Ginger Turns 30!

Ginger,
When I thought about writing this note to you two words came to mind: babies and food. When we first met you guys Bauer was still really just a baby, and Silas was our new baby. I remember you all were at our house for a meal, which of course included a big green salad, which led to a discussion of Annie's Naturals dressings, and Dr. Fuhrman and Eat to Live, and so on. It was fun to find friends who were also interested in healthy eating and good food.

Since then we've talked and emailed plenty about the babies and how they've grown and what to feed them. We've exchanged recipes and we've each had another baby boy. Ginger, I appreciate your honest searching and desire to follow after God and live a life that honors Him and blesses the people around you. I pray that God will continue to guide you and strengthen you in this season of mothering little ones. I'm thankful for our friendship and I hope we can continue to encourage one another as we each navigate our paths in life.

I thought I'd pass along this recipe for the dish that I made for your family just after Cash was born and while I was waiting for Isaac to arrive. We used to call this "Fooled Millie Chili" because the first time she ate it she commented on how much she liked the meat in it. But now that she's older we just call it Vegetarian Chili. Creative, huh? :)

Vegetarian Chili

1/2 cup dry black beans
1/2 cup dry kidney beans
1/2 cup dry great northern beans
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 teaspoons mustard
1 can corn
1 cup diced or shredded zucchini, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Soak beans overnight. Drain beans, then cover with water and cook in a large pot for about an hour. Drain beans, and in the same pot saute the green pepper, onion and garlic in a little bit of water or olive oil until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans back to the pot along with the broth, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, basil and mustard. Allow to simmer for about another hour, until beans are tender. Near the end of the cooking time, add the corn and zucchini (if using), and season with salt and pepper.

Hopefully the above recipe turns out a good result! I probably vary it slightly based on what's on hand nearly every time I make it, so it's definitely flexible. You can substitute canned beans to simplify it. I feel like the vegetable broth is key. I get Celifibr Vegetable Medley bouillon cubes from Fruitful Yield, which make a really good vegetable broth. You could use any vegetable broth you like, though.

I'll leave you with a scripture and a quote:

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