Have you ever had one of those days where you just KNOW God is trying to teach you something? I'm having one of those. Or maybe a week. Or maybe a well, nevermind.
Anyway, I feel like since we got to Pennsylvania I've been praying over what the lesson is that God wants me to learn up here. I've written in my journal countless times that I want to learn it quickly so I can go about my merry way and head on back to Arkansas. But over the last week I've been faced with some somewhat annoying revelations...
Uno. God has to put me in timeout sometimes.
It's true. I feel like sometimes he almost quarantines me from others so that I finally get to a corner and sheepishly say, "Oh, are You trying to tell me something? Did you want to put some input up in here?" He's done this at least two other times in my life ... He keeps knocking and knocking on my door and finally gives me an attention getter that I can't ignore. I don't want to be like that. But fast forward and here I am in Sayre, Pennsylvania (practically distraction free). So clearly, I wasn't listening ... or at least responding. What's amazing is how when I finally get in that quiet spot ... He starts showing me things. One of my favorite lines from Addison Road's song "What Do I Know of Holy" talks about trying to hear from heaven, but then talking the whole time. Oops.
Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.
-Jeremiah 33:3 (HCSB)
Is that all we have to do? Call to Him and He'll start speaking His will over our life? He promises us that He has a purpose and a Plan for us (Jer. 29:11) But if we don't know the plan, how do we know if we're on track?
Recently I was journaling and I told Him that I feel like He's trying to put some blinders on me but that I keep telling Him they don't match my outfit. Because I kinda like the distractions, they're fun and they make me happy. I think. Anybody ... anybody??
Dos. Being kind of cast out of my every day life, and having my somewhat big world turned into an itty bitty one has made me realize how actually small my world was before. That perhaps some of the things that were/are important to me are a little bit narcissistic. It really doesn't matter what my kids have on. Or what I have on. Or if I wore it to bible study last week. What I want to matter is eternal purpose. What I want to hear is "Well done, good and faithful servant." I want to have fought the good fight WELL. Which if I'm searching for matching smocked outfits for Thanksgiving in April is probably not holding eternal value. Just a thought. (disclosure: this is totally me, and I'm totally working through this as I'm going through it, so no judgement for those cute mamas (aka BFFs) that love some cute kid clothes. I'm so with you. Duh)
I've started filling my day with purpose and it's changing me. I've been studying God's word in the morning and pouring out all the good, bad and ugly to Him. During my Arbonne days I remember people having breakouts sometimes when they first got on the skincare. I tried to encourage them to press forward because it was a detox and it was going to bring all the impurities to the surface before it could start cell turnover and renewal, etc. That's kind of where I am. God's bringing some yucky stuff to the surface. Some of the me, me, me stuff. And it's not pretty.
I've also spent my days listening to the audio mp3s for the Five Aspects of Womanhood study by Barbara Mouser. I put it on my headphones and listen to it while I'm cleaning the house or hiding from my kids. She is reading a textbook and it's kind of monotone, but if you get through that there is some major meat in those lessons. I listened to the last one yesterday and I'm going to restart them Monday. I could listen to one a day forever and always learn something new.
Lastly, I've been immersing myself in Christian literature. If I'm not cooking or cleaning, I'm reading one of four books that are so stinkin' profound I spend half the time crying over where my life is heading.
Tres. I could just plan my life away. Right now I could literally map out for the fam a grand life of suburban delight in which everything is just dandy. Perfect golf course house on a tree lined street with three well-dressed, bible-reciting kiddos and, and, and... And, honestly, that sounds dreamy.
But, maybe there's more.
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.
-Psalms 37:4 (NLT)
When I was younger I thought this meant that as long as I was doing all the christiany things I was supposed to then God would give me most of the stuff I wanted. Isn't God the best?
Then I realized that's not really what He's saying (Darn!). I think he means that as we pursue Him, as we call out to Him, He'll change the desires of His heart to things in His plan... Kinda feels like He's pulling a fast one. But I'm thinking that maybe if I put on those outdated blinders and look with fresh eyes I'll see things more clearly. That maybe His plans could be better than My plans. What a novel thought.
This living away thing is hard. It's totally stretching me in crazy, crazy ways. I don't think I realized how much I relied on the human strength of those around me until they were gone. Thank goodness for Facetime, Facebook, e-mail, text and cell phones with unlimited mobile-to-mobile. But, thank GOD for His precious word that is truly alive and active, and totally changing my views and desires ...
I feel a crazy ride ahead ... and I'm pumped.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Showing posts with label Pennsylvabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pennsylvabia. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Our First Visitors!
This morning we woke up to a quiet house as our first visitors had gone back to Arkansas. We had been SO excited about them coming here and "X'ed" off days on the calendar showing how many more night-nights until Maw and Bobo's arrival.
They brought gifts ...
Cavendars are apparently made in Arkansas and a STAPLE in my cooking ... I'd been using my last bottle sparingly until their arrival.
We had fun cooking, visiting, sight-seeing, and just being in their sweet presence. I have some of the best in laws ever and don't take that for granted one bit! It was SO special for them to make the trip up here! I cried tears of joy when they got here and we all shed a few tears of sadness when they left.
Nightly Yahtzee matches ... Bobo dominated. But Aaron can give you at least 15 scenarios where he should have won ... Yawn.
They helped make Easter special ... Which they always do.
Bobe brought Sawyer this sweet Easter book and read it no less than 15 times ... No wonder she's a "great" grandmother!
One thing for sure, family visits are a lot more special when they're spread out. And I was just thrilled to have them for six whole days. Miss y'all already!!
Lots of love to Maw and Bobo!!
They brought gifts ...
Cavendars are apparently made in Arkansas and a STAPLE in my cooking ... I'd been using my last bottle sparingly until their arrival.
We had fun cooking, visiting, sight-seeing, and just being in their sweet presence. I have some of the best in laws ever and don't take that for granted one bit! It was SO special for them to make the trip up here! I cried tears of joy when they got here and we all shed a few tears of sadness when they left.
Nightly Yahtzee matches ... Bobo dominated. But Aaron can give you at least 15 scenarios where he should have won ... Yawn.
They helped make Easter special ... Which they always do.
Bobe brought Sawyer this sweet Easter book and read it no less than 15 times ... No wonder she's a "great" grandmother!
One thing for sure, family visits are a lot more special when they're spread out. And I was just thrilled to have them for six whole days. Miss y'all already!!
Lots of love to Maw and Bobo!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
One Month In.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... Right now it really feels like that!
I'm honestly kinda conflicted about how I feel about the whole Pennsylvania experience thus far. I know that I'm 100% the one struggling the most with the move and newness of Sayre. Whereas much of my days are the same as being a homemaker in Arkansas, I had fun weekly outings with friends to look forward to; visits from fam or spontaneous day dates with my mom and sisters. I kinda have to choose mind over matter and not let my mind wander there now. I'm pretty sure that would ensue a total breakdown and I'm pretty darn proud of myself for not having one yet!
Tonight I was talking to one of my friends from home, Mandy, and had a small revelation: when I concentrate on normal, mundane tasks or the good going on here with fam and kids, I'm fine. Pretty content actually. It's only when I get centered on myself that I start struggling and getting down in the dumps. What I'm missing out on, who I'm missing out on ... These questions can send me spiraling into a sad, depressing state of ... well, you get the idea.
But for all my peeps wondering how it's going ... I think we're gonna be ok. The rest of my crew has barely noticed a difference. Aaron stays busy with work and activities and the kids just honestly don't act like they've missed a beat! Every once in a while Dalton will say something like "Can Dede come over today?" or "Let's go to Maw's work." and I'll have to fight back tears and remind him they live in Arkansas and we live
in Pennsylvania.
But there is good here too. With Aaron's flexible schedule there is lots of togetherness, and lots of family time which is super nice. I know the kids especially love having him around so much. Plus, Aaron really likes his job and is encouraged and energized by his work which has made life a lot better and more enjoyable for all.
I feel like we're settled here after our first month, which has kinda brought relief and a couple freak outs. I'm relieved that I'm finally aware of the "unknown" of moving to the North. I generally know my way around and don't have to use the GPS every time I leave the house. However, it feels more permanent now (semi-permanent), just knowing we'll be here a while. I know God brought us here for a reason. I know He has a plan. I'm trying to not nag Him to death about the whys, which is not one of my strong suits. Ask Aaron.
I think I had kind of romanticized, if you will, what life would be like when we got here. I've had so many people tell me about what moving away did for their marriages, family and faith. I think I subconsciously expected all those things to be the same for us the moment we got here. However, they had to go through some rough times to get there. That's where I am right this minute- but I absolutely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
At home it was so easy to call on my mom or sisters when I needed advice or consoling. I could go do something fun with a friend to take my mind off a situation or talk through something on my mind. But here, it's just really me and the hubs. This has made me go to him more and bring more to the Lord. I know that He is truly calling me closer and that is extremely satisfying. I think I've said this before, or maybe I've written this in my journal (this entry is feeling a little "Dear Diary-ish")but when I'm in my bible studies or having some quiet time in the morning I feel completely at peace and fully content. I've often thought about how I wish I could stay in that state throughout the day. But then someone wakes up and starts screaming for juice or a show and the busyness takes control of the day. In 1 Thessalonians Paul encourages us to "pray continually," and I think that just may be my saving grace. Taking the focus off myself and putting it back on Him.
He is good.
In other news, Aaron's mom and grandmother are flying up tomorrow to be with us for Easter. I could. not. be. more. excited. I know it will just give us such a source of encouragement to have some loved ones here to fill our tanks for the next few days. They'll be here until late Monday afternoon and I'm trying to plan some fun days and some time to just lay low and look at familiar faces. Also, we've asked the whole Arkansas crew up here to come over for Easter lunch and an Egg Hunt so I'm excited about nailing all the details down for that.
I'm thankful for loved ones coming to love on us and get us into month 2. You know I'll let you know how it goes. :)
Lots of love from Pennsylvania.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I'm honestly kinda conflicted about how I feel about the whole Pennsylvania experience thus far. I know that I'm 100% the one struggling the most with the move and newness of Sayre. Whereas much of my days are the same as being a homemaker in Arkansas, I had fun weekly outings with friends to look forward to; visits from fam or spontaneous day dates with my mom and sisters. I kinda have to choose mind over matter and not let my mind wander there now. I'm pretty sure that would ensue a total breakdown and I'm pretty darn proud of myself for not having one yet!
Tonight I was talking to one of my friends from home, Mandy, and had a small revelation: when I concentrate on normal, mundane tasks or the good going on here with fam and kids, I'm fine. Pretty content actually. It's only when I get centered on myself that I start struggling and getting down in the dumps. What I'm missing out on, who I'm missing out on ... These questions can send me spiraling into a sad, depressing state of ... well, you get the idea.
But for all my peeps wondering how it's going ... I think we're gonna be ok. The rest of my crew has barely noticed a difference. Aaron stays busy with work and activities and the kids just honestly don't act like they've missed a beat! Every once in a while Dalton will say something like "Can Dede come over today?" or "Let's go to Maw's work." and I'll have to fight back tears and remind him they live in Arkansas and we live
in Pennsylvania.
But there is good here too. With Aaron's flexible schedule there is lots of togetherness, and lots of family time which is super nice. I know the kids especially love having him around so much. Plus, Aaron really likes his job and is encouraged and energized by his work which has made life a lot better and more enjoyable for all.
I feel like we're settled here after our first month, which has kinda brought relief and a couple freak outs. I'm relieved that I'm finally aware of the "unknown" of moving to the North. I generally know my way around and don't have to use the GPS every time I leave the house. However, it feels more permanent now (semi-permanent), just knowing we'll be here a while. I know God brought us here for a reason. I know He has a plan. I'm trying to not nag Him to death about the whys, which is not one of my strong suits. Ask Aaron.
I think I had kind of romanticized, if you will, what life would be like when we got here. I've had so many people tell me about what moving away did for their marriages, family and faith. I think I subconsciously expected all those things to be the same for us the moment we got here. However, they had to go through some rough times to get there. That's where I am right this minute- but I absolutely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
At home it was so easy to call on my mom or sisters when I needed advice or consoling. I could go do something fun with a friend to take my mind off a situation or talk through something on my mind. But here, it's just really me and the hubs. This has made me go to him more and bring more to the Lord. I know that He is truly calling me closer and that is extremely satisfying. I think I've said this before, or maybe I've written this in my journal (this entry is feeling a little "Dear Diary-ish")but when I'm in my bible studies or having some quiet time in the morning I feel completely at peace and fully content. I've often thought about how I wish I could stay in that state throughout the day. But then someone wakes up and starts screaming for juice or a show and the busyness takes control of the day. In 1 Thessalonians Paul encourages us to "pray continually," and I think that just may be my saving grace. Taking the focus off myself and putting it back on Him.
He is good.
In other news, Aaron's mom and grandmother are flying up tomorrow to be with us for Easter. I could. not. be. more. excited. I know it will just give us such a source of encouragement to have some loved ones here to fill our tanks for the next few days. They'll be here until late Monday afternoon and I'm trying to plan some fun days and some time to just lay low and look at familiar faces. Also, we've asked the whole Arkansas crew up here to come over for Easter lunch and an Egg Hunt so I'm excited about nailing all the details down for that.
I'm thankful for loved ones coming to love on us and get us into month 2. You know I'll let you know how it goes. :)
Lots of love from Pennsylvania.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Pennsylvania Pre-K
I went back and forth on starting the kids in another Pre-school program since it was so late in the year, but, Avery was DYING for some socialization and was missing school dearly. After calling around in hopes of finding a program that would take all three hoodlums I quickly discovered Mothers Day Out was a Southern thing, so there aren't any options for Sawyer, (Will someone PLEASE bless my heart) and things were pretty well filled up. I finally found a great little program that had one spot left for Avery. It's only Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 12:30-3pm which is pretty much the most inconvenient time ever, but hopefully with Aaron's uber-flexible schedule he'll be able to help me out with the taking and picking up.
Today was her first day and she was thrilled. We went and toured yesterday and she was just giddy all night and this morning.
She had a little friend over, Naomi, to play this am. It was wonderful to have a distraction for her so she wasn't asking every 27 seconds if it was time to go to her new school yet.
She's so shy.
After school I took them to Wendy's to get some celebratory frostys and fries ...it was quite the treat.
I asked Avery her favorite part of her day and she said meeting all the new girls. Her class only has seven students and three of them are triplets! She also told me that today had been show-and-tell, but since she didn't know to bring something she just "show and telled her boots." I love her.
She's just my very favorite Pre-schooler.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today was her first day and she was thrilled. We went and toured yesterday and she was just giddy all night and this morning.
She had a little friend over, Naomi, to play this am. It was wonderful to have a distraction for her so she wasn't asking every 27 seconds if it was time to go to her new school yet.
She's so shy.
After school I took them to Wendy's to get some celebratory frostys and fries ...it was quite the treat.
I asked Avery her favorite part of her day and she said meeting all the new girls. Her class only has seven students and three of them are triplets! She also told me that today had been show-and-tell, but since she didn't know to bring something she just "show and telled her boots." I love her.
She's just my very favorite Pre-schooler.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, March 18, 2012
A Weekend in the Northeast.
It was a great weekend in the Northeast- ya know, because we live in the Northeast now ... (Still weird).
The weather was glorious and we had lots of fun to-do's.
Friday I started whipping up a new concoction ... Indian food!! I hadn't seen any Indian restaurants, and once I realized I couldn't have it my cravings started just ravishing. Thankfully, Danny and Emily (Aaron's co-worker and his wife who are some of our new good friends here) are Indian-food-loving folk too, so they came to try some of my new creations. One of my very besties in AR, Lisa, introduced me to Indian food many, many moons ago and every couple months we would go to our fav Indian restaurant, Star of India, in Little Rock. Lisa even cooks it often and she practically held my hand from afar while I started this new adventure on Friday (when cooking begins at one in the afternoon and you don't eat until 7:30pm, it's an adventure).
The first thing I made was Chicken Tikki Masala, also known as butter chicken. I couldn't find a bunch of the ingredients, and I had some random things on hand- so here is how I made it- it's kind of compressed from several other recipes into a crock-pot recipe so that it would be stewing away all day while I was busy trying out other new things.
Here's what I ended up doing ...
Chicken Tikki Masala, or Butter Chicken
4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil
**Stir fry chicken, onion and garlic in frying pan on medium heat until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot. Then add:
1 jar of Patak's "Butter Chicken" Simmer Sauce
1 tsp garam masala
1 can coconut milk
1 cup plain yogurt
1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste
Salt to taste
Mix gently and cook in a slow cooker on high heat 4-6 hours or low heat 6-8 hours.
.
Next I made one of Lisa's recipe's that was soooo yummy!
Coconut Shrimp Curry
Sauce base:
1T. good quality curry powder
1 T. garam masala
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can coconut milk ( 14 oz.)
1 can chopped tomatoes (14 oz.)
1 can tomato sauce (14 oz.)
1 chopped onion
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
bell pepper, finely chopped
3-4 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger (or the ginger paste)
butter/ghee or coconut oil
1 # peeled, deveined shrimp
Heat butter/ghee in a heavy skillet. Saute onions, bell pepper, garlic and ginger until soft and slightly caramelized. Add spices, cook until fragrant. Add coconut milk, chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce, stir and bring to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook through in simmering sauce (around 10-15 minutes). Top with chopped cilantro and mint leaves.
Both are served traditionally over rice. I put a little oil and butter in a skillet and toasted my spices of black peppercorn, garam masala, cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne. When those started getting fragrant I added my rice and water, plus a bag of frozen peas, and then just covered with a lid for the cooking time on my package.
I also made Saag Paneer which is kind like a creamed spinach dish that is my favorite thing at Star of India.
Here is another recipe Lisa gave me...
Saag Paneer
Ingredients
1 # paneer, cubed (SO, my grocery store didn't have Paneer cheese so I had to make my own, which was way easy. I just watched a YouTube video and presto! Homeade Paneer Cheese!
2 T. butter/ghee
2 T. coconut oil (or just use butter and olive oil)
1 pound fresh spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
crushed ginger paste in a jar
1-3 small green chiles, seeded and chopped
1 T. mild, medium, or hot curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 T. garam masala
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 cup of heavy cream
salt, to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, optional
Procedures
1. Heat half the butter and oil over medium heat in a large nonstick pan. Add paneer, frying until each square in browned on two or more sides, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the paneer and shake pan occasionally. Remove from pan, set aside.
2. Wipe out pan. Heat remaining butter and oil. Add onion, ginger, garlic, and chiles. Fry over medium heat until onions are soft but not browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add curry and cumin, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add spinach to pan, stirring until well blended. Transfer spinach mixture to food processor or blender and add enough yogurt to render the mixture creamy. If you prefer a coarser mixture, reserve 1/3 of the spinach before processing.
5. Return to pan, adding reserved unmixed spinach, if using. Add warm water, if needed, to thin.
6. Stir in paneer, heating gently until paneer softens somewhat.
7. Top with cilantro, if desired.
I got stuff to make the Naan Bread and Mango Lassi's for dessert, but I ran out of time ... Next time maybe!
My Homeade cheese .... Who am I?!?!
Cooking away ...
This plate is just CRYING OUT for some Naan Bread! Still sad I didn't have time to make it. If you want to take a walk on the wild side and try something new, I highly recommend these recipes!
Saturday morning we went on a family outing to Farmland Animal Park in Chemung, NY. We had originally planned to go to Vestal, NY to the zoo, but it doesn't open until April here. Usually there is still 3 feet of snow on the ground apparently!
Farmland wasn't technically open yet either, plus they'd had a lot of flooding and were still cleaning up the farm, but there were still lots of animals to look at and the kids loved it. Of course I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, as usual. I have GOT to pull out my real camera- but iPhone pics are so convenient!
And what farm day would be complete without a new farm animal ... Dalton begs to go the Tractor Supply store to look at the Schleich animals every. single. day. So between Farmland and Tractor Supply I think he had a great day!
That afternoon we went and got a grill and some outside fun things to grill out with friends and enjoy the weather. While Aaron and Avery were out he got Avery a new b-ball ensemble ... I died laughing when she came back in this:
She's the cutest thing I've ever seen ... Black tennies and all. ;)
We sat outside, grilled lots of yumminess and then the men watched basketball and the kids played hard. It was such a fun Saturday.
While I was inside cutting up some veggies I had my country music blaring, my windows open, I could hear the kids running and playing out back with Aaron and I just had this moment of thinking, "I'm happy here." It TOTALLY surprised me, because I've kinda seen it as just surviving here until we can go home ... But, I know it's God's GRACE and the peace He promises in Phillipians 4:4 "Then the
Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It's so beyond my simple understanding, but His infinite grace is sufficient for me. Hallelujah.
This morning we visited the home Church; Aaron had to go work for a little while this morning/afternoon since he's been sick with a TERRIBLE sinus infection the last few days. Our friends invited us to their home and so I took the kids and we had a great morning. It was good discussion, fellowship, and I felt like it was just an all together great morning. Afterward we ate lunch and let the kids play outside and came home for naps. I think Aaron is going to go shoot pigeons or shoot something this afternoon with some guys and I'm kinda tuckered out, so I'm guessing we'll lay low and have leftovers for dinner. And that's sounds pretty perfect to me!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The weather was glorious and we had lots of fun to-do's.
Friday I started whipping up a new concoction ... Indian food!! I hadn't seen any Indian restaurants, and once I realized I couldn't have it my cravings started just ravishing. Thankfully, Danny and Emily (Aaron's co-worker and his wife who are some of our new good friends here) are Indian-food-loving folk too, so they came to try some of my new creations. One of my very besties in AR, Lisa, introduced me to Indian food many, many moons ago and every couple months we would go to our fav Indian restaurant, Star of India, in Little Rock. Lisa even cooks it often and she practically held my hand from afar while I started this new adventure on Friday (when cooking begins at one in the afternoon and you don't eat until 7:30pm, it's an adventure).
The first thing I made was Chicken Tikki Masala, also known as butter chicken. I couldn't find a bunch of the ingredients, and I had some random things on hand- so here is how I made it- it's kind of compressed from several other recipes into a crock-pot recipe so that it would be stewing away all day while I was busy trying out other new things.
Here's what I ended up doing ...
Chicken Tikki Masala, or Butter Chicken
4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil
**Stir fry chicken, onion and garlic in frying pan on medium heat until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot. Then add:
1 jar of Patak's "Butter Chicken" Simmer Sauce
1 tsp garam masala
1 can coconut milk
1 cup plain yogurt
1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste
Salt to taste
Mix gently and cook in a slow cooker on high heat 4-6 hours or low heat 6-8 hours.
.
Next I made one of Lisa's recipe's that was soooo yummy!
Coconut Shrimp Curry
Sauce base:
1T. good quality curry powder
1 T. garam masala
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can coconut milk ( 14 oz.)
1 can chopped tomatoes (14 oz.)
1 can tomato sauce (14 oz.)
1 chopped onion
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
bell pepper, finely chopped
3-4 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger (or the ginger paste)
butter/ghee or coconut oil
1 # peeled, deveined shrimp
Heat butter/ghee in a heavy skillet. Saute onions, bell pepper, garlic and ginger until soft and slightly caramelized. Add spices, cook until fragrant. Add coconut milk, chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce, stir and bring to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook through in simmering sauce (around 10-15 minutes). Top with chopped cilantro and mint leaves.
Both are served traditionally over rice. I put a little oil and butter in a skillet and toasted my spices of black peppercorn, garam masala, cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne. When those started getting fragrant I added my rice and water, plus a bag of frozen peas, and then just covered with a lid for the cooking time on my package.
I also made Saag Paneer which is kind like a creamed spinach dish that is my favorite thing at Star of India.
Here is another recipe Lisa gave me...
Saag Paneer
Ingredients
1 # paneer, cubed (SO, my grocery store didn't have Paneer cheese so I had to make my own, which was way easy. I just watched a YouTube video and presto! Homeade Paneer Cheese!
2 T. butter/ghee
2 T. coconut oil (or just use butter and olive oil)
1 pound fresh spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
crushed ginger paste in a jar
1-3 small green chiles, seeded and chopped
1 T. mild, medium, or hot curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 T. garam masala
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 cup of heavy cream
salt, to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, optional
Procedures
1. Heat half the butter and oil over medium heat in a large nonstick pan. Add paneer, frying until each square in browned on two or more sides, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the paneer and shake pan occasionally. Remove from pan, set aside.
2. Wipe out pan. Heat remaining butter and oil. Add onion, ginger, garlic, and chiles. Fry over medium heat until onions are soft but not browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add curry and cumin, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add spinach to pan, stirring until well blended. Transfer spinach mixture to food processor or blender and add enough yogurt to render the mixture creamy. If you prefer a coarser mixture, reserve 1/3 of the spinach before processing.
5. Return to pan, adding reserved unmixed spinach, if using. Add warm water, if needed, to thin.
6. Stir in paneer, heating gently until paneer softens somewhat.
7. Top with cilantro, if desired.
I got stuff to make the Naan Bread and Mango Lassi's for dessert, but I ran out of time ... Next time maybe!
My Homeade cheese .... Who am I?!?!
Cooking away ...
This plate is just CRYING OUT for some Naan Bread! Still sad I didn't have time to make it. If you want to take a walk on the wild side and try something new, I highly recommend these recipes!
Saturday morning we went on a family outing to Farmland Animal Park in Chemung, NY. We had originally planned to go to Vestal, NY to the zoo, but it doesn't open until April here. Usually there is still 3 feet of snow on the ground apparently!
Farmland wasn't technically open yet either, plus they'd had a lot of flooding and were still cleaning up the farm, but there were still lots of animals to look at and the kids loved it. Of course I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, as usual. I have GOT to pull out my real camera- but iPhone pics are so convenient!
And what farm day would be complete without a new farm animal ... Dalton begs to go the Tractor Supply store to look at the Schleich animals every. single. day. So between Farmland and Tractor Supply I think he had a great day!
That afternoon we went and got a grill and some outside fun things to grill out with friends and enjoy the weather. While Aaron and Avery were out he got Avery a new b-ball ensemble ... I died laughing when she came back in this:
She's the cutest thing I've ever seen ... Black tennies and all. ;)
We sat outside, grilled lots of yumminess and then the men watched basketball and the kids played hard. It was such a fun Saturday.
While I was inside cutting up some veggies I had my country music blaring, my windows open, I could hear the kids running and playing out back with Aaron and I just had this moment of thinking, "I'm happy here." It TOTALLY surprised me, because I've kinda seen it as just surviving here until we can go home ... But, I know it's God's GRACE and the peace He promises in Phillipians 4:4 "Then the
Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It's so beyond my simple understanding, but His infinite grace is sufficient for me. Hallelujah.
This morning we visited the home Church; Aaron had to go work for a little while this morning/afternoon since he's been sick with a TERRIBLE sinus infection the last few days. Our friends invited us to their home and so I took the kids and we had a great morning. It was good discussion, fellowship, and I felt like it was just an all together great morning. Afterward we ate lunch and let the kids play outside and came home for naps. I think Aaron is going to go shoot pigeons or shoot something this afternoon with some guys and I'm kinda tuckered out, so I'm guessing we'll lay low and have leftovers for dinner. And that's sounds pretty perfect to me!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
