Living Water

 ^"Whoever believes in me...rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38

This is a really hard blog post to write.
1. It's making me incredibly vulnerable not just to the internet world but to those who are close to me and to whom I see on a consistent basis. 
2. I'm afraid of failure. Extremely afraid. 

BUT, I feel the Lord leading me here, and I feel that I need to share it. So here goes. 

I have a struggle with bad food and healthy eating. Like, a back and forth, roller coaster, up/down, love/hate relationship, however you want to describe it. 

I have lots of knowledge on how to eat healthy, I know why I need to do it, yet I just cannot get over the hump of getting all the crappy food out of my diet. 

I tell myself...

It's been a bad day, go ahead and swing through McDonalds and get that large Dr. Pepper and large french fry. 

The kids are finally in bed, you're completely exhausted, you deserve that ice cream. 

It's been a stirring in my heart, to say the least. But I think this post finally pushed me over the edge to sit down, journal out my thoughts, and pray about what steps to take next. 
Because clearly, this is a heart issue.

Like Jessi, I decided to write out my own lies/truths about this subject. I won't share them all, but here's my first one:

LIE: food and treats will refresh me.
TRUTH: JESUS is the only true living water and ultimate source of refreshment. 

So, what to make of all this? 

I'm going to drink only water for the next 30 days.

A goal towards healthier eating and a reminder of what is my true living water.

And yes, that means I'm not going to drink coffee. Do I think coffee is bad? Heck no. I think coffee is God's wonderful gift to mothers. :) But I also believe that good things can get in the way of what HE wants to be in our lives. 

So friends, this is going to be hard. I'm not going to be able to do it by myself. Which I think is also what the Lord is going to teach me. My weakness. His strength. My Living Water. 

Handmade/Local Week: Payne's Restaurant

In honor of the craft show this weekend 

(read more about that here), 

I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite handmade shops and local shops this week. 

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Payne's Restaurant, though locally owned, is very unfortunately not local to me. However, we were in the area (Marion-ish, Indiana) this past weekend and had lunch here. And let me tell you, we were NOT disappointed! In fact, it probably ranks in Chris and I's top five eats of all times. 

Woo too for discovering a diamond in the rough!

The restaurant's website here.

Review on urban spoon here.

Their menus were in the middle of these old books. So fun!

My amazing sandwich. Apples, apple butter, walnuts, and brie cheese. And lots of spinach! :)

The waitress brought us our bill in this old recipe box.

Many thanks to my adventurous hubby for finding Payne's Restaurant. I love that he loves to explore fun, new places!

Black Bean Burgers

image from Well Vegan. here.

We have a new favorite dinner around here. I might be exaggerating (or not), but these black bean burgers are amazing. 

Go here for the recipe.

My tweaks:

I don't have turmeric, so I leave it out.

I also leave out the hot sauce.

I use regular brown rice instead of basmati rice.

I love that this recipe is incredibly easy. I also love that it makes enough for us to have three meals out of it. So I just freeze two meals worth each time I make it. 

We usually pair this with 

The Best Broccoli of Your Life.

Talk about an incredibly awesome, very healthy, and for the most part cheap meal. Doesn't get much better than that!

Phone pics

Life lately 

(as in, like, the last month. because I realize I've become pretty bad at keeping up with this blog. insert sad face here)

via cell phone pictures. :)

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Finding out how much fun cassette tape is:

Baby #2 bump several weeks ago. It's definitely grown since this pic!

Also, random sidenote: we find out in TWO weeks if it's a boy or girl! yah!

She loves sticks!

Garden fresh veggies from a dear lady at church:

Family nature walk:

She loves the sling. 

And I do too. :)

It's especially handy when little miss wants to be held but mama needs to make dinner!

Friday Highs.v37

It's funny how taking a blogging break somehow makes me feel like I need to explain where I've been. If you need a little bit of insight, you can read this. It's really been a whole lot more than that...maybe I'll share at a later date.

But since I know a few have missed this, onto my favorite feature. :)

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My ultimate high: Molly picking her toes.

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Date night with my man. 

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Homemade cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning. 

Recipe here. Suggested by this lovely lady.

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Feeling teeny tiny baby flutters and kicks.

My almost 16 week belly.

And yes, boxes everywhere.

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Not necessarily a high per-say, but lastly, if you're the praying type, please pretty please say a prayer for us. We have exactly one week and one day before we need to be out of our apartment, and as of right now, we don't know where we're going. It's slightly unnerving, but I know that God has us in His hands and will guide and direct our steps. 

My life as of late: tearing apart our house and putting it all in boxes. :)

Chicken Salad

This meal is a staple here at the Davis house. I made it so often and I've made is so long that I never follow the recipe anymore. 

I actually had to dig through my cards to find the exact measurements that I know some of you will want. :)

It's quick, easy, and healthy. My kind of meal.

1 can chunk chicken

2/3 cup mayo

1/8 cup honey

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup grapes (or craisins)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or whatever other nut you fancy)

Mix it all together. Eat plain or serve on croissants. 

Enjoy!!!

Friday Highs.v31

A random, middle of the week donut run to this place. Yum yum. Delish.

also here.

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Sweet snapshots of me and Molly girl. Just look at her face!

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Finally figuring out how Molly girl likes her almond milk! She guzzles it right down. *grin*

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Yet another Friday High about food....hubby just randomly decided to make us french toast one morning. Perfectly ok with me! :)

(but you were kidding about that being my mother's day gift, right??)

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Oh, ya know, just pure sweetness.

And finally seeing those top teeth in almost every smile just melts me.

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Our little drummer girl. After her daddy's heart. :)

Friday Highs.v30

I've been finding an extreme amount of joy lately in raising this little girl. Words can't even describe it. It's the little things, that I'm sure would bore most of you. But they make me beam.

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Ok, ok, I'll share one thing. *grin* Molly girl has this bear puzzle (like Goldilocks and the three bears, only minus Goldilocks.) Of all the puzzle pieces--there have to be, like, fifty--her favorite are the little bear heads. She carries them around everywhere, is constantly putting them in her mouth, and sometimes even goes down for a nap with them. Weird, huh? :)

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My new camera strap. Made using this tutorial. Too bad it took me longer to put on than it did to actually make it. Not kidding.

(Just keepin' it real with the imperfect stitching. *grin* Was that one of those moments where no one would have noticed if I didn't point it out?)

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Remember how last Friday Highs I had the supplies bought to paint my table. Check. Table is painted. Of course I will keep you waiting in suspense to see the finished product. (This means I've been too lazy to take pictures of it.)

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THE most delicious lunch. Green smoothie (packed with spinach) and almonds and sunflower seeds. Eating healthy can taste so good!

Whole Wheat-ish Zucchini Muffins

"ish" because I accidentally mixed the regular flour into the container with the whole wheat flour. Whoops.

This recipe is from Nie. She has a blog here, and an old food blog here. The only thing I added to the recipe were chocolate chips. :)

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WHOLE WHEAT ZUCCHINI BREAD 

(or muffins. whatever you fancy.)

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater (to yield 1 3/4 cups); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
2. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and stir to combine well. Stir in grated zucchini.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack, then reinvert, top side up. Cool completely before slicing.

For Breakfast

A few months ago, Chris was rushing out the door to work one morning and didn't have anything for breakfast. While this was a fairly common occurrence, for some reason, that morning, it tugged my heart. 

At that point, I decided I had to make sure he was fed before he left for work. 

Thus, our breakfast meal plan. 

It is honestly just a general guide. Occasionally we'll stray from it, but it keeps me accountable. :)

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we have oatmeal. Usually topped with almond milk, agave nectar, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and raisins. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays we have eggs and toast with homemade jam. I cannot, however, take credit for the jam--it was given to us for Christmas from several different friends and family members.

While oatmeal and eggs/toast are yummy, nothing beats pancakes on a Saturday morning. I like mine with a little bit of peanut butter.  :)
I use this recipe, only cut in half and I use almond milk instead.

And there ya have it. Full bellies. Happy Husband. 

The Yummiest Drink

Has anyone ever had the Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks? It is absolutely delightful, and my go-to summer drink. 

Last week as the snow was falling, 

I felt the need to have a little taste of summer. 

(Hindsight--I could have just waited for a day like TODAY. 

Ohio weather, you are crazy.)

I don't have the exact recipe as far as measurements go, but I basically mixed up some crystal light lemonade mix, brewed a couple of bags of TAZO Passion tea, and mixed it all together. Delicious!

Scenes from our Friday night.

It's nights like this that make me swell with happiness over our little family. 

A night in consisting of homemade pizza, music from our guy, 

and lots of snuggles with baby girl. 

We got this Rossi Pasta kit from our family for Christmas...what a fun and practical gift!!

The end result--delicious!

Molly with some of her dinner (sweet potatoes!) still on her face. Oops!

This guy sweetly serenades us. And I'm still learning settings on my camera. :)

THE best Oreo milkshake one will ever have (made by Chris). Olivet people--remember the Common Ground's wet oreo? Yeah. It's even better than that. *grin*

Smoothie

I made this smoothie the other day, and it was WAY too delicious not to share.

Ingredients are super easy:

1 banana

2 clementines

fistful of frozen apples

fistful of frozen peaches

water

Yum. Yum. YUM!

Turkey Burgers and Broccoli

This meal might perhaps go down as one of our favorite meals as of lately.

The turkey burgers have been a hit ever since my mom came to

stay with us after Molly was born.

Chris loves these turkey burgers so much,

he's even said he'd take these over a "regular" burger any day.

Here's the rundown...

2lbs turkey, ground

3 eggs

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp minced onion

1 tsp salt

1 T soy sauce

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

3/4 cup ketchup

Mix it all together and form into patties. Spray your skillet and cook until they're done! I usually have to do these maybe four at a time, then freeze them individually before putting into a freezer bag. This recipe makes maybe 20 turkey burgers. They take a little while to make, but then they're awesome to have in the freezer and just pull out for a quick meal.

We enjoy these either by themselves or on thin sandwich buns like these:

Now my schpeel on the BROCCOLI.

It is so incredibly appropriately titled:

The Best Broccoli of Your Life.

Ya know how usually, in order to make your veggies taste delicious, you have to add a whole bunch of crap that's probably negating any bit of nutrients the veggie provides? (e.g. broccoli smothered in cheese, sweet potatoes doused with brown sugar, basically anything with loads of butter....)

Well this recipe? Yep, nothing bad in here. I could probably go on and on about this broccoli (maybe I already have) but this stuff is seriously so good. And SO easy.

Do I have y'all drooling? I could be mean and leave you recipe-less.

But I won't.

Follow the link:

The Best Broccoli of Your Life.

You are welcome.