Saturday, March 30, 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Banana Nut Cookies

These are very tasty and pretty darn good for you!  You only need a few ingredients. Keep in mind you can add or leave out items as you want for your family.

I really enjoy the recipes at Skinny Taste.  She has some wonderful ideas to make things healthier and they really do taste wonderful! I got this recipe from her and added a few things to make them more appealing to my family.


Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1 cup uncooked oats
dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts (you could also use pecans if you prefer)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips


Gather your good stuff ingredients.


First mash your bananas. Then add oats and mix.


Add little or a lot if you really love cinnamon.


Next wash hands and use them to fold in nuts and chocolate chips. 


I only got a dozen cookies out of the batch, because I like at least 2 bites out of a cookie. No one-bite pop in's for this household.

Put on sprayed pan and bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two, then transfer carefully to a wire rack to completely cool.



Don't they smell yummy! Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Bird House for your window

This seems like a great idea in theory.  I decided to see if it would work!

Supplies
Birdhouse
Suction Cups
Hook & Eye
White Paint
Twine
Plastic
Glue

I got a wooden bird house for $4 from Hobby Lobby. (LOVE that store!) Don't forget you can use a coupon to get that even cheaper! Also picked up my suction cups from there as well.


Next, VERY CAREFULLY, cut the back off the house.  You could use a box cutter, but I used a knife. Once I got the knife in between the wood, it popped off fairly easy.


Keep the back to use later as a template! This next step you could really use anything that has clear hard plastic. Use the plastic from your spinach container lid, or from those impossible packing of toys or other items you can't seem to open easily.  I decided to use my laminator! I just ran a pouch through the machine to get the hard plastic.


Take the back of the birdhouse you popped off and trace an outline. Then cut it out!


Use hot glue to place the plastic on the birdhouse.  Don't go too thick just to keep it safe for the birds. Also add a hook and eye to the top.  The wood is soft so it was easy to screw in.


Birds are attracted to light bright colors so I just painted the house white to keep it simple.


Add twine through the hook and eye.


Use your suction cup and hook birdhouse onto window.


Then just wait! 



Monday, March 25, 2013

Chew on this...


This week let’s focus our prayers on who God is. This will fill up more than a week! Not what He has done in our lives, but who He is. This was the focus in the Crazy Love study, especially chapter one. Have we truly thought about how powerful God is? He has the power to create life! We don’t, it isn’t our bodies that do that, He does. Read Nehemiah 9:6 and see how they start their prayer. Do we begin our prayers praising Him for who He is? Think about how great His love is for everyone. No one is left out!!! Can we  say the same about our love? He lowered Himself to this earth and gave His life for us. That is what the Easter season is all about, God and His love for ALL! Thank you Lord for the Glory of You, Your Son, and Your Spirit! Thank you for Your Love for all of us! Happy Easter! ~ Frances


Saturday, March 23, 2013

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for discipline.

Hmmmmm..... that can be very hard for many of us to say.  It can really sound crazy, but I'm thankful for it.  There was definitely a time in my life when I would have NEVER said I was thankful for discipline.  For today, I can say that confidently I am thankful for God's discipline He allows in my life.

There was a time when I would react like an Israelite and want to go back to my slavery in Egypt.  Sometimes the growing pains are so hard I just want to live in the past, in my time of ignorance. It feels like I'll be wandering in the desert forever.  I have to remind myself that God is leading me to my promise land.  He is a god who keeps His promises.

Genesis 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Exodus 3:17 "And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-a land flowing with milk and honey."

I am currently studying about Jonah.  As this study first began I remember thinking, why on earth do I need to do this right now.  I know even if this is all I walk away with is the discipline area, it will have been worth it. Although I'm sure I'll get much more from it.

The author of my study got me to think about a time of discipline in my life.  I began to first think of my own children and how I discipline them and why I discipline.  It's because I love them and don't want them to grow up to be hellions.  Ha!  Then I thought about God, how and why He disciplines me. What an awaking moment in my heart!  He disciplines me because He love me....and doesn't want me to go to hell.  He desires for me to grow closer to Him and learn His ways and what He wants my life to be for Him. The only way for me to learn all that is through discipline, which involves pain sometimes.  I can promise from that pain, God heals and grows me closer to Him.

Hebrews 12:5-6 "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as his son."

That is why I can say today I'm thankful for discipline.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Fermented Veggies, YUM!

This was a very interesting process.  I was hoping after this my whole family would just be crazy in love with these veggies and gobble them all up! Was thinking, "What an easy way to get veggies and more probiotics in their systems!"Not the case at all!!!

Two out of the five of us like these, me being one of the two, feel like that doesn't count.  Don't know that I'll be doing this again for my family, not because it was hard or anything like that.  I get discouraged when at least majority doesn't like something I make.  With all that being said, let's get started so you can try with your family~

I decided to ferment carrots, green beans and asparagus.  I totally CHEATED!!! I purchased the pre-cut veggies.  Yes, I know, I'm so lazy!


I used wide mouth quart jars, makes it little easier for the stuffing process.  Place 1-2 sprigs of dill (is sprigs a real word?!), 3 cloves of garlic and 2 tsp pickling spices in bottom of jar.




In my research, I read several times about placing grape leaves in the jar with your veggies to help them become crispier.  I found it impossible for me to find a grape leaf this time of year so I opted out of that step. 

Next add the chopped veggies to the jar, jam them in like I did, nice and tight! I gathered a helper for this step.


Now we will make our brine. This is very important, DO NOT use chlorinated water because you might get the wrong kind of bacteria to grow in your veggies, YUCK! Be careful!

So per every cup of filtered water add 1 1/2 tsp salt. I found that my quarts held about 2 cups filtered water that makes 3 tsp salt for each quart.

Add the brine to the veggies then put on the top.


Let the fun begin fermenting! They will sit about 3-10 days.  Yeah I know that is a large day range but you just do a taste test to determine when they are fermented to your liking.  The veggies will get tangier the longer it ferments. After a day or so you will notice bubbles on side of jar, that is a good sign it is fermenting well!

I let the air out once a day sometimes twice a day. Keep in mind, pressure is building in the jars, don't want it to explode on ya! I don't know if it will but I did just in case. 

Another side note, my brother told me that the green beans and asparagus will take little longer to ferment then the carrots because they have less natural sugar in them. They may not even ferment as much as the carrots.  He's a professional on this topic, check out him and his wife's products at Ancient Awakenings.

I liked mine after 4 days so then I transferred jars from counter to fridge. Enjoy~

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Easy Bunny Jars for Easter

Aren't these the cutest little jars! Love how simple this craft is, seriously (we all say that a lot around here) anyone can do it.  You could put anything or even make any size you want. Use it to store your candy or snacks even.  My jars are way to small for that.  I just wanted little extra decoration with glass. 

I found the jars and bunnies at Hobby Lobby.  The bunnies were actually in the dollhouse section.  If doing larger then think outside the box because you will be painting them so really doesn't matter what it's made up.

I started by using gorilla glue to adhere the bunnies to the lid.  If you have experience with gorilla glue then you know a little "expands" a long way to take it easy on that stuff!



Then painted each lid with acrylic paint and any color you choose. I painted 3 coats.  I would recommend after the 2nd coat to let it set over night before painting the final coat.

Lastly, put a coat of mod podge on the top to act as a protectant.  Depending on how many "fingers" you have in your house touching it will make a difference in how long the paint will hold up but the mod podge should help some. 


Here is the final result! Pretty cute huh!?!?





Monday, March 18, 2013

Chew on this...


Remembrance is what Nehemiah’s prayer in chapter 9 is about. We have to remember what God has done in our lives in order to confess it to others. The author states, “The older we get the more history we have with the Lord, meaning we can reflect on more of His faithfulness in our lives. If you do it right, remembrance is like compounding interest for your faith.” Are we compounding interest? Have we taken time to look at the interest we have gained over the years? The good thing about this interest, is it isn’t confined to just our own lives. We can remember and share what He has done in other people’s lives as well. Take time this week to remember ALL that God has done in our lives. Pray, talk with God about what you remember and confess it to the world! We might be surprised at some of the stories we have forgotten because we haven’t taken the time to remember His faithfulness.

Saturday, March 16, 2013