Birthday weekend & healthier s'mores

Saturday we left the house around 8am and didn't get back home until almost 10pm. Home is so welcoming after a looong day. That morning we joined Bill and Steve at the Raleigh Christmas parade to pass out some gospel tracts. From there we went to Wilson, where Tony attended a men's meeting and I went treasure hunting (aka shopping). Then back to Goldsboro that evening to attend a bridesmaid dinner with the girls, mom, and Chrissie. While I was busy with that, Tony joined my dad at the movie theatre. Then we met back up at Target. :)

We were very grateful for the Lord's Day!! What a great blessing it is to worship our Creator along side our siblings in Christ! Then we had a restful day at home. And that evening I attended Brooke's bridal shower. That was lots of fun. :)

As of Monday, I am officially twenty-five years old. The morning of my birthday was spent at home, doing my usual tasks. I told Tony that 23rd of November should be a paid holiday for him, so we could spend all day together. ;) Mid-afternoon, Tony's mom stopped by to deliver {a perfect} gift; a set of crochet hooks and a gift card to Michaels craft store. Late afternoon, I gathered all my "papers" and headed to the DMV to get my liscense renewed. A handful of people were in front of me, so I sat there in the waiting area, quizzing myself of the traffic signs. It was finally my turn and everything checked out smoothly. I had trouble with only one sign - a yellow circle. I told the lady, "Mmm, some kind of warning sign..." She reminded me that it usually has a black "X" in it. "Oh, a railroad crossing..." :) So, I have my temporary liscense in the car and should have my permanent one within two weeks. From there I went to the grocery store. I felt like I owed the cashier an explanation when I put six loaves of 12 grain bread on the conveyer belt. Stuffing will be my contribution to the Thanksgiving meal. I'm actually going to toast the bread, and chop the onions and garlic today. Tony beat me home, so I was greeted with a big birthday hug when I walked through the front door. (Sweet!!)

That evening we went to my parents for a family celebration. Matthew and Joey weren't able to make it because of their work schedules... but it's okay, because everyone will be there on Thursday. Mom and Brittany fixed my usual meal - breaded steak, with mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, and salad. That is definitely one of my favorite made.by.mom meals. Then I opened my gifts: a scrunchy scarf and tights from Brittany, a very pretty sweater from Chrissie, and a gift card to Rack Room Shoes from Dad and Mom! That is designated to a pair of black boots!! I'm so excited! :) Then I blew out my candles and we all enjoyed some carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum!  

Last night, we took a break from school work and decided to make s'mores with homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallow fluff. It was all pretty tasty. That was our first time making fluff and I was amazed that the texture of it came out perfect {sticky and gooey}, just like the stuff you buy. And although this was healthier than using pre-packaged crackers and fluff, I still wouldn't label this treat healthy. There is a difference. ;)  

Be kind to your grains...

As I've mentioned in the past, freshly ground flour is packed full of healthy nutrients, but only recently have I learned that there is a right way and a wrong way to preparing our grains. The wrong way goes something like this: ground the flour, mix with remaining ingredients, let dough rise, bake for several minutes, and enjoy a slice (or two) of fresh from the oven bread. Now a few weeks ago I would have responded, "What's wrong with that?" And the answer was shocking to me.

Whole grains also contain a little antinutrient, among others, called phytic acid. This organic acid combines with essential nutrients in the intestinal tract and prevents the absorption of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc. Over time, a diet rich in whole grains may lead to mineral deficiencies, bone loss, digestive problems, allergies, Crohn's disease, colitis, and mental disorders. Those are some pretty serious side effects, if you ask me.

So does this mean that we need to avoid grains altogether? Nope. This just means that we need to prepare our grains in a way that neutralizes these antinutrients. And that way is widely known as the Two Staged Process, a method of soaking, fermenting, or sprouting the grains before cooking or baking. Soaking is becoming my preference. It is said that 12-24 hours of soaking time yields the best results. Overall, this process balances anti-nutrients and breaks down complex starches and proteins, making it easier on our bodies to digest.1 So the right way of preparing grains goes like this: ground the flour, soak the flour, add remaining ingredients, let dough rise, bake for several minutes, and enjoy a slice of bread. Your body will be very grateful for the extra step. It really isn't that much more time consuming, its just a matter of planning ahead. For instance, if I wanted to make a loaf of bread tomorrow, then I would combine the flour with the liquid today and set the covered bowl on the counter to soak until tomorrow. Then proceed as usual.

In the next few days I will make a post explaining what this looks like practically... until next time. :)

Evening at home

Homemade graham crackers are in the oven.

When Tony got home from work, we enjoyed a nice warm bowl of veggie soup. A little later, he settled into the recliner to watch lectures on discrete math. I sat near by on the couch, crocheting a pink sweater for myself (still have a longs ways to go on that). Tony slowly fell asleep and we decided it was best to just let him sleep, as he hasn't got much of it this week. I'm very grateful to God that his homework assignments were completed last night and all he has to do tomorrow is an exam for statistics. Sigh. While he slept, I decided to make a batch of graham crackers, in my kitchenaid mixer of course. I actually just took them out of the oven... they smell amazing! The plan is to eat some tonight, then ground up the rest for graham cracker crusts. Perfect for cheesecake.

Earlier today I listened to a couple past programs of Revive our Hearts, from her series titled "The Beauty of Meekness." A lot of precious truths were said that convicted my heart. And I'm grateful for it. Chrissie and I were talking a few weeks back on the subject of conviction. She was sharing with me some wisdom from her Uncle - conviction is a gift from God that we should not take for granted. Rather than letting us continue in our sin, He is kindly revealing it to us, and graciously conforming our hearts to the likeness of his Son. So today my heart was being challenged in the area of meekness. We are to realize that the people and circumstances that provoke us to anger, are actually instruments in God's hand being used to teach us and draw us closer to himself. "You see, we think we're being angry at the person who's provoking us, but we're not realizing that that person is an instrument in God's hand to mold and shape and sanctify my life. So if I'm angry, I'm really angry at the One who's holding the instrument - who is God. Meekness says, I receive my circumstances. I don't resent them or resist them or kick against them. If it's something that can't be changed, then I assume that God has a purpose for it, and I receive it. That's meekness toward God."1 So very true...

"Empire Red"

Yesterday, I eagerly waited for the UPS truck to pull into my driveway ... on that truck would be my birthday gift from Tony. :) Mid-afternoon, as I was in the kitchen chopping up cabbage to make coleslaw (which turned out very yummy), I heard the UPS truck drive away. "That's strange... he didn't even knock." I opened the front door thinking that maybe he just left it on the porch, but nothing was there. I watched as the UPS truck drove away. "Okay, maybe it's a new driver and they're lost, or maybe my address is wrong on the box..." Several minutes go by and my phone rings. I answer thinking that maybe it was the UPS driver. Instead it was my next door neighbor... "I have a package over here with your name on it; it's a rather large box..." :) So I went next door and carried this "rather large box" home. It sat by the front door, waiting for Tony to get home from work.

I was so excited to finally open the package...

...and awe at the beautifulness of my newest maiden. She will be portioned much over the years to come and I pray that she will live a strong and healthy life! :)

Easy Baked Apples

Saturday night, we wanted a little snack to eat while watching "The Brave Little Toaster" (American Vision recently published a neat article about this movie). So I chopped up three fuji apples, placed them in a baking dish with about 1/2 cup of water, and sprinkled generously with ground cinnamon and cloves. I covered the dish with tinfoil and baked the apples at 350* for almost an hour. They smelt wonderful and tasted great all by themselves, but even more so with a scoop of vanilla icecream. ;)