..

May 25th, 2013

beef and bell pepper stir fry

beef bell pepper stir fry

Hubs can be picky when it comes to which vegetables he will eat. Fortunately, unless it is carrots or sweet potatoes, he’ll usually give it a try. This stir fry is super easy and it’s a good way to get a bunch of veggies someone might not normally eat, to be eaten. Win-win.

Beef & Bell Pepper Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • 12 oz flank steak (or stir fry meat)
  • 1 red/orange bell pepper (cut into thin strips)
  • 1 yellow bell pepper (cut into thin strips)
  • 1/4 cup lower sodium soy sauce (I like Kikkoman)
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 2 tsp chili garlic sauce (also called sweet chili sauce)
  • 4 green onions, timmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

 Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add steak to pan and sear on one side for 2 minutes.
  2. Add bell peppers and continue to cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until been is no longer pink.  Remove beef mixture from pan and set aside.
  3. Add soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and chili sauce to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until mixture starts to thicken. Return beef mixture to pan and add green onions; toss well to coat with sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (hubs gets finicky about sesame seeds so I usually omit them)  and serve over rice.

beef bell pepper stir fry close

What other vegetables could I sneak in here?

May 23rd, 2013

accountability leads to freedom

Today’s post is part of a series I am publishing monthly, Sisters in Spirit.

Sisters in Spirit is a series of blog posts by a group of women who felt that a spiritual perspective was lacking from the steady stream of news and information that flowed through their daily lives.  They each agreed to carve out a space on their blogs on a monthly basis for a spiritual conversation.  The topic this month is: Accountability.

church in Moorea

As I have considered this topic I’ve come up with a few things I want to say up front about accountability in a Christian context:

  •  Accountability is NOT a chance to judge others.
  • What you get out of accountability is directly related to what you put in to it – brutal honesty (first with yourself, then your accountability partner) is the best policy.
  • Accountability shouldn’t be optional in a Christ-follower’s life.
  • Be wise about who you’re accountable with; just because you’re good friends doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be good accountability partners.

Over the years in my Christian walk I’ve had different accountability partners and different levels of accountability. They have ranged from rigid, structured meetings with specific questions to loosely planned occasional gatherings that just “went with the flow.” I can honestly say that while the former may have twinges of legalism in it, those meetings were probably more productive toward meeting the goals of accountability.

Speaking of which – what are the goals of accountability?

Personally I think Christians should meet with other Christians in this context for the purpose of being truthful about struggles and sin patterns for the purpose of fleeing from these traps and clinging more tightly to Jesus through the process.

So what does that look like?

Well, it’s mostly ugly. I can’t browse instagram too long before I start judging people based on how they look. So I don’t get on there often.

It’s often tearful. I fear loneliness and yet I face it often. 

It’s brutal. Brutally honest. Brutally raw. Sometimes I want to cancel all my online activities (facebook, pinterest, this blog) and just hide from the world.

We’re broken. We’re sinful. Some of our ugliest sins are the ones we hide deep down.

The ones no one ever sees. I cuss more often than I’d like to admit when I’m alone driving in my car. 

But HE sees.

He longs to save us from the snares of death.

But we put up a hand and tell Him, “I don’t need you to do this. I’ve got this. I have it under control.”

We lie. We lie to Him. We lie to ourselves.

The Liar wants nothing more than for this to continue.

Accountability breaks this cycle. If you’ll let it. If you’ll come to it ready to bare your soul.
Ready to be stripped of all your masks, all your facades.

Find someone you can trust. Someone who will ask you the hard questions no matter what.

Then, spend time getting real with yourself and coming up with the questions you need to be asked.

Have you murdered with your thoughts today? Have you had lust in your heart? What did you think about today when you were browsing on the Internet? Have you spent time in The Word?

Tell them the truth when they ask.
Stop making excuses. Start making changes.

Run.

Toward Christ.

Toward Freedom.

Toward Life.

——————

I hope you continue this conversation by reading and commenting other perspectives on Christianity with my other Sisters in Spirit. Become part of the conversation:

Kelli is a United Methodist. She is a writer and public health advocate. An Arizona native, she and her boyfriend newly live in the woods of New Jersey. Their dog, Willie Nelson Mandela, runs the show.  She blogs at: www.africankelli.com

Sarah is municipal attorney, mom to a toddler boy, and United Methodist’s pastor’s wife.  (She does not play the organ.)  She is a life-long Missouri girl with a heart for hospitality and social justice.  Sarah enjoys cooking, running, knitting and embroidery, reading, and playing in the sprinkler.  Sarah blogs atwww.beautyschooldropout.net

Rhonda is an attorney and native of Missouri.  She is known for being overly-emotionally invested in her three, elderly dogs and dabbling in a ridiculous amount of hobbies, including sewing, music, and writing, while mastering none.  She was baptized in her late twenties and is amazed and grateful that Jesus continues to put up with her.  She blogs at bigsnafu.com.

 

May 20th, 2013

irresistible cream cheese poundcake

cream cheese poundcake

I found the recipe here. I drooled over the idea. Then I made it. And cut a sliver to try. Then another sliver. I couldn’t stop going back to the kitchen. Little by little it disappeared. Hubs might have also had something to do with that. It’s divine, but not for those who lack the self control to stay away. Being bad never tasted so good.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened at room temp
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temp
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

  1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (do not over beat).  Gradually add sugar, beating until well incorporated.
  2. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined.
  3. Sift 3 cups of flour. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
  4. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan and smooth batter with spatula.
  5. Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.

cream cheese poundcake bundt

The golden crust on the edges was possibly my most favorite part of all. That, or the fact that it didn’t need any toppings or accompaniments to complete it!

May 14th, 2013

skirt steak + corn salad with tangy lime & ranch dressing

cilantro garlic skirt steak salad with lime ranch dressing

 

I made this for lunch today – it came together very quickly and was super tasty. Both wins in this household! It was inspired by another recipe I had, but I adapted it for what we had on hand.

Skirt Steak & Corn Salad with Lime-Ranch dressing

Ingredients

  • skirt steak (4 – 5 thin steaks sliced into 1/2″ strips, or pre-sliced)
  • sofrito (I freeze mine in ice trays and I used 2 cubes for this recipe)
  • 2 limes
  • 2 ears of corn on the cob (you could use frozen or canned corn)
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1/2 cup pico de gallo (store bought or homemade)
  • spinach leaves
  • ranch dressing

Directions

  1. Combine first two ingredients in a bowl and squeeze the juice of 1 lime over it. Toss to mix, set aside.
  2. Boil water for your corn on the cob (if applicable, other wise, cook your frozen or canned corn to warm it up). Boil corn for about 5 minutes and then remove from water. Slice kernels off the cob into a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Warm a skillet on medium high on the stove, with about 1 teaspoon of oil. Add steak and cook just until steak is no longer pink. Remove from heat.
  4. Assemble a large pile of spinach leaves on a plate. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of pico de gallo and black beans on top of spinach. Sprinkle the same amount of corn (more/less if desired) on top of pico. Arrange steak on top of corn.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp of ranch dressing with the juice of one small/medium lime. Divide and drizzle dressing over 2 salads. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

steak salad with corn

 

*Steak can be made ahead of time and warmed up just before serving.

What did you have for lunch today?