God Saves

Friends!

I have just finished listening to this sermon preached by Pastor Matt Chandler and I found it to be very touching. I wanted to share it with you so that your joy could be increased as you see God as the one who saves us.

Some of what Jesus taught me are as follows:

1. The more awesome I think I am and that God "partners" with me in my awesomeness, the more frustrated I will be.

2. God doesn't force people to love him, he reveals himself to them and they do.

3. We will always be battling sin and the flesh. God will always be chiseling away the parts of us that are not of him and replacing it with what is.

4. There is often times JOY in the battle against sin and every time I repent I can experience the forgiveness of God more deeply, my lament over sin quickly turns into rejoicing that God loved me and IS conforming me to the image of his son.

5. God saves. We do not.

Please listen to it - while your making dinner or driving to work. I just listened to it while I made a cheesecake.

God Saves    (October 2011)

Let me know what you think.

Mom's Monster Cookies

Monster cookies, or whatever you want to call them are my new favorite thing. Why? I love them because they've got it all chewy oatmeal, peanut butter and of course, chocolate! Another stunningly amazing thing about them is that they are GLUTEN FREE! Which means I can make a cookie that I adore, at the same time I am making something that Caleb can have. It's a win-win in my book. I love them so very much that I try not to make them all at one time, if I do, my self control goes out the window and all the calories I had previously burned on the elliptical are obsolete. To combat that and help myself out, I cook up a dozen or so of these little beauties for the week (or as long as they last)....

Then, I roll them rest of them up into balls and put them in a tupperware that goes into the freezer...
With a little note on the top reminding me what they are (as if I'd forget!) and the baking instructions.
That way if I'm dying for a little sweet with my coffee or want to put a treat in Caleb's lunch or we happen to have an impromptu counseling session - I've got a quick and no mess solution! I hope you enjoy these guys as much as I do.

Mom's Monster Cookies:

From Mom

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 1/2 cups oats, make sure they are gluten free if you are sensitive to gluten!

2 cups chocolate chips or m&m's (or one cup of each)

Cream together the first three ingredients and add in eggs, beating well to combine. stir in the soda, vanilla, oats and chips until combined. Bake on a greased cookie sheet (or use a silpat like me) at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

**This cookie recipe is wonderfully forgiving and as long as you stick to the basic idea you can add in whatever you want. Mom recommends nuts, raisins (I don't like raisins so I would never do that, but some people do like them) peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips or other candies like reeses pieces. Sky's the limit! I think next time I make them I will try to incorporate caramel! Let me know what you add into yours!

Breakfast is served!

I love breakfast! Now that I am not working I am able to make hot breakfast much more then I used to. This is a major bonus for me because I love, love, love eggs. I like them scrambled, fried, hard boiled but my most favorite way to eat them is in breakfast casserole type things. Last week I made these little beauties for breakfast and they were wonderful! I could eat breakfast for dinner at least once per week although Caleb is not so into it....!

Bacon and Asparagus Cups

4-6 strips bacon, diced

half an onion, diced

8-10 asparagus spears, cut into 1in pieces

8 eggs

1/4c milk or half n half

1/2c (or more) cheese, any variety I like cheddar or swiss, grated

1. cook bacon and onion together in frying pan until bacon is cooked to desired crispiness and onion is soft and golden. Add in asparagus pieces and cook one minute more. Pour mixture into a GREASED pie pan (or individual ramikens if you have them)

2. In a bowl whisk together 8 eggs with milk or half n half and season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs over the bacon mixture in the pie pan. Top with shredded cheese.

3. bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until the eggs are set and the top is browned.

If mornings are rushed for you, make this the night before and microwave a piece in the morning - it tastes great and you can eat it just as fast as a bowl of cereal!

Enjoy! This little dish is very versatile, change the ingredients to fit your family's tastes or what you have in the fridge. Would be delicious with mushrooms, sausage, ham, spinach, kale etc!

Happy Breakfast! Remember - it's the most important meal of the day!