My family eats soup almost year-round, but we eat A LOT of soup when it’s damp and grey outside. This creamy, cheesy, chowder is one of my favorites and I don’t even like bell peppers! The ingredient list looks a little long, but don’t let that deter you; most of the things you’ll probably find in your pantry and fridge already. Once everything is chopped, the soup comes together very quickly.
Another great thing about this soup is that’s it’s versatile. I think of it as a way to use up leftovers or the last bits and pieces of things hanging around in the fridge. Some extra crumbled bacon from last night’s baked potato makes a great topping for this soup. Substitute the cheeses for whatever you have in your fridge–the pepper jack is the only one I’m not willing to leave out!
The base recipe is delicious even without the addition of meat. Rotisserie chicken is an excellent, easy addition, as are those leftover spiral-sliced ham chunks you have stashed in the freezer.
It’s not an overly spicy soup, even with the jalapeno and pepper jack, so even your little ones can eat it. If you like it spicier sautee some red pepper flakes with the vegetables at the beginning.
I think soup always calls for some kind of bread or biscuit. We love these copy-cat Red Lobster Biscuits.
Let us know if you give this soup a try, we’d love your feedback!
XOXO
Doe
Doe’s Versatile Bell Pepper and Corn Chowder
A simple, creamy chowder that can be made as is, or add chicken or ham.
3bell peppers (yellow, red, orange)deseeded and chopped
1jalapenodeseeded and chopped
3clovesgarlicpressed or minced
1/4cupall-purpose flour
4cupschicken or vegetable stock
3cups frozen sweet corn kernels
4ozcream cheeseroom temperature
1 /4tspsalt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2cupshalf and half
1heaping cupcolby jack cheese (plus extra for topping)shredded
1heaping cuppepper jack cheese (plus extra for topping)shredded
2cupschicken breastcooked and shredded (OPTIONAL)
2cupshamcooked and diced (OPTIONAL)
crumbled baconfor topping
Instructions
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once the foaming has subsided, add onions, celery, peppers, jalapeno, and garlic and sautee until fragrant and tender.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegatables and stir to make a roux. Cook for 2-4 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste. Be sure to stir it frequently so it does not burn.
Carefully add the chicken stock all at once. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the broth begins to thicken a bit (10 mins or so), stirring occasionally.
Add the cream cheese, salt, and pepper, and cook until the cream cheese melts into the broth. If you are adding cooked chicken or ham, add it as well and cook until heated through.
Turn heat off and stir in half and half and both cheeses.
Ladle into bowls and top with extra cheese and crumbled bacon.
As you may have gathered from my sister Doe, I am not a menu planner. Is this a problem for me? Yes, yes it is. But I am one of those people who has to be hungry for something in order to want to make it for dinner.
Has this been a problem for my family? Yes, yes it has. Many a night I am just a girl standing in front of the refrigerator asking it to tell me what to make for dinner. I may have a lot of ingredients, but no ideas.
Every few years I’m inspired by Doe’s menu planning and give it a try. I start out weak, work up to mediocracy, and then fizzle out. It’s not my spiritual gift! That’s why I love this soup. I usually have the ingredients on hand (because I use whatever I have on hand) and this time of year it’s something I crave often!
I call it Whatever Ya Got Soup
The very best thing about this soup? You really do use whatever you have on hand. Do you have some leftover green beans and corn from yesterday’s dinner? Throw them in the pot. A random can of sliced carrots in the pantry? Throw them in the pot, too! A bag in the bottom of the freezer with only a few frozen peas? You got it, toss em in!
Maybe you don’t have any ground beef but you’ve got some kidney beans or some great northern beans–that’s fine–just substitute the beans for the beef.
Most any pasta will do for this soup, even broken up spaghetti pieces, but if you don’t have pasta, just throw in a diced raw potato or two.
You could put just about anything in and it makes a nice hearty meal, especially served alongside some yummy bread! One of my favorite bread recipes to make is from the cookbook “New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.”
This is a great book with a lot of wonderful recipes and most are very simple. I use the Master Recipe and if I keep a batch of dough in the fridge I can whip up a couple of small loaves in about an hour and a half. It makes a lovely rustic round loaf.
Hopefully, if you’re a non-planner like me, I’ve given you a little hope and maybe some dinner inspiration. Let us know if you give this soup or bread a try!!
XOXO,
Shan
Shan’s Whatever Ya Got Soup
A simple soup that can be made using whatever meat and veggies are hanging around in the pantry and fridge.
In a large pot brown the ground beef, drain, and return to the cooking pot.
Add 5 cups of whatever combination of liquid you've chosen and the soup mix. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
Allow the broth and cooked beef to simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes then add the canned tomatoes and vegetables. Cook unitl the vegetables are your desired tenderness.
Add the uncooked pasta (I usually use elbow noodles) and cook al dente.
Ladle into bowls and top with a little grated parmesan cheese.
I don’t know what it’s like in the winter where you live, but here in West Virginia, it is grey and wet a lot of the time. I can handle it during the holiday season because I’m distracted by all the twinkly lights, baking, and special music. Once I take down Christmas my home feels a tiny bit barren. I miss the cozy atmosphere the holiday season brings. This year, I am determined to keep more of that special cozy feeling that surrounds the holiday. Here are a few ways I’m going to try doing that.
I’m going to start by catering to ALL my senses.
Paying attention to the way things LOOK around your house is probably the fastest way to implement a cozy atmosphere; are things picked up and organized? Do I like the way my areas are arranged? Is there something that irritates me each time I look at it that I can do something about? Those are fairly obvious things that make a difference when it comes to making your home cozy. But when I think about the atmosphere of the holidays so much of it also involves smell, feel, sound, taste.
Smell: So much baking happens around the holidays but life is picking up speed at my house again so I don’t have a lot of extra time to whip up lots of goodies, but I can easily toss together a simmer pot and set it on my stove when I’m in an afternoon slump. If even that’s too much, I can pull out my essential oil diffuser and search for a great diffuser recipe on Pinterest. Orange is one of my favorite scents around the house. It smells fresh and clean and it also helps wake me up when all I really want is a nap.
Taste: I may not have time to whip up a lot of extra treats after the holidays, but I will still be cooking dinner. When it’s nasty outdoors I purposely plan “comfort foods” that are a little more heavy and rich like this Chicken Pot Pie from the Love Welcome Serve Cookbook, a quick and hearty taco soup (recipe pictured below), or even just opening a can of our favorite chili. Then I add in a light and fluffy carb, sometimes from scratch but more often something like Jiffy cornbread mix (I doctor it up a bit by adding an extra egg, 2 TBSP of melted butter, and 1 TBSP of sugar to the box mix), a can of Pillsbury biscuits or (our favorite) crescent rolls. Mmmmmm, I feel warmed up and cozy just thinking about it.
Sound: There are people home with me all day long so my house leans more toward the noisy side than it does the peaceful and cozy side so I rarely add music into the chaos, but one thing I have enjoyed is playing soft music while I cook or clean in the kitchen. Pandora is my online music go-to and one of my favorite channels is the French Cooking Channel. I also love The Getty’s channel when I’m looking for Christian music. I don my favorite apron, pour a cup of hot tea, and turn the music up just enough that I can hum along over the sound of the slicing, chopping, pouring, and bubbling. It changes my whole mood when I’m cooking dinner!
I’m not as familiar with Spotify, but BooMama205 and TheLazyGenius have made playlists in the past and talked about them on their Instagram accounts. Of course, you don’t have to go with an already prepared playlist; make your own playlist filled with music that lightens your mood! Cooking and cleaning aren’t the only times to play music, during dinner background music makes for a wonderful atmosphere, and while you’re soaking in the tub it’s delightful!
Feel: When it’s blustery and cold outside, I want all the soft, squishy, fluffy things tucked in around me. Cozy jogger pants, oversize sweaters, thick socks and my favorite slippers, piles of blankets, and pillows I can burrow into with a cup of hot tea, cocoa, or coffee depending on my mood. I love to end an evening curled up on the couch under a warm blanket, a hot beverage, and a favorite movie. A folded stack of blankets or a pile of pillows tucked into a shelf or basket just calls out for friends and family to settle in and linger a little longer under their warmth.
The atmosphere of all those things put together can really go a long way to keeping the winter greys outside and bringing the warm and cozy inside. The only thing that could raise the bar just a little?
Twinkle lights and candles.
I can’t even think of what in life is not made a little more cheerful because of a strand of fairy lights or a lit candle. A candle by your bathroom sink as you brush your teeth before bed, twinkle lights wound up carelessly in a jar on your nightstand, battery-powered candles strewn down the center of your dinner table, white Christmas lights dangling above your kitchen sink. Dim your lights friends, and enjoy a winter evening by twinkle lights and candles.
But winter cozy isn’t just about the physical parts of your home. We want you to find ways to make your everyday LIFE cozy.
Take a bubble bath. Place a few candles (or jars with fairy lights) around the room. Give your skin some extra TLC and hydration with a good sugar scrub. Saturate your hair in a good hair mask and while it soaks in put your feet up and read a few chapters of a book.
Drop off a basket of baked goodies for a friend. Include the ingredients for their own simmer pot in a cellophane bag tied with ribbon.
Plan a coffee date at your favorite local coffee shop (all by yourself if that’s what recharges you, with a friend, with your kiddos, or with your spouse) or if your weather is more temperate, fill a thermos, grab a blanket, pick up some treats form your local bakery and head out on a picnic at a park.
Put together a puzzle at home. Turn on your fireplace (or put one on TV), pour your favorite drink, and have a family puzzle night. Order-in your favorite pizza and you won’t even have to cook dinner.
Date-Night at home. Put your kids to bed early if you have them (or just send them to their rooms early if they’re older) and enjoy a quiet candle-lit dinner with your spouse. Maybe even throw a blanket on the floor and have a little living room picnic. Think through all the senses we talked about above and how you might incorporate some of those into your home-date. Who knows what kind of cozy it might lead to!
Eat on that china you usually save for special occasions. Let’s turn more regular days into reasons to use our favorite dishes. Spaghetti and french bread taste even better on china than it does on disposable. (Unless you’re just too exhausted for dishes, then spaghetti on disposable is heavenly!)
Go to the library and check out the maximum number of books you’re allowed. Get a variety, cookbooks, home decor, non-fiction, fiction, comic books, gardening books, whatever strikes you fancy. Plan a whole day and spend all of it cuddled up pouring over these borrowed treasures. If you’re the playful type, build a fort out of your couch cushions, bring in those battery-operated candles, all your piles of pillows and blankets and do your reading in there! Invite a friend to join you!
What do you think? Will you try some of these things at your house to stave off the winter blues? We‘d love to see pictures if you do. Share them on Instagram and tag @thesweetteasisters
“On Mondays We Memorize.” Did you catch the reference to the movie Mean Girls? It’s the first Monday of the New Year and we are ready for a little challenge and we really want you in our club. Instead of a club of mean girls, however, we want to build a club of Bible Girls and everyone is invited!
Shan has thoughtfully chosen 12 Bible verses that we will be memorizing throughout 2021, and we really hope you’ll join us. Each scripture was chosen to encourage your heart and grow your faith. We settled on memorizing only one verse each month so that we have plenty of time to let each verse really penetrate our hearts and memory.
If you’re not already, you’ll want to follow us (thesweetteasisters) on Instagram where we will be sharing the new verse on the first Monday of each month. We share a lot of other fun and encouraging stuff there as well, you don’t want to miss out!
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk about them as you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
It’s no coincidence that God commanded the Israelites to be about His word all-the-time and every-where. The more you encounter scriptures as you go about your day the more ingrained in your very being they become.
We’ve created a set of printable scripture cards to help your memorization work. You can download the free PDF here. We hope you print off multiple copies and leave them around your house where you’ll come across them throughout your day. You can tape a copy to the mirror in your bathroom, use one as a bookmark, keep a copy in your car, tape it above your stove or kitchen sink, leave one on your bedside table. Check out our Instagram stories each month as well and be sure to grab a screenshot of the current month’s verse that you can screenshot and use as a cover photo on your phone.
We’ve also included 4 of our favorite Psalms with the printable in addition to the 12 memory verses. If you’re feeling a little ambitious you can memorize them as well, but no pressure!
You’ll notice we’ve used an image of a teacup with each scripture we share. Besides the fact that we love pretty cups, we also love the analogy of a full cup being bumped and the contents spilling out–on us and those around us. We want our cups to be filled with God’s word so that when life bumps into us, in whatever way, we spill out that which is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. (taken from Philippians 4:8) To fill our cups with those things means we have to become intentional about memorizing God’s word.
We hope you decide to join us and we pray these verses bless and strengthen you as go through 2021. If you’re in with us, grab your scripture cards, mark your calendar and then pop over to our Instagram and comment, “I’m in!!” And don’t forget, on Mondays we memorize!
Does the thought of committing to daily Bible reading send dread down your spine? Or maybe it stiffens your back because of those “legalistic-perfect Christians”. Oh, friend, I hope it doesn’t, but I understand if it does. The guilt I used to feel every time I missed a day or got so behind I just stopped reading altogether was enough that for many years I barely opened my Bible other than on Sunday. I wouldn’t commit to reading because I was just so tired of failing.
Part of my struggle was I wasn’t sure where to start. I knew I could start with Genesis and go book by book, but that just felt overwhelming, and I didn’t always understand or have any context for what I was reading. Not understanding can make the word of God feel very remote and dry.
I also had trouble “catching up” or feeling behind if I missed a day. In my mind, I had to follow a specific plan to read a certain amount, on a certain day, at a certain time. And if I missed a day I felt as though I needed to read the previous day before I could read the current day. And if I missed multiple days? Two choices: binge-read or give up. I have chosen both in the past.
Can I give you a bit of encouragement, sister? Reading your Bible doesn’t have to be a burden. In fact, I’ll dare to say it SHOULDN’T be a burden. God didn’t give us His word just to add work to our day. Reading our Bible isn’t what saves us or makes us better Christians. But reading our Bible WILL help us as we function as believers.
How much easier is it to trust someone that you know personally?
How much easier to follow someone when you know where their heart is?
How much more likely are you to have faith in someone when you have seen and understand how they have handled themselves in the past?
The Bible tells us in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ “ NASB
Reading our Bible helps us to know and see God in a very real and life-altering way–if we can just get past our issues first. I’m going to share a few things that have worked for me and I think maybe they can help you as well.
The first thing I’m going to encourage you to do is kick your preconceived notions of “the right way” to the curb! Other than with an open heart and a teachable spirit, there is no “correct” way to read the Bible. God isn’t timing how long you spend reading or keeping track of what time of the day it was. He doesn’t care what order you read the books in or if you highlight and write in the margins. He doesn’t require that you read from your favorite Bible, or even READ at all. I promise God isn’t grading you on your Bible time. He just wants you to spend time in His Word and with Him.
Maybe you don’t have an hour or two to dedicate to the Word every morning, but I bet you can grab 15 minutes here and there throughout the day. You might be surprised how many verses can be read in just 15 minutes.
Don’t rely on the fact that you have your phone with you all the time, we’re too easily distracted by social media and the internet. I can’t tell you how many times I pick up my phone to turn on music and then wonder half an hour later how I ended up on Facebook without any music playing!
Try keeping an inexpensive Bible in multiple rooms of your house. Did you know you can buy a paperback Bibleon Amazon for about $3.00? The words in the cheap paperback are the same as the ones in your favorite leatherbound Bible. Consider keeping a paperback one in your kitchen (read while you’re eating breakfast or sipping coffee). You can keep another one in your car (read while you’re waiting on your kids or husband). The best place to keep one is probably in your *gasp* bathroom! Start leaving your phone behind and browsing the Bible instead.
I just recently learned that Jews view scripture as food and they “eat their portion” daily. I love that image. A bite here, a full meal there, and a snack for good measure adds up to nutrition.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal…Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6: 27, 35 ESV
Remember, there is a difference between READING scripture and STUDYING scripture. Both are important, and each produces fruit differently. I will never discourage you from doing a deep dive into God’s word to study it–cross-referencing, reading commentaries, making outlines, and listening to lectures, but if you’re already struggling to be in the Word on a regular basis, maybe it’s time to scale back a bit and do the basics. Much can be learned by JUST READING. Don’t even highlight or write in the margins if you don’t want to, just read straight through like you would any other story. Do the best you can, until you can do better, but don’t do nothing just because you can’t do it all.
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it produce and sprout, And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
Isahah 55:10-12 NASB
Ask God to give you a love and a hunger for His word. Sometimes, when I was making an effort to be in the Word, I didn’t enjoy it. I was tired, it was dry, I wanted to be sleeping…lots of reasons. So I confessed that to God (I’m pretty sure He could already tell) and I asked Him to please help me love it–to place a desire to read His Word in my heart. And before I begin reading, I ask Him again. I also ask the Holy Spirit to open my mind and heart to help me understand what I’m reading. God is faithful and He will help you.
Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight to my heart; For I have been called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16 NASB
Take advantage of technology. Somewhere I heard about an app for my phone called ReadScripture. It’s a year-long reading plan that can be started at any point in the year. (I just happen to like to start things at the beginning of something; like a Monday, or the first day of a new month, or maybe even January 1st!) You can read it at your own pace or their recommended pace. There’s nothing revolutionary about that though, that’s how it is with most plans.
What I LOVE about the ReadScripture app is that it’s meant to help you see the Bible as a whole story and to see Jesus as the running theme throughout. At the beginning of each book, there is a short video that gives you an overview of the book, along with information for context and how it fits with the big picture of the Bible. Occasionally, throughout the book, there may be other videos explaining different things. ReadScripture pairs with BibleProject.com where you can sign up to have the reading plan and videos emailed to you instead, in addition to a blog and podcasts. I come back to my ReadScripture app every time I start a new Bible study so I can rewatch the overview video as well as any other videos they have included. While I prefer to read my actual Bible, rather than on my phone, I do keep track of what I’ve read in the app.
LISTEN! Remember how I said you don’t even have to READ the word? Listening to it counts as well, friend! I remember my mother had all the books of the Bible on tape and it was in this huge hard-back case that weighed a ton. Now, you can listen to scriptures from your phone or computer with just a few clicks–and often for FREE. My favorite is an app on my phone called Dwell. It’s not free, but I love the different ways it can be customized. You can change the speaking voice, add music in the background, and there are multiple plans to choose from. You can also listen to “playlists” set up by other users. It has been well worth the $30.00 a year I paid for it.
I listen while I’m cooking or cleaning. Sometimes I listen when I’m driving somewhere or as I fall asleep at night.
Talk about what you’re reading or learning with a friend. This doesn’t have to be something formal or in person (unless you need an excuse to get together!) and they don’t have to even live in your town. Shan and I live 2500 miles apart and have begun having a weekly phone call to talk about what we’re reading. Sometimes it’s the same thing, other times we are each reading something different, but it’s so fun to see how often God is showing us similar themes. Some weeks we have to shift our call to another day or skip that week completely. We just pick up wherever we are when we do get to chat. Be warned though, if you are like Shan and me, your phone conversation could take up a good portion of your day. (And that’s the very best part for me!)
To Plan or Not to Plan? You don’t have to follow a reading plan if that’s not your style. Some people like the structure, some people do not enjoy being told what to do (or read)! The point is to do what works FOR YOU, in this season. I just came out of a season of just randomly reading different books in the New Testament. It was great, but now I’m ready for a little structure again.
If you’re the type of person who likes to have a reading plan in place and like to see yourself marking off the chapters, some of the apps I mentioned above will provide the ability to mark off and track what you’ve read. You can also go old school and print a paper copy to manually mark off. A quick search on Pinterest will give you MANY options!
There is more than one style of reading plan as well. Most of us are used to the “reading straight through” plan. Start at the beginning of Genesis and just keep reading in order until the end of Revelation.
Another option is the “chronological” plan. It might come as a surprise to learn the books of the Bible are not placed in the order in which they happened. If you want to read the Bible like a timeline, look for a chronological plan. You may find chunks of certain books are moved in within other books to create a full, chronological story.
The “five-day plan” divides the Bible up so that instead of reading seven days a week you are reading five. This might be a great plan for you if you like the idea of having two days to catch up if you get off track during the week.
If reading only in one Testament at a time is not your cup of tea, look for an “Old Testament/New Testament” plan. Each day you will read selected passages from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
A plan I hadn’t heard of before is called the “M’Cheyne plan”. Each day you will read two passages from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and another from either the Psalms or the Gospels. When you finish the plan (a year if you follow it as given), you will have read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice.
Whether you choose a plan or not, DO NOT GIVE UP, friend! You’re going to miss days or maybe even weeks. You’re going to not understand some things. You’re going to want to skip entire books in whatever plan you’re reading (ugh–Job!!). But whatever happens, just pick up your Bible and start where you were at the next time you can. God will still be there. His Word will be the same. You don’t have to be perfect because He has already filled in the gaps of our humanness.
I love the way Psalms 1:1-3 tells us that for those who delight in and meditate on the law of the Lord (night AND day), “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”
Our earthly lives are about seasons, my sisters. Some seasons are dry, some are rainy, and some are beautifully sunny. Some bear rest, some pain, and some work, but all seasons result in fruit–in its time.
Remember, whatever season you are in, it is a GIFT from God. Acknowledge it. Sit in it. Soak it up. It is God who will produce in us.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
