Celebrating Season

That's what fall is in our house.  Between the middle of October to the middle of November we had 3 birthdays and an anniversary.  Phew.  It's been exhausting but so so fun!  Here are a few shots of our celebrations!

 This little pumpkin is now this big boy!  I can hardly believe it!  He is such a joy to us.  That smile is almost constant and he makes sure the rest of us are always laughing!

And then this handsome fella on the left had a birthday too!  

And then this ^....  Turned into this > 

                                                                                      6 years! 

And finally this ^...is somehow now this >       Our beautiful, sweet, bright big girl turned 4!  

 posing at her princess party

She wanted him to help her.  Love that kid!   

Happy celebrating season to you!!

Hello, Lord

I'm not a photographer...

but these two sweet friends allowed me to capture their sweet wedding day a couple of months ago.  It was a super fun and very sweet day!  Gray and Gabi were both students at Wingate when Clint and I were on staff there.  Clint discipled Gray and I coached Gabi who cheered at WU!  One day at practice she told me she had a dream she got married and I was her photographer.  We laughed.  So, when I got the call from her after they got engaged I was floored!  I am so thankful they trusted me with their once in a lifetime moments!

Dear 16 year old self,

Let me first say, you wont be in high school forever.  I know it doesn't feel that way, but its true.  And you never have to go back.  Not even to the reunions, if you so choose (and you will).  Now, if you'd like, you can go celebrate with some Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge brownie.  It always was your favorite.

These hard years have taught you far more than you know.  They have shaped you and hardened you and you are being primed for someone to come in with a big sledge hammer and crush your life as you know it into a thousand tiny pieces.  I'll get to that in a minute...

For now, soak up every second of cheerleading.  You aren't too bad at it for only starting out last year.  And its fun.  But it is far less important than you feel like it is.  It will however, come in handy one day as a ministry tool (yes, ministry...you can laugh now).

Don't waste your time dreaming about being a zoologist.  It would never work out.  You hate chemistry.  Try writing a little more.  Or better still, cook and clean.  Your future job will be made up of countless hours of those!  The zoologist itch will get scratched with a little girl who loves animals as much as you do.

Your popularity will peak next year.  It will go to your head.  You will lose friends over it.  Its not worth it.  Ask to be taken off the homecoming ballot.

That relationship you're in...get out.  Hes a good guy, sure.  But you are running to men to fill a hole in you that they will never fill.

Don't be so insecure.  Your quietness airs itself as arrogance.  Smile a little more, talk to people.

When Daniel asks you what religion you are, let him explain what he believes.  It will be the start of the Lord wooing you to himself.  Don't settle for the moralistic judge Jesus you have been sold.  There is so much more to Him than you could fathom.

Wear more clothes.  You are beautiful, you don't have to prove it to anyone.  Soon, someone will give you a bit of a makeover, and you will be more beautiful than you could ever imagine.  And it has nothing to do with your waist size or skin color.  This kind doesn't fade.

Believe it or not, you and Chris will be friends again.  Even crazier?  You will be in his wedding.  Seriously.

Girls are not the enemy.  I know you don't believe that, and lets be honest, you shouldn't.  But they aren't.  There are women in your future who will walk beside you in some of your darkest days.  They will redeem this season.

Go on a visit to UNCC.  I know everyone from HS is going there and that's why you don't want to.  But trust me, its worth a look.

You will meet the man of your dreams next year, on the ELHS football field.  The story is a little complicated, but when he talks to you, try to gather yourself enough to at least respond.  :)

Senior week isn't worth it.  Just don't go...mmkay?

About the same time you meet dream guy, Jesus will turn your world upside down.  You will lose friends to car accidents.  You will get sick of being the good girl and try out (very briefly) the opposite lifestyle.  You will realize all your efforts to be good were sinful.  You are just as bad as the class slut.  You will move to APP and 2 weeks into school, you will re-injure that new back issue you have.  You will drive home alone that night on a dark curvy road and open your heart to whatever Jesus wants.  It will be more life altering that you can imagine.  That's the sledge hammer.  Everything hinges on that night.

Sorry to be so serious, I just want you to be ready.  I wish you would do a million things differently, but I don't want your story to be different, at all.  Not an ounce.   Its beautiful, glorious even.  I wish I could say these are the hardest day you will see.  Unfortunately, I can't.  But suffering is the brush that delivers the makeover, and it is so very worth it.  And that night in the car?  It will give you everything you need to make it through the deepest valley.

Best wishes dear Rachel.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Brownies!

Sounds rather decadent, huh?  Sounds like something I probably shouldn't be eating at 1:40 in the afternoon while my kiddos sleep.  Aha!  But...they are special, these guys.  :)  And grain free!

Now, if you're wondering why one would even desire to make grain free brownies (or how in the world its possible!) I was in the very same boat just a few weeks ago.  My autoimmune issues were not as easily solved as I'd hoped and it was left with a tough decision.  Go pay hundreds of dollars for blood tests and hope they are conclusive or try something crazy with my diet.  I opted for the cheaper route (ahem...as is typical for me).

I have researched for more hours than I would like to think to find out any autoimmune answers.  I mentioned before that doctors had only told me to use steroid cream and live with it.  But after a good bit of research I found multiple sources that link grains to inflammation, which is clearly an issue in my body.  This whole "grain free" thing isn't new to me.  I have plenty of friends who have jumped on the Paleo bandwagon and swear by it.  I used to scoff and roll my eyes at the crazy idea of never eating grains or dairy and eating bacon like its your j-o-b.  Now, I get it.

It hasn't been easy, AT ALL.  I love grains.   I love muffins and waffles and bread.  Nearly all of my favorite foods are grains.  However, after a week of (mostly, Ive still had some corn) taking them out, my skin is getting better every day.  it even feels like skin now instead of say...an alligator.  :)

If you have an autoimmune disorder (RA, eczema, psoriasis, etc) I would strongly encourage trying this for a few weeks.  I have been able to function the past 4 days like I haven't been free to for months!  I am hopeful that it will continue to heal as I stick to this craziness.

But thats not what you're here for.  The recipe....

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Grain Free Brownies

1 cup peanut butter (I used half natural, half sun butter)

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  ENJOY with no guilt!  (you could also use almond butter which is what the recipe originally called for...but I'm allergic!)

A sweet reminder to my weary soul...

You open your hand, 

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also hears their cry and saves them.  

The LORD preserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.  

Psalm 145:16-20

REAL food update!

Please excuse my total blogging hiatus!  We have been in a busy season of milestone birthdays, travel and more adjustment!

Rather than abruptly stop the REAL fool posts, I wanted to write a little update on our health changes since converting to a real food diet.  We started this change for a few reasons.  1) the hubs blood work came back less than ideal and we both really wanted his health to be in tip top shape (something needed for bearing the weight of ministry!)  2) I have had a skin condition that has progressively gotten worse in the past few years.  3) for our (and our kids) overall health.

A few weeks ago Clint was able to re-do his blood work and we were BLOWN AWAY.  At the time he took it, we were 6 weeks into eating real food, and he was about a month into Crossfit.  The combination has more than paid off!  His cholesterol is in the normal range now and his triglycerides dropped over 100 points!!  Not to mention his (and my) energy is back and we just feel better!

As for the #2, when we switched to a real food diet I was certain my eczema would go away.  I had heard tons of testimonies that switching to real food had healed peoples lifetime skin issues within months.  However, mine actually got much much worse.  After many weeks of serious discomfort and inability to do some normal household tasks without a good bit of pain, we believe we have found the answer.  I have a gluten intolerance.  Que dramatic music.  Although I am not excited about the changes in lifestyle this means for me, I am so so very thankful to have found the trigger.  And now, with yet another rather large change to our (or at least my) diet, we believe we are on a path to health for everyone.

For those of you wondering how I knew it was gluten...I had eliminated gluten and dairy from my diet (common allergens) about a week ago.  Every day my red, itchy, dry, hot to the touch skin got better.  And on Thursday it was almost "normal".  Thursday night I made (my favorite) beef and broccoli.  The next morning my skin started to itch and get red (I learned later wheat is the 2nd ingredient in soy sauce, oops!).  Later that day I stopped at CFA on a very long road trip.  I asked for grilled nuggets but when I opened the bag they were fried.  Because I had both kids in the car and there were 200 people in line or in the drive through I decided to just eat them.  Big mistake.  Within 24 hours my skin was as bad as before.

I share this because I have been told by doctors that eczema is auto immune and other than steroid cream, there is nothing you can do about it (except avoid hot, and cold; sweating, but work out a lot; get sun, but stay away from humidity; etc).  However, the more research I have done, I have found many people who have links with food allergies/intolerances.  It was worth altering my diet and trying it out because I was so uncomfortable, but I would have never assumed it had anything to do with my diet.  Thank goodness for the internet!  

So although we are in yet another food transition, we are sticking to our real food diet!  We love it and have most definitely benefitted from it in a very short amount of time!!

One year ago....

One year ago today the Lord showed us His grace and goodness in a very real way.  I pray this would lead many hearts to rejoice in His sovereignty, protection and goodness again today.



Her eyes were open unusually wide.  Blood quickly filled her entire right eye and flowed down her face, glass was everywhere. “Rachel, are you okay, what hurts baby?” She couldn’t respond but just stared at me and moved in slow motion with this look of terror and confusion. Eden was screaming and Nias was crying. I placed my hand on her bleeding face, “Rachel are you okay, baby are you okay?” The door was crushed in just over her lap so she couldn’t move. I took off my shirt and told her to put it on the side of her face, she nodded in response. My hand was shaking violently and my phone was covered in her blood.  I looked up at a young man outside of Rachel’s door who began, “I’m so sorry, I just looked at my gps, I’m so sorry are you okay?”  I yelled, “its okay just call 911!” I kissed my wife told her I loved her and that I needed to check on the kids. To my relief they were both still strapped in their car seats. I got Eden out as she had a mouth full of blood but thank God it was just from biting her tongue. A man off the street was rubbing E’s face as I held her and another asked me if he could get Nias out of his seat.  Nias didn’t have a scratch. “Rachel baby are you okay?” “We were just talking...we were just talking...” she replied --Finally she was talking and beginning to cry, she was going to be okay. “Baby its okay, you are going to be okay, you can cry its okay, the kids are fine, its okay baby.” Grayson’s car turns left to avoid the intersection and I see him touch his breaks as I imagine he realizes it is us. I turn to see some friends, Tayler, Phil, and Bolick on the sidewalk. “Eden go to Tay Tay baby.” I race back over to the car with Nias as the medics are cutting my wife out.  “Are you okay baby?” They told me I had to back up but they think she is okay.  I fill out some paper work answer some questions and then me and the kids load up in a separate ambulance.  At this point I feel hopeful because she wasn’t in much pain and her body wasn’t mangled up, seemed like just a cut. I called our parents and finally got to the hospital.
    The kids checked out fine and Rachel suffered only a gash between and just below her temple and right eye. All 4 CT Scans came back negative. No broken bones, no internal injuries, only a bad cut that an expert face-doctor stitched up.  I loaded up the kids with a friend from our home group at church and Eden said, “That man hurt us. He threw rocks at us.” She always keeps things fun. I explained to her that we had a wreck and that those rocks were glass from the windows.  We are now home and recovering.

What happened?

We were on our way to church. Rachel was sharing her testimony, so it was a big day. We took Market St into downtown and turned left on Edgeworth. The kids were jamming out to Lecrae and we glanced back to see them both bobbing their heads (it was hilarious). Then a second or two later we passed through the intersection of Edgeworth and Friendly which are both One-way streets. There is a large house on the corner so there was no ability to see any traffic coming down Friendly, nor could they see us. A young man from out of town, Temitope, was looking at his GPS as he didn’t know where he was going, and never saw that he had a red light.  He said he was going 45-50 mph and I don’t think he ever hit the breaks. He ‘T-Boned’ us perfectly pushing us through the intersection.


Where was God?

My wife is a soldier. Last night as we lay in bed crying and praying she concluded her prayers with, “God we are just so thankful for the great blessings of this day.”  The number one emotion we felt last night was sober, authentic, thankful worship. And that is my main reason for writing this blog. I want you to know of the Providential Protection of our King in 3 very specific tangible and now miraculous ways.

A Week Ago
Nias hasn’t liked riding in the car recently and we have driven non-stop over the last month.  So last week we decided that instead of having Nias’ behind the passenger, we would try to squeeze him beside Eden’s car-seat which was behind the driver, so that she could entertain him.  So for 9 months and 3 weeks of his life, Nias was directly behind the passenger seat where the Ford Explorer T-Boned us. For a little over the last week he has been in the middle of the car instead.  Our son is named after Ananias in Acts Chapter 9 whose name means: ‘The Lord is Full of Grace’.  On the day Nias turned 10 months old, God displayed that He indeed is full of grace and specifically full of grace towards our little man. God orchestrated and ordained our lil man to not like the car over the last month, so that we would move him to the middle of the car, possibly sparing his little life.

Two Days Before the Wreck
    I love music. I am almost 30 years old but I have an amp and sub that was given to me years ago.  It has sat in my office for a while unused.  Friday I had to go do some yard work at the house that we lease to our staff in Wingate (that we bought, in part, with a $10,000 gift that was given to us from a couple whom we had never met. Specific answer to prayer.)  So I decided I’d hook up the speaker     in the CRV for my 4 hours on the road.  Therefore, I moved the kids car-seats to the Passat (that was given to us as an answer to prayer almost exactly 1 year ago.) Why is this significant? Both the CRV and the Passat have high side-impact crash ratings but only the Passat has side airbags. I really believe  that God providentially moved me to move the car-seats on Friday to protect Rachel from worse injury.

For the Last 6 Months
    I don’t know if it has been exactly six months but somewhere near that long, I have had this intense caution that I was going to be in a wreck in an intersection.  I have never been in a wreck before yesterday, but this suspicion was so intense that I told Rachel about it a month ago.  On the way back from Myrtle Beach I was at an intersection and my light turned green.  One car passed through just after it did and I waited for another 2 or 3 seconds and a second car sped through the same light. I called Rachel and told her that about the feeling I had and that I though maybe it was God keeping me from getting in that wreck on Highway 52 (the car was probably going 65 mph and would have hit my side).  Well, maybe God did give me that suspicion for that moment, but He surely did for yesterday.  Yesterday as I saw the Ford Explorer out of my periphery it was exactly what I had envisioned.  Now while I had pictured this in my head, I was always alone. Thats where God’s providence comes in. Through the Grace He gave via adrenaline and through what felt like 6 months of preparation, I was able to keep my head, think clearly and help my family in this moment of need. I am deeply thankful that He gave power in my weakness.  Today I let it out and really cried on the way too and from Chick-fil-A. God gave such grace for me to keep it together until then.

So what is the answer to the question, “Where was God?” He was near and active with us 6 months ago when the visions started. He was near and active with us a week ago when we moved Nias to the middle. He was near and active with us Friday when I moved the car-seats.  And He was near and with us as we left our house, turned left on Edgeworth, and entered the intersection.  He was near and active lining up the Explorer to perfectly T-Bone our car going 45mph.  He was near and active protecting Rachel in the impact, and keeping me calm. He was near and active in keeping me and the kids from having so much as a scratch. He was near and active as our church looked for Rachel to come up on stage to give her testimony and couldn’t find her, causing a man to calmly say, “I saw a wreck, maybe we should pray.”  He was near and active as one stranger gently stroked my daughters cheek and another got my son out of the car. He was near and active as firemen cut my wife out of the car and at the hospital where she was treated. He was near and active as our Home Group from Church took our children home, cleaned the house, got us some chocolate cake and organized meals for us this week. He was near and active through our parents presence at our home.  He was near and active as we cried and prayed together last night.  He was near and active through text messages, emails and phone calls. He was near and active as I rocked my lil man to sleep this morning and as Rachel read a book to Eden. He was near and active as He ministered to me as I let it go in the car to and from Chick-fil-A. He is near and active as your read these words because this is the kind of God we serve, Immanuel, God with us. He is Sovereign and He is good. I find much comfort in knowing it was His will for us to have the wreck and I have hope that any other “wrecks” me and my family will go through in this life, He will be near and active.

Please pray for Temitope. I text him yesterday assuring him that we were okay and not angry at him. He thanked me and apologized over and over. I assured Him that God had forgiven us in Christ for more sins against Him, that Temitope could ever commit against us.  I asked Him if we could get together for lunch so that I could share more about this God with him. He said he would love to. Pray it happens and that Jesus would spare his eternal life the way he has spared our eternal and temporal life.

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:14-15.

Today I am reminded why I exist. Life is but a precious vapor. Don’t waste it. By God’s grace live for the Glory of Christ and others joy in Him.  Protect and foster your relationships, first with God then with your family, your church and the lost and dying world.  His Grace is sufficient. I Corinthians 12:9-10.

REAL Good: Week 5

CSA Box: 41.00


beans 
beets
kohlrabi
onions
pepper
potatoes 
tomatoes
eggs
beef roast


Trader Joes: 44.76


Oranges (4 lbs)
Bananas (11..yes 11, and were hoping that lasts til Monday!)
Greek yogurt
White whole wheat flour (MUCH cheaper here than HT)
Honey (24oz)
organic strawberry spread (instead of jelly)
natural peanut butter
roasted cashews (16oz)
raw almonds (16oz)
pistachios (16oz)
sunflower seeds (16oz)
organic raisins


Harris Teeter: 14.76


chopped dates
dried prunes (both for homemade Larabars)
clearance limes
organic milk (2 gal..on sale)


This weeks total 100.52!!  WOOO HOOO!!  Im doing a little dance as I hear Marlin and Dory in my head sing "We did it we did it, oh yeah yeah yeah yeah."  


What meals I made with this weeks bounty are soon to come!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar (oh yes I did)

Yep, you read that right.  And yes, they are as amazing as they sound.  I wanted to make another batch of the homemade Larabars because the last batch lasted a whopping 24 hours.  My boy who is our pickiest eater devoured them!  But this time I wanted to get a little more creative and try something new and different.  So, I made oatmeal raisin bars and shaped them into balls (for little hands).  Since I had some leftover dates and my kitchen was already a disaster from making those and homemade salsa (so so thankful for my food processor these days!) I decided to make another variety.  So glad I did!  I adapted my recipe from this list.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars

2/3 cup dates (if you use dried just rehydrate them for a few minutes in a bowl of water and then drain them)

1/2 cup roasted cashews

1/2 raw almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8-1/4 cup chocolate chips

In a food processor pulse the dates and vanilla until creamy.  Transfer paste to medium sized bowl.  Add nuts and chocolate chips to food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add to the bowl with the date paste and mix until combined.  If you want to make them into balls just roll them in your hand. For bars use plastic wrap to shape them into squares.  They keep great in the refrigerator for a week...but trust me, they won't last that long!  Makes 11 golfball sized balls.   

REAL Good: What are we eating?

I have had a few people ask us what/how much we are eating in this transition.  I haven't done a great job of keeping track of what we actually eat so this week I paid a little closer attention.

Breakfasts: usually granola, pumpkin muffins, frittata, pancakes, or grits/eggs/toast.  Sometimes there is a special something in there as well (cinnamon rolls or Daddy and E go on a date and bring home Dunkin!), also trying these homemade Lara bars this week!


Lunch: steamed broccoli and peas with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (on homemade bread) and fruit, salads for the adults or (usually) leftovers


Dinners:

Monday: chicken breast, roasted potatoes, beets, parmesan green beans

Tuesday: Quinoa casserole, green beans

Wednesday: 4th!  Organic burgers on homemade buns, oven fries, corn, homemade ice-cream!

Thursday: black beans, rice, veggies, corn bread

Friday: quinoa pilaf, salad, potatoes

Sat: out with friends

Sunday: growth group dinner (we will host once every few months)


Snacks: (usually twice a day)

Fruit, pistachios, cashews, triscuits, walnuts or leftover breakfast if its muffins or granola


Hope this is helpful.  Our grocery week actually leaks into Monday and Tuesday as well, so the "missed" dinners on Saturday and Sunday are made up Monday and Tuesday (which this week will be:  salmon/pan fried veggies, homemade pizza and salad).

Hope this is helpful!!

REAL Good: Week 4

Gulp.  This was not such a successful week.  With the 4th on Wednesday and having some friends visit, this weeks budget was a bit blown.  Sigh.

CSA box: $41.00
beans
cucumber
cilantro
corn
garlic
squash
tomatillos
tomatoes
Whole chicken
hard cheese




HT: $75.56
Hefty ziplock bags
Orbit gum
Toilet paper
Triscuits (2 boxes BOGO)
White WW flour
kidney beans
chocolate chips
coffee
organic apple sauce
organic raisins
organic apple juice
Panko bread crumbs
buddy fruits (2)
organic chicken legs
organic spring mix
organic grapes
organic strawberries
organic butter
organic milk
organic eggs
carrots
organic 1/2 and 1/2

Since this is only about food (and to make me feel better) subtracting the amount of non food items here I spent: 108.93.  I bought a couple of things I wasn't intending on buying because they were organic and on sale (grapes, strawberries, butter, applesauce) and they won't be on sale next week.  Unfortunately, because the grapes and strawberries were so pricey for so little, we ran out super quick.  Alas, a trip to Aldi for bananas and oranges (and pistachios) making our total $118.93.  I learned my lesson.  Lets hope I can make up for this fail next week!

REAL Good: Quinoa Burger Recipe

This was a huge hit with my family last week!  A great way to get some more veggies in (and use up all our zucchini!) and have a vegetarian meal that dosen't feel like rabbit food :)

http://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=156

Week 3: REAL Good

Week 3 has been right on par with the other previous weeks.  I squeaked out of the week just barely over budget and we ate well and even entertained some!

I think I need to be doing these closer to the middle of the week because I'm having trouble remembering what came in our box Tuesday!!

CSA Box: $41.00
fingerling potatoes
regular potoatoes
beans (both yellow and green)
cabbage
cucumbers
Vidalia type onions 
squash. 
over 1 lb ground beef
eggs


HT: $50.08
White whole wheat flour
Oats
Brown rice
organic apple juice
quinoa
spring mix
bananas
organic frozen broccoli
organic butter
organic milk (2 gal)


Trader Joes: $14
more bananas (apparently I live with monkeys)
pistachios
blueberries
oranges
(and something else I'm forgetting)


Total: $105.08 


Its looking like this is a more realistic number.  I would still love to get it under $100 but time will tell!  Now if I could just get some little boy potty trained I would have more than enough grocery money!!  

The quest for "snacks"

One of the hardest things about making this switch has been the sudden disappearance of things we used to snack on.  Fruit snacks, gone.  Ritz crackers, gone.  Chips, no way (although those were a specialty already in this house).  We are a "snacky" bunch, and considering my kids are nearly off the growth chart in weight (that is off...on the under side) I let them snack almost whenever they want.  Finding things we can snack on (without eating all of tomorrows breakfast!) has been tough.

We have replaced some of the snacks with fruit.  Mainly apples, oranges, and bananas.  We used to eat grapes like crazy, but since they are some of the worst for pesticides, we have done away with conventional grapes.  I hope to find reasonable organic ones soon.  Also, we have been snacking on nuts.  My kids are crazy about pistachios right now, which I am all for considering they both look malnourished (note: they are not).  Walnuts and cashews have also made some regular appearances in the snack cabinet.

But sometimes there needs to be a special snack.  Something out of the ordinary that cues a "mmm whats that smell?" when stumbling out from nap time.  I think I found our new go to...In search of something good for us and REAL, I found this recipe for Homemade Graham Crackers.  100% whole wheat and they are SOOO good!  I used white whole wheat flour (I will never go back to red!).  I'm hoping they last until tomorrow!

And as promised the Pop Tart recipe .  These turned out well.  I ended up not putting enough filling in them so next time I will be more aware of that.  They were easy to make other than the (I can never get it right) rolling out part.  I filled most with strawberry jelly and a couple with peanut butter and a few chocolate chips.  I would love to make some cinnamon ones next time because those are my favorite!

Yum!

REAL Good: recipe

I made these muffins yesterday and all but 2 are gone.  My family loves the Pumpkin muffins  I make, but there are times when I don't have a can of pumpkin laying around and can't make them (you can sub cooked sweet potatoes if you have them!), so I needed a different recipe.  These have gone over well!  During nap time today I made homemade "pop tarts"!  I will let you know how they turn out!!

I am loving www.100daysofrealfood.com for her knowledge and her recipes!  Go have a look!

REAL Good: Week 2

I was out of town at the Gospel Coalition Women's Conference this past weekend, so I'm a little behind in the rest of life (although I did come home to a sparking clean house!).

I mentioned last week that because of our CSA, I will have $59 dollars to spend weekly on groceries.  This proved to be tough last week.  So I'm hoping for more success this go around.  A lot of this has been trial and error.  I had no idea how much processed food we ate until I became aware of what "processed" entails.  Breakfast has been the toughest.  Nearly all cereal, granola and baked goods are highly processed.  So, I've been making a lot of breakfasts from scratch.  More time, but less $$.  And sandwich bread...have you ever looked at your favorite sandwich bread label?  Yikes.  Unless of course, you buy yours from Great Harvest Bread Co.

I will be posting some recipes later on how I've made this work.


Here is last weeks totals:

CSA: $41.00


kohlrabi (kinda like a turnip..made these with it)
beets (trying to figure out a way to get them down!)
green beans
greens (added to frittata, chicken and dumplings)
garlic
whole chicken
mozzarella
basil

Trader Joes: $64.64


Pineapple
Salad mix
organic ketchup
cashews
organic yogurt
walnuts
pistachios
bananas
organic milk
1 lb organic grass fed ground beef (which made the best burger I've had in a WHILE!)
peanut butter
organic apple sauce
tortillas
honey
artisan lettuce
vanilla
pepper

Although I did go slightly over budget (which I freaked out about and my husband was thrilled I bought organic food for only $5 more than conventional...so telling of our personalities!), this was my first week of learning how to do this.

Because of going out of town the weekend wasn't necessarily the best experience and warranted a trip out for more milk, but over all we feel good about this week!  My hope is to be able to keep my same $100/week budget and make this thing work, but we are willing to make some adjustments if we have to.

Now I'm off to check on my sandwich bread baking and whole wheat muffin making!

Musical Monday

Go check this guy out.  If you haven't heard of him, it is likely you will very soon.  Some of the best music I have heard in a LONG time.   Enjoy!


William Howard

REAL Good: Week one

After watching Food Inc. we decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).   I researched a ton and decided to go with a particular local CSA because of their supply of produce, eggs, cheese and meat as well as their reasonable price!  We are super excited about this, and we will hopefully receive our first box next week!

photo credit: Harland's Creek Farm (our CSA yay!)

Budgeting was my main barrier in this transition to REAL, LOCAL, ORGANIC food.  I have $100 a week to spend at the grocery store, and sometime that is tough to maintain buying conventional food.   It is going to take some work, but I believe I can maintain the budget even with this change.  The CSA we joined will deliver 5-10 fruits and vegetables, eggs or artisan cheese, and somewhere between 2-4 pounds of organic meat every week for $41/week.  This leaves me $59 a week to buy everything else we need.  I had a trial run week before we joined this week.  I went to the huge Farmers Market downtown and bought blueberries, strawberries, potatoes, beets, peaches and eggs for $25.   Not bad. The next day I went to the HT and bought organic milk, a whole "smart chicken", organic lemonade, organic apple juice, white whole wheat flour, chocolate chips (not giving those up!), canned pumpkin, pistachios, pull ups, and Triscuits and spent $54.41 (and the pull ups were $10)!  Thank you HT for your sales and specials on organic products!  After this week, I'm beginning to believe this thing is possible.   Hooray!   I have had a pretty well stocked pantry, but its wearing away, so I will have to restock some things soon.  I will be doing some research on what pantry staples to buy organic (oats, rice, couscous, etc).

Here is a very helpful site that I am taking notes from: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Here is a list of the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" if you cant buy all organic: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

If you are interested in joining a local CSA go to : Local Harvest to find a participating farm in your area!  

Its All New: REAL Good

We are getting adjusted to our new life in our city.  Other than navigating how to get everywhere in the (MUCH more than the 'boro) traffic, we are loving it!  The church is amazing, our apartment is nearly perfect (except let us pause for a moment of silence for my old kitchen...sniffle), there is much to explore, and we have certainly loved having so many things to do within 5 miles of our house.  The Lord has been so faithful to us and we certainly feel that we are resting in His presence.

In all our transition we have had a hundred little things to take care of.  One of those was cancelling our Dish (sigh: goodbye Food Network).  Because of that we finally dove into the wonderful world of Netflix.  I had been really wanting to watch "Food Inc" and thankfully, unlike Redbox, Netflix carries documentaries.  I knew it may shed a little light on some things about what we eat that might be eye-opening, but I had NO idea the impact it would have on us.

 Previously, I have been a healthy eater.  I'm pretty particular about how many vegetables my family gets and have worked hard to make healthy, tasty food that everyone loves.  But I haven't done the organic thing (except milk), and I shop sales almost exclusively.  I haven't, until now, really believed the health difference was worth the financial difference for us.  I won't go into all the details, but would highly recommend watching Food Inc. and making judgements for yourself.

We have a pretty strict (read: rather meager) grocery budget, so I knew taking on this new lifestyle would be interesting, if not impossible. Which, I think is across the board the view of such a lifestyle.  So, I'm going to blog through this thing and hopefully prove to all of us that it can be done. We aren't going "cold turkey" (my man and sweet girl went on a date to "their place" Dunkin just this morning) but we are striving to eat as much REAL, LOCAL, ORGANIC food (including meat) as we can.  My hope is to change the stereotype that it is impossible to eat this way unless you are really financially well off.  So, over the next few weeks I will track our spending and eating habits in hopes of bringing the lofty idea down to reality.

When Plans Change (and you're a planner)

Tomorrow we will pack a U-haul, move our family and start a new life.  A new job, a new house with new friends in a new city.  Tomorrow we move into an apartment I've never seen in person, in a city I've been to once, to work for a church I've only seen online.  If this sounds surprising, join the club.  Two weeks ago the Lord turned our expectations on their heads, and us on ours.  Its been a tear-filled whirlwind of emotion, prayer, and exhaustion.

We have been committed to a church for 8 months now.  And just 6 weeks before my husband was to start work, we felt clear that was not the Lord's plan.  We are so sad to walk away from a quaint little town and a church we had fallen in love with.  From its people who have relentlessly looked for homes for us, prayed for us and welcomed us with open arms.  From the life we thought we were going to live.  We have spent the last few weeks grieving what we hoped to be.

If you know me well you have probably heard me use the words "plan" "expectations" or "consistency" as positive words.  I love a plan, I need expectations, I thrive on consistency.  But the Lord is far wiser than I, and He is the Father who knows best.  And he has ripped all of those things away from my sweaty, white-knuckled grip.

This was not my plan, this is not what I wanted. But I believe whole heartedly it is better. We have spent months wondering why our house hadn't sold, why none of the people we challenged to go with us were able to, why we couldn't find a home there. We have prayed and sought widsom in the scriptures and in people we love. I have read Proverbs 16 so many times. "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tounge is from the Lord." I feel answered, and though it is not the answer I expected or even wanted, it is the one that is best. I feel Fathered. Protected from what might have been, and provided for in some amazing ways. Just 6 days after seeking cousel with a man he greatly respected (along with 5 others), my hubs got an internship offer from a church plant in one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Just when we realized we had 60 days to find a job, the Lord wraps up the perfect gift in a shiny box and gives it to us in 6 days! There is still much to trust the Lord with, but we are walking in faith, convinced that this is what the Lord has planned in advance for us (Ephesians 2:10).

 So as for my plans, the Lord has once again reminded me of my pitiful excuse for control. I have NONE. And praise the Lord for that! He is good and wise and loving, and I am not. I can make plans, but rest assured I have learned to hold them much more loosely. He has been relentless in His pursuit of my submission to His control.  And through it, He has prepared me for this.  Through babies who don't sleep, ministry that involves living in a hotel with 2 sick babies for a month, and car wrecks that interrupt life. He is good. He is sovereign. He is in control. And His plan is always, ALWAYS best.

 "He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure." Psalm 147:4

Musical Monday

Errr.... Tuesday.  May we say this in all circumstances.

Welcome to the Addiction

We like food around here.  My mom is a fabulous cook and I could be entertained all day by the Food Network.  My girl is a foodie like me and my hubs has come around from a meat and potatoes guy to an adventurous eater.  I tend to get recipes and tweak and perfect them, but usually its to make them tastier and healthier.  Not an easy task.

I have been making granola bars for a few years now.  My old standby recipe was sooo good, but had (way more than I'd like to admit) sweetened condensed milk in it.  Not too healthy, but my family requested it every week.  So I went online and search and searched until I found one that looked promising.  I tried it an decided the base was workable, and then I spent a month tweaking until I got what I wanted.  So, here ya go!

Go-to (healthy) Granola Bars

3 cups oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup honey

1/2 vegetable oil (you can sub 1/2 applesauce)

2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c peanuts or peanut butter

add ins: (1/4-1/2 cup each)

walnuts*

craisins*

raisins

chocolate chips*

cashews*

almonds

other dried fruit

etc

(* signifies what is regularly found in my granola)

Add dry ingredients together and mix.  Add wet ingredients and mix until everything is combined.  Press into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.  Try not to eat them all before breakfast tomorrow.  :)

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

We have been praying since April 2011 about what would be next for us.  With Clint being in Seminary full-time and our desire that I stay at home with the kiddos, we had to figure out how those kiddos were going to be fed!  In May, we thought the answer was clear.  A big, awesome church initiated to Clint about becoming a campus pastor close to the Seminary.  Perfect scenario.  But as the summer went on, it seemed less and less ideal.  So, the prayers continued, and we mentioned our situation to a pastor of a supporting church who had teased Clint about coming on his church staff in the next 5 years.  He agreed to pray and help us think of job options.  A few weeks later that pastor went on vacation, and when he came home his elders called an unscheduled meeting.  With no information about his conversation with Clint, the elders pressed the pastor that they needed another pastor on the church staff.  The pastor mentioned Clint's name and the rest has been the logistics of getting us there!

As we have prayed about church ministry we have dreamed about having a church in a building downtown somewhere.  We never knew what city that might be.  One day it was Philadelphia, others Monroe, Greensboro, anywhere.  But, no matter what city we dreamed about, it was always in a downtown building.  The Lord is mysterious.  He gives us desires and dreams that seem like silly preferences and then, later, you look up and realize he was preparing you for something.

So, this is it.  Freedom Church.  Located on Main Street in downtown Lincolnton, NC.  When I left Lincolnton to go to college I swore I would never come back.  I wanted to go to a big city, live in a loft apartment and have a Rottweiler (for security :)).  I left my life and (less than ideal) high school days there and moved on.  But the Lord knows better than I do, and He has made it clear this is where we will call home for an indefinite amount of time.  We are excited, thrilled even.  There is so much new, so much to learn, so much to adjust to.  A new normal, a new home, a new job, a new city, a new team.  But the mission is still the same, to make much of Christ.  And that is what we will do, Lord willing.

Its Official!

We are still praying for our house to sell.  It's a bitter sweet kind of praying.  I love this house.

So, why are we moving?  About 10 months ago, Campus Outreach Charlotte began growing like crazy.  Until that point, Clint was the only area director on the team.  In March, 3 others joined the Directors Table.  Which made...a lot of directors.  Too many actually.

We love our job.  We love having students in and out of our house, we love living 2 blocks from a university, we love teaching new believers how to walk with God, we love seeing the rapid growth at the Summer Beach Project.  We are so thankful for CO and for all we have learned here.  We believe in this ministry more now than we ever have.  So, we are leaving.  We believe the Lord has raised up leaders to take our place, and we believe he has lead our hearts elsewhere in the midst.  And no one wants to do the Brett Favre thing.....

My hubby is a heck of a preacher.  If you are surprised to hear that, you clearly haven't heard him from the pulpit.  Our long term goal has always been the Church.  Church planting, church revitalization, something "church".  The Lord has made it clear over the past year, those dreams are just coming to fruition a little quicker than we imagined!

So whats next?  Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary !  Clint will be a full time graduate student for the next few years!  We are excited for this, and for the ways this (awesome) education will feed and fuel our ministry in the years to come!

There is still much to unveil, but for now, theres a teaser.  :)  We believe the Lord has some great things in store for us in the near (and distant) future!

Broccoli, Celery....

My kids love Veggie Tales.  But, I'll be honest, it took me a while.  I think we saw an old one first and it just didn't do it for me.  But I've warmed up.  At Christmas we bought The Little Drummer Boy and I was hooked.  Since then, we have watched it and various other Veggie Tale stories on a regular basis.  They are wonderful!  Entertaining, cute, safe (not all "kid movies" are!) and opens doors to some great conversations with E.  

So...when we heard Bob and Larry were going to be at our local Lifeway, the hubs and I were sooo excited!  We made a big deal about it and went on a "family date" to Chick-fil-a (of course) and headed over to meet the ginormous vegetables.  It was a little crazy, but so worth it to hear Eden say "Mommy..they're HUGE!"

The Potty Wars

 About 2 years ago we began a process that we had no idea would end up the way it did.  Our little 18 month old baby girl was sharp as a tack and could speak in sentences.  She was clearly able to use the potty....ha.  We had another little one on the way and I was anxious to get her potty trained before #2 made his grand entrance.  So, I did some research and decided I was going to go with the "potty training in a weekend" route.  Sigh.

She was terrified.  She hated using the potty, she refused, she would sit on it and scream until we let her off.  We asked our parents, friends, looked online.  As always, the opinions differed in every possible way. Some said spank, others said wait, some said try reading to her while she's on it, others said take a break and try again later.  We opted for the break.  I can't remember exactly when it was when she started consistently pee-peeing in the potty, but it was a while ago.  Success right?  Nope.

Going #2 was a whole different issue.  Again research ensued and we came up confused and defeated.  This little tiny girl was either scared to death of it, exercising her power over us, or had some trust issue we were unaware of.  We have prayed about it a good bit.  We have offered rewards and given correction.  Nothing worked.

Last night, after an interaction with her that seemed to make it clear it was a power struggle, we decided it was time.  We gave the ultimatum in the car and told her she must go when we got home (we knew she needed to).  I was so anxious.  I knew this meant the next week may be awful.  Tears, discipline, pouting, consuming our days.  Ugh.  When we got home I sat outside the bathroom door and listened to our 3 1/2 year old pray to the Lord to help her poo-poo in the potty.  I couldn't believe it.  A few minutes later she opened the doors with wide eyes and declared somewhat shocked "I did it!".  We danced, we sang, we put on her PJ's and drove to Target to buy the train we had been promising FOREVER.  A 2 year (2 year!) weight was lifted from our shoulders.  She was so proud of herself.  We called grandparents and she told the cashier at Target about her success.  It was glorious.

The more days I live as a parent, the more I realize how much there is to learn.  I have been ashamed of my "way too old" girl not using the potty "on time" whatever that is.  I have compared myself to the moms who potty train their kiddos quickly and efficiently.  I have questioned our decisions around it 1,000 times.
The Lord has taught me so much about patience, perseverance, grace and encouragement through this.  I am thankful for the lessons, and I know one day we will laugh about how hard this has been for us.  But I think the most significant lesson was Eden's.  Our God answers prayers.  Even small, seemingly insignificant prayers.  He longs to hear us and he longs to answer.  I pray she would never forget that lesson.  And if every day of the past 2 years was for that, it was worth it.

"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."  Matthew 21:22