Week 76: Adding a Little Spice
Pico de gallo to top off the day — and the tacos…

Each Sunday, my wife and I cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
It just felt fresh.
I walked through the produce section grabbing items and checking them off my list as I went. There was the cilantro that felt like it had just been spritzed by the supermarket water misters (that’s my technical name for them). Then you had the bright red roma tomatoes and the layered white onions. A little smile even came to my face as I picked out the jalapenos. The list said two or three. I made an executive decision and picked out two. :)
Then came my favorite part — the steak!
Sarah had told me specifically to get flank steak. So I was on a mission. Now, I’m not sure if my mind was just distracted by all the different cuts of steak in front of me, but I could not find flank steak to save my life. It just wasn’t there! I looked and looked and looked. It felt like I stood there for about an hour. Finally, down at the end, I found a nice cut of steak labeled “Flank Steak.”
Mission accomplished.
Now, we’ve made steak tacos before for Cooking With Sarah. So, we wanted to focus on the toppings a little more this time. So, our real recipe for this week was the pico de gallo, and we wanted to make it fantastic!
Once I got home, we got things out of the grocery bags and started to set up the kitchen area with multiple chopping stations. But, before we started, we said a quick prayer. Like I said last week, it’s a good reminder to us to slow down and take in the experience — together.
Then we sprang into action! I was slicing up the steak and chopping the cilantro while Sarah prepared the tomatoes, onions and peppers. We were movin’! It’s always fun using so many fresh ingredients and making the meal together.




Finally, it was all ready! We put our tacos together, and we topped them off with our homemade pico de gallo. Already it was a colorful meal for sure! Then we sat down together to take our first bite.
Not only was the meal colorful, but it tasted so good! In fact, I even told Sarah that I should have gotten three jalapenos instead of two. The things you learn! It was the perfect way to top off the day — right next to my wife.
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re just coasting through life. Like things are pretty bland. If you’re anything like me, you probably could benefit from stepping back a second and seeing that things aren’t so bad.
But every once in a while, it’s good to spice things up. Change the pace. Do something new. Sarah and I have found this through cooking. But for you it may be something else.
Let me encourage you — pour into your passions. If there’s something you really enjoy doing, dive into it! Even if it seems small to other people, don’t worry about what they think. You do you! You’ll find a great deal of accomplishment in it. More than that, I think you’ll probably learn more about yourself and the world around you. This week, I learned that jalapenos aren’t as scary as I thought!
Sometimes jumping into something new is a little nerve-racking. But, sometimes it’s good to get outside our comfort zones and do things that give us a few butterflies. If it’s something you’re truly passionate about, I know you rock it! The world needs what is inside you. I, for one, am so excited to see what you do next!

