Marriage, Soup and Reality

So - anyone who has ever had a post-baby dinner delivered by our family is likely aware of my ability to rock chicken tacos. It's not like it's hard. Just toss boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen or fresh), some chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning into the crockpot. Let it cook. It works on any setting. I've done it for four hours, six hours, eight hours and ten hours. So . . . every setting on my crockpot. It works the same every time. If you happen to have an amazing husband like mine who makes homemade chicken broth it will taste even better. But, canned chicken broth works just fine.

New topic. But it's related. I promise. I have this new-ish friend named Ashley H. (Not to be confused with Ashley H. of The Bachelor-fame) (And ... ahem ... she needs a blog... just saying, Ash...).  Have you ever had one of those friends who, as soon as you meet them, you like them? Ashley is one of those friends. She quickly endeared herself to my heart with her love for the Lord and her love for my kiddos. And she's fun, an added bonus!  It is so easy to look at this young woman's life and see how she has been the Lord's from the time she was little. I've been blessed by her a bunch in the last few months.

Ashley is married to Eric's longtime friend, Sean. Sean and Ash are newlyweds. They've been married for a short and sweet six months. By the way - here are some BEAUTIFUL pics of their wedding. Ash did a lot of the decor herself. Look at the pics and you'll see why she needs her own blog ASAP. (Come on, Ash . . . you know you want to). Plus, they are just one adorbs couple!

I have been impressed by their desire to build their marriage right from the start. Sometimes, the first year of marriage isn't 100% smooth sailing, and they have been determined to work out those kinks early on. They've been spending Thursday evenings at our home with us watching the Mars Hill Church sermon series, Real Marriage. You can download the sermon series FREE at the Mars Hill website. And, there is a correlating book written by Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife, Grace.

We have dinner together on Thursday nights before we watch the sermon. A few weeks back, they showed up with this chicken tortilla soup for dinner. Ohmyyum.

Ashley H's Tortilla Soup 

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (If you're short on time, you can cook the chicken in a 9x13 glass pan in the microwave. Seven minutes per pound.)

1 can chicken broth 

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can diced green chiles

Directions: Combine chicken broth, cream of chicken (plus one can water) and taco seasoning in a pot on medium heat. Whisk together until blended. Shred your chicken. Add chicken to the broth/soup/seasoning mixture. Stir. Add tomatoes, beans (I drain the beans a little bit, but I don't rinse them), corn and chiles. Mix well. Keep on medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often. When it’s all ready to eat, top with cheese. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

How easy is that?? So - I told you this related to me making meals for people. I think this is my new go-to. Forget chicken tacos. If you've had a baby recently and we are bringing you dinner, speak up if you don't want this. Because you can be 99% certain that this is what I'll be holding on your doorstep when I come bearing dinner.

Finally, I've had some people mention recently that they think my house must be spotless all the time. To dispell the myth, I'm swallowing my pride and posting the following pictures. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) by the end of the day my kitchen looks like, well, a disaster. And, sometimes it even looks like this in the morning. Like, first thing in the morning. Because I didn't clean up the mess the night before. Here's the proof. Here's my daily reality. And, you can't even see the cookie that Jameson took around the house and smashed all over the floors while I made soup while making one twenty minute phone call. But, the soup was worth it - like heaven in a bowl. And the conversation was a little slice of heaven too - thanks Katie K for the sweet fellowship over the phone this afternoon. Made. My. Day.