I’m excited about how much this new eat.clean.quick. blog series is inspiring me to think creatively about dinner every night!
If I’m being completely honest, I’m also a bit overwhelmed.
Even though I’ve only just begun and still have lots of good ideas and posts already lined up, I’m worried about the proverbial well running dry.
What if I run out of ideas?
What if I make meals that some people don’t consider to be “clean enough”?
How am I possibly going to make the same old chicken and veggies seem new and exciting week after week?
What if I’m the only person who even thinks this series is a good idea?
What if people visit my blog after they see the series graphic on Pinterest boasting “TONS” of recipes and they get here only to find the six recipes I have so far?
What if? What if? What if?
What if it’s ok that I don’t have it all figured out yet!
I think I need to take a deep breath and cut myself some slack…
I love to cook and I love to eat and I’m really excited about how good I feel when I eat “cleaner” foods and I want to share that with other people in the hopes that it will make clean eating seem more accessible to all of the busy people out there.
I should probably just take one day at a time.
I really need to remember that, “Life is more than food and the body more than clothing.” (Luke 12:23)
While there is nothing wrong with being excited about this endeavor, there is something wrong with becoming consumed with it. All of our best intentions can easily become twisted into obsessions that distract us from our Heavenly Father and the peace He offers us.
I’ve been blessed to have a couple of amazing women in my life that have been willing to pour their time, love and prayers into me in a mentoring role. They offer me such perspective and godly counsel when I get all worked up about things that really don’t matter in the scheme of eternity.
One of them (hi Donna!) is a living, breathing testament to the power of God’s word being alive and active. This woman knows her Bible and has a wonderful way of offering up scripture verses like sweet antidotes to the poison that seeps into my thinking.
She has encouraged me to pray for a hunger for God’s word and I think she’s praying for me to get hungry too because it’s starting to happen!
Today when I started feeling excited and then overwhelmed and then anxious and then defeated, I made a decision to stop that cycle of thinking and pray that God would give me some verses to meditate on.
This is what came to mind…
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
Luke 12:23-26
and then it continues a couple verses down…
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:29-31
BOOM.
That’s some living bread that I needed to hear today.
And now that the sermon is out of the way, I’ll share the recipe!
As an aside, I feel compelled to walk through some of my crazy thought processes here on the blog in case anyone else out there stresses out about this stuff like I do. I read lots of food and faith blogs and neither type seem to address this issue directly which has inspired me to be open and honest about my struggles with the hope that it might help even one person.
The tastes of India come together fast in this eat.clean.quick dinner!
Tandoori paste brings the whole dish together and packs a punch of flavor that’s the perfect blend of tangy and warm. It’s got a short list of understandable ingredients too which is something I always look for in jarred sauces.
I picked up a jar of Patak’s brand a while ago (at Meijer I think!) and I’m sure other brands are quite similar. Your local grocery may carry a tandoori paste in the ethic food section, but if not you can purchase it online at the English Tea Store. I only used about 1/3 of the full jar for this dinner that serves 4, so a little bit goes a long way! (I divided the remaining sauce into 2 ziplock bags and popped them into the freezer for later use).
If you are adverse to Indian flavors you could always marinade your chicken in a good barbeque sauce and serve it with the same sides :)
- ⅓ small jar of Tandoori paste (see note above recipe)
- 1 very large (or two regular sized) breast of boneless, skinless chicken
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 tub of grape tomatoes
- 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- few dashes of garlic powder
- few dashes of ground cumin
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 cup of quinoa
- Set oven temp to broil and make sure top rack is on the highest level.
- Prepare quinoa according to package directions, adding the 3 cloves of crushed garlic to the water when you set it to boil.
- While the quinoa is getting started, slice the chicken breast(s) in half lengthwise, resulting in 2 thin pieces. If you use 1 very large breast like I did, cut each half in half again resulting in a total of 4 pieces.
- Lay chicken pieces onto a broiler safe pan or large piece of tinfoil with the edges crimped. Spoon some tandoori paste over the top of the chicken and spread it around to coat thoroughly. Flip each piece over and spread the rest of the sauce on the other side.
- Chop up the zucchini into pieces similar in size to the grape tomatoes.
- Add the chopped zucchini and whole grape tomatoes to a small mixing bowl and toss with olive oil, garlic powder and cumin.
- Skewer the veggies and set them onto a broiler safe pan or piece of tin foil with the edges crimped.
- Put the chicken and veggies both into the oven on the top rack and broil for 10 minutes, flipping everything over after 5 minutes.
- When the quinoa is finished cooking, fluff with a fork and serve along side your seasoned chicken and veggie skewers!
