Pizza Part Deux and Genesis 24

Tonight was Pizza Part Deux with old roommates! Same Trader Joe's herb pizza dough, but lots of different toppings! Pizza really is quite versatile... different toppings, different flavors, totally different meal from what Ben and I made on Friday! Of course, the pizza was very delicious... and I'm sure Shu will contribute a photo soon!

Our pizza toppings: thinly sliced onions, yellow and green bell peppers, 'shrooms, and lot and lots of mozzarella cheese! And of course, good food with good friends make for a great meal!

I realize I love our conversations! A selection of the topics we transversed included: Amy Chua's new bestselling book that has people extremely divided on "good" parenting, The Social Network, the sketchy International District, grocery shopping, and the list goes on. Just to show, we have endless (and really diverse) things to talk about! If I didn't have school tomorrow... could've stayed all night! :D


I've been keeping up with the new English group Bible reading schedule recently, PTL! Today's chapter was Genesis 24, on Isaac and Rebekah. I was struck by some of the verses as I was reading the chapter this afternoon (on my way home on the bus):

• Just this past weekend, we had our college group meeting... and one of our topics was on relationships. Yep, I feel like I've been hearing a lot about this recently, at winter retreat, my own life, my friends' lives, at Bible study, and now at the Saturday meeting! However, Uncle Huan brought up a great point that stuck with me. At some point in our lives, we may start feeling like we need our second half (very naturally we get lonely, we feel like we're "ready" for a relationship). And God is the initiator; in other words, just like Abraham in this chapter, He is preparing someone ready for us. Even if our environment may seem bleak and hopeless ("there is absolutely no one available or appropriate I know right now!"), God will bring someone before us in His time. I think the story of Isaac and Rebekkah is quite encouraging. Just like Abraham found and prepared a companion for his son, God is eternally faithful, no matter how our circumstances right now seem. 
• Also, Isaac did not have to go out and search for a bride. God prepared the right person for him! I think it's wonderful to know that our chances in finding someone doesn't rely upon our own effort, our own likability, our own flirting ability, but as a Christian, God is willing to take care of big and small matters in our life. God is willing to bring just the right person to you, if you are willing to wait and pray. 
• I've been impressed recently by what kind of woman Rebekah was. In Gen. 24:19-20, Rebekah draws water for Abraham's servant AND all his camels. Drawing up water from a well to fill up 10 camels is not an easy task! Some math: a camel may drink 10-20 gallons of water, multiply that range by 10 camels = Rebekah may have drawn 100-200 gallons of water! So while the Bible puts it simply as, "So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and draw enough for all his camels." Rebekah definitely went "above and beyond" in such a situation, and she was greatly blessed for it! 

Trader Joe's and BBQ Chicken, Apple, and Onion Pizza

As I browsed Trader Joe's today, I was caught by the dried fruit section. Trader Joe's have all kinds of yummy-looking dried fruits. I really really really wanted to buy the dried mangos that Trader Joe's carries. Except, I had just promised myself last night to stop spending so much money on food and save up for an iPhone! I had already broken my promise by going to Shinka's with Melody after class, and now I was wavering on splurging for $3.99 dried mangoes. Fortunately for my wallet, I resisted (UNfortunate for my taste buds and stomach), and walked out of Trader Joe's with only the necessities... (and some cinnamon sugar pita chips *shh*).

The whole ordeal, yes it was quite an ordeal to stand in front of the grocery aisle looking at the mangoes longingly but knowing full well I had already been spending too much money on food recently, made me wish I was already working and making real money! I can't wait till I'm making muchos dinero and don't have to live the student, scrimping lifestyle. And my luxuries aren't too extravagant (I think), I just want to be able to spend on good food and not have to budget at the grocery store.

In other news, the reason I went to Trader Joe's (for the first time in many months) was to buy their fresh pizza dough. Ben and I made pizza tonight for dinner, and brought it over to the Tseng's! Tonight, Ben was master chef and I was sous chef. We came up with BBQ chicken, apple, onion pizza with 3 different cheeses. BBQ chicken was Ben's idea, and the apple slices were mine. The foodie in me thinks the sweetness of the apple will complement the spicy and tangy bbq sauce perfectly! Mmhmm... Recipe below! Bon appetite!



BBQ Chicken, Apple, Onion Pizza

Pizza dough (We used Trader Joe's herb and garlic fresh dough)
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2/3 c. BBQ sauce
1 chicken breast, pan seared until just pink in the middle
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 apple, thinly sliced (We used Fuji tonight)
5 white mushrooms, washed and sliced
3-4 c. cheeses (We used a mixture of cheddar, Parmesan, and Mexican blend)

Directions:

1. Rest pizza dough (per instructions) for about 15 minutes on floured surface. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 
2. Cut chicken into chunks, cook chicken at high heat in pan and add 1/4 c. BBQ sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked, and sauce clings to chicken pieces. 
3. Pull and tug (we found that worked better than rolling out the dough, because the dough was so springy) pizza dough into circle-shape, about 12 inches in diameter. Lay pizza dough onto pizza stone or large baking pan. Rub olive oil into dough surface. Spread remaining BBQ sauce across pizza surface. Sprinkle 2 c. cheese, then add toppings of BBQ chicken chunks, onions, apples, mushrooms, then sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until center of pizza is no longer doughy. 

The Result:

Edges are not burnt, merely, I was not too neat
in spreading the BBQ Sauce on the bottom!

Missing Mare, our photographer!