Feb

22

Honey Apple Crisp

i’m here to share a recipe with you that pretty much helped convince our whole fam that this all natural eating thing was very doable!
this is one of the first all natural dessert recipes i made, and we all love it so much, that even if we weren’t eating only real foods, we’d still want it in our very regular rotation! and its one of those desserts that might actually be good for you to eat too!

i’ve included the recipe cards at the end of the post.
after peelng, core and slice your apples.

toss apples in a 9×13 pan with:

combine with the honey mixture:
cover apples with topping. bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
serve warm, topped with homemade honey whipped cream.

i make this whipped cream all the time, and we put it on everything from homemade cookies, to muffins, to strawberries to create a quick dessert. it takes 2 minutes to whip up, and you won’t be sorry you tried it! you just might never go back to buying canned whipped cream again!!
let me know if you like it!

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Feb

20

Would you like to dance?

Jake took Bella to a “Father Daughter Dance” at her school this past week. you would’ve thought she was preparing for her wedding, there was SO much excitement! as i watched her delight in her daddy’s love, and looked back over the pictures from the night, i couldn’t help but to be reminded of a story:
Once upon a time, there was a Princess, a Daughter:
(“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my daughter…says the Lord.”2 Corinthians 6:18)

who was deeply loved and cherished by her Daddy:

(“see how very much our Father has loved us, for He calls us His children.”1 John 3:1)

and it filled her with joy…and hope…and security…

(“The Lord had done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3)

because she knew deep down that she was a fiesty stinker sometimes, and that she didn’t deserve His Love, so the very fact that He loved her was something special…

(“God showed His great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners.”Romans 5:8)

because He didn’t just simply love her because He had to. He absolutely adored her, thought she was the most precious, beautiful thing, even in the midst of all her feistiness, in all her stinker-ness, He still was overwhelmed with delight for her…

(“the Lord your God…will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you….”Zephaniah 3:17)
and that delight over her made her want to dance, and twirl, and rejoice:
(“The young women will dance for joy…”Jeremiah 31:13)

and full of trust, jump onto the feet of her Daddy, and let Him lead her in the dance:

(“Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.”Psalm 16:11)

and as He led her in the dance, He stopped to twirl her, and smile down upon her:

(“His banner over me is love.”Song of Solomon 2:4)

and because of His love over her, she trusted Him to lead her…because she knew that His delight was the best thing ever, and that her joy is found complete in Him and Him alone!

(“we love because He first loved us…”1 John 4:19)

and to think…the God of the Universe, our Daddy, is asking each of us too, “Would you like to dance??”

22 Comments

Feb

18

Swiss and Spinach Quiche (and healthy mac n cheese)

i haven’t quite figured out what to call our new way of eating. i keep going back and forth between saying “All Natural,” “Read Food,” “Whole Food,” “Clean Eating,” and simply “No Processed Foods.” All those options can take on different meanings depending on who you talk to!
but anyway, i’m here today to give you two “All Natural, Real Food, Whole Food, Clean Eating, No Processed Food” recipes. (printable recipe cards at end of post).
the first is so quickly devoured by my fam, that it caused a fairly good argument between the hubs and i when he ate the last piece without giving me a chance to take a photo for you. (if only you knew the things that can cause arguments around here :) so i had to make it again the other night and steal a piece away in order to snap a photo before any of the other crazies living with me got to it first!!
(ps: i’m big time struggling with the lighting in my kitchen, and since its pretty much getting dark out by the time most of our meals are finally prepared, i’m limited in terms of how to capture a good shot with natural lighting. any photogs out there have any tips for me on how to create faux natural light without using a flash…in a dark kitchen??? i’d LOVE to hear!)

i used freshly ground whole wheat flour, but you could use store bought too:

(i use non-fat plain greek yogurt)
love love love using fresh spinach from our garden!!
here’s a tip about cheese that i’m learning. i’ve mentioned it before, but i’ll mention it again. i noticed with packages of pre-shredded cheese that there are ingredients listed that i don’t recognize. so i have been opting to buy blocks of cheese and grating it myself with the grater attachment on my food processor. i cannot tell you the difference in taste!!! its actually kind of scary how much better it tastes! also…i’m learning that any cheese that you buy that is not white has been colored. so we are choosing to buy only white cheeses.

bake that bad boy at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until middle is set.
this is the creamiest, moistest (is that a word??), most flavorful quiche i’ve ever tasted.

serve with a side of steamed veggies, and you’ve got yourself a nutritious meal!!
here’s the recipe card for you:
and i’ll include this one too. we try to keep all these ingredients on hand for a quick, go-to meal. in other words…we end up making this often!! i promise it takes no more time than making a box of Kraft, and you eliminate all the extra stuff you don’t need! and it tastes even better! trust me! smallest crazies approved!!
i found this recipe here, but slightly adapted it. we originally tried it with sharp cheddar and with freshly ground whole wheat flour, unsifted, and by golly, we couldn’t stomach it. but making a few small changes made it perfect for our tastebuds!! i would recommend using a form of soft wheat berries if grinding yourself, and make sure you sift! (i’m sure the way the original recipe is made is excellent, but since we don’t use store bought flour, i don’t think it turned out the way it was supposed to. and we usually like sharp cheddar cheese, but for some reason, it just didn’t work for us in this particular recipe.)
here’s the recipe card with our very slight changes:
let me know if you try them out and what you think!! i’ve got more coming soon, including such an amazingly tasty dessert, you won’t even believe how healthy it is for you!

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