Dayle's Black Bean Soup

Mmmm...I am getting hungry thinking about it. It's 10 now - that's not too early for lunch is it?! I made this for dinner last night - it's easy & tasty & you can put just about anything you have on hand in it. And what good is it having a friend for an RD if she doesn't include a nutrition analysis in her recipes? So I've done the basics for you. Enjoy!!

Makes: ~12 cups. Serves 8
Per serving (1.5 c serving size)
Calories: 138
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 38g
Protein: 14g
Fiber: 23g
Sodium: 455mg

Ingredients:
1 TBS garlic, minced. I used 3 good sized cloves.
1/2 medium bell pepper, diced. Any color is fine.
1 jalapeno, diced finely. I only seeded 1/2 the pepper & left some seeds/membranes for a little kick! (This soup would also be good with chilis in adobo - I would only use 1...2 if you can take the heat!)
1 medium onion, diced. I used purple because we can't get enough purple onion at the Hogue's!
1 TBS EVOO
16 oz black beans. PLEASE use dried beans vs canned. I do the "quick soak" vs overnight. The back of the bag should tell you what to do - if it doesn't, I can help you out.
5c veg stock. Or chicken stock, whatever you have. You could definitely use low sodium, I just didn't have any.
2 tsp chili powder & cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander, onion & garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Garnish with roughly chopped cilantro, finely minced onion, avocado, sour cream & lime wedges. Nutrition note: 2 TBS (~1 oz) avocado will add 50 calories, 4.5g fat (healthy fat!) and 2g carbohydrates & 1 TBS light sour cream adds 20 calories, 1.25 g fat, 1g carb, 1g protein, 12mg sodium.

Method:
1. Heat EVOO in a large stock pot (at least 4qts) over medium-high heat

2. Add the veg - onion & garlic first, peppers after a couple of minutes. Allow to brown for about 5 minutes. (Note: Dinner always tastes better when prepared using a hand made wooden spoon from your talented grandfather! So use one of those if you have one on hand!)

3. Stir in all your spices until the veggies are coated.

4. Add your pre-soaked & rinsed black beans.

5. Add veg stock until beans are covered - about 5 cups.

6. Bring to a boil uncovered, cover & let simmer for at least an hour or until the beans are soft & your house smells wonderful!

7. Remove pot from heat. Scoop out & reserve some of the liquid (but don't scoop out the beans, about 1-2 cups) if you want a little thicker texture. You can always add it back in later if you need to thin it out some. Use immersion blender in the pot or transfer in batches to a blender.

8. Ladle 1 1/2 cups into your bowl, garnish & enjoy! If you really want to make your family happy - serve with home made tortillas! I recommend the Pioneer Woman's recipe.

WARNING: beware of stepping backwards without looking while in the kitchen. The deliciousness of what you are preparing will bring all able bodied people & animals to hover behind you - sniffing in the goodness. You may just step on some little toes if you aren't careful!

It's the Little Things

Like 30 minutes to myself (well, as much as I can feel alone w a husband & 2 large dogs in the house at the same time) to do some much needed yoga. My hip flexors are super tight from spin this week.

Being in T-Bone's spin class this afternoon. You can tell he & his wife (who teaches w him) genuinely love spinning. He uses lots of funky-motown-esk songs. And then MC Hammer came on too - which gave me a boost. I love songs that you wanna get up and dance to during spin. They make me smile & push a little harder. T-Bone also uses a black light & strobe lights. And he sings along w the songs & yells lots of encouraging things. And he has dreads. He's a pretty cool guy as far as I can tell!

A sweet husband taking my car to get the oil changed so I don't have to.

A sweet husband who thinks every meal I make is the best meal he's ever had.

A sweet husband who is into computer stuff & fixing stuff around the house. Quite a combo - I pretty much hit the jackpot.

Two big fur babies that are friendly, loving & smart who enjoy interaction with other dogs at the dog park. I'm always weirded out by people who bring grouchy dogs that try to start things with the other dogs that just want to play.

Music.

The way I feel after a hard workout. The way my body looks probably hasn't changed much but I feel strong - and I love that!

A sovereign God. Friends who are grounded in His gospel. Friends who speak the gospel into me.

I've been struggling with my thoughts lately. Thoughts seem like a little thing. They can start small but end up WAY out of control. The kinds of thoughts I'm talking about are ones that 1) end up with me in a bad attitude which always put a strain into our marriage 2) are lies 3) revolve around the past which we have been saved & removed from. Which is why I so desperately need the gospel more & more in my life. I want to eat it up & breathe it out.

It's been a difficult concept for me to put into actual practice: speaking the gospel to myself, my husband & those around me. So in this situation, what does this look like? Acknowledging my sin: letting thoughts take control in my head & heart - not ruling & subduing them into line with the Word. 1 Corinthians 10:3 says, "For though we walk in the flesh we are not waging war according to the flesh." This is the same section that says "take every thought captive to Christ" in vs 5. Rejoicing in Christ's work on the cross. Rejoicing in Him choosing me to move from darkness into His light. Thanking Him for grace. Clinging to verses that remind me that I now have power over this sin & freedom from this sin. Romans 6 says we are no longer "enslaved to sin" if you have been united with Christ. I now have power by the Holy Spirit over my thoughts. Seems like it should be a snap, huh?

Since I have been struggling in this area lately, I know I should pick a verse to have ready to call to mind when I start to feel these thoughts creeping in. I'm picking Romans 6:6 "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Ask me how this is going - email, text, phone call...whatever. I need accountability in this little thing! (How cool to think that memorizing "little" verses can make such a change in day-to-day!)

Time to go rule & subdue the laundry & kitchen/dinner :) (If you are a lady & haven't read Womanly Dominion by Mark Chanski -- you need to do that now! or ASAP. The Lord has used this book in a huge way in my heart. He just may use it to work on you too!)

Blog Resurrected.

Is it blasphemous to refer to a blog being resurrected?
I'm not convinced that's even the right word for what I've done. I didn't bring my old blog (Adventures in a New Frontier) back to life. I started fresh. Uploading photos to my Wordpress blog caused many headaches, tears & frequent gnashing of teeth. I'm hopping blogger will be a more enjoyable experience. Enough of that though.

I've had the urge for a while to start chronicling life again - especially as things will be changing soon. Chad has been flying through EOD school (with just one little setback so far) and we are hoping to be moving to our next (unknown as of now) station in 3-4 months! They say change is the only thing that's ever constant right?

Speaking of change (pathetic segway, I know!) I wanted to share briefly now & more to come later - about the changes the Lord has been working in my heart. To say that our first year of marriage was easy (or even mostly enjoyable) would be a huge overstatement. This last year has been filled with frustration, anger, pride & many poorly handled situations in our marriage. Not to say that is all behind us or that we won't encounter any in the future. But the Lord has been so faithful! He constantly has been reminding us that we are both imperfect sinners (Romans 3:23) and will both let each other down. But we have been so blessed by grace (...but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more...Rom 5:20)! And we have reveled & basked in that grace over the last couple of months. And while we grow to understand more & more the Gospel of grace in our lives, we see more clearly the sin that entangles us. It is an ugly battle - the killing of pride, resentment, distrust & laziness. Colossians 3 is all about putting off the fleshly self & taking up Christ instead. I am so thankful for a husband who leads the charge against these offenses in our marriage! We are so far from perfect, but we are enjoying this time of growth together - learning what it means to glorify God in all aspects of our marriage!