Autumn, are you here?

I say "Autumn" because "Fall" looked weird with a comma after it. Not to sound like an expert writer, or a vocab snob. Even though my husband makes fun of some words I use (for example "creme rinse", "fish crackers", and "coming attractions"), Autumn is not one of those.

So yes, we are excited for Fall to get here! It has been raining non-stop for the past week so that has cooled the weather down quite a bit. Kids are back in school so things have slowed down at the campground as well. For some reason, (crazy, I know?) I have been in the mood to cook! I actually love to cook, I just never have the patience or the budget to follow a recipe. However, I found this awesome website called "CrockPot Girls" and I wanted to try out a few of their recipes. But what started it all was making my mom's chicken tortilla soup.This is one of Jin's favorite meals so I wanted to try it out. He had to work a few hours later than me so I had a lovely afternoon grocery shopping and cooking up this delicious fall meal. Here's the basic recipe.

1. 2-3 thawed chicken breasts
2. 1 onion
3. chili powder
4. 1 can of Rotel
5. mild salsa
6. 1 avocado
7. shredded cheese
8. tortilla chips

And, I think that's it. Mom, please correct me if I missed something. So here's what you do. Cook the chicken with the onions in the crock pot for about 4 hours. Then take the chicken and onions out (leaving the broth) to cut them into little pieces. Add Rotel, a couple shakes of chili powder, the salsa, (I also added some taco sauce because I wanted to get rid of it), and you can add a can of chicken broth if there isn't enough. I had to. Then let it simmer in the crock pot for another hour or so. Then you are ready to serve! Pour into bowls and add shredded cheese, cut up avocado, and tortilla chips. I also made some yummy cornbread to crumble into my soup but Jin thought that was weird. Its up to you! 

So that was Monday night. Tuesday night was a taco party at the camp ground. Wednesday and Thursdays are our days off so I decided to try out the crock pot girls' recipes. Wednesday was Beef Tips over Rice. It was delicious. SO easy and it was yummy!! Tasted like pot roast. Next time I want to add some vegetables. 

Thursday night I made Chicken Fettuccini. It was good too and very easy. I added some white wine and garlic to this recipe and then grilled portobello mushrooms on the side. It was delicious! So as you can see by these uber-simple recipes, I am an average cook at best. But I'm having fun! And, I got the October edition of Everyday with Rachel Ray. The cover had pumpkins on it and I couldn't resist. Here's what I'm thinking about trying next week: Turkey Chili, and "Gobble it up" Chicken and Corn soup. I'll let you know how it goes! 

On another note, it has been exactly 3 weeks since Jin had his accident. He's been walking with the boot every now and then and we head back to the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday for an update. Hopefully he will tell him he can start walking without the crutches! 

I leave you with this verse. Something I've been learning this week. 

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.