I am called to be a confident woman in Christ

I know I usually give health or food tips, but today I just wanted to address some stuff in my life...maybe it could help even one person. I have had no confidence in anything lately...not God, not myself, not much of anything...I don't know why. Satan has really been doing a number on me...and I have let him. He is such a bum. But how could I let him? I believed him. How dumb am I? I think a lot of us believe what Satan dishes out to us...we're not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, fit enough. We are bad wives and mothers, etc...the list could go on.

Has anyone besides me ever believed these things? I know I believed them all at one time or another. Then there is fear. I have been living in the bondage of fear, worry, anxiety for years.

These things are not from God. Satan wants to throw these thoughts....or should I say lies out to us....and we could either believe them and live in defeat or turn away from them and live in confidence.

I am choosing to live in confidence in the Lord. If Jesus is for us, who can be against us? NO ONE!

Through a lot of prayer this past weekend at a women's conference I attended, the Lord is breaking these chains from me. I have to make a conscious decision each day to either believe these things that Satan is telling me ...or stand on God's word and stand on the promises He has given me. I am choosing HIM!

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has promised.Hebrews 10:35-36

Be confident in the Lord today!!

Blessings,

Trish

Real muffins

So with my attempt being to eat as much REAL food as possible, I thought I would try to attempt my blueberry muffin recipe and change it up. Everyone loves these muffins. They are so easy and delicious...and made with white flour, sugar, canola oil (which you may think is real and healthy, but it is just another genetically modified product, more on that another day).

So here is what I did and man...they are just as good to me, and knowing how healthy they are makes me happy! I love to eat, so if I can have a delicious food that is good for me I am one happy gal. Isn't that what our diet should be? Enjoying food while nourishing our bodies?

So here they are:



A closer look...



An even closer look...I ate half...it was so good!



So here's my recipe:

1 1/2 C whole white wheat flour...this is whole wheat not bleached white
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In measuring cup

1/4 C unsweetenedapplesauce plus about 1 Tbsp olive oil
I egg beaten
1/3 C milk
1/2 C honey or pure maple syrup (I split it 1/2 and 1/2)

Add wet ingredients to the dry. DO NOT OVER MIX.

Add 1 C frozen or fresh blueberries...fold in to batter.

Grease muffin tins or use papers...add batter and bake 400 degrees about 15-20 minutes..stick a toothpick in to see if it's done.

That's it!

It is easy, healthy, and delicious.

Today's tip: think out of the box with recipes....see what you can change to make them more nutritious!

Blessings,

Tris

Real food

So I have stumbled on a blog 100 days of real food. It is about a family who ate nothing processed, no sugar...just real food for 100 days. It seems impossible nowadays doesn't it? I mean with all the fast food, chicken (or not) nuggets, and pink slime in our meats..how can one possibly do it?

I feel that our family eats pretty healthy most of the time, but when I read this, I thought...do we really? We need to do better.

So what is real food? Well whole fruits and vegetables..whole grains..not white or processed, organic chickens and grass fed local meats, fresh eggs, boxed items with no more than 5 ingredients, organic dairy, not fat free or yellow stuff, organic popcorn, olive and coconut oils...and some other things. You can check out her blog at www.100daysofrealfood.com.

So I am going to try my best to eat more real foods. More whole grains..organic fruits and vegetables and local meats.

I started with some homemade whole wheat tortillas. They came out great!

5 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 c olive oil
1 tsp salt
Warm water..add till a ball forms.

Roll into small balls. Roll them out flat and cook in preheated pan until a little brown. It takes some time but so much better than store bought. Even the store bought whole wheat are not really whole grain...and check the list of ingredients. Some have like 50 ingredients!










I made some tacos with left overs from Easter. Mostly leftovers from this:



That was our antipasto appetizer from Easter dinner.

All real foods! Yay.

Today's tip: Try to eat real foods as much as possible.

Blessings,

Trish

Risotto

I am Italian, but we never grew up eating risotto. It must be from a different region than my parents and grandparents were from. In fact I never have eaten it before I was an adult. Risotto is a creamy Italian rice dish with or without a vegetable in it. It is like Mac and cheese, but with rice and the cooking is so different.

In classic risotto, you use aborio rice and you stand at the stove and slowly add broth and wine and stir constantly for about 30 to 40 minutes. Very time consuming but very delicious. What you get is this creamy goodness without tons of cream. The starch in the rice makes this creamy.

So of course I wanted this last night, but #1 I don't have time with 3 boys to stand at the stove stirring for 40 minutes and #2 I have to make this healthier...of course. So I start browsing the web and found some ideas on baking this in the oven. Could this work? What if I used brown rice?

So, I decided to give it a try.



Here is what I used:

1 cup brown basmati rice (that is what I had)
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 to 2/3 cup good parmesan cheese
1 lb fresh asparagus

Sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil. Do not brown, just lightly sauté.
Add the rice, cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir till absorbed.

Put the rice mixture in a baking dish and add the chicken stock.
Cover tightly with foil and bake 425 degrees for about an hour. You may need a little longer.
While baking cut asparagus into bite size pieces and steam for 3 or 4 minutes.

When done remove from oven and add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, asparagus, and a splash of milk...if desired and stir for about a minute until creamy.

Eat immediately ! So yummy.



I made this with pork tenderloin and cauliflower, but this is a great main dish as well.

Enjoy!

Blessings

Trish

Healthier Mac and cheese

So I was watching the food channel and they had a Mac and cheese show on. Mac and cheese has never been my favorite. I never really ate the yellow stuff in the box much when I was little. But, I was watching this and boy did I get in the mood for it. As we all know, macaroni and cheese is loaded with saturated fats and calories, so of course I had to try to make it a bit healthier. So, here is what I did:

1 lb of whole wheat rigatoni
1/2 c reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c white wheat flour
2 cups skim milk
1 package frozen puréed squash (mine was butternut)
Salt
Pepper
1/3 c parmesan cheese

Cook macaroni al dent e (just undercooked, by a minute)
Mix all other ingredients in a pot on low until thick.

You can also bulk this up with some veggies.

Mix pasta with the cheese sauce and pour into baking dish.
Sprinkle with a little breadcrumbs and more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake on 400 until tip is brown and cheese is a little bubbly, around 10 - 15 minutes.

It was really great. The squash made this look like orange Mac and cheese but it was really healthy, and the kids liked it!




-The cheese sauce. The squash made this really orange.




It was a hit ! I love finding things to make otherwise high calorie foods, healthier!
Will definitely make this again!

Today's tip: try to sneak vegetables into your food!!!

Blessings,

Trish

Crockpot oatmeal

I have been wanting to post this, but never get good pics. Well I have been making this now for the past 2 weeks. It is so easy and much better for you than those packets that are loaded with sugar. With this method, you control what you put into it.

Spray crockpot with a little cooking spray. Add 2 cups steel cut oats. It really needs to be steel cut, because regular will get way overcooked and gummy (gross). DO NOT USE INSTANT OATS! That would be even worse.









Add 6 cups water to the oats and if you want to add cinnamon or some brown sugar or fruit. I just do the oats and water and add my stuff when I eat it.



Put the crockpot on low for 8 to 9 hours. By morning you will have a pot of creamy goodness. (of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!)

But here is my bowl all fixed up with cinnamon, a touch of honey, walnuts, and fresh blueberries.




I then measure out the cooked oatmeal, one cup cooked for Sweety and 2/3 C cooked for me and put them in containers for the week. Then all you do is heat up, add your favorite stuff and you are good to go!! So good.

Today's tip: Try your slow cooker for things you may not have before. I know I don't use mine enough.

Blessings,

Trish

New favorite products

I have a few new favorite products. I found them both at our local food outlet, but I have seen them at our local grocery store as well.

As you know, I make a lot of pizza. My favorite tomato to use is Cento. The problem is, I cannot get this in our area of Tennessee, so I have to wait until someone brings me some from out of state. Then I stock up.

So when I was at the local store I saw this crushed tomato and did not think much of it. It is a common brand...not very Italian, but at 1.00 a can, I thought I would give it a try. Glad I did. It has such a great fresh taste and nice deep red color. It is Hunts crushed tomato with Basil.

The other product is Earth Balance peanut butter with coconut oil. Oh gosh, if you like coconut, this is for you. The recent findings of the health benefits of coconut oil make this a fantastic product. It is so delicious in my morning smoothie. Yum.




The tomatoes come in crushed and whole.

Both of these products are really tasty and very healthy for you as well.

Blessings,

Trish