Recipe roundup

1 Corinthians 8: 8
" But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. "


This verse is Paul's advice to the people of Corinth about eating food (or not eating food) that has been sacrificed to idols. I don't generally have a concern with this, but apparently this was a big deal in the day. I think you have to go down a few more verses and see what else Paul has to say. In verse 13 he says this, "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fail. "  Now here is something I can understand. I have some friends and family that have allergies, or food lifestyles, and even addictions to food and drinks. So this is how I would apply this in my life. If having a peanut butter sandwich would cause my daughter to become ill, I won't eat it. If I have my children and their friends for a meal who are vegetarian or vegan, I will provide meatless choices for them. And if drinking alcohol in front of, or having it in my home, would cause someone to struggle with addiction, I won't. My job, according to Paul, is to not lead someone else into sin; to protect their bodies and their hearts and minds. That, I can do!

I shared my fabulous breakfast cobbler a couple of days ago- see Bountiful- (it was actually a breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack time cobbler for me!), but I forgot to share the recipe I used. Silly me. And then, over the last couple of days, I've had some generous friends share the bounty of their gardens. I now have cucumbers and zucchini. Last night for dinner, I made stuffed zucchini and a cucumber salad. So delicious! Here are the recipes that I used and some of the changes that I made to them.

Here's my cobbler fresh out of the oven.

  I used this recipe for the Very Best Blueberry Cobbler from allrecipes.com. Obviously I substituted fresh blackberries for blueberries. I also used a 9" pie dish instead of  a square pan. Oh my goodness, this was so good, I can't wait to make it again!

and, here's my cobbler fresh on my plate!!

Last night for dinner, I made stuffed zucchini. I found this recipe - Stuffed Zucchini Recipe  on allrecipes.com, too! The substitutions and changes I made for this one were these.

-I precooked my sausage (I used sweet Italian sausage).
-Instead of  1 cup of breadcrumbs, I substituted rice (about 1-1/2 cups of cooked rice).
- After the sausage was cooked, I combined the center part (scooped out part) of the zucchini, the garlic, rice, and parm. cheese in the pan with the sausage.
-I used one very large zucchini and cut it into 4 sections (2 halved sections).

Here's dinner! I served it with some Pepperidge Farm- garlic bread, so delicious!!

And here's my Cucumber Salad  recipe...so simple.

Ingredients:
2 large cucumbers
2 plum tomatoes
1 small vidalia onion.
1 bottle of your favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Sea Salt & pepper- to taste

Directions:
 Wash your veggies! Peal cucumber leaving alternating strips of skin. Cut cucumbers into about 1" slices and quarter each slice.Slice tomatoes into lengthwise quarters and then about 3/4" wedges. Sliver about 1/2 of onion (my kids don't like a lot of onion, you certainly can add more). Toss together in a bowl and then coat with your salad dressing. Season with a little salt and pepper. Toss it again and serve!

I am so thankful today for fresh fruits and vegetables. Growing food is certainly a miracle to me! And being able to prepare it and share it with my family makes it even better. Thank you, Lord, for summer gardens and friends that generously share their bounty. Amen!

Have a blessed weekend!