Blackened Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

For us Texans it feels like summer is already here. The flowers are in bloom, kids are getting antsy to be out of school, herbs and vegetables are on sale at the grocery store, the sun is shining...

The sun is shining and making the temperature rise...The sun is shining and making my electric bill go up. Yep, hello summer. I cant say I really missed you.

I am trying not to complain too much about this heat this year. One great thing about the heat is it means its now Grilling Season too. I try to make meals using as little energy in the kitchen as possible. This means Drew becomes my ultimate sous chef as Grill Master!

Tonight we made a big fancy(ier) meal because we thought we had company coming over, but I think the time and date were lost in communication. No problem though, it just means more goodness for us!

And that the apartment got nice and clean. :) I even splurged on some hydrangeas to spruce up our dining room table. Fresh flowers make me happy.

We made Blackened Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken, Bruschetta, and Salad with feta, walnuts, and raspberry vinaigrette.

The recipe for Blackened Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken is:
4 chicken breasts
4 slices Mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp. chili seasoning
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Take each chicken breast and carefully cut along one side opening up a pocket in the middle for the cheese. Place each chicken breast on wax paper and cover. Pound chicken breasts to thin or make thickness even (this helps them grill evenly and keeps any part from becoming too dry).
Mix together the seasonings in a bowl. Rub onto both sides of each chicken breast.
Gently place mozzarella slices in pockets of chicken breasts.
Grill - I always have Drew to do this part :)

Seriously these were awesome and so easy to make. They did heat up my kitchen at all. The flavoring on the outside was a perfect compliment to the richness of the mozzarella.

For dessert we had Pecan Pie Ice Cream Sundaes. The recipe is from Perfect One-Dish Dinners. I got this cook book for Christmas and use it often.

Easter visit with Family

We got to visit most of our family for Easter this year. Drew had just finished up his Psychiatry rotation and was feeling a little less crazy. You know...crazy.

Sorry I had to do it.

Anyway, we headed up to see my parents on Saturday and Drew's family on Sunday. I really enjoyed lots of good food and not having to cook and clean for the weekend.

I do like cooking...and cleaning too, sometimes, but its nice to go back home and have parent's take care of you again. :)

On the drive back from Nanci's (Drew's mom) we slowed down and stopped to snap a picture:

Its hard to tell since this was with my iPhone camera, but that is a huge field covered in pink Evening Primrose wildflowers. It was really breathtaking. There are several cows out there with a few horses and one little burrow.

In actual fact Evening Primrose, like most wildflowers, is a weed and its actually really bad for the earth and ecosystem of the field...but we ignored that since it was Easter and the flowers were so pretty.

Carnita Tacos

This is a great recipe for a quick and easy meal we had this week. Drew loved these things! And I liked them because it only required making or prepping the ingredients; he had put them together himself. :)

Carnitas:
1.5 lbs beef (any cut you like, I used round because it was on sale at Sam's)
1 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. seasoned salt
1 Tbs. black pepper
1 Tbs. chili powder
1/2 Tbs. coriander
2 limes
1/2 Tbs. smoked or regular paprika (have you tried the smoked paprika? Its awesome!)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

I had a whole 3 lb. cut of round roast and I cooked all of it in my slow cooker and used half of it later in the week for Asian BBQ sandwiches (another great recipe for another time).

Place beef in slow cooker and coat generously with seasonings. If you think it needs more, add it. You want the flavor! Then, slice the limes in half, squeeze the juice over the meat and toss the remaining lime halves into the pot. Add in the olive oil too.

Cover and cook 4 or more hours on low. (Although, I think slow cooker times vary...so check yours. Mine cooks things like this too quickly on high, you definitely want this to cook slowly.)

The rest is easy:

1 Large Hass avocado, sliced (just under ripe, you want it still somewhat firm to have nice slices)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

3 limes, cut into wedges

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Provolone or Monterrey Jack cheese slices

Tortillas - corn or flour, your preference. I like the corn ones for these, Drew likes the flour. Go figure...:)

Here is what I do. Once the meet is done, take it out and pull it apart using two forks. Set to the side. Or in my case, put the slow cooker tub in the sink to soak.

You know you dont want to mess with cleaning that beast right now.

Slice or cut up all the produce. When you are ready to eat place a slice of cheese on one tortilla and heat for 15 seconds in the microwave then add the meat and other toppings you like.

This is how mine look. Awesome! So tasty!

Coconut Banana Smoothies

I made these luscious smoothies last night to go with dinner. We had breakfast burritos. Love!

I literally handed Drew his glass with a straw stuck in it and about 30 seconds after I sat down with mine I heard that empty straw sucking sound...I thought maybe something was wrong or he didnt like it...

No, he loved it, it was gone. I honestly do not know how he sucked it down that quickly but he enjoyed those 30 seconds. :) I savored mine for a full 5 minutes at least. :)

Here is the recipe:

In a blender combine:
2 small bananas (ripened to your preference)
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup Greek yogurt, plain 0% fat
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
This makes enough for 2 generous glasses. I stuck mine in the freezer for a few minutes after blending, so they were ready to serve and icy cold when we finished our burritos.

Hope you enjoy!

New Church

I mentioned before that we have found a church we like. We have decided to commit to this place. Its called Dayspring Baptist Church.

It is located in Waco, where Baylor University is located. So its a 30-45 minute drive from our home. We think its worth it though. We also found out that there are a few other people living in Temple who attend Dayspring. We will have to connect with them. So far its been nice to get up a little earlier on Sunday morning and have time to talk with Drew or read aloud together before and after church.

I also attended a women's group last week on Wednesday evening. It worked out well since Wednesdays I am on campus all day, so I was already in town and took a few hours off to spend time in pray and reflection. It was great. :)

spoiling myself

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight. Every inch of it was homemade and delicious.

Sabbathing

Do you keep the Sabbath? 

Keep the Sabbath day holy.
      Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
   but enjoy the Sabbath
      and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
   Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
      and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
Then the Lord will be your delight.
      I will give you great honor
   and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
      I, the Lord, have spoken!

Lately I have been mindful that this is an important spiritual discipline...more than that even if you want to take these words seriously (which I sure do). 

I used to do this pretty regularly and I probably take one day off in seven on average anyway. What I realized though is that I dont put much effort or forethought into that "day off." So thats all it becomes a day off, away from, as if I am pulling away from all the things that define me, define my life, my identity. And I realized thats pretty sad. And thats not the way Sabbath is supposed to work. 

Sometimes I have to be a staff worker to myself. :) 

Often I am so burnout and exhausted from work...or lets face it, home (Do any of you ever think you need a day just to catch up on "homework"? I wish I could get paid for doing laundry, dishes, or grocery shopping) that I end up collapsing onto the couch and spending my "day off" watching TV, all day. 

Sure I get up to feed myself and my husband, go work out, check my email. But its like I put life on hold and by the end of the day I don't usually feel particularly rested, maybe just less eager to watch TV. 

Dont get me wrong...I'm not saying TV is bad...thats probably a whole other conversation saved for later. 

This is what I realized and have been reflecting on the last week: 

The Israelites were freed from captivity in Egypt by the Lord, and when he led them into the wilderness he established some rules. Rules to live by, not to perish or die by. He also provided for their every need. Seriously, sometimes I wish manna was deposited on my front doorstep (again, can I get anyone to do my grocery shopping for me?)

God told the Israelites to gather just enough for each day, except the day before Sabbath. They were instructed to gather enough for two days before the Sabbath, so that they could rest and eat (since God practices what he preaches and observes the Sabbath himself by not sending manna that day). 

When I go about each day I gather more than I need...seriously, you should see my to-do lists. I know every time I make a new one for a new day there is way more on that thing than I can honestly or realistically get done. But I try to bite it off anyway. Not good. I gather more manna than I need, and it rots away. I depend upon the Lord to help me get through the week and harvest what little seeds I plant. *I know this is not a perfect one-to-one correlary or a perfect scriptural interpretation, but  its what stuck with me.* 

But I have not planned for my Sabbaths, at all, whatsoever. I do not depend upon the Lord on this day. I hardly even give it a thought. (You should see my calendar - so much crap! - but not one day marked as rest.) I do not plan when it will be or give careful thought to how I will spend that rest. 

I am not saying I should plan out every aspect of my Sabbath. I'm a planner by nature...I already know a rest from planning is called for on my Sabbath day. :) But if I don't give at least a general, broad kind of preparation...if I don't gather my manna the day before...I will continue to starve each and every time that seventh day comes around. 

Starving yourself every seventh day may not kill you, but I know its not pleasant, and being married to a medical student I am pretty sure it could lead to some kind of medical ailment. 

So I've tried to start gathering enough...each day. Not too much on my plate during the week, and giving some forethought to that seventh day. I started using this resource:  http://examen.me/ and Drew and I have found a church we love that has been teaching us alot about spiritual discipline. Its been a great way to embrace rest each Sunday. 

Give me your thoughts...

so much for once a week...

So clearly I have not been keeping up with my desire to blog once a week. It looks like March simply ceased to exist here. In reality it was a month of extremes - extreme relaxing, unplugging, and vegging with my husband and extreme work schedule catching up after all that relaxing! All good stuff though.

I am planning to get back into our blog. I have a few posts I am preparing today. So check back this weekend for more :)