Our New Food Journey

Luke and I LOVE food. I think one of my dream jobs would be like Julianne from My Best Friend's Wedding - the VIP that has the kitchen busting out something especially delicious for me in order for their restaurant to get a good review! I could totally be a food critic!

I am very fortunate that Luke will eat pretty much everything. Except fish, much to my dismay. But other than seafood, I can put anything in front of him, and he'll try it! We love being adventurous together, and food is one of our favourite adventures!

Earlier this year I discovered this blog : The 52 New Foods Challenge. Basically, this family tried a new food every single week for a year. What a great idea! We love food, we love trying new things, let's put them together!

A new food every week seemed a little overwhelming to me, so instead, we decided to just try one new food every month. That way, we can try 3 or 4 different recipes with that food so we can really get a feel for it and decide if we like it or not!

I thought I would share our journey with you to maybe challenge or inspire you!

Persimmons.

Persimmons come in two main kinds. Our local grocery store supplies Fuyu persimmons, so that's the kind I used in all of my recipes. It looks like a small tomato, it's orange in colour, and it has a subtly sweet flavour. They're also super healthy! High in fibre, high in anti-oxidants, and tons of vitamins and minerals. Delish!!

We've tried persimmons 5 different ways - eating them raw and topping some yogurt with them, in a smoothie, in some grilled cheese, in a salsa, and finally in some jam.

Ok. We are big fans of persimmons!!!

Eating them raw, mixing them in some yogurt, or tossing them in a smoothie are all super easy and super tasty ways to eat persimmons.

Last summer I made my first "sugar free, pectin free, chia seed jam" recipe with blueberries and I will never go back! This was also a chia seed jam using blackberries, persimmons, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a little honey to sweeten. Delicious on some toast or spread over pancakes! I would even top vanilla ice cream with it! 

Probably my favourite recipe for the persimmons was as a salsa side dish. Some black beans, avocado, mango, and persimmons tossed with olive oil, fresh squeezed lime juice, cumin, and chili powder. Chopping the fruit in thick cubes makes for a simple, tasty side dish, or chopping them smaller would be good for dipping tortilla chips in. 

Luke's favourite was the grilled cheese.  This was a little more work, but totally worth it! We used brie because it gave a nice subtle flavour with tons of melty cheesiness, some prosciutto for a little salt, a little spicy brown mustard and some nice thick slices of raw persimmon. Great flavour combo!

We are excited to try lots of new foods this year! Next up - Spaghetti Squash!

If My Words Abide in You...

I have been journeying and "word choosing" for 4 years now. I began with ABOUND, moved into BELOVED, grew into NOURISH, and dove into DILIGENT. (links to the last two are here and here)

I love naming my years because God always surprises me. And I do so love surprises! Truly, I always set up expectations for my word and what it will look like to actively live it out over the year. And I always end up learning even more than I had planned. This year will be no different, and boy do I have high expectations for this year!

First lets talk about DILIGENT, aka. 2014. 

Discipline is one of Luke's strongest qualities, and since opposites attract it happens to be one of my weakest. Allow me to briefly describe how I attempted to remedy my lack of discipline this year.

After some painful stomach issues this year, I had to learn to be much more diligent about what we ate. I cut some things out of our diet this year, and I became very conscious about what kind of foods I consumed. It's still a work in progress, but I think we're doing well! I even tried over 40 new recipes this year, and hope to continue that into 2015!

I became more diligent about my quiet times, as well as purposely setting time aside to listen to pastors that I look up to, enjoying three or four sermons a week. (Now I just need to be more "diligent" about taking notes!! *sigh*)

I read more books this year. We signed up for library cards mid-way through the year and I ended up reading about 15 new books this year. Hopefully even more next year, although admittedly, we've been enjoying the seasons of Monk that we recently discovered at the library and thus have been checking out less books! :)

And now for the bad news. One thing that I was not diligent about was Scripture memorization. I am so very passionate about hiding God's Word in my heart, and I love coming across a passage that I know by heart when I'm reading through a chapter or book. I memorized part of Mary's Magnificat as my December advent this year, but that was all.

That brings us to 2015's word.

Starting in September, I dove into John Piper's sermon series on the Gospel of John (find it here - I know 70 sermons looks overwhelming, but I promise it's worth it. Just take one at a time. I seriously can't say enough about this series! I'm about half way through, so feel free to ask me about my favourites!) 

One of those favourites was this one - "If My Words Abide in You" speaking on John 15:1-7. It was also the inspiration for my word this year. If you only listen to one of the seventy sermons, make it this one. There is something SO powerful about a pastor reciting memorized Scripture from the pulpit. 

About three years ago, I memorized the entire book of 2 Timothy. It has always been my favourite book of the Bible, and after spending about six months submerged right into it, reading and re-reading it, committing it to memory and speaking it out loud over and over, I found that I learned more from that experience than any other Bible study I had ever done. I lived and breathed this book. And though I still feel that there is so much more for me to learn about it, memorizing it word for word was a very good start. 

I want to do that again.

I haven't decided for sure which book is next, but I know that I want to really turn my focus onto memorization this year. 

The Scripture that is first on my memorization list is where my "one word" comes from and it's found in Colossians 2:6-7

"Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ROOTED and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."