Monthly Archives: June 2014

Every time we go to the Mennonite bulk food store, which is every few months, I like to get myself a treat.  One thing that I enjoy getting are Oskri coconut bars.

I really enjoy the taste of coconut and when you can pair it with healthy ingredients for a nutritional bar, I am sold!  The only problem that I have with these bars is that they are expensive.

I had to try and mimic these bars in a recipe.  After looking on the back I found that they contained only coconut and brown rice syrup.  I know the brown rice syrup is a controversial subject as far as it being healthy, so I wanted to find an alternative. I tried to scour the internet and didn’t have much luck finding a good recipe.  I had to come up with one on my own.

I really enjoy the pineapple, almond, and coconut flavored ones so that is what I made mine into.

You will need the following to make these:

• 4 cups flaked unsweetened coconut, I used shredded but have since made them and liked the larger flakes.
• 1 can unsweetened crushed pineapple–use 1/2 of the can–drained–squeeze out the liquid
• 2 T coconut oil
• 2 T honey
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

This recipe works best when mixed with your hands and then you can get the right consistency.  Line an 8 x8 glass baking pan with parchment paper.  Mix the ingredients together in a bowl.  The mixture should hold together when squeezed.

Press down into the baking dish and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Take out of the oven, let cool, then freeze.  I then cut them up and set them in a plastic container and store in the freezer.  That way when I am needing a bar throughout the month, I have a nice treat all ready.  These are delicious!!!  I will not go back to store bought ones.

It is our prayer and goal to share the love of Jesus through one of his gifts…..music. It gives us an opportunity to share and serve others with food, fellowship, and entertainment. As I have posted before , we have a Christian open mic night at our home, once a month.

My daughter and son, host the event. Dad and I are the chaperones and servers. We like to make sure that everyone is having a good time. We refill their plates, interact with them, and talk about what is going on in their lives. It has been a very rewarding time, getting to know these teenagers.
Why do we do it? While most parents might cringe at the thought of hearing a bunch of teenagers pounding on drums, or screaming their electric guitars, we think it is great! Nothing has been more wonderful than following the Christian world of music.

We as a family, enjoy very much, scoping out all the new bands, finding those that are on the underground, and exposing them to other teens. We have been shocked to find out that most teenagers, even in the Christian circles, do not listen to Christian music. They find it not “as cool” as the world bands. It has been our hope to expose some of the alternative bands that sound like worldly bands to this youth. We have a great Christian radio station that has been revamped this past year and it offers so much rocking, jamming music.

I  was excited to see our local station really branch out and expose our younger generation to all of these great bands through some awesome music. I am very thankful for them. I believe they have an app that you can download here at their site to listen to their music, free of course.

Influence of music

Most of the time, when we hear a song, we begin to form an image of the lyrics in our minds. We may even imagine ourselves acting out the song’s lyrics.
For example, a slow, romantic song may easily put someone in a romantic mood. A song with angry, violent lyrics may lead someone to commit violent acts.

Music with words that produces images of sexual immorality, violent behavior, or other negative images appeals to the lowest nature of mankind.
People might not think much about it, as some of the messages are subtle. But they can cause problems later in life if those negative images are allowed to become rooted in our minds.

While there are other factors that help to influence our decisions in life, music has proven to be an influence that can change our attitudes and perspectives.

Take a moment to consider the negative impact certain song lyrics may have had on you. Music’s powerful influence can be contributed to people being encouraged to drink alcohol, try illegal drugs or participate in pre-marital sex.

Many young people enjoy listening to popular music with friends and feel odd and left out when they don’t. However, the problem comes when lyrics encourage destructive behavior and cause teens to give in to peer pressure. Music has been linked to certain violent behavior in youth. It sometimes inspires many young people to resort to violence whenever they have a conflict.

Words are very important!
What we say (or sing) with all our hearts will lead to actions that could bring either positive or negative results.

Proverbs 18:22 says…
Life and death is in the power of the tongue

Music was originally designed to praise and worship God. Christian music appeals to the highest nature of mankind.
When we listen to praise and worship music, it captures our minds and inner-most beings, and we begin to fall in love with our Creator over and over again!
For every secular artist on the market, there is a Christian alternative.   These born again artists are just as good but with a better message. This is what we need to be promoting to our teenagers.  Please consider supporting your local Christian radio station so that they can help put into the ears of our teenagers good music with an uplifting message.
It is not wise to try to give up one thing without a better alternative to put in its place. Find more positive, uplifting music

Here are our performers for this months open mic.  We had Daddy-Greg and daughter, Lauren perform.  Austin got up there and played some guitar with them.  We had a newbie first time performer–way to go Rosalie, a boy that is blind, play and sing some Colton Dixon and Capital Kings–Logan you rock!!!  He had his 2 lovely sisters, Chloe and Autumn up there singing as well.  Chris played us some amazing electric guitar, a trio of girls sang, Oh, how He loves us–Hope, Grace, and Molly with Dad Anthony playing guitar.  Hope, Katie,  Lauren and Jared sang by themelves.  Alyssa sang with Collin some Lifehouse.  They ALL did an amazing job!!!  You guys are awesome.

For food, in case anyone wonders what we served this bunch:

• hot dogs over the fire
• brownie, strawberry skewers
• smores with fudge striped cookies
• hummus and pita chips
• vegetable and spinach dip
• watermelon and grapes
• licorace
• pop and water

You can click here to see our previous open mic and how we made a stage out of plywood and free pallets.

The challenge: to learn how to unwind from a stress filled day

No matter what kind of life you have, simple or complicated it all comes with STRESS!  From being a stay at home Mom with a toddler, to a multi millionaire CEO of a company—they have two things in common—-they both experience STRESS.

Why make the change:

No matter how simplified our lives are things in life happen.  Babies cry, people will let us down, friends will let us down, dinner will burn,  money will be tight, the car will break down, and our husbands will let us down occasionally. It is part of life.  There is no way to avoid it. Nothing we can do to prevent it, it just happens it is called LIFE.  But knowing what you can do to help yourself unwind after a stressful day is important in saving your sanity, your heart, and your peace of mind.

How to make the change:

Next time, when everything seems to just fall apart, try some of these ways to unwind from stress:

• Take a few deep breathes.  Sometimes when my children are driving me crazy and I want to yell, I stop and take a few deep breathes, breathing in, then holding it, and then slowly letting it out.  Sometimes it helps to do this 3-5 times as needed.
• Do a self massage.  When tensions run high, give yourself a neck rub. Sometimes it helps to rub your head, massaging your scalp.  If you have a great massaging husband or child, let them do it for you.
• Take a walk.  When life gets unbearable and you feel like you can’t go anymore without exploding, get away.  Take a walk and breathe deeply, letting go of the worries of the stress. Even if it is for 5 minutes, just to get out and get a chance to regroup will make a difference.
• Take a day off.  For some of us, this won’t be possible.  But if you are having  a hard time with the children, let your spouse know that you are needing some time away.  Grab something to eat and go sit somewhere relaxing all by yourself and give yourself time to regroup.
• If you aren’t a stay at home Mom, then spend time with your family.  Nothing is better than reminding yourself why it is your doing what you do at work—-you are doing it for your children and spouse.  Nothing is more important than family.
• Unwire yourself from media.  Shut off your phone, avoid emails, avoid the television.  Just learn to shut your brain off for a few hours.  Constantly worrying about emails, status’s, or even stress of sites not loading up quickly are enough to stress you out.  Get away from it, go take a walk in nature, take your family to the park, learn to unwind.
• Take a nap.  Nothing can cure stress more quickly than by taking a much needed rest.  Even a 20 minute cat nap will help you deal more effectively with the stress.

These are all great ways to help you as you unwind from your days.

The challenge: a place for everything

We have all heard the old saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place.”  But how many of us put this into practice?  Can you look around, right now and see the accumulated clutter on your kitchen counter?  Can you open a drawer and find a myriad of miscellaneous junk just sitting there?  Has your living room become a “catch-all” for children’s toys?  Then it is time to put this age old saying into use.

Why make the change:

Okay, let’s do a simple test to see if this is something that you should take part in…..without leaving your chair or couch that you are sitting on, can you answer the following questions:

• Do you know where your car keys are?
• Do you know where your phone charger is?
• Do you know where your 2013 tax papers are?
• Do you know where your social security card is?
• Do you know where your winter gloves are?
• Do you know where the bug spray from last summer is at?
• Do you know where last seasons shoes are located at and if anyone needs new ones?

How did you do? Can you answer at least 5 out of the 7??  7?  Maybe only 1?

For most of us, we probably only really care about two of them—the keys and phone charger.  Everything else we will spend hours hunting down.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Wouldn’t it be nicer to know that you have a place established for everything and that with a quick look, you will be able to access it?

How to make the change:

This is something that you do, AFTER you declutter your home.  It doesn’t make sense to keep throwing things in places when you FIRST need to declutter and get rid of items.

Here are some simple steps to helping you find a place for everything:

1. Take a look around your home and every item that is lying around visibly. Now think of a logical place for each item.  Some items you will put with other similar stuff.  Maybe it is your husband’s wallet, keys, and loose change, find a small container and put all of his items together in an accessible spot, ready to grab when headed out the door.
2. Ideally before you find a place for something, or at the latest if you cannot, think long and hard whether or not you really need the object in question.  Ask yourself, “have I used this item at ALL in the last year?  Since we are naturally hoarders, we need to purge ourselves from having too much stuff.  If you are having a hard time finding a place for items, consider getting rid of it.
3. Repeat, repeat, repeat.  This exercise needs to be done over and over again.  People constantly wonder why I organize monthly…it is because we accumulate items, and if those items are not dealt with, we will suddenly be thrust into the materialistic world of STUFF.  If I notice that my home is become too much to pick up, or that the certain place where I store my ?  is constantly getting messed up, then it is time to purge.  Time to give up some things.  I can not honestly use every single item, it is almost selfish of me to hold onto it.

Want to simplify your life, so that you can have more time to spend with family, more time to spend on self, more time to spend time doing what it is you like to do??  Then spend less time searching for things.  Find a place for everything and keep it that way.

Ok, let’s face it, Smores are a typical part of our American culture for summer fun.  Most every child I know, has had a smore.  When you have little ones, it is a fun treat to make, but watch it when the marshmallow gets all gooey and stuck in hair ,or wiped all over face and hands.  Makes me NOT want to make them.  I usually only do, when I know they are going to go back into their kiddie pool or straight for the bathtub.  Here was some fun time roasting marshmallows last year.

Well what a difference a year makes, we now have 6 little ones that enjoy these treats and they can get messy.  Besides Dad usually has to catch the marshmallows because a child is cooking them and they light on fire.

Well Smores, no more.  We have found that by making campfire cones, they contain the mess and taste 10 times better.  Very simple to make.

Take a sugar cone, smear some peanut butter and stick a slice of banana in it.

Add some milk chocolate chips

Fill the top with marshmallows.

Wrap it in tin foil.

Place over hot coals.

Then wait, let it heat up and melt the chocolate.

See , so much nicer than sticks full of flaming marshmallows!!  Easy, clean, contained mess.

When they are all heated up, unwrap and enjoy.  Everyone agrees that these taste the best!!