Surpassing Grace

I found this short devotional on the Manna for Moms website and wanted to share it. It was something that I really needed to hear today.

Surpassing Grace
by Megan Breedlove - http://www.MannaForMoms.com

Most of the time, I think I tend to be a pretty patient mom. Even the kids will tell you that I’m usually patient. (“Yeah, you’re just crabby sometimes.”) Sometimes, being patient isn’t very hard. Other times—like when I’m tired or annoyed, or when I’ve had a long day—my patience wears thin. I can still vividly remember an incident when I was mad about something else, and poor Ellie (then about two years old) came up to me, trying to get my attention. “What!?” I snapped, totally out of line. Ellie burst into tears.


I immediately dropped to my knees and hugged her, apologizing more than once. “Mommy’s so sorry, Ellie,” I said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Will you forgive me?” She clung to me and said she would forgive me, but it took me much longer to forgive myself.

I had been completely ungracious and unloving in my response, and I felt terrible.


We’ve all been there. We’ve all yelled, or been impatient, or done something else that was uncalled for and hurt our precious child’s feelings, despite the fact that we love our children deeply and forever. Somehow, instead of offering grace, we’ve all delivered unkindness, whether our behavior is the exception to the rule or is, tragically, the rule.


I’m sure glad God offers me more grace than I sometimes offer my kids. When I think about what my life would be like if He only showed me the same measure of grace I show my children, I shudder. I don’t want His unkindness to be unpredictable or capricious—which it isn’t, because He’s never unkind. I desperately need His grace to be constant and overflowing, no matter what I do—which it is.


Even though I want to offer my children this kind of grace, I’ll probably never reach that goal this side of heaven. But I’ve learned that instead of berating myself when I mess up, or, worse yet, making excuses for my sin, I should use the occasions of my failure as reminders of God’s incredible grace to me. Yes, I absolutely should confess my sins against my children both to them and to God, and I should make every effort, under the Holy Spirit’s direction, to repent of my sins and treat my kids differently. But I should also take it a bit farther and allow my failures to turn me in humble gratitude toward the One Who never fails, despite the fact that I’ve sinned against Him far more than my children have sinned against me.


Will you do that with me? This week, when we treat our kids wrongly, let’s not only make it right, let’s thank God for being perfect in grace and abounding in mercy. Let’s ask Him to change our hearts to make us like Him in this way. And then, let’s go hug those precious children and pour out our love on them instead of our anger. After all, that’s how our Father treats us.


Matthew 18:32-33—“I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”

What's on the Menu Monday...or Tuesday:)

Monday: Spinach Ricotta Soft Tacos, baked bananas (recipe included) 

 

 Tuesday-Wednesday: Three Cheese Tortellini in a Pesto Goat Cheese sauce, Super C Fruit Salad (high Vit C fruits) on bed a spring herbed lettuces and raspberry vinagrette

Thursday: Apple Jack Quesadillas with Yogurt Apple Dipping Sauce

Friday: Go out to eat

Weekend: Grilled chimichurri salmon/tilapia with black bean and mango salsa over brown rice

                Homemade pizzas with cheese, turkey pepperoni and bell pepper and onion

Spinach Ricotta Soft Tacos
Ingredients
Precooked chicken breast package, chopped
1 bag spinach, washed, set aside
1 red bellpepper cut into long strips
1 large yellow onion cut into long strips
2 4oz cans green chilies, drained
garlic, 4 cloves, minced
6-8 oz ricotta cheese
1-2 T sour cream
cilantro, about 1 large handful roughly chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
dash corriander
black pepper
salt
Salsa Verde for garnish

Directions
In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, sour cream, 3/4 of the cilantro, 1 clove or garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Over medium/high heat, sautee the onions and bellpepper until almost translucent. (about 2-3 minutes) Add the green chilies, chicken, cumin, and corriander. Add the spinach in bunches until wilted, reserving one bunch for last. Add in the garlic and the last bunch of spinach, and cook for 2 minutes. Spinach should be mostly wilted. Season with salt and pepper if you wish. Put into a bowl and set aside.

Heat soft taco size tortillas in microwave. Top the spinach, chicken, onion mixture with the ricotta cheese mixture, a bit of cilantro, and salsa verde.

Makes enough for 6 decent sized portions

This meal is low sodium, depending on how you season it, and low fat if you use reduced fat/no fat ricotta and sour cream. Super healthy, and you can even up the veggie ante by adding in grated carrots, zuccini, and another bag of spinach. That's what I'm going to do next time.

Please enjoy and let me know how it turned out if you make this!

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

By popular request, here is my version of Mac & Cheese! This recipe is great for home, parties, the freezer, or weekend cooking. It does take some prep work and time, but the results are well worth it. But the absolute best part are all the hidden veggies in this recipe!!!

I don't usually cook using measurements, unless I'm baking, so these are approximate. Add more seasoning or hot sauce to make it spicier. We have a 2.5 year old, so I went easy on the hot sauce, but it can be added on individual portions as needed.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
1 box pasta
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, reduced fat if available
handful of colby jack cheese, reduced fat
light/fat free sour cream, a large table spoon/ 1/4 cup
skim milk/2% milk
rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, about the equivalent of 2 breasts, chopped
3 large stalks celery, diced
3 large onions, grated
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
small/medium head cauliflower, cut into chunks
olive oil for sauteeing
3T spoons butter
bacon bits(the real kind, not the fake ones), optional
Frank's hot sauce
dry mustard
pepper
(I buy the least expensive, healthiest versions of everything in the ingredient list.)

Put the pasta in to boil for 7 minutes, or until al dente. Meanwhile, prepare your veggies. Chop the celery and onions, and grate the carrots, set aside. Mince garlic and set aside in a seperate container. Cut up your cauliflower into small chunks.

After the pasta has cooked, remove using a strainer and rinse with hot water and set aside, but reserve the water. Put the cauliflower in and boil until softened.

While the cauliflower is cooking in the pasta water, heat a dash of olive oil, maybe 1-2 Tablespoons worth on medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, freshly ground pepper, and 1 tsp of dry mustard and cook until nearly tender. Add half a Tablespoon butter and add in the garlic and bacon bits. Cook for 2 minutes only (prevents the garlic from getting bitter). Add in the diced chicken and maybe 5-6 dashes of hot sauce. Cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes. Turn heat off.

By now the cauliflower should be done. Strain out and puree with 1/4 c of the water it was cooked in.
Dump the pasta/cauliflower water out. Melt 2 T butter over medium low heat. Add 1/2 cup milk, another dash of ground pepper, and the pureed cauliflower. This will be the base for your cheese sauce.

Keep the heat below medium so that when you start adding in the cheese it doesn't separate into a globby mess.  Add in a couple scoops of the celery, onion, carrot mixture. Add in the sour cream and mix well. Add in by the handful the 8 oz bag of sharp cheddar. Add in the rest of the onion, celery, carrot mixture. Add in the pasta. Mix well. Pour into a  casserole dish and top with a handful of colby jack cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes uncovered.

Serves 6-8 depending on how large a portion you serve.

You can up the vegetable ante by adding in frozen and thawed spinach to the cauliflower when it is being pureed, and you can add more carrots, onion, or celery if you like.