Lamb & Fresh Rosemary

Over the weekend, I found this recipe, via Pinterest from DiabeticLiving.com, for Tuscan Lamb Chop Skillet. 

My mother, Janet, loves to embrace every opportunity to encourage the attributes of the Proverbs 31 woman into me, my sister, and our girlfriends. We would always giggle as mom would pick up some exotic espresso blend from the store, for example, and quip, "Proverbs 31 woman!" My mom was referring to, "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." (Proverbs 31:14) While we giggled at first, it has become a beautiful example to all of us to not only try new foods and flavors, but to choose good quality foods and take pride in bringing them into our home to prepare for our families. 

On Monday David needed a break after he finished his first law school final, (Yay!!) so he offered to accompany me to the grocery store. I love it when David comes with me because he knows where everything is. 

I miss the quaintness of Trader Joe's in Atlanta. I never needed a list, I knew where everything was, and you couldn't beat the prices. But, there is no Trader Joe's here, so I deal with it, make a list, and clip coupons. We do have a lovely little farmer's market down the street that I try to get most of my produce from. This week we were thrilled to see they had fresh rosemary (which I needed for the lamb) and were impressed that they came from the cashier's grandpa's garden. 

We love supporting local business, and since Arkansas is such an agricultural state, we love that we have a farmer's market so close where can buy food grown here. 

After we stopped into the farmer's market, we went across the street to Kroger. I was absolutely tickled to find the BIGGEST apples in the produce department. 

HUGE! As mentioned in previous posts, my family has spent several holidays in Orlando, FL. The holiday season and these apples took me right back to Downtown Disney and Universal Studios! Both destinations always have the yummiest chocolate/caramel covered apples, which are also quite large. I was so tempted to buy a couple to bring home and attempt covering with caramel and chocolate... But, I'm trying to stick to what's on my list these days to help stay on budget, and caramel/chocolate covered apples definitely weren't on my list. 

So, on to the meat department! 

While David perused the fish selection I started hunting for lamb. I knew Kroger had some because I'd seen a coupon for it. Finally, I found some little lamb chops just as David came walking up with some fresh tilapia. He looked at them and asked, "Why are we having lamb, again?"

I said, "I'm being a Proverbs 31 woman."

He smiled, took the lamb, and placed it in our cart along with the tilapia. 

We finished shopping, and managed to only make one extra purchase which hadn't been specified on my list (Dr. Scholl's inserts for my shoes for NYC- love them!).

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I really don't have enough experience under my belt to just adapt a recipe or play with it as I'm cooking. It's best for me to just follow the recipe exactly as it is and modify it next time. David, as usual, took charge of cooking the meat, while I handled salad and the tomato/bean/rosemary stewed side. 

We were so pleased with how it turned out!

I will make the tomato/bean/rosemary part again, but the lamb could easily be replaced with something less expensive. 

Regardless, we had fun together making something new with ingredients we don't usually cook with (lamb and fresh rosemary). 

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There are so many studies on becoming a Proverbs 31 woman. After all, "bringing her food from afar" is definitely NOT the only thing she does or is. 

But, I love that this passage refers to food as part of what she does because food is a part of any person's day every day. And, I've learned that when you're a wife it's important to have food available that your family likes and is good for them. 

When I was single, I could get away with just having tomato soup, hummus, and cereal on hand. But, it's different when you have a family. I love that while we giggled as young girls as my mom picked out strange looking fruit or cooked up a new kind of sausage, all the while quoting Proverbs 31, our mother was instilling that foundation in us as future wives and mothers. 

So, no matter what kind of budget you're on, I encourage you young wives, moms, and yes you too single gals, embrace this part of the Proverbs 31 woman. Pick out something new to make in your home instead of the usual every day. Your husband and family (and roommates) will appreciate the gesture as you communicate effort and caring, even if they giggle.