Faith & Fitness- Week 2

Week 2: BEING CONTENT

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
 
Some of us are so unhappy with our bodies that we put our happiness on hold. Paul tells us in Philippians that he has learned to be content no matter his circumstances. I believe this applies to how we see ourselves. We should not wait until we're a size 0 to be happy. We should thank God for every small goal we reach with our health. Am I where I want to be yet? No! But I am grateful for the improvements to my health- grateful I've found a way to fit more veggies into my diet, grateful I've found exercise routines I enjoy, grateful for the support of good friends as we go through our fitness journeys together, and heck yeah, I'm grateful for the 25 lbs I've lost & the muscle tone I'm starting to see! I think the thing I am most thankful for is that God has brought me to a place where He can now use me to help other people reach their goals.

Do I still have a long way to go? Yes! But I am not putting my happiness on hold. I am content because I am looking for the blessings in this journey, and not only waiting for the end. There is always a reason to be thankful, you just have to look for it!

Faith & Fitness- Week 1

I'm excited to be leading a new ministry at my church called Faith & Fitness.  I will be posting the devotionals and some other content here each week. I'm playing catch-up today, as we've already completed the first 2 weeks.

Week 1: God & Your Fitness Goals

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

(includes excerpts from “Live Out Your Faith With Fitness”, a devotional plan from the You Version Bible App)

“Sometimes it seems like we hear a lot about all the other aspects of our faith-based life and not a lot about our health and fitness. But our bodies are a temple of God and we should treat them as such. As believers, the world is watching to see how we live, act and move- literally. Are we being good stewards with the body God has given us?”
 
I did this devotional plan in the Bible app a little while ago, and it opened my eyes.  I never thought about how God could be a part of my fitness goals!

God has allowed me to reach many new fitness milestones in the last year, but I was not really losing weight. I was building muscle but had plateaued big time with the numbers on the scale. Failure to drop the pounds caused me to lose sight of the small gains He was allowing me to make along the way. It is important to set small, measurable goals- and thank God when you reach those goals! I just kept setting the arbitrary goal to “lose weight”. Then, inspired by my friends who were running marathons, I suddenly decided I wanted to be a runner. My first measurable fitness goal was to run a 5k.  I built up my endurance with my Zumba fitness classes, and I was blessed to be able to meet that goal this past April.
 
“Pray about what your health goals should be. God cares about your health. If you don’t have your health, you can’t enjoy your family, friends and most importantly, Jesus!”

I never realized my pursuit of better health could be a spiritual pursuit. Now when I’m running and feel I can’t go any further, or I’m lifting and it feels too heavy, I pray for the strength to keep going.  In yoga class, I don’t chant or set my focus inward, I pray, and I thank God for the ability to exercise, and for allowing me to take care of my health (not to mention the relaxing hour of stretching without my children screaming & climbing over me while I plank!). When I reach new goals, I rejoice that God has allowed me to improve.  I feel closer to Him through fitness.

Another new pattern on ravelry!

Just listed the pattern for this shawl I made for my friend Stacy.  It looks trickier than it is! It was fun to watch the pattern develop, and the yarn blocked beautifully. It turned out so nice and drapey, and almost lacy looking.

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stacy-shawl-2

 



Kid Approved Slow Cooker Chili

Really- see?

 

In the middle of grocery shopping Friday, my 5 year old turns to me and says "I have an idea! We can make our own chili with ingredients!"  Which I have been trying to convince him of forever since he loves Trader Joe's vegetarian chili, but we don't eat tofu. So we read the ingredients on the can, and then I let him decide what else we should add.

 

Remember, I don't measure things, I keep forgetting that I should if I want to share the recipe- but hey, I measured for the cake in the previous post, so I'm making progress.

 

We make a ton of everything so we can freeze leftovers...this BARELY fit in my slow cooker! That's why there are so many ingredients.  I add everything I have in the house.

 

Here's our recipe:

 

half an onion

3 stalks of celery

2 carrots

crushed garlic

olive oil

taco seasoning (I use this recipe)

adobo seasoning

extra cumin to taste

optional: browned ground beef

a little tomato paste

a dash of apple cider vinegar

1 cup of chicken, beef, or veggie broth

1 can black beans

1 can cannelini beans

1 can diced tomatoes

half a package Trader Joe's frozen super sweet fire roasted corn

1 package Trader Joe's frozen tri color peppers (or you could chop up your own if you're not lazy like me!)

handful of frozen spinach leaves*

handful of frozen kale*

1 package of Trader Joe's 10 minute farro (you could use rice, but the boys LOVE this stuff!)



 

*I buy spinach and kale bagged like for salad, stick the whole thing in the freezer, crunch up the bag, then throw handfuls in everything for extra veggies that are too small to be detected by picky children.

 

Turn the slow cooker on high, and add chopped carrots, celery, & onion, with a splash of olive oil, all the seasoning, and the crushed garlic.

When the onions are soft, add all the other ingredients except the farro or rice & give it a good stir.

Cook for 6-8 hours, add farro or rice 10 minutes prior to serving.

 

Enjoy!

(Somewhat Healthy) Chocolate Cake!

 Don't you love how my scrapbooking blog has become almost all recipes? It seemed the easiest place to share.

 

Last week I bought coconut cream at Trader Joe's, thinking I could put it in my smoothies since they were out of all forms of coconut milk. Well, it was solid & needed to be melted, and I did not want a warm smoothie, so I needed a plan b for the coconut cream.  I thought I could use it in place of butter or oil in a cake since it was similar in texture. Sure enough, it made an amazing, moist, delicious cake! Now I am not a professional baker, so feel free to laugh at the measurements I used, but it tasted good! And I used whole wheat flour, and no butter or oil, so it's a little bit healthy.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut cream
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350.
Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
Melt coconut cream (I put it in the microwave for 90 seconds at half power), beat in egg, add vanilla, then combine wet and dry ingredients, stir until blended. (I did this with a fork, but you could use beaters.)
Pour into a 9" round cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.

I bet you could do cupcakes too! I will be doubling the recipe to make cupcakes for my son's birthday.

 

 

For icing, I used the paleo fudge recipe I found here.  I poured it on the cake before it had a chance to solidify. I use peanut butter instead of almond butter, so it's not totally paleo, but the cake certainly isn't paleo, I was just aiming for less sugar than a traditional icing. I also sprinkled shredded coconut on top.  Then it got gobbled up before I could get another picture!

 

I hope you enjoy the cake!

Chocolate peanut butter Pinterest fail

I saw chocolate covered peanut butter rice crispy treats on Pinterest. Turns out I didn't save the Pinterest instructions, so earlier in the week, I made a super simple version (sans chocolate) and thought I would wing it when I made the whole batch...

Let me start by saying I have never successfully covered a food item in melted chocolate. I have covered my fingers, my clothing, the stove, the counter...you get the idea.

Here's what I did:
(Remember I never measure when I'm winging it- so these are estimates)

In a large pyrex bowl melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave
Then stir in about 1/3 cup of peanut butter & 3/4 cup of powdered sugar & a dash of salt. Because I put salt in all my sweets.

Stir in half a box of rice crispy type cereal. (We like Trader Jose's brand)

Then melt a package of chocolate chips, adding in about 2 tbs of butter & a few tbs of cream, milk, or half & half.

I tried to cover the first 2 treats & gave up. I dumped all the melted chocolate into the rice crispy mixture, stirred it all up & scooped it out onto wax paper & put it in the fridge to cool & harden. Much easier, and just as tasty. In fact next time, I will skip getting my hands messy & just spread it into a tray to be cut apart like regular rice crispy treats.

and 2 more...

thanks to my hubby for modeling this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/j-neck-warmer

and a shawl I knit for myself, so I could finally wear my own work to the sheep and wool festival: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amanda-shawl