• We Are Free by Aaron Shust

    We are more than conquerors
    We don’t have to be afraid
    Nothing is as powerful
    As His love

    Oh, the way He gave His Son
    To give life to everyone
    Not a thing can separate us
    From His love

    It’s the life and the hope that He brings
    His forgiveness that leads us to sing

    We are free to love
    Like our God has loved
    We are free to give like He gave

    We are free from sin
    We are free to begin
    To forgive as He forgave
    We are free

  • Recipe: Friendship Bread

    A friend, Jan Thornton, gave me my first Friendship Bread at my bridal shower and it was delicious.  I have always wondered about the starter for that recipe then a couple years ago Jake’s cousin Mandy gave me another starter recipe.  Here’s the starter recipes as well as the steps you need to follow to make the Friendship Bread:

    • 1 (.25 ounce) package Active Dry Yeast
    • 1/4 cup warm Water (approximately 110 degrees)
    • 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
    • 1 cup granulated white Sugar
    • 1 cup Milk

    Dissolve yeast in water and let stand for 10 minutes. In a non-metal bowl combine flour and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Slowly stir in the milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover the bowl loosely and let stand until batter is bubbly.  Do not refrigerate batter.

    1. Consider this Day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature or store in a ziplock bag.
    2. Day 2 – Squeeze Bag
    3. Day 3 – Squeeze Bag
    4. Day 4 – Squeeze Bag
    5. Day 5 – Squeeze Bag
    6. Day 6 – Add 1 cup of Sugar,  1 cup of Flour, and 1 cup of Milk and Mix in a Non-Metal Bowl
    7. Day 7 – Squeeze Bag
    8. Day 8 – Squeeze Bag
    9. Day 9 – Squeeze Bag
    10. Day 10 – Add 1 cup of Sugar,  1 cup of Flour, and 1 cup of Milk and Mix in a Non-Metal Bowl

    Scoop out 4 (1 cup) portions for of the starter mixture and put each cup in a separate ziplock bag.  Give 3 of the bags to friend and keep one for your family.  With the left over starter mixture add the following ingredients:

    • 1 cup Oil
    • 1/2 cup Milk
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

    Mix together thoroughly then add the remaining ingredients to the mixture:

    • 2 cups Flour
    • 1 cup Sugar
    • 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
    • 1 large box of Vanilla Instant Pudding
    • Optional Items to Add – 1 cup nuts, Chocolate Chips, Coconut, Raisins and more!

    Mix the dough thoroughly then divide into two greased loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

    Once you have made the starter (the 1 cup you kept for your family) you can consider it Day 1 and proceed to Day 2 the next day.  One of the problems I encountered the last time I did this recipe is that before long you have more Friendship Bread then you can give away.  If you are getting too much and want a break from doing Friendship Bread for a couple weeks you can freeze the starter batch measured out into 1 cups for later use.  The frozen starter bread will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.  This gives you the ability to always have it to restart but also an opportunity take a break for a little bit too!  Just remember to pull it out and start the process since it takes several days if you are planning on using it on a specific day!  You’ve hear the saying that “Good things come to those who wait…..”  this friendship bread is so delicious it is always worth the wait!

    Photo by Binder of Daemons

  • Life Simplified: Sell, Give, Donate or Toss It?

    I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago and heard the announcer telling a personal story how she had a box of knickknacks and other items.  She was procrastinating on organizing the items and as she was going through it she was trying to decide what she should give away, put away or throw away……in the end she just got a bigger box.

    This little story stood out to me because I have been thinking about how we as a family and Americans in general need to cut back.  One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me.  I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.

    My Third Life Simplified Goal:

    • Organize & De-Clutter our Home

    Explanation of the Goal: When my husband and I were first married we lived a nice but small apartment.  When we had friends over to eat we had to sit on the floor or the hand-me-down love seat that I received from a client that was throwing it out.  The majority of our items have been purchased second hand or given to us by family or friends.  After a couple years in the apartment we moved into our home and then had kids.  Recently as we were sitting together talking about life we realized how much “stuff” we had accumulated over the course of a few years.  I am a sentimental person so a lot of items have a story behind them, but there a many items in our home we no longer use.  The girls have baby toys that they no longer play with along with knickknacks here and there.  Over the course of the year we a going to reorganize and de-clutter our home.  I think it will be a continual work in progress, however, if we are not using an item we need to evaluate if we really need it.

    Here are some ways we anticipate eliminating some of the clutter:

    • Sell It – EBay, CraigsList, or Garage Sale
    • Give It Away – to someone needing or wanting the item.
    • Donate it to a charity or an organization that can give it to a person who can use it
    • Throw it away – this one is hard for me!  I am still learning that it is okay to not keep every single piece of paper my kids scribble on.  I want to have some to put in a scrapbook for them but I don’t need every paper.  I love the memories!

    We have already started working on this goal.  It is amazing how easy it is to post to CraigsList and Ebay which the items usually sell within a week or two.  When someone is over at the house and we realize that they could use something we have but are not using we take the opportunity to give it away.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I would love to have an organized and de-cluttered home by the end of the year.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.