The Chou Life

Just over a year ago (1 year and 2 weeks to be exact), we were living in Albuquerque and visiting my parents in Colorado Springs.  We joined them at church that weekend…here’s Calla in the nursery (look for the bright orange and turquoise!):

Little did we know on that visit that this would be our new church home, as we would be MOVING to Colorado in less than a month.  We were expecting baby #2 in four months and hoped to move to Colorado sometime after his arrival.  But the Lord apparently had other plans!

Basically, after a run-in with our apartment management over a large breed dog issue (“your dog is too big so either get rid of him or get out”) we decided to pack up and move.  400 miles north.

So, with only ten days to pack the contents of our apartment and find a place to live in a new state, we started hustling.  We took several 13-gallon bags full of old clothes and shoes to Savers and had a good laugh with our then-only-child.  Then we hustled some more.

This is the view from our Colorado front yard:

All that packing and cleaning and traveling and unpacking wore out our little girl.  And our big dog.

Now, we’re planning another move in a few weeks.  This time we’ll only be moving a few miles east to the next town.  We’re looking forward to a little downsizing and enjoying the benefits of living within walking distance of the nearest grocery store.  And the nearest coffee shop.  And the nearest park.  Right now, we live within walking distance of the nearest tree.

Please lift up a prayer for us as we begin to clean, pack, and work out the kinks of transition.  We’ll keep you posted!

-Abby

Oh, the vices of a three-year-old.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sweet little girl; in my opinion, she’s the smartest, wittiest, most beautiful darling that ever walked the planet.  But she’s also a master of wreaking havoc in an insanely short amount of time.  I suppose that’s the way of three-year-olds.

The other day, I left the dining room for…oh, maybe four minutes.  I came back to discover this:

“Calla!  What in the world??  What is this?”

“It’s salt, Mama!  Mmmm, lovey salt!”  (Yeah, that’s a phrase picked up from Wallace & Gromit…)

Apparently Hudson liked the salt too.

Calla had dumped out half a box of O’s cereal onto Hud’s tray and the dining table, and then liberally sprinkled it all with my precious sea salt from Trader Joe’s.  Keep in mind that we now live 7 hours from the nearest TJs.

But what can you do in a situation like this except laugh hysterically and then grab the camera?  I don’t know, because that’s what I did (after attempting to maintain a straight face while explaining to Calla why this was a very bad idea).

She pretended to agree.

-Abby

My momma celebrated a birthday over the weekend, and I hosted a tea party in her honor.  Considering it was my first attempt at a tea, I think it went pretty smoothly.  We all had fun, at least!

Since everything I know about tea parties I learned from my sis-in-law, Ruth, it makes sense that many of the ideas and recipes I used are originally hers.  Like the Curried Mango Egg Salad Cups.  Do you think I would ever come up with something so creative??

Eric was a great help–doing everything from washing dishes to setting the table to whipping heavy cream to taking pics of the food–and he even took the kiddos out for the morning so we could enjoy some peace and quiet with our tea and scones!

The menu went something like this:

• Currant scones (gluten-free) with lemon curd
• Dried apricots, dried figs, Granny Smith apple slices and raw almonds
  
• Jasmine green tea

• Curried mango egg salad cups
• Goat cheese, fig and pecan toasts
• Earl Grey tea

• Dark chocolate truffles
• Iced molasses cookies
• Hazelnut rolled wafer cookies
• Vanilla rooibos tea

The teas came from Gold Hill Java — not only do they roast their own beans and serve the tastiest coffee around, they also sell a large assortment of loose leaf tea.

Ten of us ladies enjoyed good food, lively conversation and sweet fellowship in the love of Christ.  Thank you Mom for giving us a reason to celebrate!  And thank you for being the best mom.  Ever.

-Abby

Chicken enchiladas (the lazy woman’s version) and refried beans (without the refry): this is one of my all-time favorite meals.  Not just because it’s easy to make with simple ingredients, but also because it makes me think of New Mexico.

These enchiladas I made a few nights ago didn’t have any green chile…*sniff sniff*…but they were still pretty darn good.  And fortunately, I remembered to put the beans in the crockpot first thing in the morning, so they were ready by dinnertime!

I can’t exactly say I have a recipe for this–it depends on what I have on hand at the time.

Here’s what I usually do:

-Boil some chicken (thighs, breast, whatever) and then shred it.  Or just buy a rotisserie chicken and shred.

-Combine chicken with some sour cream (or plain yogurt), a few tablespoons of milk, some salsa (and/or green chile) and a few herbs/spices (garlic, oregano, chile powder, cumin, cilantro, etc).  I’ll sometimes add half a can of cream of chicken soup too.  Depends on how healthy I’m feeling.

-Layer in a baking dish:

• Chicken mixture
• Two layers of torn-up corn tortillas
• Shredded cheddar cheese

-Repeat layers until it’s all used up.

-Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Yum.

For the un-refried beans, I combine 3 cups dry pinto beans (no need to soak) in a crockpot with 9 cups of water.  Add 2-3 tsp. salt, some chopped onion and garlic.  Cook on high for 8-ish hours.

When I made these a few days ago, I was gone for 10 hours and they turned out fine.  I like to mash half of the beans and then mix the mashed portion back into the whole beans.  Infinitely superior to canned refried beans!!

If you need a good homemade salsa recipe to go with your south-of-the-border meal, try this one, compliments of Eric’s salsa-loving sister.

-Abby

What’s better than a couple of clean kiddos in clean pj’s?  Not much, especially when they just had their first bath in almost a week!

Stinky no longer!

Isn’t she just beautiful?  Especially when she puts on her model face.

Now, if genetics could somehow transfer backwards and I could get her skin tone…

You’d never guess she contributed to possibly the worst grocery shopping trip ever yesterday at Safeway.  Imagine this sweet little girl screaming like a banshee, stealing her little brother’s toys, sneaking under the cart only to get her hand run over, knocking down rows and rows of ketchup, (and the list goes on, but I’ll stop here).

Thankfully, God was gracious to give me patience and gentleness in dealing with the crazy antics.  And I even scored a $2 iced grande mocha from the sympathetic lady at the in-store Starbucks.  But suffice it to say…I won’t be grocery shopping with her at 3:00 in the afternoon after she’s been awake since 5:30 AM.  Learned that lesson.

-Abby

“Fee Free National Park Weekend” happened on Saturday and Sunday–we took advantage of it by hiking at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which is just minutes from our home.  We took the Boulder Creek trail, a 3.2 mile loop with a bunch of big rocks at the halfway point.  Calla hiked the entire trail all by herself.  She’s turning into quite the outdoorsgirl!

Stick collecting seems to be a favorite hobby of our little hiker…

She LOVED the boulders.  Loved them.  This girl is very adventurous and very trusting of her mama and baba…I had just a few near-heart attack experiences…

Eric called her his “little rambo”…

The kiddos had to refuel after so much exercise and excitement.  No, we didn’t put Hudson on a diet, he just isn’t quite capable of eating PB&Js yet…

Can’t wait until our next outdoor adventure!

-Abby

My newfound summer afternoon enjoyment: cold-brewed coffee.

Ever tried it?  Cold-brewed coffee is significantly lower in acid than hot-brewed (which means it’s much easier on the stomach), and turns out smoother and tastier.

Many cold-brewed coffee drinkers are fans of the Toddy system (which I’ve never used), but I’ve been cold brewing in my french press and it works just fine.  Here’s basically what I do, using a ratio of about 3/4 c. coarsely ground coffee for 3 cups (24 oz) water:

1. Pour ground coffee in the press and add the water.
2. Stir the coffee into the water with a spoon–make sure all the grounds are wet.
3. Wait 6-8 hours or overnight.  I store mine in the fridge (if there’s room!) but it’s not necessary.
4. Press down slowly on the plunger, then pour the concentrate into an airtight container.  The concentrate can be refrigerated for up to a week or so without changing the flavor.
5. To make a cup of coffee, either add hot water, cold water, milk or cream to the concentrate.  The ratio depends on how strong you want your cup to be.  I tend to drink mine hot or cold depending on the temperature of the day!  And I usually prefer black in the morning, iced with milk in the afternoon.