Pickle Pants (& a discovery)

Yesterday I opened a jar of pickles & juice got all over my pants. Eww.

Did you know pickles are a super low calorie snack? They do have plenty of sodium though, so don't eat a jar for lunch or anything.

Speaking of food, I have a new yummy snack - 100 calorie packs of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen butter cookies! WAY YUM! I know some nutritionists don't like the 100 calorie packs, because they don't have many nutritional benefits, or whatever, but let's get real - sometimes you just need a sugary snack, & better to eat only 100 calories of it than more! Plus I love love love carbs, in any form (bread, crackers, cookies, cake, muffins, most sugar in general), so I got really excited when I discovered they are truly yum (& won't go straight to my hips :-) ).

I am in organize mode! I have been trying to transform our dining room-turned-study into my personal office, while also trying to clear out what we don't need/use in there & in Toby's room (aka the junk room, also our future baby room), so we can simplify & get junk up in the attic instead of around the house. It's quite the task! But I am motivated so I must run with it while that feeling exists. I hope to start painting/working on our bathroom after we get back from vacation, so I think that's my next project... it will be quite the transformation I think, so I will definitely put up pictures when it's done (but don't expect that to be too soon!).

I found a great new blog - Mom Advice (there is also a link to the left). She puts up great homemaker stuff, mom stuff, also posts where there are free giveaways (such as yesterday, a code for a free movie from redbox.com). Go explore!

what a stud

I have to brag.

Yesterday Josh got his second raise in 5 months!!! We were both very surprised but very thankful!! He's only been with the company a little over a year, but they have taken notice of not only his hard work, but the fact that he cares about people & of course is super friendly, & they have made it obvious that they are very impressed with him & want to invest in him because they want him to move up quickly. I'm so proud of him! He loves the Lord & his coworkers know that & I know God has HUGE plans to use Josh in his company.

I also got a raise earlier this week because lately I have taken on more responsibilities with the church. I have been encouraged & excited about my job after some recent blah-ness, so I'm thankful for what God is doing with that.

So, we are going to dinner to celebrate tonight! :-)

I just ate a really good nectarine. Mmmmmm!!!

A couple things, & banana pudding

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I have been pretty busy, believe it or not! I went to a two-day conference last week. It was a leadership conference put on by the Willow Creek church in Chicago & we watched it here as a simulcast. It was really good.

For those of you who have been praying for my knees (thank you for asking how I'm doing!), they are doing slightly better. I can do the elliptical now for 30 minutes which is really great since it used to hurt to do it for 5. I walk on the treadmill every day, & today, I just wanted to RUN. Back in the day when I used to run 2 miles during my workout, I never would have thought that if I stopped, I would miss it. But I do. So often I wish I could just take off & run. Today I succumbed & ran a quarter of a mile, fast! It was great even though I couldn't push it more than that. I'm continuing to pray for healing!

I do have a new recipe. It is called Aunt Betty's Banana Pudding (from allrecipes.com). I made it for life group last week. It is really yummy, & pretty rich, so serve up smaller portions than you usually would.

Aunt Betty's Banana Pudding

2 (3.4 ounce) instant vanilla pudding mix (I used french vanilla)
1 cup milk
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz) container sour cream (I used fat free)
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (again, fat free, I promise it won't take away from the taste)
6 bananas, sliced (I thought that was a lot, I used 3)
1/2 (12 oz) package vanilla wafers (I used almost the whole package, everyone knows that is the best part!)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix and milk and stir until mix is dissolved. Refrigerate 15 minutes, until partially set.

Stir condensed milk into pudding mixture until smooth. Fold in sour cream and whipped topping. Fold in bananas.

Make a single layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish. Spread pudding evenly over wafers. (I repeated this process, with about 4 layers of wafers & pudding). Crush remaining wafers and sprinkle on top. Refrigerate until serving.

Yum!

Soup & short bread (ohh I giggle!)

So, I tried two new recipes Monday. One for a soup, out of my Four Ingredient cookbook, & another for Irish Soda Bread (recipe from one of the blogs I visit, click here for the recipe & pictures of the bread he made). I love trying new recipes; I even love it more than redoing recipes that I know are good. So trying TWO new recipes at once?! I was having a blast in the kitchen.

However.

To me, in the world of cooking, there is nothing more disappointing than trying a new recipe that you think will turn out great, & it doesn't.

So, two disappointments in one day stinks!

Let me start with the soup.

Essentially, the recipe in the book called for vegetable broth, roasted garlic, boiled potatoes, & parsley. I threw in some carrots & leeks. I let it simmer a good while, because I like all the flavors to mingle, & used lots of salt, pepper, & even eventually hot sauce to give it a kick. It was okay. It was bland; none of the flavors really... expressed themselves. I'm going to add ground beef to the leftovers to get some meat in there (the lack of was Josh's #1 complaint). I won't remake it.

Now for the bread. Here's the recipe for Irish Soda Bread (again, from a blog):

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and oats in a bowl.

2. Mix in the buttermilk and form a dough.

3. Shape the dough and place it on a baking sheet or in a loaf pan.

4. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes (the top should be golden brown).

I don't have a bread maker yet, so this recipe appealed to me (plus it did not involve kneading, PLUS plus the picture looked really yummy). So I made it. It smelled really good baking that is for sure! I pulled it out aaannnddd.....

It had risen a full 1 1/2 inches!!!!!

Um... alright!

It tasted good, but I had a bit of a problem with the size. After asking the good cook man owner of the blog, he suggested my baking soda may have been expired - indeed, it was to expire soon (altho it hadn't expired YET, but whatever).

I will for sure make it again, probably soon, new baking soda box in tow.

Because you didn't get enough last week...

For those of you who read through my post about complaining a few days ago, I wanted to write about what our pastor talked about regarding those same verses this past Sunday.

Either later today or tomorrow I'm going to post about the two new recipes I tried, so check back for that.

You know the two points we focused on in our life group when discussing the verses Philippians 2:14-15. Our pastor mainly focused on something else that I want to follow up on. He did talk about how complaining is always our fault - we complain, sometimes to place blame on something or someone else that is just ruining our day, but it's always our fault:

James 4:1-2 - "What causes fights & quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill & you covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel & fight."

(Again, I must reiterate, it absolutely makes me sick how selfish we really are. We think SO HIGHLY of ourselves that we must complain when things don't go our way!)

But what he spent most of his time talking about is what happens when we DON'T complain (because since the Bible says not to do it; usually good things happen when we are obedient; so God has a purpose for telling us not to complain).

First, we look very very different from the world when we don't complain. Everybody complains. It can even help "bond" people, if there is nothing else to talk about - complain about something ("can you BELIEVE this heat??" "my husband did this thing again, ugh, men!", etc). So not complaining makes us stand out, which is what we're going for - not looking like the world, but looking like Jesus. Accepting situations & thanking Jesus for how good He is - IMAGINE the stares!!

A few other points... God is able to work & receive glory when we don't complain. Taking our eyes off ourselves lets God use us! I'm sure you have noticed, as I have, that when we are being selfish, we create a bit of a barrier for God to work.

I become aware of what God is doing - again, that whole taking-our-eyes-off-ourselves thing, & being aware of the conditions & needs of others shows us what God is doing or wants to do around & through you.

I will experience the presence of the Holy Spirit when I don't complain. It's hard to be selfless, & it's hard not to complain, since it's our nature to do so. But when we fight that nature & obey the call of God on our lives, we experience joy & peace & realize how good He is!

At church we all got bracelets to wear to help us not to complain . When we find ourselves complaining, we are to change the bracelet from one wrist to the next. It's a 21-day challenge. I'm hoping those three weeks will train me to become aware of when I am tempted to complain, & be able to take my selfish thoughts & throw them out the window (or my ear, that being the gateway to my head, to make that metaphor work literally... oh but metaphors aren't literal? Hm).

Note: this is in no way a "positive thinking" thing, like many worldly self-help programs. It's important to know the scripture & do what it takes to become obedient to it. & that's it.

I hope you'll try to stop complaining with me!

go exploring!

I have added a new section to the blog layout - cooking &/or homemaker blogs. Check them out! There are lots of fun recipes to explore, as well as useful tips for the home. I will add new ones as I find ones I like. If you have any blogs or websites I need to know about, please share!

I promise I will start posting recipes soon. I will only post recipes that I have tried & think are worth sharing. Unfortunately, it is much cheaper these days to fix easy meals like rice & grilled chicken & broccoli, or even hamburger helper, so I don't try out new recipes as often as I would like. But I am busting out my four-ingredient cookbook tomorrow night so I'll let you know if it turns out well.