What's for dinner?

Recently I have had the urge to try my hand in the kitchen more often and experiment with a variety of different dishes. Making dinner for the family once a week has been an awesome way to make sure I follow through! It's also proved itself as a way to connect with each other after a busy day. So tonight, because the weather has been getting nicer I was in the mood for something light and fresh and found a recipe that fit the craving exactly! If I made this again I'd probably toast up some ciabatta bread to pair with it. You could also throw some corn chips in a bowl and dip 'em in using the dish as more of a salsa. However you choose serve this, it serves as a great spring time, or summer meal!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Quinoa, 1 cup
Feta cheese, 1 cup
Black beans, 1 can (15 oz)
Corn, 1 can (15 oz)
1/2 green pepper and 1/2 red pepper, diced
Spinach, a handful, diced small
Red onion, a few slices, diced very small
1/2 avocado, chopped

Dressing:

Fresh lime juice, 1/2 cup
Red wine vinegar, 3 Tablespoons
Olive oil, 1/4 cup
Cayenne powder, 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin, 1 Tablespoon
Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper, a few dashes

Steps:

1. Cook the quinoa- Combine 2 cups water and 1 cup quinoa. Bring to a boil, quick stir, then bring to low heat and cook for 15-20 minutes.
2. While the quinoa is simmering, make up your dressing, whisking all dressing ingredients together. In a separate bowl combine beans, corn (rinsing and draining both), diced pepper, spinach, red onion, and avocado.
3. Once quinoa is done cooking and has cooled, add it to your bean mix. Pour dressing over everything, mix up, and ENJOY!

Quick, easy, fresh, and healthy!

His grace is an ocean.

This last week I took a trip to the Oregon coast and spent a few days lounging around a cozy and beautiful beach house that sits right up on the ocean front. It being my 20th birthday I had an excuse to snatch up a few of the dearest, most important women in my life (my best friend Kate, our moms, and my sister Jen) and escape with them from reality for a little bit. Our retreat seemed to be coming at a needed time so I had been praying that the Lord would meet us each specifically in the ways He knew that we needed and He truly did. Not only was it therapeutic to breath the fresh ocean air, feel the cool breeze against my face, and listen to the waves gently lap onto the shore, but the time we women spent in each others presence separated from our regular routines, was therapy in itself. I find that there is something healing and restoring that takes place amidst fellowship with other believers and this was no exception. We spent our evenings letting the night slip away as we talked and talked, sometimes laughing so hard we cried. It was an absolute joy. On one of our afternoons together, Kate and I took a long walk on the beach and I came to the conclusion that this was one of my favorite pastimes. If you haven't gone to and taken a walk on the beach for a while, do it! And take a good friend with you. To have a friend you can talk to openly about anything, yet have moments of complete silence and simply enjoying each others company, is a true gift; Kate is just that gift to me. As we walked, looking out to where the waters edge met the horizon, my soul was filled with hope. I was reminded of eternity, how heaven is not so far away as I tend to think, and how there is so much to look forward to. This earth is not all that there is. I was encouraged to continue on in every day worship as an overflow of the love I've received from the King. As the waves crashed over the shore He spoke to my heart saying "My dear daughter, just like the waves of the ocean continually wash over the shore, enveloping all in its path, so does my grace wash over and continually encompass every aspect of you. All your filth and weakness that you see as too overbearing, I wash clean in my grace. There is more might lying in my grace than in your sin. I see you washed clean because of my Son and I have established good and perfect plans for you to accomplish in the power of Christ that dwells within you. My desire is that you would move in unison with me; that you and I would walk instep together. Allow yourself to be swept up in my grace, don't fight and struggle against the current, trying to swim your own course. Allow me to move you according to the rhythm of my spirit- like the rhythm you have seen in the the waves of the sea. My grace is sufficient for you and it is more vast than these waters you can't see an end to."

I was reminded that this call on my life doesn't depend on me, it depends on Him, and He always is faithful to bring the work that He has started to completion.

What a way to start off my 20th year. My view of the ocean is forever changed.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.