Clean It Up!

Good Morning! I’m so excited! I have two new recipes to tell you about today. TWO! I had so much fun with the first, that I just couldn’t wait to go on to the second. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m working my way through a collection of recipes from KraftFoods.com.

The first recipe involved salmon and cucumbers. I got to use my still-fairly-new-because-I-think-I’ve-used-it -all-of-four-times-this-year food processor. My son and daughter-in-law got it for me last Christmas, so I could make my cabbage/pasta recipe. But my old food processor was such a pain to clean that the thought of using a food processor discouraged me from food processing almost anything. Thankfully, I’m finally catching on that this new food processor is easy to clean! No more letting the thought of a big mess intimidate me!

Click here for the 20-Minute Skillet Salmon recipe. It was yummy good!

The second recipe didn’t require use of a food processor, but it did involve many dishes and most every inch of counter cooking space—not to mention the need of both the stove and the oven! Wow! For about an hour, I actually felt like a real chef! I modified this recipe significantly, so I’m going to give you my version of this one. (You can find the original here.)

Velveeta Potato Bites

1 2-lb. bag frozen diced potatoes
2 Tbsp chopped chives
1 beaten egg
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
4 oz. Velveeta, cut into 24 cubes
1 pouch seasoned coating mix for chicken
Ketchup

Boil potatoes in water in large saucepan until tender. Drain. Cool. (I was in a hurry and didn’t do this. I don’t recommend that choice. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Let the potatoes cool!)

Mash potatoes, slightly. Add chives, egg, salt, and pepper. Blend well.

Heat oven to 400. Flatten about 2 Tbsp of potato mixture in the palm of your hand. Place one cheese cube in the center. Mold potato mixture around the cheese into a ball. (Be sure to completely enclose the cheese cube, or it will seep out while baking.)

Pour seasoned coating mix into a small bowl. Roll potato balls in mix to coat. Place them on a baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes to heat through.

Serve with ketchup like French fries.

I think I’ve learned something from these two recipes and the last. The reason I’m not a big fan of this sport is because of the mess it involves. I look at the recipe and, instead of seeing a delicious meal to serve, I see a messy kitchen to clean up. But, in motivating myself to give these recipes a try anyway, I’m starting to see the results—and they’re worth it! (And the messes take much less time to clean up than they look like they will when I first finish making them.)

There was a popular vacuum cleaner commercial a few years back. I’m not sure for which vacuum cleaner, but the saying has stuck with me: Life’s messy. Clean it up!

We can’t go through life avoiding its messes. If we did, we wouldn’t have marriages or kids or pets or homes or gardens or friends or adventures or much of anything that’s worth anything to us. All life has to offer us must be created, explored, maintained, celebrated, and sometimes rearranged.

So let’s not let the messes intimidate us. Instead, let’s choose to see what can be—the finished product that results. Messes can be cleaned up, and they are usually worth the effort.

Father, give us a vision of what can be—in our families, among our friends, and in every aspect of life. Set our minds on the goals You will help us achieve. Don’t let the prospect of a mess hold us back from any worthwhile endeavor. Help us to honor You in all we do. Thank You, Lord! Amen.