“Thou that hast given so much to me give me one thing more, a grateful heart: not thankful when it pleaseth me, as if Thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.”
― George Herbert
― George Herbert
So today I attempted to make Spinach Manicotti. It actually
didn’t turn out too bad (you can scroll down for some pictures and the
recipe). The best part of making this
recipe is that I got to make it for my immediate family and my extended family
while we are all at the beach together. No matter how crazy my family is one
thing I love is getting together with my cousins at this time of the year.
Proverbs 31:15 says that “She gets up while it is still
dark; and provides food for her family.” This has obvious meanings, this woman
probably really did get up super early to make food for her family. But I
started thinking about what else this passage could mean. This woman’s actions
probably went unnoticed. Because people were not awake they couldn’t see all
the hard work she put into making the food. They didn’t understand the
sacrifice of getting up early and not getting much sleep.
I am by no means a
theologian but reading this I couldn’t help but to think about what Jesus did
for us.
Jesus stood up in the midst of a world of darkness and gave
himself to us as the bread of life. He was/is underappreciated for his actions.
But, both the Proverbs 31 woman and Jesus were ok with being
underappreciated; because they did what they did not to be appreciated. The
woman provided food for her family because she loved them and wanted to see
them being taken care of. Jesus did the same thing.
My whole family thanked me for making the meal I made, and
it felt great to be recognized. I quickly realized how often we forget to thank
those people in our life that “get up while it’s still dark” to help us, and
how often we forget to thank Jesus.
So even though he doesn’t need it, and loves you all the
same, thank Jesus today for getting up in a world still dark to give himself to
you.
Spinach Manicotti
Makes 14 servings
6 Egg Whites
30 oz. Ricotta Cheese
2 pkgs. Frozen Spinach (thawed, chopped)
1 pkg. Mushrooms
4 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 bag Mozzarella Cheese
1 Bag Parmesan Cheese
2 Boxes Manicotti Noodles
2-3 (depending on how much sauce you like) Cans of Vodka
Sauce
Directions:
1.
Preheat your oven to 350⁰. Boil the manicotti noodles
(tip: only cook the noodles for a few minutes, they are easier to stuff and
less likely to break if they are harder)
2.
Sautee mushrooms and garlic in butter.
3.
Mix all remaining ingredients together.
4.
Add mushroom/garlic mixture to the
cheese/spinach mixture.
5.
Stuff the noodles with filling.
6.
Place the stuffed noodles in a casserole dish.
7.
Cover noodles with Vodka sauce.
8.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Enjoy!!!