The earthy flavor of beets has J and I addicted... I don't know how we're ever going to get over this one, but thankfully, beets aren't big on going out of season!
Citrus Beet Ginger Salad
Ingredients:
2 bunches beets (about 5 or 6 medium beets)
3 tangelos
2 Tablespoons ginger
1/4 cup sugar
Drizzle of olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 f.
Cut the beets in half and then slice the halves into quarter inch thick slices.
Place the sliced beets in a glass baking pan and drizzle with olive oil.
Cover the top of the pan with tin foil and place in the oven.
Let cook for 40 minutes or until the slices are tender to a poke with a fork.
Remove from oven and let stand until cool.
Drain juice into a medium bowl.
Add the 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, and ginger to the juice in bowl and whisk.
Peel the tangelos and break in half.
Slice halves in quarter inch slices.
Place beet and tangelo slices in a large bowl.
Pour dressing mix from step 8 over the beets and oranges.
This weekend my Mama Bird and I are off to Stagecoach, a HUGE two day country concert extravaganza just over an hour from my hometown... I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am. So excited, in fact, I'm going to spend my entire Fancy Friday talking about the fanciness I feel for Stagecoach!
Hanging out with Mama Bird all day
(just wait for the ridiculous pictures!)
The amazing line-up
Sleeping in with no boys playing loud movies in the mornings.
Giggling to sleep much too late at night.
Riding matching John Deere beach cruisers with baskets.
My cowboy boots.
(rhinestone cowgirl anyone?)
Driving Daddy's truck to ensure our cowgirl street cred.
A cold beer on a hot spring day in the heat stricken area of Indio.
Laying out by the pool.
And we are off!
See you all on Sunday with ridiculous stories and pictures I am sure!
(on a side note: I promise next week is going to be a better blogging week... I have lots of ideas and no time to put them out there for all of you!)
As a child going to church as a family was an important Sunday morning activity. I would head off to class with one goal in mind: learn what God was teaching so I could share with mom and dad. (Yep, I wasn't so into real live application yet) One Sunday in particular, I remember proudly wearing a woven bracelet home from Sunday School and giving my parents a lesson on what Jesus would do.
For years, or maybe more like decades, I spent so much time thinking about the ways that I was not honoring Jesus. I wasn't doing what he or His Almighty Father would want me to be accomplishing. And that led to lots of frustration. Until this past week, something clicked. I got it. Jesus doesn't want me to dedicate all my time worrying about what he would do, but instead he wants me to lean into what he did do.
In taking on the cross, Jesus overcame the finality, the everlasting damage of death and rendered it harmless. Upon the cross, Jesus cleansed our pained, sinful souls restoring their utmost beauty and splendor. Conquering the cross shifted the world's paradigm: Jesus redefined strength, transformed power, muted death, healed sorrow, and radicalized love.
But did Jesus do all this with a worry about us being more like him? Nope. He did this out of his unending, undeniable, unfathomable love, mercy, grace for us. Jesus didn't take on the cross to weigh us down, to sink our already waterlogged ship, instead he conquered the cross to show us his undying love for us.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30
God didn't sacrifice His only son out of pity for us. He understood the reality of the situation, we were lost, sinful souls who needed a savior, who needed His son. It's not about our works or becoming perfect, it's about leaning into the love, grace, mercy, wonder, righteousness that was granted to us upon the cross. We must stop working so darn hard to get Him to love on us, and take in what is already there for our enjoyment.
The gift God gave us of His beloved son on the cross centuries ago was unprecedented. He unleashed His immeasurable wrath upon His own child to ensure life unlimited to the children who acted in direct defiance of Him. Oh, how He must love us.
As Easter nears this Sunday, remember we are here. We are here for a reason. But we are here only by His unending grace and mercy. Remember what Jesus did for us and enjoy it. Don't worry about all your shortcomings and failures (God knows how many times I've listed every time I've disappointed myself), but instead focus on the wholeness, the forgiveness we have because of His amazing son, Jesus.
Happy Easter Season my dear friends!
I hope you can receive the amazing things Jesus did just for you.
Enjoy this time with family to realize oh, how He loves you.
J loves all things coconut -milk, chocolate, fresh, shredded, all things! So when I heard about the great taste and health of coconut oil, I decided it was time to make my own granola and what a great choice that was!
Please note: It yields a WHOLE HECK of a LOT, so please find someone to share with!
Coconut-Almond Granola
Ingredients:
3 cups of rolled oats
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut
1/2 cup agave (you can use honey instead if you want)
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of coconut oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Turn on the oven to 350 f.
Melt the coconut oil in a pan over the stove.
Mix together the oats, almond slices, and shredded coconut in a bowl.
Once the oil is melted (since it starts in a solid) add the vanilla, agave, honey, and spices.
Stir all of the oil and spices together then pour over the dry ingredient mixture.
Spread the coated oats in a baking pan and place in the oven.
Stir every 7 minutes.
Let cook until it's baked to your liking.
Enjoy with almond or soy milk!
Now, the other lovely gals that took part in this challenge:
This week is a week of kitchen love! Many of my blogging friends love to cook and share amazing recipes... But it's the tools that make a kitchen of amazing value.
So this week it's time to share your favorite kitchen friends!
1. My pink kitchenaid. Duh!
2. My Food Network magazines.
3. A good slow cooker. (Nothing beats a crock-pot on BUSY, BUSY days)
4. My J.A. Henckels knife block.
5. Hand lemon juicer. (My popsicle gave them to me)
6. My Built ny lunch box.
Isn't it cute?
7. Pyrex pans with snap on plastic lids.
8. Spatulas. They are the all around perfect kitchen tool.
9. My meat thermometer.
Makes baking and grilling a no guessing kind of game.
One of my all-time favorite worship songs is "Ancient Skies" by the Michael Gungor Band. I listen to worship and country while I'm running... This song seems to beg me to play it over and over. I always get caught thinking, repeating, meditating (and not in the ommmmmm kind of way) over the lyrics.
"You're amazing. Creation cries, so will I, You're amazing."
As I listen to the sweet melody of the Michael Gungor Band, I can't help but think about all of the things in God's green earth that scream of His glory. In fact, while I'm running, I often think about the way my body is a wondrous tool He so perfectly created. The complexity of the human body is far beyond my capacity to comprehend, but I'm going to share the amazingly orchestrated process behind an uncontrollable bodily function: sweating. Yep, I'm writing a God blog about sweating.
Don't you wish your back looked this good?
I do too!
Have you ever considered all of the process behind the thin layer of water that covers your entire being when you're working out really hard? Me neither. Until Michael Gungor got me thinking. In order to sweat a person needs to raise their core temperature enough to set off the sensors in the thermosensitive neurons found in the preoptic and anterior regions of the hypothalamus. This little bundle of neurons then sends a signal to the sweat glands found all over the surface of the body, that it's time to drop the surface temperature in order to cool the core. Whoa. Yep, all that, just for the watery stuff that keeps you cool.
Now, I'm not going to end it there. You see, humans and horses are the only mammals with the capacity to sweat in extreme amounts. God made us special. We don't pant like dogs because our bodies air condition through water evaporation. And the actual contents of our sweat... That's a whole other kind of awesome.
Lactate, the chemical that makes muscles sore after a really tough workout, is excreted in our sweat. It's not just salt and water, it's chemicals that are not necessarily helpful in recovery from an intense workout. Also, the composition of sweat acclimatizes... Yep, when you're sweating in the heat it emits a different "recipe" of sweat than in mild warmth or cold. It's complicated. And, not that you should skip sunscreen, but sweat has an anti-ultraviolet radiation protection component to it.
"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can see his invisible qualities -His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." - Romans 1:20
Sweat isn't just a random function of the body. In fact, it's a perfectly orchestrated cooling mechanism God equipped our bodies with. Think on Him in all the little things that your body is constantly doing for you... Do you ever think about how to sweat, or make your heart beat, or to digest your favorite sweet treats? Nope, I didn't think so.
Take a moment to appreciate the amazing tool that God gave you in your body today.
When you're pushing your body... Whether it be to chase that little one down at the park, or lift that last box into the new house, or with your trainer who hasn't an ounce of mercy, think about the gift He created so carefully, so well-thought out, just for you.
And finally, the topic for tomorrow's Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite, Couldn't Cook Without, Kitchen Tools!
Last weekend J called early on Saturday morning and asked what my plan was for the day. I was so sore from my training on Friday that I said I was just going to lounge and eat breakfast... Then we quickly decided it would be fun to have waffles! So these puppies were born.
Whole Wheat Banana Oat Waffles with Fresh Berries
These are hardy little buggers, so you'll be a lot fuller than you originally think when eating waffles!
Ingredients:
Krispies Whole Wheat (just add water) pancake mix
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 carton raspberries
1 carton blueberries
1 carton strawberries
2 bananas
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 of a lemon
Directions:
Prepare the Krispies pancake mix as directed on the box.
Add 1/2 cup of rolled oats and stir into batter.
Cut the bananas into slices and add one to batter and another to an empty bowl. (J likes his crushed, but I prefer them not, do as you wish!)
Fill the waffle iron with batter and let cook.
While the waffle is cooking, wash the blueberries and raspberries and add to the bowl with the banana.
Slice strawberries and add to the berry-banana mix.
Stir the 1/4 cup powdered sugar into the berries and squeeze lemon juice into the bowl.
When the waffle is done, remove from iron and douse with berry-banana goodness!
Enjoy!
J adds a little protein to his meal by sprinkling bacon bits into the pan over the batter. I'm not a huge fan, but he gobbles it right up!
In February, J's step-brother returned home from his two-year mission in a remote village in Brazil. A few weeks after his return he said that he really truly was going to miss the amazing food they made there. Like a sign from an all-knowing God, Cuisine at Home's February issue included a recipe for Feijoada (pronounced fay-ZHWAH-duh), or as we call in it English, Brazilian Beef Stew. I was nothing short of amazed with how delicious it was, and J couldn't have been happier with all the meat found in it. What a protein packed Latin delight!
Without any further ado, here is the recipe!
Ingredients:
2 pounds of beef, cut into about 2 inch chunks (a lot of time you can find this pre-cut in the meet department)
1 pound kielbasa (or one package)
2 Tablespoons canola oil (veggie works, but it's not as healthy, remember?)
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 medium white onion, diced
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes (14 ounces)
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed (it says to puree one, but I didn't and it was so tasty!)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to season
Rice (optional as an accompaniement)
Jalepeno slices to garnish
Directions:
Season each side of the stew meat with salt and pepper.
Add the two Tablespoons of oil to a skillet over medium high heat.
Once the oil is hot brown the beef.
Transfer the beef to a paper towel-lined plate to soak up the excess oil.
Slice the keilbasa into 1/2 inch thick sections.
Brown the keilbasa and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
One the meat is done browning, slowly whisk the orange juice into the skillet while scraping remnants off the bottom of the pan.
Combine the onions, garlic, tomatoes, beans, and chili powder in a slow cooker.
Add beef and kielbasa.
Add orange juice and pan juices mixture.
Stir the contents of the slow cooker and make sure the meat is coated.
Cover and cook on high for four hours or low for 6 hours.
Add vinegar when the cook time ends.
Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
Cook rice as directed on the package and serve over or under the stew. (It's your choice here!)
Garnish with jalapeno slices for a little added flavor! (I did and loved it!)
Enjoy!
Simply Sweet Note: This will yeild extras, so enjoy again for lunch at work the next day (or two!).
Kale, with its dark leafy green goodness, has health benefits galore! I hadn't cooked with it prior to making this and my favorite part of it was the texture it has once cooked... Soft, but not limp, crisp, but not chewy... Just perfect.
Kale Sausage Lasagna with Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
One package of spicy Italian sausage (or sweet if that is more your style)
One bunch of kale
One jar of sun-dried Alfredo sauce
Two tablespoons of tomato paste
One clove minced garlic
1/2 of a white onion, minced
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 package of whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese.
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350f.
Boil a pot of water and cook the lasagna noodles until just tender, not completely done.
Drain noodles and run under cool water. Set aside.
Boil sausages in a pot of water until cooked through, about 12 minutes.
Remove from water and slice into 1/2 inch thick coins.
Remove big stems from the inside of the kale.
Place two tablespoons of water in the bottom of a frying pan and toss kale inside of it.
Taste with salt and pepper as you like.
When kale becomes warmed through and tender, remove from heat.
Mix Alfredo sauce, garlic, onion, and tomato paste in a sauce pan.
Stir over medium heat until well-combined.
Spray inside of 9x9 pan to prevent sticking.
Cover bottom of pan with a layer of sauce.
Layer with noodle.
Layer with ricotta cheese (you'll need to use a spoon to spread it around).
Layer with sausage coins.
Layer with sauce.
Layer with kale.
Noodles.
Sauce.
Ricotta.
Sausage.
Kale.
Sauce.
Cover the top with the grated mozzarella cheese.
Cover the lasagna with tin foil.
Cook lasagna in the oven for 40-45 minutes (or until cheese is melted and bubbly).
I have someone I want you to meet. She's so special to my little heart, so near and dear to every day in my life, so sweet, kind, and graceful, but strong with the heart of a lion. Who could be this phenomenal?
My dear Mama Bird.
Over the last two and a half years my Mama Bird has fought, not only for herself, but for the love of her life, my Popsicle, and for the family that they have so perfectly created. She has fought against the indifference of a dozen doctors, the mystery diagnosis that seemed as though it would never come, and doubters who were sure her intuition was wrong.
Mama Bird isn't just an amazing woman of God with the grace of an angel but she also trumps the strength of a 20-foot bear. She doesn't just make wondrous dinner for all when the house is flooded with guests, but she also manages to teach us kids how to love being in the kitchen just like she does. Most Stay at Home Moms put up their list of "occupations" talking about being a teacher, a nurse, a mediator, an advocate, a financial analyst, an advisor, and the list goes on... Well right now, my mom is literally doing it all.
She is nursing my father back to health in a brutal fight against Lyme's Disease through daily infusions and constant maintenance of his PICC line. She is battling health insurance after their denial of my father's illness. She is advising me on my journey to become a wife. She mediates between a rambunctious, although adorable, eight year old and a slowly healing husband. She is managing the businesses her once thriving entrepreneurial husband started and ran. She is teaching us kids to grow, not only in our maturity, but in our faith in a great and always strong God.
Mama Bird isn't just taking care of the logistics at home, but she tops it all off being more fun than any other mom could be, especially in the two-year long pickle we are currently experiencing. She not only keeps old traditions alive, but manages to make new ones on a regular basis. Her joy is contagious. I can't count the number of times people have said they don't know how she does it. She does it because God has blessed her with immense strength and power, despite her small frame.
You can see the amazing words, recipes, and adventures of my Mama Bird just like you see mine by checking her out here. I promise you will be blessed... Probably much more than you will reading through my posts.
