Ah-mazing Veggie Enchiladas

Last Sunday, when my boys were napping and I was meal-planning and grocery-list-making, I had a few objectives. I wanted to plan dinners that were healthy, not too many ingredients (in other words, cheap!), delicious and filling and kid-friendly (I'm not a fan of making one meal for adults and another meal for kids, if I can help it). That's not too much to ask, right? Now, it is Saturday night and I have made all the meals I intended to make except one. I think this week was a success. The dinner we had tonight was so good that I couldn't wait to share it! I can't tell you how it warms my heart to see my kiddos loving Mexican food.

I will share the recipe/ingredients from the source and also share what I used and did differently. I am not a vegetarian, so I wasn't picky about certain things. That's the great thing about this recipe. Substitutions for diet restrictions and taste preferences are easy. There's another version on the website that uses avocado and quinoa for vegans. I may just add avocado next time because...well, because it's avocado.

Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas

Check out the garden grazer, where I got this recipe!

Ingredients
(for the sauce) Yes, you make the sauce, it's easy...I mean, I did it...and it's incredible!
3 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
-I used 3 cups of Essential Everyday fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
-I used onion salt because it's what I had
1/4 tsp. chili powder
salt/pepper

(for the enchiladas)
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups of corn (which is a can, I measured it)
6 oz. fresh baby spinach
6 green onions, freshly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. cumin
3 cups shredded cheese
8 large flour tortillas

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Make the sauce: in a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Cook one minute, whisking. Whisk in broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Salt/pepper to taste and set aside.

Sautee the spinach in olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until slightly wilted.
In a large bowl, combine beans, 2 cups cheese, spinach, corn, green onions, cumin and cilantro. (This is a beautiful, colorful masterpiece, when all combined.)
Lightly spray 9x13 inch baking dish and pour a small amount of the sauce to coat the bottom.
Generously fill tortillas with mixture, roll up tightly with ends tucked in and place seam side down in dish. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas, coating evenly. Sprinkle one cup of cheese on top.
Bake about 20 minutes and garnish with green onion/cilantro.

Also freezer friendly! Freeze enchiladas and sauce separately and go to the garden grazer website (link above) for heating instructions. All three of my guys, including my 4-year-old (picky eater) and 1-year-old, ate these up! I love that they were getting a superfood like spinach and other good stuff. The boys each ate half an enchilada and Brandon and I each ate one and were full. I just served them with chips and hot sauce, because we didn't need anything else. Now we have lots of delicious leftovers. Winner, winner, enchilada dinner!

Here are some other recipes I tried this week and will definitely do again! These three are from Better Homes & Gardens. I also discovered that we are all four fans of sweet peppers. Yay Vitamin C + delicious goodness!

• Crispy Fish & Peppers I used tilapia & no lemon.
• Chicken-Noodle Casserole This was a little bit more involved than I anticipated but it was worth it! My sauce didn't thicken as much as I wanted, so next time I will add more flour so it is more casserole and less soup. I also don't have a dutch oven but used a cast iron skillet with a lid that worked great!
• Fall Vegetable Fajitas Three of my favorite things in the three-word title! You may be surprised to learn that one of the main ingredients is steak. Not vegetarian-friendly, if made according to the recipe...and I am a rule-follower, so bring on the meat! We had been at the park, so when we got home T minus 45 minutes to dinner and I looked up the recipe, you can imagine my response when I read Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours tossing once. Oops. Oh well, I mixed the marinade and added the ingredients to it as I chopped them up. It worked. I didn't have chile-lime hot sauce, so I just left it out and added some worchestershire (mmmm). I didn't grill this time and used the cast iron on the stove. Worked great and also a hit with the fam...so delish! Only drawback...no leftovers. :(

Tomorrow I'm trying cauliflower pizza bites, so I'll hold off on posting until I see how it goes. If you have recipes that are your go-to's and fit my criteria of being inexpensive, fairly easy to prepare, kid-friendly and somewhat healthy, please share!!!

A God of Great Detail

On Wednesday evening, we had the awesome privilege to attend a scroll show. Although we have an extensive connection with it, we have never been in the right place at the right time to see it for ourselves. My mom's cousin, Charles, is the executive director for an organization in Cleburne, TX called the Christian Heritage Foundation. You can learn more about all the amazing things they do here. One of the cool things that we got to see this week is the Ancient Hebrew Scroll Project. They travel to various churches across the country with a full collection of scrolls and share incredible stories about how the collection was put together and the scrolls themselves. It was such a tremendous blessing to hear about it all. We have heard about the scroll shows for a while and my parents have even travelled with Charles, Ruth, Mary Ann and Rabbi Marty. Several years ago, Charles gifted us with a beautifully framed piece of a scroll, and Brandon was just saying the other day that it is the most exquisite and priceless possession we have. It has always been so meaningful to us, but now that I understand more about the process I can appreciate and treasure it on a new level.

I will not try to retell the stories we heard, because I wouldn't do it justice. I do encourage you to check out the website and the schedule of where they will be and do what you have to do to attend. For my Gruver peeps, keep your eyes and ears open, because there's a rumor that they may be coming to a venue near you.

The subject of this post originated as I was listening to Rabbi Marty explain how the scribes write a scroll. There are so many steps and specific stipulations. It takes so much time, and it has to be just so in every way. They can't do any of it by memory, but it must be copied, letter for letter, from another scroll, which has already been through the rigorous process. From the kind of pen and ink that must be used to the size of each letter, to stopping everything and announcing it each time before the holiest name of God is written. Once it's finished, many months later, every letter is counted three times by three different scribes and they must come up with the same number, which is something like over 300,000. Out of complete reverence for the Word of God and honoring Him by taking such great care with it, it is their life's work to make sure it is exactly right.

So, of course, as you can imagine, this got me to thinking. Our God is a God of great detail. We use the phrase 'great detail', and it's interesting because when you really think about it, it's an oxymoron. Great describes something as large, unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity. Details are individual, minute parts of something bigger. We usually think of details as being small and secondary even to what is more important...the big stuff. This contradiction is why I think it's such a suitable description for one attribute of God. He is great, big, powerful and almighty, AND He is also keenly aware of and interested in the details of our lives.

On days that I feel like maybe God has forgotten about me or it must have slipped His mind to work out something in my life, it's very important for me to remember this. I think it's easy for us to assume that God has enough to do without worrying about little ole me or that my problems don't matter. The only problem with that assumption is that it's a lie. It does matter. It matters to the One who matters more than anyone.

Yesterday, as I was working on a project that required very careful attention to detail, it provided another insight to me about the details of my life being a priority to God. Not only has God not forgotten about my situation or suddenly become carelessly aloof or indifferent, but He has a plan for me down to the very last minute detail. He knew before I was born that I would experience these exact circumstances. He knows today what will be accomplished in me, through this, years down the road. He knows my every need, better than I do, and He provides above and beyond basic necessity. He even cares enough to know when I'm having a hard day and puts it on someone's heart and mind to call, write or pray to encourage me. I am not only remembered, but I am deeply loved, sacrificially offered salvation and perfectly cared for by the One who made me. And so are you.

As I was working on my project, Times by Tenth Avenue North came on, and for the first time I really listened to the words. Amazing song. Here are some of the lyrics that really spoke to me and you can listen to the whole song here.

I hear you say

My love is over

It's underneath

It's inside

It's in between

The times that you doubt me

When you can't feel

The times that you question

Is this for real?

The times you're broken

The times that you mend

The times you hate me

And the times that you bend

Well my love is over

It's underneath

It's inside

It's in between

The times that you're healing

And when your heart breaks

The times that you feel like you've fallen from grace

The times that you're hurting

The times that you heal

The times you go hungry and are tempted to steal

In times of confusion

In chaos in pain

I'm there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame

I'm there through your heart-ache

I'm there in the storm

My love I will keep you by my power alone

I don't care where you've fallen or where you have been

I'll never forsake you

My love never ends

It never ends

Our God is not a God who creates chaos and disorder, but He is bigger than any of it in our lives. So, whatever you are experiencing that may be making you feel out of control, forgotten or lost, lay your burdens at His feet and allow Him to fill you with His peace and joy, like He desperately longs to do for His own.