Grilled Asparagus with Balsamic Glaze
You need:
some fresh asparagus
a lemon, zested and juiced
some olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
pepper
Directions:
1. mix together 1/2 to all of the lemon juice (depending on the size of the lemon and your taste), some olive oil (a few Tbsp) and the minced garlic 2. Thread your asparagus onto skewers and brush with the lemon mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper 3. Add some balsamic vinegar (around 1 1/2 cups) and the lemon zest to a pan and reduce it over medium heat until it becomes the consistency of a glaze 4. Grill your asparagus and drizzle the balsamic glaze over it before serving.
Note: Be careful when reducing the balsamic that you don't get it too thick, or it will become the consistency of tar and have a bitter taste once you remove it from the heat (not that I've done this or anything)
A Lot of Nothing
I have basically have a whole lot of NOTHING today...
So as I was backing out of my drive way this morning I noticed the guy across the street was mowing his lawn...again. You see, he just mowed his lawn yesterday on a riding lawn mower and now is out with a push mower...probably trimming the edges of the lawn, I thought to myself. Nope, wrong...it seems his purpose is simply to be mowing perfectly diagonal lines in his already mowed grass. Dear God, I sincerely hope I find fulfillment in way cooler things than diagonal grass lines when I am retired...
As I was driving to get a cup of coffee, I noticed a woman running down the on ramp to the interstate chasing ducks, yes she was chasing ducks. I naturally just assumed she was crazy...then I saw an animal control vehicle parked along the interstate and it made more sense...wait, no it doesn't, I still don't get why she was chasing ducks.
It seems the Baby may have inherited my love for Target. Whenever we pull into the Target parking lot she starts squealing with delight as soon as the car stops. She doesn't do this when we arrive at other destinaions.
I love the smell of bleach. It makes me think sterile, happy, clean thoughts. I KNOW it's terrible in many ways...but I can't help myself. I only use it for two things...to get the stink out of my cloth diapers and to clean the kitchen sink. Bleaching the kitchen sink never fails to lift my mood and make me happy. I am convinced it is the dirtiest place in my house.
So as I was backing out of my drive way this morning I noticed the guy across the street was mowing his lawn...again. You see, he just mowed his lawn yesterday on a riding lawn mower and now is out with a push mower...probably trimming the edges of the lawn, I thought to myself. Nope, wrong...it seems his purpose is simply to be mowing perfectly diagonal lines in his already mowed grass. Dear God, I sincerely hope I find fulfillment in way cooler things than diagonal grass lines when I am retired...
As I was driving to get a cup of coffee, I noticed a woman running down the on ramp to the interstate chasing ducks, yes she was chasing ducks. I naturally just assumed she was crazy...then I saw an animal control vehicle parked along the interstate and it made more sense...wait, no it doesn't, I still don't get why she was chasing ducks.
It seems the Baby may have inherited my love for Target. Whenever we pull into the Target parking lot she starts squealing with delight as soon as the car stops. She doesn't do this when we arrive at other destinaions.
I love the smell of bleach. It makes me think sterile, happy, clean thoughts. I KNOW it's terrible in many ways...but I can't help myself. I only use it for two things...to get the stink out of my cloth diapers and to clean the kitchen sink. Bleaching the kitchen sink never fails to lift my mood and make me happy. I am convinced it is the dirtiest place in my house.
Mission Statement
I have mission statements on the brain. Our local doula group, Cedar Valley Doula Group, was just formed back in January and we've been working on trying to develop a mission statement. I seem to be at a loss for ideas, however, I've decided that the Baby has a mission statement of her own that I'm nearly certain goes something like this...
"I strive to harness the power of my inner baby and make you question, at least once a day, whether you ever want to ovulate again. My daily shenanigans will begin promptly at 5 am and I will employ a variety of tactics to ensure that your day is off to a fantastic start. These tactics include, but are not limited to, shrieking like a teradactyl, pulling your hair, using you as my personal jungle gym, repeatedly kicking you in the gut and clawing at your face. When I am out in public I will make sure that at least one person looks at you and lavishes scorn and incompetence upon you, as I utilize a combination of the above tactics. I vow when you set me down in a room, I will immediately crawl toward whatever is most dangerous, destructive and disgusting, especially if you have surrounded me with toys and safe things to keep me occupied. And just when you are at your breaking point and contemplating driving off of a cliff, I will look up at you and melt your heart by sweetly saying 'mama.'"
"I strive to harness the power of my inner baby and make you question, at least once a day, whether you ever want to ovulate again. My daily shenanigans will begin promptly at 5 am and I will employ a variety of tactics to ensure that your day is off to a fantastic start. These tactics include, but are not limited to, shrieking like a teradactyl, pulling your hair, using you as my personal jungle gym, repeatedly kicking you in the gut and clawing at your face. When I am out in public I will make sure that at least one person looks at you and lavishes scorn and incompetence upon you, as I utilize a combination of the above tactics. I vow when you set me down in a room, I will immediately crawl toward whatever is most dangerous, destructive and disgusting, especially if you have surrounded me with toys and safe things to keep me occupied. And just when you are at your breaking point and contemplating driving off of a cliff, I will look up at you and melt your heart by sweetly saying 'mama.'"
Foodie Friday
Okay, so I originally thought I would deem Fridays "Photo Fridays" and upload some random picture...but I don't want to do that anymore. So instead I am calling Fridays "Foodie Friday."
See, I LOVE to cook. Being in the kitchen is one of those things that makes me VERY happy. I so enjoy just going into my kitchen and rockin' out some sort of yumminess. For me, cooking is so many things...a stress reliever, it brings me joy, it's fun, sometimes challenging and it always makes me smile...except for the occasional cooking miss hap...those usually necessitate a trip to the grocery store at some ridiculous hour and cause me to say naughty words.
So, for Foodie Friday, I will post a recipe of mine every Friday (or most every Friday, or whenever I feel like it). My disclaimer...I rarely use recipes or measurements, most of the stuff I make comes from my head. If I do consult a recipe, I don't usually follow it. So most of the measurements I will post are APPROXIMATIONS.
So then, for the recipe...this is what we had for dinner tonight. It has no name, so if you'd like to name it let me know...it's a chicken/pasta/veggie dish...all I know is that is was really TASTY!
What you need:
2 cooked chicken breasts diced (cook it however you want, I like to grill extra chicken and use it for recipes throughout the week)
1/2 box bow tie pasta (or whatever shape you like)
1 eggplant, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 large tomato, or 2 Romas, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2-1 pint mushrooms, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 wedge parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
butter
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
balsamic vinegar
salt/pepper
Directions:
1. Place eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and green pepper on baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss them to coat them evenly and roast them at 375 for 30 minutes.
2. While veggies are roasting, cook pasta according to directions. Add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and 2-3 Tbsp of butter to a large pan and caramelize the onion and garlic.
3. After the veggies are done roasting, add them to the onions and garlic. Also add the tomatoes, the chicken, the mushrooms, a few splashes of balsamic, the lemon juice and salt/peeper to taste...cook for about 10 minutes or until all of the flavors combine and the veggies are done.
4. Combine the veggies and pasta in a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with the shredded parmesan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
See, I LOVE to cook. Being in the kitchen is one of those things that makes me VERY happy. I so enjoy just going into my kitchen and rockin' out some sort of yumminess. For me, cooking is so many things...a stress reliever, it brings me joy, it's fun, sometimes challenging and it always makes me smile...except for the occasional cooking miss hap...those usually necessitate a trip to the grocery store at some ridiculous hour and cause me to say naughty words.
So, for Foodie Friday, I will post a recipe of mine every Friday (or most every Friday, or whenever I feel like it). My disclaimer...I rarely use recipes or measurements, most of the stuff I make comes from my head. If I do consult a recipe, I don't usually follow it. So most of the measurements I will post are APPROXIMATIONS.
So then, for the recipe...this is what we had for dinner tonight. It has no name, so if you'd like to name it let me know...it's a chicken/pasta/veggie dish...all I know is that is was really TASTY!
What you need:
2 cooked chicken breasts diced (cook it however you want, I like to grill extra chicken and use it for recipes throughout the week)
1/2 box bow tie pasta (or whatever shape you like)
1 eggplant, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 large tomato, or 2 Romas, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2-1 pint mushrooms, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 wedge parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
butter
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
balsamic vinegar
salt/pepper
Directions:
1. Place eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and green pepper on baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss them to coat them evenly and roast them at 375 for 30 minutes.
2. While veggies are roasting, cook pasta according to directions. Add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and 2-3 Tbsp of butter to a large pan and caramelize the onion and garlic.
3. After the veggies are done roasting, add them to the onions and garlic. Also add the tomatoes, the chicken, the mushrooms, a few splashes of balsamic, the lemon juice and salt/peeper to taste...cook for about 10 minutes or until all of the flavors combine and the veggies are done.
4. Combine the veggies and pasta in a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with the shredded parmesan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Survivor
So tonight at dinner the Husband and I were talking about what five things we would take with us if we were stranded on a deserted island...
His first question "Is there a size limit?"...you see, he wanted to take a solar powered generator as his first item. So I decided the items had to all fit in a back pack.
The Husband's list
1. a hand held crank radio
2. a large amount of penicillin
3. a knife
4. flint
5. a book about survival
My response "well that's boring!!!"
My list
1. lip gloss
2. cheese
3. a bottle of wine (I wanted to bring a case of wine, but had the self imposed size limit of a back pack)
4. a hooded sweatshirt
5. a book
The Husbands response "so you're basically going to live it up for about 12 hours and then die!"
um, yeah, well let's just hope I never get stranded on a deserted island
so what five things would you take with YOU?
His first question "Is there a size limit?"...you see, he wanted to take a solar powered generator as his first item. So I decided the items had to all fit in a back pack.
The Husband's list
1. a hand held crank radio
2. a large amount of penicillin
3. a knife
4. flint
5. a book about survival
My response "well that's boring!!!"
My list
1. lip gloss
2. cheese
3. a bottle of wine (I wanted to bring a case of wine, but had the self imposed size limit of a back pack)
4. a hooded sweatshirt
5. a book
The Husbands response "so you're basically going to live it up for about 12 hours and then die!"
um, yeah, well let's just hope I never get stranded on a deserted island
so what five things would you take with YOU?
Good Friday?
So today is Good Friday. But what is so 'good' about celebrating the day that someone dies? It's good because that someone is Jesus, and He died for me and YOU. And through His death I can stand in the forgiveness of His grace...more about that in a bit. But first, do you realize the awesomeness and magnitude of what it means to have someone, Jesus, die for you? That, people, is true love. How many of us have someone that we can say loved us enough to die for us...and not just any death, but an awful, painful, humiliating death? I know I can't.
Standing in the forgiveness of His grace...what exactly does that mean? Forgiveness means that I can wake up every day knowing that my screw ups from yesterday, today and tomorrow are not going to be dangled over my head. Grace means that I didn't and can't do anything to deserve this forgiveness, and that no matter what I do I can't earn it...grace is a free gift...and a concept that is difficult to wrap my human mind around. So since I am forgiven, does that mean I can do whatever I want? No, see because grace is freely bestowed upon me to help me not to do what my flesh wants to do. But I still screw up-every day. And I'm still forgiven- every day. And I still have grace- every day. Sound too good to be true, it's not, forgiveness and grace are there for all who believe. I couldn't make this up if I tried. The Bible tells us the following in Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Often times in today's world, believing in Jesus gets some bad press. Some people think that living a Christian life equates to living a life filled with legalism, constraints, harsh rules and a loss of freedom- this could not be farther from the truth. Because of choosing to believe in Jesus I have amazing freedom in my life- freedom from worry, guilt, shame, bitterness, the list goes on. Does that mean that I don't still experience those things, no...what it means is that I am free to not have to carry all of that garbage around if I don't want to- because I have a Redeemer waiting to take it all from me with open arms.
The steps you take to have a life like this are simple, and I would love to tell you about them.
So in the festivities of the next few days- all the family, and friends, and caloric binges...try to remember why it is that you are celebrating. And it isn't because this is the one time of the year that it's socially acceptable to gorge yourself on those disgusting chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies.
Standing in the forgiveness of His grace...what exactly does that mean? Forgiveness means that I can wake up every day knowing that my screw ups from yesterday, today and tomorrow are not going to be dangled over my head. Grace means that I didn't and can't do anything to deserve this forgiveness, and that no matter what I do I can't earn it...grace is a free gift...and a concept that is difficult to wrap my human mind around. So since I am forgiven, does that mean I can do whatever I want? No, see because grace is freely bestowed upon me to help me not to do what my flesh wants to do. But I still screw up-every day. And I'm still forgiven- every day. And I still have grace- every day. Sound too good to be true, it's not, forgiveness and grace are there for all who believe. I couldn't make this up if I tried. The Bible tells us the following in Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Often times in today's world, believing in Jesus gets some bad press. Some people think that living a Christian life equates to living a life filled with legalism, constraints, harsh rules and a loss of freedom- this could not be farther from the truth. Because of choosing to believe in Jesus I have amazing freedom in my life- freedom from worry, guilt, shame, bitterness, the list goes on. Does that mean that I don't still experience those things, no...what it means is that I am free to not have to carry all of that garbage around if I don't want to- because I have a Redeemer waiting to take it all from me with open arms.
The steps you take to have a life like this are simple, and I would love to tell you about them.
So in the festivities of the next few days- all the family, and friends, and caloric binges...try to remember why it is that you are celebrating. And it isn't because this is the one time of the year that it's socially acceptable to gorge yourself on those disgusting chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies.
Friday Photo
Okay, Friday's are going to be photo uploads. Why? Because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want.
In case you've ever wondered exactly where the Garden of Eden is located...I found it.
this. is. love.
