My favorite verse... a promise and a blessing

In honor of Show Us Your Life Friday, I wanted to take a minute and share my very, very favorite Bible verse. It's been my favorite promise from the Lord since I was in high school, struggling to find my identity in Christ and trying to make big life decisions.

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

This verse is especially uplifting to me now, when I am so uncertain about where the Lord is leading Micah and me. I get discouraged because I miss home and because things haven't gone according to my perfect plan. But then I remember that it's not about my plan. It's about His plan.

And His plans have brought me a life full of joy, peace, and incredible, epic love. What else in the world could I need? :)

Summer Spaghetti...

You've all seen some version of this recipe on an Italian restaurant menu, but here's how I like to make it - especially in the summertime. It's an easy, quick, relatively healthy meal, made from ingredients I always have around the house. Plus, it's delicious! This recipe makes enough to serve one person with a very healthy appetite. :)

Summer Spaghetti
8-10 oz spaghetti (about 1/3 of a small package)
1 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, diced
2 T. Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
fresh lemon juice
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Salt and pepper

Cook your spaghetti in salted water with a splash of olive oil (keeps it from sticking) until al dente (about 10 minutes).

Drain and return to pot on medium-low heat.

Add the 1 T. of olive oil to the spaghetti. (You can add more olive oil if not all of the pasta is coated, but you don't want a pool of oil in the bottom of the pan.)

Add your minced garlic and stir until incorporated throughout the pasta.

Add tomatoes and parsley.

Squeeze juice from half a lemon on top and stir.

Grate the Parmesan over the pasta, and voila! Done! Easiest recipe you'll make all week. :)

Don't forget to add plenty of salt and pepper (and whatever other spices you like - red pepper flakes or a little cayenne are yummy, as well). And, if you're in the mood for a little protein, add some shrimp!

If I had more than 24 hours in a day...

... I'd learn a little about everything.

I'd be able to tell you how to make a bechamel sauce without thinking. I could tell you exactly where Abu Dhabi was, without having to google it the minute I got out of the theater after seeing Sex and the City 2 because I sat there wondering, for two and a half hours, where in the heck it was.

And I'd definitely be able to tell you quite a bit about cars. It drives me crazy that when there is something wrong with my car, I'm at the absolute mercy of the auto shop.

It's not that I don't trust them. It's just that if someone wanted to take absolute advantage of my ignorance, they totally could. I guess some could say that about lawyers, too. But I promise that we're not as crooked as you think we are... well at least I'm not. :)

Anyway, I had to take my car to the shop today because it almost overheated on the way to the grocery store (so we're out the money to fix it, PLUS we have nothing to eat in this house). And the guy actually seemed pretty honest, but you can just really never know for sure unless you have enough independent knowledge to verify what they're telling you.

But I digress... I'm going to go for a quick run and then get back to studying. I've got 21 subjects, each of which takes an entire semester to learn in law school, to learn in two and a half weeks. Wish me luck! :)

Test

I'm (finally) switching the blog to my new email address, so this is a test to make sure I've done it correctly! :)

Yummy Summer Side Dish!

Last week, Target had sweet Texas corn on the cob priced at 10/$1, so I grabbed five and considered it a great deal!  I used three of them in a dish earlier this week, and, apart from the corn, had absolutely nothing in my fridge for dinner tonight.  So that's how this dish was born. It's not terribly creative, but it was delicious! :)

Sauteed Corn 

2-3 ears of corn, husks and silk removed

1 T. olive oil

1 T. butter

1-2 cloves garlic, minced (use one medium clove for 2 ears, and use two small-ish for three ears)

salt and pepper

Slice the kernels off the corn.  (It's kind of tricky if you try to do it over a cutting board because the corn flies everywhere.  I just held it over a bowl and sliced from the middle of the cob downward four or five times, all the way around.  Then I flipped it over and did the same thing to the other end.)  

Heat the olive oil and garlic in a medium sautee pan on medium to medium-high heat.  

Add the garlic to the oil and sautee until garlic become fragrant, 1-2 minutes.  Make sure it doesn't burn.  

Add the corn, season with salt and pepper, and sautee for 5 minutes or so until corn is tender and starting to become golden-brown.  

Enjoy!