Semi Homemade

"savory food...

which she had prepared"

Genesis 27:17

Well I need to preface this by saying that I really need to go to the grocery store.  I meant to go on Friday, because I thought I didn't have any veggies for dinner.  But then we decided Friday would be a good night to go out to dinner to celebrate my parents' birthdays. 

And then I didn't go on Saturday because it was a busy, busy day, and I really didn't want to, and then I found some zucchini in the fruit drawer, so we were good for Saturday dinner.

And then it was Sunday, and we still didn't have any veggies for dinner.  Well, I had carrots, and corn, and potatoes.  But the Apple of my Eye is on a two-week no-carb, no fruit diet that also excludes carrots and corn and potatoes. 

But I just hated the idea of running to the store.  I've been working on a project that has to be done in a couple of days, and I've been trying to make good use of my time the past few days.  So I really wanted to try to figure out a way to manage dinner with what we had in the house. 

And I did.  With a few tomatoes, some onion, lime and cilantro, I made some pico de gallo. 

{Or salsa.  I'm not sure what the difference is.  

And then there's picante sauce.  

You'd think I'd have a better grasp of all this 

after living in Southern California for so long, 

but I don't.}

And we had some tilapia in the freezer.  Some refried beans and some chopped lettuce rounded out the plate. 

It ended up being a sort of ersatz fish taco, but without the tortilla.  Or the sauce that's generally on a fish taco.  And lettuce instead of cabbage.  But, ya know, ya gotta work with me here....

Some black olives on top, and a little shredded cheese.  Yum.  And the refried beans on the side.

The thing is, I needed the lettuce and tomato to be our veggies.  But I didn't think it would be all that appetizing do just do a salad on the side of the fish, so I combined things and used some seasonings and made it all work together. 

I love it when that happens.  I love it when I find a way to make what I have suffice.  But I only notice it when it happens to be about dinner.  Really, I think it happens every day, for all of us, in dozens of different ways. 

A situation calls for kindness, but we're tired.  So we summon the patience we have, and God multiplies it and makes it genuine. 

Or we struggle to forgive someone when we're still hurting from what they did to us.  And we find that our desire is enough for Him to work with, and we feel a peace in our heart where we thought that was impossible.

He takes what we have, and He makes something out of it.  Something colorful and healthy and delicious.  Oh, no, wait ~ that was dinner.  What He makes is something peaceful and loving and gentle out of nothing more than our desire, and our efforts to be in obedience to Him.

And for the Creator who created everything out of nothing ~ that's a piece o' cake.

~ "be glad and rejoice forever in what I create" ~

Isaiah 65:18

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