Kitchen Confessions

I have a little confession to make.  This may, or may not come as news to you, but here it is: I can't cook.  It's not that I don't have a desire to, or that I'm just being modest.  When I say that I can't cook, it is because I genuinely have no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen..I'm completely dazed and confused in the culinary art.  If you need some tasty baking done - I'm your girl, but ask me to create a simple meal for dinner and I'm lost if it doesn't involve a box of K.D, a sandwich, or anything deemed a "breakfast food".  Take today for example, I spent nearly my entire morning brainstorming what we could eat for lunch, only to be met with the challenge of doing the same thing for dinner. 

By now you're probably wondering how the heck our family has survived this long if I can't cook.  Answer: I am very very blessed to be married to a man who not only can cook, but who loves to cook (we make a good pair really because I love to eat). 

There he is, the in-house chef.
What a stud-muffin.

Normally, my husband Adam does all of the cooking and yes, grocery shopping for our meals, but tonight he was busy and I was in charge.  Now before you start hurling tomatoes at me I'd like to point out that my job is normally the set up/clean up.  Cooking has always been a point of contention for me, and (another confession here), has caused me on more than one occasion to feel like I'm a big flop when it comes to being a stay-at-home mom.  However, I'm trying to keep those thoughts at bay as they do nothing to build me up.

We all have our weak areas and it's important to acknowledge them, but in doing so, not allow them to diminish us.  This is where I constantly have to remind myself that my identity is not based on my strengths, weaknesses, abilities, possessions, or status.  When we look at those things we usually will either have an inflated or deflated view of ourselves, but when we realize that our worth and value have nothing to do with us and everything to do with God and His Nature inside of us everything comes into the correct perspective, and here's the best part...God is then able to turn those weaknesses into strengths because it's no longer our ability working, but His ability working through us.  Isn't that great?!

So, I may not be a master chef yet, and with this new challenge of healthy-eating before me I'm definitely swimming in uncharted territory, but I'm encouraged to know that I don't have to let my weakness diminish me and, who knows, perhaps with God's help, I could turn out to be the next Julia Child, or...I'd even settle for being able to make a meal or two without panicking. ;) 

Oh, and by the way...after all of my pacing back and forth between the cupboard and refrigerator, when I finally stopped to ask God what I should make for dinner...His reply was... "Chicken and rice with some salsa".  Guess I did learn a thing or two from my missions trip this summer (we ate that meal so often a song was created about it.  Still not eating pb&j though). ;)

Chicken & Rice with some salsa

They loved it!

Take care friends!  Until next time...

Crystal