Valentine Skit

We did this skit for our Valentines Banquet. This was us doing it a second time for church members who didn't get a chance to see it. Although it was better the first time around, we still had fun with it! Enjoy!

Baking with the Hulk

The Hulk showed up at our house this morning. I decided the best thing to do was use his muscles to help make some muffins!

Healthy Chocolate Muffins {aka Hulk Muffins!}

source

1 3/4 c. oats

3 egg whites

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c. plain greek yogurt (I used vanilla)

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1 c. hot water

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c. truvia baking blend or baking stevia (I used reg sugar)

1/2 c. semi-sweet choc chips

1. Line muffin pain with cupcake liners.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Mix all ingredients together in a blender (except chocolate chips) on LOW. Blen until mixture is smooth. Do not over blend. (Ummm...apparently I didn't read the directions very well. I just mixed it all up in my mixer. They still turned out though!)

4. Place mixture in cupcake liners about 3/4 the way full. Top with chocolate chips.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

These are actually pretty good! They don't have your typical cake-y texture, but they still have good flavor. I'm curious to see if they turn out different when I actually follow the directions! :)

Deliciously Homemade

Let's be honest, there are some things (not many) that aren't worth the effort or taste to make on your own. That's not the case with the recipes I'm about share with you though! These homemade hummus and french bread/baguette recipes are so good, and they don't stick around very long...in our house at least!

Hummus is a delicious dip for veggies, pita chips, baguette, etc. Or you can use it to make Hummus Pizza. It calls for tahini paste which can be kinda spendy depending on where you get it. We were able to get a pretty good size jar for $9 and it'll last us for awhile. When it runs out though, I want to try THIS recipe for tahini-free hummus.

Garlic Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained

3 TBS tahini (sesame paste)

juice from 1/2 a lemon (about 2 TBS)

2 TBS vegetable oil

2-3 TBS olive oil

10 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process until pureed.

Notes: You might need to add more oil to get the consistency you want. -- The original recipe called for 6 cloves of garlic, but we found that it didn't have enough of a garlic flavor. Adjust to your taste. -- For roasted red pepper hummus, reduce the garlic and add some roasted red peppers till you get the flavor you want. It's delicious!!

Bread...who doesn't love it?! Especially homemade bread! This is a really simple and delicious recipe.  It's nice because you can get several loaves out of it depending on what size you make them. (The first time I made this I had 2 large loaves...the second time I had 3 smaller loaves and 2 baguettes.) And let's not forget that your house smells amazing while these guys are in the oven!

French Bread/Baguette

(source)

Mix - let sit for 5 minutes:

2 1/2 c. warm water

2 TBS yeast

3 TBS sugar

2 TBS yeast

Add:

1 TBS salt

1/3 c. oil

6-7 c. flour

Knead for 2-5 minutes. Cover and allow the dough to rise. When it reaches the top of the bowl, punch it down. Repeat rise/punch process 2-5 times.

Grease baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape loaves. Place on prepared baking sheets, slit tops with sharp knife and let rise for 30 more minutes. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 375* for 30 minutes. (I think I only baked the baguette for 15-20 minutes.)

Hummus Pizza

This is sooo good! A friend introduced us to it and it quickly became a favorite in our house. We typically use pita bread as the 'pizza crust', but I had some homemade french bread on hand so I decided to use that and it was delicious!

I don't really have any measurements for you -- just put on as much as you want!

Loaf of french bread (or pita bread)

Hummus - we like garlic or roasted red pepper

Baby spinach

Cooked chicken, seasoned with italian seasoning

Mozzarella cheese

Slice your loaf in half and spread hummus on top. If you use pita bread just spread the hummus on top of the pita - no need to cut open. Layer your spinach, chicken, and cheese. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Slice into pieces and enjoy!

Like I said, I used homemade french bread this time around. I also used homemade hummus. Recipes for those will be coming this week, so stay tuned! Update -- GO HERE for the recipes!

Insta{friday}

Oh dear...I'm seeing a bit of a pattern with my Instagram pictures!

{birthday cupcakes}

{much needed caffeine while visiting bus kids}

{delicious popcorn from my secret sister}

{birthday cake numero uno}

{birthday cake numero dos}

{made valentine cookies with the kids}

want to follow me on Instagram? @kaliwaldron

Valentine Candy

idea came from here

BE MINE - John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

ALL MINE - John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

TRUE LOVE - Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

LOVE ME - Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

I'M SURE - John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

SWEET TALK - Psalm 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

BE GOOD - John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

FAX ME - Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Valentine's Banquet

This past Friday evening our church held a Valentine's Banquet. I had the privilege of being able to be a part of it in the way of decorations, dessert, special music, skit and serving those in attendance. Some might think that it would be such a downer to be at a Valentine's banquet as a single person, but I've served at them for several years now and it's such a blast! If you can't join them, serve them! :)

Maggie & I were in charge of decor - much thanks to everyone who helped us put it all together!

oh kevin! he was the only teen who showed up to help and did a great job!

*stolen borrowed from Maggie's blog*

*this one too* -- this is the skit crew...hopefully i'll be able to get a video up of our skit in the near future. it's hilarious!

I'm so thankful for the wonderful friends and church family the Lord has blessed me with!

Valentine Wreath

This was really easy to make aside from the fact that it took almost TWO hours to wrap the wreath form in twine. Definitely a project to do while watching a movie or show to keep from getting bored to death from it! I love it though!

Valentine Nails

My attempt at Valentine nails...the crooked heart is driving me crazy, but it took WAY too many coats of white to get a solid coat...so I'll live with it :) Not too bad for freehanding it though. (In case you're wondering, I used a bobby pin dipped in polish to make the heart.)

Here are some other cute Valentine Manis:



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Valentines

I've got some Valentines-y posts coming your way this week. Let's start with this...our ladies quartet at church sang this song for our Valentines Banquet.

Friday Favorites

Valentine Nails...plan on doing this this week!

Washi Tape & iPhone chargers...cute!

This book/song is so cute!

Mmm...I plan on trying these!

A bookshelf for shoe storage. This would be so cool if you had the room for it!

How delicious does this sound?!

Coffee Filters

Who would have thought that coffee filters could be turned into something for decoration?! Yet another great find on Pinterest!

We needed something for our table centerpiece, so I decided to make some flowers to fill in the box. You would never know by looking at them that they were made from coffee filters! I got the filters from the dollar store, so this project cost a total of $2...nice!

Here's the tutorial I used to make them...they're super easy!

Josh

Blizzard

Last weekend I had the privilege of tagging along with the teens at the Blizzard Youth Rally. It was a great time of food, fellowship, games, and awesome preaching. 

The theme was WhoYaGonnaCall?, and was focusing on superheroes and how Christ should be our superhero. He talked about how perception is reality. We perceive athletes, musicians, actors/actresses to be a certain way and we believe that's how they really are, but our perception of them is not real. Christ on the other hand is real! He is holy, humble, highly exalted, and here. He wants to be part of our lives...He wants to be our Friend, Guide, Comforter, and Saviour. He is the most real thing in our lives!

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. ~Philippians 2:5-13

Saturday morning was about who are we imitating. He again referred to the culture around us and how quickly we try to imitate people we think are cool, but those people don't care about us. All we are to them are dollar signs, plus there's no fulfillment in imitating them. But Christ...now He's Someone worth imitating! We should be striving all the time to be more Christ-like.  When we are imitating someone, everyone around us knows who we are imitating. I don't know about you, but I want Christ to radiate from my life! I want to imitate Him and for everyone around me to be very aware that He is the One I look up to! Christ is my superhero!