Reflection - and thanks!

First of all, let me say thanks to those of you who commented on my last post. I appreciate the support and kind words!

So this being Ash Wednesday, I've been thinking about sacrifice and self reflection for Lent. I know I said I'm not much of Lent observer in my last post, but I guess I meant the part about being required to give something up. I'm not Catholic and the whole "giving up for Lent" thing wasn't a big part of my observation of the season, but Lent was always kind of important for me in other ways. I was a member of a very active church community and every Wednesday of Lent for my entire childhood, we went to mid-week Lenten services - services that were preceded by a community Lenten supper. Groups of church members would sign up each week to cook a meal for the entire congregation who showed up for the mid-week services. I always kind of liked that tradition. For those six weeks we connected with our community in a very different way. Mid-week services were laid back - people came in the work clothes or school clothes or soccer uniforms from practice. We slowed down our crazy week, shared a meal, and the service was shorter with a sermon that tended to focus on very tangible issues and often lead to interesting conversations on the way home.

Anyway, I was thinking about that tradition today, and my decision to "give up" processed foods and takeout for the next six weeks. I guess Lent and food have always been tied for me, and I could do a lot worse than taking time I might spend picking up take out reflecting for a few moments as I prepare and share a meal with my husband. So tonight, when after a very, very long difficult day at work, when all I really wanted was something fried and takeout, I took stock of my bigger goals and prepared a great meal. One of the lessons I remember from those mid-week Lenten services was what my pastor said about how we NEED the Easter journey in order to really appreciate Christmas. I'm not all that theological these days, but the idea of going through the suffering part, the journey part, to earn the joy part is something that makes sense to me.

Anyway, I'm babbling about childhood and theology and I'm sure some therapist could have a field day with me. :) So - to the meal...

It's not a recipe, but I did try something new tonight. It's not a new thing, I know tons of people do this, but for the first time I ground my own chicken breast. I just threw a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts in the food processor, browned them with a little olive oil and some southwestern seasoning, and used it for taco salad. And it was GOOD - tastier than ground beef or ground turkey I thought. I sauteed some black beans with tomatoes and jalapenos and cumin as well, threw those and the taco meat onto some romaine and topped it with some freshly made salsa and guac and some fat free plain greek yogurt (my most favorite food accessory ever and I think it tastes better than sour cream). So, nothing earth shattering, but I was shocked at how tasty the chicken was. I was expecting it to be all dry but it was awesome.

And it was worth the "sacrifice" and focus on the larger picture to make it happen.