Leftover Chicken and Our Identity in Christ

Somehow, a stay at home mom of four has to find a way to draw God’s Word and leftover Rotisserie chicken into a blog post.  Multi-tasking.  It is what I do.  Asking the Lord to use everyday experiences to mold and transform me into His image, since those rare moments of me meditating and chewing on His Word are often interrupted by a diaper blow-out or a need to refill a cereal bowl.

The Lord has been graciously nudging me to freshen up on ways that I can build character in my children and little conversations like this nudge me all the more-

I lovingly set the buttery toast in front of her, smothered in homemade apricot preserves, “here you go, Darling Pie.”

“I not dar-pie!  I AUDREY GAIL.”

Steadfast, determined, certain of her identity.

Her brother is similar in his security, dare I say to him, “sorry charlie,” I will quickly be corrected that his name is Ryan McClaine.  Just in case I forgot.

I love it!  I so desire for my children to be secure, steadfast and unwavering in the identity that God gave them.  I want them to know in their heart of hearts what God has promised to be true of them.  I am praying that the Lord would continue to give me verses that show my children the promises that He has made for them.

When they grow, I want them to believe unequivocally who they are, lest some mean girl or dumb teenage boy, try to convince them otherwise.  I want them to know the manner of care and love that went into their very creation,

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together  in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained  for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  Ps 139:13-16

I  also want to know how to take that rotisserie chicken from the deli, that graces our table once a week and then sits in our fridge for days, and make it into something good and edible.  And like any savvy, multi-tasking mom, I find a delightful parallel between Psalm 139 and a rotisserie chicken.  Or at least a common word.

Chicken Frame Soup

Stick your leftover rotisserie chicken in a big stock pot.
Fill with water until it just covers the chicken.
Throw in half an onion and a couple cloves of garlic- I don’t chop mine because
1) I don’t like to listen to my kids whine at dinner about onions
2)  I don’t like to listen to myself whine
about how stinky my hands are after I chop onion and garlic
Add a bay leaf and some coarse ground pepper.
Boil until chicken is tender
(or at least until it isn’t dry anymore after spending five nights in your fridge).
Then strain the broth into another big pot, pull the good chicken meat off, add to broth
and ditch that gross carcass.

Bring broth back to boil and add about 1/2 pound of penne pasta.
While it is cooking to al dente…

…rinse a can of Navy Beans and chop up a couple carrots, add those to the pot.
Then, when the noodles are done, turn the heat off and add a container of basil pesto
(I used an 8 oz. container, but it could have used more).

And add a couple handfuls of coarse chopped Kale or green of your choice.

Garnish with shaved parmesan cheese
(and I like mine with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper).
Serve with crusty bread and butter.

As challenging as it is to tie leftover chicken and our identity in Christ together, I was so glad that I made this soup.  It served as a great “mom cure” for Avery and McClaine who fought the stomach flu this weekend.

Thanks for the recipe, mom!

Side note- during the flu season, I felt myself slightly uncompassionate toward those who had sick kids.  And then yesterday came, and with it, five loads of puke-covered clothes, sheets and towels, and hours of disinfecting.  So sorry to those of you who have endured this multiple times this year.

Extra Mommy

“I’m going to take this dog to the doctor and then I am going to take my mom to the doctor because she has been sick and she doesn’t get any chocolate.”  McClaine rambled to himself as he wrapped his dog stuffed animal in a blanket.

I interrupted his train of thought and asked why I didn’t get any chocolate.

He looked at me, totally baffled that I would be listening to his monologue.

“You said that your mommy has been sick and she doesn’t get any chocolate.  Why don’t I get any chocolate?”

He cracked up, fell on the ground laughing, and in between the gasps for air, he said, “no, I was talking about my extra mommy.”

That is the stuff you just have to write down.  Otherwise you might forget that he calls an octopus, “Oppletuss.”

We had the cousins over tonight (this picture is actually from last weekend- but it is so cute, I couldn’t help but post it.), and they are so fun!  We love their mommy and daddy, too.  My three month old nephew, Zane, weighs only one pound less than my 11 month old daughter.  Check out that little bundle of cuteness with McClaine and Avery.

This is cousin Wyatt, and he wasn’t particularly interested in a photo session-

Reece is still petite, but she continues to chow down on her butter enriched diet.  And she did gain two pounds in the past six weeks.

 

I love seeing daddy feed his little girl from the same high chair that he once ate in… He is such a good dad!

Do you see that little scab above McClaine’s right eye?  Yeah, it so doesn’t look like a big deal- but it was.  He tripped over a vine, amongst some land that Caleb has been clearing, and a thorn broke off into his forehead.  It took me, Oma, Opa, a blowpop, and a pair of tweezers to hold the boy down, pull up his flesh and remove that thorn that was burrowed in his brow.  It is healing up mighty nice!

It is such a blessing to have a little Swiffer in our family.  I just put Reece in the grubbiest clothes and she army crawls all over the house cleaning up after her big brother, two sisters and Rogie, who has gotten terribly spoiled with the cold, wet weather…

And last but not least, here’s what I cooked up for dinner tonight.  It doesn’t have a name, and I won’t be doing step by step photos like PW until I am making money like PW.  And I just looked down and saw that it was 11:15pm, so this is going to be snappy, drop me a comment and make sure you leave your reply email, if you have a question.

 

Creamy Parmesan Pastabock 

Sautee’ broccoli and sliced red pepper in olive oil and about a tablespoon of butter,until crisp/tender. Season with salt and pepper.

   Make some shredded chicken- I’m not getting into that right now, 11:30pm EEK.  Here’s how you do it.

Pile broccoli, red peppers, fresh, uncooked spinach and shredded chicken in a deep baking dish.

Put a big pot of water on to boil.  Boil 1 pound corkscrew pasta until al dente.

Now make a white sauce.  Here’s how you do it:

1. Make a roux.  Put about three tablespoons of butter into a large pan (just for fun and sanity, use the same pan that you sauteed the vegetables in) and add about two tablespoons of flour.  Cook over low heat, stirring often for about three minutes to cook the raw flavor out of the flour.

2.  Add your liquid slowly, while whisking.  You may need to turn your heat up a bit to thicken the sauce and get the lumps out.  I used about two cups of milk and two cups of broth from my chicken.  You are going to want a pretty thin sauce, because when you add it to the pasta, it really thickens up from the starch.

3. Add about 1 1/2 cups of shredded or grated parmesan cheese and stir until smooth.

Drain pasta and dump it on top of the veggies and chicken.

Pour your sauce over it all and stir it up.  Then top with parmesan cheese.

Have a great weekend… And cook up something good for the ones you love!