Recipe Review: Pumpkin Muffins

Fall might be my favorite season. I love cold weather, scarves, boots, crunchy leaves, watching football on Sunday afternoons, hot coffee, not sweating profusely on the way back from class, and the fact that Thanksgiving means Christmas is almost here! Hands down my favorite fall food is these bad boys. They're fantastic.

Here's the recipe:

1 tsp. baking soda

1/3 c. water

1 c. cooked pumpkin

½ c. oil or applesauce (fat free)

2 eggs, beaten or 2/3 c. egg substitute

1 ½ c. sugar

1 2/3 c. flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

3 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

Dissolve baking soda in water.

Combine all other ingredients, sifting dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (for regular sized muffins) or about 9 minutes for mini-muffins.

 

Yield: about 60 mini-muffins 

Recipe Review: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Growing up, I hated soup. To this day I'm still kinda finicky about it. But this soup is by far my all-time favorite. 

It's pretty simple. Just celery, carrots, onions, mushroom, rice, shredded chicken, cream of mushroom soup & broth. And butter :)

And if you have a KitchenAid mixer, you can stick in a couple of cooked and slightly cooled chicken breasts and it will literally shred them for you. I didn't believe it for myself, but I tried it and it worked beautifully. 

This was the first time I had chicken and wild rice soup that wasn't made by my sweet mama and it turned out great!

Here's the recipe:

2 quarts chicken broth

1/2 lb. mushrooms, chopped (I didn't add quite this many)

1 c. finely chopped celery

1 c. shredded carrots

1/2 c. finely chopped onions

1 tsp. chicken bouillon (I left this out)

1 tsp. parsley

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 stick butter (or if you're like me, add a whole stick by accident and don't take any out)

1/4 c. flour

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. additional broth or milk

2 c. shredded, cooked chicken

1 box long grain and wild rice, prepared according to directions on box

Combine 1 qt. broth, mushrooms, celery, carrots, onions, bouillon, parsley, garlic powder, thyme in pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a large pot, melt 1/2 stick butter, stir in flour, whisk in broth. Bring to boil, cook & stir until the mixture thickens (about the consistency of gravy). Mix in can of soup, milk, chicken and rice. Pour vegetable mixture into large pot and heat through. 

Serve with homemade bread!

Pocket Full of Shame

Lately I've been enamored with Isaiah 61. It's such a beautiful passage with wonderful promises to cling to. One part though, is kinda random:

"Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. For I the LORD love justice." (Isaiah 61:7-8a)

Okay, so, no shame, double portion, good, good, joy, got it. Wait, "I the Lord love justice"? Random. Why does Isaiah talk about God giving us a double portion and then randomly declare that He loves justice? Well, because God wouldn't be just if he forgave all our sins through Jesus' substitutionary death and then let us sit in the shame of those sins. That would essentially be like punishing those sins twice, which because God loves justice, He cannot and will not do. 

I know Jesus paid the debt for all of my sins at Calvary in my head, but wallowing in the shame I feel from those sins shows that I don't truly understand the Gospel in my heart. Carrying around shame in my back pocket shows I don't believe the Gospel is powerful enough to once and for all take away my sin and shame. God didn't design us to carry around the weight of our sin, which is why Jesus lovingly took my place and yours on the cross so we wouldn't have to walk around with shame hanging over our heads. Instead, we can boast in the double portion of goodness and joy and freedom God freely gives us.

For a great video about shame, check this out. It's a bit lengthy, but totally worth it.

Recipe Review: Mama Lew's Lasagna

My sweet friend Rebecca made her grandmother's lasagna for our small group a few weeks ago. Holy cow. It was phenomenal. In the past when I've had homemade lasagna I honestly would've just preferred Stouffer's, but not this time. This homemade lasagna will never ever compare to anything frozen. 

The list of ingredients is pretty simple. Not scary at all! Love it.

The best part is it's super easy to make.

Here's the gem:

"Mama Lew's Lasagna"

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 lg can (10.75 oz) tomato puree

1 lg can (15 oz) tomato sauce and about 1/2 can or so of water

10-12 lasagna noodles

12oz mozzarella cheese

24 oz cottage cheese 

2 gloves garlic chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used Italian seasoning instead of oregano & salt)

1 1/2 tsp salt

Grated Parmesan

Brown beef and onions; drain excess oil if necessary. Add tomato sauce, water, puree, garlic and seasonings. Cook about 20 minutes. (Do not need to pre-cook noodles!)

Barely cover bottom of casserole w/ sauce.

Layer:

Overlap 1/2 of noodles

Layer 1/2 cottage cheese

Then 1/2 mozzarella cheese

Then 1/2 of sauce

Repeat.

Finish w/ generous sprinkling of Parmesan all over top.

Bake, tightly covered w. tin foil, @ 350 degrees for approximately 40-45 minutes. *Test noodles w/ knife to see if soft...depends on how "liquidy" sauce is... if you have too much water, turn the oven off and leave the dish in for another 15ish minutes to let the water evaporate.

Matt Papa: This Changes Everything

If you're familiar with the Summit, you've probably heard of Matt Papa. In fact, you may have even had the opportunity to have him lead you in worship. One of my favorite things about the Summit is showing up to an event to find out Matt Papa is leading worship. If you're unfamiliar with him, Matt Papa is a short, squirrely looking man, with crazy red hair, and a big heart for the God of the Gospel. He also has the coolest jacket in the world. 

Matt Papa's new CD, This Changes Everything, is drenched in the Gospel. Every song is theologically sound and spiritually challenging.  I have listened to This Changes Everything almost every day since I got the CD this summer. It's a poignant reminder of the Gospel, which I have to immerse myself with daily. Plus, its just good music.

With songs like "Stay Away from Jesus" and "The Lord is a Warrior" you know you want to buy it.

(And if you're a college student, come to Summit College United this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Brier Creek South to worship with Matt Papa and fellowship with college students from around the triangle!)