Weekends are insane at our house because of all the volunteering we do at church, especially me. Not only do I have to plan for meals for the family while I'm gone, but also my own meals to take with me too. I find that life is made a little easier on the weekends if I make some sweet bread or muffins to take with me that I can eat as a snack or as breakfast when I'm at church super early. This weekend was an extra long one and I wanted to make some banana bread to snack on but I didn't want just plain banana bread. So I thought why not jazz it up and you know it was so good and easy to do too.
Chocolate Banana Bread with Sunbutter Swirl Banana Bread recipe from Pamela's Baking Mix 3 Tbs coco powder 1/4 cup Sunbutter Orginal Spread ( you can use peanut butter or any nut butter you like)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Make banana bread according to the recipe from Pamela's. Using a measuring cup, take out 1/3 cup of the batter and set side. Add the coco powder to the remaining batter and mix until well blended. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Mix together the reserved batter with the Sunbutter until well blended. Dollop the Sunbutter mixture on top of the batter in the loaf pan. Take a butter knife or spatula and swirl it around in a figure 8 pattern to mix the two batters. You don't want them perfectly mixed, but well enough to get some Sunbutter into every slice. Bake for 1 hour as directed on package.
Have you ever had to cook for someone who just had a baby or just got out of the hospital and you want to bless them with a meal and they are not gluten free? I'm part of the meals ministry at my church so once in awhile I have to cook for someone else.
I try to keep my kitchen 100% allergy free. My husband has a small cupboard that he keeps his peanut butter, mac n cheese, soups, chili and snack items in that are off limits to the rest of the family. However, when I cook for someone else I don't always want to do the standard meat and vegetable dish, because sometimes that coasts more. Lets face it, pasta and other wheat based items are cheap. In addition, those who are recovering from a surgery or birth need their carbs. They need the energy to make it through 2 a.m feedings and the like. So I like to make homemade mac n cheese, pudding pies, and casseroles. So what do I have on hand to make these easy meals for someone else, while keeping a GF kitchen?
dried pasta, usually macaroni
hamburger helper or rice-a-roni (boxed items like these are very covenant and keep the pantry clean)
graham cracker crusts
pudding mix
condensed milk
For Non-Gluten Free mac n cheese it is very simple to make. I just cook the pasta as normal (1lb bag) and drain. Melt 2 cups of cheese into a sauce pan with the condensed milk then pure over the top of the pasta and mix together in a oven safe casserole dish (aluminum if giving it to someone else, that way you don't need to ask for it back). Put more cheese on top and bake in a 350 degree oven till hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted on top. Pretty simple, huh? I usually do this for someone who just had a baby who has other kids, that way I know the kids will eat like it.
I have made my Mexican Lasagna before and that goes over really well too. I also like to make a dessert and I like doing non bake pudding pies. Graham cracker crusts usually come in a two pack or buy-one-get-one deal. To make a non bake pie it is very simple to do with any box of pudding mix. I like to make the crust on the pie golden brown by brushing the crust with egg white that has been beaten. Bake in at 375 degree oven for 5 minutes. You can use any pudding mix, just mix as directed on the box then place into the crust (once cooled if you are going to brown it) then refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I also found this great site that tells you how to make a pudding pie with some fun extra ingredient to jazz up just plain pudding; it's called Sky-is-the-limit pie.
So now you know my secrets to cooking for others while keeping a clean allergy free kitchen.
There is a verse that has been bugging me for awhile, it is Proverbs 19:7
A poor man is shunned by all his relatives--how much more do his friends
avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be
found.
Everyone knows someone or has experienced it for themselves, the hardship that has come in our economic state. It saddens me because it is so easy is our way of life to let people fall into the cracks. It's something I've experienced and seen first hand. With the way our world works, if you don't keep up with the Jones' and keep up a certain level of appearance it's easy for people to just forget you and not reach out to you in hard times. It takes a lot of money, it seems to be friends with people, and it shouldn't be that way.
Think about it. To be part of a MOPS or small social group it can be expensive to someone who can't afford to pitch in for a snack that everyone can share. Even more expensive if you have food allergies like we do, when you have to bring separate snacks, because you can't eat what is being offered to everyone else. You can't just go to the zoo or museums because of the cost of tickets. Play dates can be hard for those with food allergies too, because bread can cost so much and very little is picnic friendly, at least it is for my picky eater. If you have to share a car you can't go many places if your spouse needs it for work. You have to mindful of how frequently you drive and the distance because of gas prices. You can't afford a baby sitter. All of these things makes it very hard to be social in a world that is hurting so much by financial stress. Can you see how people can just get lost or forgotten? Someone just stops showing up to play group or bible study and no one follows up or asks where so 'n so.
Then there is the shame the other person feels because they can't go and do things with their friends, they can't pay to take their kids to the zoo, they can't drive the car so far because their spouse needs the gas. They try to do what they can by trying to host play dates at park near their house or offer to baby site so their children can have a friend over for a few house.
Our pastor this past week was talking about depression and how to help cope with depression or help a loved one who is currently suffering from depression. One of his points what that community is vital and I agree. When I had PPD after my daughter was born I felt better just getting out of the house and trying to make at least one play date a week. It was so hard to get up and get dressed and do things, but once I did I felt better. But the point that I'm trying to make is that those who suffer because they've lost their job or their spouses hours got cut or they were promoted without a pay increase and are now finding themselves in a place where the world seems empty and lonely. When going through hard times a friend are so vital and much needed, but often not available. Why?
We need people we are created that way. God gave Adam a wife because he was lonely. Having someone to talk to and share the good and bad with is necessary to not feel alone in this world and to see the hope that is going to come. When facing a hard time it is easy to be so wrapped up in all the bad and difficult things going on that the world just seems dark and empty. Where as a friend can shine some light and point out the good and the hopeful.
Those who are in need just don't need food and help with bills, but friendship to know that they aren't alone. It can be difficult to stand by someones side when they are facing a battle so hard that their seems to be no end. At first people are willing to help and offer support, but as the trail goes one, people start to drift away and become worn out because the trail just goes on and their seems to be no end. It's hard to be around someone who always seems to be a downer, but if they can't see the positives in life, how can they ever see good if someone doesn't stick to their side and show them the light?
God tells us to endure the trials of life, James 1:2-4. He also tells us to carry each others burdens Galatians 6:2. When Paul received aid he said it was a "fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." Philippians 4:18. Helping others and taking care of those in need are commands from God. He tells us to take care of each other and to help those in need. When so many people are facing challenges and unending trails (as it appeasers) it is easy to see how so many are depressed and feeling hopeless in their circumstances.
We should all take time to find out how someone truly is doing and how they are feeling and befriend them. If they need help, help them, but most importantly be their friend. Don't let someone you know go through the trials of life alone. And messaging them on Facebook or Twitter doesn't count. Get some face to face time or at least call them on the phone.
I have finally found two cookie recipes that my family loves. I've never been a great gluten free cookie maker, but now that I have two recipes under my belt, we are all happy. I love how these two recipes work together and I can make them back to back.
The first cookie is the Flourless Fudge Cookie from King Arthur Flour. I didn't come up with this recipe and I make it as the recipe states, except I double it because we loves these cookies so much. Here is the link to these sinfully good cookies: Flourless Fudge Cookies.
The next cookie is called Egg Yoke Cookies. The name says it all. I like these cookies because the Flourless Fudge Cookies when doubled uses 6 egg whites. Now what am I to do with 6 egg yokes? Make cookies! I had to alter this recipe to make it GF and healthier. Here is the link to the original recipe. To make this recipe healthier I use bean butter.
I love bean butter. It is the best thing I've discovered on Pinterest. You take beans, any color, but white works the best over all, and you cook and puree them and freeze them in per-measured amounts. You can used canned beans too. It's a 1:1 ratio for the bean puree to butter. I've used it in cakes, cookies, muffins, doughnuts, and crepes. It makes my baking fat free, low in calories and healthy with a boost of protein. Here is the link for how to make bean butter.
Gluten Free Egg Yoke Cookies 1 cup butter or Earth Balance or bean butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 egg yokes or 3 whole eggs 2 1/2 cups Pamela's baking mix 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp almond extract (You can use any extract you like. The original uses lemon and orange. I think I combination of almond and orange would be divine.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together sugar and butter. Note: if using beat butter it doesn't really cream like normal butter or Earth Balance does. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Add in baking mix, baking powder, vanilla and extract of your choice; mix until well combined. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon to drop cookies onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar over each cookie. Bake for 10 mins. Let cookies cool in pan before transferring them. Makes 3 dozen.
A few days ago I talked about how stressful and crazy last Easter was for me and how those memories, in a way, hunting me. To read what I had said, click here.
This week I have been working on my Break Free homework, remember I mentioned this back in February, if not you can find that here. This weeks homework was about the past and breaking free from it. As I mentioned before, parts of last years I wanted to break a way from, yet at the same time it was a beautiful time because it confirmed in me the direction the Lord has set before.
First things first, I had to let go of those weird feelings I had in association to Easter last year. I had to let that go so I could embrace what God has already done. Did you get that? Not what he is planning to do (although that still counts), but what he has already done! I had to take time to let go of the bitterness that had grow up inside me that I was in denial that was there. I had to forgive the guy who taught be how to run the lights at my church then quit. It's a fact that it happened, but he didn't do it on purpose to hurt me or to give me a burden that I didn't feel ready to hold. I had to forgive those who where now placed under me, because I felt they had some resentment now having me as a leader instead of the other guy. I had to forgive myself. That was the hardest part. It's easy, for me anyway, to hold things to myself to let myself beat me up and not let myself forget the things I have done. I had to let go of those things and forgive myself. Once I did all that the weird feeling about last Easter faded away. It is creeping back up as I look back as I write then. But I just tell those thoughts creeping back into my brain that those are forgiven. I released those feelings, they no longer have a hold on me!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
I've done a lot of odd jobs in my life. I have experienced more things in the first 30 years of my life then most people do by the time they are twice my age. Some things are bad, most for good even if they may still may be considered odd. I use to wonder "Am I ever going to use any these talents and skills that I've learned over the years?" Skills like, music, art, and a hidden love for technology. It wasn't until I got this position that I started to see all these little skills and life experiences come together in my light director duties. Things from knowing music: parts of music, time signatures, bpm, and understanding the band when they talk out their songs in musical terms. Knowing art: color, light, shadows, and movement of the eye. These are just to point out a few, but there are more like managing people skills, technology skills, drawing, 10-key, document design, and having a freaky good memory. I always wanted to be apart of a media team, way back in my high school days, but there was always a "boys club" mentality to it and it wasn't until this moment in time that the doors opened up and allowed me to be "one of the guys." Then all of these past skills fell into place and are no longer void back in the recesses of my mind and time. They were not left for not to be useless experiences. I still have more to give, but it is up to God's time for when they will be put to good use and for what purpose. I will do as he calls me to do, and I have to say I never thought I ever get a change to be on a media crew for a church and I never thought it would be on lights and I never thought I would love it and get this much enjoyment.
However, if it wasn't until the death of Jesus on that cross then the death of death when he conquered the grave that any of this would be possible; the forgiveness and the purpose of life and skills. By him doing this he opened the door for me to approach the throne of grace, the throne of the almighty God and ask for forgiveness and receive it. If it wasn't for Jesus I would still have to slaughter a bull and do it every 5 minutes because I'm a messed up human. But Jesus paid for my sins once. All I have to do is ask, receive and remember that God forgets my sins.
"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts." - Psalm 103:8-18
Here is a little music video to leave you with. This is David Crowder Band and their song How He Loves. It is one of my favorite songs by them. I just love how this video makes it look like the lead, David Crowder, is on his laptop video chatting with someone about the love Jesus has for us as he walks through this house. I hope you enjoy and Happy Easter.
*Update*
Here is the video from my Pastor's sermon that goes right along with what I said in this post. I hope you find it helpful and encouraging as I did.
Have you ever seen VeggieTales' "An Easter Carol" DVD? It's one of my daughter's favorites and we got it for her last year for Easter. It's about why the hope of Easter is so important through a Charles Dickens' sort of way. Last Easter marks a very pinnacle time in my life, and I feel like the memories of that time are in a way hunting my thoughts.
I've talked about my church duties some, but not is a lot of detail. I run the lights at my church. I've been doing this for almost two years now and I was promoted to Light Director last August. It's not a paid position, but I love it, I absolutely love what I do and making art with light.
Lights at my church, that is the soundboard in front
Last year about a month before Easter things got a little crazy. The man who taught be how to run the lights, my mentor, got burned out and quit. It was kind of sudden. I was left with two people in training for the lights with upgrades in the works and Easter fast approaching. I was feeling a lot of pressure and stress. I remember staying at the church till 10 pm one night to re-program all three services to incorporate all of our new upgrades. I have to stop right here for a moment and give major thanks and kudos to our worship pastor and crew who stayed up all night for a week putting in all the changes; I really can't complain about my one night. I only mention that night because that is when my insomnia started. I was so nervous and anxious about what all these new changes for the media team meant. I remember getting an email asking me to work all three services, normally I worked Saturday nights. I thought I was being asked to work because everyone else requested the holiday weekend off. Turns out I was asked because at the time I was the most experienced light operator. I know this, because one of the guys in training was working camera that weekend, and the other came up to the media booth to say hello.
My roll changed that weekend. I went to being one of the light operators to the lead light operator to light director, all in 5 month period. Since that time, not only did my title change, but I have written 2 manuals for the board, one map, and worked 8 months non stop till we got a bigger team. I also got to go to the Seeds Conference with the crew and learn how to do my job better.
There is just something about that weekend that has just stuck with me and for some reason those memories keep rising to the surface. Parts of this memory I would like to put behind me and move on. The parts of the stress and feeling like the world was dumped on my shoulders is the part I like to let go of. When I look back at Easter last year, I get a strange feeling. I don't know how to describe it. Our pastor talked, just this last Sunday, about our past and how all the things in our past make up our future and how God can use us no matter what is there. Part 2 of this post will be, hopefully, some lessons on how God is doing just that in my life. God lead me to this position. I wanted a place I could volunteer at my church and God pointed me in this direction. I never knew that I could love my volunteer job as much as I do. Even on my worse days I love being behind that board and worshiping my God. At times it is stressful and crazy and a lot of hard work, but it's all for my God and that is what matters most. Paul the apostle went through all sort of crazy things to spread the work of God. Everything from being in prison, to escaping a city via a basket over a wall, and suffering all sort of hardships. You can find all of this in the books of Acts, Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy, Titus and
Philemon. I figure if Paul can go through all of his hardships to make a difference for Christ then so can I.
It just amazes me how different life was a year ago. I am so thankful to God that I am still doing that I am doing and getting the chances to improve my craft for him. This year could be another pinnacle year with my husband's job, God willing. But this year I'll just be acting as producer and making sure everything runs smooth for all of our Easter guests.
Chocolate zucchini bread is a favorite of many, but I just don't feel like baking a whole loaf and it's getting hot so I don't want to heat up the house too much. So I thought why not pancakes, instead of a loaf? It would still be healthy and tasty and a great way to vegetables into my daughter. I also came up with a quinoa salad to serve with it because I felt like the meal needed some protein, but I didn't want to thaw some meat. If I can help it, I try to make a few vegetarian meals each week. I find it's a great way to stretch the food budget and make sure we get the right number of vegetables and fruits into our diet. Plus they are great to make for a picnic or a meal on the go, you don't have to worry about meat or dairy spoiling. Here is my blog on normal Zucchini Pancakes.
Chocolate Zucchini Pancakes Doubled pancake recipe from Pamela's Baking Mix (any pancake mix will do, you need 2 cups of mix) 1 medium zucchini shredded and drained 3 Tbs coco powder
Mix together the pancake mix, but leave out the water or milk till
the very end. Add the shredded zucchinis, coco powder, and mix together. Slowly add in
the water as you mix the batter. Depending on the moisture from your
zucchinis, may need to change the amount of water you use, even after
letting your zucchinis drain. Once the batter reaches the consistency of
a regular pancake mix, you can go ahead a make your pancakes on a
griddle over medium heat. Makes 4-5 servings.
Quinoa Salad with Grilled Vegetables and Avocado 2 cups quinoa cooked and cooled 1/2 large white onion sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 pepper sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 avocado cubed 3-4 Tbs olive oil 2-3 Tbs lemon juice salt and pepper to taste
Grill onions and peppers, keep the onions together if you can. Grill on each side for a few minutes until a nice chard color appears. Remove from heat and rough chop the onions and peppers, and add to the quinoa. Add the avocado to the quinoa too and toss the salad together. Drizzle on the oil and lemon juice, taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Makes 6-8 servings.
