Chicken-Mushroom Quesadillas

I haven't been doing much blogging lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. I tested out the Angel Food Cake with Mango Sauce and it was delicious. I had to use frozen mangos due to the time of year and living in McCall, but it was quite tasty. The second was Chicken-Mushroom Quesadillas, again it was quite tasty. Truly there's only been one recipe that was just so-so thus far, but there are so many yet to try! The problem is narrowing it down to which one first...

Happy Cooking!

Catch up

Not catsup, but catch up! I haven't been very good about blogging lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. I have tested several new recipes from So Easy and they are still so easy! The first was Tri-pepper Steak. I was a little worried about this one as Travis doesn't like peppers, but much to my surprise he loved it. And I quote "(she) makes nasty green things taste delicious."

Second was a first attempt at cooking shrimp. I believe the recipe called for pre cooked shrimp, but there was a sale on fresh shrimp at the store so I decided to try something new and learn to shell, devein and cook shrimp. I didn't quite have all the ingredients the recipe called for, so I shall have to try it again sometime and perhaps with pre shelled shrimp!

Third was a berry cobbler. Simple and delicious.

I think that's all for now. Happy cooking!

New Tuna Noodle Casserole

Recipe number two is down and I can't say that it impressed me as much as the first one. It was just okay and I probably won't be making it again anytime too soon. But as Nana says "it fills the holes" and now I am one recipe closer to cooking through the whole book!

Pork and Beans

Not a very creative name for my first recipe, but the taste far surpassed the name. Pork and Beans will definitely be a make again recipe. And so easy, too! I guess I should have expected that, though, from a cookbook entitled So Easy! And to round out the meal I made corn bread muffins and a spinach salad. I love cooking!

I was contemplating yesterday whether or not I had to follow to recipe exactly for it to count as having made it. But after much thought I decided, no, that would not be necessary. If I did it that way it would take away a lot of the fun of it, and if it's not fun then really, what's the point? Therefore, substitutions will be allowed. However, if the afore mentioned substitutions are so immense the recipe becomes completely unrecognizable or the substitutions were poorly chosen and the recipe tastes bad then the recipe shall remain on the list of ones yet to be tried. That is my consenssus.

Inspiration

A new cookbook for Christmas, combined with watching Julie and Julia creates a desire to cook through an entire cookbook. Probably not Mastering the Art of French Cooking that seems like a bit much and a bit costly (lobster is not commonly found in McCall, though the cow's foot might be a bit easier to come by). However, I am seriously considering taking up the task with the cookbook I did receive entitled So Easy by Ellie Krieger. Doesn't that sound so much less daunting that Mastering the Art of French Cooking? I thought so too. Plus, it only has just over 150 recipes, not 524, also much less overwhelming! As for a timeline, I don't think that I shall actually be setting one, unless it's dragging on for decades and then it might be necessary to impose a time frame to expedite the process. But for now, it will happen when it happens. Though one thing I would like to add to my project is to actually rate the recipes as I make them so I can recollect if it's something worthy of making over and over, or perhaps just now and or if it should be never attempted again. Because really, even 150-ish recipes is a lot to attempt remembering which ones you did and did not like for future reference!

Yes, the idea was inspired by Julie and Julia and yes, there are probably hundreds of other people in the United States right now with the very same plan in mind. But, if it is something that seems fun and pleasurable does it really matter how many other people are doing it? I think not. And thus the cooking shall commence!

Change

Just when I think things are all planned out, God has a way of changing all up on me! In the last month our life has gone from getting ready to work back at Ponderosa for the summer and that was about all, to getting offered a permanent position as the church secretary, finding a new place to live and then, of course, moving, and to top it all off, becoming the new, though maybe just temporary, worship leader at church! 

    I think the worship leader has been the hardest change. It's the one I felt the most led into. I really feel like God put it on my heart to step into the position and yet I think I feel more uncertain of what I'm doing and more insecure each week. I thought it was going to get easier as time went on, not harder! I guess just because God has called us to something that doesn't mean it's going to be easy for us, though. I need to remember that if God asked me to do it that I will be able to do it, but that doesn't mean it will always be perfect, or that I won't have to consistently be crying out to Him for help!

It kind of overwhelms me at times to realize just what an important task it is before us, as a worship team, each Sunday - to prepare (to the best of our ability) a whole congregation for worship and to lead them in praising the Lord. Not something to be taken lightly!

       It's frustrating to, cause I thought the actually music part of it would be easy, or at least easier, but it seems to be tripping me up right along with everything else. Leading and being in charge are not my strong points, so I can know exactly what I want it sound like, but I don't know how to convey that to the team and be definitive in what I want. And there is also the aspect of learning what people's limitations and skills are as musicians. I forget that not everyone can learn something on the spot or just hear it and figure it out (and yet I would get frustrated when people did that to me!). But I still want things to sound good. And then there's the whole fact that leading a song is SO much different than just singing a song! I thought I had a pretty good grasp on most all the songs we sing a church, but it's a whole different story when you are the who has to make the call when to come in and start singing and you have a whole team, a whole congregation, watching and following your lead! No pressure there! But despite all I may have to say right now, it really is going pretty well. I knew I would feel inadequate, I just hadn't realized quite how inadequate I would feel! But like I said I simply need to use it as a constant reminder to run to the Father and seek his wisdom and guidance.

       A friend prayed for me a couple weeks ago regarding the situation and at the time I wasn't quite sure I liked it, but the more I think about it the more I like it and see the wisdom in it. He prayed that "I would be just scared enough to remember how important it is, but not so scared that it felt impossible."

As I was sitting in a fellow coworkers cubical yesterday I saw this quote she had posted on her wall and I really liked it.
"Be yourself, not what you think others expect. Be what emanates from your core that cannot be duplicated by another.