My Favorite Question

It's my least favorite part of the trip - the night before I fly back to Texas. The night full of packing (that I always put off), long talks (because technology won't help keep us in touch), and slowly starting to think about the life I have waiting for me.

The question that I was once asked, and that has stuck with me since the first trip, was by a local: "Are you leaving or going home?" My answer: "Both."

When I come to Belgium, I don't get culture shock. I do, however, when I travel to Ohio. I have a wonderful life in Texas, full of wonderful people and a wonderful job. My heart is in Texas. But, my heart is also in Leuven. I love deeply, which is both a wonderful and incredibly hard thing to do. And so each time that I leave Leuven, I feel like I rip out a little bit of my heart and leave it behind. Praise God, though, that He is big enough to fill the hole that I make each summer. Praise God that He has given me a heart to love deeply. Praise God for the passion to walk along side athletes as they deepen their relationship with Christ, and that we can share that experience with new Belgium friends and family along the way.

A Heart Full of Love

So begins my debrief process. As I have mentioned previously, there is a lot that I am going to be praying over and sorting through. Praise God for everything He has done on this trip, but because there is so much, I am not going to be rushing to get through it just to start talking about it. But, I don't want y'all to wait too long, so I want to share a journal entry that I wrote earlier this week. 

It is about love - the kind of love that the Lord pumped into my heart to have as I spent my summer loving and serving the lambs. A kind of love that sustains when the days are long, your brain hurts from thinking, as your heart breaks for lost sheep outside of the fold, when you don't feel like you can keep pressing on because you are just weary from bearing burdens, going into battle, and struggling alongside your family. A kind of love that I want to stay in my heart once I leave. A kind of love that I want to continue to pour out into the lives of those of y'all back home. A kind of love that the world can't explain.

So, without further ado, my journal entry:

A heart full of love.

• The sentimental kind of love.
• The loyal kind of love.
• The cheesy kind of love.
• The tenderhearted kind of love.
• The stubborn kind of love.
• The patient kind of love.
• The forgiving kind of love.
• The humble kind of love.
• The kind kind of love.
• The generous kind of love.
• The committed kind of love.
• The serving kind of love.
• The polite kind of love.
• The passionate kind of love.
• The honoring kind of love.
• The respectful kind of love.
• The mature kind of love.
• The playful kind of love.
• The brave kind of love.
• The merciful kind of love.
• The grace-filled kind of love.
• The covenantal kind of love.
• The elephant-hugs kind of love.
• The meal-making kind of love.
• The strong kind of love.
• The sacrificial kind of love.

The HESED kind of love.

First Corinthians 13.1-13

The Last Hurrah

Tonight was the last dinner that I would be making for the trip. With a meet tomorrow in Ninove, a debrief trip on Sunday, and then not wanting to leave leftovers in the fridge Monday night, this would be my final performance in the kitchen. But, because neither I nor this team can do anything less than our full effort, we ended with a bang and had a total of 21 folks at the family dinner table. For those of y'all counting, that's our biggest family dinner yet! It was a lot of fun to see all of our new friends at the dinner table, sharing our FPD's (favorite part of the day) and growing closer together.

With that many mouths to feed, things were simple - BBQ chicken, oven roasted broccoli, and oven roasted potatoes. Two and a half hours later, I had enough food to feed our small army.

The recipe is the same as the one I used for the marinated chicken breasts, with BBQ sauce replacing the salad dressing. 

Garbage Chicken

Appetizing title, no?

This is one of my favorite quick, easy, go-to meals when I'm just so brain dead that I just can't anymore.  There's very little work involved, which is always a plus.

Today was one of my favorite days of the trip - the tour of the University Bell Tower and the concert with the carillon player. This was my third trip up to watch/hear, and my favorite one; he played Debussy's "Clair de Lune" and I about cried. Then we went to the best ice cream shop in town (Crocantino) and had some caramel ice cream in a waffle cone. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights! (James 1.17)

The Foodstuffs:

• One pound of protein of choice.
• Shredded carrots.
• Peas.
• Mushrooms.
• Peppers.
• Zucchini squash.
• Broccoli.
• Brussels sprouts.
• Baby spinach.

The How-You-Do-It:

• Cut up your protein. Cook in skillet. Once cool, place in separate bowl.
• Optional - cook all of your veggies. Or, if it's hot outside (which could also mean living in a hostel with  no AC or fans), just throw the veggies in a bowl and put the hot chicken on top, letting the chicken slightly cook the veggies.

A Super-Late Check In

Hello, people of the internet.

I meant to get a blog update written about halfway through our trip to share a little bit more about how we are doing as a team. But, things don't go as planned. I apologize for the delay.

Truth be told, another reason for the delay is that I don't quite have the words to fully share how this trip is going. The Lord is doing so much not just through our team, but on our team as well. I don't think that I have ever been a part of something quite like this family. It is at times overwhelming, but at the end of the day, a beautiful picture of what the church looks like - twelve people coming together (most of whom strangers), joined by a love of Christ and sport, learning what it means to walk more intimately with Him, how to combine faith + sport, and striving to become more like Christ as we are called. It is hard, it is dirty, but the joy found in the process is worth it.

In the process of coming together as a family, we have added some sheep to our fold. They are all American athletes (retired or still competing) here for the European track season. It has been an honor and a privilege  to come along side and serve these athletes; a home cooked meal, the knowledge that there is a physio available (free of charge!) should something happen, and a group of people who earnestly want to be there for you are a powerful way to share God's love with folks.

We are now entering the last stretch of our trip, and I am starting the debrief process. It will probably take a bit to work through it all, but when I am done, I'm sure you won't be able to get me to stop talking about the trip. Then again, that shouldn't be a surprise when it comes to Belgium :)

Garbage Potatoes

It's our last Belgium-Wednesday. This makes me very, very sad :( I mean, I miss y'all back in the good 'ole US of A, but every time I come to Belgium, I leave a little bit more of my heart here. Good thing I have a God who is big enough to continue to fill up the parts of my heart that He asks me to give to others as I love and serve them. 

On to the food - PaleOMG is one of my favorite blogs. The food is delicious, Julie is full of sarcastic commentary on life, and the recipes range from Whole30-approved to cheat days that don't make you feel too sick after you indulge. Tonight's dinner is a baked potato bar from this recipe. You should definitely try this one out.

The Foodstuffs:

• Two sweet potatoes, or yams, with holes poked all over. Or, regular potatoes if that's your thing.

• Two tablespoons bacon fat.

• Two garlic cloves, minced.

• Half of a yellow onion, diced (I don't like onions, so I'm leaving this out).

• Half a pound of ground turkey (or whatever).

• Two tablespoons hot sauce.

• One teaspoon garlic powder.

• Half a teaspoon cayenne pepper. 

• Five or six cups of fresh spinach (or kale).

The How-You-Do-It

• Salt and pepper to taste.

• Preheat oven to 425*

• Poke holes in sweet potatoes and wrap in foil. Place in oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.

• Once the sweet potatoes have about 10 minutes left to cook, add 2 tablespoons of bacon fat to a large pan over medium-high heat.

• Add minced garlic cloves to the pan then add the onions.

• Once onions are translucent, add ground turkey and break up with a wooden spoon.

• While the turkey is cooking, add hot sauce, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper to the meat and mix.

• When turkey is pretty much done cooking, add spinach and cover to help the spinach steam, then mix with the meat.

• Add salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat.

• When the sweet potatoes are done cooking, cut open and mash insides up with a fork. Then add the turkey mixture to the inside.

Another Blast From the Past

This recipe is athlete-tested, chef-approved. My favorite review is something that one of my athletes said on the 2011 trip: "I don't like vegetables and food mixed together, but this recipe made me change my mind." AIA BEL trips - changing the way people think about food since 2010.

The Foodstuffs:

• Four bell peppers (I like orange), washed and either cut in half or remove the stem and seeds.
• One pound lean ground beef (or whatever).
• One can of black beans (if you aren't feeling the ground beef).
• One head of lettuce, shredded.
• One jar of salsa.
• Sour cream or ranch dressing.
• Shredded cheese (colby jack or cheddar is always a good choice).
• Corn kernles.
• Brown rice.

The How-You-Do-It:

• Preheat the oven to 350*.
• Cook your pepper for 30 minutes. Remove and cool.
• In a pan, brown the ground beef. If you are using beans, rinse and drain them, and warm them through.
• Now for the rice. You can do one of two things - prepare the rice before hand and stuff it in the pepper with all of the other ingredients OR you can serve it as a side. Your call, just make sure you follow the cooking instructions on the packaging.
• Stuff your pepper! I like to end with sour cream and cheese on top, but follow as the Spirit leads you.
• Place your peppers back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. 

Meat and Potatoes

It's Logan's birthday today! The birthday boy has requested burgers and sweet potato fries. Sweet potatoes are apparently considered an exotic vegetable here in Belgium, and we were told that they were out of season. We planned to do normal fries, but the Lord helped us out and we were able to pull off a really awesome birthday surprise and blindside Logan with sweet potato fries at dinner!

As far as recipes go, you'll be on your own for the burgers. Go out, mix up some meat, smash it flat, and cook it over an open flame. But, because I have so many folks asking me how I make my sweet potato fries, here is how I do it:

The Foodstuffs:

• 1 sweet potato, cut how you like (long fries, rounds, little chunks, etc).
• Oil of your choice - olive, coconut, bacon fat.
• Sea salt.
• Pepper.
• Garlic powder.
• Onion powder.

The How-You-Do-It

• Pre-heat your oven to 405*F.
• Place your cut sweet potato pieces on a cooking sheet and cover with your oil.
• Season to taste with the salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder.
• Cook for ten minutes, remove & shake tray, then bake for another ten minutes. 

Mmm..meat and potatoes.

Get Your French Accents Ready

It's everyone's favorite meal - Messy Pierre's!! If this is your first time to follow me on this adventure, Messy Pierre's were dreamt up on my first trip to Belgium during the scramble to save the food budget. I was in the mood for American comfort food, and I needed something quick. Sloppy Joe's came to mind, and the rest is history.

Two birthdays mean two celebrations - ice cream after lunch with Roel and then a Nutella cake after dinner for Jasmin. And Messy Pierre's. Oofa; I'm going to need to get up tomorrow morning and run off some of the birthday.

The Foodstuffs:

• One pound of ground meat.
• One red or orange bell pepper, chopped.
• Two carrots, chopped.
• One bottle mystery Belgian BBQ sauce.
• One can crushed tomatoes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Buns.

The How-You-Do-It:

• Brown the ground beef. Add the sauce and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the vegetables, stir together, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. 
• Serve on a bun, as a sandwich or open-faced (filling on top of an open bun).

Bon appetite, y'all! :)

Brinner

Breakfast for dinner. There is something about eating breakfast food at dinnertime that just makes everyone happy. We're having another meeting of the cultures tonight - crepes and breakfast tacos. That's right, I'm bringing breakfast tacos to Belgium. I introduced them to my Ohio friends back in college, so why not continue the tradition? Again, no recipe but here is our menu for tonight since everything is pretty straight forward:

• Breakfast tacos with eggs, salsa, and cheese. 
• Bratwurst. 
• Fruit salad.
• Oven roasted potatoes.
• Fruit + Nutella crepes. 

And there were no regrets given about the amount of food that we all consumed! :)

Tomorrow kicks off our days of back-to-back birthday celebrations - Roel + Jasmin then Logan on Friday. And a'int no party like a Belgium mission trip party!

Bringing In the Big Guns

After two weeks of frequent "athletics meetings", we are now downshifting and taking a break. Today was our first day off (with no meets on the schedule for over a week) since we arrived, and it was much needed. But, being athletes and never ones to turn down a good adventure, we decided to take a bike trip to a lake. Eighteen miles and some pretty pink sunburns later, we are back and borderline hangry (hungry + angry). It's a good thing that I had taco night planned for us tonight.

Y'all know of my undying love of Belgium, though there are some things best left to the professionals, like properly seasoned tacos. Sorry, Belgium, but taco seasonings are not on your list of strengths.

With it being taco night at Leuven City Hostel, I'm not taking any chances when it comes to seasoning the beef. While playing Russian roulette with the spices in the Dutch-only grocery store can be fun, there are times when you just cut to the chase and get the job done. Tonight is one of those times.

The Foodstuffs:

• One pound ground beef.
• One packet American taco seasoning (I packed accordingly).
• Taco shells (I prefer hard shells, but whatever you like is great).
• Taco toppings (rice, beans, cheese, avocado, salsa, corn, etc.).

The How-You-Do-It

• Brown your ground beef in a skillet and drain off excess fat. 
• Add the seasoning packet, using as much or as little as you like.
• Slowly add water (a tablespoon-ish at a time) and mix the seasoning into the beef. 
• With the heat on low, cook until the water has evaporated and the seasoning is evenly distributed.
• Make yourself a taco assembly line and have at it!

We are going to be doing a technology fast until Wednesday around lunch time (Leuven-time). So, the blog updates will return on Wednesday evening!

Carbo Load

What better way to get ready for a the KBC Nacht meet than with a comfort meal? Spaghetti, meat sauce, garlic bread, and salad is on tap for tonight's meal. And the regular post-dinner waffle and/or ice cream :) We have adopted some athletes into our fold - Matt, Heather, Dave, and Jaime. All are professional runners, except Dave who is currently celebrating his retirement from distance (ie: marathons) running. They are also all believers, and their presence has added a whole new dimension to our group. We have definitely been blessed by them, and my prayer is that we have been able to bless them a bit in return as well!!

This is another post without a recipe, as spaghetti is as about as easy as it comes to make. The only reason you'd have to get creative is if, say, you're me and allergic to Italian seasoning, having to make up your own sauce. Or just use high quality olive oil and lemon juice. Delicious!!

If you're gluten-free or paleo, put meat sauce over veggies and enjoy your meal that way, how I intend to be enjoying mine :)

Inside-Out Chicken Pesto

Sometimes you need to shake up the routine. This is one of those shake ups. And, 4/5 "Om nom nom"s, according to the flock :)

The Foodstuffs

• Two chicken boneless skinless breasts
• One cup breadcrumbs (optional)
• Two eggs, beaten (optional)
• One jar of pesto
• One cup mozzarella cheese
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

The How-You-Do-It

• Pre-heat the oven to 350*.
• Butterfly your chicken breast.
• Lay the chicken breast on a piece of plastic wrap. Sprinkle the top with water and lay another piece of plastic wrap on top.
• Using a meat hammer (or large metal can of food), flatten the chicken breast so that it is 1/4 of an inch thick. 
• Uncover the chicken breast and fill one side with pesto and cheese. 
• Roll the chicken breast up, jellyroll style, and secure with toothpicks. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Optional step: Place beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Coat the rolled up chicken breast in egg then coat in breadcrumbs. 
• Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Yo Quiero Tex-Mex, Y'all

We are now OFFICIALLY settled in Leuven City Hostel for the remainder of the trip. Home is where the big, red couch is. Or, where the Tex-Mex food is :)

On my last trip, I tried a Tex-Mex dish. It was definitely one of my weaker showings as team chef. It could have been partly due to the fact that I spent a majority of the evening and night at one of the local hospitals with an athlete who got hurt during a training session. This year, we're going Chipotle-style in hopes that I can redeem myself. The initial post-dinner survey indicated that it was a strong showing, so that's good! :)

Chipotle-Style Burrito Bar

The Foodstuffs

• Corn or flour tortillas/burrito wraps (whatever size you like).
• One pound ground beef (or shredded chicken, pulled pork, or even fish).
• Black beans (topping).
• Corn (topping).
• Radishes, diced (topping).
• Green or yellow zucchini squash (topping).
• Tomatoes, diced or sliced.
• Cheese - cheddar is always a good choice, or colby-jack (topping).
• Guacamole (topping; buy pre-made or Google a recipe).
• Salsa (topping; buy or Google a recipe). 
• Sour Cream (topping).
• One box of rice (for a side or topping).

The How-You-Do-It

• Thoroughly cook your meat of choice. Set aside in a bowl.
• Cook your rice as instructed by the box. Set aside in a bowl.
• Put each of the toppings in a different bowl or on a plate. To save room, use large serving plates and group things together.
• Assemble your buffet line however you like. I'm a fan of tortillas, beef, rice, toppings, then end with the guacamole, salsa, and sour cream.

The Feet Are Officially Wet

Our first meet is officially in the books! Oordegem is always a meet that can be a little tough; jet-lag is still fading, legs are heavy, and the rust is still being knocked off. Things went pretty well for team AIA - two team members PR'd and one of our athletes took third. Woo! Now we are back in home sweet Leuven, enjoying frisbee with friends, Speculoos ice cream, and sunsets.

Because we have been traveling most of the day, and because on Sundays things tend to shut down (everywhere), we are keeping Sunday dinners simple. Tonight: chicken pasta salad.

Because I am cooking for an army, I'm going to try and food amount down to something that would provide three or four meals total. We'll see how it goes as the trip continues.

The Foodstuffs

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or three rotisserie chickens from the farmers' market!).
• 1 box noodles of your choice (I prefer the smaller ones, but spaghetti noodles would be fine).
• Four or five cups total of vegetables!! Whatever is in season, in your fridge that you need to use, on sale. Creative freedom! 
• Salad dressing of choice.
• Optional: Shredded parmesan cheese. 

The How-You-Do-It

• Cube chicken breasts into slightly-larger-than bite sized pieces. Place in skillet (grease that guy first!) and season with sea salt and pepper. Cook until pieces are no longer pink.
• Cook your pasta as directed on the box.
• While the chicken and noodles cook, start cutting your veggies. I split what I cook (broccoli, peas) and what is raw (peppers, cherry tomatoes, carrots). Do what you like here.
• In the biggest bowl that you can find, dump the chicken, pasta, and veggies in and mix together. 
• Allow your folks to add their own dressing and cheese. 
• If you need a gluten-free option, serve the noodles in a separate bowl, mixing only the chicken and veggies. 

Another Year Older

Happy 237th birthday, America! A day late, that is :)

Fun fact, since we're on the topic of independence days: Belgium as it is known today is actually a younger country than the USA. Who would have thought? On July 21st, 1831, Belgium declared independence from The Netherlands. To give you a timeline, Texas became a state in 1845. It's odd to think that being in an area that has such a rich history as Europe, that there are countries just slightly older than my state.

Learn something new everyday, I suppose.

To celebrate, we busted out the little grill that Roel has been so kind as to allow us to use and had a good old fashioned American bbq. Burgers (I think it was turkey) with all the fixins, steak fries, and oven roasted broccoli. Today's blog post won't include a formal recipe since everything is pretty straight forward and everyone has their own twist to making burgers. The next post will, though!

The trip is off to a fantastic start. After a nine hour stint in the Atlanta airport, we finally made it to Belgium and have been speed bump-free since. Jodi's passport prevented her from traveling with us (she came a day late), but she has made it to us safe and sound. Ask me to tell you about those first couple of days; you won't be disappointed. The team is now off to Oordegem for our first meet of the trip. We will be staying in housing at the track, so there won't be a new recipe up until Monday.

Tot zines!