Whote Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Yesterday I baked this yummy Irish Soda Bread, and since then Jeremy's eaten a tuna sandwich sliced from it, we both had toast for breakfast this morning, and had peanut butter sandwiches on it for lunch. I think it would be a great bread to serve with a pot of soup or stew, especially if some garlic and/ or herbs were mixed into the batter.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

-4 cups whole wheat flour

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon salt

-2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with oil and flour. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in buttermilk. Using one hand, stir in circles until all of the flour is incorporated. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Clean dough off of your hand.

Pat and roll the dough with floury hands, just enough to give it a round shape. Flip over and flatten to about 2 inches. Transfer the loaf to the prepared pan. Mark a deep cross in the center of the loaf.

Bake the bread for 20 minutes. Lower the oven to 400, and bake for 30-35 more minutes, until it is brown and the top sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes.

Shannon

Maque Choux

Last night I decided to try making some creole food to experience the flavors of New Orleans. I read several recipes, and then took what I liked from each, and eliminated what I didn't. Several recipes called for bacon (or some type of meat flavoring) in it also, but since I don't eat meat I left that out. I also saw several recipes that called for scallions and/ or celery, which would probably be a nice addition, but I wanted something simple for last night... the less prep and ingredients the better. To be truly fresh and authentic it should be made from corn sliced off of fresh ears, but this is my "I got home at 7 pm and tried to throw dinner together so we could settle in" version. We liked this so much that it will definitely be a regular side dish in our home.

Maque Choux

-1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (enough to cook the veggies in)

-one medium or large bag of frozen corn, thawed (I threw away the bag without thinking to check how many ounces it way)

-1 yellow onion, diced

-1/2 green pepper, diced

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

-2 tablespoons sugar

-1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used about a half tsp, but that may make it too spicy for some people)

-1 teaspoon salt and some fresh ground black pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Saute green pepper and onion until starting to soften. Add corn and saute 1 more minute. Add garlic and saute 1 more minute. Add spices/ seasonings and stir to combine. Add tomatoes, then reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes to combine flavors (even longer would probably taste even better, but again, I was in a hurry).

Shannon

Halfway House Beans

Tonight with our dinners I made this side dish that is a recipe from my mother-in-law. It was absolutely delicious, so I thought I'd share it. Since I generally don't eat meat I left the bacon out of it (that is listed below) and it turned out just as well as it does with it.

Halfway House Beans

-3 (10 oz) packages french style frozen green beans (or use canned)

-4 slices bacon

-1 onion

-4 medium tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes instead)

-2-3 tablespoons sugar

-dash of salt and pepper

Cook green beans and drain. Fry bacon and drain. Chop onion and saute in fat. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until soft, about 20 minutes. Add beans and crumbled bacon and stir together. Serves 8.

romance

this wednesday i was feeling the need to take a break from the usual routine and for jeremy and i to do something random, spontaneous and romantic. while i love routine, i tend to become a doer when i'm in routine mode, rather than taking the time to appreciate what is going on around me and truly interacting with others. after having shared a house with several other people for the past few months i wanted an opportunity for us to enjoy a romantic evening, with deep conversation to reconnect our hearts (meggan and randy if you're reading this i'm sure you're laughing right now at my use of buzz words :) ). right now jeremy and i are spending more time together than we ever have, since we have a one hour commute each way, plus go to the gym together as well, and while we enjoy this time, we can become complacent and take the time for granted and just go about our days and ways without truly taking the time to find out what is going on in each other's hearts, lives and days. when we're disconnected then i find that we're much more prone to being negative, critical, bitter, and selfish with each other. so we try to make efforts to stay on the same page with each other, or get back there quickly if we notice we're not there. all of that said, the only way for us truly to have unity in our marriage is through christ, who unites us, humbles us, and serves as the center of our union... it is only through him that we can find the desire to serve each other and love each other.

so wednesday evening we skipped the gym, walked to a local bar two blocks away from our home and sat outside on a patio surrounded by plants and vines while jeremy drank a beer, i had a glass of wine, and we spent time communicating with each other in a purposeful way. it was wonderful and much needed.

doing something special and out of the ordinary is a great way to fan the romance in a relationship. however, the more i've thought about this subject, and tried to brainstorm ways to add more romance into our marriage the more i've realized that while ooey, gooey romance is fun, there's a different type of romance that goes on in a marriage as well. it may not provoke the same butterflies and emotions that dates, flowers, bubble baths and walks on the beach induce, but it's a more mature, steady kind of romance. my daily life is filled with romance, i just need to choose to see it, acknowledge it, and be thankful for it. every time jeremy and i lock eyes it's romantic, every time we put each other before ourself or serve each other it's romantic, experiencing unconditional love is romantic, taking communion together at church each week is romantic, discussing our passions, interests and future is romantic, praying together is romantic and so on. all this to say i've realized that i don't necessarily need to scurry around all of the time trying to create moments that the movies are filled with, i just need to open my eyes and heart and relish in the romance that's right in front of me right here and now.

what do you do to bring romance into your marriage?

shannon

The things you did at first...

At the gym last week a few guys mentioned to Jeremy that they hadn't realized that we were married and thought that we were just dating. We took this as a compliment because they made their assumptions by observing the way that we flirt at the gym (with each other of course!), the way that we clearly enjoy spending time together and each other's company, the looks that we give each other, they took all of those to mean that we had to be dating, in that "first love/ infatuation phase" because married couples just don't do that stuff. Granted two of the guys are recently divorced and probably have a dismal view of what a marriage is, but I think this reflects an increasing stigma in America about marriage. How often in conversation or media are jokes made about "the ball and chain", about lack of sex after two people are married, how often do TV shows and movies depict couples that seem to be purely enduring each other's presence rather than relishing in it, serving each other, and joyfully putting the other's needs before their own? There is nothing special about Jeremy's and my marriage other than that we are compelled by the Holy Spirit and committed to honoring, and being centered on Jesus. We don't have all the answers or have a conflict free marriage, but we invite Jesus into our home, hearts and lives and seek to stay fixed on Him. We have only been married about 2 years, but I pray that this type of flirtation will carry on throughout our entire marriage. Flirtation is refreshing to a marriage; hand holding, back rubs, winks, pats on the butt, sharing inside jokes that are just between the two of you. All of these things breathe life into a marriage, and help to keep two people united. In Scripture Jesus reminds the believers of their first love stage with Him, the things they did during that time, and He encourages them to do these same things always.

Revelation 2:4-5 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.


This easily applies to marriage... in the beginning of dating each person puts in much thought and effort into their looks to impress the other, they do sweet things for each other like leave notes, give flowers, they are touchy feely, frequently encourage and compliment one another, and think about each other endlessly when apart. Now I'm not saying that every couple should flirt in the same way, or do the same things as Jeremy and I, God created us all different and what is a display of affection for one couple may be different for another, some people don't have physical touch needs, but have other needs. Jeremy and I are also two very affectionate people, whose biggest love needs are spend time with and touch, so those are how we both need love and give love to each other. The point of all of this is to think about your dating, courting or newlywed period and remember all of the special things that you did for your sweetheart. To purposefully do those same things 5, 10, and 50 years into marriage, to make intentional acts of kindness to each other, to be purposeful about feeding the fire of friendship, passion, and closeness within a relationship. To (as I often say) blossom and not just endure in marriage.

Don't followers of Jesus have a duty to exhibit Christ in their marriage? Aren't we to reflect Christ's love, patience, gentleness, and humility through our union, so that His character may be known and observed?

Ephesians 5:22-32 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

I challenge you to ask yourself, what is my marriage saying to the world about Jesus? How can I better reflect Christ's love to my spouse, and through that to others?

These questions aren't easy, we all fall significantly short of displaying a Christ-like character, but we have a God who takes people like us, cleans them up, and is continually making us more like Himself. And that is something worthy of rejoicing!

Shannon

Weekend cooking

Here's some of the recipes that our weekend included, all of which happen to be vegan (well almost)...

Curried Tofu Sandwich

Curried tofu sandwiches are one of my favorite quick lunches or weeknight meals! I usually can make 3 sandwiches from each block of tofu. I save the extra curry paste in the fridge for up to two weeks for additional sandwiches, or a pot of my Thai Red Curry. From one can of curry paste I can make at least 5 sandwiches or pots of curry. If you don't like tofu, we use this same method for curried tuna or chicken salad sandwiches for Jeremy and they turn out great, we usually just add about 1 Tablespoon of mayo to the curry paste in that case.

-1 block firm or extra firm tofu
-2-3 Talbespoons red curry paste depending on level of heat desired (from can as pictured, I just like it better than the jarred kind, and it's cheaper, you can find it at some main grocers, but it's usually cheaper at Oriental grocers, less than $1 a can, so stock up)



-bread, I like 12 grain whole wheat

Drain tofu and mash with the bottom of the fork until it's ground up resembling the picture below.



Stir in 2-3 tablespoons red curry paste until incorporated. Layer tofu in between bread or pita pockets and serve.



Split Pea Soup

I made this recipe for Split Pea Soup that I've previously posted, but I left out the ham to make it vegan, well almost anyway. I still used chicken bouillion cubes because that's what I had on hand, and I'm really not that strict about eating vegan (I do still eat seafood, and do have dairy every now and then, even eggs in baked goods), but to really make it vegan you could easily substitute veggie broth or bouillion.



Baked Seasoned Russet and Sweet Potato Fries

-1/4 cup olive oil
-3 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into fries
-3 sweet potatoes, peeled, and sliced into fries
-1 Tablespoon paprika
-1 Tablespoon garlic powder
-1 Tablespoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon onion salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large tupperware container combine olive oil and spices. Add potatoes and shake well to coat. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes.



Shannon

Black Eyed Pea Soup

This morning I woke up and threw a pot of this soup on the stove. Now the whole house smells good, and I'm trying to contain myself to wait until later to eat it. It is easy, inexpensive and yummy. I make it a little bit different every time, sometimes I just throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do the work for me, this time I didn't use the ham and it's still delicious. It turns out pretty spicy, so if you don't like spicy food I'd use one can of diced tomatoes with chiles and one can of plain diced tomatoes. Since I make it different every time this is more of a method and ingredient combination, use more chicken broth or water if you want it thinner, use cornstarch or flour if you want it thicker. You can even take 1 cup of the cooked peas aside and puree in a blender or food processor to give the soup more body, experiment, and enjoy!

Black Eyed Pea Soup

-1 lb dried black eyed peas, rinsed, soaked and cooked according to directions on bag

-chopped up ham (if using)

-1 medium onion, diced

-several cloves of garlic, minced

-2 cans tomatoes with chiles (like Rotel, mild or hot depending on your taste)

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

-3-4 cups chicken broth (from can, homemade, or bouillon cubes)

Add onion and garlic to peas when cooking according to package instructions. Once peas are cooked to desired consistency add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 20 minutes until the flavors are combined.

Shannon