{Happy Thanksgiving}

Today I look to this verse:

 "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."1 Thessalonians 5:18 

It am thanking the Lord for guiding my steps. He has brought me to this place where I can easily see Him working and moving, showing me how to love and give freely everyday. I have an amazing husband, loyal and supportive friends, the best family in the world, and a warm home. It's my last year of undergrad and there is a whole new adventure awaiting me. God is good.  

I am thankful to be where I am right now, sharing a meal with my family and taking time to rest and reflect on life's blessings. It is a perfect day to celebrate with turkey, green bean casserole, and apple pie. 

  

What are you thankful for on this Thanksgiving day? 

{meals this week}

Being a full time student = no time to cook real food. 

Well, maybe there is time, but by dinner I'm just too exhausted and overwhelmed with homework to make an extravagant meal for two. Sometimes Jordan and I ask our on campus friends to kindly swipe us meals at the college, or we just make something easy like soup and sandwiches. This week we had a day of breakfast for dinner. Red Berries tea, Cheerios, and oatmeal. I was content. Today I went next door to the girls' house for a meal cooked by our new friend, Lawson. He made a fancy shmancy and delicious dinner for us: tomato basil soup with mushrooms, pesto pasta, seasoned mozzarella & tomatos, baked brie crescents, and garlic cheese bread. Our stomachs were full and to be honest, we were all pretty impressed.

 Now I am inspired and determined to try cooking at least one real meal a week. We will start there and see if I can stick to it. Wish me luck.

Salsa Salsa




I have been craving homemade salsa this month. Last summer, I helped my friend Marie make salsa, and I fell in love with the taste of flavorful and fresh chunky peppers and tomatoes. She inspired me to try it out on my own.

My salsa experiment started with Meijer. I found all of the ingredients in about a half hour (I was a little distracted by the odd fruits and veggies I had never seen before).


What I used:

Red pepper
Green pepper
Yellow pepper
Orange pepper
3 Roma tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
Cilantro
Onion salt
Freshly squeezed lime juice




I found a cutting board, a big knife, and I cleared the table for a large work space. Chopping everything into little pieces took hours. A food processor would have been a magical help, but I managed without it.



Molly wanted to help with the salsa. She was great company as always.

After much chopping and playing with the ingredients, I finally had the perfect tasting salsa.





....after I made the salsa, I realized that guacamole was a must have for our Mexican meal that evening.









It only took a few minutes to whip up the mixture of tomatoes, avocado, garlic, and onion. I was pleased with the final result, and my sister was the biggest fan of both my creations.


Dinner was especially yummy that night, and I was happy to contribute in some small way. I think I will be making this on a regular basis from now on.

I suggest that everyone attempts making their own unique salsa. The best part is, there is no specific recipe you have to follow. Experiment and try something new!