Recipe Mondays: Banana-Nut-Chocolate-Chip Quick Bread

If you are like me, sometimes you just hanker for a sweet.  If you are like me, sometimes you want something sweet that is quick and easy to make.  And if you are like me, you often want that sweet to be not tooo terrible for you on top of being quick and easy to make.  It's a high order.  And it's not always possible.  But one recipe that I like to go to in this mood is the Banana-Nut-Chocolate-Chip Quick Bread.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming this is "healthy."  But I am claiming that this isn't as bad for you as a lot of other sweets that you could go for! :)  Check it out - you might end up finding that you make it fairly often -- if you are like me.

Banana-Nut-Chocolate-Chip Quick Bread

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Saturday Smiles - Don't Have a Pretty Smile?

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        As you all should know by now, I am a huge advocate of changing the world through a big bright smile - but what of someone who doesn’t have a pretty smile?  Maybe you think you look funny when you smile.  Braces, crooked teeth, or maybe even no teeth at all!  For a person with such a problem, it may just be embarrassing to them to smile.

"Look Mom!  No Teeth!"
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My friend, if you have this problem, I feel for you.  Self-consciousness about such a problem can be a very huge thing to overcome, but let me encourage you to not let it stop you.  If you have read any of my previous smile posts, you should well know by now just how powerful a simple smile can really be.  It’s a gift that the Lord has blessed each of us with and what a difference it can make!  Be encouraged by this, my friend; some of the most beautiful smiles that have encouraged me throughout my life have been from people who didn’t possess the prettiest set of teeth!   When a genuine smile is given, it is beautiful and encouraging no matter what state the person’s teeth may be in.  So let the joy of the Lord fill your heart and glow from your face in a smile!

Do We Work to Please Him?

My husband is in the Coast Guard, and it is rather common that he is gone for long lengths of time.  Whenever he comes home from an extended time away I try to do a few things (I try to do much of this on a daily basis, but even more so when he has been away for a time).  These “things” include making sure the house is clean, there are fresh sheets and towels, dinner is prepped early so we have time to talk and be together, and that everything is nice and orderly so that when he comes home he doesn’t have to worry about any of it.  Does it always happen? No.  Do I make an effort to do it? Yes.  

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 But, I don’t usually stop there.  I also try to look nice for him.  I usually find a shirt that I know he likes and top it with a sweater (because I am always cold), and find a skirt that looks nice with the top.  I paint my toenails and sometimes my fingernails.  I take a shower and make sure my hair looks nice.  Why? Because I want to be attractive and pleasing to him. I want him to look at me and be pleased and to know that I want to please him.

While going about this routine, it got me to thinking. My husband is the most important person in my life, followed very shortly by my son, who is very shortly followed by my parents and siblings. I work so hard to please them.  I strive to look nice for my husband. I strive to make this house that we live in pleasant for my husband and son and welcoming to family and friends. I spend hours thinking of ways I can do it better. But do I do all of this for my Lord?  Do I evaluate my actions to see if I am pleasing to Him? Do I dress in ways that please Him – in a modest, wholesome way? Do I see that His house, my heart, is clean and not filled with clutter that is not pleasing to Him? If I strive so hard to please my husband (and son and family and friends), how much more should I strive to please God?

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Some of it goes together.  By working to please my husband, I will be pleasing my Lord.  By maintaining my house and guiding my son, I will be pleasing my Lord.  By making an effort to reach out and be hospitable to family and friends, I will be pleasing my Lord. But there is so much more that should be done to please Him, and there is so much that we can do on a daily basis.

I still am going to prepare my house and myself for my husband’s return as much as I can.  But to add to that list, while I am doing it, I hope I will remember that there is One who is even more important – our God.  It is He who we must ultimately please.

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Natural Homemaking: Cleaning (Part 2)

Welcome to the second installment of Natural Homemaking: Cleaning! This just goes over a few more basic "recipes" for natural cleaning supplies! Here we go!

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Toilet and Bathtub Scrubbing Compound
2 cups baking soda
1/2 cup liquid soap (I use whatever is generic and cheapest)
3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp vinegar
4-5 drops Lavender or Tea Tree Oil

Combine the above ingredients and then pour into a squeeze bottle of some sort. I use an old dishsoap container as it is what I had on hand. This compound I use on anything porcelain...so I also use it on my porcelain kitchen and bathroom sink. 

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Carpet Deodorizer
1/2 Cup borax
1 Cup cornmeal

Mix together.  Sprinkle on carpet.  Let sit for 45-90 minutes. Vacuum up. (Some people have told me to be careful not to do this too often as sometimes the borax can damage a vacuum - so just want to throw that warning out there. If you are really worried about it, look it up in your owner's manual. I haven't had a problem, however.)

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Am I...Fat?

In this day and age I have known so many girls who struggle with various eating disorders all because of our society’s sick impression of what is beautiful.  Beautiful girls in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and yes…even 16, 18, and up are all tormented because we don’t meet our society’s and media’s impression of beautiful – you know, those size 0 and 2’s. 

Now, I am not condoning being overweight. I think that it is important to take care of yourself, including eating right, exercising, and being healthy – all of which attributes to a healthy form and figure which means you are far less likely to be overweight or obese.  But there are many who have actual health issues that contribute to weight gain and they cannot stop it or help it.  And you know what?  They are still beautiful.  It is beyond sad to see them look at themselves as not beautiful just because of their weight.

And then there are the perfectly healthy girls who are at the weight considered normal for their height and they consider themselves “fat.”  I cannot tell you how many people have looked at me and asked, “Am I fat?” and when looking at them you would think they are healthy, active girls who are just the right weight! But because they don’t meet our society’s and Hollywood’s twisted view of size 0 or 2 and being a complete stick figure they don’t view themselves as a beautiful girl created by Him! 

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 While writing this, I was talking to one of my friends about this article who is about the same size and height as me.  And it was telling that she knew exactly what I was talking about!  When I mentioned the article’s topic she was like, “Oh good one! You and I are fairly fat you know…” Now neither she nor I believe that.  But in our society’s eyes…we would be considered overweight, and possibly fat, because we didn’t meet the “beautiful” or “skinny” look that Hollywood has made the idol.  We are of average height and average weight.  Also known as healthy.  And how God created us.

Many of us focus so much on our weight.  When holidays roll around so many are stressed because they gain weight.  Now there are two things that could help that stress.  One would be to eat a little healthier and the weight gain would be less drastic.  And two would be to realize that the weight is not THAT big of a deal.  When a girl is pregnant, there is so much focus on how much weight she gains.  Some of it is for a health purpose, but much of it is actually because of our society’s perception. After a girl has a baby, one of the first things that the new mom often thinks about is “How am I going to lose this weight?”  Then there is the vexation as it comes off “too slowly” and it almost becomes a race among women who can see who can lose it first.

I’ve been there.  After I had my little boy, I often thought about the weight gain and how to lose it.  But I began to realize that it would come off…and if it didn’t, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  What was a big deal was being healthy.  So I worked to be healthy.   And after several months, the pounds came off.  But if it had taken longer or even if I had not lost all of it…that would not have made me fat or ugly.

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There is so much more to beauty than weight.  We are a created piece of God’s handiwork.  That does not mean we need to starve ourselves or make ourselves sick just to meet society’s twisted perception.  And while I do believe it is good to make yourself healthy and work to eat right…there is a far more important beauty aspect that we must tend to as it is far more precious.  What does our character look like?  Are we concerned about what God thinks?  Or what our society thinks?  Our character and what God thinks is what truly matters…. 

So next time you are looking in the mirror, look at yourself from that perspective.  Maybe you need to lose a few pounds…but that does not mean that you are fat or ugly.  Look more at your inner character and see if there are ways you can improve yourself by His standards and then secondly by standards that are healthy.  Not by the unhealthy, twisted standards of our society.

Recipe Mondays: Breakfast Bars

In my pursuit of finding healthy breakfasts, I stumbled across this website with these yummy breakfast bars.  While I do not usually use them for breakfast, they make great snacks! :)  I like this recipe, because it is also easy to adjust.  You can substitute honey for the sugar and apple sauce for the oil in some cases (though, I've noticed this means sometimes that it doesn't stick together quite so well that way) and you can also add different nuts and fruit and other little things to spice it up! It is not THE healthiest recipe...but they aren't too bad either! :)

 Granola Breakfast Bars

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If you want a much healthier, but slightly different, version of granola bars, I would highly recommend this recipe for Banana Almond Butter Breakfast Bars! :)  It is quite yummy, though it is a little different from the taste I am used to in regards to breakfast bars.

Banana Almond Butter Breakfast Bars

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Saturday Smiles - Just Laugh

Here are a few pictures and quotes that I have found that I hope will brighten your day and make you just laugh!

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A possum broke into an Australian bakery

and ate so many pastries it couldn't move.  

This is how they found him.

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