Dairy and Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oat Flour Muffins

Let me first say I am NOT a food photographer. But I am pretty darn proud of this picture.

Since we are mostly a dairy free home (thanks to my adult onset food allergies), I try to make yummy things that both my kids and my husband will enjoy, and that is allergen for me.

Today my son and I made these muffins in my sweet new Pampered Chef brownie pan my mother-in-law sent me. I LOVE it! It's so awesome!!

These little yummies I just kinda put together in my head, unsure of how they would turn out, and I have NO NAME FOR THEM! So here goes the name:

Dairy and Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oat Flour Muffins ... PHEW!!!!

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 egg
1 cup non-dairy milk ( I used Coconut Milk)
1/4 tsp liquid vanilla Stevia
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*

Blend all ingredients in your blender. Put all the wet ingredients at the bottom on the blade, milk, egg, stevia, peanut butter and banana, blend together; then add dry ingredients.
Spray oil or line muffin tins with cupcake liners or parchment paper.
Pour batter into muffin tins.
Bake for 15 minutes. Baking time might vary if you aren't using a convection oven. I use the tooth pick test to determine if they are done.

Makes 11-12 muffins

Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Crumb Coffee Cake and Day 10

I made the most incredible dairy free, low sugar strawberry coffee crumb cakes! EVER! No joke! I also used whole wheat flour, because I don't have the fancy gluten free ones. But I think in the future I will attempt to make it grain free.

Recipe:
Filling Ingredients-
1/3 cup stevia
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 cups sliced strawberries

Cake Ingredients-
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup stevia
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cold non-dairy butter
2 eggs
1 cup alternative milk (almond, rice, coconut, soy) + 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia

Topping Ingredients-
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons wheat flour
1/4 cup cold nondairy butter

Directions-
Preheat oven to 365

In a sauce pan combine all filling ingredients, bring to a boil stirring rapidly. Then turn off the stove and let set in pan to thicken up.

In large bowl mix dry ingredients for cake; flour, stevia, sugar, baking powder, baking soda. Then cut in butter to make a crumbly mix. In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients; eggs, milk, vanilla extract and liquid stevia. Then combine with dry ingredients.

Spray grease a 9x13 baking dish. Pour 2/3 of the cake batter into the baking dish. It will be sticky, so you will have to do some finagling to spread it around. Then spoon 3/4 of the filling mix on top of the cake batter in the baking dish. Pour remaining 1/4 filling in to the bowl with the remaining 1/3 of the cake batter. Mix well. Pour this on top of the filling layer and carefully spread around.

Next make the topping. Mix all ingredients by pinching in the butter into the flour/sugar mix. Then crumble over the top of the cake.

You can add crushed walnuts, almonds, peanuts, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, etc. into the topping mix. about 1/4 cup.

Bake in oven at 365 for 47 minutes. Serve warm. YUMM!!!

I hope you try it! It is super yummy!

On another note; I am going on day 10 of no Facebook. And it is going well. I still have those moments of desire to reactivate it. But at the study Sunday night, I realized that I will be needing to choose God daily over this vice. To some, this will definitely seem silly. But it isn't.

Anything you put before God, that has been created, is an idol. God, the creator of all, is worthy of my whole heart and focus. Anything created that I put in front of my Creator is idolatry. And I know there are probably other idols in my life that I am unaware of at the moment. But I am feeling closer to Jesus now than 10 days ago.

I need to get better at reading the Bible daily. I do a few studies, devotionals, etc., but I don't really read the Bible. In Joshua 24, Joshua says to choose your god you will serve. You can't not serve anything. You serve God, or money, or trees, or people, or material things. But you will ultimately choose a god to serve. I choose God the Creator!

Heave it and Leave it

I went to a women's retreat Friday night to Saturday afternoon. This was one amazing learning and spiritual experience for me. For the first time, likely, in my adult life, I allowed the Spirit to lead my words, my heart and my mind. I opened up to seemingly strangers.

The theme of the retreat was "Diamonds in the Rough." No truer statement about me than this. I feel like I have been rougher than rough. But true to form, Jesus the master jeweler, never stopped polishing me. I am not finished, by any stretch of the imagination, but after this weekend with some amazing women, I realized I don't have to be, yet. And I won't be until God calls me home.

The main thing I learned at this retreat was that things that happened in my past do not have to have any impact on me today or in the future. Because of choices I made, I have had one helluva time forgiving myself for them. But after this weekend, I started forgiving myself. God had already forgiven me, but he was so patiently waiting for me to forgive myself, move past the shame and embarrassment. Allow myself to feel worthy and valuable. Priceless.

Many of the women I spent time with this weekend knew very little about me, and in the bigger scheme of the words, still only know very little about me, but it was so refreshing to be able to heave and leave behind issues of my recent past. With the goal in mind of God perfectly polishing me from the inside out.

Each one of those women have such a special place in my heart. Hearing two testimonies of their faith, two women that come from similar backgrounds but their testimonies have very different paths. We aren't on the same path. Our lives are different. And just because our paths are different, doesn't mean they don't end up in the same location.

 Jesus wants women to value themselves. To see, feel, and understand their spiritually led internal worth. It's funny how we put so much value on our outer appearance. Meeting someone for the first time, you will NEVER know the battle they are facing on the inside. With the occasional open book exception of some people who don't have any problems with opening up. Typically speaking, you won't know.

This was the case with me. I felt I had led some of those women to believe something different about me than was true when we all first met two years ago. I was struggling with a drug addiction, a pain pill addiction. And in the midst of momentary sobriety I accepted Christ in my heart. That didn't clean me up over night. I had months ahead of me of detox and relapse. But I haven't had one pain pill (minus the occasional Ibuprofen) since August of 2011. That is all because of Christ.

If you don't believe that Jesus can save you from yourself, I'd love to share my story with you. Not just because I have a recent experience, but because my testimony of Jesus starts back when I was a very young child.

I am so very thankful to the women who planned the retreat. Thankful that God put me and those women in that place. Because I know that he hand picked each of us to experience the spirit that evening and morning together. I am so thankful that Jesus loves me, even when I'm not loving myself. And that he is so willing to show me where my value is, instead of where I think it is.

Facebook Detox Day 5

Funny thing ... I don't have Facebook so my house is actually getting cleaned and I'm actually working and marketing, and ya know .. being a mom!

How weird!!! :)

Until yesterday, I didn't have a clue that my social media usage had such an impact on my life. I didn't realize that I was on it so much. Yesterday, was the first day that I didn't miss it, per say. But out of habit as I was working, I would reach to click over to a different internet tab to check my FB account. Only realize, it wasn't there. Old habits.

I am so loving not having that account. At this point, I am unsure if I will ever reactivate it. My life is so much happier. How is that possible? Only 5 days into this exercise and I'm already happier, less stressed, feelings of hurt aren't being triggered daily, and my brain isn't exhausted with all the unnecessary information I was picking up.

To be honest, I wonder if I worked outside the home if I would have such an attachment to Facebook?!? I know that being home is my "job," but it allows me so much freedom to pretty much do whatever I want, while being at home.

Not using this account has been such an amazing mind clearing and detox practice.

It took nearly 5 days for people to realize I wasn't on facebook, and I am trying REALLY hard to not take offense to that. Because I probably would be about the same time frame if someone I knew was doing the same thing.

That said, why do more people not call or text or e-mail? Why is Facebook the only way many people connect with one another? How did we get to this point in life and culture that our whole being is defined by interacting with one another in a non-personal way?

I miss the days of the telephone. Not the cell phone, though the beginning of the cell phone days weren't too bad either. But you know, the days where we had to pick up a phone for a conversation. Where I would get in trouble for being on the phone for too long with my friends. Or my mom having a conversation with her siblings or friends or mom for an hour. When calling someone across the country was a scheduled event and everyone waited for that call. Personal contact was so personal and important.

How did facebook become the way we define personal contact?

Today is Thursday, April 4, 2013 and I am detoxed from Facebook! I LOVE IT!

Facebook Or FOOD ..

How does one go from ending one idol to replacing it with another? I'm not sure, but I have to be EXTREMELY careful.

Yesterday, I was just bored bored bored .. but only in one aspect. I had plenty to do, and was doing it. But my mind kept going to checking facebook. Even though I haven't checked it in more than 3 days. You never realize how much of a part a simple thing like Facebook plays in your life.

I didn't really CREATE a new idol, but rather replaced one addiction with a filler ... food.

Every time I passed through the kitchen to switch the laundry I would grab a couple of truffles, a cracker or two, or something else. Completely unnecessary. To some that wouldn't seem to be a big deal, but through out the day, it adds up.

I'm not on a "diet." But I would like to get out of this experience without weighing 400 lbs.

I know that this whole exercise of Facebook detox may seem silly to many people. After all, many do not have a belief in God. I, however, have this wholehearted belief that everything in my life will be fantastic (hard or easy) if I have God as the central focus.

Jesus didn't just come to save sinners, he came to teach and love. I am excited to say, that I did not fall down with food again today. except for those 8 chocolate chips

Day 3, Yesterday, was a success! Even with the eating.

Because I fell asleep so early last night, I didn't get to blog about the day. So there will be another post this evening. Fair warning :)

Realizations, Goals, Understanding Godly Designed Plans

Coming Soon to Alaska!

 
I was very VERY bored today. But without cause. See, I realized HOW MUCH TIME I WASTED ON FACEBOOK! Yes, I just capitalized that because it was VERY evident to me, and I want it VERY evident to you.

I sat on my couch, during the normal times I do, and realized I didn't have Facebook to use. Not to mention the loneliness I suddenly felt from all the conversations I had daily on FB.

I use to speak to 8-10 people a day using the messenger. Today (and yesterday) I talked or text with maybe 2 or 3 of my friends. This isn't saying anything bad about anyone I talked to on Facebook. Just a realization of my dependence on the messenger versus calling or whatever outside that website.

I text my friend, Kristina, and said I was bored, what do I do? She promptly responds, "Read the Bible."

UM DUH!!! Wasn't that the whole reason I stepped away from Facebook for a while? HELLO!!!

So I did. And it made sense that I spent that time doing a study. :)

I am about to start a new clothing business in Alaska as a distributor for a clothing line that is just booming in a the lower 48 and Hawaii. I cannot wait to be the sole distributor in Alaska. The promise of this business is amazing. And I know that God prompting me to separate myself from Facebook for a time is preparation for focusing on this career that will allow me to interact with MANY women across Alaska.

For a long time I felt the calling to minister to women in a way that wasn't through books, church, or mission outreach groups. Women have such a big issue with their appearance. When I came across this specific clothing line, I felt the prompting of God to contact the owners of the company and see how they would feel about expanding their line to Alaska.

Long story short, it is all moving VERY fast!! And I am incredibly excited. My freshman year of college was spent studying fashion merchandising. Which is very strange, because I left that school and program vowing never to deal with fashion again! Yet, here I am. Coming full circle from age 17 to 31 to fashion merchandising! The most expensive year of education, showing its promises. :)

God is so good! He works in the best and most apparent ways. When we are constantly in tune with the Spirit, His messages are clear and not coded. I am super excited to see where God is taking me and my family's future!

Vanilla Bean Cake Review

Vanilla Bean Cake
Photo Courtesy of The Spunky Coconut

 

 

 Side note: Yes, my cake looked EXACTLY like this!!!

For Easter dinner, I decided to make a grain, dairy, and sugar free dessert. The problem: usually such desserts are disgusting!!!! No joke, DISGUSTING.

So I searched and searched. Found a recipe called Vanilla Bean Cake posted by the author of The Spunky Coconut.

It was DELICIOUS!!! Five Star rating from even the most difficult of critics (i.e. my husband)

This recipe called for things you wouldn't normally consider put in a cake. White beans. Who puts BEANS in a cake and then call it a DESSERT!?!?! Not me.

But I gave it a whirl. I had not ever cooked with a springform pan before, so I was a little worried. And my guinea pig dinner guests had NO IDEA that this was my first time making this cake. Let alone, they didn't know it was made with beans, eggs, stevia drops, honey, vanilla extract, coconut oil, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, and some salt. Seriously! 

It was the most moist cake I have ever made. The texture was somewhere between puffy cake and cheesecake. My friend who doesn't even like cake or frosting, devoured two slices. And why not!?!? It's loaded with healthy proteins and has no sugar. The fats all come from the coconut, which is a healthy fat. And the flavor was nothing to be forgotten.

One would NEVER know it was made from white beans if one didn't know. I will definitely be making this recipe again. Cupcakes, yes, cupcakes!

I really suggest you make it!