New Baked Good: July!

It's the beginning of July and I already baked something new! I got this recipe for Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars from my sister. She is on Pinterest (a devilish time-sucker I just cannot let myself get into) and finds good recipes all the time. I told her I had been wanting to make something berry-and-cheese-cakey and she had just the recipe I was looking for!
This one comes from Inspired Taste:

For the Crust:

• 9 graham cracker rectangles
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  
  For the Cheesecake Filling:
• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  
  For the Streusel Topping:
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1. Heat oven to 325°F then lightly spray an 8- or 9-inch square pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter or oil.
2. If you have a food processor, add graham crackers, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon zest to it then cover and process until fine crumbs form. Add the melted butter then cover and process with until the cracker crumbs are evenly moistened. If you do not have or want to use a food processor, add graham crackers to a plastic bag then use something heavy such as a pan or rolling pan to bash the crackers until fine crumbs form. Then, add crumbs to a medium bowl along with 2 tablespoons of sugar, lemon zest and melted butter. Stir until the cracker crumbs are evenly moistened.
3. Press graham cracker crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake 10 minutes until lightly toasted. Cool 10-15 minutes.
4. While the graham cracker base cools, make the cheesecake bar filling: If using a food processor, wipe it with a paper towel to remove any crumbs from earlier then add cream cheese, eggs, 2 tablespoons lemon zest, the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Cover then process until smooth and creamy. If you do not have or do not want to use a food processor, use a hand blender to blend cream cheese, eggs, 2 tablespoons lemon zest, the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
5. Pour cheesecake filling over crust, and then top with blueberries.
6.  Make the streusel topping by adding brown sugar, flour and cold butter to a medium bowl then use a fork or your fingers to mix until crumbly, and then sprinkle over filling.
7. Bake cheesecake 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and center is almost set (center should jiggle only slightly when moved).
8. Cool 1 hour on at room temperature then refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Cut into 9 bars.

 

Voila!

I actually made this last week for the 4th of July. We went to a barbecue with some friends and I was lucky to even get a little piece! The guys were just totally devouring it. It is definitely a make-again recipe!

New Baked Good: June #2

I wanted to make something fruity and maybe cheesecake-y for June because it's summer and, especially in Michigan, it's been HOT! However... my mom asked me to make those Lucky Charms cupcakes for my brother's graduation party so I was a little shorter on time this week. I went to again to Just Call Me Maria's site for something quick and easy. I settled on her recipe for Peanutty Buckeye Bars.

Ingredients:
1 19 1/2 ounce package brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped peanuts
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together brownie mix, eggs, and oil until combined. Then stir in chopped peanuts.
2. Press half of the batter evenly into the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9 pan, set the other half aside.
3. In a medium bowl mix sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth. Spread evenly over the brownie mixture in the pan. Take the remaining brownie mixture and separate into pieces, flatten them with your fingers into disks and evenly place on top of the peanut butter mixture in the pan.
4. Bake for 28-33 minutes or until the top is set and the edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Super yummy and easy. My sister sent me a few recipes she found on Pinterest, so July should hopefully contain a fruity, cheesecake-y dessert. :)

Two birds, one stone

Saturday, I knocked two things off of my list of things I wanted to do this year- attend a beer-tasting event and attend an outdoor concert.

Founders Fest in Grand Rapids

A whole day of delicious beer, good food and a wide variety of musical selections. Including this guy:

He goes by "That One Guy"- very cool, creative music. Fun to listen to!

So there you have it. Two birds, one stone.

Thanks, Founders Fest.

Run for los niños - 5K!

One more thing to check off my list of things I want to do this year of my life- run a 5K.

Our church does one big fundraising event every year for the organization we work with in Mexico. Since running a 5K was on my list of things to do this year and I have a heart for orphans in Mexico, I figured this would be a great way to knock this one out. I don't personally have any pictures of me running the race, but the link below will show me crossing the finish line:

http://photos.brettmaxwellphoto.com/riv-5k/e2f0e4742#h1e4e79c3

 It only took me 34 minutes- not bad considering in all of my training I was running 12-minute miles.

More info on what my church is doing in Mexico here: http://rivchurch.com/go/rivmexico/

New Baked Good: June #1

 

Well, this may be cheating but I missed baking something new in May and thought I would give this pie-in-a-box a try. It's a kit, just add melted butter and water. A few minutes blending, a few hours in the fridge and- voila!

 

Graham cracker crust- check!

 

I forgot to snap the lime filling, but you can see it in the background. Whipped topping- check!

 

Looks wonderful, but it did not come out as easy as it looks. I may have packed the crust into the dish too firmly because the slices did not come out as they should have. It was more like a crumbled mess. A delicious mess, but a mess nonetheless. Oh well- it was definitely worth a shot. There was an option on the box to fix the dessert in 8 individual cups instead of a pie form. If I ever do this again, I will try the cups instead. 

One more to come before June is over... :)

Graduation season!

 Well, it's official. I'm old. My little brother is a high-school graduate!

 

Look at him! I can't believe it.

It was a little strange, as it's been eight years since I graduated high school. Thinking about what that night was like for me. Remembering the person I was then and seeing how far I've come. If I could give him- or any graduating senior, for that matter- one piece of advice it would be to get out and experience the world outside of your hometown/state/country. It's much bigger than you and only being humbled by God's creation can you begin to impact the world around you for good. This may be an ending... but it's really just the beginning.

The Return Reflections

Well, now that I have been home for almost a month, I should probably take some time to work out the things God revealed to me during my return to Mazatlan. It was really hard to go back, to be there, to see all of the cool things God is doing there, to see all of the things that used to be a part of my everyday life...
 To be completely honest, it did make me want to go back. To be living there again. To be a part of all of the cool things God is doing there RIGHT NOW. 
Alas, that is not what God has for me right now. I also had some interesting revelations in light of how I was feeling. 
#1 - Just because I like something doesn't mean it is a "desire of my heart"  that God needs to give to me.
You know that verse from psalm, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) Well, just because I like something or really enjoy something does NOT mean that it is a "desire of my heart." For example, I like singing. A lot, actually. But just because I like singing doesn't mean that I will ever sing in one of the bands at my church. Or that I will ever be a popular singer and have a single on itunes. Sure, I like it. And either of those things would be really cool. BUT just because I like it doesn't mean that it is a "desire of my heart." Or that God is going to give me either of them.
#2 - If something is a desire of my heart, God does NOT need my help to give it to me. 
I realized that I can be like Rebekah sometimes. Like, God has shown me what he WILL do, and I feel like I need to DO a whole bunch of stuff to make that happen. God did not need Rebekah to trick her husband into giving the youngest son the blessing for the youngest son to rule over the oldest son. She didn't trust that God would do what he said he would do. She felt she needed to help God out to accomplish his plans. God does not need my help to do anything. Period. Just because I might think something is a desire of my heart doesn't mean I need to DO things to help God give me those things. I need to trust that God knows best, he knows my heart, and he will give me whatever the desires of my heart are WHEN I delight myself IN HIM.
It's not about me at all. It's about HIM. Less of me, more of Him. All of this also brings up another question I need to ask God and seek wisdom on... what makes something a "desire of my heart"? That will be for another post...

New Baked Good: April

This month, I decided to honor spring with my baked good for this month and make something delicious and fresh - oatmeal lemon creme bars. Once again, this recipe is compliments of Just Call Me Maria. Unlike the fancy lucky charms cupcakes, this recipe is super easy and I can't wait to make it again.

FIVE ingredients: (told you, super easy)
1/2 cup cold butter
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1 egg
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons) - I used two whole lemons because I wanted it extra lemon-y

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with non stick spray.
2. In a large bowl cut the cold butter into the cookie mix with a fork or pastry blender.
3. Stir in the egg until the mixture is crumbly.
4. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the greased pan and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes.
5. In a small bowl mix the sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice until thick and combined.
6. Spread lemon mixture over baked crust and evenly crumble remaining dough on the top.
7. Bake another 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let cool and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Cut into bars and store in the refrigerator.

Viola!

I took these to work and they were a HUGE hit. I even had to save the last one for my boss/friend Denny by leaving a threatening note that anyone who ate the last one would be fired. Next time I think I will be adventurous enough to try the Pioneer Woman's version. Doesn't look too much harder... :)

Look what I can do...

So after much youtube video searching and attempting, I finally have learned how to fishtail french braid!

Ta-da! 

The video that finally explained/showed how to do this can be found here. It's actually a tutorial for styling little girls' hair, but this was the first one that made sense to me. I watched it, heard a clear explanation and was able to do it on my first try. And NOW, I can fishtail french braid! 

Check one more off the list... :)

Mexicoooo!

Oh- hello, April! Or should I say, "Hola, Abril!" as I was in Mexico for the entire first week of the month. It was an amazing (AND exhausting) trip. God's definitely got my mind and heart wrestling with some things that I do want to write about, but for now I will just post some pictures.

 

(I took over 1000 photos and haven't even gone through half of them yet...)

...And may the odds be ever in your favor!

Well, I did it. I waited in line, outside and excitedly stayed awake for a midnight showing of a movie. (check one more thing off the list...)

Yep, that's right. I was right there with all of the teenie-boppers, crazy college kids, and random smattering of adults to be some of the first of the non-celeb people of the real world to see this movie. And I am happy to say... it was really good. Obviously, I know they cannot include every detail from the book into the movie. And I've for sure been analyzing all of the things they missed. But I thought it was over-all a GREAT book-to-movie translation of the story.

Now, I can't wait until the next one! Have they started filming that yet?? I just might have to go to another midnight showing...

2 years...

Tuesday marked my second wedding anniversary. Two years that I have been spending my life with the same person. Having adventures, laughing, crying, fighting our selfishness, loving fiercely, and walking with the Lord.

 

We have lived a lot of life in these two years. In reflecting on our life so far, I am reminded of how much I love this man and all of the reasons why I'm so glad he is in my life. I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else. I'm excited for what God has in store in the years to come. 

If given the choice to go back, I would pick him and do it all over again. 

 

 

New Baked Good: March

So this is the one really meant for March. (I bet you couldn't tell, though, right?) My sister, who probably loves to bake more than I do, found this recipe on Pinterest and sent me the link. I knew I had to make these. Not only are they super cute and festive for St. Patrick's Day, they are exactly the kind of fancier good I wanted to make this month.

These fun little cupcakes are Lucky Charms cupcakes with marshmallow buttercream frosting. The original can be found on a site Just Call Me Maria. I took her suggestion and made mini ones- which made like 72 cupcakes.

Lucky Charms Cupcakes 

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream

¾ cup milk

1/3 vegetable oil
½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup finely crushed Lucky Charms (cereal pieces only, no marshmallows)

~25 drops green food coloring

Marshmallow Buttercream

4 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 (13 oz) container marshmallow fluff

Optional: Green sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a large bowl blend cake mix, eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix in drops of green food coloring until desired color is achieved.
4. Mix in finely crushed Lucky Charms crumbs until combined.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Take cupcakes out and let cool completely.
7. In a medium bowl beat room temperature butter with an electric mixer.
8. Add two cups of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the marshmallow fluff and mix until smooth. Continue to add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, mixing between each addition. 
9. Pipe onto each cooled cupcake. Top with green sprinkles and a Lucky Charms marshmallow (do not top with Lucky Charm marshmallow until ready to eat*).

Tip: Marshmallow buttercream may become difficult to mix. If it becomes too stiff, stop adding powdered sugar and finish mixing by hand. *The Lucky Charms will get mushy and loose their crispness if they remain on top of the frosting too long before eating.

Voila! 

 

The only thing I wish is that I had used more green food coloring. We only had the gel stuff, so I wasn't sure of the equivalent to drops. They were a lot of fun to make and SUPER delicious! I took them to work and didn't have to bring any home! This recipe was definitely a great find. Thanks, Linds!

New Baked Good!

So... I failed at baking something new in February. Obviously, now that it is March 10th. To make up for it, I am baking TWO new things in March. The first one I made today. 

My sister loves to bake, too, and she's always sharing fun recipes with me. She shared this one a while ago and I immediately knew I had to try it. Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies from the recipe blog Lovin' from the Oven. 

• 1 stick softened butter
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.

2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.

3. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

They are SO delicious!  Though I think next time, I would break up the Oreos a bit more. They are definitely a make-again cookie!

Oh, good intentions...

Hey- remember when I wanted to have a blog and actually write in it about things that mattered to me?

Well, apparently I suck at it.

Things are just in a weird place right now. I'm spending the week by myself, while Ian is in Mexico. Where we used to live. Doing things that we used to do. Seeing people and things that we used to see. Laying on what used to be our bed. And he's sharing these experiences with a whole bunch of other people (well, hopefully not the laying on the bed part...). Things that we used to do, just us, together.

Even though sometimes living in Mexico seems like a lifetime ago, I still remember all kinds of silly details like we were just there yesterday. Seeing all these pictures and videos brings it all back. And makes my heart ache. It's a weird kind of pain I'm not familiar with.

The roles will be reversed here soon enough. Then I'll be able to tell you what it's like on the other side of this weird "I-no-longer-live-in-Mexico-but-still-kind-of-wish-I-did-sometimes" feeling.

Until then... I will try to get back on the posting about Captivating (which means I have to get back to the reading of Captivating...) AND I will be posting a new, delicious baked good tomorrow (Thanks, God, for an extra day in February- I need it!)

Anxious thoughts/wayward paths...

Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
- Psalm 4:1

Do you ever have those times where you read something and the words resonate so well with where you're at, you can feel it piercing heart?

The day before I read this, I was feeling convicted about how anxious I can get sometimes. It was obvious to me upon reading this verse that when it comes to my anxieties, I am (or should be, anyway) begging God to free me from those things.

I know that I am so small. And I forget all the time that my life is not about me. It's about God and how I can be serving him and making the most of the opportunities he places in my life. I'm blessed with so much. I know I take it for granted that these things aren't really "mine." Nothing in my life is mine. It's all God's and I only have it because he lets me.

And I get anxious when I don't know how things will work out or be provided for. How I will provide for myself (or.. my husband and I, since we are a team at this money thing now). Even though I KNOW that all of the money in the world is God's and he will make sure we are taken care of (yea, yea- that whole "he-clothes-the-lilies-of-the-valley-and-feeds-the-birds-of-course-he-will-care-for-you" speech from Matthew 6)

Sometimes I wonder what I am even doing with my life. Yet amidst the anxiousness and uncertainty, I do feel a resounding clarity that I must be dong something right. God has blessed me with very natural opportunities to share with people who don't know him some of what he has done in my life and what I believe because of my faith in him. To share the HOPE that I have because of him.

I know I need to just continue being faithful with what he has given me. To trust him with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. And HE will make my wayward path straight. To delight myself in HIM and he will give me the desires of my heart.

He sure hasn't failed me yet...

New Baked Good: January

Well, I suppose this was kind of cheating... but we JUST finished the juice fast so I didn't really have much time. For Christmas, Grandma Maxwell got all of the women in the family a jar with all of the dry goods to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

All I had to do was cream 3/4 cup butter, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla; put small spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes! I can't remember how many the recipe yielded, but they were delicious! I ended up taking most of them to work and they were gone by the end of the day.

Yum!

I promise February will be something more elaborate. Although, especially after 15 days of juice, these were perfect.

When you were young

There's something about this song by the Killers, "When you were young," that's really resonating in my heart right now. I'm not exactly sure what it is right now. I mean, I'm only 25 so... I'm still young. Yet somehow being "21 and invincible" seems so far from where I am now. It seems like ages ago. In my last year of college. So much unknown in my future. So many hopes and dreams.

It makes me realize that I have liked a heck of a lot of life in the last four years. I started dating an amazing man of God. Moved home with my parents. Got my teaching certificate. Got engaged. Moved back to Lansing. Got married. Moved to Mexico. Interned at an orphanage for kids with special needs. Started a garden. Fostered a 9-year old and a 12 year-old Mexican child for 5 weeks. Moved back to Lansing again.

That's a lot of life. I wouldn't change any of it. It's just a lot. And it makes me feel old. Older than 25 anyway. Some call it "maturity." But it doesn't quite feel like that to me. I mean, I'm sure I have and that's part of it. But the LIFE experiences I've had, all in such a short period of time... I've lived a lot of life in four years.

I guess I listen to the song and it makes me feel a bittersweet-nostalgia, those days... "you sit there in your heartache, waiting on some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways, watch it now- here he comes, he doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentlemen like you imagined when you were young..."

Kind of makes me frightened to think of how much life God has in store for the next four years of my life. How I'll look back on these days when I'm 29 and think that at 25 I was still that silly girl always wanting more.

Juice Fast!

Yes, we are doing it. A juice fast. For 15 days.

That's over two weeks of no food, just raw juice made from our juicer. Yes, I do think we're crazy for doing this, but we got inspired. We had some friends who did it back in the fall and suggested we watch a documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. The guy in the film does a 60 day juice fast, which is insane but amazing at the same time. This is part of our kicking off healthier eating habits.

We are almost done with day 5 now and I have a lot more confidence that we can see this through. The first few days were awful. We almost caved and ordered a pizza. But we're sticking it out. And learning a few tricks to make the veggie packed juices actually taste good instead of suffering with the awful taste. I'm physically feeling like I have more energy and I'm more alert. It's also strange that I haven't had any coffee in six days. SIX DAYS. I don't think I've ever gone that long without coffee since I was like 12.

We're only 1/3 of the way done, but I am already feeling like my pants are fitting a bit looser. I'm not getting my hopes up that this will drop a ton of weight off of me, but I am confident that my eating habits will change with this fast. And that a 5-day fast is something that I will do every 3 or 6 months.

Let's see how I'm feeling in another couple of days :)

New year, new ...?

It seems that new years are always centered around some new hope or new goal for the year. I don't believe in resolutions. Most of them never last past the first month of the year. This year for me is a year of new goals.
Yes. Goals.

My wonderful husband suggested we sit down and come up with some big goals for the year- things we want to accomplish or grow in this year. We've written down actions steps for how we will achieve these goals throughout the course of the year as well, to help us stay on track and really make a difference. For me, these are the big things:
I want to become more healthy in my eating habits and exercising.
I want to grow in my relationship with God.
I want to have a more intimate relationship with my husband.
I want to get actively involved in an outward/service ministry.
I want to pursue purposeful friendships.
I want to express myself artistically through photography and painting.

That's a lot of things, but I think it's going to be a good year.
2012, bring it on.

Happy New Year

It's funny thinking that this time last year, we were just starting to plan our adventure of moving to Mexico. Now at the start of 2012- been there, done that. Moving on. We're still going back on trips with our church. But we're definitely also moving on.

I don't know exactly how I feel about that yet. But I am interested to see what adventures 2012 brings... Here's to something new!