Southwestern Stuffed Puff Pastry...and Perspective!

"You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are;

because it is the "I" behind the "eye" that does the seeing."

~ Anais Nin

I can't remember who told me this true story, very likely Skip Heitzig and I think I was about 16 when I first heard it, but I remember the story well. It goes something like this:

"There was a man who was once robbed of his purse. He wrote in his diary: 'Let me be thankful. First, I was never robbed before. Second, although they took my purse, they did not take my life. Third, although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, let me be thankful because it was I who was robbed, and not I who did the robbing.' "

What a perspective!!!!!!

Webster's dictionary defines perspective as: one's "point of view", the choice of a context for opinions, beliefs and experiences.

I LOVE how that's worded.

"the CHOICE of a context for opinions, beliefs, and experiences."

Every day when we wake up we have a choice.

We can choose how our attitude and perspective will be for that day!

It sure takes a concentrated effort though, doesn't it?

But WE have the choice...I love that!

What if we chose to have a different perspective then our usual stock response?

What if we purposed it in our hearts to deliberately see the joy over the pain?

What would change? Who would be impacted?

I'd like to leave you with one final thought today.

I know we're all experiencing the ripple effect of a tough economy.

And so in the spirit of perspective, this statistic that I came across in the Live Faithfully homework series by Lenya Heitzig and Penny Rose is worth reflecting on:

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep,

you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have never experienced war, imprisonment, torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million other people.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy."

Sweet Bellas, it all comes down to perspective...

What will YOU choose today?

On that note, I have the perfect dish to turn that frown upside down, and trust me, you don't have to slave in the kitchen all day to serve this elegant meal. This recipe is perfect to serve to guests and the presentation is fantastic. Enjoy, and keep shining Sweet Bellas...

Southwestern Stuffed Puff Pastry

*picture shown above

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

6 oz. of cooked chicken, shredded or diced

*shortcut: you can used rotisserie chicken or one of those prepackaged cooked and diced chicken packages that they carry in the lunch meat section of your grocery store :)

10 cremini mushrooms, rinsed, de-stemmed, and diced

1/2 small yellow onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp of olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

6 oz of cream cheese, softened

2-3 Tbsp of chopped green chile

1 tsp of garlic powder

3/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 egg

splash of water

Directions:

1)Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet out to a 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Cut into six 4 x 4 inch squares.

2) In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, green chile, and garlic powder. spread appx 1 oz. in the center of each square.

3)Meanwhile, in a small frying pan over medium heat, saute olive oil, garlic clove onion salt and pepper for one minute, add cremini mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent. Turn off heat.

4) top each square with 1 oz. of cooked chicken

5)Spoon 1 Tbsp of mushroom/onion saute mixture on top of chicken on each square

6) Top each square with a good pinch of sharp cheddar cheese.

7) Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk to create an egg wash. Brush the edges of the pastry squares with the egg wash. Fold the corners of the pastry squares to the center over the stuffing mixture and press to seal. Place the filled pastries seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the pastries with the egg wash.

8)Bake @ 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 6.

I like to serve this with a caprese salad and roasted asparagus.

Mangia!

Perseverance, Green Chile Chicken Cheese Soup & Quick Peanut Butter Cookies

"The real voyage of discovery consists

not in seeking new landscapes,

but in having new eyes."

~ Marcel Proust

The last day of the year.

I could write about how year after year this season has me in a cooking and baking frenzy expanding the waistbands of everyone that crosses my path. Dinner party after glorious dinner party. Delectable treat after treat. Until I join with the rest of America on the yearly pilgrimage to....sigh.....The Muffin-Top Crossroads: that terrifying place where one must choose their fate....do we buy bigger jeans??? or do we bust out the Fluidity Bar, wipe the dust off of the protein shake container, and let P-90X awaken us from our sugar comas and exercise our hearts and bodies into cardiovascular oblivion. Yes!

Or...I could write about how my husband drove white knuckled through a blizzard in his attempt to reach his love on time for New Years Eve, only to arrive with the onset of a nasty cold. How two coughing, runny nosed children in Pittsburgh Steelers pajamas and one wife with a sore throat were there, waiting and ready to join him by his side for a camp out on the living room floor. How we have been swimming in a sea of blankets and a mountain of pillows in our cave-like atmosphere, only the twinkling lights of the christmas tree illuminating our path...a pile of movies,Twizzlers, M&Ms and left over baked goodies in hand. How I let my daughter eat yogurt and golfishies for dinner....does that make me the worst mom on the planet.....or the coolest mom on the planet? It is a holiday, right?

I could write about how I whipped up a pot of green chile chicken cheese soup *recipe below* to warm our colds and our spirits. How I threw together a quick nosh of pepperoni, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese wrapped in puff pastry and ready to be dipped in marinara sauce for our movie watching and snacking pleasure. And...drum roll please....how I made a batch of "the easiest Peanut Butter Cookies in the universe" *recipe below* so we would have no fear of stepping off of our sugar highs any time soon.

Yes, I could write about all of those things.....

But what I really want to write about, what I really want to share, is my gratitude for all this year has ushered in, through both the joy and the pain. What a full year it has been...

We started this year off with lots of "new"....enjoying all of the changes that our move from where we had spent the last decade of our lives had brought us, the birth of our son, connecting with family and reveling in new friendships that were beginning to forge, appreciating the thrill of stepping outside of our comfort zones, allowing ourselves to be stretched...experiencing great enthusiasms and great losses.....I never could have anticipated all that this year would bring, all of the unexpected "gifts" we would receive even amidst great trial.

I am reminded yet again of the necessity and sheer beauty of letting go, 

going with the flow, enjoying "the journey"with all of it's twists and turns,

discovering the hidden treasures along the way.

I have been thinking much on what it is I'd like to purpose in my heart to do this coming year. And it all comes down to perseverance. Perseverance is defined as "Continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure.”

Tragedy can strike at any moment, yes? Whether it is our health, or the health of a loved one, sudden financial instability, a broken relationship, death, prodigal children.... And yet through these trials we can either become bitter - or better. We can give up - or grow up.

Lenya Heitzig shared the comment by famous television personality Arthur Godfrey of how he recounts a lesson he learned while watching a local blacksmith separate scrap metal into two piles. She tells the story like this: "After carefully examining each piece, the blacksmith would cast some metal into a pile on his right, while the other scraps were thrown into a heap on his left. Godfrey asked the blacksmith what the two piles represented. The smithy replied, "I can see that some of the metal will be useful when it's put through the fire. There is something in it that will let it go through the fire and come out refined and perfected. But the other metal is useless, it cannot take the fire, so I have to toss it into the junk heap." That experience forged a favorite prayer that Godfrey uttered throughout his life. Whenever a difficult circumstance turned up the heat in his life, he knew that God was using that fiery trial to refine him. Believing that God's ultimate plan was to make him a better man, Arthur would pray "Lord, fire! (not the junk heap!)" "

Oh let that be our prayer! "Lord, Fire! Not the junk heap!" I re-read Hebrews 11 (the great "hall of faith") to be reminded of those who went before us. Let us have patience that produces staying power! Let us abide, continue, endure, tarry so that we can be mature and complete and lacking nothing!

Perseverance: "Continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure.”

May this coming year be filled with lots of "new" for each of you...new awareness...new significance...new perspective...new purpose...

Green Chile Chicken Cheese Soup

This soup has been a comfort through many snow storms and chilly days. While I am not generally a fan of "canned soup," this recipe was taught to me from an old friend Anthony used to work with many many moons ago. Mark & Brandy Murray taught me how to make this soup, and I have since adapted it. Although we seem to have lost touch over the years, every time I make it, it reminds me of late nights sipping tonics, listening to great music, and playing Pente in Ranchos de Taos/Llano Quemado with our old friends.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Can of Cheddar Cheese Soup

1 soup can of milk

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup of green chile sauce - or - chopped green chile, roasted and peeled

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup of cooked rice

1/2 cup of chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded

shredded cheddar and green onions for garnish

pour the first 4 ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil

add the rice and chicken

*you may even add some cooked mushrooms if you'd like :)

plate, and garnish with cheddar cheese and green onions

serve with a hot tortilla

Quick Peanut Butter Cookies

My Aunt Debra shared this recipe while chatting during her last visit, and it reminded me that this recipe was emailed to me by Richard Copple's Wife through a recipe exchange the month before. This recipe should come with a warning label....they are too easy to make and you can't eat just one.....

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Peanut Butter

1 Cup of Sugar

1 egg

*yes that is it!!! No flour in this recipe, you only need these three things!!!!

Mix ingredients together, form into balls, put onto greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper lined baking sheet)

you may use a fork to smash them if you desire

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes

*add a topping such as a hershey's kiss or a mini peanut butter cup in the center of each one after it comes out of the oven if you so desire

Mangia!

Praying for a very peaceful and blessed New Year to you all....