Delicious Energy Bites - Try it!

I stumbled upon this recipe from Oh She Glows today and made it tonight and it is DELICIOUS! It was really pretty easy, though I had never made a "flax egg" before (flax seed and water mixed together - a vegan alternative to egg). The finished product was so delicious that I had a hard time wrapping them up for snacks at work. But, I managed!

Also, I learned an important lesson today. Wax paper and parchment paper do not act exactly the same in the oven. In fact, wax paper may catch fire in your oven. Luckily, I'll pulled it out before flames appeared...

Fruit and Nut Energy Bites (from Oh She Glows website)

Chewy, crunchy, delicate, and sweet. Packed with walnuts and dried fruit, these all natural energy bites will have you buzzing along in no time. They can easily be adapted with other dried fruits, nuts, and spices and would be perfect for outdoor Fall and Winter activities.

Adapted from Joy of Baking.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup whole-grain Kamut flour (or all-purpose, whole wheat, etc) - I used all purpose
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup Sucanat or light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups toasted walnuts (can also use pecans, hazelnuts or almonds), chopped - I used almonds because that's what I had in the house
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries - I used raisins instead, because I had those around

12 Medjool dates (approx 1 cup chopped dates), pits removed and chopped (or figs, and/or prunes) - I didn't put any dates/figs/prunes in
1 cup dried apricots, cut into bite size pieces - I used cranberries instead
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water) - this is cool!
1 tbsp almond milk - I used regular milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 325F. Line a square pan (8 or 9 inch) with parchment paper across both sides for easy lifting. In a small bowl mix together the flax egg and set aside.

Chop and toast the walnuts for 8-9 minutes at 325F. Remove from oven and set aside. Toasting the nuts really brings out the flavour so you don’t want to skip this step.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and dried fruit. Make sure the nuts and dried fruit are all coated with the flour mixture.

Mix the vanilla into the flax egg after it has thickened up after about 10 minutes.

Add the flax egg mixture and the 1 tbsp almond milk to the fruit and nut mixture and mix well.

Spread into the pan, pressing with fingers to even it out. I used a pastry roller too.

Bake for about 33-35 minutes at 325For until golden in colour. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Now transfer back into the pan and placein freezer to set for 10 minutes. Remove from pan once again and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Now slice the bites up with a sharp knife. Makes 16-20 bites depending on how large you make them. I made them smaller as they are very dense energy wise.

I love this recipe because it's so adaptable! Use whatever nuts you like, whatever dried fruit you have around or prefer, etc. It smells absolutely delicious when it's baking because of the cinnamon and vanilla and tastes absolutely divine! Because I was an idiot and thought I could use wax paper in the oven (hey, everyone is allowed a stupid moment now and then) I had to transfer it quickly (read: before a fire began/midway through baking) to another baking dish and didn't have a small one, so actually finished baking it on the jelly roll pan. It kept its form while baking but when I went to transfer it to the cooling rack it started to crumble. I did manage to get it back into the square pan to go in the freezer and then it regained its shape a bit and I was able to cut the bites into little squares when it was all said and done. Next time, I'll use parchment paper and the whole thing should be much easier! (Though all the crumblies sure did taste good as I "cleaned up" hehehe)

Humility and Marriage

I thought this article was really great. I love getting the Marriage Memos from FamilyLife and thought this one was especially good, so I wanted to share. I love my marriage and will do anything to fight for its success. However, I also continue to learn that marriage is an incredibly complicated thing that takes work. When Andy and I were preparing to marry, we were blessed to have people in our lives that were honest about the good things and the difficult things that come with marriage. Often I'm afraid that young couples aren't prepared or equipped to navigate all that comes along with marriage. I think it's incredibly important for young men and women thinking of getting married to really figure out what they are getting in to, so they can be well-prepared. In order for young couples to know what they are really getting in to, other, more experienced couples must be willing to be open and honest about their marriage. That's one of the reasons why I thought this article was so great. A woman who has been married for years and works for a Christian organization had the courage to disclose that not only are there arguments and "fights" in her marriage, but she and her husband argue about the same things over and over again. I admire the author's humility and am reassured that we aren' the only couple that experiences topic repeats when it comes to arguments.

"When Conflict Keeps Popping Up"

By Barbara Rainey

Do you know that unwinnable “Whack a Mole” game at your local kids’ pizza place—the one where the machine pops up plastic moles and your mission is to beat them back down as fast as they pop up? Conflicts in marriage are like that game; they keep popping up even when you don’t want to play anymore.Recently my husband and I were in another unwanted skirmish in our marriage. Same topic, same emotions, round gazillion! I’ve been disappointed many times that our issues are not resolved cleanly. They aren’t black and white.Over the decades of our marriage, our repeated disagreements have settled into several categories: parenting values, decision making, money, sex, and travel. Victory, a conditional one, was declared in only one of these: parenting, and that was simply because time ran out. The others demand ongoing engagement. Your own recurring marital battles may be over finances, in-laws, jobs, or other situations. No two marriages battle the same combination of issues. Yet there are similar patterns.The “we’re traveling too much” conflict was the one that caught us once again last week.My husband’s mother affectionately called her son a “road runner” after the cute cartoon character that was off in a flash everywhere he went. I thought it was sweet. I should have paid attention to the truth she was speaking. Not that it would have changed my decision to marry him. But his road-runner enthusiasm for travel, adventure, discovery, and conquering enemy territory has caused more ongoing stress and conflict in our marriage than any of the other areas I mentioned earlier. (By the way, I love to be home.)Our recent conflict began when I realized we were over-committed. Again. Somehow the schedule monster had eaten up more days than we realized and suddenly we were facing the enemy of miscommunication with no escape. Feelings of mistrust, lack of protection, lack of support, and anxiety resurfaced as we confronted the fact that I need more time at home than he does, but he needs me to go with him, and support him, and do life with him. Neither is wrong. It’s what we do with the clash of those colossal differences that matters.Like peeling an onionAt the core of this conflict, and at the core of any other recurring conflict, is fear. For me it’s fear that I am not really valued for what is important to me. If I perceive that Dennis is constantly scheduling us to the brink, pushing me to my limits, then I come to believe he hasn’t heard me, that he doesn’t get it, and therefore that he doesn’t love me. At the same time, if I refuse to adapt, to grow, to risk the stress of following him, then he perceives that I haven’t heard what he needs, that I don’t get it, and therefore I don’t really care about him as a person. Rather than declaring victory, it’s like peeling the layers of an onion. Each time we clash over this issue, and others, we are in different circumstances in our lives. I needed margins for different reasons 20 years ago when I was parenting full time. He needed my partnership for different reasons, too. Each conversation can peel another layer off our individual coverings so that we can see ourselves and our spouses more clearly than we did before. Our perceptions of ourselves and of each other are vastly flawed. We forget that most of the time.So while I don’t believe we declared victory this time, that we’ll never argue or disagree over travel ever again, I do believe we peeled away another layer. I see more clearly that I need to work on my attitude about following my husband, that I need to rejoice that my husband wants me with him, and that I should trust God with this situation that He has given me for my good.During a recent snow storm, our office building closed for the day. Dennis and I decided to enjoy every minute of the glittering snow-covered day, so we donned our winter gear and went hiking in the woods. On the way back, which was all uphill, I paused to catch my breath. As we stood there panting, my husband said to me, “I’m not going to push you anymore.” It had nothing to do with the travel issues, but I realized in that promise that he had heard my words to him. He allowed me to be who I was in that moment—needing a pause in the action when he didn’t. Next time you are chopping an onion, remember that those layers represent more than a pungent cooking ingredient. To the one who perseveres in marriage, each layer pulled back takes you closer to the heart. Though often accompanied by tears, as happens with onions, the progress made is satisfying. © Copyright 2011 by FamilyLife.

House Hunting Tips, Anyone?!

Andy and I are preparing to enter into the house hunting process. So far we have:

1. Gotten the mortgage pre-approval package from the bank
2. Looked at Realtor.com every week for three months
3. Spent Sunday mornings eating donuts while driving by properties
4. Asked colleagues about neighborhoods to avoid
5. Attended one open house

We continue to pray that God will lead us to the house He has chosen for us. We keep talking about making a list of what we want in a house, but we've yet to do that...maybe this weekend. Any other suggestions from our friends and family who have purchased homes is VERY welcomed!

Love this new recipe

I've probably mentioned it before and it's probably no surprise to any other busy person, but the crockpot continues to be an all star in my kitchen. This week we tried a lovely shredded beef tacos recipe and Oh. My. Goodness was it delicious and SO SO easy! The only thing I would have done differently was use low sodium beef broth because the boullion cube I did use made the beef pretty salty. But it was still delicious. We have leftovers so I'm thinking of making some hashbrowns, warming up the shredded beef and layering the beef on top of the potatoes and underneath a fried egg. If it's good, I'll let you know! By the way, the blog They Call Me Old Fashioned is a great blog in general. Consider following it!

Trips, Tulips, and Heat Waves

Oh, Indiana weather, how I love thee. This week alone the weather has gone from beautiful spring to rainy fall/winter and now we're currently experiencing the muggy 80 degree weather of early summer. It's no wonder I suffer frequently from sinus headaches. I also realized last night as I was telling Andy about the weather forecast for today that I am indeed my father's daughter. After moving off campus and receiving glorious heating and cooling bills in the mail, I informed Andy last night that yes, it's going to be 80 degrees on Sunday and yes, I REFUSE to turn the air conditioning on in April. My poor husband. We'll see how badly the weather deteriorates our marriage foundation and then we'll re-evaluate... We must share the hellacious trip that was Andy going to San Antonio for work last week. Last Monday he left TH at 3:30 a.m. to catch a flight out of Indianapolis at 6:25 a.m. When he got there, he was informed that his flight was canceled due to mechanical troubles. Now, while I'm sure Andy was thrilled that the airline had taken necessary precautions to not fly him around on a broken plane, that's sure not a great way to start out a trip. Sidenote - Andy and I are HORRIBLE fliers. We. Hate. It. I love airports and love traveling, but if I could just be instantly transported from location to location in a "beam me up, Scottie" sorta way, that would save several days of worrying/sleepless nights/needing to call family and make final goodbyes every time I'm going on a trip... After chatting with several folks Andy was able to get on another flight that morning and made it to San Antonio, eventually. When he landed he did mention that it was the worst flight of his life, but at least he was back on the ground. He had a good time in training but by Friday was ready to be back home. And I was ready for him to be back home. And Spike understood that if Andy didn't come home soon, his beautiful dog life might be in danger. Andy was scheduled to fly out at 5 p.m. on Friday. He finally got to leave around 8:30 p.m., of course causing him to miss his connection in Chicago with no hope of getting another flight to Indy until the next afternoon or even Sunday morning. Instead, he (or his company or the two of them in collaboration) decided he would rent a car and drive to Indy, get his vehicle from the airport and make the trip back to TH...so he could be in town to go to work the next day. He finally walked in the door at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday and went to work at 10 a.m after being awake for nearly 27 hours straight. To top that off, he will then put in 12 straight days because his new assistant manager has the week off to make his move to TH. Andy is, to say the least, a VERY hard worker. Thank you, God, for providing our family with such a wonderful man... In other news, the tulips are blooming all around town and it is absolutely gorgeous. I have a soft spot in my heart for tulips and I can't seem to pass one without smiling a bit. I can't wait to have a home where I can line our walkway with beautiful tulips! And speaking of plants, next Saturday is the opening day at the TH Community Garden! I was able to secure a plot there this year and canNOT way to get started planting! It will be my first garden (my parents have been avid gardeners for a long time now...I remember what seemed to be a HUGE garden every summer when I was growing up) and I cannot wait to start cooking with things that I actually grew! I'm hoping my mom can come up to help me. She has already drawn me a map of where things should go and I've bought a few plants already (brussel sprouts, lettuce, arugula, and spinach). I'll be sure to take pictures throughout the whole planting/growing/harvesting/cooking process. Hopefully the pictures will progress from empty plot to bountiful garden but like I said before...it's my first garden. There's no proof that the green thumb was passed down. If I have months of pictures that look exactly the same because everything is dying I won't post...hehe.

Fake Out Dessert

I wish I were a fabulous baker. Unfortunately, I'm not...yet. In the meantime, I love to make great "fake out" desserts. Sweet treats that are delicious but do not take any level of skill to prepare. My latest is what I'm calling an Out of the Trifle Bowl Trifle.

Ingredients:

1 angel food cake loaf

1 package strawberries (thinly sliced and put in a bowl with some sugar to sweeten)

heavy whipping cream

vanilla extract

confectioners sugar

For the whipped cream, just pour the container of heavy whipping cream in a bowl, with some confectioners sugar and vanilla extract and with electric beaters, beat on high until you get delicious whipped cream.

Cut the angel food cake loaf into three even sections and drizzle each section with a bit of vanilla extract. Then layer away! On the bottom layer I did whipped cream, strawberries, whipped cream and then put the second layer of cake on. Same layering on the second layer and then topped that with the top of the angel food cake loaf. I put it in the freezer for a bit to set, because the filling was falling out of the sides. It may not be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, but it was DELICIOUS!