Adoption related gifts

For Christmas, we received a couple of adoption related gifts from out  parents.  My mom and dad gave us a book called I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla.  The book discusses what children understand about race and how to talk about race with them in a positive manner.  I have not gotten very far into, but I really like it so far.

James' parents gave us these cute Christmas ornaments.  We are hoping to adopt a pair of siblings and we'd both love it if we got sisters, but we're open to what God has for us.  We didn't get to see James' family until after Christmas this year, so we didn't get to put these on our tree this year.  They will be on it next year though!

Three Bean Chili

I've been trying to get my chili recipe ironed out, and I think I've settled on this recipe.  I made it on Sunday for dinner, and it was a success.  Chili and other foods that are supposed to be hot, are a bit challenging for me.  I want those foods to be spicey enough for my husband, but that usually means that it'll be so hot that it makes me sick.  It is hard to find a balance.  He did put some Tabasco sauce in this, but not until he was almost finished with his bowl of chili.

2 lbs ground beef
1 large white onion, chopped
1 (10 oz) can original Rotel
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (12 oz) can tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp. sugar

In a large pot, brown ground beef.  Drain and return to pot.  Add chopped onions and simmer until onions are transparent.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Mardi Gras wreath

Here's a photo of our Mardi Gras wreath that I made yesterday.




I spent less than $20 on the materials! I got everything at Michael's, and I had to return a couple of items that I had purchaced a few weeks ago. The return gave me a $20 credit. The cost of the materials does exclude the mask. I found it in my box of Mardi Gras decorations. I used it on the mantle last year.

I'm pretty pleased with the way the wreath turned out. It is much nicer than what graced our front door last Mardi Gras. Some of you may remember that tacky plastic green and purple sign I had put up. Don't worry. I threw it away after Mardi Gras last year. Ha!

Taco Ring

I think this is an old Pampered Chef recipe.  I made it Thursday for dinner, and we both really liked it.  I found it in a cookbook that was put together by the employees at the office James worked at when we lived in AR.  It was incomplete though.  There were no instructions given for two of the ingredients, so I decided to document what I did so I'll know the next time I make this.

1 lb cooked ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 c. shredded Mexican  cheese
2  Tbls. water
1/2 cup black olives
1/2 medium sized white onion, chopped
2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
serve with salsa, shredded lettuce, and sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl combine beef, taco seasoning mix, cheese, water, black olives, and onion.  Unroll crescent dough and separate into triangles.  Arrange triangles in a circle on round baking stone with wide ends overlapping in center.  Scoop meat misture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at the center of the ring.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Slice and serve with salsa, shredded lettuce, and sour cream

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

1/2 stick butter
2 Tbls. poppyseeds
2 (14 oz) cans cream of chicken soup
6 boneless/skinless chicken breast
16 oz reduced fat sour cream
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1/2 cup french fried onions

Boil chicken and chop into very small pieces.  Mix soup, sour cream, and poppyseeds together.  Add chopped chicken.  Place in 9 x 13 casserole pan.  Crush crackers and mix with onions.  Melt butter and mix with crackers and onions.  Spread crackers mixture on top of chicken mixture.  Cover with foil.  Bake for 25- 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes so crackers will brown.

This freezes well.  Just get it prepped and put in freezer.

Ethiopian Coffee

One thing I've learned about since we've been working through our adoption paperwork and educating ourselves about Ethiopia is their coffee.  Ethiopia is where coffee was first cultivated.  According to national folklore, the origin of coffee is firmly rooted in Ethiopia's history. Their most popular legend concerns the goat herder from Kaffa, where the plants still grow wild in the forest hills. After discovering his goats to be excited, almost dancing on their hind legs, he noticed a few mangled branches of the coffee plant which was hung with bright red berries. He tried the berries himself and rushed home to his wife who told him that he must tell the monks. The monks tossed the sinful drug into the flames, an action soon to be followed by the smell we are all so familiar with now. They crushed the beans, raked them out of the fire, and distilled the stimulating substance in boiling water. Within minutes the monastery filled with the heavenly aroma of roasting beans, and the other monks gathered to investigate. After sitting up all night, they found a renewed energy to their holy devotions.

There is a local coffee shop called Kaldi's here in the STL area that sells Ethiopian coffee.  We thought it would be a fun gift for our parents at Christmas, so we got them a small bag of beans and a coffee grinder.  We got the same for ourselves - or for me rather, since James doesn't care for coffee.  It is very good.  It had no bitter taste, no bite.  I usually end up dumping a lot of flavored creamer in coffee to hide the bitterness, but I don't need it with this coffee.  I like to put just a small amount of milk in it.  It smells so good too! Kaldi's does sell bags of these bean online.  A 12 ounce bag of whole beans is $9.49.

Tying up loose ends

We are finally practically finished with our paperwork.  We mailed the last of our documents and payments (for now) to our social worker's office today.  This has taken 6 months.  I hardly know what to do with my free time now!  Much of my free time since June has been consumed with letter writing, required reading and online training, and other adoption related paperwork.

Our social worker has to get the documents that we just turned in sealed by the MO Secretary of State.  Then the next step is sending our completed dossier (the mound of paperwork) to Bethany's national office.  Then it gets sent to DC then on to Ethiopia.  The offical word from Bethany is to expect a wait time of 12-15 months, however they have recently added more orphanages in Ethiopia to their network and some families have gotten referrals in as little as 8 months.  So we will see!

Thanks to those of you have or been praying for us, and huge thanks to those of you who have written letters and served as references for us.  You played an essential role in helping us bring our child(ren) home.