Think out of the box!

I want to further inspire you with this week's challenge by relating some ways in my life that help me continue to experiment and have fun.  

First would be connecting with a friend.  In fact, I think this is so important that it was something I encouraged you to do BEFORE starting the weekly challenges.  IF you immediately think - oh that is easy for her to say, I don't have any friends who eat healthy or even want to eat healthy - then your first step is to change your thinking!

I have several good friends who help me grow in many ways, not only with eating healthy but more importantly in my spiritual walk with the Lord.  I have not always had good friends like this.  ONLY after I started praying to God to bring friends like this into my life, did I begin to develop these friendships.  SO if you don't have anyone to connect with right now, I would suggest your first step would be to ask God to bring someone into your life.  Friends can encourage and challenge us and hold us accountable.  It is so important for everyone to have someone to connect with.  My son and his friend shown above both LOVE good food and are helping each other with different school subjects.  

As you experiment, try to think outside the box.  I am inspired to experiment and have fun with food and to think out of the box by my good friend, Lynn (her son is pictured with mine above).  Lynn is an excellent chef and walks closely with the Lord.  We help support and encourage each other to grow in the area of healthy food and growing closer to God.  She has recently been blessing me with amazing lunches and every time I visit her I learn something new in the area of food.  She keeps me thinking and experimenting.  Lynn has always helped me think out of the box!  In fact, it was Lynn who challenged me to think out of the box a week before my mom died from dementia.  I had given up on reaching my mom.  Thank God I listened because my mom is now in heaven so I will see her again one day.  I might post this amazing story sometime.

But for now, I'd like to share two of the latest things I learned from Lynn over the past couple weeks:

1.  Our latest fun snack that we are having almost daily!

Warm rice and roasted seaweed.  I had bought these packages of roasted seaweed through Azure Standard, and we were just eating them plain.  But Lynn suggested we try them with some warm rice (if I don't have newly made rice we reheat some in the oven).  Take the seaweed sheet and scoop up some warm rice and enjoy.  Delicious.  I like to use yellow rice for our snacks at home. 

2.  Quick mint ice tea.  This trick of Lynn's is brilliant.  Instead of seeping fresh mint with a tea bag for a long period of time, just add the mint to your ice tea and then smash it. Prepare your tea concentrate, add water, a bit of ice, and a large handful of freshly cut mint.  Take a large wood pestle (a French style rolling pin works great) and smash mint against the bottom of your pitcher (don't use a plastic pitcher!) for about 30 seconds and you will have a wonderful mint flavored tea.

I am amazed how I learn something new every time I visit Lynn.  She shows me things that I would never think of on my own.  I hope these two fun ideas inspire you to also start thinking out of the box.  Experiment!  Have fun!