As you can see, once you can speak in our house, you must learn to sing God Bless America! I am sorry but I am somewhat smitten with these cuties!
So what to serve what dish do I bring to pass on the 4th, I hold myself to a pretty high standards at these occasions. I like to be creative because I never want to feel like, "Man, she always makes that, it's so boring", it's kind of my attempt at sharing a talent. And we have a diverse group from kids, to teens, to adults, I figure if you can get even one from each category to like a dish then you have hit a homerun. We have a number in our group who are "special needs" eaters with gluten and MSG and what not so I tend to aim for "pure" ingredients too. I think this dish was a winner, I just ate a big old bowl of leftovers and was just as happy with it today as yesterday. A few things you should know; Quinoa is a gluten free grain, it is an excellent source of protein and is super yummy and fun to say. Pronounced keen-wah my girls chant for it and consider rice a lower class citizen when compared with it's superior cousin quinoa. Jicama, pronounced hick-a-mah is often called a "mexican potato" and is part of the tuber family. It tastes like a cross between an apple and a potato. It is very dense, it was harder to chop then a regular potato almost like a sweet potato however it tastes very juicy and in the zestiness of this salad took on a sweeter flavor. This salad was a fun creation, and it was patriotic too....
Amanda's Stars and Stripes Quinoa Salad
Quinoa
2 cups Quinoa
3 cups water
Bring to boil together, reduce heat and simmer with cover on until liquid absorbed. Fluff with fork and transfer to bowl. Let cool (I cooled in fridge while we were at the parade.)
Red/White/Blue (and a dash of green) topping
1 pint blueberries
1 qt strawberries chopped and hulled
1/2 medium jicama (med was larger than a grapefruit!) - peeled and diced
2 handfuls basil leaves chopped (divided - half basil in topping, half in dressing)
3 Tbsp sugar
Dressing
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 limes
Zest of 2 lemons
Zest of 2 limes
6 Tbsp olive oil
dash of salt and pepper
Make the quinoa, set aside to cool. Prepare (chop) up the topping, set aside to let the sugar break down the fruit a little. Made the dressing, refridgerate. Prior to serving toss or layer. I tossed. As you can see that gives you a little more of a red/pink/white/beige/blue salad. If I were making it again or even just for a pic I would have put the quinoa down and layered the salad on top and drizzled dressing over it so that it looked more true red/white/blue. Yum. Also good to know I made a huge batch for a party of 20 people. I would say if you are making it just for your fam or even for a smaller gathering at least cut it in half. I also think if you wanted to make a little more of a meal out of it some grilled chicken would taste yummy in there. Mmmmmm......I may have to make some more. Enjoy.
On a different note....(why do I always have to go there?) I was thinking about "Independence" in light of our national holiday. I tend to usually think of it on a national level, reflect on the current political situation or think of the heros who have fallen for America or the founding fathers who worked hard to send us down the right course. This year I spent a little time praying and reflecting on it in a different mindset. We had two family dramas this week, one with each small one. Last weekend while at a big family gathering at a small lake, my three year old wandered from the water undetected and made it about 200 yds up the pavilion to her Grandma however before her whereabouts were discovered the two minutes of paralyzing fear that gripped my heart and shaved a few years off my life, set a "rescue and recovery" plan in motion with lifeguards getting people out and scanning the water, whistles blowing and megaphones calling her name. Not a good feeling near a body of water, I tell you. If you ever happen to lose one of your children for a brief moment, DO NOT do it by a body of water. My three year old wanted to go see Grandma. She knew the way. She didn't need anyone to "help" her and she couldn't fathom why she would have to ask to go see Grandma so she exercised her "independence" and found her way. Second scenario wound down our holiday in a rather dramatic fashion. After leaving the fireworks as we rolled into my parents driveway to drop them off my 6 year old began to cry hysterically that her eye hurt. She had gotten one of those glowing bracelets and many times during the night I kept telling her, "do not chew on that, you can't put that in your mouth." Sure enough she had bit one clean through and the "glow juice" had squirted in her eye. My Mom (who is excellent in a crisis and I told her this and she says I gave her early training in handling these types of situations....ooops!) began right to work as skilled and collected as an eye surgeon flushing her eye with fluid and rinsing all the while she screamed and cried. It took about 10 min of nearly waterboarding her eyes and a call to poison control to get her to stop crying. My daughter was very willfully exercising her independence to verify the truth to my words "you should not bite that bracelet." I think (I hope) this lesson hit home. She doesn't always trust my wisdom and this was what my husband and I call a "significant learning opportunity" (thank you Love and Logic) and I have had to swallow my smug "I told you so" Mom feelings and reflect on how her exercising her "independence" led to pain and suffering. So did her sisters independent march (although all the pain and suffering was mine and my husbands!). Somewhere this hits home to me.
Psalm 119:32 says "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."
Isn't that interesting that to be free and independent in heart we have to follow His commands. Oh how I can learn from those stubborn independent little stinkers of mine (I mean where did they get this nature from anyways!) I do the same things in my own heart and life that both of those girls did. "I hear what your saying God this may not be the best thing for me but I think it will work out ok, I really want to see what happens when I go this way, I know exactly where I am going, don't worry about me...I got this!" Oh precious child feel the sting in your eyes, in your heart. You did not heed my instructions. Your way leads to death and destruction. My way, the only way, leads to life everlasting. And I know that when we ignore his leading and squirt our metaphorical "glow juice" in our eye and our tears flow he must be up there in heaven, hands on his hips, thinking "Oh no you didn't!" But he doesn't say that. He patiently and as lovingly as my Mom did, restores us with his living water, brings healing, and hope for a new tomorrow. And I am not even going to begin to think about the fact that that verse uses the word run. Oh. Snap. Good one God. Look at you putting jokes in the bible. Tomorrow, I think I'll strap on my shoes and go exercise my independence with a run.
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