It has always been a pleasure for me to cook and bake. Even though it usually requires a lot of resources, I still enjoy it because I get to learn more about the raw ingredients and I see them transform into dishes and treats! However, don’t get me wrong. I also have those days when I don’t feel like cooking or baking anything. Haha.
Sautéing onions and garlic in butter
But anyway, recently, I was motivated to further improve in cooking and baking certain treats that I decided to have this personal challenge: To Regularly Cook, Bake, & Learn from Mistakes. For some reason, many years ago, God planted in me a desire for food, cooking, & baking. And although I don’t know exactly what his future plans for me are, God continues to encourage me to improve in these skills now for His glory.
And so, by God’s grace, I’ll cook & bake whenever I have the opportunities to do so. Also, if I’m free every Sunday (starting today), I’ll share Simple Snacks and dishes to you too.
Shrimps & squids seasoned with salt and pepper
All honor and thanks to my awesome, supportive, and encouraging mentor in the kitchen, God. :)
Enjoy the recipe!
SEAFOOD MARINARA (Good for Two)
(I just estimated the ingredients. You can try experimenting too. :P)
Ingredients:
5 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
2 tablespoons of olive oil (or any cooking oil)
1 tbsp. butter
1 can of diced/crushed tomatoes (around 3 cups)
Salt & pepper (add to taste)
A few, fresh basil leaves
5 pcs. medium-sized shrimps
1 medium-sized squid (cut into rings)
Dried herbs for seasoning (Italian seasoning/Oregano/Basil/Rosemary, etc.)
2 cups of uncooked spiral pasta
*you can use other kinds of seafood for this dish. :)
Marinara Sauce:
Clean the shrimps and squid.
Cut off the shrimps’ heads and set aside in a bowl (you’ll need this for sautéing). Remove the shells of the shrimps and put the shrimp meat in the bowl with the heads.
Slice the squid into small rings and add to the bowl of shrimps. Add salt & pepper.
In a deep pan, combine butter and a tablespoon of oil. Sauté the onions and garlic. After around 2 minutes, cook the shrimp heads, shrimp meat, and squid rings with the sautéed onions and garlic. Stir every now and then for 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp heads.
Add a can of tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and dried herbs. You can add chili powder/flakes if you want.
Simmer for 2 minutes while stirring occasionally. Then, remove from heat.
Spiral Pasta:
Boil a pot of water with a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil.
When the water is already boiling, add the uncooked pasta and cook for 7-8 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
Drain noodles and assemble on the serving plate/bowl.
Pour the Marinara sauce over the noodles. Sprinkle cheese and chopped basil leaves over it and serve with toasted garlic bread. Enjoy!
For the longest time, I’ve been craving for juicy steaks, Chili’s chips and salsa, and Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust pizza. However, because I couldn’t find anyone in my family who was available for a random food trip, I just decided to make one of those dishes at home. I chose to bake a mozzarella stuffed crust pizza because it was cheaper than steaks and it was also more interesting to make than chips and salsa.
Interestingly, last Friday night, I was supposed to attend a concert in CCF Makati; however, because of the strong wind and heavy rain, I decided to go home instead. Usually, my siblings and I would have different plans every Friday night, but because of the bad weather, God allowed us to be complete that night.
Mom was so happy that she asked us all (via text) what food we wanted to eat that night. She wanted to treat us and have food delivered to our house. I immediately replied: “Mom, I was actually planning on making homemade stuffed crust pizza this Saturday, but can we still have stuffed crust pizza delivered tonight too? Haha.” She agreed and even told me that she was hoping I would make an Italian dish soon. Cool!
My siblings and I had an interesting Friday night with mom at home (Dad was out of town). We were able to eat sausage stuffed crust pizza, catch up; laugh with each other; and even talk about random things like Italian food, sinkholes, Gabo’s dream to have McDonald’s in his future house (Haha), and the crazy weather. It was a good night. :)
The next day, the weather was still pretty bad and eventually, most of my plans for ministry that day got cancelled because of the rain. But, for a change, it was actually really nice to stay in on a rainy and windy Saturday. I loved it!
After spending time with God, my family, and even Copper (our dog), I decided to finally make the homemade mozzarella stuffed crust pizza. However, in the middle of my preparation, dad told us that since we were all present at home, He wanted us to have a family devotion (Bible study).
After hearing that, I sort of panicked because I couldn’t just stop the process of making the pizza at that moment. The pizza dough was still rising and after it has fully risen, it must be prepared for baking immediately.
“How could I possibly knead the pizza, prepare the sauce, closely watch it while it bakes, and be present in our family devotion all at the same time?” I thought to myself. “Lord, what should I do?”
By the grace of God, even though it was getting late already (around 7:30 pm), dad gave me 30 more minutes to finish making the pizza. As soon as I finished eating dinner, I immediately worked double time to bake the mozzarella stuffed crust pizza. After 15 minutes of baking it, dad already called us in to have the devotion. Even if I wasn’t 100% sure that it was thoroughly cooked, by faith, I decided to bring it out of the oven so I could join my family in our meeting.
We were able to read a few verses in the Bible as a family and dad encouraged us all to carefully study them. At first, I was getting distracted because I wanted to check on the pizza that was just resting on our kitchen table. However, God somehow whispered to me: “Nic, relax. :) Don’t worry about the pizza and just enjoy this time that you have with your family and with Me.”
By His grace, I shifted my focus from the pizza to God’s word and I’m glad I did. Our family shared with each other the different lessons we learned from His word and we committed to become accountable to each other and to God.
After closing in prayer, I went to the kitchen to check out the pizza. By God’s grace, after letting it bake for a few more minutes, I was able to make my very first mozzarella stuffed crust pizza! :D Woohoo!
While I was taking photos of the pizza, I was thanking God for another privilege of being able to bake a new treat. Here are some of the things that I really enjoyed doing while making the pizza:
Kneading the dough – I just love the consistency of fresh dough;
Stretching the dough – I did this with the help of a rolling pin and by throwing it in the air and catching with my hands; and of course,
Seeing the mozzarella cheese stretch out from the pizza crust – THE BEST! Mozzarella cheese really is one the best types of cheese in the world!
Before letting my family taste the pizza, I decided to cherish the moment that I had with it first. I started to play with the mozzarella cheese that was oozing out from the crust. I then thought about how cool it was that hours before that moment, the thick strings of cheese were just tightly wrapped around the edges of the pizza dough. They were immovable; stuck; and had no choice but to remain inside. However, after being baked, the flexible, melted, mozzarella cheese actually became the highlight of the dish: Mozzarella Stuffed Crust Pizza. :)
God used that moment to encourage me and remind me of His goodness. God made me realize that just like the cheese, I got stuck too! (Of course, I got stuck at home because of the bad weather. :) ) Moreover, most of my plans and activities got cancelled and it could have been a reason for me to get frustrated with the surprising turn of events.
But, I thank God for the rain and for the moments when I was stuck at home. I praise Him because it was His way of allowing our family to spend more time together; and for me to get to know Him more through the Bible.
Because of this experience, I was reminded that God still is at work even in the midst of unwanted circumstances in life. Definitely, God still is good even if we get stuck in situations that we do not like. I’m also learning that, sometimes, God allows us to get stuck so we could practice being still before Him and enjoy His presence more.
John 16:33 says:
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Whenever our family would watch Junior Masterchef Australia, our jaws would drop every time a contestant would make the assigned dish. It was amazing to see how, even at a young age, each ‘chefling’ would finish well and produce excellent food. When the kids were assigned to make pasta, Anna, one of the hosts, said “Nothing beats fresh, homemade pasta. Once you taste fresh pasta, there’s no turning back.” I was intrigued by her statement and this actually led me to get my own pasta machine. By God’s grace, I attempted to make my very own homemade pasta.
homemade pasta dough
Making homemade pasta involves these activities: kneading, resting, stretching, cutting, and cooking. When I was preparing myself for the process, I was thinking: “Really? There’s no turning back? This looks more complicated than just cooking ready-made pasta. Hahaha.” Little did I know, God was preparing my heart for something more interesting than learning how to make homemade pasta dough.
KNEADING THE DOUGH
I pressed the dough down and squished it continuously (for 8 to 10 minutes) until it had a smooth texture. Kneading the dough produces gluten which gives elasticity to it – this helps the cook stretch the dough and eventually make it into pasta.
kneading the dough
While kneading, it seemed like I was giving the dough a really hard time because of all the punches and presses that I did. And for some reason, this made me think about the moments in my life when I would experience painful, uncomfortable, and seemingly unbearable situations; those times when I’d just feel so defeated and discouraged because of the ‘punches and presses’ in my life.
However, God made me realize that the cook kneads the homemade pasta dough for a special purpose (to make pasta noodles). In the same way, God allows things to happen to us for a special purpose. When they happen, we may not always know why, but they certainly are opportunities for us to trust in God.
It says in James 1:2-4:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
LETTING THE DOUGH REST
I then sprinkled the dough with flour and covered it with cling wrap for about an hour (this prevents dryness and it allows the dough to rest). This is a crucial step because when you try to stretch dough which didn’t have enough time to rest, it will just shrink back – making it hard for the cook to get a stretched, thin dough.
In the same way, this step reminded me of how crucial it is to rest on who God is and not to worry about my painful and uncomfortable situations.
cling wrap
Just like the dough that isn’t rested, when my heart and mind are not rested in God, I can easily “shrink back” to panicking, worrying, complaining, and losing the joy and hope that I have in God.
“Find rest my soul in Christ alone, know His power in quietness and trust. When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm. Father, you are king over the flood, I will be still and know you are God.” -Hillsong
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” -Psalm 62:1-2
STRETCHING THE DOUGH
My younger brother, Gabo, helped me stretch the dough using the pasta machine. We placed ¼ of the whole dough into the machine and rolled it out 5 times (adjusting the machine each time to make the dough thinner).
It was amazing to see how a small piece of the homemade pasta dough could be stretched long and be used to make a lot of noodles. God encouraged me through this and reminded me that He is also able to use us and bring out the best in us, even during the times when we experience pain and constantly face uncertainties.
It says in Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
homemade pasta dough
There was also a time when a part of the rolled dough was sliding away and moving to the side of the machine while it was being rolled. This resulted in a crooked and uneven thin pasta dough. And although I had to exert extra effort, I still decided to take the messed up pasta dough, mold it and roll it out again using the machine. I did that because I knew it was worth it; I had a purpose for it.
trying to roll the uneven dough again
Similarly, God showed me that even if I make mistakes or sometimes, am stubborn like the dough, He still would graciously pick me up, mold me, and stretch me to become the person that He wants me to be. This encourages me even more to constantly humble myself before God and seek Him in my life. By His grace, He works in our lives; He meets us where we are; and He uses what He has given us for His will and glory.
“…But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” -2 Corinthians 12:8-9
CUTTING AND COOKING
The amazing pasta machine. :)
After making the dough thin enough, I then used the pasta machine to cut the pasta dough. After letting it dry for a few minutes, I cooked and served the noodles with tomato sauce and meatballs.
homemade pasta dough
Looking back, I realized that in spite of the challenging tasks and discouragements, the cheflings in the Junior Masterchef Australia finished well; they tried their best to prepare the food; and they persevered until the end with the help of the gracious masterchefs who were by their side.
letting the pasta dough dry before cooking
In the same way, whether or not we experience pain, uncertainties, and challenges in life; I’ve learned that we must choose to trust in God and follow Him even during times when we are being stretched by Him. We must also choose to give Him the best that we can wherever he places us (at home, in school, at work, etc.). Just like the masterchefs, I am reminded that our God is a gracious God and He is more than willing to help us finish well for His glory.
homemade pasta doughhomemade pasta dough
It’s really important to not give up ever, and I’m really glad that I did not give up. – Nick Lieurance (Junior Masterchef Australia Season 1 Top 8)
taken from Google Images
Hang in there, friend. Even though it’s tough, don’t you ever give up. Finish well by the grace of God. He loves us so much. :)
RECIPE for the SAUCE: Spaghetti and Meatballs by Ina Garten
RECIPE for the PASTA DOUGH: 3 eggs and 2 cups of all-purpose flour
Thanks to Kuya for helping me edit (hehe); Gabo for helping me make the dough (Gotta love brothers!); Mom for the ingredients :D; and of course, God, for Your grace, for being so awesome and encouraging. :)
My name is Nicole Obligacion and I started this blog because I was inspired by Hebrews 10:24 and Hebrews 3:13. I love to eat, cook, bake, read the Bible, and encourage. :)
