Book Recommendation - Kisses From Katie

I don't normally do book posts on here but I have to share about a wonderful book I'm reading.  The title is "Kisses From Katie" by Katie Davis.  This book is autobiographical and is very inspiring.  Katie shares how she chose to walk away from all that the world calls successful, to truly die to self and follow God's leading to Uganda.  She is honest and open about the heartbreak, poverty, war, and disease faced by the children she works with but also the joy, mercy, grace and unending love that God has for these children. 

Katie left the US right after high school and moved to Uganda to teach kindergarten in an orphanage.  She now lives there and is adopting 14 Ugandan girls.  Her mission Amazima helps to feed hundreds of children and to send them to school all while sharing the love and Gospel of Jesus.  To read more about Katie and the work God is doing in Uganda you can follow her blog The Journey. 

I highly recommend Katie's book.  I guarantee you will be challenged, blessed and your perspective everyday life will be changed. 

Goal update...a bit late..and another low cal treat

So, here is how I did last week on my goals:
1) Read chapter in "Be Satisfied" - Nope
2) Clean off desk - I'm calling this done because I did clean off all the old papers, even though some have been replaced with new things I need to deal with
3) Finish last week of bootcamp. - DONE
4) Run 5K on Saturday - DONE and I beat my previous time by over 5 min!
5) Have family for dinner on Friday - DONE
6) Keep up with daily housework - DONE
7) Finalize plans for teacher gift - DONE
8) Get (and mail) card/gift for friend in hospital. - DONE
9) Decide on next verse/passage to memorize. (Yes, I finally finished Matt. 5:1-12) - Nope, forgot all about this.


So, this week I do have some goals but since it's Thurs. I'll just wait until next week to post new goals.  In the mean time, here is another low cal treat for you to enjoy.  I'm sure this could easily be made with gluten free flour for those with diet restrictions.  It is also egg free and could easily be made dairy free by substituting a non-dairy yogurt (such as soy or coconut based).

I love "mug" desserts but even those single servings can be very high in calories.  Here is a low calorie version of the mug brownie.  I really enjoyed it!

Weekly Goals 5/14/12

Despite thinking about, and wanting to, write down goals last week it obviously didn't happen.  We had a very busy week and I did get a lot accomplished.

Here are my goals for this week:
1) Read chapter in "Be Satisfied"
2) Clean off desk
3) Finish last week of bootcamp.
4) Run 5K on Saturday
5) Have family for dinner on Friday
6) Keep up with daily housework
7) Finalize plans for teacher gift
8) Get (and mail) card/gift for friend in hospital.
9) Decide on next verse/passage to memorize. (Yes, I finally finished Matt. 5:1-12)

Low Calorie Pumpkin Bread

Since I've been eating healthier I've had a few days where I really miss baked goods.  The other day Keira asked for Pumpkin bread so I decided to go on a search for a lower calorie version.  Many recipes replace the oil with applesauce but since Keira is allergic to apples this wasn't an option for me.  I finally found this recipe over at Dame Good Eats.  It was okay but I wanted to see if I could reduce the calories even more (I was aiming for 100 calories per slice).  This comes close with only 117 calories per slice (compared to the 384 in a "normal" slice).

Here is what I did:
Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 TB ground flax seed in 3T warm water**
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).



Place the ground Flax seed in the water and allow to "bloom" for 10 minutes

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice into a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

**I had seen soaked flax seed used as a substitute for egg in other recipes but had never tried it myself.  I was very pleased with the results and will definitely be using it again. These measurements are to replace 1 egg.

The Verdict:
This bread may be low in calories but definitely not in taste!   It is moist and delicious.  My kids all love it!  I doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves since I knew 1 wouldn't last.  The second loaf is already almost gone and was the first thing they asked for as a snack after school.  Keira has already asked when we can make some more.  Enjoy!

Weekly goals for 4/30/12

Goals for week (4/23):
1) Have a daily quiet time - Nope, did good most days but fizzled at the end of the week :(
2) Work on Matthew 5: 11 & 12 - Done..still getting stuck on some of the wording but doing better
3) Read chapter in "Be Satisfied" - Done
4) Finish all Bible study work - Nope, I missed a page so I need to get caught up.
5) Steam clean area rugs - Done
6) Go thru and clean off all the papers on my desk - Done
7) Enjoy a Girl's night out and a Date night out - Done, these were great treats :)
8) Plan Titus' birthday party.  Get gift & supplies. - Done (today is his birthday Happy 2nd Birthday Titus!!)
9) Do all 7 days of boot camp & 5 days of running. - Done


Goals for week 4/30/12:
1) Daily quiet time
2) Read next chapter in "Be satisfied"
3) Get everything ready for Hailey's party on Saturday
4) Do all 7 days of boot camp & 5 days of running
5) Catch up on all laundry & ironing


Not too much this week as preparing and baking for Hailey's party will take up a good amount of time.

Weekly Goals

Goals for this week (4/16):
1) Work on Matthew 5:11 & 12 - Nope, I read over it a few times but didn't really work on this.
2) Read chapter in "Be Satisfied" - Done
3) Run the Stonyfield 5K - DONE!! Very happy about this!
4) Finish Week 1 of B210K (in preparation for 5K on Saturday) - DONE
5) Have friends over - DONE


Goals for week (4/23):
1) Have a daily quiet time
2) Work on Matthew 5: 11 & 12
3) Read chapter in "Be Satisfied"
4) Finish all Bible study work
5) Steam clean area rugs
6) Go thru and clean off all the papers on my desk
7) Enjoy a Girl's night out and a Date night out
8) Plan Titus' birthday party.  Get gift & supplies.
9) Do all 7 days of boot camp & 5 days of running.


We have two birthdays in our family in the next week (and two separate parties) so life will be busy around here :)

Rainbows in dirt

 (Photo Credit: kimberlysnyder.net)

A few weeks ago God used a conversation with my 3 year old to teach me an important lesson; that His promises are always true,  it is only our focus or perspective that makes it seem not so.  It has been a blessing and great reminder to me so I thought I would share.

I was walking into the local grocery store with my 3 year old when the following conversation took place:

K: "Momma, do you see the rainbow?" said excitedly
Me: "What rainbow?"
K: "Right there" as she points to the arc made in the dirt of a car's rear window by the windshield wiper.

I said that I did see the rainbow and was a bit amused that she would see a rainbow in the dirt.  Throughout, that day and since then that scene has been brought to my mind many times.  How often do I look at life, the inconveniences, the annoyances and everyday mundane things and merely see dirt when in fact God is showing Himself faithful, true and blessing me thru each one of those.  If I only changed my focus from the things to the One in control of all then instead of dirt I would see the rainbow.