Extending Grace by the Power of the Spirit

Ever since I was young, it has seemed to me that Satan tries to attack on Sunday mornings before church. We get irritable, irrational, and throw painful words at each other, only to be met with guilt that follows.

This morning was a great example. (It is also a great example of why I contemplate going back to an old flip phone to remove myself from what technology has done to us...but that is a whole other blog ;)) Ethan and I have been running lately. We both have an app on our phones that tracks our runs with all the details (time, distance, calories burned, etc). When we run, he 'tags' me so that all the results show up on my app and that way we both don't have to run with our phone. 

Today, I was excited for that little notification to tell me I had been 'tagged' in our running app so I could see our results. I shouted out a reminder from the other room, "Don't forget to tag me in our app!" I heard him say, he would 'go back and tag' me...meaning he forgot. What!? How could you forget something soooo important! (Looking back, I realize how ridiculous my thoughts were in that moment of disappointment.) A few moments later, he informed me that the run was saved, and it wouldn't let him tag me. Nooooo! There is no proof I ran! If it isn't documented in my phone, my stats won't look better!  Other smart remarks ran through my head. Should I tell him how he must think I'm unimportant? That I'm never going to trust him to keep track of my runs? That I'll run with my own phone next time?

But in that moment, a rush of the Holy Spirit came over me. To keep.my.mouth.shut. Do you know how hard it was? I speak my mind. I do not hold back. That is not me. I had to release my frustration! But instead of feeling like I was going to burst with bubbling daggers of disappointment, I felt peace. If I had thrown those completely irrational and extremely hurtful stones at my husband about a very materialistic 'problem', what would I have gained? Pride? A brief moment of "I'm better than you"? Division? Anger release? What would I gain from those things? Nothing. Emptiness. Hurt.

Not only did the Holy Spirit tell me to keep my mouth shut and allow me to keep my mouth shut, the Spirit opened my eyes to all the selfless things my husband has been doing  for me lately. He gave me a foot rub yesterday even though it's not his favorite (really, who actually likes to do that?), he bought me my first Disney movie for our future collection, he picked me up at work, he fixed my car, he waited for me at my eye doctor appointment. This list started running through my head. I couldn't believe there is something better that comes from keeping my mouth shut! Blessings flow from that fountain of extending grace.

Pray. Pray for the Spirit to allow you to extend grace in that moment of explosion. And just see what happens.

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do......But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentlenes,s, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:16-17; 22-24

Meet My Friends: Basil, Rosemary, and Oregano

Pesto smothered paninis. Mmmm
Homemade bread with an aroma of rosemary and melted butter. MMMmm
Italian pasta with oregano laden tomato sauce. MMMMMMMMMMMMM

You get my point. Meet my new friends that I will be taking care of for the next months:

Basil.
Rosemary.
Oregano.


Herbs... my cupboard is full of them, but they are all dried. It's inexpensive to buy the dried herbs, and they don't spoil right away like fresh.... but the FRESH taste so much better and the flavor is amplified!!

All winter long I've been thinking of growing herbs. I didn't know if I could do it with our living space, would be able to do it with my lack of time or should attempt it based off my past (not so successful) gardening experience.

But I decided that I shall not live in the world of "_oulds".

So I just plain did. I decided. I chose.

*Please don't laugh if you are an expert herb grower. I'm sure I've made mistakes in this learning process, but will be sure to make notes for next time. Any kind comments appreciated.

The "herbxperiment": I began with a little research. I'm not a deep researcher when it comes to things that are wrapped in a lot of common sense. I skimmed articles, Googled some questions, and went with my gut.

I learned about some of the easiest herbs to grow indoors.
The three I wanted to grow were on the list - phew.

 

 

I learned about the soil- it needs to be light with perlite for adequate drainage. Perlite looks like shredded Styrofoam. The soil also needs to be low in fertilizers or none at all. When I went to the store there was so much to choose from! The first bag I saw looked a little sketchy. It was only 94 cents and said there was compost in it and perlite so I thought it might be an ok choice, but it felt super heavy and dense. The next bag I picked up looked interesting. I started reading it and the garden center lady came up to me and said that was grass seed in my hand. Oops. What a newbie. The other two bags I looked at said they were great for herbs however one had a much higher amount of fertilizer than the other, so I went with the least amount of fertilizer.

 

Next I learned about the containers for my herbs. I read clay pots are good for warm climates and plastic are good for cooler climates. (maybe I got that backwards?) I needed pots with drainage holes and another container (to set the pots in)  filled with rocks to allow for even more drainage. I certainly understood from my research that drainage is super important when growing herbs.

The pots I bought had removable bottoms that when removed, exposed many drainage holes.

 Next I filled the pots with soil. Now there were a lot of things I chose to not look up, such as how full to fill them... so I guessed! I filled them about an inch from the top. Next I opened the seeds and placed them in each pot and covered them according to the package on the directions. One thing I may have made a big mistake on is that I used almost all the seeds in every pot...I didn't want to waste! Lets see if that effects my results. I can always prune if there are too many herbs growing right? Hopefully.



Basil

Oregano



Rosemary

 

After I covered them I placed all the pots in the container with rocks and labeled each pot. I got out my watering can and realized that was not going to work well as far as control of pouring. I should have bought a spray bottle. I decided to soak a paper towel and gently wring it out over the dirt until it was slightly moist.

 

 

 

I placed the herbs in full sun by the window. The window if southwest facing so they should have a good deal of sun as the days get longer.

 

It will take a couple weeks before anything green will start popping up, and several months before I can use the herbs. I will keep you posted on how it goes or should I say grows! This could be a complete fail too, but I will have to be patient.

 

Until next time...

Spicy Cheese Chip Dip

I grew up thinking that rubbery block of "meltable" cheese in the yellow package was the only way we could have chip dip or a base to a broccoli cheese soup. But then I started to look at it, poke it, read the label, and realized that was not what I wanted to put in my body. I decided to create a cheese dip that is healthy, one that has natural ingredients (that we probably already have at home), and one that leaves my husband asking for it again.

Chip Dip. Nacho Cheese. Chili Cheese fries. This sauce will do it all. Perfect creaminess, spice, and heat. I can't wait to try other variations with a different cheese and different hot sauce.
Here it is, the most addicting cheese sauce you may ever try:


Spicy Cheese Chip Dip
Servings: 4

1 cup Milk
1 tbl Cornstarch
2 tbl Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce
2 oz Neufchatel cream cheese
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine the milk and cornstarch. Wisk until smooth. Stir in the buffalo sauce, salt, and pepper. Once the mixture starts to heat, add in the cream cheese. Stir until the cream cheese is dissolved. Soon after, the mixture will begin to boil. Boil for one minute.

2. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheddar cheese. Voila! Cheese sauce.

Zucchini Orange Banana Bread

Mmm. Hot steamy bread right out of the oven. This one is sure to awaken your senses with hints of orange in one bite, banana in another, and the subtle undertones of zucchini. And not to mention the chocolaty goodness melted in every bite. This bread comes out with a super soft center and slightly chewy crust. Enjoy!



Zucchini Orange Banana Bread

Serving Size: 2 Loaves

1 Cup honey
3 eggs
3/4 Cup applesauce
2/3 Cup orange juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 Cup puréed zucchini
3 Cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 bananas, mashed
2/3 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and flour two loaf pans. I'm serious, flour them or you will be sorry! Not sure how? Spray the loaf pans with cooking spray, sprinkle flour in them, and coat the whole inside of the pan with flour. Dump out the excess.
2. In a large bowl, wisk together the honey, eggs, and applesauce.
3. Add in the orange juice, lemon extract, mashed banana, and puréed zucchini. Wisk again.
4. It will be soupy. But don't worry.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, salt, and baking soda.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring after each addition.
7. Once wet and dry ingredients and combined, stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Pour half the mixture into one loaf pan, and the other half of the batter into the second loaf pan.
9. Bake for 55-60 minutes until a knife or toothpick come out clean.

Calories: 1, 787 per loaf, 178 per slice
(10 Slices/Loaf)