What to Eat when You're Sick

Welcome to this weeks of edition of "What to Eat when You're Sick."

Yes, it's February- and it's still cold outside!

Winter has dragged on for what seems forever.

Flu and colds are abundant right now.

So I shouldn't be surprised that after being relatively healthy this winter, I finally caught something.


Everyone seems to have an opinion about what you should and shouldn't eat when you're sick.

I personally would say sugar and munchies would fall in the "Wont help you get better" category.  (Though I admittedly have a tendency to reach for this stuff, especially when my appetite isn't really there). 

While water, tea, fruits, veggies and meat/veggie broth fall in the "Good" category.

So here's what I ate yesterday afternoon:

• Chai tea with honey
• Apple
• Cheese stick
• Edamame crackers 

  

 

In addition to diet, I feel its important to get plenty of sleep and to not over exert yourself when you're fighting a cold/flu bug.

 

 

This has been "What to Eat when You're Sick" with Isabel.

 

 

What do you eat/do when you're sick?

 

Hablame!

 

Hope you are having a blessed Sunday.

 

~

 

ISA

 

 

 

Proverbs 17:22:

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Shower

But not the weather sort of shower. 

Not snow or rain.

Nope. 

This was a wedding shower!

Weddings showers are such a joyous occasion!

Our family was delighted to help plan and prepare some of the food for a wedding shower for a friend!

Our goal for the shower was to cater to various dietary needs by making some of the food gluten free.

While browsing pinterest, I found the idea of chocolate covered pretzels.

I was pleased to discover that some stores carry these delicious gluten-free mini pretzels:



 



So we took vanilla candy coating (essentially white chocolate) along with a bit of food coloring 

And melted it down for pretzel coating!

 



 

 

We added a bit of fancy sugar for extra decoration/sparkle!

 

There you have it! 

 

White chocolate pretzels are delicious, and so simple to make!

 

I'd say they're a great edition to any party or special event! ;)

 

 

 

 

On to other things.

 

 

 

 

What a winter we've had!

 

Freezing temperatures. 

 

Lots of snow! 

 

And beautifully painted skys.

 

Isn't it amazing how God has not only designed all of creation in such detail, but also made it so beautiful??

 

I struck by the sky the day I took this picture, and how the snowey parkway looked almost like frozen lake:

 

 

 

 

And finally

 

God has so blessed me to give me such a sweet, skilled, diligent and generous sister!

 

She helped me to paint little white hearts on my nails

 

And bought us lunch the other day, including Sweet tea!!! :D

 

 

Love you, Sue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

 

 

 

 

Happy February everybody!

 

Hope you are all staying warm- and take heart!- spring is on its way!

 

~~

ISA

 

 

 

Gluten Free & Green

As you may have gathered

Baking is a hobby of mine.

I especially love trying new recipes

Or altering recipe's to use what we have on hand or meet dietary restrictions.

Yesterday, I decided to make some GLUTEN FREE COOKIES!

What could be better, right?


I found the recipe here: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/01/03/almond-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/

It's a simple recipe, with only 5 ingredients (Egg, Nut butter, Sugar, Baking Soda, Chocolate Chips).
Unless you add peanuts, then there are 6 ingredients ;)

Anyways

I did make a few alterations...

• Substituting sunbutter&peanutbutter for the almond butter and reducing the ammount.
• Substituting coconut sugar for the brown sugar and putting a tad bit less. 
• And reducing the chocolate chips a tiny bit.

On a somewhat unrelated side note, this sunflower seed butter is delicious!

 

I like to use it in recipes, or eat it by the spoonful!

(And no, I don't work for TraderJoes ;)

Back to the recipe.


So it was simple:

I mixed the batter
















And put them on a tray into the oven

Baked for eight minutes

And let them cool















They're beautiful, right?















And they were yummy!

Not overly sweet, but light in flavor.

Satisfying.







BUT THEN...








This morning, I thought I would have some for a mid-morning snack.

So I ate one cookie.

Then I started to eat a second one.

After taking a bite

I noticed something about the color of the inside of the cookie















It was GREEN

Not just mildly green


DEEP FOREST GREEN


And I just ate one of those?!?!?!?



They had all turned green inside.

I'm not sure if it's mold, or a reaction of the ingredients.

Either way, I don't have any big interest in eating them now.


I'm sticking with plain 'ol sunbutter. :)


Have you had any weird baking experiences?

Tell me your story! :D


Hasta Luego!

~ISA



Romans 15:13
(ESV)
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

Butterscotch Pudding (from Scratch!)

This evening, I tried a recipe for homemade Butterscotch Pudding.

If I may summarize this recipe in one word for you: "YUM."

This recipe was SUPERB!

It thickened up to a smooth, creamy pudding with true butterscotch flavor.

The pudding's color is a bit lighter and the flavor a bit less intense than it's processed, store-bought rival,
But it was ever so much if not more so deeeeelicious!

You can find the recipe I used here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butterscotch-Pudding-I/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=butterscotch%20pudding&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page


I did make a few modifications:

• I used skim milk (versus 2% or whole milk) 
• I used "benecol" instead of butter. 

The result was thick and decadent, despite lower-fat substitutes. 


A few ideas (which I got from the recipes reviews section) that I feel helped to produce a smooth pudding were:

• Beating the eggs and then mixing them into the milk beforehand
• Mix the sugar and cornstarch well before adding the milk/eggs to them
• Stirring constantly

And when they say cook till it coats the back of a metal spoon, they aren't kidding.
It happens almost instantaneously, so be ready:
When you feel it thicken up into that "custard pudding" texture, it's DONE. 
(See first picture for illustration).
Take it off the heat immediately.

 

 

There's really not much to it! 

 

Simply:

• Wisk sugar, salt and cornstarch till smooth
• Wisk the eggs and combine with milk
• Beat dry ingredients with eggmilk mixture
• Cook till thickened and remove from heat
• Stir in butter (or equivalent) and vanilla

 

Tah-dah!

 

It's as easy as.... PUDDING! ;D

 

Hope you all are staying warm in this frigid winter weather!

 

~

 

ISA



 

Lamentations 3:22-23

English Standard Version (ESV)

^"22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[a]

    his mercies never come to an end;

²³ they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness."

Breakfast after Lunch

Ok, I'll admit it's been a while since I've posted.

Life is busy

But there's no sense in waiting for things to slow down

It's only getting faster.

So here's a little post about breakfast! :)

On a stormy Sunday afternoon, 3 girls were determined to find something to eat.

Originally they had planned on having take-out Chinese,

But after the weather got bad, plans changed.

Now they were home.  In the house. 

With nothing ready-to-eat, they would have to make something!

But what?

After some searching of freezers, they settled on a plan.

"Hm...."

"Waffles?"

........"LETS MAKE BREAKFAST!!!"

It didn't matter that it was 2:00pm.

It would be an after lunch brunch!

So they began to whip up ingredients

 

 

And brown sausage

 

 

Oh look! 

 

Run outside!

 

A rainbow after the storm!

 

Beat up the eggs

 

Cook the waffels

 

 

And a short while later...

 

 

A breakfast feast!

 

 

Yumm yummmm yummmmyyyy!!

 

 

Speaking of delicious feasts...

 

A happy Thanksgiving to one and all! :)

 

What are you thankful for this year?

 

What are you NOT thankful for? 

Is there a blessing in disguise in the things that are painful or frustrating or unpleasant?

 

God is always good, and always have something to be thankful for:

 

Because we can (and should) always be thankful that he sent his Son to die and take our burden of sin so that we could be right with God and know true peace, freedom, purpose and joy though Jesus Christ! :)

 

Buenas noches, amigos!

 

~

ISA

Mocha Coffee

There's nothing like warm beverages in the cold of autumn and winter!

Tea

Hot water

Chai

Coffee

Warm broth

Hot chocolate

Wassail


I'm a big fan.


Anyways, yesterday I discovered a new way to enjoy my coffee.

Mocha.

It's so yummy- you really should try it yourself!

• Brew 1/2 mug of very hot coffee (It doesn't matter what coffee you use or how you brew it).

While you're making the coffee, you can prep the rest of your beverage:

• In a large mug or travel mug, pour approx. 1/8 - 1/4 cup milk and 2 liberal scoops of instant hot cocoa powder.

• Now pour your hot coffee into your milk/hot cocoa mixture and stir well.

Tah-dah!

Mocha coffee! 

(Sorry, no pictures this time-  I was in a hurry to get out the door!)


It takes just a few minutes

It's delicious!

And you paid far less than Starbucks ;)


Experiment with the amount of milk/powder/coffee till you find your perfect ratio. 


Enjoy!

~
ISA

My Heart Is in The Highlands

 

On cold, damp October afternoons

My heart is in the mountains

In the woods

Soaking in the stillness and the overcast cloudy sky

The smell of the wet woods and leaves

The occasional crow, echoing in the distance

The amber, pine needle carpeted forest floor, which absorbs the sound of my footsteps

The pine trees, tall, dark and slender, with all but the very top branches dead and bare of needles

A group of deer a short distance away, who feel safe to move around on a wet, misty day

My cozy winter coat, with pockets to warm my chilled hands

The sight of my condensated breath in front of me

A rotten, slippery, fallen log, which gives way and breaks apart - *THUD* - under the weight of my step

The sight of a neighboring mountain, who's trees display a brilliant array of color

The nearby rustle of a squirrel in a tree

The clearing of open fields, green with clover

The cold damp setting in

Hiking down the mountain, from whence I came, giving in to gravity's pull and hiking briskly

Slipping and stumbling on wet leaves and rocks and I go down

Down

Finally reaching the bottom of the hill

Stepping onto the winding road, and hearing the crunch of my steps once again

Gazing down the road, towards the river

Turning

Just a few paces down the grey, gritty path

Turn to step through the entry in the old wooden fence

Up the ramp

 

The clunk of my boots on the porch

Quickly opening the screen door

Bursting through the front door

In the warm house

Sitting down in the living room

On a stuffed arm-chair

Boots off.

Coat hung.

To the kitchen!

Time for a mug of hot cocoa
 

 

~

 

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

 

~Robert Burns