Friday, September 27, 2013

Sweet Sausage Soup----------The Impossible

The Food Stuffs:


Prep:
This soup is best when you cook it slowly over the course of an hour. The extra time allows the flavors to merge together wonderfully. You'll only need a big pot (assuming your sausage is leftover.) As per usual, all measurements are approximate. Plan to feed an army because I don't believe in cooking soup in small portions! Or, you know, tailor as needed. 

Ingredients:
-5 Cans of chicken stock
-4 Large potatoes
-1 Apple, finely chopped OR 1 container applesauce
-1 Package of maple sausage, cooked
-1 Cup of carrots, chopped
-1 Cup of podded peas, chopped
-1/8 Cup sugar
-2 Handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
-1/4 Cup of Maple Syrup
-Cinnamon
-Allspice
-Salt
-Pepper
-Oregano
-Basil
-Chili Powder

Cooking Instructions:
1. Fill a pot with the chicken stock and heat on stove.
2. Peel and chop potatoes into bite size chunks, add to the pot over high heat.
3. After five minutes, reduce heat to medium and add the finely chopped apples (or stir in applesauce.)
4. Begin chopping podded peas and carrots. Coat in sugar. 
5. After twenty minutes, remove apple chunks if any are left. Add the chopped and sugared veggies.
6. Allow ten more minutes to pass while chopping sausage up. Add the sausage and spinach, tearing the greens as you drop them in.
7. Clock ten more minutes. Add syrup slowly, gently stirring it into the broth.
8. Season to your preferences. Allow to simmer about fifteen minutes before serving.

Mmm..... 

PS: Great when paired with buttermilk biscuits!


Thoughts on Doing the Impossible 

"The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me."  -Judges 7:2

You've likely heard the phrase "God will never give you more than you can handle." Maybe I'm just picky, but that saying drives me crazy. God, in my lifetime, has set me up to encounter a whole lot of things that I could not deal with -on my own. I believe that God never gives us more than HE can handle. And He never even suggests we have to handle "it" alone. Quite the opposite.

I recently got to learn about the fantastic little story found in Judges 6-8. It talks about Gideon. Timid, weak, cautious Gideon. The one who God used to defeat the Midianites, a powerful group. 

Did God give Gideon an enormous army? Burly men? Extra super sharp swords? Nope. He actually had Gideon dismiss the majority of the warriors that showed up for battle. And my opening quote is the reason God provides. 

He puts Gideon, a pretty unlikely candidate, and 300 other men into an impossible situation so that everyone would know that it was God, not man, that saved the nation.

He gave Gideon way more than Gideon could handle. But God knew exactly what He was doing, and He says to Gideon in Judges 6:16:

"The Lord answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive."


God was there, at work, all along. What an example of His grace and power! He does not expect us to rise up as mini-Gods and do extraordinary things. Rather, the Lord, through us and beyond us, does His will. We are privileged to witness the impossible subdued in the Lord's hands.


"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 
-Matthew 19:26

What an important thing for me (and you) to remember when we are confronted not only by difficult situations, but also by the reality of our own shortcomings, weaknesses, and inabilities. The Lord is at work, and He will do what He wills. If He uses us in the process, we have an opportunity to witness his Glory!



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