Pumpkin Cake (Healthy Style-Gluten Free)
The feeling of Fall is in the air and with our first rain today….I must concede the fact that summer is over. School is back in session and all my volunteer commitments have begun. We are gearing up for a great year in women’s bible study and we are studying the book of Psalms, a perfect way to share in the songs of worship and praise that men and women have used for centuries. Psalms were used by Jesus as His songs and prayers. We had our first luncheon with the new ladies in our discussion group last week and this is the dessert cake I made to share with the gals. It was a hit, so I wanted to share it with them and all of you.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
1 ½ cups your favorite gluten free flour blend or almond meal flour
1 ½ cups organic oats pulsed in blender or vitamix to make grainy oat flour
3 Tablespoons flax meal
1 Tablespoon hemp seed
1 Tablespoon chia seed
¼ cup whey based protein powder (vanilla or pumpkin flavored)
¼ cup brown sugar or honey (optional if you are using chocolate chips)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons almond milk
4 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips or pumpkin flavored white chocolate chips
Frosting
¼ cup softened butter
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2-3 Tablespoons almond milk
Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together all wet ingredients in a small bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until moistened throughout. Add nuts and raisins and chocolate chips …
Read MoreLove Languages
Do you know your love language?
I am reading the book, The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I love the idea of recognizing how we show and feel love. It is so practical.
Recently, a good friend encouraged me to do the test verbally with my children. Although I have yet to do the test, I am seeing first hand how valuable it is to love our kids using their language.
I have been having a hard time with my 4 year old. We are very similar, and butt heads a lot. School has been helpful, she has her own thing, but we have still had hard times. This past Saturday I made time for just the two of us. We went shopping at a local consignment shopping event to get her shoes and pajamas. SHE WAS IN HEAVEN. She probably hugged me and told me she loved me about 20 times. I realized how much she needed that quality time, for me to say YES to time with her, and for her to be alone for a little bit away from her younger sisters.
This past week her behavior has been better, and she was recognized at school for good behavior 3 days in a row! I was able to take her to pick out small prizes after school and even set aside a little money to get a treat she has been wanting from Disneyland.
I feel like the love languages have given me a tool in my tool belt to recognize that my husband, and children all have unique needs and ways they feel loved. I am excited to put this more into practice to work on all of our relationships and to help my girls recognize their love languages and how we show love …
Read MoreMarriage is a Priority
Picture from: http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/08/01/636056164726389666182106413_Marriage-3.jpg
Think about the day you walked down the aisle and embarked on the journey of marriage. I bet you can remember the feeling of butterflies in your stomach mixed with excitement, energy and anticipation. That day is embedded into your memory. The person that stood before you that day is the same person with whom today you spend your hardest moments, your best moments, and your most challenging moments. Are those passionate and excited feelings and emotions still there? Maybe they are, which is awesome to live in your relationship that way. But maybe you have hit a rut. Life’s busy, you are tired, kids become your focus, and your spouse gets the leftovers of each day. Of course, every day is not going to be your wedding. Life changes a whole lot from that blissful day. But you don’t just want to coast through life and just let things happen around you. You can choose to wake up every day stoked to see what the day may bring you. Choose to be excited for life together.
As a couple, you can receive the gift of love, embrace the moment, and experience life to the fullest. And that is just it. Marriage is a gift. It is an experience. It is a journey. We aren’t supposed to have it all figured out, but we are in it together. On the way home my husband and I were thinking back to when we were single. We can’t even imagine life that way anymore. We are so thankful for each other. We are so thankful we can do life together. But do I show my love for him all the time? Do I make my husband feel encouraged, empowered, respected, and supported? Unfortunately, not all the time. I know …
Read MoreTurning Worry Into Worship
A sweet friend sent me an unexpected gift a couple weeks ago- a book called “Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet with Jesus” by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk. We all need friends like that, right?! This friend is not yet a mother but has such discernment to the strong need for a short pause from the chaos to turn my mind toward Jesus. What a blessing!
Here are a few excerpts to share with you from my first devotional from the book!
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25
“I think I have the worry gene, and I’m sure I got it from my mother. She passed down to me her aqua-blue eyes, her slightly crooked smile, and her tendency to worry.
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Over time I’ve noticed something about worry: 99 percent of my past fears never came to pass. However, I spent oodles of time fretting about them. How I wish I could redeem that time and do something productive instead! What if I had turned my worry to worship?
Contrast my attitude with the woman in Proverbs 31:25: ‘She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.’ There’s no weariness in her thoughts and actions. She laughed at the days to come – not in a careless sort of way, but with a confidence that came from God.
Because she wore strength and dignity due to her faith in God, she had a smile on her face and laughter in her heart when she considered the future. She trusted in God, whose faithfulness in the past assured her He would work out circumstances in the future.
God can use or tendency to worry to grow our faith. As …
Read MoreIsraeli Salad and other Favorite Foods from Israel
My husband and I just returned from a trip to Israel. Visiting a new country brings opportunities to experience a new culture-the history, the economy, the geo-political climate, the ancient customs, the food and costumes, the music and dance, the art and architecture and the archeological discoveries that unlock the mysteries of the people over centuries. Discovering the secrets of Israel was transformational for the two of us who have spent the last 45 years studying the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Traveling through Israel, we were able to experience the amazing food and LOVED each dish we tried. We already knew we loved Tabouleh and Hummus (click to find previous posts with recipes) and now our two new favorite dishes are found below……..
Israeli Salad
1 lb Persian cucumbers, diced
1 lb fresh ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup minced onion (optional)
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
Salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp each)
Chop all vegetables into small cubes. Finely chop parsley. Toss vegetables and parsley with olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir together, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Chicken Shwarma
2-2 ½ pounds chicken thighs
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons round coriander
8 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh grated ginger)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons allspice
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl to make a rub. You can mix ina food processor if you want.
Rub over all pieces of chicken and let sit between 30 minutes and 24 hours. Grill chicken on medium high heat about 8 minutes on each side. Remove from BBQ …
What is Success?
Do you think about success and how it looks in different areas of your life? For example, what is a successful marriage? Successful parenting? Job success? Personal success?
How do you define success?
According to the dictionary, success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.”
Last week I shared the importance of writing down your goals, and even sharing your goals with others. Why? So your path to “success” (however YOU define it), is drawn out. So you can define daily action steps to get to your goal. The path might not always be straight, in fact, often our path to success is riddled with failures. However, when we know where we are going, we CAN take those daily steps to get there.
I love this definition of success from Robert Collier, “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”
What does this mean to me? It means success takes work. Success takes consistency. Success takes planning. Success takes patience.
This definition also breaks down the path to success in daily steps. We might feel like we aren’t moving forward towards our goals, but daily action steps keep us moving. Daily action steps give us a plan and a way to track how we are moving toward our goals.
I know the journey WILL be tough. So arm yourself for the journey. I am really enjoying the devotions from the YouVersion Bible app. I recommend “Staying Hopeful” and “HILLSONG – Let Hope Rise.” Today’s devotion from Let Hope Rise states, “Singing songs that remind us of the goodness of God, we shift our focus from our own hardships and struggles to his consistent faithfulness. Even more, worship reminds us not to mistake the presence of such hardships and struggles as the absence of …
Read MoreOverload? Reorganize your Thinking
Do you sometimes feel like this??? Our brains are flooded with thoughts, ideas, emotions, stress, tasks, details, and responsibilities. Most of the time we feel like we are on overload. Brain overload is a real thing. And I think I suffer from this disease. I am realizing I need to figure out how to energize my brains to help it function, but also how to relax my brain. If my brain is constantly firing on all cylinders, trying to do five million things at once, I will not be able to function at maximum capacity. And I cannot continue to try to live this way. So here are some tips I have been thinking through and trying to incorporate into my own life.
How to keep your brain at full productivity:
1. Find some time to let your brain rest
2. Find ways you like to recharge (Read, listen to music, pray, exercise, spend time with people)
3. De-clutter your life
4. Turn off your phone
5. Pay attention to when you are able to be most productive
6. Find your routines.
7. Record things so you remember them. Record what works for you. What doesn’t work for you. Record the process of how you got from here to there.
8. Focus on blessings. Think about what you are thankful for.
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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for the Start of Fall
We LOVE pumpkin! And, what better way to start the official beginning of Fall (it’s tomorrow!) than with a Pumpkin Recipe!
I like my healthy breakfasts- Protein shake, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, homemade granola. But, every once in a while, I really like making a “Fun Breakfast” aka not as healthy but still delicious 🙂 So, I figured fall would be the perfect time to try making pumpkin cinnamon rolls! They taste really good, and, also have a great consistency! I cannot always find healthy alternative ingredients, so I will give you the ingredients I used, but also include a few healthy alternatives to try if you want!
INGREDIENTS (Adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie: The Healthy Dessert Blog) Makes approx 12 cinnamon rolls …
Read MoreButtermilk Coffee Cake with Blueberries
Here is another fun Fall recipe that is perfect to take to a women’s gathering or to serve at a Sunday brunch for family and friends. My mom made this recipe all the time then when I was young-I just made a few modifications to make it a bit healthier and added some blueberries for a burst of antioxidants. It stores well and is easy to transport so a great “bake and go” treat. Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
Buttermilk Coffee Cake with Blueberries
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup almond meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
⅔ cup coconut oil
Remove ¾ cups of the above mixture and set aside for topping BEFORE you add any other ingredients.
For Topping Add
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts
For coffee cake dough Add
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup blueberries
Mix top list of ingredients and stir together until combined. Remove ¾ cup for topping and to that ¾ cup add 1 more teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup chopped nuts (I used chopped sliced almonds). Set aside. To the remaining dough in the bowl add the egg, buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder and almond extract. Mix wet and dry softly. Add blueberries and fold until dough and berries are combined. Pour dough into a greased 9×13 pan and sprinkle topping over all. Press topping in a bit. Bake in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
What is your favorite coffee cake recipe?
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Fit For Fall Begins!
This week we jumped into our Fit For Fall Challenge!
Why do we LOVE challenges? Challenges provide a community of support and accountability PLUS help you get focused on your goals.
Having goals is so important. It keeps you focused and helps direct your daily actions.
This week we challenged our group to write down their goals and share them on Facebook. The process of writing down goals is important for actually accomplishing your goals.
I love these 5 reasons writing down your goals will help you accomplish them from Michael Hyatt (Who has one of my favorite podcast! Check him out!)
- Forces you to be specific
- Motivates you (and guides you) to take action.
- Provides a filter for opportunities that arise. You can ask yourself “Does this help me get closer to or further from my goal?”
- Helps you persevere and overcome resistance.
- Helps you see the journey – how far you’ve come!
What are YOU working on? What are your goals?
I challenge you to write them down and SHARE them. If you share on social media tag us @growingweisser!
Here are my health goals for the next 60 days!
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