Throwing in the towel...

Today we had our annual Christmas Boutique at our church! What I am posting is one of the things I decided to make. Last month I attended a leadership conference that was, well, life changing. One of the classes I sat in was "balancing you home and ministries'. Who does't need to sit in that, right? Well the wonderful Jeannette Walls (Pastor Randy Walls' wife) spoke and mid way spoke about when us moms have the "whoa is me" syndrome. You know when the kids don't appreciate what you do for them, your tired, your husband hasn't said what a great job you do.... those days. She went on to say that when that happens to just think about Jesus. He knew His destiny, He knew His friends would betray Him and deny Him, He knew that He was going to die an unjust death...yet He still knelt down and washed the feet of those same friends. Who are we to think that we deserve more or better then Jesus did. Our husband, our children are our first ministry. Jeannette also said "This is not a dress rehearsal, this is the real deal." We don't get a second chance to show THEM the love of Jesus and impact their life to love and adore our wonderful Father.

In my quest to remember this myself, DAILY, I decided to make this towel. I wept as I made it and decided to make more and have them at my boutique sale. I want to comment that the burlap on the towel is pretty significant as well. In getting inspired I decided to find the right fabric, a towel for "washing" and then burlap. Burlap, due to its coarse texture, it is not commonly used in modern apparel. However, this roughness gave it a use in a religious context for mortification of the flesh, where individuals may wear an abrasive shirt called a cilice or "hairshirt" and in the wearing of "sackcloth" on Ash Wednesday. Mortification of the flesh literally means "putting the flesh to death".

Wow, really? Like I said, I wept as I was sewing. Even in crafting, you labor, you get burned, cut, pricked, you bleed, which is a great reminder that what we do out of LOVE is truly meant to be done IN love and even when we do get hurt, the end result was all worth it. Sometimes while crafting, with hurting hands, I have a smile and I can't help be giddy about how it will turn out, not even noticing the pain after a while. Can't that be my attitude all the time when I get "pricked" in my day to day life? I hope this towel is a reminder for me as I stare at it in my kitchen.

To those that bought the towel.... enjoy! I hope you too are reminded of this daily.


(By the way, I will post later on the graphics. DIY print on fabric with spray mount glue and your home printer!!)

Mango Pancakes

We have been on a mission to make the best pancake lately. We love breakfast and brunch. Here is one that we just made and I couldn't wait to post. I have had great response to the Banana Pancakes we have been making, but when my mangos were going to spoil, I though, let's see if it can make a pancake. NOW, please understand that anything WITHOUT flour will taste different. This is primarily egg based, so it will taste like eggs. I have made a coconut flour pancake that I will also post soon. That recipe makes a great waffle as well.

Ok, so here it goes.

Gluten Free-Dairy Free-Grain Free-Sugar Free 

Mango Pancakes 

•1/2 cup mango puree

• Stevia (sprinkled / small amount)

• Orange extract (few drops)

• 2 eggs 

• Coconut oil for cooking 

= makes 5 pancakes 

* double the recipe for more! 1 cup of mango was about a med size mango.

Puree one mango in a blender. Make sure it is not clumpy. It needs to be smooth. 

Pour in a bowl and add the sprinkled stevia and orange extract. and whip with a hand blender. Add the eggs and whip together until its all blended and well mixed together. Pour coconut oil in pan and heat at a medium heat. Pour mixture in to make small size pancakes (you can make larger ones, but they are harder to turn). Pancakes will bubble, but not like a regular wheat pancake. turn over when it turns a little darker.  

Presto! They are absolutely delicious. So far my boys have loved all the other ones we have made... but these made their eyes bug out and my little ones yelled "I love them!". 

Enjoy!!! 

Putting back the ORDER in our life

As we are trying to finish school (and still enjoy it), I have to admit that we have not been sticking to our 'routine'. I think we all benefit from having a routine. As we were getting started I realized that I had not done our Character book that we just bought called Get Wisdom!: 23 Lessons for Children about Living for Jesus. It a great little book that teaches kids how God

wants us to live and has great hands on activities you can do. Last week it was on Orderliness. Well, we failed to finish the small little lesson so we did it again this week. It was very fitting because this week just flowed into a very heartwarming week, for me. I think kids don't really realize they are misbehaving until they see how "thankful" and "grateful" they are when

prompted by God's touch.

This was the activity from "Get Wisdom". It was clear as day for my son to see that this sentence would not make sense if it was not in order. It led us into a loooooong discussion about almost everything in our lives. Even as we "pray" for their baby sister they would love to have. My youngest asked if I could "buy him a baby sister". Well, it's not all that simple babe! They understood that it is in God's timing in His perfect order.

Off to more order in our week! We went on our nature walk and they boys picked their favorite leaves that had fallen, taking great care to leave anything that is still alive and growing. We took pictures of their favorite flowers and birds we saw. We studied them and wrote about them in our Nature Journal for science.

And..... some of the best ORDER of the week! I love this blog and just held my breath when I saw her post for this day

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/04/how-to-help-raise-grateful-kids/

I have been thinking, as I am sure most of you have, "what am I doing wrong?". Well, our little book "Get Wisdom" redirected us a couple weeks ago, in realizing that we needed our ORDER back. Thank you Jesus for Your Wisdom and Your Grace!

Perspective can always adopt gratitude — and gratitude always parents joy. - A Holy Experience

Every day I have asked my son to write on a sticky note what he is thankful for. I rearranged our chore/correction/scripture wall and used my black board to allow him to post his notes. I printed a "thank you" picture and placed it at the top. If you go to the link above, you will also see a link to print out a booklet she calls "7 Gifts - good & perfect". I have been writing what I am thankful for on this. I was able to share with my son what I was thankful for as he was writing his.

This was the ultimate heart warming moment for me. To look back at our week and see what my son was thankful for. Mama and Papa (us), Awana's (Church kids group), our house, Jesus and God, and lastly our walk today.

Today from my daily devotional, "Streams in the desert".

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him.(Psalm 25:14 KJV)

There are certain secrets of God's providence He allows His children to learn. Often, however, at least on the surface, His dealings with them appear to be harsh and hidden. Yet faith looks deeper and says,"This is God's secret. You are looking only on the outside, but I look deeper and see the hidden meaning."

Remember, diamonds are found in the rough, and their true value cannot be seen. And when the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, there was nothing ornate about its outward appearance. In fact, the outer covering of the thick hides of sea cows gave no hint of the valuable things inside.

Dear friend, God may send you some valuable gifts wrapped in unattractive paper. But do not worry about the wrappings, for you can be sure that inside He has hidden treasures of love, kindness, and wisdom. If we will simply take what He sends and trust Him for the blessings inside, we will learn the meaning of the secrets of His providence, even in times of darkness. A. B. Simpson

........

Proverbs 31:13-18 "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands....She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

Carrot Almond Cookies

I found this recipe online from Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations: Carrot Cake Caveman Cookies. However I added a little something at the end. Here is what I did... hope you enjoy!

Blanching the almonds: Boil water, place almonds in bowl, poor boiled water in bowl just covering almonds.

Drain, rinse with cold water, peel skin off almonds. It takes less time then you think. I did it will homeschooling in the morning and then let them sit to dry.

For the recipe:

• 2 Cups peeled and cut carrots
• 2 Cups Almonds
• 1 Cup Shredded Coconut
• 1 Tsp Nutmeg, plus some to sprinkle on after
• 2 Tsp Vanilla
• 2 Tsp Coconut Oil
• 3 Eggs
• Cinnamon to sprinkle after
• Coconut crystals to sprinkle after (or your substitute)

Process:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F
2. Combine all of your ingredients EXCEPT your eggs in a food processor, pulse it until allthe pieces are small but still a little chunky (this is from his original recipe. BUT because I made my own flour/meal, I made this by first by pulsing the blanched almonds it in my Vitamix. I then placed the carrots and pulsed and added the rest, except the eggs.)
3. Combine that mixture with the eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix well
4. Using your hands, form the mixture into "patties" and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. The size of the "patties" are up to you, or you could make the into bars. I would say also make sure you pat them down as flat as you would want the cookie. It doesn't melt/flatten down in baking as a regular wheat cookie. I made mine like a thick meat patty width, but flattened the top.
5. Bake until done, around 35-40 Minutes ( I only did 35 min.)
6. While cooling, sprinkle some nutmeg, cinnamon and coconut crystals over the top.

Here is the finished product!!

Here they are with the added sprinkles of nutmeg, cinnamon and coconut crystals.

Hope you enjoy! These are sugar free (if you don't add the sprinkled sugar), gluten free, dairy free. Most people don't consider eggs dairy. Also, be careful if there is a nut allergy.

Proverbs 31:13-18 "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands....She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

Eggs are my best friend

So I love breakfast. Especially eggs. I can eat them at any time of the day. When I run out of eggs, it's a sad sad day. I have dug deeper into healthy food, and am slowly venturing into a grain free, gluten free (a la GAPS diet) meals. If your household requires you to not eat certain foods, you understand why. My reasons, one of my sons and my husband have psoriasis, I have joint pain / arthritis. I'm glad I love healthy food!


So today I made things I wanted to share. Eggs over easy with Banana pancakes and scones.

Banana pancakes : 1 ripe banana mashed, 2 egg, mix/whip them together until well blended. I also added a little vanilla extract and some nutmeg. You can leave it out. No sugar needed!!

Medium heat. Cook in coconut oil (or anything you normally use). Turn over as you would regular pancakes.

(just pancakes shown)










Scones: Almond flour. I'll stop here. I wanted to add that I've tried store bought flour and today I made my own almond flour in my vitamix. I love how my flour made these taste and feel like real scones. Big thumbs up!



















2 cups Almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 egg
2 tbsp agave or Stevia (if you wish. I only add half of this if I do add it at all. Dried Blueberries come sweetened.)

375 degrees

In one bowl Combine dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl combine wet ingredient.

Mix wet into dry ingredients and kneed with your hands until all is blended well.

Put on a cookie sheet. Make two circles 1/2 inch think. Cut each circle into 4's or 6's like a pizza. Place on parchment paper. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown.

I originally got this recipe from civilized caveman cooking but I altered it by making my own flour and no chocolate chip. Check out Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations: Blueberry Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones:

For my topping, I added Greek yogurt, Stevia and orange extract and whipped it.

Boutique!!

Come out to Calvary Chapel La Habra for another boutique. Just in time for Mother's Day ;)