JEN SEVERN'S BLOG

I love using the crock pot.  It makes my Monday stress level drop in half.  This is a great recipe that our whole family enjoys.  There are usually some leftovers and it serves as a quick and heathy lunch for me all week. Beans 2 1/4 cups dried black beans (I use one bag) 4 crushed garlic cloves 1 onion chopped 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, veined, and chopped 12 cups of vegetable stock (3 boxes) 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon mild chili powder 2 teaspoons salt 8 to 10 flour tortillas Fillings: 1 cup chopped tomato 1 cup shredded lettuce 1 cup grated cheese Salsa Guacamole Sour Cream Place the beans in a large bowl, sorting through them and removing any stones.  Fill the bowl with water and let them soak over night.  In the morning strain and rinse the beans.  Place the beans in your crock pot.  Add garlic, onion, jalapeno, vegetable stock and seasoning.  Cook for 8 to 10 hours in crock pot. When finished, dr...

Laughed w/ Jess. Heard Girl Scout Cookies are coming next week:) Made a friend.  (My good friend's sister just moved out here and I am LOVING getting to know her.) Made a friend w/ a super sick kid dinner.  She was thankful, I was filled with Joy, and God was glorified. Cried with a friend. Talked to my mom. Had a heart to heart w/ my daughter. Admired at my son playing football in our back yard coming in covered in soil and grass. Listened to the magical creature my little one was today.  Half man, half indian, with the body of a crab and as many legs as a crab has, and wearing a pirate hat w/ a sword. Look out! Apologized to my husband and got cozy while the big bad wolf tried to blow our house down. Got 2 free lamps and 3 free tubes of toothpaste. Worked out a few times and slept in a few times. Went on a DATE with my hubby. Was reminded, Hope is ROOTED in GOD's UNFAILING LOVE.

My friend Kristina just did a post like this and it made me laugh.  I thought I would jump on the band wagon.  Keeping it real about this charmed life:)  Just so you know I am a real mom with real mom stuff.  I thought I would let you in on a few of my day to day disasters that happened THIS WEEK:) * Aim is an issue in our main bathroom for our kids, so there is always a nice mess at the base of the toilet. I am constantly trying to get it clean.  Today, I forgot and my shoes stuck to the floor. EWW. * I made dinner and came home hungry after running the carpool only to find out I didn't make enough... grumpy. * My kids kindly helped me carry in the groceries and put them away.  While helping, they knocked over a full glass of water onto a pile of papers, stuck a their thumb into an apple sauce that then squirted onto the floor, kitchen table and the chairs, and they found a spot under a Tupperware where some mold had grown, gross.  G...

1 small, KIND, thing today ?  & 1 tomorrow?  Share it! Leave a comment.   Not to boast, but to encourage kindness.  A good report is good for our hearts, if we all share a little of what we do maybe we will inspire each other?  Isn't that why we love the "make a wish stories", Halmark commercials and chicken soup for the soul?   I would love to hear your one small thing OR one small thing someone did for you today, that made a difference in YOUR day. “The world is not interested in what we do for a living. What they are interested in is what we have to offer freely - hope, strength, love and the power to make a difference! ” Sasha Azevedo (born 1978) “Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way. ” Barbara Bush (born 1925) “I have been impressed with...

Broncos vs. Patriots Tebow's FB status pre-game: Romans 8:37-39 37-39 None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

You Never Marry the Right Person Timothy Keller Thursday, 05 January 2012 How our culture misunderstands compatibility. In generations past, there was far less talk about “compatibility” and finding the ideal soul-mate. Today we are looking for someone who accepts us as we are  and  fulfills our desires, and this creates an unrealistic set of expectations that frustrates both the searchers and the searched for. In John Tierney’s classic humor article “Picky, Picky, Picky” he tries nobly to get us to laugh at the impossible situation our culture has put us in. He recounts many of the reasons his single friends told him they had given up on their recent relationships: “She mispronounced ‘Goethe.’” “How could I take him seriously after seeing  The Road Less Traveled  on his bookshelf?” “If she would just lose seven pounds.” “Sure, he’s a partner, but it’s not a big firm. And he wears those short black socks.” “Well, it started out g...

True.  True. True.

Just in case you need to see it again. Speechless! 

WWII.  Do you remember this time in history?  Do your kids even know?  Oh please, share it with them.  It is hard but good to remember.  Let us not forget the many lessons our history can teach us. If you stream on Netflix you can watch this: Masterpiece  Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank.   My daughter is studying Anne Frank in school, so we are doing our research.  It is an amazing story.   Click here for a wonderful review on the movie.   You can tour Anne Frank's secret annex here.  There is an amazing museum in Amsterdam in the Annex where they hid, which is now on our bucket list.   The museum website has a wealth of information.  Here you can track where she lived in  her short 13 years.  Including pictures of her home and the concentration camps she was sent to.  Fascinating! Enjoy!  Miep is my hero.  Otto is courageous and strong for his family.  Anne's refreshing honest...

Laced with homemade caramel sauce, this apple pie makes the perfect finale for an autumn meal. When preparing the sauce, stir only during the first 2 to 3 minutes of cooking, as instructed below. Ingredients: 2 rolled-out rounds deep-dish pie crust (I use perfect pie mix from Williams-Sonoma) For the apples: 4 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 8 slices 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice 3 Tbs. cornstarch For the caramel: 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar 1/3 cup light corn syrup 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water 2 tsp. granulated sugar Directions: Transfer 1 dough round to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish and gently press into the dish. Trim the edges flush with the rim. Reroll the dough scraps and cut out shapes using decora...