Coconut Chicken Curry

I don't know if I've talked about Bangladesh much on here but curry makes me think of it. That's possibly why I've avoided making curry before. 

I lived in Chittagong, Bangladesh for 8 weeks and learned about a very different part of the world.  It's bursting with people and traffic. The city was so busy and crazy which caused some culture shock for this Iowan. The people are beautiful and wear colorful clothes. They love to spend time together and stay up late. 

I grew a lot during that trip but didn't grow to love the food. Probably because it was hot out and we were eating hot food with our hand. 

Yes, just one hand. The right; don't use the left. You don't want to know why. 

They make food similar to what you would picture as Indian food. During our St. Paul/Minneapolis trip, I was happy to try curry and biryani again and enjoyed it! 

Tonya asked if I could make coconut chicken curry like we had at a Himalayan place. I did a pretty nice job if I do say so myself. Trust me, I don't post things that I don't like and I do make some of those meals once in a while...

I've been reading through the Go Eat PopCorn books lately and, oh wait. You don't know what those books are? They're in your Bible I promise. They're not about popcorn but if they were, I'd read them. These are some of Paul's writings. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. See it now? That's how I was taught to keep them in order. 

Anyway, I was noticing some overlap in the wording and ideas of a few verses and wanted to share them with you. They are from all the above mentioned books except Galatians. 

Eph. 1:17-19 (highlights) "I pray that...the glorious Father would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him...that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling...and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe..."

Phil. 1:9-11 (overlapping highlights) "I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment so you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness..to the glory and praise of God."

Colo. 1:9-11 (overlapping highlights) "...we haven't stopped praying for you...that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might..."

The last ones have been my favorite verses for several years now because they summarize God's will for us. To grow in the knowledge of Him. He wants us to seek wisdom and spiritual understanding, to determine what really matters and bear fruit for His glory. He gives us the strength to do these things, which gives us hope and motivation to seek them out. I encourage you to read these in full for yourself and really study them. They give me great focus and encouragement. 

I've become pretty stellar at using chopsticks, just saying.

I absolutely love quinoa cooked in coconut milk. I'd eat it as is if I didn't have other plans for it this time. It's creamy and healthy and sweet. You'll enjoy it! unless of course you don't like coconut... It also balances out the spice of the red curry paste. I don't have you adding too much here. If you want more spice, just add more and maybe throw in some red pepper flakes. Eat up!

Coconut Chicken Curry

-serves 2-

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/2 cup uncooked, rinsed quinoa

1/4 cup water

1 14oz can of coconut milk (regular or lite)

2 long carrot sticks

2 Tbs coconut oil

1 Tbs red curry paste

2 Tbs curry powder

1 tsp turmeric 

2 garlic cloves

1. Pour 3/4 of the can of coconut milk and 1/4 cup water into a saucepan and set over medium heat.

2. Add 1/2 cup of quinoa to the saucepan and cover. Check the quinoa periodically. As it begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender.

3. Peel and cut carrots into 1/2'' pieces. 

4. Cut chicken into 1'' pieces and coat with curry powder.

5. In a medium skillet, place the coconut oil, garlic cloves and chicken. Saute until cooked through.

6. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Add carrots to skillet with red curry paste and more oil if needed. Cook until carrots are slightly tender.

7. Add the remaining coconut milk from the can and turmeric powder. (you can add the turmeric powder at about any point, this is just when I added it)

8. Put the chicken back in the skillet and stir everything together.

9. The quinoa should be done, it takes about 20 minutes or less. 

10. Serve the curry mix over the coconut quinoa and enjoy!

Zucchini Spaghetti

I have a spiralizer!!! I'm so excited to create new stuff with it! I've been wanting to get one for months but kept putting it off for money's sake (even though it's not expensive). But my mom and I both decided to order one so we'd get free shipping on Amazon.

I should explain the slicer. I forget that not everyone spends ridiculous amounts of time checking Pinterest and reading food blogs, so this might be new to some. The spiralizer is a tool that takes different veggies (and fruits) and cuts them into noodles. You can spiralize zucchini, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, apples and more. There are three blades with this one but there is a version that includes a 4th blade. 

Hope that helps!

The timing of its delivery was great because I was able to pick it up right when I came back from the Des Moines Farmer's Market with zucchini. I had made my spaghetti sauce the day before so I was set to start spiralizing right away. I think it's great that "spiralizing" is a word. Was it a word before there was a veggie spiral slicer? What else would the word apply to? It's like how "Googled" is a word too. Anyway...

I began reading through Psalm 119 this week. It is quite long but is broken up by sections titled by a Hebrew letter I believe. The whole chapter is about God's law and seeking its instruction. The first verses express how happy we can be when we seek to obey God's commands. We don't have reason for regret when we choose to love God by submitting to His will. The writer treasures the scriptures; spends time in them so he knows them well and can keep from sin.

Spaghetti has been one of my favorite dishes for a long time! I think I learned to cook it back in high school or middle school. Its so easy when using a pre-made sauce. 

As I've tried to eat healthier, I avoid and almost stopped eating pasta altogether. But for some reason, I've always wanted to make my own spaghetti sauce so I bought regular pasta to try out an old favorite. I'm pretty happy with it and with how easy it was to make!

So because I made lots of sauce and everyone knows how to boil pasta, I wanted to show you the zucchini version! And because I'm still excited about the spiralizer!

Zucchini with homemade Spaghetti Sauce

-Makes lots of sauce, around 2 quarts-

3 minced garlic cloves

2 Tbs olive oil

1 lb ground beef (I used Fareway's own)

1 24oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

8 oz water

1+ Tbs dried oregano

3 fresh basil leaves chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

a couple dashes of salt and pepper

1. Put olive oil and minced garlic in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Let the garlic sweat and become transparent. 

2. Add the ground beef and let it brown.

3. Pour in the cans of tomatoes and water.

4. Add the spices and herbs and bring to a boil. 

5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes.

For the zucchini:

Spiralize 2 medium or large zucchini with the smallest size blade. This will easily serve 3 people. I used half a zucchini for myself.

Sprinkle the noodles with salt and let sit in a strainer for 30 minutes so the excess water can drain. Rinse the noodles to remove the extra salt. The noodles can be eaten raw for a bit of crunch or you can saute them for a couple of minutes to soften them. 

Serve the noodles with the spaghetti meat sauce and enjoy guilt free!

Fabulous Salmon

So, remember the maple cream I mentioned last time?! Well, I used it today in my own recipe creation and I was super happy with it! I love when healthy food tastes this good. I will admit that with eating healthy comes a few sacrifices. I do eat junk food periodically and some of it makes me feel gross. Pop is one. I used to love pop but now it's just syrup-y and weird. Ice cream on the other hand is still amazing in small portions:)

Tonight's meal was quite healthy and tasted fabulous!

This isn't so much about what I read today but about one of the songs that keeps popping up on my ipod shuffle. Rend Collective (Experiment) is my favorite group of musicians right now. I got to see them about two years ago along with Tenth Avenue North and then saw them for their own concert back in February. You should give them a listen if you haven't yet!

The song I want to share is "Love Divine". No, this is not a song original with them but I love their version. They are such an authentic group and makes focused worship easy. They have taken other hymns and rewritten them in a modern way. This one keeps the words but switches up the music a bit.

Some of my favorite lines from it are:

"Take away the love of sinning, Alpha and Omega be" - isn't it sad that we do love sinning but we hate it at the same time. Just like Paul talks about in Romans. Our hatred of sin isn't enough to keep us from it, only our love for God.

"Finish, then, Thy new creation, Pure and spotless let us be, Let us see Thy great salvation, Perfectly restored in Thee, Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before Thee

Lost in wonder, love and praise"

Yep, the whole last verse. This is life with an eternal focus. We are His new creation and He is guiding us to live pure lives. Then one day we get to stand before him, "lost in wonder, love, and praise."

I took pics last minute. Actually, I took them after I had already taken a few bites. Just consider it proof that I eat my own food:)

The green beans are from my sister's garden. I decided to pick them for her during the rain. It was really nice though to be out in the cool rain since I had been inside with my nephews most of the day. I love hanging out with them but I need to get outside too.

Now, I must include a fair warning. The glaze has alcohol in it. It's a whopping 2 tablespoons so don't get concerned. It's bourbon whiskey and it will keep for a long time so just find other recipes to help use it up such as bourbon chicken.

Recipe:

2 Salmon filets

salt and pepper

Glaze:

2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey

1/4 cup cranberry juice

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon maple cream (or just use maple syrup)

Green beans:

2 cups fresh green beans

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine bourbon, cranberry juice and maple syrup in a sauce pan. Stir and let it come to a boil. Turn down heat and let sit until salmon is ready for it.

Turn the broiler on high and season salmon with salt and pepper. Place the salmon under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the glaze over each filet and place back under the broiler. Once the glaze has absorbed a bit, use a spoon or knife to spread the maple glaze over the salmon (1/2 tablespoon per filet). Give it one more minute under the broiler and then it should be ready! I don't like salmon over cooked so mine wasn't in the oven any longer than 7 minutes. 

Because multitasking is awesome, you can saute your green beans in a skillet while all this is happening. Just place butter in the pan first, add green beans and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute for 7-8 minutes depending on how soft you like your veggies!

http://www.greatrivermaple.com/

This is the source for the maple cream. They have other products you can look at as well!

Vegetable Galette

I love love love wandering around the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market. This past Saturday was great for it because it was misty and slightly cool which kept the crowd small! I went for veggies and maybe something unique that I couldn't resist. That unique item this week was pure maple syrup and a small jar of maple cream. The couple selling it was super smart to sample the maple cream and list ways to use it! It sold me. I could eat it by the spoonful. It's rich but not too sweet. They suggested using it on pancakes, waffles, toast, or even on salmon...might have to try that one. But today's recipe is for my vegetables and it's a great way to get a serving or two of veggies in your meal!

Since I moved closer to work this summer, I was also moving further away from my church. I have been visiting churches for almost two months and have heard many great sermons. The whole process is a bit tough though when there are many good things happening in multiple churches. I just keep praying for wisdom in choosing a church.

One message that was pretty convicting to me was from Mark 9 about having a proper attitude toward sin. There were so many good points I could take the whole blog to talk about it. I'll just highlight a few thoughts that struck me the most. 

-Down playing sin is essentially promoting it. When I don't take sin seriously, it creates a bit of freedom to go ahead and do it. 

-What I want most will always win. This is why God gave us the greatest commandment. If I love Him the most, by His grace the things I do will reflect that. 

-Our brains automatically want to repeat what we hear and see. I need to be more aware of how I am being influenced and how I am influencing others.

Bought these lovely heirloom tomatoes and eggplant just for this recipe. The bumps add some character to these guys but don't make slicing easier.

I didn't end up using the yellow one so I'm excited to find another use for him this week!

Even with all this slicing, I didn't slice my fingers! I watched chopped today and one of the contestants caught her finger on her mandolin. I cringed for her. It happens so stinkin' fast and then the pain sets in a few seconds later. Lucky for me, I have no time constraint so I can baby my damaged appendage but they just have to wrap it up and keep going.

I liked this galette a lot but it did need more seasoning. Eggplant and zucchini are not strongly flavored veggies on their own. I'll add a suggested seasoning addition in the recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Crust recipe taken from - 

http://passportsandpancakes.com/blog/2013/10/13/roasted-butternut-squash-galette

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling out dough.

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon salt

(1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon thyme) - my suggested addition

3 tablespoons ice-cold water

In a food processor fit with an S-blade, add the flour, butter, and salt. Pulse together a few times to combine. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between each addition. After the third tablespoon the dough should form. Remove from the food processor, gather in a ball, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. 

Filling-

1 small eggplant

1 medium tomato

1 small zucchini

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

Pre-heat oven to 400° F. Slice vegetables about a quarter of an inch thick, sprinkle with salt and set eggplant and zucchini in a strainer so excess water can drip off.

Combine the olive oil, tomato paste, and spices. 

Once your crust is rolled out on parchment paper, spread 1/3 of the oil mixture over the crust. Next, layer the vegetables as desired, leaving a two inch edge to fold over once all vegetables are placed. Spread the remainder of the oil mixture over the vegetables. 

Other ingredients-

1 egg yolk

3 Tablespoons water

shredded cheese of choice

Fold the crust over the edge of the vegetables. Use one egg yolk and 3 Tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash around the crust to create a slightly harder edge and give it some color after baking.

Place your galette in the oven for about 30 min. Keep an eye on it and bake longer or shorter if you would like.

I topped mine with a bit of asiago cheese but feta is another good option.

Slice like pizza and serve! Edit the filling as your family likes!

Pasta-free Spaghetti

Spaghetti used to be my favorite dish. It's easy to make and tastes wonderful. So why did I change it? Why no pasta? Once I started eating healthy a couple of years ago I ate almost zero pasta because it is a carb with few nutrients. I have seen many pinterest recipes substituting veggies as noodles or ribbons so I gave it a try and was really happy with it! I sliced zucchini into ribbons and added them to my meat spaghetti sauce.

I spent the last week at my church camp on Clear Lake as a counselor for high school girls. It was a fun week. I love this camp and have been up there for at least a week every summer since I was in 5th grade! That's 14 years in a row which seems like ages ago. God has changed my life and so many others through the ministry of the camp. This week was a little different as they had only one speaker and one main topic for the chapel sessions. We listened to Carl Kerby talk about critically thinking in regards to evolution vs. creation. It was an understandable set of messages that will hopefully give Christian teens the knowledge to support what they believe. 

It was helpful to me as well in pointing out flaws in evolution that actually support creation. I was also just encouraged to see the girls I was with get along so well with four other girls from another church. They shared a cabin well and had fun together. 

So tasty with zero guilt!

One thing I love about this recipe is that I had everything on hand. It took 3 main ingredients and cooks faster than pasta! 

I cut the zucchini in 4ths length-wise and then sliced them on my mandolin. They make a cool noodle spiral tool thing to make real noodles from your veggies but I don't own one. 

I let the zucchini cook in the sauce for 5 minutes or so and topped it with some asiago cheese before chowing down!

Zucchini Spaghetti

1 medium zucchini

16 oz marinara sauce - I used Francesco Rinaldi brand

1/2 pound ground beef

optional seasonings for ground beef:

1 garlic clove

1 teas. ground oregano

1.5 teas. dried basil

Saute garlic clove for a minute and then add ground beef. Add in seasonings as the meat begins to brown. 

Slice zucchini in 4th lengthwise and slice thinly on mandolin into ribbons. 

Add spaghetti/marinara sauce to the meat and then add the zucchini ribbons. Cook on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes. 

Serve in bowl and top with parmesan or asiago cheese!

Taste of Honduras

Susie keeps me cultured. She loves to travel and experience new things. I asked her to cook a Honduran meal with me so I could put it on the blog. We stopped by a Latin grocery store near my place to grab green plantains, Horchata mix, and a few other items. Hy-Vee had the other produce we needed for a good price.  Our menu included baleadas, plantains, chismol, and horchata to drink. 

I'm reading in John now and I'm remembering all the references there were to the first chapter in my doctrine classes at FBBC. It includes proof texts for Jesus' part in creation and His deity. 

My favorite verse from this chapter though is verse 5 "That light shines in the darkness,

yet the darkness did not overcome it." It's a verse I remember when I hear about sad or frustrating news in the world. If only the media would send me notifications about good news in the area. I get alerts on my phone about big headlines in the news and they are never good. I want to hear something nice once in a while! 

So, that's when I remember that dark news does not mean that the light isn't shining. Jesus has already won and darkness will always be broken by light. 

green plantains

Susie made a cut down the side of the plantain and then peeled the skin. She said these weren't too hard to peel but some are. 

If you are like me, you are wondering what the difference is between a plantain and a banana. Well, now that the google has educated me I can tell you that a plantain has more starch and less sugar than a banana! So, don't plan on eating a raw plantain. You will be disappointed.

The peeled plantain is sliced in one inch pieces and cooked in oil for a few minutes. Once they are browned they are taken out of the pan and flattened.

Look at that color coordination;) 

Once flattened, fry again to finish cooking through.

This you will want to make!

Chismol! aka fresh salsa. 

Somehow, I've begun to really like cilantro. I know, I know, you can't believe I used to hate it. Or you are with my old self and currently hate it. Cilantro seems to work this way, people love it or hate it. The more I have it the better I like it. It's key in many Latin dishes so I'm happy I'm beginning to like it. 

For those of you who can't handle heat, you are in luck. Honduran food is not usually spicy. This salsa has no heat, but you are welcome to add some if you like.

Yeah, we cheated...shameful I know. We were going to make our own but I forgot to soak the rice earlier in the day so we had to go with this. 

Like the label says, this is a rice and cinnamon drink that is made with some milk and water. It does not have a thick consistency as it might sound like it would.

And here is my baleada. The thick flour tortilla and re-fried beans are the base for a baleada and then you add what you please!

Honduran food is filling so better have an empty stomach before diving in!

Baleada ingredients:

re-fried beans

thick flour tortillas

queso fresco

(optional fillings - scrambled eggs, avocado, chismol, bell pepper)

Chismol recipe:

Serving group of 4-6

5-6 roma tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper - color of choice

1/3 cup chopped white or yellow onion

juice of one lime

1 teaspoon of salt

lots of chopped cilantro

Chop all veggies and combine. Juice the lime into the veggies. Add chopped cilantro to taste as well as the salt. Enjoy with tortilla chips or on the plantains.

German Dinner #becausefutbol

I seem to have a number of friends who grew up outside of the US. I know them from college and from my home church as we have had a few missionary families stay in Creston during their furlough. Susie (Susanna) is one of those. She's a great friend and we've had loads of fun times together! She grew up in Germany and came back to the US in high school. We were college suitemates my freshman year at FBBC and fellow music majors so we spent a lot of time together. Now she teaches in Honduras and comes back in the summer to visit friends and family. 

I've been paying attention to the World Cup this summer and it's been fun to follow. Because the USA was out of the World Cup, I had to choose a different team to cheer on for the win. So, to support the home country of my German friend(s), I went with Deutschland and I'm glad I did! 

Germany won and we celebrated!

I finished up reading Ezra today and I was impressed with his character. "The gracious hand of his God was on him, because Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel." Ezra 7:9b-10 

God showed his faithfulness to Ezra by protecting him as he and many Israelites traveled. Ezra also pleaded for Israel before God because of their sin of intermarriage with unbelievers. He was so ashamed of their sin. God convicted hearts and the people made a covenant to marry only those who followed God and dismiss the foreign wives. 
It's a reminder to me of how terrible it is of us to sin against God after all He has done for us. Erza was right to take sin seriously. But we can be so grateful for the endless grace of God to forgive and guide us away from sin.

To celebrate the German win, we decided to make a German meal for supper. We stopped at Aldi to grab a few things. Susie suggested the following for the menu.

spätzle (noodles and cheese)

rotkohl (red cabbage w/apples)

bratwurst

The spatula just couldn't handle the dough for the noodles.

Tonya began the noodle creating.

Spätzle is a cheese and noodle dish but not exactly not mac and cheese. I don't have the full recipe here because we didn't actually measure anything other than the noodle dough. 

This was quite the process. Definitely not a one-man job. We placed the dough in a ziploc bag and poked holes in it. Then we squeezed the dough out into boiling water. Trouble was that the dough was pretty thick and the holes grew too big. We had some noodles of diverse sizes. 

Once the noodles float to the surface, you scoop them out and layer a casserole dish (9x9) with noodles and swiss cheese. You can also include onion if desired.

Brats are nothing new but we did not eat them with a bun. These were simply smoked and all we had to do was saute them with some onion. I don't usually like brats but these were really good! Not the nasty tough skin and low on the grease!

Ok, so here is where we cheated. Aldi only had green cabbage and we didn't want to make another stop just for red cabbage. This was rotkohl in a jar. 

Rotkohl would be pretty easy to make though. It includes red cabbage, apples, vinegar, cloves, and salt. Not something I had ever had before but I really liked it. 

We were able to whip this up in under an hour and we had a great time making everything! German food is quite filling and tasty, you should give it a try. 

Here is a good recipe for the Spätzle. She has a handy little tool for the noodles that would be way better than a ziploc but requires that stuff called money. From there, grab some shredded Swiss cheese (2 cups) and layer or mix it with the noodles and bake for 20-25 minutes at 375° F. You can top it with sauteed onions for some extra flavor!

http://mysoulfulhome.com/spatzle-love-dough/

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad can be made so many different ways. As long as it has chicken and a greek yogurt or mayo dressing, you can call it chicken salad. Mine doesn't have all the standard ingredients but it's still recognizable as chicken salad. 

Chicken salad is a common, standard dish. One we know well. There are Bible stories that are well known and heard multiple times. Zacchaeus is one of those stories. I learned the song ages ago and know the actions. But today I realized that I have a incorrect view of the story. Let me explain. (read in a sarcastic/humorous tone)

In the song, Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Jesus because he is short. Jesus comes over to him and tells him that he is going to Zacchaeus' house. Maybe it's only me, but when we did the actions at this part we shake a finger at Zacchaeus as if Jesus is scolding him. "Zacchaeus, you come down!" And then He invites himself over. (Not usually socially acceptable but its Jesus so social norms go out the window;)

Who wrote this song!? Did they even read the story? Where is the lesson in the song? Zacchaeus is transformed and his whole household is saved! Why is this not included!? And Jesus was not scolding him. He recognized Zacchaeus' desire to see him and takes the time to come to his house.

This is about a tax collector who comes to believe in Jesus and wants to give to those in need. It's an exciting story with a lame song. 

Now that I've complained extensively about the song, I guess I need to rewrite it. If only I was good with lyrics...

So that's as far as I've made it today. Ten verses and I got worked up about a children's song. I should keep reading.

Of all the foods, specifically veggies, I have grow-up to enjoy, celery is not one of them. I can tolerate it, but I'm pretty sure it's never been in my fridge. So for a green crunch, I added kale! It's a super-food and works well in this salad.

For a fruit, some people do apples, craisins, grapes and whatever else sounds good. Green grapes were on sale so I went with them. They add a nice sweetness!

It was a beautiful avocado!

For the dressing, I used plain greek yogurt, half an avocado, little fresh lemon juice, salt to taste and dijon mustard. I went a little heavy on the lemon juice but it was still edible, no worries.

No pics of the chicken, he was in the oven. I also added about a 1/2 cup of sliced almonds. 

You were expecting bread right? Well, I was in super healthy mode so I went with a cabbage bowl/wrap. I love bread but I wanted to try it like this. It was really good, and held together nicely!

Chicken Salad

1 chicken breast

chili powder

ground oregano 

paprika

approx. 2 cups torn kale

1 cup halved grapes

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 6oz container plain greek yogurt

1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard

1/2 avocado mashed

salt to taste

Season chicken on both sides with desired amount of spices. Sear both sides in a skillet and then finish baking in oven at 375° F for about 20 minutes. 

While the chicken is in the oven, chop or tear your kale and place in a bowl. Add halved grapes and almonds. You can add the dressing ingredients right into the salad bowl and mix together. 

Once the chicken is done and has set for a minute or two, shred and mix into other ingredients. 

Enjoy in a lettuce wrap, tortilla, bread or just as it is!

Burger for One

Burgers are so tasty and versatile. You can top them with anything or nothing and they will probably be great. If you want a unique burger, go try out Zombie Burger in Des Moines. It's very popular and for a good reason. They have great service and crazy, fun food. However if you like a lively atmosphere, forget it;) My favorite is the Undead Elvis which includes...are you ready?...cheese, fried egg, bacon, peanut butter, fried bananas, and mayo. Oh goodness. It's just so good! I was leary at first too but everything really goes together perfectly on it. I do get it without the mayo to avoid the chemical, preservative heavy part. 

Today though, I just picked what I had in the fridge to top mine. I'm moving Monday and trying to clean out the fridge so I have less to transport.  

Luke 11 gives a dialogue between Jesus and the disciples about prayer. Jesus gives them a structure for how to pray and then talks about being persistent in it. 

The opportunity to talk to God is a huge blessing that I don't take advantage of enough. Persistent, eternal focused prayer is what I want to make a consistent practice.

My enemy the mandolin.

So, I really wanted to have an entry yesterday and thought "oh, I have lots of carrots and I've seen people make carrot chips. Can't be too hard to make, I'll do that". Right, so carrot chips are not simple.

My first snag was cutting my thumb. I love and hate my mandolin. It comes with this guard/holder thing. It's meant to be used but I wanted to cut the carrots in a way that the guard would make harder, so I went without. I cut my knuckle on it about a month ago so I knew I needed to be careful. No matter how careful I aim to be, I just can't win. No blood on the mandolin though!

 My second struggle was to get them the same thickness which gave me half burnt, half chewy carrot strips. So after 2 tries, I gave up. Maybe I'll try again later, they aren't supposed to be this hard to make.

         

You just can't fail with burgers! Ground angus beef from my best friend/roommate's parents makes them even better.

Roasted vegetables are just wonderful!

I love cheese and used both Munster and white cheddar on this guy. You taste the pepper and tomato first and the cheese last. I was happy with it as a quickly composed lunch!

Burger and toppings:

Ground beef 

 one red pepper

small portion of a sweet onion

one small tomato

Cheese of choice

Hamburger bun

Preheat oven to 400°. Slice and seed the pepper. Lightly coat with olive oil and place skin up. Slice the tomato (I used roma) and place on the same sheet tray with a little olive oil. Let roast for about 15 minutes.

Saute a bit of sliced onion in a skillet with a touch of oil. Remove from pan when soft and a little brown. Use the same pan to cook the burger patty. I seasoned the patty with pepper and garlic powder. Take the roasted veggies out of the oven and slice a chunk of the pepper for your burger. Toast the bun under the broiler for 3+ minutes. Keep an eye on it as it will toast quickly.

Build your burger with all your ingredients and cheese choice. Enjoy!