Dinner and Prayer

Two posts in one day?  Yep, I'm rebellious like that!  I wanted to share something along the lines of reclaiming the table that we've been doing consistently in our house for the last several months.  For many years it has been on my heart to pray for different countries around the world.  I've approached this in many different ways with every attempt ending the same - slowly forgetting the habit until months later I realize I haven't prayed for another country in a long time.  Our solution?  Bring that country into more than just our prayer time.  This may work for you and it may not, but here's what we do:

Each week we have a "letter of the week."  (Our son is only 9 months old, but I want to get in the habit now of teaching him things along the way.)  Last week our letter was "U."  Whatever the letter I go to the Operation World website and find a country starting with that letter.  The next step is the most fun - that country goes up on our Menu board and I find a recipe from there that is as authentic as we can manage.  The results are so fun!  We see that country's name every day as a reminder to pray for them and we get to try new food.  I used to work at a place that taught me a lot about different parts of the world and I miss it.  I got to see first hand what it looked like to introduce very young children to different cultures, languages, foods, clothing, etc. and always loved how it taught children that not everyone will look or sound the same or even eat the same foods, but that we can love them and pray for them just the same.  And that is a lesson I think many of us need reminding of!

One part of this process I have found the most time consuming is finding the recipes.  I've gathered quite a few since we started and thought, if you're interested, I could save you a little bit of time by posting some of the recipes we've used.  Some have become absolute favorites (thank you Ecuador for your Chaulafan de Pollo!) and others give us practice in politely trying foods we aren't used to yet!  ;)  Here is the dish we made from Uganda:

Chickennat

This was a very hearty, warm dish.  The chicken and peanut butter over rice makes it very filling!

Ingredients:

One 2-3 pound chicken (we just used two chicken breasts)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 pint (2 cups) chicken stock (I used bullion cubes dissolved in water)

3/4 cup peanut butter (we've found peanut butter in many of the African recipes we've tried)

1-2 egg yolks

Several sprigs of parsley, coarsely chopped (we used dried parsley)

Directions:

1. Rub the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  

2. Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet or stew pot, and add the chicken and onions.  Cover and simmer over lowest heat, periodically adding stock until you have used it all.

3. After 15 minutes, remove half cup of the cooking liquid to thin the peanut butter. Add to the pot and bring to a boil.  (Times vary depending on how much chicken you used.)

4. Reduce heat and then whisk some of the hot stew liquid into the egg yolks.  Add to the pot and stir to incorporate the egg mixtrue into the stew.

5. Simmer gently until the chicken is done.  Be careful not to heat the stew about a simmer from this point.

6. Garnish with parsley and serve with rice or corn porridge.

Let me know if you try the recipe and what your family thought of it.  We're trying a recipe from Venezuela tomorrow!  I'll be sure to share it with you soon.  :)

Reclaiming the Table

Where does your family have dinner on any given night?  If you're anything like us the answer is probably on the couch in front of the TV.  By the end of the day around here we often find ourselves tired and ready to just sit back and relax.  Of course, in our minds, this means on the couch with a good show on while our son plays.  Makes sense, right?  I thought so too.  And then we were offered a challenge.  Our church did a series entitled "The Table."  They pointed out all the different instances of meals being served and eaten together in Scripture.  So many times Jesus met with people over a meal.  Even His final night before being arrested was spent over a meal (The Last Supper/Communion) with His disciples.  The New Testament gives many examples of disciples breaking bread together.  Meals are a time to come together and connect, build relationship, talk, and grow together.  It's not just about the food.  They told us this statistic that really surprised me - 30 years ago the average dinner lasted 90 minutes, today it lasts 15.  We've lost something along the way.  We've grown too busy.  We've become so attached to electronics that we often don't even notice what is missing. It's relationship.  Real, true, honest, face-to-face relationship. 

So here was the challenge - eat at your dining room/kitchen table with your friends and/or family 3 nights out of the week . . . without electronic devices (that includes your phone)!  As intimidating as those piles of papers on the table were, we cleared everything off and gave it a shot. And guess what.  We had conversation.  We shared how our days were.  Our son got used to snacking on his little puffs as he listened to us talk . . . and tried to add his own thoughts.  We talked about our concerns for the future, our joys in the present, what made us smile that day, what frustrated us.  We connected.  And I loved it!  I felt so refreshed.  What I thought would be so draining gave me life! I was excited about our family, excited about the example this was giving our son.  Instead of 3 nights that week we've done it almost every night since.  There's something powerful about giving someone your full, undivided attention, even if it is only for 30 minutes over a meal. 

In our house we have reclaimed the table.  Can I challenge you to reclaim yours?  What is there to lose? Yes, you might miss a TV show, but think of what could be gained.  You can always find that episode online later, but today is only here for a short while.  Don't miss it.