Chicken Pesto in 15

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

(Ps. 90:12)

“The prayer is, that God would enable us to form such an estimate of life,

that we shall be truly wise; that we may be able to act 'as if' we saw the whole of life.” (Barnes)

Could you imagine if we saw life as a “whole” instead of hour by hour or even day by day? Think how that would change our perspective on things, literally, things. What would be our priority, things, duties or people.

I have numbered my days and for now my number is 15. 15 minute segments of time to bring my family closer to the way He wants us to eat while keeping me from being too obsessed in the kitchen. It’s giving me more time to spend with the people that make a difference in my life. And just perhaps, I can make a difference in theirs.

15 minute meal –Chicken Pesto Sandwich

As part of my 15 minute regime last night, after supper I took the chicken breast I marinated (1 1/2 hours) earlier in:

1 mild grapefruit, juiced (it’s what I had and the citrus makes the chicken tender)

2 tangerines, juiced

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

¼ c. raw honey

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. oregano

4 whole chicken breasts (8 halves)

And used one whole breast for last night’s dinner (Chicken, Quinoa and Peas) and with the other 3 chicken breasts, in 15 minutes, I used my George Foreman grill to cook 3 breast halves at a time for 7 minutes each. They had beautiful grill marks and as soon as they cooled, I stuck them in the frig. George really helps when it comes to cooking low-fat and super fast.

That was last night…

After church tonight, we were all desperately hungry. I pulled out the chicken breasts I had cooked, stuck them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes (including preheating). I made a quick pesto with:

1 c. parsley, not packed (wash in water and use salad spinner to dry)

¼ c. walnuts

½ tsp. sea salt

2 cloves roasted garlic

I put all in food processor and pulsed until chopped. Then I added:

2-3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil while running the machine and, wahlah, pesto.

I chopped half a tomato, a few slivers of carrot, and washed and spun dry a handful of spinach. As the timer went off, I got out the bread (Nature’s Pride Double Fiber 6g per slice) and spread with the pesto, assembled the tomato, carrot, spinach, chicken and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

In 15 minutes, our late night fast food was done. No, it wasn’t like a professional chef’s domestic production but it certainly was tasty enough for our hungry bellies and ready soon enough to avoid a mutiny in the barracks.

Time and Cooking

Time… such a short word for such a measurement of life. Time flies when…

You’re having fun

You’re cooking

You’re napping

You’re getting ready for an evening

You’re trying to fit an hour’s worth of work in five minutes, or a day’s worth in an hour

Where does the time go? I look back over the year and see some moments in time but that surely is not what I did for a year. So what do I remember…

Laughing with my family

Cooking

Watching movies with my family

Cooking

Going to church

Cooking

Getting together with friends

Cooking

Does there seem to be an inordinate amount of time in one area? My mind just reminisces over the events of the last year and, yes, this was a great year full of excitement with starting a new business, my youngest child’s last year of high school, and making new friends in all areas of our lives.

I am richly blessed. But there seems to be an area I could use some improvement…the amount of time I spend in the kitchen. I am one that can spend hours preparing a meal-- baking bread, making and simmering a soup, marinating and baking some meat, and then on top of that, throwing together a salad with homemade dressing. No, I am not an overachiever; I just love cooking healthy nutritious food for my family. It’s part of who I am. If I had the time (there’s that word again) and the ingenuity, I would have every morsel that came in touch with my family’s mouth fresh from the farm, field, or river.

But that’s just not possible in the area I live, the amount of other activities I like to be involved with, or the amount of time I love to spend talking and enjoying life with my husband, daughter, and son. Thus, my problem.

The more I meditate on the issue at hand, the more I think of ideas to do in 15 minute segments. What I do as a whole can take hours; not everyone is up for that. But what if I just broke that up in 15 minute bites and still accomplished good food for my family. What if I journaled it for keepsake and possibly helped others to do what I’m doing also? Hmmm..what if?