Priorities

"Choose 5 things to prioritize in your life right now," my mom said to me.

You see, I love staying busy. When I see a blank square in my calendar, I feel like something isn't right and that I am not maximizing my time. 

And now I have too much on my plate. Monday golf lessons, Fusion Wednesday nights, Friday youth group, and Sunday church + small group. Add in the occasional Alumni and Parent Admission Program for WashU (college fairs, interviews, etc). Then there are the activities I am considering/toying around with: DSP Atlanta Alumni Chapter, Fusion leadership, volunteering with Intervarsity, helping start a college/post grad ministry at church. Now I'm in over my head. 

Help! 

1. Job

2. Family

3. Exercise
4. Church youth group

5. 

God, help lead me to fill out the blank.

Creation

Yesterday I made a few new dishes with the promise of pictures for other recipes I try this week. I was in a very paleo-snack mood, so I decided to try the kale chip recipe I've been seeing all over forums. In addition, I did not wake up in time to try the egg-in-tomato dish, so I tried it tonight. Both were fun to make, but didn't turn out exactly as I would have liked. The kale chips were a bit too salty (must add less salt next time!) and the eggs were too runny :(

Cooking these few days have given me some insight into God as Creator. I would sit down, think about what I was going to make, be really excited about the idea knowing full well that it may not come out exactly as I wanted. However, I was still willing to go through with my creation even if it turned out to be a failure. 

Now I can't say I know exactly what God was thinking when He created us, but I think God had an idea of how He would like for us to turn out (righteous, good, etc) like how I wanted my eggs to turn out more well-done. Yet, we have minds of our own and do what we want, like my eggs choosing to not cook all the way. All the while, I still hope that my eggs would cook more over time, like God wanting to see us grow more like Christ.

Pull kale leaves off the stem. Drizzle with olive oil & sea salt. Make sure they don't overlap on the cookie tray. Bake for 15 min at 350 degrees.

The finished product: crispy, salty kale chips! 

Hollow out a tomato, add pesto, crack an egg inside. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

It was a bit more liquid-y than I was expecting, but it was fun nonetheless. 

Cooking Experiments

I made it through last week's paleo on a budget challenge! Every morning, I had a onion & green pepper omelet. For three days' lunch and dinner, I had chicken, onion and green pepper stir fry. On the other two days I had beef and broccoli stir fry. On Saturday, I was blessed with the ability to eat at Sushi Itto before it opened because the owner wanted our opinion/feedback - so I got a free meal! Saturday night I had a sausage from our office's cookout on Friday. And Sunday I had two meals of omelets.

But this week, one of our "challenges" is to Taste and See God in something artistic. This could be exploring a new place, trying a new food, or watching a good movie, etc. So far, I've cooked two new things!

1. Spaghetti Squash. FUN! Popped this bad boy in the microwave for 20 min or 5 min per pound (flipping halfway through). Cut it open, de-gutted it, and scraped out the "spaghetti" with a fork. This was really exciting because I've never cooked any type of squash before, plus this was a very interesting squash. It is very watery, but has a subtle sweet taste similar to yams. I can't say it is as fun as eating normal spaghetti, but I do find it a very suitable substitute for spaghetti especially when I'm craving Jo Mama's Famous Spaghetti sauce.

2. Home made pesto. Used basil, pecans, garlic and olive oil. I have to admit, I do miss Washu's rendition of pesto... it must be the pine nuts and cheese. Mine tastes a bit... woodier? ALSO. We don't have a food processor, so I was slaving away at trying to mince the pesto as fine as possible, and then used the stone bowl smoosher thing, then finally discovered our blender. Man, without the blender, I think it would have been impossible to make pesto. But I do have to say, I really felt caveman-ish while using that stone bowl.

If I get up early enough, I'm going to bake an egg inside a tomato (w/ pesto) for breakfast! I should really take pics of these things..

Paleo on a Budget

As you may know, my small group decided last week to post 10 things we're grateful for each day. That was great because I got to see how God was working in even the small things in my life & how blessed I am. At the end of the week, I really felt happier because I had all these things to be grateful for. If I wasn't forced to write 10 down, then I wouldn't have thought about what all I'm grateful for. I think I'm going to continue doing this because it really helped me to see how God was blessing me.

THIS WEEK we have some exciting challenges. The one that I am most nervous/excited for is the "Simplify Your Life" challenge where as a group, we are choosing to not eat out this week and only live off of $25 worth of groceries for the week. Originally, I thought we were going to do $2/day or $14/wk, so the jump to $25 is huge for me! The idea is that we would be able to better empathize with people living on less than $2 per day in third world countries. Then we take the money that we would have used to go out to eat and donate it to a cause.

For me, the real challenge is trying to figure out how to keep the Paleo Diet while limiting myself to $25. This makes me angry because I'm realizing that all the cheap food that I would've purchased while not on the diet (spaghetti, bread, rice, beans, corn syrup, etc) are all not as good for you. However, hopefully I can prove that it is possible to go paleo on a limited budget. 

H-mart Total: $12.27

3  Huge chicken breasts = $5.20

Korean Yams = 1.98 lb @ $0.39/lb totals $0.77

3lb Bag of white onions = $1.79

2 Gala apples = $0.88

Bunch of 5 bananas = 2.17 lb @ $0.59/lb totals $1.28

18 pk of Large Eggs = $1.99

Tax = $0.36

Buford Highway Farmers Market Total: $4.84

Broccoli bunch = $1.99

NY Steak = $2.71

Tax = $0.14

Kroger Total: $7.00

Salad bags = $1.98

Green peppers = 3 @ $0.59 totals $1.77

Silk Coconut Milk = $2.94

Tax = $0.31

Grand Total: $24.11

Gratitude 7

1. Thankful that I can sleep in and get some good sleep.
2. Thankful for brunch at Ria's Bluebird with Andrew.
3. Thankful that I am blessed with good health.
4. Thankful that despite having a bad face for sunglasses, I have the ability to see.
5. Thank God for ikea.
6. Thankful that our family was the only neighbors invited to the Indian Doctor's birthday party.
7. Thankful for the opportunity to fake gamble with my mom, and also see my dad in social action.
8. Thankful that I now know a personal injury attorney in case I ever need one. 
9. Thankful for a great restful day.
10. Thankful for Hulu!

Gratitude 6

For Friday

1. TGIF!
2. Thankful for an awesome/fun dream this morning about dating Josh Duhamel and he was trying to impress me by how manly he is :)
3. Thankful that my first client training went well.
4. Thankful for the opportunity to sit in on strategic planning meetings to see how the higher ups think and approach client relationships.
5. Thankful that I'm of good health and don't have cancer.
6. Thankful for the reusable Leukemia & Lymphoma Society bag I won so that I can carry my lunch stuff back home.
7. Thankful for living at home.
8. Thankful for the opportunity to be in Atlanta to watch my brother grow up (and to teach him how to drive!)
9. Thankful that when Jonathan Hsieh saw that the girl counselors weren't present and joked, "The girl counselors must not love you," that Victoria yelled, "But Joy loves us!" :) Made my night.
10. Thankful for slowly rebuilding my relationship with my dad.

Gratitude 5

1. Thankful that I cut the onions last night so that I can make an omelette this morning. 
2. Thankful that I have a great boss that I've been learning so much from. 
3. Thankful that I feel more awake on the new diet.
4. Thankful that God took away unnecessary feelings. 
5. Thankful that even though traffic was a beast, I had Jonathan Hsieh's hilarious pick up lines to entertain myself with.
6. Thankful that my brother is involved with a competitive robotics team  at Westminster.
7. Thankful for the workouts in Fitness magazine subscription redeemed from My Coke Rewards points.
8. Thankful for loofahs because they make using body wash so much more efficient. 
9. Thankful for Facebook because it helps me connect with people I haven't seen in a long time.
10. Thankful for my hard contacts still being in once piece and giving me the ability to have 20/20 vision during the day.