January 25th, 2011:

Last night we had small group at our house which is one of my favorite times of the week. I love our small group for many reasons and one of those is that it gives me a reason to make something for my friends to have for dinner. With the babies getting more and more mobile it is getting harder for me to cook so it is definitely nice to make a quick soup in the crockpot. My sweet friend Lindsay suggested a soup she had made before from this recipe. I was making this to feed about 10-12 people so I changed some things but this made a great base recipe.

Chicken Taco Soup

• 1 rotisserie chicken; pulled and chopped
• 1 onion; chopped
• 1 large can diced tomatoes (I believe it was 28 oz.)
• 2 cans rotel tomatoes and green chiles
• 1 14 oz. can pinto beans
• 1 14 oz. can black beans
• 1 14 oz. can kidney beans
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dip mix
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
• 2 packets reduced sodium taco seasoning
• 1 cup chicken stock

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high at least 4-5 hours. Serve with cheese, tortilla strips and sour cream.

LB and Daisy had fun eating peas today!

I don’t know about you, but I view my body as a temple. I try really hard to treat my body as God intended it. Therefore, I try to eat little processed food and properly fuel my body for workouts to keep my body as healthy as possible. I sometimes have a hard time when I go to church events choosing foods that I feel are best for my body. I often have worries about feeding LB and Daisy when they are old enough to eat at church functions. I by no means want to offend anyone by not feeding the babies the things they cook, but I also want to make sure that my children are eating the best foods possible. (This is a completely personal decision and simply feel that LB and Daisy are not old enough to know what processed foods are and I choose not to give those foods to them)

I feel that the church should be a place where we are encouraged to treat our bodies as temples. The question is, what exactly does that mean? At one of our churches (my husband, Lew, pastors to Methodist Churches) there is an idea being thrown around about offering healthy options at our Wednesday night dinner. Our dinner is served mainly to children and normally has a vegetable or fruit option. The idea in question is taking out offering soft drinks to the children at dinner and asking the family making the meal that week to provide fruit or vegetables with their dinner option. I, of course, think it is a great idea to take out soft drinks as an option and also to provide fresh fruit and veggie options. However, I think more importantly we need to be teaching our children the importance of the quality of food and ingredients we are putting into their bodies. I think it is so important for them to know how food affects us and how we need to be fighting for our health by doing everything in our power to help us be as healthy as possible.

Anyway, I ramble on because I want your opinion.

If you attend church functions (or similar functions) how do feel about soft drinks not being offered? Do you feel they should be an option for children to decide for themselves or should the option be eliminated?