Happy Weekend lovelies! I am so
sorry I’ve been slacking a wee bit on posting but family and friends come
before writing for me. I haven’t had
ideal time to just sit and think through what God wants me to write.
Easter Sunday
The last time I wrote to you all
it was before Easter. For those of you
who celebrate Easter, I hope you had a beautiful time with your loved
ones. Even though I feel life itself is
a daily reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, Easter seems to be a bigger
reminder. A week ago from today, I
celebrated Good Friday. Jesus was
willing to die for us and God was willing to give up His only son. Now that I am a mother with an only daughter,
I can’t imagine handing her over to my worst enemy and allowing her to be not
only killed, but tortured. It pains me
to think about, but God did that for us.
God’s grace is just so
incredible! At Woodside Bible Church on
the Romeo campus, the speaker emphasized on how Jesus’ death created the bridge
between us and God. Our sins were lifted
off of us and placed onto Jesus. We now
have full access to God the Father because of his son’s agonizing death. But He couldn’t just die for us (even though
that gesture of love is so much more we ever deserved any way), He need to rise
again in three days. If our Savior had
not resurrected, our faith would be in vain.
Because of His resurrection we have hope. He fulfilled prophecy and our sins were
forgiven.
"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” – 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Now that we have that good news, I’ve
decided to write a bit of a lighter post this week. As I asked in my very first introductory
post, I want suggestions from reader on what to post. I’ve had people suggest DIY ideas, more
baby/mom stories, and what a type healthy meal looks like in our family. So in today’s post, I will be fulfilling two
out of those three (well, kind of)!
 |
| Easter Sunday at my parents' house |
Adventures of a Stay-at-home Mom
The other day my husband came
home from work to find me in scurrying about the kitchen in pretty much only
one of his Detroit Tigers T-shirts. Now
before your mind goes to the gutter or you declare TMI, keep reading. Of course he’s smiling and gives me an
alluring compliment, but my mind was scattered.
When I first greeted him I couldn’t understand why he was acting the way
he was (just to show how differently our minds work).
“So…” he continued to flirt with
his smile protruding his cheeks, “why did you decide to slip into one of my
shirts?”
I looked down at my attire and
giggled, “Well, I splattered cooking oil on my shirt and Brooke pooped on my
pants. Your shirt was just the closest thing for me to put on so I could get
back to Brooke.”
At least I know that my husband
still thinks I’m attractive with the fresh scent of Brooke on my person. I still got it.
Chocolate Cake... enough said
The second part of this post is
going to be about one of my absolutely favorite things in the whole wide world,
right below the people in my life… FOOD!
I always goof off that food is my “love language” (to those who have
read the Five Love Languages, there’s actually six and yes, it’s food). I love food and I love how you can use food
to truly nurture your body. Food is
something that God has blessed us with to supply us with energy and enjoyment
for the day. I like using it for both of
those purposes.
Many people have asked that I
post healthy and simple meals that I make for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I fully intend to soon, but for my first food
post I want to share I recipe I found through watching the Food Network. For those who follow me on Instagram or are
Facebook friends with me, I’ve already posted a picture of this cake. Many people have wanted the recipe so I
figured I would post it! I’ve altered it
a tad from the recipe on the show, The
Kitchen: Food Network. But it still
turned out delicious!
Ingredients
Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray, for spraying the pan
10 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/3 cups almond flour
2 cups cooked quinoa (don’t make the mistake of cooking 2 cups because quinoa doubles in size)
1 cup coconut sugar (you can find this at Meijer or just use regular sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (you can also use chocolate milk of any time)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
Ganache:
10 ounces semisweet chocolate1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup raspberries, for garnish and a snack while making cake
Directions:
Before you start the recipe, make sure you cook your quinoa. Cook 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa to equal 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
Preheat your
oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round pan with cooking spray or oil (I
used coconut oil because I already had it out).
Place a medium saucepot on medium heat and fill it about ¼ of the way
full with water (this will be used to slowly melt the chocolate). Place a
medium bowl on top of the saucepot and add the semisweet chocolate and coconut
oil. Using a heatproof spatula, stir the chocolate until fully melted and
combined with the coconut oil, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the chocolate mixture
from the heat and set aside. Leave the saucepot with the water on the stove.
Mix in a large bowl, almond flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir to combine the dry ingredients, the lastly add the quinoa.
Then add the melted chocolate mixture, coconut milk, vanilla and
eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared
pan and bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes
out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Give it some time to cool off before attempting to
take it out of the pans.
For the ganache, reheat the water in the saucepot over medium heat. Place the same bowl over the water and add the chocolate and almond milk. Using your spatula, stir the chocolate until fully melted and combined with the almond milk.
Drizzle the ganache over one of the cake layers and then add the next layer. Drizzle on more of the ganache and top with raspberries (hopefully you still have raspberries left).
Recipe courtesy of Katie Lee (read more here) on FoodNetwork.com.
Don't be Fooled by "Health" Words
Now I
want to make a statement real quick. This
is NOT healthy. Just because it is a
gluten and diary-free cake with quinoa (oooo, fancy) and coconut oil, that does
not make it healthy. Is quinoa good for
you? Yes, quinoa contains iron, B-vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, vitamin E and fiber. Quinoa is one of a few plant
foods that are considered a complete protein and comprised of all essential
amino acids (which make up proteins). I
feel like a lot of people think that just because a food is high in fiber or
protein, is whole grain, has gluten-free and organic plastered on it, or is coconut based
instead of that “deadly” corn syrup, than it’s GOOD for you. Ha ha, nope.
Not this recipe. You are
consuming chocolate and sugar. This is a
treat, not a meal. And I am not claiming
this to be a healthy option to your daily plate.
Now that
my rant is over, please enjoy this cake! I hope yours doesn't crumb out of the
plate or end up looking like Mt. Vesuvius.
