A Song, Some Tears, and Toast

The first time I heard Chris Tomlin's World Edition of "How Great is Our God," I cried. Anyone that knows me is not shocked. The thing is, every time I've heard it since, I've cried. Again, this would not come as a shock to anyone who knows me. 

To say I was toast after watching the video would be a grand understatement. Just something about the different languages and cultures coming together in worship of our Great God...it just does something to my soul. 

Enjoy.

Slow-cooker Mexican Chicken (and the potential yumminess within)

We love Mexican food. I mean, luh-huh-huuuuuve Mexican food. So many have expressed interest in my Mexican Chicken recipe, I thought I'd go ahead and post it here. First of all, it's not mine; I got it off Pinterest, and here's the original post from Food Gawker . However, we've made some adjustments and I thought I'd share my version here.

First of all, I changed mine to Mexican Chicken, because for some reason I don't like the name "Salsa Chicken." Maybe it's because it's so much better than salsa...or maybe it's because I when I think of salsa I think of tomatoes. Bleh. Don't be hatin'. If I could like them, I would. Do you know what it's like living in the South and not liking tomatoes? I feel like a traitor. But I like grits, so that redeems me.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Chicken. First, here's the recipe:

 Mexican Chicken

3 lb bag frozen chicken breasts (not thawed)
20 oz jar salsa 
1 pkg taco seasoning (I make my own using this recipe here)

Place chicken in slow cooker (Let me say here that I use an oval 6-qt slow cooker. If yours is smaller, you may have to adjust the amount of chicken you use), sprinkle taco seasoning all over chicken, then pour salsa over chicken. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours until it can be shredded easily with a fork.

That's IT! How easy is that? Throw three things in the crock pot then enjoy! Ah, I'm telling you, it's my
favorite thing, EVAH.

Now, here's where you can have fun with it. We've used this chicken a number of ways, and all of them are scrumdiliumptious. We've made burritos, nachos, and quesadillas with it so far. Each batch is enough for two meals (for our family of three - and I have a 12 year old boy, so adjust to your fam's eating habits. Hopefully they are not quite as bottomless-pit-ish as my son's.), so we do one thing one night, then another thing the next. Here's how we do each one.

Burritos: 
You will need flour tortillas, cooked rice, Mexican melting cheese (NOT QUESO FRESCO!!! Don't ask me how I know this. Just trust the all caps and exclamation marks.) or Pancho's white cheese dip (do other areas of the country have Pancho's dip besides around Memphis?),  and any other fixin's like extra salsa and/or sour cream. We fix regular white rice, and when it's almost done, we put some of the juice from the crock pot and let it cook in to give the rice a not-so-white flavor. Then we throw everything on a tortilla and slather it with more white cheese. MMMmmmm.

Nachos: You will need the same as burritos, minus the rice and tortillas. Oh, and add lettuce. This is the easiest thing to fix. Just throw some tortilla chips on a plate with some chicken, top with your melted cheese and other stuff (maybe not quite so much sour cream...I think this was Kiddo's plate), and enjoy.



It was the second meal after last night's quesadillas. The quesadillas were something new we hadn't tried yet, but I got the idea after craving sautèd onions and bell peppers. So, I asked Sound Man what he thought about buttering some tortillas, slapping them in a skillet, and putting chicken, the craved bell peppers and onions, and some cheese (again, the Mexican melty kind) in them. He thought it sounded righteous.

In a word - yummalicious. I mean, this picture is from my husband's phone because we couldn't be bothered with getting the camera before stuffing our faces with this awesomeness. They were heavenly.

So, do yourself and your family a favor and make this chicken. Don't just do what I did here, make up your own take on it! I'd love to hear what you come up with...'cause I'm sure I'll be stealing it from you.

Happy eating!

Parenting from the Overflow by Teri Lynne Underwood

Several weeks ago my friend Teri Lynne invited me to read and review her book, Parenting from the Overflow. I was happy to do it because I love her and wanted to help any way I could. I also knew it would be a great book.

I wasn't wrong. Parenting from the Overflow isn't really a parenting book. I mean, how many of those are out there? A bazillion? Not that we don't need them, but this book is different. Read what Teri Lynne has to say about her book here.

As mothers, we are the model our children learn from (if that thought isn't enough to frighten you, I don't know what is!). If we live our lives trying to figure this parenting thing on our own, we're going to end up frustrated, confused, and exhausted.

Parenting from the Overflow shows that it's possible to parent from the overflow of what God is doing in our lives. If we're allowing the Lord to move in us as He wants to, then we will use HIS model to parent from.

Something Teri Lynne said in the book brought me to tears (and it was just in the Introduction!).

"But in the midst of all this parent-learning and child-rearing, 
I pray I never lose sight of the 'better part' . . . 
and I will never get 
so focused on being a parent I forget I am also a child.

My heart is set on being a child who first sits
 at the feet of her Father, 

who calls out for His guidance and leans on His Word. 
And as I focus on being the child He created,
I am certain of this:

He will give me the wisdom to parent the child 

He has entrusted to me."

(Parenting from the Overflow, Introduction, p. 9, highlighting mine)

Oh, that I would learn to sit at the feet of my Father and learn to parent the way He parents me! I long to be the daughter who looks adoringly at her Abba (translated from Aramaic as "Daddy") as He patiently teaches me from His Word.

Parenting from the Overflow is broken into three parts, the first using the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 to show the "Fruit That Overflows" from a life lived at the feet of the Father. The second part is filled with characteristics we will model to our children as we live out of the overflow of what He's doing in us. The last section is Bonus Content that has everything from how to resist "parenting publicly" (Facebook, anyone?) to learning how to get the most from your quiet time with the Lord and delving into Scripture.

All throughout the book there are questions and challenges she asks us to tackle. Some are easy to do...some, not so much. Which is one reason why I think this is such a great book!

I have not had the chance to really sit with this little book like I've wanted to. Almost every page had something in it that I wanted to really contemplate and "suss it out," as they say in Australia.  I can't wait to do that!

  

As part of the celebration of the launch of Parenting from the Overflow, Teri Lynne is graciously giving a PDF copy away to one Butterfly Genes reader! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment letting me know why you'd like the book. That's it! Easy-peasy. Of course, if you wanted to Tweet, Facebook, or any other kind of social-media-made-up-verb, go right ahead! I know Teri Lynne would appreciate the exposure!  

If you would like to purchase a copy, she has a PDF version for $5, a Kindle version for $5, and a  

print version for $8. How's that for a bargain! These are my affiliate links and by clicking and making a purchase you are being gracious enough to send a little commission money my way.

But even though I was given a copy of this book by Teri Lynne to review, and though I get a small commission from any book sold from my blog, this review and my opinions are all my own. I wouldn't support a book I didn't believe in, and I surely wouldn't put it on my blog. So trust me when I say this is something I believe in!

Now leave me a comment to enter to win! The giveaway will end Friday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m.