Today

Today...
-I had to go back and locate the part that fell off of my car on the way to church.  This resulted in making me late to church, but I found the part and I did finally get to church!
-I took a nap instead of eating lunch as I was far more tired than hungry.
-I finally made tortillas after intending to do so all spring and summer.  They turned out very well!
-I confirmed that yes, I must really be getting sick again...the sore throat, tiredness, decreased appetite have now been joined by low grade fever...sigh.
-Giving God thanks for the day, all it has held and still holds, His faithfulness in meeting every need, sustaining in all things!

"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Fall Semester 2012

Here I am at yet another school year. I have been through an intensely busy summer, with absolutely no break or vacation.

Honestly, I am physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted after an intense summer and no break.  However, I also know this is the way God allowed things to work. I also know His grace is sufficient and that He meets every need.  If I lack something, then I obviously don't need it right now.  Because, He is sufficient for all, there is no cause to worry about the school year or how worn down and burnt out I am.  Instead, I must give Him thanks and praise for carrying me through the summer and rely on Him for strength to go forward.  

Recipe: Cookie Dough Smoothie

A “healthy” cookie dough smoothie was one of my relatively recent experiments that turned out quite well! This is actually two separate recipes and both are great on their own.  First make the cookie dough and allow it to freeze.  Once frozen, it can be used whenever desired for smoothies, ice cream, or nibbling!

The cookie dough recipe was loosely based on a recipe I saw…it looked like a cross between chocolate chip cookie dough and shortbread cookie dough…so that is what I did…along with a few other twists I have been slowly incorporating into some of my cookie recipes.

Smoothie recipe…you may ask?  Sorry, it doesn’t exist.  This is one that I just dumped things together, turned on the blender…and the result was amazing.  Thus, I continue to just dump in the same set of ingredients (most of the time-sometimes I get creative and try other things). 

“Healthy” Cookie Dough Smoothie

Make cookie dough and form into small balls.  Freeze.  Make smoothie.  Gently stir in some cookie dough balls (this is going to be arbitrary-thus to taste!).  Pour into glass and enjoy!  Of course, the cookie dough will interfere with the effectiveness of a straw for those who like to use straws for smoothies. 

Actual “recipes”

Recipe 1: Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
tried/created 7/24/12

½ c butter, softened
½ c oil
1 ½ c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 ¼ c whole wheat flour
1 t salt
~1 c mini chocolate chips (~ ½ 12-oz pkg)

Cream butter and brown sugar, stir in oil and vanilla.  Stir together flour and salt and add to wet ingredients-mix well.  Add chocolate chips and stir in.  Shape into balls of desired size.  These can be “bite-sized” for cookie dough snacking/desserts.  Or, these can be made very small to add to ice cream or smoothies. Note: dough will be crumbly.

Recipe 2: Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
disclaimer: not an actual recipe!

Frozen banana
Peanut butter (I use natural)
milk

Break the frozen banana into chunks and place the chunks in a blender.  Add a spoonful of peanut butter and pour in some milk.  Blend until desired consistency.  If too thick, add more milk. 

Enjoy!

Pictures! (Yes, I know the order is backward, but I'm too tired to deal with it now. Also, please ignore dates/times-they are incorrect.)

Finished smoothie!

 cookie dough on top of smoothie

 Smoothie

 Blending

 peanut butter on top of banana

 frozen banana

 cookie dough!

 little cookie dough balls, heading for freezer