Here I am Again!!!

Sooooo I haven't posted on here in FOR-Ever....and you know what?! I realized something on Friday, I realized I'm a lot more productive when I'm happy. My house gets cleaned, I don't skip showers.... And lately I have been getting out of my funk, (besides my smelly funk :P) and I'm feeling a lot happier these days. A new chapter in my life is about to start. God is good, and all is as it should be, and Sarah is creatively cooking again. She also set her kitchen on fire, and she is now speaking in the third person....but that's a story for another day.

Moving along.

So tonight we have our first gospel community since before Christmas, and we are having a pot luck dinner.    Two of the guys were bringing main courses and I asked them what they were bringing so I could coordinate a side dish accordingly. Brian said he was bringing "Caribbean Jerk Meatballs" sounded good. But I had no idea what that was and couldn't find a recipe. So I figured I'd go with the word "Caribbean" and see what I couldn't come up with...and wouldn't have a ton of ingredients because yet again...I'm pretty broke....come on pay day!!!

I found a recipe for Caribbean Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup.  I read the recipe...seems simple and inexpensive enough...but then it suggested side items, and I just went a little over board with that and ended up with Soup, Sides with Tortillas and Caramelized Pineapple and Coconut with Caramel Macadamia Nut Frozen Yogurt...whoops! And I wasn't even sure how the soup would turn out based on the reviews on epicurious.

Well the Epicurious site was down, and I was desperate for the recipe. Rachel Ray had a similar recipe online so I ended up kind of sort of combining the two and then adding my own spices. So it ended up being the Original Recipe with tomatoes and Cayenne Pepper with a dash of red pepper flakes and pink salt and pepper to taste. I think it turned out pretty good. Not what I'm used too....but I could get used to it. It's pretty yum! Will post pics soon!