where the secret ingredient is love
Week of February 11
Monday: Southwest Chicken Burrito Bake
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Black Bean Soup with Chorizo
Thursday: Valentine’s Day extravaganza by Ben 🙂 his turn this year!
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: Beef Stew
Sunday: out to eat at The Melting Pot!!! yum 🙂
Today Ben has a book review for you! This is a title received from the blogging review program offered by Bethany House Publishers.
Here is a description of the book from the publisher:
What religions are represented in your neighborhood, your workplace, and your children’s school? Things seem to be changing every day, and it can be hard to keep up. You may know a little about some of these religions. Others are new to you. You’d like to learn about them and how they differ from your beliefs, but who has time to do all the research?
In Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day, cross-cultural expert and professor Garry Morgan explains the key beliefs, histories, and practices of more than twenty religions, including the familiar–Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism–and some of the lesser known–Baha’i, Sikhism, and New Age religions. Broken into forty short readings, each chapter is engaging and easy to understand. In just minutes a day you’ll soon have a better understanding of the world’s beliefs.
And here is Ben!
~ ~ ~
When Sarah initially asked me to select a book from a list, I naively assumed that she wanted me to pick one for her. Or possibly one for both of us to read together. As it turned out, I was selecting a book for myself to read and review. But when all was said and done, I’m glad I did read this book.
Having studied world religions as a specialization in college, I had some knowledge of a number of religions. Nevertheless, I found that Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day provides a plethora of information on numerous religions and worldviews in an easily digestible form. The book is divided into small chapters intended to be readable in about 15 minutes (most took me less than 10, though). Most chapters cover one religion, although the major world religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.) each receive several chapters.
Author Garry Morgan states in his introduction that he is attempting to write about each religion with respect and without letting any personal bias interfere. I feel he succeeds tremendously in this respect. I found this to be very refreshing, as many Christian books about other religions devote themselves to explaining how those religions “get it wrong.” While I certainly don’t advocate the view that all religions and worldviews are equally valid and I do believe in objective truth, if all a Christian ever hears about another religion is oversimplified generalizations in a negative context, it becomes difficult to truly respect, care for, and relate to individuals who may practice that religion.
If I have any complaint about the book, it’s that I would have liked to see it organized a little bit better. While Morgan explains why some religions are grouped together, there didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to the order of the religions discussed. It would also have been nice to see a list of books for further reading. But those are minor gripes. I highly recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in getting an overview on many (or just a few) of the world’s religions.
What are you reading lately?
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. Thanks to Bethany House for the chance to read this great book!
So, if you’ve never checked out Megan’s blog, What Megan’s Making, you’re missing out. I’m not sure how I first found it but I’m glad I did. Everything I’ve made from her blog has been incredibly delicious… and my most recent love are these Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies! They are seriously in hot contention for the best thing I ever ate. An indicator? I rarely make the same recipe twice, but this recipe was first posted in March 2012 and I have made them at least two, if not three times since then. For me, that equals a spot on the bus to Crazytown, USA. No joke.
I know it’s a little redundant but the best way to describe these brownies is to say that they’re uber peanut buttery, chocolatey, and chewy. I don’t use the word “uber” lightly, so when I say all those things, imagine I’m screaming it. And if you know me in real life, you know that me screaming is pretty rare. Sooooo… emphasis should be noted. 🙂
Even though these brownies are rich, I’d be lying if I said you just had to eat a small piece to be satisfied. You won’t. Don’t worry, if you’re anything like me, you won’t have any self control around these insanely addicting brownies. They’re nothing fancy–just a buttery and soft brownie with nutty, caramely peanut butter flavor. And the best parts are the bites with the melted bits o’ fudgy chocolate. Oh wait–that’s each bite. Whoops! They are definitely not for sharing… unless you want to make a second batch tomorrow. Enjoy! 🙂
from What Megan’s Making
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking pan with cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugars and vanilla. Then mix until creamy, scraping the sides as needed. Next, add egg. Beat on low until light and fluffy.
Slowly add flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth out with spatula.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.
This month for the Secret Recipe Club I was assigned Wendy’s wonderful blog, The Weekend Gourmet. As I’ve said before, numerous times, I absolutely love being part of the SRC. It’s a fun way to try new blogs and recipes and be part of a fun community. If you’ve missed my past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.
Anyway, when I first visited Wendy’s blog I was overwhelmed by the number of fabulous recipes there. Wendy is from Texas, and is as warm and welcoming as can be. I mean, how could she not be… she’s from Texas after all. Plus, she has a cat. Nice people always have cats. 🙂 I could hardly decide what to make. Peppermint White Hot Chocolate? Cranberry-Nut Caramel Popcorn? Citrus-Walnut Brown Rice Pilaf? Mmm, I wanted to make them all. In one day. What a delightful day that would have been! But I asked Ben, my chief culinary consultant what sounded good to him, and then we got to talkin’ about appetizers. Our church small group takes turns bringing snacks each week, and if left to my own devices, I would always bake something. But Ben wanted to do something different, so we settled on Jalapeno Popper Dip. But not just any Jalapeno Popper Dip… Baked Jalapeno Popper-Ranch Dip.
This dip is, in a word, awesome. Spicy and creamy and cheesy. Yum. In another word, addicting. It’s great hot right out of the oven [but beware… Wendy calls it hot lava right out of the oven, and I agree]… and it’s equally as good cold out of the refrigerator [ask me how I know… it’s a great 11 pm snack to finish off peppermint tea… ha!]. And in a last word, forgiving. The recipe I’ll give you will be Wendy’s, through and through… even though my version was laden with “mistakes.”
There were so many! I misread the recipe and put all the ranch seasoning in the cheesy mixture, instead of splitting it between the cheese and the topping. I forgot to buy the green onions so those were omitted. I accidentally used up the plain green yogurt in another recipe, so had to substitute some sour cream and mayo instead. I also rubbed jalapeno juice into some tiny cuts on my hand, which was fun. But you know what? Even with all that craziness, this dip was just SO good. It was just demolished by everyone who tried it, even an adventurous two year old. 🙂 You should totally make it for your next appetizer need… I wish I could have posted it before the Super Bowl, but alas… Ben loved it and says you can eat it anytime!
Enjoy, and be sure to check out Wendy’s blog for more recipe inspiration. Thanks for a great recipe, Wendy!!
Baked Jalapeno Popper-Ranch Dip [from The Weekend Gourmet]
click to print
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a shallow casserole dish [I used a 10 inch dish].
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, yogurt, and half of the ranch seasoning. Mix on low until everything is combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the jalapenos, green onions, and cheese. Mix again, then spoon into prepared dish.
In a second bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, and the rest of the ranch seasoning. Spread on top of the cheese mixture, then spray or drizzle on olive oil.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and dip is bubbly. Turn dish around halfway for even browning.
Cool for 5 minutes before serving with tortilla chips.
Time: 40 minutes.
Yield: serves 10-12.
Be sure to check out other great SRC recipes here, and have a great day!
Also linked with: Weekend Potluck.
Week of February 4
Monday: dinner with friends… I’m bringing salad & dessert
Tuesday: Kale Frittata
Wednesday: Pulled Pork with Ranch Beans
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Kung Pao Chicken Burgers
Saturday: pancakes
Sunday: 1970s Style Tacos with crockpot refried beans
The Pajama Chef 