Healthy Christmas Treats
We all like to bake goodies at Christmas time, but actually making Healthy Christmas Treats can be a little more challenging.
I'll be honest and say I am not the recipe expert at all. I can make them, but I'm not usually the one coming up with them. When one of my readers asked for some ideas for healthy Christmas treats, I sent out a mayday to some of my fellow bloggers asking them for their recipes.
This is what came in. I am so excited to try out some of these recipes!
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
No Bake Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Almost Healthy Jam Cookies.
Raw Pecan Pie
Gluten Free Lemon Bars
Coconut Macaroons
Peppermint Carob Truffles
Healthy Chocolate Date Balls
Raw Caramel Slice
Crispy Nut Chocolate Brittle
Images used with permission from their respective owners.
What is your favorite healthy Christmas treat? Please leave a comment and tell us!
Subscriber Freebie: Printable Thanksgiving Art
Thanksgiving will be here before you know it!
One of my favorite ways to decorate for the different seasons is to use printable wall art. It doesn't cost much of anything in terms of money or time, yet it adds an instant seasonal update.
I especially like using Scripture verses to keep God's Word as the main focus in our home.
I purposely created this printable with a white border around it. There were 2 reasons for that:
#1. It looks classy, but I didn't have a frame with a mat, so I just created the mat right on the printable.
#2. My printer doesn't print all the way to the edge of the paper, so it works better when my printables are white at the edges.
Hopefully you'll find that to be helpful to you too!
Get the entire wall trio free when you subscribe to email updates! Just enter your email in the form below.
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Healthy July 4th Menu
I love holidays! Getting together with extended family, eating, relaxing, eating some more. It's great fun!
What I don't love is figuring out what exactly we're going to eat.
For once in my life I thought ahead! July 4th is next week, and I thought it would be lovely to put together a menu that is healthy, easy, and most importantly, delicious!
Here's what I came up with for a healthy July 4th menu. Click on the photos to be taken to the recipes.
Hamburgers made with grass-fed beef on homemade whole wheat buns. If you have the delight of being gluten-free you can try this recipe for gluten-free hamburger buns.
You can't have a 4th of July celebration without watermelon!
Homemade ice cream! I love the recipes in the Just Making Ice Cream ebook.
What would you add? Do you have any special July 4th menu traditions?
Preparing my Heart For Easter
March 31 marks a very special day in all of our lives. For some, it is simply a day to usher in spring…with bunnies, lambs, candy and fun games. But for every born again Christian, it is an important celebration of the coming of The Lamb, the Savior of the world.
Ever since 2011, I have made it a point to not let that day come and go as just another holiday. No, I think that every believer should allow Easter Sunday to make a difference in their spiritual lives – our own personal reawakening, if you will.
Think about this:
Christmas is the day we celebrate Jesus birth on this earth. We spend weeks, even months preparing for that day. Yes, we do spend a lot of time and effort on the commercial aspect of Christmas, but most Christians also spend plenty of time preparing to celebrate His birth. We prepare special musical numbers, and even spend months preparing choir presentations and cantatas, all to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. There are many great activities and such that we do with our children and Sunday Schools to teach the nativity story. I even spent weeks focusing on the Christmas story on my blog this last year, in an effort to not forget what the season is really about. All of this is right and good! But why do we spend so much time on His birth, and only one single day on His death?
Yes, His birth was important and fulfilled prophecies and was completely necessary for redemption’s plan. But it wasn’t the only step of the plan. It was not His birth that washed my sins away…it was His death! And I personally do not want to forget all that He suffered for me.
So each year, I take the weeks leading up to Easter and spend some concentrated time focusing on Christ. I normally study Christ’s life, death and resurrection more fully from the Bible passages that deal with these events. I spend some time memorizing and meditating on verses related to our salvation. And I also read a book that digs into redemption’s plan.
I find that this concentrated time of studying Christ makes a big impact on my spiritual life! Spending time each morning focusing on Christ alone is so, so refreshing. It also takes me back to what I was before I got saved – a lost, hell-deserving sinner. It makes me so much the more grateful to Him and makes me want to serve Him in a greater way!
Why not give it a try? There are still almost 2 weeks before Easter Sunday. Take the time in those days to spend concentrated time focusing on your salvation. Include your family as well!
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Our family has enjoyed using these Resurrection Eggs to tell the Easter story in the 12 days leading up to Easter. The last egg is especially thrilling! 🙂
Here is a great list by another blogger with loads of kiddo ideas and resources.
Grow your own Garden Tomb! Here is how one blogger did it.
Do you typically observe the Resurrection in a special way? How do you bring the focus of Easter back to the Lord? Any other activities you've tried before?
DIY: Scripture Conversation Hearts!
Those of you that have read my blog in past years know that I am no fan of Valentines day. I know, ba humbug, right? It is just not my favorite holiday! But while I mutter things under my breath like “February is the Monday of months,” this time of year usually finds me doing Valentines Day-related projects, anyway. {go figure!}
I normally try to do a little project to include in the decor for our church’s Valentines banquet. (You can see past projects here) This year is no exception…I created some of my very own conversation hearts to fit the theme of the evening!
This was a super easy project, but I am excited about the color it will bring to the banquet tables, plus the truths of the scripture messages as a reminder of the Love of God!
I just picked up a package of scalloped foam hearts from our local dollar store.
I got the scalloped ones because they had the brightest colors, and I was looking to make these similar to the real thing.
Then I got to work punching out the middles of the scallops. Random side note: if they went to the trouble to punch those, why couldn’t they have just poked them out at the same time???
I found lots of verses that talked about the love of God for us, our love for God, and a few about our love for each other. I also tried to use verses that could be shortened easily, without losing the message of God’s love that I was trying to get across.
Here are the verses I used:
Deuteronomy 6:5 …thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart…
Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God…
Joshua 22:5 ..take diligent heed… to love the Lord your God…
Psalm 18:1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
Psalm 31:23 O love the Lord, all ye his saints….
Psalm 146:8 …the Lord loveth the righteous.
Jeremiah 31:3 …I have loved thee with an everlasting love…
Matthew 22:39 …love thy neighbor as thyself.
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart…
John 3:16 God so loved the world…
John 15:9 …continue ye in my love.
Romans 5:5 …the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts…
I Corinthians 13:4 Charity…is kind…
I Corinthians 13:8 Charity never faileth…
II Corinthians 13:14 …the love of God…be with you all…
I Peter 1:22 …see that ye love one another…
I John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God…
I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another…
I John 4:11 …God so loved us…
I John 4:16 …God is love…
I John 4:19 We love Him, because He first loved us.
Jude 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God…
It was a bit time consuming, but not nearly as bad as it could have been if I had chosen to cut out paper hearts! (which is normally what I end up doing to myself, haha!) I just used a Sharpie to write the words, and it worked great. The foam was very easy to write on, and doesn't bleed through, so these could be used again on the other side!
I don't have the prettiest handwriting, but I just did my best and tried to make each one look nice. I also used a tone-on-tone approach so the writing would be readable, but subtle enough to let the color of the heart stand out.
It was a fun project, that I think will make a big impact at our banquet! Anyone else doing any Valentines Day crafting lately?
Valentine’s Day fun for Everyone!
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