A Hamburger-Helper AHA! Moment

On busy nights  . . .

Hamburger Helper is nice and easy to throw together. The recipe just requires beef, water, and milk - that is, if all you want is a pasta that tastes almost the same as any other flavor!

 

But have you ever paid much attention to the “Add Your Own Twist” section on the back of the box?? 

I never thought much about that section before, sometimes because we didn’t happen to have those ingredients and sometimes because I didn’t feel like the extra bother. But the other day, we DID have the  ingredients and I DID have the time. So I “added that twist” and then....

And the finished bowl of pasta tasted just like we were eating bacon cheeseburgers for dinner! Which got me to thinking ... what if those suggestions on the back are actually the way the pasta’s SUPPOSED to be made?!

Mexico! Lime Salmon, Tacos, & Churros

 

Mexican Salmon recipe:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/38025/mexican-salmon/

On Monday night Christopher & I had lime salmon with mashed potatoes, Tuesday night was busy so we just had frozen pizza and kale-cranberry salad, Wednesday we did tacos with a pound of ground beef and a taco dinner kit from Walmart, and we’ll do churros sometime soon since we decided to watch Frozen 2 with Little Bit right after dinner yesterday. 😉 

Mexican flag for today's art project!

Sweet: HEALTHY Apple Pie for Breakfast =)

1 cup water
3/4 cup quick oats
2 dashes cinnamon
1 apple, sliced

Slightly mix water, oats, & cinnamon.
Add apple slices.

Microwave for 2 minutes.
Add oats till satisfied with consistency.

Enjoy! :)

Sweeter: Thoughts on the Thanksgiving Takeover

Long ago, when this girl was young, Thanksgiving might well have been the ultimate holiday! I remember decorating windows with autumn-leaf window clings, listening to pilgrim-stories, dressing up as a pilgrim, sharing a literal feast with my family, and giving thanks to God and to my family for blessings from the past year.

Later I heard wind of some kind of shopping-thing the day after Thanksgiving. Momentum seemed to build over the years until this shopping started to majorly overshadow the holiday. People went out earlier and earlier, until this year many people actually hit the stores Thursday evening!

Don't worry; I'm not going to say that it's always a terrible thing to do Black Friday, or even to have a family tradition of doing it together. I'm not even saying it would always be bad to go buy something on Thursday.

But let's step back for a minute and look at the big picture, the 2 kingdoms at war in our world. Where might they stand on this whole thing?

Well, I don't really feel like God ever got in a fight with anybody over any deal. "For God so loved the world that He gave" (John 3:16). And - thanksgiving is something He wants us to have a LOT of. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

On the other hand, black is dark. The powers of darkness are selfish, ungrateful, and consumer-oriented. Somehow I don't think evil forces were ever too happy with a whole day being set aside to thank God. Since 2 Timothy 3 tells us that "men shall wax worse and worse . . . in the last days," I'm expecting Black Friday to keep gaining ground until it eventually overtakes Thanksgiving entirely - with most people, anyway.

Sweet: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Moist and flavorful spiced-pumpkin bars 

loaded with chocolate chips 

and topped with a thick smear 

of creamy, dreamy cream cheese frosting.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Dry Ingredients

·        1 cup all-purpose flour

·        2 teaspoons cinnamon

·        ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        ½ teaspoon baking soda

·        ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

·        2 whole eggs

·        ⅔ cup brown sugar

·        1 cup canned pumpkin

·        ¼ cup milk

·        ¼ cup oil

·        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·        ¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Frosting:

·        4 oz cream cheese, softened

·        2 Tablespoons butter, softened

·        1 cup powdered sugar

·        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13-inch pan with non-stick spray.

To make bars:

Combine dry ingredients a large bowl, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chooclate chips until evenly distributed. The batter will be very thick. Transfer into prepared baking dish and bake for 14-15 minutes. If you have trouble spreading the bars to cover the pan, spray a spatula and the top of the batter with non-stick spray.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 12 bars.

To make cream cheese dipping sauce:

In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. Stir in powdered sugar and mix until creamy. Add vanilla and stir until evenly distributed. Spread on pumpkin bars and serve immediately.

Sweet: How to Make Moringa Powder Taste Good

I started taking moringa capsules daily this past spring. Moringa is a superfood known to have helped with many health issues, from headaches to cancer.

Since I started taking moringa, my skin is a little clearer, I sleep better, and my bathroom-related health is better. I'm sure it's done other things that I haven't known about.

But recently, I took the last of the capsules my parents got from Amazon; so I started on a bag Mom got of moringa powder. The capsules are, of course, tasteless like all my other medicines; but the powder has a taste - boy, does it have a taste! I tried it with water for a while, and let's just say that's pretty nasty. I tried adding several things (one at a time). Brown sugar, cinnamon, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, molasses, nutmeg, . . . It was still awful.

There is a prepared mix you can get, Zija, that tastes better with just water. After taking moringa for a month and noticing some nice changes, I took Zija for a month.and was very disappointed to find that the changes had disappeared. When the month ended and I returned to straight moringa, I was greatly relieved to find them come right back!:)

(Not to totally bash Zija - I have friends who take it and who say it helps them a lot; so please don't think I'm saying it's bad for everyone! It just didn't do for me what the straight moringa did.)

Well, so I was trying different things with the moringa-water and nothing was working; and then a couple weeks ago I remembered that the bag says you can put moringa powder with any food, so I tried that - with success!

My first try was yogurt with a whole teaspoon of the powder. With the whole 1/2 teaspoon, I've had yogurt and oats, or oatmeal. But by far my favorite recipe has been microwaving a bowl containing 1/2 tsp moringa powder, 1 cup water, 3/4 cup quick oats, & 1 whole apple (sliced). I'm not saying this recipe tastes particularly awesome or that you should make it to share with your friends "because it tastes so good." But it tastes kind of good. . . .

And now I really have to try the 5 breakfast recipes this website lists: http://blog.moringasource.com/5-simple-moringa-breakfasts/

Sweet: Julie & Julia

A friend who knows my love of cooking sent this movie from across the Pacific, all the way from Cambodia. 

Like, a year ago or something! Then I put it away and immediately forgot where I put it. And I've been looking for it for, like, a year. 

Then, while going through a desk drawer a week or two ago, what do you think I found? Sure enough; there it was!

So I watched it, and wow! I didn't even realize until later that I was watching a true story about something that had actually happened! The movie chronicles Julie Powell's journey of spending a year cooking through her hero Julia Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It also follows Julia Child during her time in France that inspired her to write the cookbook. 

But the movie's not just about cooking; it's also about writing and international travel, and it gives a poignant glimpse into the two women's marriages. I'd call it an emotional masterpiece!

Disclaimer: In addition to a little bit of cussing, the movie contains a couple of dirty scenes; so I don't recommend it for kids. Although I liked the movie in general, there were 2 or 3 things - they weren't TOO bad - that I feel should have been left out.

Books don't have scenes, though; so now I've really gotta read the book! :)

Sweet: Amish Friendship Bread

Starter Ingredients: 
3 cups sugar, divided
3 cups milk, divided
3 cups flour, divided

Starter Directions:
 Place ONE cup each sugar, milk, and flour in large glass or plastic bowl.
 Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set on your counter at room temperature. Stir with a wooden spoon every day for 17 days
 On day 18 do nothing.
 On days 19, 20, and 21, stir.
 On day 22, add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup flour, and stir again.
 On days 23, 24, 25, and 26 stir.
 On day 27, add 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup sugar and stir.
 It's now ready to use to make the bread.
 Give away two cups of the starter to two friends, use one to make the bread, and keep one to keep the starter going. When you give away a cup of the starter, give these directions for keeping it going:
Do not refrigerate; Do not use metal spoon or metal bowl; Do not cover tightly, cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Bread Ingredients:
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (5 1/8 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tablespoon cinnamon, combined with
1/2 cup sugar


AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD:
  Mix oil, eggs, and vanilla with the starter mix.
 In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, vanilla pudding mix, and nuts.
 Add to liquid mixture and stir thoroughly.
 Pour into two large well-greased 9x5 inch loaf pans, or one Bundt pan, that have been sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and flour.
 Sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on the tops of the unbaked loaves (or cake). Bake at 325
F for one hour or until done.

Sweet: Almond Joy Cookies

There's the candy bar,
but then there's the cookie!

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups chocolate chips
2 cups sweetened coconut
2 cups chopped almonds

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
Lightly grease cookie sheets.
Combine dry ingredients, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stir in the vanilla.
Stir in dry ingredients until well mixed.
Stir in chocolate chips, coconut and almonds.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy! :)

Sweet: Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

For the Crust -

• 16 oz crushed vanilla wafers, processed to a fine powder
• 2 tbsp butter melted

For the Filling -

• 16 oz cream cheese, softened (2 boxes)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp.mint extract 
• 6-12 drops green food coloring

For the Ganache -

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1. For the Crust - Process wafers in a food processor or blender. Melt butter. Pour into a large bowl and add butter. Stir to mix and combine well with a fork. Pour into a greased springform pan and press on bottom and up sides to create the crust.

2. For the Filling - In a stand mixer, cream sugar and cheese. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add vanilla and then eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl after each egg addition. Add Creme de Menthe and stir to combine and until color is consistent. Pour filling into springform pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until center is set. Let sit to cool completely. Place in refrigerator for 12-24 hours. When ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan and release the cheesecake. Top with ganache and serve.

3. For the Ganache - In a heavy bottomed saucepan over low to medium heat, bring heavy cream just under boiling. DO NOT LET BOIL OVER. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips in a bowl and stir to melt chips. Let sit for 5 minutes and spread over cheesecake. Slice and serve. The cheesecake can be refrigerated with ganache if you prepare ahead of time.

A Kitchen Fiasco :)

This afternoon I was stirring up a batch of peanut butter cookies and thinking that it looked awfully small. I thought I might as well make two batches, and so I went to the pantry to find another peanut butter cookie mix. Sure enough, there was one right there! I was just about to use it when something - I'm pretty sure it was God - said, "Save that one for later." 

I hesitated. "Why?" I thought. It didn't make much sense to me, and I almost went ahead and used the second mix anyway. But I didn't. Instead, I finished mixing that one little batch and put the cookies in the oven. The package said 8-10 minutes, so I set the timer for 8 minutes. When it went off, I opened the oven door and found - the most burnt food I've ever seen! What on earth? 

After some thought, I realized that because it takes me longer than normal to do most everything, I probably shouldn't preheat stuff anymore. And yeah, that mix God had me save for later? It made some beautiful cookies tonight, one of which is in my tummy! :)

Another Fantabulous Week at LLBC!

God has given me an awesome summer at Laurel Lake Baptist Camp. During Girls Week, God taught me that He really cared about my prayers. This past week - Open Week - He did say yes to some of my requests; but He also taught me that His care for me goes so much deeper than that!

Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

Psalm 139:4

A few of the blessings this week:

1. Monday morning even before the first camper arrived, the camp director came and prayed with me personally, for the Father to give me a great week. Not something I had even thought to ask for, but God is so good that He pours out blessings even without our asking for them!

2. Tuesday morning I thought about how during Girls Week God had moved me to pray for the souls of two of my campers and by Thursday afternoon He had saved them both. I asked Him to do it again. Tuesday afternoon one of my girls was very squirmy when we talked about the Gospel in one of the "classes"; so I was concerned and prayed for her. But I'm ashamed to admit that I got distracted  as soon as that class ended. Still, Tuesday night she trusted Christ; and Wednesday night another one of my girls also got saved!

3. Wednesday morning at 11:30, we all left the pool in our wet clothes. Everyone scattered, including all those who tend to be there offering me a hand; and so I was left to walk alone. I looked at the distance, thought about the time it would take me to walk to the dorm, change, and walk to lunch. By the time I got there, I figured two or three bites MIGHT be a possibility! :) 

This girl loves food; and frankly, the very thought of not really eating between breakfast and supper rendered me pretty distraught! My emotions have been all out of whack ever since the accident. And although I WAS able to keep the tears back; I wasn't able to keep the sobs away. But just then, a mission-team van drove up. "Do you need a ride?" “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).

4. Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling really tired. I thought, "Well, I'm halfway through the week. I could really use some kind of pick-me-up to give me some fresh energy." Within five minutes, a girl came to where I was sitting and playing card mafia with mine and other campers. She put a frappuccino in my hands and whispered, "Mom made these for the staff." 

To our bountiful Father above, 

I will offer a tribute of praise! :)

Food Stories

I love food. :)

Monday I was making Hamburger Helper (beef, noodles, and sauce) for my lunch when the steam set off the fire alarm. I turned on the fan over the kitchen stove, got a dining room chair, and walked through the library on my way to turn the fire alarm off; but thankfully it stopped before I got to it. And then, trust me - I kept the stove-fan on!

Wednesday I was making Resurrection Buns for the Easter Dinner that night at church

I needed to open the biscuit cans and knew there was some easy way to do this but couldn't quite remember what that way was. I tried banging the can on the side of the mixing bowl and on the side of the counter; I tried putting a lot of pressure on the can; I tried sticking a spoon, then a knife, in the side of the can. None of that worked, so finally I did a Google search on "how to open a can of biscuits" and watched a YouTube video. Peel off the wrapper. Oh, yeah! That was the way you do it!

Thursday I tried my first-ever lime and mango. I like mangos! :)

Thursday night God gave me a beautiful picture. Someone was talking about how God has a purpose for our pain and asked what we thought about that. I said the thought that came to my mind. God gave me a picture of a Heavenly blender; we give God our pain, He puts it in the blender, and He gives us the joy smoothie that comes out! :)

Starbucks Manna

A few days ago I spent a fun evening with my brother Caleb and some of his friends: dinner at an Asian restaurant, a movie, and then Starbucks. 

Now, after a terrific dinner including my first try of frog legs - which were delicious, by the way - followed by some good laughs, it was pretty late and I was kind of hungry. But I kept that to myself because the Starbucks menu was kind of too far away for me to easily see to find a little something cheap to eat; and I knew that if I were to ask anyone about the cost of food, they would take that as a request for food and buy me something. But I was still hungry . . . 

Just then an employee walked up to our table, her arms loaded down, and asked, "Would you all like some pumpkin bread?"

My guess is, she had to dispose of it before some kind of expiration; and yet it tasted perfectly fresh - and delicious - to me! :) It was Starbucks Manna.

I was hungry, and our Father sweetly provided pumpkin bread!

Easy Hot Chocolate for One

This recipe is flexible, so tweak it till you find what you like best! 

Measure one cup of milk. 
Powdered milk works, too, if that's all you have.
Add one to two Tablespoons of sugar,
one to two Tablespoons of cocoa,
1/4 teaspoon vanilla,
and a pinch of salt. 

Stir till somewhat smooth, then microwave for about a minute and a half; stir a little more, and enjoy! =)

 

Garlic, My Friend

I love garlic! Every time I start to catch a cold, garlic is there for me to ward it off. Here's what I take: 

2 cloves of raw garlic (very small bites)
an apple
and a tall glass of water

It's hot, it's spicy, and some say it stinks; but hey - it does the job. Here's an article I just found that offers some alternative ways to take raw garlic. Praise to the Great Physician who provides us with such amazing foods!

Life Is Art

The camp staff were seated around one long cafeteria table, discussing art.

"Photography is art," said one.

"Music is art," said another.

"Communication is art," said a third.

And a fourth chimed in, "Recreation is art."

Laughing inside, I said, "Life is art."

Someone across the table took me seriously and agreed quite enthusiastically. "It's true," he insisted.

Is it really? Is life really art? Well, think about it for a few days and see.
I did, and now I think so, too.

One thing's for sure - food service is art. Did you know how much thought and beauty can go into one salad? Or one fruit cup? One wrap or parfait? It's an art form, and it blesses the eye and the recipient.

What if we carefully arranged our words and actions with as much precision as a painter creating a masterpiece, or as much detail as a food prep worker arranging a salad?

It makes sense, really. We were made in the image of Yahweh, Creator of all that is beautiful. He is an artist. His first recorded act was to create something beautiful.

Then of course we are all artists. Life is art!

"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17).

Caffeine and the Brain

This semester landed me back in school, pursuing a degree for the first time. Which makes me one of those "non-traditional" students. It's fun! Reading, writing, and . . . well, thankfully no arithmetic yet.

This week, psychology required finding a scientific journal article about a psychoactive drug, and then writing a review of said article. After being introduced to coffee this summer (and surprisingly loving it!), its effects on the brain provided a natural topic for the research. A couple of words in the search engine on the school library's website, and wa-la!

"Coffee, tea, chocolate, and the brain."

Two Spanish authors used a method called meta-analysis, looking at at least four studies done over the course of five years and integrating the results.

And here's what they found:

In low to moderate doses, caffeine improves moods, increases alertness and physical activity, and enhances cognitive capacities. Of course, in excess it causes irritability and disturbs sleep. So as long as we keep this thing in moderation, we'll be good. Right? =)

The Chocolate Cake "Catastrophe"

Responsibility is not my favorite thing. I prefer to be the person in the background, following the instructions of someone else who knows exactly what they're talking about. But this summer, God took me out of my comfort zone and put me in leadership in a kitchen, feeding up to 300 people every day.

Now of course, God was feeding them and just using me as His human hands. And this work was for God's glory, not for the kids' stomachs or the camp's success or even its reputation.

When it was easy and everything went as planned, I enjoyed the job very much. However, other days came, days when everything didn't go as planned and it certainly wasn't easy.
Days when we ran out of Fritos for taco salad.

Days when we barely had enough French fries.

That one day when both the four-door refrigerator AND the top convection oven stopped working, and we had to make 15 lasagnas plus several trays of rolls. =) I still enjoyed it, and experienced the added thrill of conquering a difficult task combined with the joy of watching God provide. 

And then . . . there was the cake day. We had already fixed chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Peach cobbler was for supper, and banana pudding for later in the week. We didn't have enough cocoa to make nobakes. Peanut butter cookies were out due to allergies. That left cake. Easy enough, right?

We baked four sheet pans of chocolate cake, then slid them onto the cooling rack and raided the pantry for icing. Hmm . . . one large jug with a few cups leftover at the bottom. Guess we'll have to make the rest.

So we rounded up plenty of milk and butter and vanilla and . . . 16 cups of powdered sugar.

Now, 16 cups might sound like a lot, but when you need 32 - that's woefully short.

So we called the lady on grocery run duty, and she agreed to pick some up.

Breathing came a little easier, until the groceries arrived and no powdered sugar. They searched the houses on camp grounds and rounded up 8 more cups, and while they were doing the rounding up someone began mixing up the ingredients sitting by the mixing bowl.

It was my fault.

I should have explained not to start yet, but now the bowl was full of this runny mix of 4 batches of butter, milk, and vanilla and only 2 batches of powdered sugar. And we only had 1/2 the powdered sugar we needed to make up the difference. What could we do? 200 children and nearly 100 adults would walk through the serving line in 30 minutes, and all we had was plain chocolate cake and some random gooey liquidy stuff.

I wasn't thinking about God's strength or sovereignty or glory, only my mess-up and the (hopeless) situation. Crazy thing - even when we're not thinking about God, He's still thinking about us. =)

The director's wife was very gracious and tried to cheer me up, then suggested we try it with what we had and see what happened.

Sure enough, the little bit of powdered sugar was enough to turn the mixture into a thick glaze, and with someone's suggestion of a small container of cocoa added to that, it became a beautiful chocolatey glaze that drizzled nicely over the cakes and turned that dessert into one of the week's favorites. So yummy!

Thank You, Jesus, for being in control and growing my faith once again!

First Week

How good it felt to be back at camp this past week! After a summer off, it was a joy to drive down that 15mph gravel road to the wood dining hall and walk around the beautiful property.

One by one the staff arrived and began to bond over jungle speed and ultimate frisbee, washing dishes and cleaning cabins, jumping off cliffs and hauling logs. We gave candy to campers, and we listened to each others' testimonies. We heard a talk on bitterness and were warned not to let any little thing divide us. The director and his wife demonstrated proper and improper ways to hug. We watched The Pineapple Story, and a sermon about meditating on small chunks of God's Word - one verse a week. 

I learned more about humility, and enjoyed seeing how beautifully God is working in my life and those around me. 

A few firsts this year: 

cooking for 100 people all at once

entering the "tower" and climbing to the fifth floor

climbing back up from the lake via the rope

waltzing with a girl in the dishpit

walking Emmaus-style when it wasn't Emmaus

getting lost in the woods

eating surprisingly delicious microwavable potato chips made from only potatos and salt

drinking chai tea

Next week will be the first week of official campers, and we're praying for 100. Please pray for us to be yielded vessels pouring God's love into the heart of every 7- to 14-year-old girl who comes to camp!