Meals as a Mrs. ~ Meatballs from Leftovers?

This is a follow up posting from the Chicken with Red Pepper Cream Sauce dinner a few weeks ago.  I had some leftover Red Pepper Sauce that Katy and I decided would be put into a recipe we made up after dinner!  I followed her suggestion of picking up some meatballs, placing them into the crockpot with the leftover red pepper sauce (that looks really orange in the pictures below for some reason!), a can of cranberry sauce, and why not throw in the rest of the minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce that was also left over from that other dinner?!

On a whim, I also added a few small pieces of chicken that were left over to this hodge podge of a meatball and sauce medley!

After 45 minutes to an hour of cooking, it was time to serve up the meatballs on toasted buns.  Unfortunately, I was unable to eat the meatballs as they had been made with sesame seeds but I was able to eat the chicken.  The sauce was very flavorful and a bit spicy!  I would probably add another can of cranberry sauce to the crock pot to help sweeten up the sauce but Adam seemed to enjoy it as he prefers spicier food more than I do.  I would definitely try this again but with turkey meatballs or other meatballs not made with sesame seeds in the future!

 11 months ago, Adam and I completed our Engaged Encounter as part of our Pre-Cana counseling for our wedding preparation for our church.  One of the prayers we came across while on retreat was this one:

Lord God, Creator of Life and Love,
You have brought us together
in a rich and sacred trust; 
for this we thank you.

As we prepare for our future together, 
we pray that your Creative Spirit
will be with us,
strengthening our commitment, 
supporting us in the dreams we share,
and guiding us through all 
the seasons of our life.

With your grace Lord, 
may our marriage be rooted in love
and blessed with a fidelity that sustains 
us in all our joys and sorrows.

May we listen to one another attentively
and be willing to share what is deepest in our hearts.
May we grow old together in peace and contentment.
And may our married life truly reflect 
the wonder of your love and forgiveness.

We pray Lord, be with us, now and forever.  Amen.

I pondered these words from the prayer last night as I watched my husband sleep while sleep eluded me.  I'm so thankful he's here with me and for the life we're living as we try out new recipes now while the cooking is still fun (as I joked with a colleague at work), as we figure out what makes each other tick (and what irritates the other person), as we dive into a new series on Netflix as we unwind from a busy day (Cheers!), and as we encounter the joys and sorrows each day brings us.  I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else and am so glad things happened when they did and how they did (if you're still waiting for the something/someone you're waiting on...don't lose hope!!).  Earlier today we thumbed through the scrapbooks and photo books from our various trips in CA so Adam could see some of his homeland since he was missing it (good thing one of us takes so many pictures eh?!).  It was fun reliving those memories and reflecting on how different this upcoming year will be compared to the times depicted in the various photographs.  Yeah, I'm feeling so incredibly blessed and beyond grateful for the man in the kitchen window I prayed for last night, the night this photo was taken, as well as on so many nights before he entered my life in October 2013.  Can't wait to see what we cook up next....after a grocery run that is!