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!
Amen amen :)
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