Cheesy Taco Pasta

Tonight was one of those use what you have left in the refrigerator and pantry kind of nights because I haven't made it to the grocery store...yet. I had a pound of ground beef that needed to be cooked and a few other ingredients to help throw together my own version of a taco pasta dish. I didn't go by a recipe, however I'm sure it is much like several I've previously read. I get tired of using recipes because they require too much focus with little ones running around and asking for this or that. So whatever I can make with as little mental focus, the better. This option is the healthiest, but it was very tasty.

Cheesy Taco Pasta 

Ingredients: 

1 lb of ground beef 

1 small jar of salsa

1 can of chili beans

taco seasoning (pkg or two tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning) 

one box of cooked shell pasta

1 8oz pkg of cream cheese 

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese 

Brown the meat, add the salsa and taco seasoning (all while pasta is cooking). Add half the cream cheese to the meat and half to the cooked pasta until it is all blended. Add 1 cup of the shredded cheese to the pasta. In a baking dish place one layer of the meat, then a layer of the pasta, then meat, then pasta, and then lightly cover with cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. You could easily mix everything together and totally skip the baking option, but I like the way it all settles together when it is baked. Enjoy! 

iPhone pictures are not that appetizing, but this was a really great, filling meal. Although it is not one I recommend to dieters or those on the 24 day challenge. I love these flavors and cheese. I choose to eat more greens during the day so I can enjoy a few meals like this once and a while. 

Uncomfortable

I like to believe I have an incredible amount of faith and trust in my unseen God. As church planters we have to have a certain measure of faith that goes beyond simply believing in Jesus. My faith has been tested and stretched to great lengths in the past three years. Jesse and I have taken huge “Leaps of Faith”, not knowing 100% where our feet would land or even if we would land on solid ground. God has been faithful to provide and to guide us along the right path; helping us even when our decisions were not always the wisest. He has seen us through our mistakes and our successes.

I find it is the buildup to the great leap, over what looks like a death trap, which is the most difficult time.  The jump itself is very freeing. Once landed safely over the canyon, you can settle into a special comfort in Jesus’ saving grace. However, it is actually in that comfort zone where it can get sticky. Things get into a flow, life is a little simpler, prayers (if they are still being made) become less desperate, and you may even think “Okay, I’ve got this under control.”

Then that day comes. You are finally listening to the gnawing at your heart to pursue more, to do that thing you’ve been putting off, to finally forgive that offense, or to contact that person you’d rather not see again. A decision has to be made…to stay in the comfort zone, to tiptoe on the edges, or gear up and leap over yet another death trap.

Ironically the death trap is not that canyon you are fearful of leaping over. The death trap is the comfort zone. It sucks you in and confuses you. It can hold you captive like quick sand. The comfort zone is where the enemy wants you to hang out for an extensive time. There you will never be all that God has called you to be. Your faith will never increase, your character will never sparkle, and your dreams will never come to your doorstep.

While some days I really long for comfort and the easy life, I recognize I will never truly be satisfied in the comfort zone. It is better to live uncomfortable and pray desperately every single day. I have seen firsthand, my life, the life of my family, of God’s church and ministry; all depend on my desperate and uncomfortable connection with Jesus. It is an openness of staying weak so He can always be made strong in me. It is an openness that pushes me forward to do things that make my flesh scream. It is a brokenness that recognizes there are no promises of tomorrow without the desperation of today.

I dare you to leap over your personal death trap and live uncomfortably.

“We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done, while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-10