Honey Bee Bars

These bars are very simple to make and delicious. Serve them for a snack and you will have a tasty treat!

I had to practice self control because I could have easily eaten the entire pan on my own.

Honey Bee Bar Recipe:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup copped almonds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

                                 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (I used honey roasted)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 sea salt

1/2 cup honey

                                                            1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut/ seed butter of your choice)

2 tbsp coconut oil

3/4 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl mix together pecans, almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds. In a small bowl mix together cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the nut mixture and stir until evenly mixed. In a small saucepan on low heat, stir peanut butter, honey, coconut oil together until mixture is combined and melted. Take saucepan off of the heat and stir in vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until all the nuts are evenly coated. Next grab a 2 qt baking dish and spread mixture evenly into the baking dish. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to press the mixture down until it is firmly in place throughout. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight and enjoy! 

This post is linked to: Gluten free Round-Up,

Saving Money in the Kitchen: Weekly Food Prepping

Food prepping saves time, money, and encourages your family to eat more vegetables!

I recently started to food prep after grocery shopping and it has made my life easier. It seems I am always rushing around during lunch and dinner time. For me, there are times when I am making lunch/dinner and the thought of chopping up an extra veggie or two seems impossible because the kids are clingy and hungry.

Food prepping provides easy access to fruit and vegetables. This saves me so much time because I can quickly dish out veggies with lunch or gather ingredients for supper without extra time spent on chopping.

This saves me money because I use/eat more vegetables if they are the grab and go type. Before my vegetables would be in our bottom drawer and sometimes I would forget I had them. I also make sure to wash my fruit and make sure it is easily accessible for the kids to grab and go. Check out my post on Clean Crunchy Grapes to find out how I prep my fruit.

So take some time to prep your fruit/veggies when you have a chance and you will save time and money!

Being A Witness to Christ

A cousin of mine recently posted on Facebook that she is going on a mission trip this summer. I am so proud and happy for her. I know it will be a life changing trip. I began to think to myself, I would love to go on a mission trip. Then I thought some more, oh I could go in the summers when school is out because being a teacher I would have the summer off. Then I woke up to reality, I have two young children who will also always have the summers off of school.

At first this realization bothered me. Not that I have children but that I may never experience a mission trip.

Later on in the week I was listening to my favorite christian radio station and I heard a small message about being a witness to Christ. The preacher said that we cannot all travel overseas as a missionary and that is okay. Whatever your profession is, you are called to be a witness to Christ. We cannot all be missionaries. We are called to be teachers, bankers, stay at home mothers, bloggers, etc.  It is amazing how many messages the Lord sends your way, if you listen.

Thinking about my chosen profession, I thought about how many kids I would come into contact with in my life that I could be a witness to Christ to. I was no longer worried about mission trips. If it is in my path I will go but if not I will be fine. The point is, God made us all different. We are called to various professions, we are called to fulfill different roles and your way of being a witness to Christ may be in a different way than I. Being a witness to Christ means that we are all on the same team, spreading his words and his love to those around us.

Matthew 5:16 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Let your light shine!!

Success In Today's World

All that I have is from the Lord.

In today's world this seems to be confused. Most often times it seems that the world thinks that we (ourselves) create our own greatness. This is very far from the truth. An example: I am taking college classes at the moment and it has been tough with moving, a family, and all the things we have going on every month to fit school in everyday. With everything going on I still made the Honor Society this year. I could look at it as, "wow I have worked so hard, I am awesome!". Instead I know that God is helping me succeed in school 100%. He IS awesome! All the credit goes back to Him.

I can look back at my life and see how God was always in control. In the past I would doubt myself but now  I know that if this is God's will, than I will succeed. I do not need to doubt myself because it was never about me in the first place. He knows what is right for me and will always be there for me. When I turn to Him with my doubts, my worries, my insecurities, my selfishness,  I gain peace and wisdom. He wants me to hand it all over to him and live knowing that I am loved and that he will always be with me.

I encourage you to thank God for all the many blessings that you have no matter how big or small. Everything is from the Lord. Trust in Him and you will find peace.

Photo Credit

Man Pleasing Soup

If you are looking for a light, flavorful, and filling soup you have come to the right recipe. This soup is fantastic. Just thinking about it makes me want to whip up a batch for dinner tonight. I titled this 'man pleasing soup' but I think 'family pleasing soup' would work as well because it was a huge hit with everyone.

This recipe reminds me of Olive Gardens zuppa toscana soup. My husband has always loved that soup! If you are in the mood for soup, try this one! It will not disappoint.

Recipe:

(adapted from this recipe)

Serves 6-8

6 cups chicken broth

1 lb ground sausage

smoked sausage rope (fully cooked)

1 block cream cheese (cubed)

2 cans or 2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

2 large handfuls kale leaves

3 large potatoes

Cook ground sausage until brown and cooked through.  Meanwhile in a large pot combine chicken broth, diced tomatoes, potatoes, kale and cream cheese. Turn stove top to medium heat until a simmer is achieved  Once ground sausage is fully cooked add it into the chicken broth mixture. Next slice the smoked sausage rope and place in a large skillet until it is warmed throughout. Add the sausage slices to the soup as well. Give the mixture a stir to combine and allow it to have a low simmer until potatoes are cooked through (about 20 minutes).

Linked to: Gluten Free Round-Up, Time to sparkle, Tuesday Talent Show,

Friday Favs #2

The weather in the Midwest is driving me crazy. Hot one day and the next it is snowing! I am looking forward to this weekend and hoping for nice weather. Bring on the sunshine, I need some Vitamin D!

Here are my favorite pins this week.

When the weather gets a little warmer, I am going to make some finger paints for the boys and let them go to town outside on their homemade easel. Edible finger paints is a must for my boys because I know it will be taste tested!

I love this!

Check it out here.

I have yet to make homemade caramel apples because they can be such a mess. This recipe makes caramel apples much more appealing to me. It would be a fun dessert for Halloween!

Natural scents for your plug ins. I really want to try this! Those store bought scents give me a huge headache.

Check it out here.

I have some Braggs Raw Unfiltered ACV from whole foods and I have been mixing 2 tsp in a large glass of water (with a straw so it doesn't get on my teeth!). I started to drink a little acv everyday after reading Modern Parents Messy Kids post on energy levels. 

Teacher appreciation week is coming up! I am going to be making 

something similar to this for my son's preschool teachers.

Check It Out Here

Enjoy your weekend!

Wake Up Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie

The boys love to help me make smoothies in the morning and more importantly they love to eat it! This recipe has been our "go to" smoothie for awhile now so I thought I would share. I would rather have my fruit in a smoothie than juice it (I love to juice!) because when juicing fruit it is adsorbed straight into your blood stream. So I would rather juice my veggies and blend my fruits so the fiber is not stripped away. Recipe for green veggie juice coming soon!

Recipe:

(Yields 2 cups)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 banana (I use frozen)

3/4 cup coconut milk

Blend ingredients together until smooth. Enjoy!