Cooking Endeavors: No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Bites

In the afternoon around 2:00 I always start to get a little rumble in my stomach. Today I decided to throw some things together for my own recipe to cure my hunger!

 No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Bites

You Need:
*1 heaping tablespoon of Molasses or honey (I prefer molasses)
*1 heaping tablespoon Nutella
*1 heaping tablespoon of Peanut Butter
1 small box of raisins
1 packet of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal

*Honestly, I didn't really measure. This is an estimate of what I think I probably ended up using. I just added what I thought looked right and added a little of this and that until it tasted right and had the consistency that I wanted.

Mix all the ingredients together and add more molasses, Nutella, or peanut butter if you want to get it to taste just right for you. Roll into balls or skip that step and just eat it straight ;) Makes about 6 balls.

Cooking Endeavors: Crock Pot Beef Stew

Beef Stew has long since been a family favorite recipe. It's incredibly easy and you can practically sit back and watch it make itself.

Beef Stew

What you need:

1 large can of whole, peeled tomatoes

2 large onions

6-8 red potatoes (or 2-3 russet potatoes)

6-8 carrots

1 lb of beef cut into strips (I just buy the beef already cut up)

1 clove of garlic

oregano

crushed basil or 2-3 basil leaves

chili powder (optional)

season all (optional)

brown rice

1. Pour the tomatoes into the crockpot

2. Toss in the meat on top of the tomatoes and turn the crockpot on high

3. Cut up the potatoes into quarter sized pieces(no need to peel them) and throw them in on top of the meat

4.Chop up the carrots and onions and pour them in on top of the potatoes.

5. Finely chop the clove of garlic and sprinkle it on top. Sprinkle oregano, basil, chili powder, and season all over top of the crock pot mixture (I don't measure, but it is probably about 1 teaspoon each)

6. Put the lid on the pot and cook for 6-8 hours

7. In the last 30 or so minutes of cooking, prepare the brown rice. Serve over rice with a nice slab of butter for best results. ;)

One thing to note is that it is important to put the vegetables and meat in the crockpot in that order. This way, the things that take longer to cook are on the bottom and the things that don't take as long are on the top.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Feeds: 4-6 people, depending on serving size

(Not pictured: meat, red potatoes, season all, chili powder, & tomatoes)

(before cooking) ENJOY!!! I know I will tonight!

Worship God with Your Body

Imagine that my birthday is coming up. You think long and hard about what to get me and you finally decide to make something for me. You hop in the car to Michaels and while browsing you remember that I like to write and draw. So you decide that a journal/sketchbook would be the perfect gift for me! You buy a blank journal, some scrap booking paper, ribbon, and even some stickers. When you get home, you work for hours to make me the best journal that you can. You've thought about my favorite flowers, animals, colors, and incorporated all of them into the journal. My birthday finally comes around and you are so excited to see my reaction to the gift you had worked so hard on. You're smiling as you hand me the wrapped present, but your smile quickly fades when I open it and say,

This is ugly. I wish you had gotten me something else.

As rude and selfish as that response may seem, it struck me that I say this everyday. Whhhhhhhaaaat??? Yes, and so do you. Every time that you look into the mirror and say, "I wish I didn't look this way," "I wish I was ___________(thinner, stronger, smaller, bigger, you name it!)" you are complaining to God about a gift he made for you. Granted, maybe you haven't taken care of the body that he gave you. Maybe you've taken that journal and let it gather dust or let your kids use it as a coloring book. So what? Instead of staring at yourself in the mirror and complaining, get up and do something. God gave us each a body to use to worship him. Be grateful that God has give you another opportunity to worship him by using the body that he gave you. Isn't that a crazy thought? Just like you would be happy if you saw me writing or drawing in my journal, God is pleased when we use our bodies and keep them in shape. Here are some great ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life!

1. Walk around while you're talking on the phone

2. Need to spend more time with your kids? Go for a walk or a hike instead of popping in a movie this Friday!

3. Skip the drive-thru! Park and walk in to get your food.

4. Park in a far away parking spot at the grocery store so that you'll have to walk farther.

5. Take the stairs

6. Instead of going to a movie with your buddies, go on a bike ride, or play tennis!

7. Buy an inexpensive pedometer to track your steps - you should get 10,000 per day! Try to beat yourself.

8. Do squats while you brush your teeth :)

9. Do calf raises while you wash the dishes

10. If you have to go up the stairs to get something, go up an extra time.

11. See how many jumping jacks you can do when commercials come on TV.

12. If you are at your kids soccer game, pace back and forth! You'll look like a really involved parent and get exercise :)

Ways to worship while you work out!

1. Make a list of things you are thankful for when taking a walk.

2. Listen to great music! http://www.spiritfitmusic.com/ has some slower tunes and http://christiandubstep.wordpress.com/music-downloads/ has some faster paced stuff!

3. Pray during your warm up and cool down

4. Memorize scripture when you're doing yoga!

5. Listen to sermons during a trip to the gym.

All in all, be grateful for the body that you have and worship God by doing your best to use it as often as you can! Be encouraged that every day is a new day. If you struggle with it one day, his mercies are new every morning! You can't change what you did yesterday, but you can take charge of today. http://www.bhg.com/health-family/fitness/workouts-programs/25-easy-ways-to-get-exercise/#page=4

My Soul Pants After You

Running in this heat brings a whole new meaning to the phase "thirsting after God." My best friend Melodie and I were talking today after a run about how running is such a good metaphor for our Christian walk. Think about this...
When I run in nice cool weather, I usually don't need water until maybe the fourth or fifth mile. Even then, I am very thirsty but I could keep running for another mile or so.
However, in this heat I need water after about the fist mile. And when I say need, I mean NEED. As in that sip of water is the only thing that is keeping me going and is pushing me onward.

In life, when things are going great we don't think about how much we need God. We can keep going on our own for quite some time without being refreshed in his word. However, when something happens and things get a little rough, we realize how much we need God. We realize that when life begins to beat down on us from all sides that he is the only thing that has really kept us going the entire time.

Even though it's so much harder to run in the heat, that is what we should remember when we're running in cool weather. Just because you don't feel thirsty doesn't mean that you don't need water. Your body can get so easily dehydrated without you even realizing it.

In the same way, we should continue to refresh our minds and spirits with God's word no matter what is going on in our lives. We still need his constant presence in our lives even if we don't crave it. There are times in my life when things are so rough that I know if I don't call out to Jesus I won't make it through the next hour. But then there are times when I forget that He's there and when I forget to call on him. I still need to seek him in those times when I don't feel that I "need" him.

Why? Why should you call on him if you don't feel like it or if you think you can get by without him? Because he is the Creator of the universe and you should desire to find out all you can about the one who loves you more than anything. Because you wouldn't want to be friends with someone who only came to you when they needed something - why would you treat God the same way? We wouldn't have a breath without him giving it to us. He deserves our every praise. Even when you think you are doing it by yourself, you still wouldn't be alive without him. He gives you every moment of your life, why would you not want to give it back to him?

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. - Psalm 42:1

"Christ"mas?

This is the time of year when everyone gets just a little bit more excited, often times for no apparent reason other than the fact that Christmas is just around the corner. Unless you're an Ebenezer Scrooge, you can't deny that opening a gift on Christmas morning next to a brightly colored tree, surrounded by the people you love makes you at least a little tingly inside.

If you want to be nit-picky about it Christmas did in fact have pagan origins. If you google "The origin of Christmas," you won't find anything that tells us that it began with a celebration of the birth of Christ. But in my opinion, every day should be a holiday celebrating the Savior who died to forgive our sins. Why not take a day that is supposed to be the happiest day of the year and give it back to Christ? One of the things that Jesus does best is take things that are sinful and turn them into things that proclaim his glory. That's what he did with us. It seems quite appropriate to take a holiday that was originally sinful and turn it around in celebration of his name.

In the days leading up Christmas, read scriptures foretelling the birth of Christ. When you're opening gifts on Christmas morning and giving presents to loved ones, use it as a time to remember the gift we have in Christ. Read the story of his birth for devotions that day or even with your family before you open presents. If you have children (or just a sweet tooth), bake a birthday cake for Jesus! I encourage you to find small ways through out the day to give glory to God for the grace that he has given to us.

God, You are Faithful!

This morning, God used a simple message from church to reach my heart. Today we were talking about God as the Lord of Hosts. We started off with several obscure passages but ended up with the well-known story of David and Goliath in I Samuel 17. A lot of times when it comes to the more "popular" stories in the Bible, I tune out because in my pride I think that God can't possibly have anything new to teach me. Today God showed me how very wrong and prideful I am to think such a thing.

One of my biggest struggles right now is my finances. Every time a new semester rolls around, I go through a cycle of worry and prayer, asking God to provide for me. I have a hard time trusting him and believing that he will, despite the fact that he has provided for me countless times in the past. I worry about paying for books, tuition, and supplies for art for weeks. Time and time again, he always blows my worries away with a laugh and shows me that he is there for me.

Today we read these verses that caught my attention:

You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of host... This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand!

I Samuel 17: 45-46ish

David is talking to a freakishly huge giant with big muscles, and even bigger weapons. Goliath could have squashed him like a bug, but here he is standing up to him and telling him off. The people on the sidelines must have thought he was insane! And yet he wasn't. Why? Because he understood something that Goliath didn't. Victory is not determined by the size of your enemies, but by the size of your allies. God was on his side! When the armies of the living God stand up behind you, there is no way that you can fail. Romans 8:31-32 sums it up by saying,

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

God, the creator of the universe and sustainer of all things, the one who sent his own son to die a brutal death on a cross just so that I could have the opportunity to have a relationship with him, is taking care of me. THAT is the God that I serve. He can and he will provide for me, excedingly and abundantly beyond all that I could ever ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:20).

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

We are so undeserving of his grace and mercy! But what an amazing God we serve. These are words from the original hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson. They truly convey the richness of God's grace.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.