More Slow Cooker Goodness

Rachael Ray has been featuring one slow cooker meal a week on her show and it's been great, because it's difficult to find newer up-to-date dinners for the slow cooker. I've especially had difficulty making a good beef stew, but this turned out great. Browning the meat first made a big difference, and the addition of bacon didn't hurt either. Rachael Ray must have a double-wide slow cooker though, so I have to cut her recipes in half for them to fit.

Beef Stew

3 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 in slices

1 lbs beef stew meet

1 tbsp flour

4-5 small redskin potatoes

1 c chopped onion, medium dice

1 cup baby carrots

3 celery stalks, quartered

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 14oz can stewed tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

pepper to taste

In the slow cooker put the potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and thyme. Cook the bacon over medium until crispy. Add to the slow cooker, reserving the fat. Turn the heat to medium high and brown the beef, 2-3 minutes on each side. Stir in 1 tbsp flour and add to the slow cooker. Top with stewed tomatoes, and tomato paste, and pepper. Give it a little stir and then cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. After it's all cooked up, stir it all together really well and cut the potatoes down into quarters just using a fork.

The piece de resistance:

Cheddar Bay Biscuits!

1 1/4 c healthy heart bisquick (this is impt because it doesn't have trans fat)

2 tbsp cold butter

1/4 c plus 2 tbsp milk, any kind

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 heaping cup shredded cheddar

Brush on top:

1 tbsp melted butter

1/4 tsp garlic powder

a few shakes of dried parsley flakes, just eyeball it

Inspired by Red Lobster, this recipe makes a less greasy version. They turned out so good I'm almost too excited to type the directions!! Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butter up into small pieces, more or less dice it. Combine it with the flour. I found it easiest to just use my hands. The butter should remain in little chunks throughout. Add cheese, milk, and garlic and toss together with a fork. Don't over combine. Drop approximately 1/4 c portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn golden brown. After you take the biscuits out, melt the butter and stir in the garlic powder and parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the biscuits. Do not skip this step, it really makes them. Use up all of the butter. Enjoy!

Is going to church really necessary for christians?

Can God be powerfully at work in your life apart from being part of Christ's body, the church? This was one of a few eyebrow raising questions posed by our pastor last Sunday while doing a study on Ephesians 2:11-3:13. I like this question. I've been the christian who touted the fact that I had a close personal relationship with God, but was not interested in the "religion" and rituals found in a church. I think this is pretty common thinking of non-christians and believers who did not grow up in church. My sophomore year of college is when I accepted that Christ was my savior and the Lord of my life. I was going to church then and all through college. It wasn't in church that I first accepted this, however. It was in my dorm room with my bible. I learned and benefited from the messages I heard at church, but I really felt my relationship grow during my quiet times with God. After college I moved back to Richmond where I did not have a regular church, and I did not make the effort to find one. This was the stage in my life where I would have said that I didn't need to go to church on Sundays to be a christian. This was reinforced when I moved to North Carolina and had one heck of a time finding a church to call home. There were plenty of churches that I felt like would distract from my faith instead of grow it. This caused me to be even more sure that what God and I had on our own was enough.

It wasn't until I found a gospel-centered church that challenged me to continue to really grow in my knowledge of God and be truly changed as a christian, that I was able to look back and see that I hadn't been growing; I hadn't really seen God work in my life; I hadn't seen the fruits of my faith. I still had the assurance of my salvation, but I certainly wasn't experiencing what God had hoped and planned for me to experience. God's vehicle for fulfilling much of his plan is the body of Christ... it is the church. Being involved in a good church has provided me with opportunities to bless others that are less fortunate that I am, and it has provided me with opportunities to serve those in need in my community. These are both things that are part of God's plan that I was missing out on when I was not attending church. There's so much more though: I'm really learning about God's character, I've got a core group of amazing friends to pray for me and encourage me, I've been inspired by the faith other people exhibit in tough times. It's a true community of people who all fall short of the holiness of God, who are all thankful that God has loved us anyway and desires that we know Him, and who desire for God to use them to fulfill his plans for the world.

Another related point that our pastor made was that people are often looking for God to "zap" miracles or answers to prayers. For us, this is plan A. We pray for it and when that doesn't happen, we try plan B. We go to church and then we find someone who is able to meet our particular need. What we often don't realize is that the church is plan A, it is the way God plans to grow us, bless us, and use us to fulfill the good works He has planned. So can God be powerfully at work in your life apart from being part of the church? My own personal experience says no. If that is the case, then do we have the right to pray for God's blessings in our lives if we're not involved in the church? And how involved should we be in church?

Lovin the slow-cooker!

Slow-Cooker Short Ribs

1/2 cup bbq sauce

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp onion salt

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 tsp yellow mustard

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tbsp flour

2lbs pork short ribs

Mix the first 7 ingredients together in the bottom of your slow cooker. Toss the short ribs in the sauce very well. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

We served this with white rice and steam-in-a-bag carrots.

Life is but a Dream

Today was a dream of a Sunday, exactly what I think they should all be like. We had 7 friends over after church for grilled brats and pasta salad. The girls sat around and chatted with the Olympics on in the background while the boys played games in the dining room. The wii was played for a bit and I went for an hour walk around the neighborhood with one of the girls. People ended up staying so long that I decided it would be a good idea to feed them dinner as well. It was about 7:30 when everyone left for the evening. I was exhausted, but couldn't stop smiling. What a joy it is for a house to be used as a place to gather and enjoy friends. Especially since I'm not working, I'm way not used to being "on" all day long, talking, standing, interacting. It took a lot out of me, but it's exactly how I wish every Sunday would be. Like a dream!

I got a jobbbbb!

I got a job offer today! Yay! I'm so so so excited.

HR Rep: We'd like to extend you an offer to join our team.

Me: Reeeeally?!!

HR Rep: Yeah! You won!!

Me: Yay! I'm sooooo excited!!

haha :) I'm super super excited. This was a tough interview process, and definitely not the easiest job (for me) to land. Blessings run amuck!

Random story: I am losing my mind. I recently had to buy ground coriander after tearing the pantry up looking for it. Where did it go?! I KNOW I have it and there's no way I ran out without realizing it. Welp, just found it. In the door of the fridge. I'm awesome.

Baked Salmon with Tomatoes, Spinach and Mushrooms

2 salmon fillets

1/4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup kraft roasted red pepper italian dressing

crumbled goat cheese

Another kraft.com inspired recipe, this website is the best. The recipe online called for shallots, but I'm using onions and garlic, because it's what I've got. If I didn't already have to go to the store to get the tomatoes, I probably would have just left out the mushrooms. It wouldn't have been worth a trip to the store for them, but I'm glad I got them. I love that you can just grab 3 or 4 from the bulk bin and it barely costs anything. I still have some fresh baby spinach leaves left over from recipes earlier in the week which is part of the reason I am using this recipe. I am adding the goat cheese, because I have some of that left over from earlier in the week as well, and it sounds like the perfect addition to this fish. Also, the original recipe called for sun-dried tomato dressing, but I used what I had (surprise).

Heat oven to 375. Place fish in a baking dish skin side down. Season with salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and spoon over fish. Bake 20-25 minutes. This was a fabulous salmon recipe. So excited about it!

We had this with our new favorite find from Trader Joes, Harvest Grains, which has orzo, couscous, quinoa, etc, all mixed together.