Birthday and Banana Bread

Today has been a god day. And why shouldn't it be? God is so gracious and he is the one who give me peace and satisfaction. No one and nothing else is able to do that. Its felt great having a smile on my face all day without the slightest idea, but having faith in know that I am not in control, my creator is. He has a plan for me, whether big or small I do not know, but I can certainly dream big. Can't I? And seeing how many people have visited my little blog with minimal content has made me even more joyful. 

I have always wanted to own my own bakery some day or something of the sort and it is a dream I have yet to give up. I have shared my idea of making and selling breads to family and friends with a few people to get some feed back and am eager to chase after my dream. Just have to continue to remind myself to hand it over to God and slow down so I don't get ahead of myself or jump into anything I am not yet ready for. I believe that I am ready and am able to do anything I really believe in and set my mind to. So I will start small, humbly and of coarse naturally. Back to basics. I love feeling dough on my hands, the smell of yeast and bread baking in the oven. It is a nostalgic feeling. I am excited!

A couple of weeks ago one of my best friends came to visit me over the weekend for my birthday and I enjoyed every minute. We needed some quality girl time. All along her and my husband had been plotting and scheming to surprise me for my birthday. My husband is so sweet. He stressed and stressed over this party and I knew something was bothering him. You just know when the person you are closest to isn't acting normal. Although I wasn't completely surprised I loved it. I loved that my husband tries so hard to make me happy and go out of his way to make sure I am enjoying myself. I loved that my best friend was there. I loved that my mom and aunt and grandma were there. I loved that my husbands family was there. I am thankful that I am loved and honestly I didn't have to do any of the cooking or cleaning. 

While my friend was here she got me these beautiful flower. I might add that they are my all-time favorite flower period.

We had such a great time together. I love this woman to pieces and miss her dearly.

Today, it was finally starting to feel like winter here. We even got a little bit of a drizzle. Might call that our own version of a polar vortex in Southern California....okay maybe not. I do sympathize with everyone on the east in those terrible temperatures. 

So to start of our winter weather the right way I decided to create my own Banana Bread recipe with chocolate chips and coconut. I made it with freshly ground spelt flour and just a little honey. I didn't want it to be too sweet with three bananas and chocolate chips. Here are some pictures:

I might add that this is wheat free and completely delicious. Maybe not so much for those of you who don't like coconut, but I won't mention any names...

I will have some bread pictures to share with you all soon. 

An Update and English Muffins

I'd like to start this post by by giving an update on how my "New Year's" bible study is going. Beginning of the month I was off to a great start morning and evening. Then mid January hit and I became extremely distracted with all that is going on and let it get the best of me. I could give you all the reasons, but they are really just a sorry excuse. I was determined not to give up and catch up on my reading. I'll be honest and tell you that I am terrible at reading at night, for some reason it is the last thing I want to do. My head wants to lightly set itself on my oh so dreamy memory foam pillow and slowly close my eyes, while snuggled under a big feather blanket and some flannel sheets that I always seem to lose in the middle of the night. See....it is getting late and my head starts to go to lala land, but back to my reading. I would get up by about 6:45am to start some coffee and wake up so I have about 20-30 minutes to read. In that time and very little night reading, in addition to listening to my bible app while getting ready I have been able to catch up for the most part. I just have one more chapter to go for my morning reading. Yay!

On to what I really wanted to talk about.....English Muffins

These little beauties bring a smile to my face. They give me a a boost of confidence and accomplishment. I am able to check one more item off my list that I am able to make from scratch. I was reading some other blog, I can't remember now but it was giving a list of items to make instead of buying. Can I tell you how much I love being able to do that, knowing that I don't have to rely on some big conglomerate company that is more interested in making money that making sure their consumers are healthy. Well to make it simple I love it and will continue to make as many things as I can instead of buying them. Sure it does take quite a bit more time but it is something I enjoy and is somewhat of a destressor. 

So I went on a hunt for a great recipe for English muffins. I found a recipe that I used for the ones in the picture but there was something lacking. They are slightly dense and in my personal opinion I feel like an English muffin should be a little lighter and fluffier. So the hunt continued and I found the recipe on the food network for Alton Brown's English Muffins. They were referred to on another site and having lots of nooks and crannies. I however tweaked the recipe. I used mostly whole wheat flour and instead of dry milk powder i used buttermilk liquid and reduced the hot water. I cooked them in my cast iron skillet using canning jar rings and finished them in the oven so they didn't burn on the stove.

Here is a picture of the processes of the first recipe I used. I forgot to take pictures of the second recipe. 

I'll write again soon. Wanted to cut this one short because my bed is calling my name. Be encourage to try to make something you usually buy. You'll be so proud of yourself. I will be proud of you. I'd love to hear what you made.

New Year

Now is the time everyone is thinking of their New Year resolutions. Many people want to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, drink less, blah blah blah.
I personally do not like new year's resolutions. I find them to be very fake. There are very few people who actually keep their resolution for the entire year. Those people I admire, it takes discipline, and I lack discipline.
So this year I do want to make some changes. I want to be more disciplined. I want to be held accountable. I further my study of God's word.
I am starting this blog is hopes of reaching the people I love and meeting new people. The world wide web is a very large place with so many individuals to relate to on different levels all over the world. I am excited. My hope is that having this blog will help keep me accountable to God, myself and those around me.
To further my study of the Bible, I have started the guideline in my MacArthur study bible to read the bible in a year. It lays out when you need to read what and how many chapters. These first few days have been a challenge just to stay up and read and getting up early enough to read as well. My prayer that in doing this, my relationship with Christ will grow and my knowledge of Him. I also pray that my prayer life would increase.
So for this blog I want to try to at least do 2 a month for starters. If I do more then great but I want to give myself a minimum and have it in writing to reference back to. That's how I stay accountable.