I don’t know about you, but Friday evenings at our house are usually slim pickin’s for finding anything in the cupboard, fridge or pantry that could make for a decent meal. Since I do most of my grocery shopping on Saturday morning, Friday evening is usually a good excuse for dinner out with hubby!

As usual, this past Friday, we’d planned a visit to one of our favorite restaurants, but when I arrived home from work, I learned my husband had gotten wrapped up in a home project. By the time he finished, it would be too late to eat out. So what to do for dinner?

I thought about running out and getting some fast food, but the thought was unappealing. I looked in the freezer, but found nothing that could be prepared in short order. The fridge revealed one leftover chicken breast and some mushrooms from Wednesday evening’s meal (https://cookinwithcheri.com/molto-delizioso/) and a single avocado in the crisper. Hmmm. The beginnings of a great salad . . . but no lettuce.

And then I remembered! At the close of last year’s summer, my husband had tossed the remains of our lettuce out of our raised garden bed and into the surrounding mulch. Much to our surprise this spring, large tufts of lettuce were growing out of the mulch. So with garden scissors in hand, I went out to snip away and, as I passed our strawberry plants, also discovered some large ripe strawberries ready for picking! A delicious dinner was soon to be served!

Summer Salad

Ingredients:
Butter (Boston Bibb) lettuce
boneless chicken breast
1 clove of crushed garlic
¼ tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon white cooking wine
6 oz. sliced mushrooms
sliced avocado
sliced strawberries

Flour, salt and pepper the chicken breast and brown in olive oil. Add a clove of crushed garlic, ¼ tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon white cooking wine, and 6 oz. of sliced mushrooms and sauté for 15-20 minutes.

Tear the lettuce into edible pieces. Slice the chicken breast, avocado, and strawberries and display each in a pretty circle atop the lettuce. Scatter the mushrooms across the salad and serve with an Italian vinaigrette. Very delicious and most satisfying!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
As a Christian, do you ever feel like your “pantry is bare”?  That you don’t have what it takes to make a difference in this world for Christ? You don’t have enough knowledge about scripture, or you don’t have the right words to say, or you’re a young Christian and you don’t have a lot of experience. You can’t see beyond your human lack, so you just don’t bother, and your neighbors, friends or family members “starve to death” because no one will introduce them to the Bread of Life!

You may think you don’t have the ingredients on-hand to make a difference, but if you take a look in the “garden” of God’s Word, “all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching and training, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (Timothy 3:16-17)  “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will,” (Hebrews 13:20-21 ) “All things are yours … and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God”. (1 Corinthians 3:20-23)  “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work;” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

God has equipped us with every single thing we need to do what He has called us to do. He goes before us into every situation and has prepared the way for us. All we have to do is be available, willing, and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Our pantry is full and our garden is overflowing! So let’s get busy and “feed” the “hungry”. They’ll find it to be spiritually fulfilling and eternally satisfying!

–Cheri Henderson

Spring is upon us and soon we’ll be planning our outdoor pool parties, games of croquet, badminton, or corn hole, and some great summer picnics! And there’s no better contribution to a picnic than a great bowl of potato salad!

As you begin to prepare your potato salad, keep in mind the most essential part of the salad is the tater you choose! Did you know the best varieties for potato salad are Yellow Finns, Yukon Golds, and red potatoes? Their high moisture content gives the salad a more pleasant texture when cold, and they hold up better to chopping and tossing with the dressing than drier, more mealy potatoes, like Russets.

So let’s make a bowl!

Tater Salad
Serves 10-12

Ingredients:
5 pounds red potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup Miracle Whip
1/3 cup milk
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 bunch radishes, cleaned and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 kosher dill pickles, chopped
½ red onion, chopped fine
6 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
Paprika

Peel (if desired) and cut the potatoes in half. Boil until tender about 20 minutes. (They’re tender when you can easily stick a fork into the potato.) Drain.

While the potatoes are boiling, in a large bowl blend mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, milk and the mustards until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the potatoes into cubes and add to the dressing, folding carefully as you add them. Add green onions and radishes, celery, pickles, and red onion and blend well. Layer the hard-cooked egg slices on top for a pretty presentation. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill well to let the flavors blend and then serve!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Just as the type of tater you choose contributes to the quality of your potato salad, there are also “taters” that impact the quality of your spiritual life.

Are you an “Ampu-Tater”?  Often you’ll come across a tater with a bad spot and rather than throw the whole thing away, what do you do? You cut it out! Mark 9:47 says “And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”. When Jesus said this, I doubt it was his intention for this instruction to be taken literally because eyes, hands and feet cannot, of and by themselves, commit sin. Instead, Jesus is using a descriptive analogy to show us how important it is that we should not tolerate sin as a primary part of our lives. If we have a sinful habit, we should overcome it, even though the process may be as painful as the loss of an eye, because it is far better to forsake a sinful pleasure than to lose our salvation! We need to be “Amputators”!

Are you a “Spec-Tater”?  1 Corinthians 12:12, 15-18 says “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ I t would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” Jesus doesn’t want us to be “Spectaters”, sitting on the sidelines, not entering in, not sharing the gifts he’s given us to minister to and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. Without you, the Body is incomplete. Don’t be a “Spectator”!

Are you a “Reins-Tater”?  Have you ever gathered up a handful of taters to drop them into the cooking pot, and one falls on the floor?  Rather than toss it away, I rinse it with fresh water until it is clean and then toss it in with the others!  Matthew 18:15 says “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.” And James 5:19-20 tells us “My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”  We are called to be “Reinstators”!

Are you a “Hesi-Tater” or a “Facili-Tater”?  I read a story not too long ago about a famous aerial acrobat who had lost his footing and fell from the high wire to the ground below. A reporter, who interviewed him after the accident, suggested that once he returned to the wire, he might be afraid of falling again. The acrobat responded “I did not fall because I was afraid. I fell because I hesitated. Hesitation is the number one killer in our business.” And it is the number one reason why people do not accept Christ. No one plans to perish. Many perish because they think there will be a better time or another opportunity or need. So, they hesitate.

There is another kind of hesitation that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, must also always keep in mind. There are some we know and love who may perish, not because they hesitated, but because we hesitated to witness to them and share God’s love and plan of salvation. As Christ’s messengers we must seize the moment. Rather than being a “Hesitator”, we need to be a “Facilitator”. Jude 1:21-23 tells us “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 says “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Let’s always be “Facilitators”!

—    Cheri Henderson