on my PC, I don’t like video games for the most part, and am not interested in switching to a new phone platform just yet. I was, however, thrilled with the idea of getting my homeschool co-op together for a FREE software training session and field trip in their theater space! Leave it to the homeschool mom to focus on the educational angle. I’ll be setting a group visit up soon and scheduling it for this summer.

I enjoyed meeting the store manager, Russ Zimmerman, and Kristen, who gave me a guided tour of the store. We discussed the phenomenon of tablets (like the Surface) replacing laptops and she let me try out Windows 8 – which is similar to the systems running on smart phones. She joked that phones seem to be getting bigger while laptops are getting smaller – inevitably leading to an end result that will be an all-inclusive tablet type device preventing you from having to carry anything heavy anymore; a “does-it-all” type device. So true. Technology is awesome. Not sure I could part with my keyboard, though… so I hope if the laptop does eventually go away, that there’s some sort of keyboard plug-in option for future smart machines. I’m just no good at texting.

With the way that privacy laws regarding data have been going, I discussed how I’ve been tempted to move away from Google email and go back to my Outlook system where the server is wiped clean and your personal email is stored on your personal computer, rather than on the internet – or the “Borg” as I like to call it. We talked about how Microsoft offers a Sky Drive (similar to the Apple Cloud or Google Drive) and they usually give 7 gigs of space free of charge and always try to offer more than Apple regardless of what bar Apple raises it to. Having Office documents available in a Sky Drive is probably REAL handy for businesses. I personally don’t share that many files online, but I can see a huge benefit to this having been part of the corporate world in my pre-homeschooling past.

While we were visiting the Microsoft Store, they had a birthday party going on in the Theater with a bunch of young boys gaming together… complete with balloons and cake! Such a great idea for bringing in the community to share their love for technology. I’m so glad to have learned more about what Microsoft has going on in my local community!

Want to help us spread the word? Gather your friends for a chance to win this 100$ give-away Microsoft gift card, and join the twitter party for a chance to win multiple 25$ Microsoft gift cards and a grand prize $500 Microsoft gift card!

Risotto is one of those mouth-watering comfort foods that you just have to love. It’s like a glorified chicken and rice dish that is all grown up. It may not be that pretty, but hardly a grain is left in the pan after everyone fights for the last spoonful. I learned how to make it from a friend who’s husband is from Italy. That would explain the “authentic” part of my title. Real people from Italy are great cooks. No lie.

This risotto recipe is with chicken, a bit of rosemary, a dash of garlic salt and white wine. However, there are as many risotto recipes as there are American recipes for Thanksgiving Turkey. I love it with mushrooms … but my family prefers the chicken and rosemary version the best.

It’s important that you follow the steps, because Risotto is a dish that requires a lot of babysitting. Read them all below before you begin (or watch my video to get a visual – and audio – on the process). I took the liberty of adding the ingredient amounts here on my recipe, but I usually eyeball it (as you will see in the video).

Ignore my Texan drawl and dirty kitchen. I enjoy keepin’ it real for you guys… to my husband’s dismay.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 1.5 cups risotto rice (white arborio) – don’t substitute regular short or long grain white rice, or even basmati – it’s not the same thing!
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 quart plus a 14 oz can of chicken broth (plus a few tablespoons of water – optional) – I use home made broth and just refrigerate the rest that I don’t use for the recipe, usually I use about 1.5 quarts. Note: when you re-boil home-made chicken broth, it helps it keep longer in the refrigerator.
• onion (1/2 or small)
• cooked rotisserie chicken (we use the leftover meat after we eat rotisserie for dinner, about 1.5 cups of cut up chicken – this dish is a great way to hide dark meat if you prefer white… but you can also sub chopped up pan-fried tenders lightly seasoned with rosemary, garlic salt and pepper)
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (no powder!)
• 1/4 cup whole or 2% milk
• 1/4-1/2 cup dry white cooking wine
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:
Step 1 – Put your chicken broth and water on the stove to boil (heat to hot). You can’t use cold broth or the rice will take too long to cook and be mushy. You’ll need a ladle or measuring cup to scoop and put broth in pan later. Chop your onion.

Step 2 – Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil and the butter in a large skillet (cast iron works well, but any will do – I prefer my wok) and add your onion. Sauté until slightly tender and add rice. Coat rice well with oil and let sizzle and toast.

Step 3 – Pour your white wine in and stir well. Pour two ladles (about 1.5-2 cups) of HOT chicken broth into pan and stir rice well. Keep the heat high (about 7 or 8 on your stove-top’s setting). The point is to keep the rice moist with broth, cooking it over medium-high heat and put another ladle of broth in just as the previous ladle is cooking out. Never let the rice dry out or burn, but don’t smother it with liquid, either.

You don’t use a lid to cook this rice, and it takes about 30 minutes from the time you first start putting liquid on the rice until it is completely finished. The final result will be a creamy (but not mushy) rice mixture.

You’ll need to be available to stir often, especially right after you spoon the broth in. There’s about 5-8 minutes in-between ladles depending on your stove; which is plenty of time to make a salad or other green vegetable on the side – or bread sticks/garlic bread. You can also fry and tear up your chicken or pick it off the rotisserie bone and prepare it to toss into the rice.

Step 4 – Toss chicken in with rice when it is almost finished cooking. Throw in your rosemary as whole sprigs that can be pulled out before eating – for flavor only.

Step 5 – Taste the rice to see if it is done. Let the broth evaporate mostly out of the rice and leave your pan on hot. Be sure to stay at the stove for the last step – you don’t want your milk to burn or your cheesy rice to stick to the pan. Add your milk and Parmesan, making sure to stir well. Lower your heat to medium.

Step 6 – Salt and pepper to taste and stir before serving hot (making sure to warn little people in high chairs that it burns if it drips on your leg – #truestory). Enjoy!

Goes well with peas, green beans, salad, and crusty bread.

Be sure to leave me a comment if you make this dish and let me know what your family thought of it! It may not be a pretty dish, but it sure hits the spot – especially on a week night when you want to make something that doesn’t require a million ingredients… or a cold winter’s evening! Who am I kidding?! We ate this for lunch today – in May! It’s great all year round.

Do you have someone you love? Sure you do. We all do. We were created to share our hearts and desire companionship.

With mother’s day just around the corner, I thought I’d share a little bit about two of the people I have loved the most in this world.

Inspired by the J&J Campaign called “For All You Love”, I wanted to share about my own mama and grandma. The campaign launched this week in advance of Mother’s Day, and it celebrates the selfless and unconditional caring of caregivers, including moms, and all the ways they care for those they love.

Grab a box of tissues and check out this touching video:

As part of the campaign, recognizing their commitment to the health and well-being of moms and kids worldwide, J&J is planning to donate $25,000 this Mother’s Day to Save the Children®.

My grandma isn’t here today to send a Mother’s Day card to, but she changed my life for the better and left this world with her ticket punched for heaven in 1995 – making me promise to get my life together so I could see her on the other side. I had only been married for two years then, and we didn’t have our first child until 1997.

I can’t remember a negative word she ever spoke about another person – even people that surely had hurt her and taken advantage of her. I always knew that she would give me the best advice – the “gospel” truth.

She was the most down-to-earth person I’ve ever met. Everyone loved her. She had mad skills in the kitchen. She always kept her house clean. She took other people in and cared for them – always putting everyone else before herself. Even though she was tired, and often carrying heavy burdens, she managed to volunteer at a nursing home, take care of family, and always bless everyone she knew.

Even when she was dying of cancer, she thought of them and their grief first. She took time to research grief and talk to each of us in the family individually about her wishes and how she wanted us to move on and live when she was gone. She planned her own funeral out, gave away her things, and told us she was ready to go. In the hospital, she never complained about the pain. Her doctor finally stepped in when he could tell she was beyond her limit of suffering, and he started her on morphine. She finally slipped away on her 67th birthday and we were relieved to see she wasn’t in pain any more, but felt a huge loss – as she was the rock that held our family together.

So many people came to pay their respects at her funeral that the funeral home had standing room only after about five minutes in to the service. The string of cars in procession with headlights on at mid-day caused the interstate traffic to stop for what seemed like miles. She looked like an angel at peace in her pretty suit with perfect make-up, but I’ll never forget how broken-hearted my grandfather was.

I love my sweet Mawmaw and miss her so much. I miss her hugs and the safe feeling I felt when I spent the night at her house as a kid. The whole world was right when she was around.

I couldn’t leave out the most important woman in my life on Mother’s Day weekend. My mama, eldest of my grandma’s three girls, inherited many of her mama’s best traits. She’s strong. She’s resilient. She’s one of the most selfless and genuine people I know.

All through my childhood, and in to my adult life, she’s always been there for me – and my children – and has been my biggest cheerleader.

None of us are perfect. She made mistakes, and so did I. She was always quick to forgive me for my mistakes, even when she continued to beat herself up over her own.

Just like her mother, she has a tendency to take in other people and try to help them solve their problems. She spends almost every penny she makes on other people. She champions the causes of others and doesn’t shy away from being a committed and involved friend – even when it is emotionally and physically draining on her.

She’s struggled with diabetes since she was in her 20′s and often gets so sick that she has to go in to the hospital, but she never complains about her own health problems. In 2004, she lost her vision in both eyes from diabetic retinopathy and had to get surgery so she could see again. Struggling with depression because of the hardships she has endured and dealing with multiple health issues, she continued to care for others – including her mother and father before they died. She’s a wonderful example of someone who has been dealt a difficult hand in life, and yet has done the best she could with it and instead of becoming bitter or playing the victim, she has found a way to bless and encourage others.

She works late hours and drives long distances as a piano teacher, and yet she’ll call me at 9pm with another hour and a half to drive before she’s home and ask me if I need her to get something from the store for my family. She also never fixes herself a plate of food without trying to make something for everyone else to eat… even if it’s the middle of the night.

I love my sweet Mama and am so glad she’s still here with me today – especially because she has fought against so many health problems in her life. I’m glad my kids have her for a grandma because she loves them and invests time in them, and I feel so blessed to have her as my mom.

—-

This weekend I’ll be sharing with the #ForAllYouLove hashtag and will include some of my favorite photos of my mom, my grandma, and other favorite people I love.

Want to join me? Follow me on Instagram (@sprittibee) and use the #ForAllYouLove hashtag on your pictures of your loved ones.

—-

In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, JOHNSON’S® Baby has established JOHNSON’S® Baby CARES Care Cards, a digital e-card platform encouraging moms to share positive messages of encouragement with other moms across the country, while simultaneously supporting Save the Children®.

You can help, too! Simply pick and share a card filled with messages of reassurance for a Mom in your life on Facebook at http://www.johnsonsbabycares.com. For every card sent, shared or liked, JOHNSON’S® Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children® (up to $150,000) to benefit early childhood education programs that foster education and reassurance for new moms. These cards will not only spread encouragement to Moms throughout the country but will also provide Moms in need with the skills and knowledge to successfully support their child’s growth.

Moms are wonderful. Being a mom is the hardest and the most awesome thing I’ve ever done, that’s for sure. I hope someday my kids will look back and think fondly of me – and selectively forget any mistakes I’ve ever made in raising them (Lord knows there have been many). Today while I have time and breath, I’m hoping I can pour myself in to them and nurture them so that tomorrow they can do the same for their own children.

Happy Mother’s Day!

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by JOHNSON’S® Baby so they could share about their campaign with Save the Children®, but the opinions and stories are my own.

If you are just joining in, this is part 2 of a series about feet and what they have to do with spirituality. The Bible has over 300 references to feet, and I studied about this and wanted to share it with my readers and save it for my kids.

I originally wrote this 4-part essay in 2005 when I first started blogging. My kids looked like THIS back then:

Who knew that I’d still be blogging nearly 8 years later? And let this be a warning to you mamas of young ones out there. Those little piggies get bigger – and one day they walk out on their own. Today, those same four feet look more like this:

Look at those skis!

Have you ever heard the song “HAPPY FEET” by Paolo Conte? Probably not, since only about a fifth of it is in English (the rest in Italian). I love that song. Despite the fact that I can’t understand it, the song lends an upbeat feeling, and is cute and catchy.

It’s one of those annoying songs that you sing that ‘ONE LINE’ from because it sticks in your head and you can’t remember any other words. I apologize ahead of time if you end up singing it every time you take your sneakers off.

I thought I would start off light-hearted and then dig in to the deep topic of our “Spiritual Feet”.

For those of you who missed part 1 of the Bless Your Feet series, we talked about how most of the verses in the bible regarding feet refer to our spiritual direction, and not our physical body. When our Spirit is healthy, our soul is joyful (even when our circumstances are not perfect). That is what the Bible calls the “peace that passes understanding”.

People just can’t understand why you have a smile on your face even though your house hasn’t sold in seven months and your bank account is almost negative. That’s God’s peace. It is very confusing to the world, but they somehow find themselves wanting it. I know because I saw it in my grandmother when I was not a believer – even when she was dying of cancer… and I saw it in other family members, too. I wanted it. I wanted to know how to get it for myself.

Everyone wants to be happy.

So let’s take off our shoes and see what’s hiding in those spiritual socks of ours. What kind of feet do we have?

Are they GOOD, BAD, or UGLY?

Hopefully I’ll step on your toes… I certainly got mine stepped on by a few of these definitions and verses. Today, we’ll cover just the good feet. …In my next two “Foot Posts” we’ll discuss the BAD (Spiritual) and the UGLY (Physical) ones!

Examples of Good Feet:

Worshiping Feet

Matthew 28:9 – Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Luke 10:39 – She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Good feet are worshiping feet. They are feet that know where they get their strength from – like Mary, the one who worships sits at Jesus’ feet and makes the ‘best choice’. Jesus’ feet are where we should be falling, just like the woman who touched his cloak and was healed. Just like the disciples who gathered around him every day to hear his wisdom.

We all have our reasons for falling at Jesus’ feet. So did the people in the Bible. God made each of us unique, so we all have a different story and the Lord knows how to reach each of us. Many people came to Jesus when their family members or friends were sick – they wanted his healing power. Many people came to Jesus and fell at his feet to have their family members released from demons – they wanted freedom and forgiveness from the curses they endured. Some rulers of the synagogue fell at Jesus’ feet in a mock show of respect, even though they had plans to capture and kill him. Even demons fell at his feet in recognition of his authority over them… they begged him to not torture them.

God looks into our hearts and knows why we come to Him. He made us to be a display of His splendor, to know and to love Him. But He gave us the will to choose the path we go down. We are not a people who’s feet are chained by God. In fact, just the opposite. He longs to set our feet free – from the devil’s shackles. Worship is a lifestyle of choosing God over our own selfishness. It isn’t something we do only on one day a week at a church building.

Obedient Feet

Mark 10:50 – Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

Ephesians 6:15 – and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Good feet are submissive/obedient feet. They are feet which do not hesitate or delay to do the Will of the Father. In my house, we have a saying: “If you are delaying, you are disobeying”. I actually got that phrase from Tedd Tripp’s book “Shepherding a Child’s Heart”.

God has put everything under Jesus’ feet. It is useless to kick against him. We forget sometimes that everything is under God’s command. We are the only creature in this physical world who can choose to disobey Him. Not only does it benefit us to obey him with positive rewards, but it prevents us from being disciplined when we obey as well. Just like our kids when they choose to willingly do what we tell them not to, we bring disaster on our lives when we get outside of God’s protective circle by not doing His will.

Loving Feet

Luke 7:38 – and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

Luke 7:45 – You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.

Matthew 15:30 – Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.

Good feet love the Father and are shamelessly open about it. Good feet are feet that have a ready word of praise to bless our Lord. We give Him credit for our successes and are eager to share what He has done for us.

Jesus was called a “Friend of Sinners” and although it was meant to dishonor and discredit his ministry, it actually was the most loving title a Holy God could have ever been given. For a perfect man or God to love a sinner, there must be a mountain of forgiveness and love.

I know that most of us would admit that there are times when we are very unlovable. It is often said that it would be hard to “live with yourself”. It is a good thing that God gave us each other – husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, teachers, and even animal companions to share our houses and lives. These people are not only gifts that bless our lives, but they are also God’s children. He loves them as much as He loves us. His command is for us to love one-another. It is only second to loving God, and it should be equal to loving ourselves. We can only truly love others and ourselves if we love God first. He gives us the ability to forgive and serve each other – even when the other person seems just as much of a sinner as we are.

Jesus was the perfect example of a servant leader. A man who leads others by serving them in love. I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired by His love for me – and it makes me want to be a more loving person towards others.

Focused Feet

Romans 10:15 - And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Hebrews 12:13 – “Make level paths for your feet,” [ Prov. 4:26] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Matthew 28:19 – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Good feet are aware of their calling. Even if they may not know exactly what God has planned as a ministry for them, they know His Word and can test all things against it to know what is true and noble. They know their weaknesses and pray for guidance along the rocky path. They are not afraid to stop and wait for orders. They follow Jesus where He leads.

It is very easy to be distracted. We even get distracted by good things – things that are urgent and important – things that are church-related – things that bless our family. But, if we don’t take time to keep our focus on the things of God, we can be spinning our wheels instead of moving firmly towards where the Lord is leading.

This same principle can be applied to homeschooling your children. There are a million choices when it comes to curriculum, co-ops, field trips, books, activities, etc. – but if we try and do everything aimlessly, we will burn out and accomplish nothing. You have to simplify your life and find out what pleases the Lord… do what is necessary to move you towards His heavenward goal for your family, and learn to say “no” when you know it will overextend you. You have to plan ahead on the “map” to find the most direct path for your “feet” to take – so you don’t end up fizzling out and giving up, or worse, ending up in the wrong place.

Make a list of what you know your jobs are according to God’s word. It will make prioritizing your day so much easier when you ask yourself if it is part of God’s plan for you and your family before you say “yes”.

Friendly Feet

1 Timothy 5:10 – and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

John 13:14 – Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

Good feet bless the body they move; and their support and strength help others to find their way. They are wholly dedicated to the destination. They prayerfully lead others, and they carry others burdens.

I think a lot of the reason why we endure burdens ourselves is to learn how it feels to carry them, so we can step in to assist someone else carrying that same burden. God gives us the ability to have compassion on each other when he lets us endure trials that give us kinship with each other. I certainly have been blessed by many friendly feet in my walk with God.

We have had friends at church lend us a refrigerator when ours went out, we have had friends at church baby-sit for us so that we could work, we have had friends at church help us with financial burdens and lend things to us they knew we needed. We have also had friends who have been prayer warriors for our family and have given us genuine love and friendship through the years. I am so thankful that God gave us friends.

I have heard it said that “Friends are the family you get to choose”. This is true – you choose to be part of God’s family – and they are very loving (despite being human). None of us are perfect, and we all require forgiveness, but friends are a treasure indeed! I pray that God makes me as good a friend as I want others to be to me.

To move forward to part 3, click here!

Note to readers: I am breaking this down into four different posts, on four different days to make it easier to ‘digest’. I originally posted this in 2005 after just starting my blogging journey. I’m updating a few of these older posts now and then to refresh them and add new photos. I hope you enjoy the re-run! Be sure to come back next week when I revive part 3.

Stay tuned soon for more on feet  { The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly }…

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Disclaimer : All verses in this post and most others are taken from the New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society unless otherwise noted.

Spanish Rice was the dish that catapulted me in to foodie love. My grandmother used to make it for me as a snack when I went to visit her. If you’ve seen the movie Ratatouille – the moment when the food critic remembers back to his mama’s home cooking – I get that kind of good feeling when I eat Spanish Rice. It’s my ultimate feel-good food.

Because Spanish Rice and I are such good friends, I never measure anything when I cook it. Not such a bad thing, but it comes out different every time. I’ve updated my 2006 recipe below to 2013′s latest morph. I’ve also included a few tips on what you could substitute or add to it – so you can play around and create your own best Spanish Rice recipe.

If you can’t eat it all at dinner, it tastes just as good the next day out of the refrigerator! Even cold. Makes a great addition to a Mexican chicken soup with rice, too.

Let me tell you what I don’t like in Spanish Rice, and we’ll start from there:

1. lots of tomato paste – GROSS!
2. most boxed Spanish Rice mixes (not good for you, and usually not the flavor I’m looking for)
3. bland rice (sorry, I like some spice)
4. too hot to eat (I have made this mistake a few times, and it is better to go a little light and add your spice at the table than end up with a pot of tongue-melting rice that no-one can eat… what a WASTE!)

Next, I’ll tell you my recipe, and then we’ll discuss some additional variations/ingredients you might try.

Sprittibee’s 2013 Spanish Rice Recipe

• 1 cup pre-cooked, refrigerated rice (makes enough for 6 as a side dish)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 5-6 twists of black pepper grinder
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (or small onion)
• 1/2 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp garlic powder (my grandma always said this was the key ingredient)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp dried chives
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• chopped, seeded jalapeno or Serrano pepper
• 1/4 cup julienned carrot (that’s a fancy term for sliced long-ways)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh tomato OR 1/3 cup salsa OR sm can Rotel (depends on what you have on hand and how spicy you want the final product to be)
• 1/4-1/3 cup frozen corn
• 1 tsp ketchup
• dash of hot sauce (optional)
• large frying pan with high sides (a wok works great)

Note to chef: It is best to start your recipe with hot oil and your veggies already cut up. I make this dish really fast and keep the heat on medium-high. This recipe, despite it’s long list of ingredients, moves rather quickly! If you gather all of these spices and a few sets of measuring spoons on the counter near the pan, you can throw them in quickly and save yourself from allowing the rice to get too browned (or burnt).

Instructions:

Heat oil in pan. Add your veggies and cook until onion is tender and translucent. As you stir the veggies, you can gather your spices. The first time you make this you might want to combine the spices before hand in a bowl so they are ready to toss in all at once.

Throw your spices in and continue to saute the veggies. Frying the spices releases some of their flavor.

Note : An Asian man my husband used to work with gave us the secret to perfect fried rice back in the 1990′s. He said to make sure the rice was cold before you fry it, and it won’t get mushy or soggy. This revolutionized not only our Asian fried rice, but also our Spanish Rice. It is so much faster when you work with pre-cooked, already measured ingredients. Kind of makes you feel like Rachel Ray with all your food ready to go.

Add in your cold rice. If it is stuck in a big chunk or block, a potato masher is a great tool to loosen the grains. Make sure you have enough oil in the pan so it won’t burn or stick. I wouldn’t add more than three tablespoons of oil to the entire dish, though, so be careful not to over-oil the pan.

Stir rice to coat with oil, spices, and to mix in the veggies. Fry on medium-high, keeping the rice moving so it will warm evenly.

Add your tomato, or Rotel, or salsa… and the secret ingredient: a squirt or two of ketchup. Stir until well-blended. Taste your rice and add any additional dashes of hot sauce or extra seasoning you like. I normally add extra salt at this point, just before serving.

Note: I made Spanish Rice for ten years without ketchup, and my aunt told me it was missing from the hand-written recipe my grandma wrote out for me as a teenager. I still keep that scrap of paper and I have seen her full recipe written out – and her full recipe contains the missing ketchup! It makes a huge difference. Isn’t that strange?!

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone. It’s our secret.

Variations:

I have been doing different things to my Spanish Rice since I’ve been married and cooking – since the early 90′s. Don’t worry … It is hard to really mess it up unless you accidentally burn it or add too much HOT spice.

Other ingredients I have used in the past include:

• dash of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper powder
• dehydrated jalapeno pepper
• chopped shallots
• tomato bouillon
• chopped pickled jalapenos
• handful of chopped fresh red bell pepper (fried along with onions & rice in the beginning stages of the dish to soften it) OR spoonful of red pemintos from a jar (added at the end)
• fresh garlic
• handful of fresh chopped cilantro leaves sprinkled on top before serving (mmm!)
• … my favorite addition is vermicelli (similar to the long pasta “grains” in Rice-a-Roni, and you only add about a fourth cup per 2 cups rice)

Please drop a note in my comments section if you try my rice and let me know what you think! Pin me if you love it!

{ ¡Buen provecho! }

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

• three or four ripe avocados
• chopped onion (my favorite is the Texas purple onion)
• 1 chopped and seeded Serrano pepper
• 1-2 minced garlic cloves
• 1-2 small chopped Tomatoes
• chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 package McCormick Guacamole season mix pack
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• dash pepper

Chop and prepare your veggies and herbs. Mash your avocados. Add McCormick Guacamole seasoning, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Mix in your chopped onion, tomato, Serrano pepper and cilantro. Stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate to let flavors blend (I like to make this at the beginning of the meal so it has time to sit while I cook dinner).

The McCormick guacamole seasoning is what adds the creamy flavor. Have no idea what they put in it, but it’s good.

Variations:
When we are out of McCormick guacamole seasoning, I make traditional guac – which is all of this stuff, minus the McCormick guac pack. When I cook more of a Southwest type dish, I like to make it similar to what the Chipotle restaurants make – which is everything but the McCormick and tomatoes, more cilantro and Serrano, and lime juice instead of lemon.

So now that you’ve got your tacos, rice, beans, guacamole, and chips… all you need is a cold pitcher of sweet tea (just sweet enough, not too sweet) to go with your TexMex dinner.

And don’t forget to save your leftovers. You can use that meat tomorrow on a taco salad for lunch. Or throw it in some chili. Mix it in to some nacho cheese sauce… or even blend it in to your eggs in the morning. Taco soup? Oh, yes — and then there’s Mexican pizza. The beans can be used for adding to soups, throwing on salads, making dips, or mixing in to chili.

Leftover tortillas make great Migas or quesadillas. Baked, they make home-made thick chips.

You can freeze these things, too – and wait for your Mexican-loving taste buds to return to normal if you like a little space between your taco nights. Chopped onions freeze great – and are super handy for the next meal you’ll need them for.

Ready to win some spices for your own McCormick Taco Night?

There are 30 kits of McCormick spices up for grabs. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, McCormick has come up with a fun and easy Pinterest contest:

If that graphic is a bit small to read, Here’s how it works:

1. Pin any taco night recipe using the hashtag #McCormick in your description, making sure to tag the blogger who sent you (@sprittibee). Pin them to your own food boards. If you need ideas, you can check out some of McCormick’s “Taco Night” board.

2. You’ll be entered to win one of 30 spice kits from McCormick! Easy peasy. The contest will wrap up on May 31.

You can follow @McCormick and @sprittibee on Pinterest.

Tomorrow I’ll share my Spanish Rice recipe. By then you’ll have recipes enough for a TexMex FEAST.

{ ¡Buen provecho! }

In Him,

Heather

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Check out these other blogs for more McCormick Taco Night recipes:

Aggie, Aggie’s Kitchen

Allison, Some The Wiser

Anne-Marie, This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Emily, Sweet Bella Roos

Ericka, Nibbles & Feasts

Faith, An Edible Mosaic 

Heidi, Honeybear Lane

Jannsen, Everyday Reading

Jodi, Garlic Girl

Johanna, Momma Cuisine 

Johanna, Mama Chocolate

Kasey, All Things Mamma

Kelly, Texas Type A Mom

Kristy, The Wicked Noodle 

Kristy, Mommy Hates Cooking

Leigh, Hines-Sight Blog

Melanie, Melanie in the Middle

Michele, Scraps of My Geek Life

Nicole, Presley’s Pantry

Paula, Frosted Fingers

Rachel, Following In My Shoes

Renae, How to Have it All

Shell, Not Quite Susie Homemaker

Sherry, Super Exhausted

Silvia, Mama Latina Tips

Stacie, One Hungry Mama

Tara, Unsophisticook

Tiffany, Stuff Parents Need

Vanessa, Chef Druck

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by McCormick Seasonings and I received some spices and grocery money to share their Pinterest contest with my readers. The opinions expressed and the recipe here are my own.