Rachel Ray's Thai Lettuce Cups - YUM-O!

I tried this recipe tonight and it was SUPER good! I didn't do the lettuce cups. I roughly chopped romaine lettuce and put the chicken mixture on top of it. Click here is a link to the recipe in case you want to see photos or print it off for yourself. (oh, and of course we omitted the peanuts lol still tasted amazing!)

Thai Lettuce Cups

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
* 1 red bell pepper, cut into to strips
* 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 iceberg lettuce heads, cut in quarters and leaves gently removed for cups
* 1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts, chopped
* Juice of 1 lime
* 1 handful basil, chopped

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Season the chicken with salt and ground black pepper, and cook in the pan until golden brown on all sides.

Add in the red pepper, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add in the chili sauce and honey, and reduce to coat the chicken.

To serve, lay the lettuce leaves out onto a platter then scoop some of the chicken mixture onto each leaf. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts, lime juice and basil.

Magnificent

Magnificent is a song of of U2's new CD, No Line on the Horizon. It is definitely one of my favorites on the CD so far. The more I listen to it, the more I understand what it's about.

My analysis is that Magnificent refers to God. The song is about how we are God's creation and born to glorify Him.

Dictionary.com defines Magnificent as " noble; sublime" " (usually initial capital letter) (formerly used as a title of some rulers) great; grand: Lorenzo the Magnificent." After reading the actual definition of Magnificent the meaning of the song really clicked with me.

Of course, this is only my insight. But the song now has a lot of meaning to me. In fact, I am thinking the word Magnificent might be my next tattoo.

Here are the lyrics of the song:

Magnificent
Magnificent



I was born
I was born to be with you

In this space and time

After that and ever after I haven't had a clue

Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue



Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love can heal such a scar


I was born
I was born to sing for you

I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise ...

Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love can heal such a scar


Justified till we die, you and I will magnify

The Magnificent

Magnificent


Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love unites our hearts



Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent

Magnificent

Magnificent


Itchy Chef

I have often wondered if my son (who has a severe food allergy) would be able to become a chef if he so desired. Right now I am watching a challenge show on the Food Network where a chef was allergic to two ingredients that were given to him to work with. He went far in the competition and is actually a chef for the Waldorf Astoria! There is hope for my little man if he wants to enter the culinary world.

Respect

Today I dropped my son off at preschool. I just happened to look at the car next to us and noticed a Hindu symbol hanging from the mirror. I immediately thought of the image I posted above. It is from U2's last concert tour. As you can see the word "Coexist" is spelled out with the Muslim, Jewish and Christian symbols. I have heard several Christians say that this display has shown that U2 is not believers and that all religions are one. I know that Bono is a follower of Christ (discusssion for another day). The word coexist means: " to exist separately or independently but peaceably" (from dictionary.com). I think that the symbols added to the word just make an even louder statment.

It made me think about how we really need to respect other people's beliefs, no matter what they are. Sure, as a Christian you can present them with the story of Jesus and salvation. But being forceful is the fast track to nowhere. I have seen so many times Christians trying to "argue" about their beliefs with someone who believes differently. I wonder how a Christian would feel if someone of a different faith was forcing their beliefs on them. When the shoe is on the other foot it can really make you view things differently.

We are all human. We were all created by God. We were given a mind to think and the ability to decide what we believe. We must have respect for each other.

Quote from Bono

"It's easy for us to find a sound that we can dance to, it's harder to find something that moves us."

Losing the Stiffness

Recently I have started thinking about religion. Honestly, religion is a word that I dislike. It doesn't mean anything personal to me - it just means that you believe what is most likely rules that man created.

I do believe that faith should be personal. It should be something that you believe with your whole heart, yet probably not be able to completely grasp.

For years I followed "rules" and tried to be someone that as of now I look back and wonder what the hell was I thinking! My view of things was that I was better than others because of what I believed and the way I was living my life. Little did I know that I was sheltering myself as well as pushing away those who might have been interested in learning more about Jesus from a non-judgmental and open to the fact that they might not believe the same as me.

What I find so funny is that it is always thought that when you get older that you get more set in your ways. For me I have found that I have let go of those ways and can see what it all looked like from the outside. It was all just silly to follow all the "rules" that churches, organizations or so called leaders told me I had to do in order to really live the Christian life. Most of that junk can not be found anywhere in the Bible...ok, maybe with some personal interpretation from those presenting this "way of life."

I still have my core beliefs. But I no longer think that I am above anyone in any way at all. We are all on the same playing field. We were all shown a "gift" that we can chose to accept or not. Forcing that gift on someone does not make them really want it...it will probably send them running in the other direction.

I'm baaaack!

After a year of pretty much ignoring this blog, I have decided to give it some new life. A new name, a new look, and new randomness (that probably pertains a lot to the band U2).

So there is it!

(new look to follow soon, stay tuned!)