Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad

Here's another tasty way to get your omegas!  This is a great salad for a warm spring or summer day. The basic structure comes from a grilling paperback booklet put out by Better Homes & Gardens.  I wanted to add more protein to this salad, so I added garbanzo beans, but I really wanted to add black beans but didn't have any. And I also threw in some quinoa to add to the protein content.  

The original recipe calls for different fruits and avocado, but I adjusted it by adding more vegetables. The combination of these fruits and vegetables was very refreshing and, of course, delicious.

Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad - Serves 4

1. Prepare fish:  Rinse 1/2 pound of salmon.  Brush salmon 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Because I was going to cook this in my cast iron skillet I cut it into chunks.

2. Then make a marinade:  Squeeze out 1 T of lime/lemon juice and mix with 1 1-1/2 t of cajun seasoning or Jamaican jerk seasoning.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3.  Cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water.  Put aside.

4. Prepare vegetables, fruit & other ingredients:  I put these in individual bowls.
(1)  Wash enough lettuce for 4 people and put them in serving bowls.
(2)  Dice up 1 avocado.
(3)  Halve 1 cup of strawberries
(4)  Chop up 1 mango
(5)  Slice up 1/2 of a red pepper.
(6)  Slice 1/2 of a purple onion.
(7)  Drain a can of beans.

5.  Grill fish or pan fry: You can either grill the fish 4-6 minutes a side if it's 1/2" thick and then cut  it or you can cook it on med-high heat in a cast iron skillet.  Cook until it flakes easily.   Put aside and let cool slightly before putting on top of salads.

Lena's Mexican Salad Dressing

This delicious salad dressing comes from my daughter-in-law's mother Lena.  She made this dressing for taco salad, and it was a must have kind of recipe.  Don't get overwhelmed by its yellow color because it's a dynamite dressing.  

In a blender put:
(1)  2/3 cup of olive oil
(2)  2 T mayo and 3 T yellow prepared mustard
(3)  1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
(4)  1 medium onion cut in a chunks
(5)  1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1 t celery seeds
(6)  3/4 cup of sugar - This time I tried 1/2 cup of sugar and it worked!
Blend until smooth.

List of Other Salads on this Blog:

Greens/cabbage:
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (A remake from something I ate at a restaurant)
Make it Yourself Thai Peanut Dressing for Mandarin Salad  (My friend Judi's recipe)
KFC Copycat Cole Slaw   (A friend shared this with me)
Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad   (From a Betty Crocker summer cookbook)
Belizean Coleslaw    (From Internet search)

Pasta:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad  (Something I picked up over 20 years ago!)
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls   (From an Internet search)

Vegetable:
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad   (My son-in-law's recipe)

Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad   (Family recipe)
Rose's Refreshing Cucumber Salad   (From a Chinese friend)

Fruit:
Grandma Marilyn's Frozen Fruit Salad  (My mother-in-law's recipe)

Do You Know What is the Mystery of Your Human Life?

    Everyone loves a good mystery with a riveting plot, hidden clues, a protagonist with challenging obstacles, a disgusting antagonist, and a surprise ending.  After reading a mini version of *The Mystery of Human Life with a Thai student last week after a dinner with college students I saw again how the Bible surely contains the best mystery of all. 

    Over the years my husband and I have gone up to our university and handed out Bibles and gospel tracts at the Info Fair.  Whenever a student would let me talk with them, I would recite some of the verses I knew by heart or share some of the background details from the Bible.

  This week I looked up some of the key verses  presented in this tract.  It's important for people to know that this is not our own word but God's.  These verses in the Bible contain the pieces to the puzzle that answers the greatest mystery of all--why did God create us?

And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things,  Ephesians 3:9

The first piece of the puzzle is seeing that God made man in His own image  for a purpose!

Just like any great mystery, the Bible introduces in its opening chapters the protagonist, antagonist, and other key players.  The very first verse introduces God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” The ultimate goal of God’s creation, however, focuses on His creation of man in Genesis 1:26:  “And God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them have dominion….” Last of all you can find in chapter 3 the antagonist, the devil, disguised as a serpent hanging in a tree ready to trick Eve.  Have you ever wondered after reading the first three chapters of Genesis, what’s up with this story?  When I read it growing up, I never could put all the pieces together. 

The second piece of the puzzle is seeing that God’s eternal purpose is to get inside of man.

The Bible shows us that God made man with three parts.  And in Genesis 2:7 you can see them:  “Jehovah God formed man [outward body] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, [Hebrew for neshamah translated  spirit in Proverbs 20:27], and man became a living soul,”  These three parts are also mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:23:  “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly,  and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without  blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

     

  All the three parts of our being were made by God to contact and receive things. Our body contacts the physical world and receives food and water in order to sustain our life.   Our soul, the Greek word for which is psuche, is composed of our faculties of thinking, feeling, and choosing and these enable us to contact  and receive input from the psychological realm. Last of all our human spirit was made by God to contact and receive God. 

The Bible tells us in Romans 9:21 that God made man like a vessel:  “Or does not the potter [God] have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor…” And vessels are containers; just like a glove is made in the image of a hand with the purpose of containing a hand, so God made man in His image so that man could be a vessel to contain His divine life. The clue to seeing that man's spirit was made to contact God's Spirit is hidden in John 4:24:  “God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.”  The capital S  here stands for God’s Spirit, and the lower case s stands for man’s human spirit. 

The third piece of the puzzle involves seeing what happened to man in Genesis 3.

Now we need to rewind and take a good look at the antagonist in the Bible.  At first glimpse we might not fully get  what's behind the talking serpent in Genesis 3  who is telling Eve that if she ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she would become like God. 

What was really happening in that garden scene?  Who is this serpent anyway?  The hidden clues to his origin are brought out in different aspects in both Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-19. In a nutshell it looks like this:  Long before God created Adam and Eve, this serpent was actually called Daystar or Lucifer  (Isaiah 14:12). These verses in Isaiah show that Lucifer wanted to exalt his throne above God’s, and because of his rebellion, God cast him to the earth along with one-third of God’s angels who had followed him in rebellion (Rev. 12:4a).  In the Bible Lucifer is referred to as either Satan, which in Hebrew means enemy or the devil, which in Greek means slanderer or accuser.

The serpent in Genesis 3 is none other than Lucifer, and he like all antagonists was up to no good looking for a prime opportunity to spoil God’s plan. Romans 7:18 helps us understand that Satan’s evil nature was inside the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  And when Eve and then Adam ate of this fruit, the sinful nature of Satan entered into their body.  It is evident from human history that sin has damaged all three parts of man, and Ephesians 2:1 shows us that even our spirit was also deadened.  In Romans 5:12 the apostle Paul tells us that this sin not only affected Adam and Eve but the entire human race:  “Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned--“

 

The fourth piece of the puzzle is understanding why Jesus was incarnated

God knew what Satan was going to do, but God didn’t give up on His eternal purpose.  He knew the only way to bring man back to God was to send His Son to die for all our sins. And the clue to understanding that this was part of the plan is found in Revelation 13:8 which says: “...the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.”   

So the Bible tells us that God’s Son was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:18) and lived on this earth for 33 ½ years, and then He died on the cross as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). This story is known and loved by many people.  

But there's an obscure piece of the puzzle in 1 Corinthians 15:45b that is often overlooked.  This verse says "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." Finally the Lord's life would be able to enter into man's spirit!  In the Gospel of John we see that on the evening of the Lord’s resurrection He appeared to His disciples with this purpose:  “And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

The fifth piece of the puzzle is seeing God’s desire that man be regenerated or born again.

When man opens to receive  Christ as the life-giving Spirit, he gets regenerated as1 Peter 1:3 says:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” The Bible is so wonderful because it shows us how to be regenerated—we just need to repent and believe in the Lord. We can see this clearly in the apostle Paul's word to the Ephesian believers:  “Solemnly testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance unto God and faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:21).

All you need to do is open your heart to the Lord and pray with a sincere heart:

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner

I need You.

Thank You for dying for me.

Lord Jesus, forgive me.

Cleanse me from all my sins.

I believe that You rose from the dead.

I receive You right now as my Savior and life.

Come into me!  Fill me with Your life!

Lord Jesus, I give myself to You for Your purpose.

You can now have the assurance that the Lord Jesus has come into your spirit!  And by receiving the Lord you have solved the mystery of your human life!!  But that's not the end, there's another very important piece of the puzzle left to discover.
 

The sixth piece of the puzzle is seeing that this is just the beginning of experiencing  God’s full salvation

The Bible tells us in Mark 16:16 that it is important for a believer to make a public declaration through baptism.  Our receiving the Lord is now the beginning of a life-long journey. Every day you can open your heart to the Lord and read the Bible and pray.  This allows the Lord’s life to grow within you and spread out from your spirit into all the parts of your soul.  This verse in 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of this process:  “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”  And  if you read the last two chapters of Revelation you'll see that this transformation causes an incredible surprise ending.

 I really like this song because it puts together all the pieces of this puzzle concerning God's purpose in creating man; it's called  This Divine Romance.
 

Your new life in Christ has now begun!

*You can view here the complete version of The Mystery of Human Life published by Living Stream Ministry that this gospel tract was derived from.

Bibles for America  Video presentation in 3 parts on the booklet The Mystery of Human Life.

Bible's For America - The God Shaped Vacuum - Our Third Part and the Meaning of Human Life
 (This video which shows a puzzle was the inspiration for using puzzle pieces in this writing.)

Blog Update 12-9-18:   Here is a story of a student's salvation at a Bible for America's distribution table at a campus- Leading Someone to Christ--A Salvation Story..

Other posts on Reading The Mystery of Human Life:

Sharing the Gospel With the Tract The Mystery of Human Life
How is Man Like A Glove?  - Talking with a student at a University,  February 2012
Reading the Mystery of Human Life with International Students - July 2012

Baked Chili & Chips Casserole

   Here's a spin off the regular bowl of chili!   You can assemble this ahead of time for a quick dinner on a busy night!  Last Saturday was definitely one of those crazy busy days for us.  Both my husband and son in law had spent the entire day putting up dry wall in their new home.  And my daughter and I spent the day with her kids. 

This recipe comes from my daughter-in-law's family cookbook.  I adjusted some of the spices in the sauce, and in many cases  I doubled them.  I also added the can of tomato sauce so it wouldn't be so thick.  Like any Mexican recipe, you can adjust the heat to your liking.  it's definitely going to be a keeper!

 Baked Chili & Chips Casserole

1.  Prepare vegetables:
(1)  Chop 1 onion
(2)  Chop 1 green pepper
(3)  Mince 2 cloves of garlic
(4)  Chop 3 T of cilantro

2.  Prepare  sauce - In a large bowl put:
(1)  14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce, 1 small can of tomato paste, and 1 cup of hot taco sauce or I used salsa.
(2)  Stir in spices:  2 -3 T chili powder, 2 t cumin, 1/4 - 1/2 t cayenne depending on how zippy you like it, 2 t salt, 1 t black pepper, and chopped cilantro.

3.  Cook sauce:
(1)  In a large skillet fry 1 pound of ground beef.
(2)  When it's part way done, add chopped onion and green pepper.
(3)  Stir in the enchilada sauce you've just prepared.  Taste and adjust it for any additional seasonings.
(4)  Add one 14.5 oz can of kidney beans and 1 1/2 cups of thawed corn.  You can also add sliced olives if you like!
(5)  Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes.

4.  Get it ready to bake!
(1)  Put 4-5 cups of broken tortilla chips (The ones at the bottom of the bag work great for this recipe!)
(2)  Pour the enchilada sauce evenly over the chips.
(3)  Top with 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.
(4)  Bake covered at 350f or 25-30 minutes.

5.  Adding toppings for the baked chili & Chips :   The recipe suggests taking the following toppings and layering them in order on top of the baked chili.  I just put the condiments that I had available in serving bowls and let everyone self serve.  Here's the list for those who want to do it in order:
(1)  Spread 2 cups of sour cream over the top
(2)  1 chopped avocado
(3)  1chopped Roma tomato
(4)  1 cup grated cheddar cheese
(5)  1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
(6)  One red or orange chopped bell pepper
(7)  1/2 cup sliced black olives
(8)  1 cup of crushed chips

Other Mexican recipes on this blog:

Mexican Casseroles
Texas Style Gluten Free Stacked Enchiladas  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)
Acapulco Delight - A great Mexican Enchilada (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Michelle's Favorite Vegetarian Enchiladas   (From my daughter)
Kathy's Baked Chili & Chips Casserole  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Gluten Free Mexican Quinoa Casserole  (From an Internet search)
Fiesta Gluten Free Tamale Pie   (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Authentic Chicken Enchiladas Verde  (From a church friend)
Rebecca's Favorite Chicken & Chile Enchiladas  (From a church friend)
Delores's Chicken & Tortilla Casserole (Made Gluten Free)  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)

Tacos, Chimichangas  & Etc.
Rachel Ray's Recipe for the Best Fish Tacos   (From Food Network)
Fantastic Baked Chimichangas  (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Authentic Chicken Flautas  (My hispanic friend Abbie taught me how to make these!)

Delicious Chicken Fajitas  (A mix of many recipes)
Fabulous Vegetarian Gluten Free Fajitas   (From an Internet search)
Easy Gluten Free Baked Taquitos  (From a newspaper clip)

Beans & Rice
The Best Homemade Refried Beans  (From an Internet search)
Texas Pinto Beans & Rice  (From my Texas airport cookbook)

Mexican Chicken & Beef
Anna's Pollo Guisado (Mexican Braised Chicken)  (From a church friend in Phoenix)
Fantastic Gluten Free Carne Asada!  (From an Internet search--a combination of sites)
Belizean Chicken, Black Beans & Rice, and Belizean Coleslaw  (From my daughter's family)

Soups
Mexican Chicken Soup- A Great Remedy for Colds & Flu  (I got this over 25 years ago from a Mexican cookbook)
Bethany's Crowd Pleasing Tortilla Soup  (From a friend in Califiornia)
Southwest Turkey Soup   (From my Syre School Cookbook)

Salads
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (My own version of something I ate in Seattle)
Mexican Salmon & Mango Salad  (Modification of a Betty Crocker recipe)

What are Sufferings For in 2 Corinthians 4:7-15?

     Who has never felt "pressed on every side but not constricted," or "cast down but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9b)?  I needed this Life Study of 2 Corinthians message this week because I found myself right in the middle of this chapter. 

    Even though it's a difficult topic to talk about, I found Witness Lee's sharing in this chapter very heart warming.  He uses Paul's account of being pressed, constricted, persecuted, cast down, and bearing about in his body the putting to death of Jesus to underscore that it was in these experiences that Paul got  constituted to become a minister of the New Covenant.  I liked this particular part on page 96:

Paul was a person constituted of God....Therefore Paul's ministry was his being.  What he preached and taught was what he was.  He ministered his very being to others.  As Paul ministered in this way, Christ was imparted into others, for Paul and Christ had become one.   Paul was one with Christ and had been constituted of Christ.  His ministry was the ministry of the Christ who had been constituted into his being. Without this kind of ministry, there is no way to have the church adequately built up or to have the bride properly adorned (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 2 Corinthians. Anaheim: Living  Stream Ministry, 1982, Print). 

It was encouraging to see that God is using all kinds of pressing situations to constitute us so that when we gather together with other believers we have something real of Christ to minister to others.  The song called The Comfort Abounds  touches my heart because when we're pressed, we get to know "the Father of compassion and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction...."  2 Corinthians 1:3b-4a. 

Here's a link so you can listen to any of the programs on the Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee that are on the book of  1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.

Other Blogs on the Life Study of 1 & 2 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians:
How did the Lord Solve the Problem Among the Believers in 1 Corinthians?
The Fellowship of the Believers in 1 Corinthians 1:9
What is God's Farm in 1 Corinthians 3:9?
What is God's Building in 1 Corinthians 3:9?
From the Life-Study of 1 Corinthians - How Do the Believers Build With Gold, Silver, & Precious Stones in 1 Corinthians 3:12?
Seeing the Revelation of the Body in 1 Corinthians 12
How Did the Early Believers Meet in 1 Corinthians 14:26?

2 Corinthians:

How Can You Be Like A Letter of Christ in 2 Corinthians 3:2?

What are the Sufferings For in 2 Corinthians 4:7-15?
How Does Transformation Happen in 2 Corinthians 3:18?
From the Life-Study of 2 Corinthians - Did You Know Pressures Cause Renewing in 2 Corinthians 4:16?
Why Do Believers Need to Be Reconciled in 2 Corinthians 5:18?
Giving in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9
Why Didn't the Lord Remove Paul's Thorn in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9?

Gluten Free Pasta Aioli - Sausage & Vegetable Penne

  This is my daughter's own Italian recipe--something she came up with, and her husband (who is half Italian) added his own finishing touches.  They enjoy cooking together.  We had this recipe a few weeks ago.  It is so yummy.  

   Last summer I had pasta ailio at their home for the first time. It was different for me not to have noodles smothered in spaghetti sauce, but I liked how light and refreshing it was with the vegetables and olive oil seasoned with garlic.  This is also my son-in-law's own way of making the aioli sauce.   

Jeremy D's Gluten Free Pasta Aioli  
Sausage & Vegetable Penne 

1. Prepare vegetables:

(1) Chop 1 medium onion

(2) Chop 1 red pepper

(3) Chop 1 bunch of broccoli florets

(4) Mince 8 cloves of garlic - put 2 cloves aside for the vegetables and 6 cloves aside for the olive oil finish.

2. Prepare noodles: Cook 1 package of Trader Joe's brown rice penne pasta according to instructions. Try to cook it so that they're done just about when you're ready to mix in the sautéed vegetables.  When done, drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid or more.

3. Saute vegetables: 

(1) Put 2-3 T of oil in a skillet and saute the onions for a few minutes.

(2) Add the sliced Italian chicken sausage

(3) You can do this in the same pan but to save time we had two pans going!  Add the 2 cloves of minced garlic, and red pepper.

(4) Then stir in the broccoli and stir fry until crisp tender.  Add  1 tsp. of salt and 3/4 tsp. of black pepper.

(5) Remove from heat and cover until the noodles are ready and the olive oil and garlic is warmed up.

4. Prepare olive oil and garlic for the aioli:

(1) Put 3/4 cup of olive oil into a saucepan and warm up on medium high.

(2) Stir in the 6 cloves of minced garlic and 1/4 t of red pepper flakes

(3)  Cook for about 2-3 minutes being careful not to overcook the garlic or it will taste bitter. If it browns too quickly, just remove it from the stove.

5. Assembling the pasta - Into the pan of pasta:

(1) Stir in the sautéed vegetables

(2) Then stir in the warmed oil and garlic.

(3) Quickly stir in some fresh Italian cheese blends  like Parmesan, asiago, and Romano.
(4)  If the pasta needs it, add 1/2 cup of the pasta water.


Other Italian & Greek Pasta Recipes on This Blog:

Italian & Greek Chicken:
Incredible Gluten Free Chicken Souvlaki   (My son-in-law's marinade recipe)
Chicken Cacciatore with Peppers & Mushrooms  (My mother-in-law)
You've Got to Try This Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan!  (From my church cook book, Come & Dine)

Pasta Cassroles:
Oh So Good Vegetarian Lasagna  (From Internet search)
Delicious Gluten Free Chicken Tetrazzini     (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)

 Classic Pastas:
My Mom's Splendiferous Gluten Free Spaghetti  (My mother's amazing sauce!)
Ginger's Family Favorite Gluten Free Beef Stroganof   (From my friend Ginger)
Gluten Free Pasta Aioli - Sausage & Vegetable Penne  (From my daughter and son-in-law)
Incredible Gluten Free Pasta Primavera     (Combination of two Internet searches)
Fantastic Gluten Free Salmon Fettucine 
Easy to Make Gluten Free Shrimp Linguini   (From my Syre School Cookbook)

Mac & Cheeses
Fantastic Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese  (Modified from Heritage & Internet search)
Gluten Free Comfort Food - Downright Delicious Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Casserole  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Pizza
Judi's Gluten Free Crazy Crust Pizza -  Spinach, Artichoke & Feta Pizza (From a friend)

Soups:
This is the Best Minestrone Soup!  (From my son's Internet search and tweaking)
Mouth Watering Italian Turkey Sausage Soup   (This is  my friend Debbie's recipe)

Salads:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad   (I've been making this salad for over 20 years!)
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad  (From my son-in-law who is half Italian)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My daughter came up with this way to use quinoa)