An Old Favorite Recipe: Lime Chicken Tacos

One of our summer goals was to explore recipes that did not use our favorite appliance- the slow cooker. This week, I'm bust working all day at a camp through my school district. So, we decided to bust out an old favorite in our slow cooker. These Lime Chicken Tacos were the first thing we cooked together after we got married (or, let's be honest, ever), and they are still our very favorite dish. They are adapted from pinterest and from a recipe from Taste of Home. We have added our own little twists to it, though.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 cup black bean and corn salsa (we really like the Market Pantry kind. I could probably eat my weight in it)
• tortillas (I like corn, Jacob likes flour)
• shredded cheese and guacamole to top

1. Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.
2. Shred chicken in slow cooker. Add salsa.
3. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve on tortillas with desired garnishes.

We hope that you enjoy as much as we have! :)

Favorite Recipe of the Week!

As we are cooking at home more (and branching out from our beloved slow cooker) this summer, we have decided to post our favorite recipe each week!

This week, our favorite recipe as been Kung Pao chicken! Mmm!

We adapted a recipe from blogchef.net that we found on pinterest. Here is the recipe:

• 2 chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch by 1 inch squares)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped onions
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts (we added some extra to the top because we are addicted and obsessed with peanuts)

1. Combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in large pan over medium heat. Add chicken and stir-fry for 8-10 minutes or until cooked. Remove and set aside.
2. Add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and powdered ginger to the pan and stir fry for 15 seconds. I also had to add a little more sesame oil because my pan was pretty dry at this point! :)
3. Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix wekk and add sauce to the pan.
4. Return chicken to the pan and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to make sure chicken in coated. The recipe said to top with green onions We chose to top with peanuts!

We also ate ours with Uncle Ben's Ready Rice- Jasmine. We are really obsessed with these rice pouches since we live in an apartment and have a small stove that makes it difficult to have more than 2 pans going. The rice is also perfect and quick. This one is a little higher in calories than we like (it has 250 calories per cup), but we really like the sweet flavor when we make Asian dishes.

This little experiment went really well! The chicken had good flavor with a little kick to it, so it paired well with the sweeter rice! Hope you enjoy! :)

Always Enough

Plenty. Adequate. Sufficient. Enough.

We live in a society where enough is a seldom used term. We always desire something extra, something more. Just one more Kate Spade purse. Just that other pair of Toms (especially since my first pair is so comfortable). Just one extra shot of espresso in my latte, because what is 50 more cents in my already $5 latte. What's a few extra dollars or cents, calories or sugar. Society pushes, and we continue to plead for more.

But, what about when this craving of "more, this never being enough implodes not only from our wallets and debit cards, but also into us, our schedules, activities, plans, desires and dreams. Just one more work out class. One more club to help with after work. One more way to make and save a little extra money to buy a house. Even one more Bible study or place to serve. Even when good things continue to beg for "more" it can leave you exhausted, burned out and, unfortunately, complacent about the things, people and relationships that matter most.

I am terrible at saying no. I first started to struggle with this about a year and a half ago. I realized one days how many glasses of water I felt like I strategically balanced on a tray...I was a girlfriend, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a mentee, a table group leader, a bible study leader, a Sunday School member, and a speech pathologist by day. As each of these roles began to demand more and more of me, I felt as if my well held up glasses of water were out of room on my tray...they felt as if they were overflowing and were about to drown me. I felt as if I was a tiny speck of a person standing helplessly on a beach, looking up in fear as a towering tidal wave encased me. I was fighting to keep my head above water. What can we4 do-- what options do we have when we literally cannot be enough.

After weeks of coping any and every way I could conjure up- with lethargy and apathy, exhaustion and giving all I had to every activity I partook in, something, or Someone intervened- the only one who is more than enough for all of us. The Holy Spirit brought to my heart a conviction-- that all of my time, my schedule, my commitments were God's. Just like all of our money is God's in the first place, so he is the only one fit to have control of it, all of our time is also God's, and he desires to reign over our planners, Outlook calendars and iPhones, too. Christ is enough for all of us. He took all of those fragile and full glasses of water, all of those responsibilities and roles. Now, I know that as I trust more fully in Him and know that He is all I need, that I am enough, as long as I give him control and rely fully on His strength. As God and His purposes for me govern my time, my energy, my roles. I know that I have- and am plenty. As He was and is enough to cover and redeem my sins, He is also enough as I relinquish control of the reigns of my life to Him.

Thankful to serve a God who gladly yearns to control and comfort, despite my attempts to be enough.

Why

Hi! I'm Kristin and the guy in the picture next to me is my husband, Jacob. We got married on October 1, 2011. Outside of the day we both asked Jesus Christ to be our personal savior, it was the happiest day of our lives! We've been wanting to start a blog for a while now (particularly me:)) but have been putting it off! I wanted to write a short post as to why I want to start blogging again.

1. We want to share what we are doing with our friends and family around us. Since it's summer and I'm off of work, we are going to try a lot of experimental recipes and we want to tell some of our culinary tales on here. We also just want to update on what is going on with us or share funny stories (because there are a lot!:))

2. I've felt led for a long time to share what Christ is doing in my life and teaching me via blog. I used to blog when I was in college/grad school (kdup26.blogspot.com), but fell away from it as the busyness of life after college/newly wed life kicked in. I feel as if writing is a hobby that God has really blessed me with. I enjoy visualizing Christ's teachings like a series of paintings in my head and then writing how He's teaching me down. If I could do anything else in the world besides be a speech pathologist, I'd be a writer. Very few things make me feel more alive and as if I am fulfilling God's purpose for me than writing.

Right now, God's teaching me a lot about trust. He's strengthing my faith through times of doubt, both in myself and at times in Him. He's teaching me about how good He really is...how full of light and my immense need for that in a body and world filled with darkness. He's also teaching me about purpose. I feel that God has blessed me with spiritual gifts of encouragement, joy and love. I feel as if I oozed one of those three things as a high school student and college student. God allowed those gifts to flow easily wtih me. As life has changed, like a river who's path has been interrupted, those have been things that I've had to strive more for. Through that struggle, God has been showing me how much I rely and need Him in my heart and mind always.

My goal is to post 2 times a week. So we will see how that goes! :) Thanks for reading!