Simply Sweet Ingredient Challenge: Strawberries

Such a wonderful time of year with all of the baby birds and bunnies, bright and beautiful flowers, and, last, but not least, the absolutely amazing produce that's sprouting up all around! With all the tasty food showing up at Farmer's Markets near you, I was easily inspired to go for the ever-loved strawberry... and what a great idea it turned out to be!

J loves himself some Ahi, so I decided to make a tangy strawberry salsa to put atop his seared fishy! The trick to this tasty salsa treat is a food processor... If you don't have one you truly are missing out on one of the seven wonders of the kitchen. I have used it almost daily since I bought it and I truly believe that everything can be processed in one way or another! You'll never have to chop, slice, mince, or puree by hand again!

Sweet and Tangy Strawberry Salsa

Ingredients: 

• 2 little green baskets of strawberries
• 2 jalapenos
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• sprinkle (or two) of garlic salt

Directions: 

1. Add the jalapenos, garlic, and cilantro into the processor and pulse until chopped to your liking. 
2. Slice the tops off the strawberries then drop the rest into the processor. 
3. Pulse to your liking. 
4. Add the lime juice and the garlic salt then pulse. 
5. Taste test... Add more salt or lime or strawberry as you wish. 
6. Enjoy on chips, fish, quesadillas... On whatever you'd like! 

And for the other participants' entries: 

Zoe's Strawberry Shortcake Sandwiches

There's another coming, I'm just waiting for the post so check for it later! 

And for the next challenge due in two weeks... 

Oatmeal

It's probably the most boring ingredient ever... But the list of health benefits are longer than you'd ever expect! Full of fiber, cholesterol reducing agents, and so much more! 

Cookies, breakfast, cakes, waffles... However you can incorporate it, I want to see it!

Under the Glorious Weather

My, oh my. I have been gone far too long. I have been under the weather and trying to get myself back in action. This weekend finally seems to be better (knock on wood... I don't dare jinx my poor self!). But in it, I have come to a humble realization that my body, as great as a tool it may be, is bound to let me down. For example, I eat anything dairy and BOOM, tummy ache, bloating, cramps... I eat something too much sugar and BOOM, tummy ache, headache... I drink too much caffeine and BOOM, jitters, headache, munchies. (the list just continues to go on and on)

In the weakness of my body, I see a little snapshot of my plight as a human... I too am weak, in fact, so much so, that I'm more prone to ailments than my dear bod; however, these are ailments of the spirit. The symptoms of selfishness, anger, dishonesty, and gluttony (just to name a few) are indicative of an illness so great we cannot comprehend a cure.

As it is explained in Romans 5... 

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned... For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many... For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."

God, in all of His greatness, has cured and conquered the toxic cancer that runs rampant in my sick spirit. Jesus Christ came down and cleaned my soul of all the sickness that could so easily run me down. And the promise of a cure that God gives us holds so much more potential than any pharmacist could possibly give to me... A cure with nothing but positive outcome, no painful side effects or allergic reactions, no adverse interactions... In fact, God promises to grow us, to heal us, to restore us, to make us into a new me who is unrecognizable to the old you. 

What is hurting your sweet soul today? Are you in need of a cure like me? 

P.S. Did you make your simply sweet challenge recipe for tomorrow?? 

My Body as a Temple

So there's a little shift in my life plans after this last weekend... I got a horrible infection in my intestine that left me feeling like I was going to die for... Well, way too many days! I was completely uncomfortable and miserable until last night when the antibiotics really kicked in and my tummy figured itself back out.

J and I in front of a Mayan Temple in Cancun after we got engaged!

This morning my mom and I were talking about the way my body can be so ravaged by the food that I eat... Then I got to thinking about 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, 

whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 

Therefore honor God with your body." 

I have always chocked this up to sexual purity. But I have come to believe -just in the last couple of days- that God is also referring to the things that we put into our bodies, the way that we use them -whether for work or for recreation, the care we exhibit towards His gift of our physical being.

My temple is anti-dairy. My temple is very, very picky... In fact, my temple is very much a temple, in that you need to put in the purest and most wholesome of foods or it goes haywire. J's body is more like a waste management plant. He puts in what is delivered and it gets taken care of by his titanium tummy. Half of the things J puts into his very tolerant temple I would barely touch with a rubber glove on... Yet, he has no digestive issues. Why my God did I get such a picky body? Why does my temple require such diligence?

I believe it's because God knows I would love to eat and eat and eat with no thought about the calories or the way it makes my body feel or the way if may affect my weight. Thus, I get sick. He has equipped my temple with a very diligent screening system to assist in my lack of self control... And after four years of struggling, I finally got the message this morning!

What are you putting in your temple? 

Or maybe the bigger concern is how much are you putting in your temple at one time? 

(Hopefully your temple isn't nearly as choosy as mine!)

Japanese Street Fare: Introducing Yakitori

I got a new Cuisine at Home magazine last week that had so many amazing recipes in it! I am a HUGE fan of cooking magazines because they promise to deliver many wonderful recipes every month and a subscription really is easy to finance (especially being young and on the way to the alter!). 

This month featured a Japanese Street Fare section with amazing and fun recipes. So I decided to go for it with some Yakitori and Grilled Rice Cakes! 

The rice cakes fell apart on the grill so there's some tweaking that needs to be done there, but they were tasty nonetheless! First, the delicious yakitori!

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup soy sauve
• 1/2 cup mirin (sake)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 6 thin slices of fresh ginger (I just used 2 Tablespoons of crushed ginger I already had) 
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 bunches scallions 

Directions: 

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Brush the grate with sesame oil. 
2. For the sauce, combine the broth, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil in a saucepan over high heat. 
3. When the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for ten minutes. 
4. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl, then stir into the sauce. 
5. Bring the sauce back to a boil and cook for five minutes. 
6. Strain the sauce and reserve 1/2 cup for dipping later. 
7. While the sauce boils, slice the chicken breasts and scallions into 2-inch-wide pieces. 
8. Skewer chicken and scallions alternating onto sets of double skewers. 
9. Baste the meat with the sauce and grill skewers covered for two minutes on each side. 
10. Flip and baste. 
11. Continue grilling and basting the chicken until cooked thoroughly, about 12 minutes. 
12. Enjoy! 

And now for the rice cakes... Which I'm still working to perfect! 

Sorry for the lack of a picture for you... They didn't fare well after the grill and J and I devoured them.

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup dry, short-grain white rice (in other words sushi rice)
• 1/3 cup frozen edamame, shelled and thawed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1 Tablespoon prepared wasabi

Directions: 

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions. (Mine didn't have any so I used a rice cooker and it worked wonders!) 
2. After it's done cooking gently stir in the edamame. 
3. For the sauce, combine soy sauce and mirin in a small saucepan over high heat and allow to reduce by about a third. 
4. Transfer the sauce into a small bowl and stir in the wasabi until dissolved. 
5. Transfer 1/4 cup cooked to a plastic bag. Shape the rice into a big triangle using the corner of the bag. 
6. Repeat with rice to form 7 more triangles. 
7. Grill bakes until marked, 2 minutes per side. 
8. Dip cakes in sauce, then grill 1 minute more on each side to set the sauce. 
9. Remove from grill. 
10. Enjoy! 

*Simply Sweet Note: Two hints for you... [1] Don't wait for the rive to cool before forming it into little cakes, do that while it's still warm so they stick more and [2] Be VERY careful with the sauce on the rice cakes, it can easily over water them. 

Lord, make me free like a baby birdie

Yesterday morning Baby Bear came running inside and asked Mama Bird and I to check out the baby birds in the nest a bird built in our patio cover. We went outside to see their growth and realized the birds were ready to get spread their wings and fly.

{via}

We were all so excited for them, but with two dogs running amuck in the yard grew nervous. We put Pennie (our bird-obsessed pup) away in the dog run and Calvin (our pain-in-the-neck old man terrier) took off in the house to avoid the pen. We watched as baby birdie one leaped from the nest, flapped his wings clumsily, and then hit the ground. Baby birdie pulled himself up into a pretty little posture and as he did so, Calvin came running out of the house and gobbled the birdie up in one bite.

It was such a sad little moment. We yelled at him no and he finally dropped the baby birdie, but he was already dead. We locked Calvin in the dog run before baby birdie two decided to get his flight on. No movement from the nest left Mama Bird and I bored so we went in to finish getting ready for the day. Suddenly Baby Bear said the other bird came out of the nest and we had to see. Baby birdie two was sort of a hot feathery mess laying face down on the ground. We thought he too had died. Suddenly a little flap of the wing and he was all put back together!

Baby Bear had to leave for school but laid down his compassionate, animal-loving law. No dogs out until baby birdie two was gone. The backyard needed to be searched before the dogs could be free to roam. We all agreed.

Baby birdie two flew the coop yesterday sometime. Thank goodness, all alive and well. But as I think of the excitement of the morning, I can't help but think of God. Of His love and provisions for us.

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger, and did not arouse His wrath." -Psalm 78:38

Just like Baby Bear did for the birdie, God provides for us to fly, to soar, and to fall without being gobbled up by a ready-to-pounce enemy (or Jack Russell Terrier!). Much like the dog run, God's grace and mercy keeps us from becoming history before our time. Much like a backyard free of dogs for many hours, God gives us time and space to grow while delivering us from deadly danger.

This Friday afternoon, I pray for the freedom to grow and spread my wings while taking comfort in the grace of the God who provides safety for me. I pray that I can lean into the beautiful heart of God that loves my feathery mess of a self... Even when I'm not quite ready to fly. I pray with much thanksgiving for the sweet baby birds that gave me a lesson while doing precisely what God made them to do, if only I could hold tight to my purpose like them.

My Greatest Demon

I'm not so sure about you, but I know that I can pretend everything's perfect when it's really not. I'm good at telling myself, "No Amber, that's not you" or "It's ok Amber, you don't have a problem." I may not have a problem, but I have a little demon that sits on my shoulder and whispers mean things in my ear. Just like the little guys in cartoon characters.

My greatest demon is body image. I grew up playing soccer and never had to think twice about what I was eating. My freshman year of college was marked with much bad "dorm food" and the eradication of any kind of working out. When I moved home from my freshman year carrying fifteen pounds more than I left with, I realized it was time to take myself more seriously.

I hit the road hard. Running three miles at first, quickly building to five, and then growing higher and higher in number from there. I rushed a sorority and realized that all the really cute girls were skinny. I wasn't super cute, but I ran a lot so I stayed thin.

Two and a half years later and I'm running like mad now... Six miles is a short day and working out at the gym to get the killer arms my wedding dress seems to call for... But I'm not at that skinny sorority girl weight. And every time I look in the mirror I see that extra pudge around my waistline only to be frustrated.

I'm not overweight by anyone else's standards (well maybe some...), but I have no problem looking into the mirror and seeing so many things I wish I could correct. Probably more that I wish I could fix than that with which I am satisfied.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; 

male and female he created them." 

-Genesis 1:27

Growing up in church I have always heard that God made our bodies, thus we should love them as His creation. Well, I love my body because it's a useful tool that God made for me to use... But I don't like that I can't shape and sculpt it to look "perfect" (whatever that means). I have been praying what seems like constantly for God to rip that little demon from my shoulder and place him far, far, far from here, but God is showing me that I can tell that demon "No." It's that simple, just saying no.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden form you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

-Psalm 139:13-16

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God knows my frame. He knows those little pockets of fat. He knows the unwanted pimples and follicles that I despise. But the difference between God and I: He loves  dearly my greatest (and tiniest) imperfections. In fact, it's through those most hated parts of me that He acts so greatly through. In fact, the parts of me I love the most, I happen to take for granted... Leading the "loved" to be lessonless.

I'm beautiful because He made me so. Little demon, be gone, I'm a beautiful babe of His.

Practically some tips I have found helpful to dealing with body image issues and frustrations:
1. Listen to your body and eat when it needs fuel.
2. Know that your size is genetic and environmental... Not everyone can be a size 0.
3. Exercise regularly in a way that you love.
4. Know that weight changes in cycles that run weekly and monthly.
5. Work on being gentle mentally... Treat your body right in your mind.
6. Ask for support and encouragement from friends. In return, be honest and vulnerable with them.
7. Decide where your priorities lie. Would you rather spend an hour at the gym getting the "perfect bod" or walk and chat with a close friend?
8. Mental health effects physical well-being... Take time for your mind.

What's your greatest demon? 

What are your practical ways to deal with your demon? 

Let me know, I will pray for your fight... And please, please pray for mine. 

Simply Sweet Ingredient Challenge: Hummus

This week's Simply Sweet Ingredient Challenge was to make hummus! Such an easy, but so fun and creative way to make a tasty treat that you can use as a dip, a condiment, a garnish, or fun tasting dish! 

I couldn't help myself and made a little trio of Triscuit toppers that J and I gobbled up several nights in a row as an after dinner snack! 

(sorry for the poor pictures... I left my camera at home so iPhone photography it is!)

The first of the trio: 

Spicy Black Bean Hummus

Ingredients: 

• 1 15 ounce can of black beans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 heaping scoops of jarred jalapeno slices
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Red pepper flakes to garnish

Directions: 

1. Drain the black beans of their liquid and pour it down the drain. 
2. Add all other ingredients into a food processor and pulse away. 
3. Add salt and pepper (or even jalapeno or red pepper flakes) as you like. 
4. Enjoy! 

*Simply Sweet to Note: Chill it in the fridge and it firms up a little nicer than the warm soupiness you may originally end up with.

The second of the trio: 

Spicy Cilantro Lime Hummus

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup cilantro 
• 1 lime, both its juice and zest
• 1 15 ounce can of cannelloni beans 
• 2 heaping scoops of jarred jalapenos, sliced 
• Drizzle of olive oil 
• 2 cloves garlic 
• Red pepper flakes (to garnish and taste)

Directions: 

1. Drain the cannelloni beans of their liquid and pour it down the drain, then drop the beans in the food processor. 
2. Zest the limes then cut in half and juice in the food processor.
3. Add all other ingredients and pulse away. 
4. Add jalapeno or red pepper flakes as you like. 
5. Enjoy! 

 And finally, the delicious recipe I debuted here!

(It's my first made all by myself recipe so I'm sort of proud!)

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup of crumbled goat cheese

• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic 
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (plus some to drizzle on top!) 
• 1/2 of a really juicy lemon
• Dash of pepper
• 1 bunch of basil 
• A handful of sun dried tomatoes (mine weren't in oil, but if so just drain)

Directions: 

1. Place the feta cheese, goat cheese, and garlic in a bowl. 
2. Sprinkle with pepper and add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. 
3. Mix together with a spoon (sort of smashing the cheese together into a paste). 
4. On a cutting board mince the basil into finely chopped bits. 
5. Layer basil on top of the cheese in the bottom of the bowl. 
6. Chop the sun dried tomatoes on a cutting board into smaller pieces. 
7. Sprinkle these on top of the basil and cheese. 
8. Drizzle with olive oil and dash with pepper. 
9. Use pita chips or triscuits to scoop up the tasty topping. 
10. Enjoy!

Now for the other recipe from my Mama Bird... Check her sun-dried tomato hummus recipe here. This is absolutely irresistible and loved by all (especially J!). 

And the next challenge's ingredient... 

(drum roll please) 

Strawberries

Their season is thriving and they are so wonderfully tasty... So cook away with these tasty fruits!