Hard Work...

I've been thinking lately that a lot of the things in my life even the promises and blessing God gives require WORK not just half-hearted work but full on truly dedicated blood sweat and tears never stopping cuz it only gonna get harder HARD WORK...

Marriage is HARD WORK

Raising Children is HARD WORK

Being a child of God is HARD WORK

Even little things seemingly unimportant yet important meaningful things to me trivial to most probably and not taken seriously by much of the world... The world has invented shortcuts to many of these desires...

Natural child birth is HARD WORK (so hard I can't even fathom it just yet but I pray for the strength even now, Is it odd I feel like its my biblical right to experience pain during childbirth...)

Using cloth diapers will be HARD WORK ( lots of laundry, not so pleasant smelling laundry. I'm thankful for those who've gone before me... I will treasure their advice and suggestions )

Being a stay at home mom will be HARD WORK ( Not to mention God still hasn't disclosed to me if that is His plan.... but I keep praying it is and praying if it is not He will give me what I need )

Homeschooling my children will be HARD WORK

Being be a good steward of the Earth God has given us is HARD WORK ( this explains the cloth diapers and why I give Steve a dirty look when he suggests we use paper plates... LOL )

Now in all honesty one should know its kind of a gimme isn't it that all this stuff would be HARD WORK... its not rocket science its not a deeply guarded secret but I think often times we glaze over it or life gives us this idea that it'll all be ok and we don't have to work that hard... Life even gives us shortcuts to some of these things... like divorce and public school and disposable diapers... Convenience Ahh! My Dad likes to say that what everyone always hopes for and strives for is "an easy satiated life" a need for nothing... and yet even people who seemingly have need for nothing seek after things are never truly satisfied.... Only God satisfies!

God has been showing me lately asking me I think... all these things are well and good and because I desire to honor Him in them He is willing to bless us with them but I think He's also preparing me for the full on truly dedicated blood sweat and tears never stopping cuz it only gets harder HARD WORK...

Good thing I have Him cheering me on, giving me a hand up and providing for me. Praise His name for showing me the blessings that come from that hard work... may every drop of blood sweat and tears be for His glory! May my committment and desire in these things be with a heart meant to serve my Father in heaven! May it be His strength I depend on and draw from as I do what He commands!

The Mis-Adventures of Steve and Dea Goble...

Our sweet little car its hard to believe we've had it for a whole year... and it was time to register it... In our efforts to be responsible and mature we took it to be smogged 2 weeks before the registration was due ( after reminding each other for the last month that it needed to be done...) Steve had anticipated we'd have trouble because we had a check engine light on and so we did wanna make sure we had time (and money) to have any necessary repairs done... We took it last weekend to be smogged and despite my few prayers it didn't pass... they plugged it into the computer and got 2 error codes they didn't even bother to see if it was pouring toxic smog into the air they just plugged it into the computer and gave us 2 error codes (one of which they couldn't even define) They laid it out they told us if we put so much money into repairing it they could wave the smog thing and we could still register it so we found a shop that could do the work...

**Fast Forward to today... We woke up early... we hopped in the car and we drove over to the shop... now the shop was close to home we figured we could drop it off easily enough and walk home and since it was a bit of a walk we'd stop halfway through and have breakfast... we dropped the car off and were told it could take all day... we started walking... it was nice beautiful morning cool but not cold perfect weather for a nice walk... We made good time and before we knew it Steve was tucking into french toast and i had a plate of biscuits and gravy in front of me mmm we left full and ready to conquer the remaining walk home... we were about 6 blocks off when the phone rang... it was the shop... They'd looked at the car and had a fair idea it would pass smog... so Steve told em hook it up if it passes call us back... we stopped at the nearby 7-11 for a cool drink and to wait for the phone call because the phone call would mean we'd turn back and start walking back to the shop and if the phone call was bad news we'd continue walking home and spend the day waiting to spend $300 so we could spend another $50 and register it... we sat outside the 7-11 discussing our options finally we decided we didn't want to wait at the 7-11 all day and the guy said it would only take about 5 min to re-smog... so Steve called and it had passed!!! We woo hoo'd and Thank God for the surplus $200 in our bank account and began the walk back to the shop... discussing how we would spend the rest of the day.... there was red velvet cupcakes and more episodes of a new tv series... Steve also had a run in with a razor blade.. all in all not too bad...

What Gobles Gobble... Chicken salad

All summer long I crave it chunks of yummy chicken in a creamy dressing with a salty crunch of a nut here or a fresh crisp bit of celery and the best big juicy burst of a grape in the middle of all of the other delicious goings on! I've craved it to the point of spending $7 a pound for it at Whole Foods! NEVER AGAIN! i can make like 2-3lbs for $7 lol How is it possible that i was afraid to make chicken salad... I'm not afraid to make anything... really... (well ok thats not totally true) I never brought it up to Steve cuz he has an instant hesitation for anything that comes to you bathed swaddled and wrapped in mayonaise. Until Father's day thank you Manhattan deli! Steve took a taste thought it was good and with most things eventually allowed me to show him how delicious it realy is... He proclaimed several times how much he liked it how it was exactly what he's been wanting for dinner all summer long something cool and refreshing... We had home made chicken salad with some good fresh bread and some melon... It was a great easy dinner! I'm thinking it'd be great picnic food too!

Chicken salad with grapes
1 Cooked chicken, cooled, cut into cubes (I bought a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store but you could roast or poach your own)
2-3 stalks of celery, finely diced
4-6 green onions, sliced
2 apples seeded and diced ( I used golden delicous, but a more tart granny smith would be good)
1/4 c toasted pecans, chopped
salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste
1-2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup Mayonaise (approxiamately i just add it by the spoonful until its coated)
Red seedless grapes, as many as you want they're my fave part!

Mix everything together except the chicken and grapes then when it is combined fold the grapes and chicken in.

Asher means Blessed...

The little Squirt is here.... all stitched up and ready to be packed in a box and sent to Michigan to keep nephew #3 company... :) Lately I've really been thinking about family how badly I miss Steve's family how its so sad they're so far away. We miss out on so much birthday parties, graduations, weddings and now the birth of a new family member... Our first nephew Gabe is going to be a big brother on Wednesday. I'm sure he'll be a good one as soon as he figures it out He's already very excited to play and share his Spider man toys... Uncle Steve and I have sent a baby gift to Asher (a new stroller) and a big brother gift to Gabriel ( a Spider man bike with training wheels) of course my fingers couldn't let punching my credit card info into the web page be enough tho! Asher is also getting a cuddly basket weave blanket with a small turtle swimming across it... An adorable frog hat some warm fuzzy socks, an elephant bib among other things... like the huge huggable stuffed turtle that jingles, is soft and cuddly... :)

I cried a little folding everything up thinking about this new baby boy God created and praying about the life he'll have. I pray God would be with him always and his name would be true in his life...I pray he is blessed and he learns who the provider of those blessings is... Its so funny to love a little person not even born yet... not knowing when I'll get to meet him or hold him but just to love him as his Auntie and spoil him with tangles of yarn :)

I hugged these things close sending my love in a box to Michigan to keep these sweet boys warm.... I didn't forget Gabe either he'll have his very own bright colorful blanket to snuggle up in.

I'd like to teach the world to cook....

I realized something walking around the store today so many people in this country don't cook really don't cook. It got me thinking ya know when Steve and I go to the store we kind of stick to the perimeter where the whole real foods are we occasionally drift down the aisles for the odd canned vegetable or bag of rice, beans or flour. But on the whole I hope we don't do too badly when it comes to the choices in our shopping cart.
My pantry isn't perfect. I have cake mixes and pre-made cake frosting. There is always a brownie mix or 2 in there also the odd side dish helper. The top shelf has lunch stuff and popcorn more of the junk food things we seem to never eat but that's besides the point. I confess to some pre-packaged convenience food short cuts on occasion!!! However, overall I think it would be fair to say that I don't really cook with that stuff.
I was noticing carts around me at the store tonight with piles of tv dinners stacked like tall buildings cushioned by pillowy potato chip bags on a foundation of diet pop the biggest irony of all... (I do confess an abiding love for pepsi and a stubborn reluctance to even consider its removal or reduction in my life...is a 12 oz can a day really that horrific?? I try not to think about it...I drink like a gallon of water a day lol ok I'm going to stop justifying my horrible behavior now) I couldn't imagine dinner being whatever I could pull out of the fridge/freezer and then microwave into existence or wait whoa some of them even work in a skillet... mmm yummy....
Good REAL food doesn't take more time it doesn't take more money( I promise I'm CHEAP) it doesn't even take a lot of skill... all it takes primarily is just a little thought. The ability to handle a knife and a decent spice cabinet can help you along the way too.

***** BREAKING NEWS*****

This type of cooking doesn't even necessarily require a recipe...

If you have taste buds you're all set!

Retire your microwave. Buy a cutting board did you know those shriveled dried up colored bits in the "flavor pouch" aren't really shriveled up things in real life and they don't have to be glazed in ice either! ( right now I'm trying to remember why we own a microwave?? Popcorn? a placed to store baked goods? ) Meat doesn't come pre-cooked and real chicken doesn't look like that. It makes me sad to think of all the culinary joys and adventures in the world and to see how our society lives and thrives and drives on over salted faked to be cheap pre-processed dehydrated food on a daily basis... I know this rant has been ranted 100 times but still our stores are filled with a new "just add Water" or "microwave for only 90 seconds" package every day and grocery carts seem to be taking them into our homes also....

I'd like to teach the world to cook...

Randomness... because its been awhile...

Random thoughts for the week:

* I wonder if Steve and I will ever get tired of baked sweet potatoes I think we've been eating them like once a week lately....

*I searched high and low for a silly pattern to crochet a stuffed turtle for nephew #3 Asher Levine Southwell who will be born on July 8, 2009 when I finally found a pattern I liked the woman wanted $8 for the pattern so I looked at her picture very carefully and invented my own... Pictures will follow as soon as the sweet squirt is stitched together (the turtle not the baby)

* The veggie soup I made way back whenever probably around the time of my last random post is still stupendously delicious after its long sojourn in the freezer and is especially soothing to the sore throats that are currently visiting the Gobles this week... silly allergies! We hope its allergies is anyone else sick?

* That banana picture reminds me of the 5-6 blackened bananas sitting in my freezer waiting to be delicious banana bread... My friend Jessica said she freezes banana's when they get too soft I adopted this idea and think of you every time I freeze them Jess! :)

* I had some really great chicken salad this weekend when we took my Dad out for Father's day. My Mayo-cautious husband even agreed it was delicious and agreed I could try concocting my own delicious chicken salad!

*I miss the rain! Lord please bring back the rain it was delicious perfect weather the house was cool... Now its too hot to cuddle my husband at night and that makes us sad!

* I saw the most beautiful blog about a loaf of bread complete with a gorgeous picture made me miss the sensation of kneading dough being up to my elbows in it and creating soft pillowy bread warm from the oven with honey drizzled on it... Someday Lord can I stay home and raise my children in the fear and admonition of you and bake bread?

* Speaking of children all these babies popping up everywhere sure makes a girl think about being a mommy... sometimes I cuddle Izaiah and nuzzle his soft little head and wish it was my turn soon... I hear about books that are helpful and things and wonder if maybe I shouldn't start researching and reading up on this stuff... beyond passing decisions about natural labor, doulas and cloth diapers....

*Several crochet projects I've seen recently have required buttons I wish I had my grandma's button collection it'd be so handy... I miss my Grandma more than her buttons tho.

*My birthday is coming up soon and my sweet husband has been putting money away to treat me to a delicious dinner... I think right now its a tie between a fancy dinner at the Bistro Napa or Sushi and dessert at the Chocolate Bar...

*Do I ever talk about anything not related to yarn, food or my Steve?

What Gobles Gobble... Summer Supper

I think after the rains of the past week have past and the gray clouds have parted into Clear blue sky that the time has come to welcome summer! We discovered this recipe in the middle of the cold winter a genius idea Steve had to make Chicken with guacomole... a yummy enough idea til I took it to the next step with this fresh salad... It was a welcome and delicious taste of the summer to come. It was so delicious I decided it would be a great meal to share with friends so I made it for our friends Brad and Kelly once who also loved it... Since Kelly asked for the recipe I figured while I was typing it up I might as well share it here too :)

Mexican grilled chicken with Guacomole and Black Bean and Corn salad.

This will probably serve 4 adults with leftover salad

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1-2 limes, juiced

1 pkg of taco seasoning

1 gallon size ziplock bag

1-2 good pinches of salt

Marinate the chicken breasts in the lime juice, salt and taco seasoning for at least an hour. Of course you can make it a day a ahead if you'd like. Cook the chicken to your preference BBQ it or pan fry etc...

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Mix the following together in a bowl

1 can of rinsed black beans

1 can of corn, drained

1 red bell pepper diced

1 good handfull of chopped fresh cilantro

3-5 green onions, chopped

2-3 limes, juiced

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tsp of cumin

salt and garlic powder to taste the salt is important its what makes everything pop.

This tasting step is important!

You can easily double this just by using 2 cans of beans and corn... Its also very easy and better if made ahead so the flavors can kind of blend :) This also makes a delicious high fiber salsa with the addition of a chopped jalapeno which is optional if you're not a spicy wimp like me :)

Guacomole ( you can buy it pre-made or this is my basic recipe)

2 ripe mashed avocados

the juice of 1/2 lime

garlic powder, to taste

seasoning salt, to taste

pinch or 2 of cumin

1/2 tomato, diced

some fresh chopped cilantro

Stir together and taste for seasoning.

I like to serve the chicken with a spoonfull of guacomole on top but you can do whatever you like. :)

Welcome sunshiney days and bbq dinners swimming pools and popsicles! :)