Day 9: Adventures in Dinner

Days 7 and 8 got hijacked by worship practice (a highlight of the week that sits squarely on the dinner hour) and a migraine. So Wendy's and Little Ceasar did the cooking those two nights.

I think I've learned that we're a 5 nights a week of dinner family. Sunday and Wednesday nights see us all going different directions.

So I didn't get to the tilapia until last night. I was, honestly, scared. I don't love fish. I've never cooked it. I also have never had capers either. And last night I was tired, so trying out new things didn't sound very appealing.

Still, we had to eat, the fish was thawed, and the worst that could happen was that it would be a cereal kind of night if I totally fubbed it.

As it turned out, though, it was tasty and much, much easier than I thought it would be. Christian cracked me up when he came back for seconds before I was done plating Ross's fish (pictured here). He hoovered the first helping.

I also thought that one lb. of tilapia would be enough, but bought two just in case. Just as I was sitting down to eat, Rayne came home from her friend's house with friend in tow. Long story short...I gave up my plate and went back to cook the second lb. And there was none left over.

Who knew?

The meal would have been perfect if I'd roasted the asparagus the menu called for. But WinCo didn't have any fresh asparagus and I wasn't going to another grocery store just for that. Speaking of which...that's where I'm headed now, to shop for Week 2. I can hardly wait to see how much money I'm going to save...

Day 6: Adventures in Dinner

I wish it were possible to upload smells because this baby smells incredible.

I was supposed to buy the chicken in pieces, but the whole chickens were in two packs. So earlier this week I cooked one chicken in the slow cooker, and if you'll recall, I mentioned that it was tasty but not very photogenic.

Since this chicken was still whole, I thought I was brave enough to try to cut up my first raw chicken, but as usual, the Joy of Cooking scared me to death. I determined instead to just roast the whole thing, slathering it in BBQ sauce throughout. This turned out to be a pretty decent strategy.

I really like breast meat and I like it juicy. I learned from cooking turkeys that they turn out pretty well if you start them out on their breasts, then flip them halfway through cooking. That's what I did this time and it's too bad I couldn't capture how amazingly tender and juicy the breast turned out.

Since I didn't get the chicken in the oven until way late (4:40), and I was anticipating an hour and a half roasting time (which made for a rather late dinner time), I utilized a seldom used feature of my oven and roasted it at 375 on the convection setting. This cut the cooking time a lot. We were sitting down by 6:15, including letting the chicken rest and carving time. Not bad.

Anyway. Totally delicious. I'm looking forward to doing tilapia tomorrow. I've never had capers before...

Day 5: Adventures in Dinner

Day 4 got hijacked by the fact that I was the only one home for dinner. So I got in my pajamas and made pancakes, which was not on the plan, but were nonetheless quite yummy.

Day 5 (Monday) thus got Sunday's brunch planned meal: Pepper Jack Brunch Braid. Except that I didn't think I could get away with pepper jack cheese so my version was Cheddar Brunch Braid. Served with cantaloupe and smoked sausage.

I feel like a repeating record on this, but it was delicious, extremely easy and was ready to eat in less than half an hour. Really.

I cannot begin to say how much this new way of doing food is helping me. My house is not the usual barely on the edge of not a complete disaster -- I can usually see the kitchen counter now at any given hour. There are vacuum marks in the carpet. (I can SEE the carpet.) Laundry is getting done. The bathrooms got cleaned. The sheets got changed.

I feel like I might be making a success of this housewife at-home-mom business.

(Okay, I admit...I did not clean the bathrooms. Ross gets credit for that.)

Sometimes a single thing helps way beyond the expected and obvious.

Day 3: Adventures in Dinner

Day 2 was really delicious -- slow cooked chicken with rice and green beans. But chicken that has been in a slow cooker for 8 hours is not very photogenic. All that yummy spiced meat was falling off the bone.

So we have a slightly prettier Day 3 offering, which is Taco Bean Salad. I cheated a bit, and got pico de gallo (not called for in the recipe) from the Mexican restaurant down the street.

This is the first time I've ever put kidney beans in with my taco meat, and honestly was a little hesitant about it. I don't love beans. But it was delicious! And that wasn't just my opinion -- Rayne ate all the meat and beans on her plate, but nothing else.

This picture is of Christian's second full plate. He complained that I was taking too long to get the camera...he wanted to dig right in.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's planned meal. It's gonna be pretty. And very photogenic.

Adventures in Dinner

I honestly have no idea what my blog is about anymore. But I had to share more this wonderful new discovery: Dinner! At home! On a regular basis! Like. Every. Night. Wow.

I joined e-mealz.com.

I now no longer will plan any of my dinners because e-mealz does it for me, and makes my grocery lists. Now, if it would just grocery shop for me!

And how are the dinners? Tonight's offering was Stuffed Shells Florentine.

As it happened, last week I made spaghetti sauce, which always yields enough for three meals, so even though the recipe for tonight called for canned sauce, tonight's version was entirely made from scratch, super easy. And it was very yummy.

Even better, I spent less at the grocery store for an entire week of meals than I used to for several days of my haphazard method of meal planning.

Tomorrow I try another new thing: cooking an entire chicken. Usually I just do chicken breasts. This'll be fun, I've no doubt.

Of Kings and Counting

Passages: 2 Samuel 5:1-5 and Psalm 37

3 So there at Hebron, King David made a covenant before the Lord with all the elders of Israel. And they anointed him king of Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned forty years in all.

The main point this week is counting on God. David was very young when he was anointed king by Samuel in front of his father, Jesse, and all his older brothers. In all likelihood, as I understand it, he waited at least 15 years from that time until he was recognized by all of Israel as God's anointed King.

In the meantime, he accomplished a few things. He became part of Saul's family, marrying one of his daughters and becoming bosom buddies with Saul's son Jonathan. He won the hearts of all the girls, as evidenced by their cheers of "Saul has killed his thousands; David has killed his ten thousands." He spent a number of years running for his life with Saul in hot pursuit.

Finally, Saul kills himself on the battlefield as he faces an overwhelming tide of Philistines, having witnessed the deaths of three of his sons, including Jonathan.

Israel is a divided kingdom. I remember this, but for tomorrow's study, I think I'll see how that came to be -- do a bit of historical research. I can't remember why Israel and Judah split. The relevance today is that when Judah hears that Saul is dead, they go find David and crown him the new king. Israel, however, is led by Saul's premier army general, Abner, to crown Saul's son Ishbosheth the new king.

Civil war ensues.

Ishbosheth makes it 2 years, but makes a fatal mistake: he forgets who made him king. It wasn't God. It was Abner. Ishbosheth insults Abner, accusing him of sexual improprieties. Abner, in turn, swears that he will do everything in his power to make David king of Israel.

It doesn't end up working. Abner is killed by a vengeful family who had lost a brother to Abner during the civil war. Lacking Abner's protection and guidance, Ishbosheth becomes an easy target for ambitious bootlickers anxious to please the new regime. He is assassinated in his bed. (When the assassins bring David Ishbosheth's head, he is far from pleased. They are executed as a reward.)

All of which leads us to King David's coronation over the united kingdom of Israel and Judah.

David not only waits through King Saul's reign, but through two years of civil war following Saul's death. He waits at least 15 years.

At times, it must have seemed like an impossible memory, this anointing from Samuel. Yet nowhere in scripture do we see David questioning God about this. At every turn, he seems content to wait as long as it takes for God to fulfill his promises.

Then I think about Abraham and Sarah, who also had what must have seemed like an impossible memory of a promise from God. They did not wait for him to fulfill his promise. It did not go well.

Our key verse: Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

I struggle with the promises that God is our rescuer and provider. I have too many examples from history that illustrate how God didn't provide or rescue. So the first time I read this verse, I was, honestly, a little irritated. What about the Holocaust? These were God's own people, for whom he didn't provide or protect.

Immediately on the heels of this thought came the next: it says God is our refuge and strength, not our rescuer and provider. There are other places in the Psalms where it says this, certainly, and Matthew 6 and 8 have lots about letting God be our provider, but not in this passage.

I'm reminded how often God has been my refuge and strength, such that times of trouble are healed and redeemed and now form part of the foundation of my faith.

I pray that I never forget he is always my refuge and strength. I pray that I remember that one of the most subtle times of trouble is when life is so easy, I can coast along without Him. Let me not be so complacent with this life, the status quo that I forget how much I need him.

Amen

****

Next post: Psalm 37.