New Year!

 This is mostly for myself, but thought I would post it as well to share this past year and be accountable for the new year :)

Completing and Remembering In 2013...

What were the most important things you learned?

Trusting more in God. It has always been a repetitive lesson for me to learn seems I always have to learn it over again every time. Looking back over this year God has been faithful through many things and when trials come, be they minor or major, when my trust is truly in the Lord I am blessed with His peace and no worry.

What was the most loving service you performed?

Being able to support 2 kids overseas this year has been a huge blessing and look forward to continuing with it. Love them and pray for them :)

What was the biggest risk you took?

I think really letting go in circumstances financially related and trusting God. It shouldn't feel like a risk, but for me it is sometimes hard to feel like I don't have all my ducks in a row. I feel so silly though because God has continually blessed us when it started looking bleak! 

How did you encourage others?

I think that this is one of the things I can really work on, but for this past year I remember encouraging friends and family mostly by praying for them and letting them know I was. I want to be able to encourage in more ways through my words and actions though.

Who made the biggest difference in your life?

That would have to be Ryan, I married him this year and that made a huge difference in my life! From getting used to sleeping next to someone who snores sometimes, to being able to finally see him every day and not say good-bye anymore (since we were in a long distance relationship). Also he has been comforting and encouraging in my life every day! His strong trust in God, hard work in many things, and love for family I admire greatly. I am changing and growing into a better woman because of him and I'm so thankful.

How have you acknowledged them?

By encouraging and loving him. Telling him with my words and proving with my actions. Thanks Ry-muffin :) Love you!

How did you improve your relationships with those you love?

Vowing to love, honor, and cherish Ryan for the rest of my life :) marrying my man was a great improvement to our relationship! With my family it has changed alot since I don't see them and communicate every day like I used to. With friends, mostly the ones long distance technology has been amazing to grow closer over the distance. 

What were your greatest achievements?

I think planning our wedding and staying within the budget was quite an achievement!

What else do you need to do or say to be complete with the year?

Wow, what a year! I can't believe it is already over and the first full year as a married couple is about to begin. Reflecting back on this year past I'm full of gratefulness to many people...my family and gaining new family, creating new friends and relationships in a new place...God is so good and as trials and joys have passed, He has been Sovereign.

Creating In 2014...

What are you looking forward to learning?

To better be a helpmate to Ryan, I know I will learn more and more every day. To write down our budget and stick to it, we've done a pretty good job, but needs improvement and to be more concrete. Also looking forward to meeting new people in our church and community and learning more about them.

What undeveloped talent are you willing to explore?

I'm on the track already I know how to sew, so I would love to quilt and finish a couple quilts this year!

How will you experience more joy?

By spending time in His Word with my hubby. And outdoors in nature, hiking, jogging, swimming etc. with my hubby. Anything with my hubby brings me joy :)

What loving services will you perform?

As many as possible! Wherever God leads this year :) I'm open to where He wants me to serve. Continuing to support 2 kids with Ryan now is one of the ways.

What risks are you planning to take?

Well as I wrote earlier for me sometimes taking a risk is to let go of my planning. Ryan helps me do that lol. Plans are good to have, but not to the point where I stress and worry about it, because God know the plans He has for me!

How will you encourage others?

My darling husband, keeping house for him and encourage him daily...building him up! I pray that I will use my words more this year to encourage others, not just by telling them I  am praying but doing it with them. With my actions by doing whatever services I am able.

How will you improve your relationships with those you love?

Being proactive in my marriage and communicate respectfully is one way I think will improve my marriage. Also with my family and new family being more communicative even though there is distance.

How will you make a difference in the world?

What a loaded question. I've always liked the quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world" so by the way I live obviously has positive or negative effects on other people. Just be it simple things like driving defensively, being considerate of strangers, to the bigger things like tithing and missions overseas. Overall I want to make the difference that God has planned, being on mission with the gospel in every situation. I often fail miserably  and I'm just one person, but if God can use me to help one of His children believe in Christ then that is a great step towards a encouraging difference in the world.

What will be your greatest achievements?

In the physical sense I think achieving a healthy lifestyle this year would be fantastic. I'm challenging myself to be even more aware then I have been of what I cook at home and more active with my hubby :) In the spiritual sense I think growing more closer in my walk with Christ is a great achievement, although it never stops I know I never want to go back  to where I was. This year I get to walk the walk of faith with another person, my husband, so I'm looking forward to growing closer with him to Christ.

Also by getting this blog going again haha!

Happy New Year!

Maple Rhubarb Pie

Went to a farm in Richmond, BC for apple picking this weekend. Wasn't to impressed with it, but we were able to get 10 lbs of baking apples and some massive rhubarb! 

My man loves strawberry rhubarb pie, but I was going to try my hand at just rhubarb. Searching the internet I found this recipe on Stephenson Maple Farms website of a rhubarb pie using maple syrup! Also it has sour cream in it so it's kinda of a cream filling! Super deliciousness! My man really likes it as well. 

The recipe is pretty straight forward, except for baking I just did it for 350 degrees for an hour or so until the rhubarb was tender.

recipe taken from stephensonmaplefarms.ca

 Massive Rhubarb!!

 Wash and cut into 1 inch chunks.

 Place into pie crust. Mix syrup, flour, sour cream, and sugar.

 Pour over the top.

 Spread around.

 Mix brown sugar, flour and melted butter with a fork until crumbly.

 Sprinkle over top of the pie.

 Bake for an hour at 350 until rhubarb is tender.

Enjoy! Yum, yum :)

Then I froze the rest of the rhubarb for winter pies in the future! Yay!

Breakfast Burritos!!

 These are simple to make, easy to freeze and you can use a variety of ingredients! SO breakfast for the meat-lovers or vegetarian! With a quick pop in the microwave in the morning you have breakfast to go within a couple minutes!

The ones I'm making for this post are simply eggs, chicken sausage, and cheese! You can add anything breakfast or veggie related, for example: onion, pepper, spinach, bacon, ham, etc. (just make sure to cook everything before wrapping it up!)

For mine I scrambled about 8-10 eggs, cooked half a package of sausage, and grated around 2 cups of cheese. That much probably made around 8 burritos. The amount of ingredients is really up to, what you like and how much you like :)

Now the fun part! Put around 2 T. each of eggs and sausages in the middle of the tortilla, and add a sprinkle of cheese.

Don't fill it too full or it will be difficult to wrap up.

To wrap it up, fold the 2 ends in, then take the end closet to you and roll it up into a burrito!

Now wrap it up in a piece of tin foil!

After you have wrapped up all of your ingredients in the tortillas and then tinfoil you are ready to put them in the freezer!

To heat up: unwrap burrito from the tinfoil and wrap up in a paper towel. Place in your microwave and heat for 1 minute and 20 seconds, depending on your microwave it could take longer. Let sit for 30 seconds to cool...then enjoy!!!!

ZWETSCHGEN STRUDEL (Mock Plum Strudel)

Zwetschgen, plum in German. This recipe is from my mom. No, we are not of German descent. My kids will be though, since I married a man whos great-grandparents immigrated from Germany! I should ask my mom where she got this recipe :)

Anyways, this is seriously so yummy! It doesn't seem overly sweet to me, even though it has alot of sugar. I didn't have Italian prunes on hand. Just regular purple plums, so I cut them into eighths instead of halves. Here is what you need to do:

 BATTER
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1 C. Sugar

1 egg
3/4 C. Milk
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind (optional)
2 C. Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
12 to 15 Italian prunes (or 3 to 5 regular plums)

TOPPING
1 1/2 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

• Mix BATTER ingredients by first creaming butter and sugar until creamy.  
• Add egg and beat until fluffy. 
• Add milk and lemon, then the dry ingredients.  
• Mix well, it will be way thicker than normal cake batter. (almost more like dough).
• Spread evenly into a greased and floured 9 x 13" pan.  
• Cover batter with the halves of Italian prunes (or eighths of a plum), cut side up (skin side down).  
• Mix butter and sugar for TOPPING, then add flour and cinnamon. (it will be crumbly).
• Cover the batter and plums with the topping mixture. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min.

Great for breakfast or a yummy dessert! Enjoy!

Breakfast in a Muffin

I got this recipe from the cookbook, Cookin' Up Country Breakfasts and it has now definitely become a fav! Leave out the bacon for a vegetarian option :)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs, divided

1 cup of cream cheese

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Combine milk, oil, and 1 egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-filled muffin cups half full. 

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and second egg. 

Add cheddar cheese and salt; mix well. Stir in bacon. Spoon 2 tablespoons in the center of each muffin. 

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Serve warm. Yield: about 1 dozen. 

Canada Day!

Yesterday was my first Canada Day celebration in Canada! Haha! My husband and I relaxed most of the day, since it was quite hot, then we ventured out to the festivities downtown Vancouver! We took the Skytrain since parking is a headache downtown. We arrived just in time for the parade to start! I haven't seen a parade since Leavenworth's Autumn Leaf Festival so this was exciting. I don't think my husband was as excited haha! I love seeing a parade in another country. The beginning had all the military and police force marching down the street, it was so cool. The rest of the parade was mostly different nationalities and countries...China, Japan, Korea, etc. There are a lot if Asian immigrants in the Vancouver area, so was kinda cool and interesting to see! Then we walked down to the waterfront after for the firework show which started at 10:30, when it got dark. It was so awesome :) My phone died before the finale so I didn't get any pictures of that, but it was such a great finish. Then everyone started singing: "Oh, Canada" which I suspected was gonna happen haha! We then got lost in the crowd to make our way back home. There was masses of people!! The Skytrain was packed...like squished in next to the people around you, it was cray-cray! But we survived and it was great first Canada Day celebration for me :) Happy Canada Day! (Now onto the 4th of July! Woohoo!!)

RCMP!

Keep Canada Green Folks! Haha!

Darth Vader

Fireworks!!!

Wednesday Wraps: Turkey Spinach with Cranberry Cream Cheese

Love this delicious wrap! I made them for my sisters bridal shower and they were so easy and very tasteful! Make it and cut into slices for parties or leave it as a whole wrap for lunch. Can be made without the turkey for a vegetarian option and still be at the top of my list. If you like nuts just add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the cream cheese spread. Here is what you need:

1.5 cup of cream cheese

3/4 dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons of honey

1 garlic clove minced

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

8 (10-inch) flour tortillas

1 pound of thinly sliced turkey

4 cups of baby spinach (more spinach if you make the veggie option)

Stir together the first 6 ingredients. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture onto each tortilla, leaving a half-inch border around the edges.

Divide turkey and spinach evenly among the tortillas.

Add the spinach first so it stays on by sticking to the cream cheese.

Layer on turkey.

Roll up.

Cut into half or in slices.

Enjoy!