Fake Butterfingers

Is anyone else out there as addicted to Pinterest as I am? I love the site and frequent it daily. I have the app on my phone. My sister and I send pictures and ideas via text message multiple times a week. Instead of browsing the web for cooking/ craft/ beauty ideas, I simply pull up the "Everything" tab and have it all at my fingertips.

Last night I attempted the butterfingers recipe from Plain Chicken's blog. Thank you, Plain Chicken and Pinterest!!! (http://www.plainchicken.com/2010/11/homemade-butterfingers.html?m=1). I loved that the recipe only called for three ingredients (hey, I am still a poor college student).

I went to my parents' for our weekly NCIS night and set the ingredients out on the counter- a jar of honey roasted peanut butter and a bag of candy corn. My sweet momma came up and asked "Oh, you're making butterfingers?". I was amazed at her powers of deduction, because I would have never guessed that! Ever! My mom is a genius.

I could only find a 24 oz bag of candy corn at my baby Target store (which meant that after I measured out two cups I had some to snack on, yum). Baby Target also did not carry the candy coat. Boo. I drizzled melted chocolate chips on top of some of my pieces, but it wasn't that good. I wouldn't recommend that.

On a side note, dark chocolate can be dairy free. But I have yet to find any dark chocolate, dairy free chips. Which is probably a sign to just stay away, but I love it so.

I found that the candy corn cooled very quickly and also got very hot, so be careful to stir quickly and use pot holders. I had to swap out my spatula for a wooden spoon to keep up with the rough consistency.




I was very happy with this recipe and would make it again. I actually really enjoyed eating mine plain and may not even bother with the candy coating in the future. If you plan on shaping the mixture for pops or using a cookie cutter, you might want to grease your hands slightly.




To change the subject to one of my favorite subjects... The hubs is currently in North Carolina for Rescue School. It sounds pretty awesome. The military has given him some great opportunities, and I'm so thankful God has lead us down this road. God really knows what He's doing. Someday maybe I will learn to be patient and trust Him. That's the goal anyway.

He sent me this picture of him rappelling after a morning lecture. Looks awesome. I wish I was getting paid to go rappelling! I also wish I got paid to sit on my couch in my flannel pj's watching Wizards of Waverly Place, but that's probably not going to happen too soon, so I'll hang onto my day job.




He is so cute!!

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Vegan Green Bean Casserole

The main dish at bible study this week was a pasta bar (which was a very fun and new idea). Lee and I decided to make a green bean casserole, which is one of his favorite side dishes.

I found an awesome Pioneer Woman recipe on her website that involved bacon. I think my husband would love it. However, I decided to search for a version that I could actually eat.

I found the recipe by a simple Google search. I just love Google. I pretty much followed the recipe as is. Well, I followed it some. I used frozen onion (which I didn't measure out) and canned mushrooms to save money and to make my life easier as I was cooking at my in-laws' house. I accidentally bought herb and spice chicken bouillon, so I didn't add much other seasoning. I used two cans of green beans instead of one. I also didn't really know what size of fried onions to get, so I used two of the bigger Walmart brand bags. I think those are all my changes...
















I think the recipe said to mix it fast as it would coagulate, but I saw no coagulation occurring. Since the final product was good (better than normal, in my opinion), I think it's ok.

Yay for a successful dairy-free recipe!!!

http://www.godairyfree.org/Recipes/Sides/Green-Bean-Casserole-Vegan.html

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Funfetti Dip

We had a going away party for my sister last week with my dad's side of the family. All of his immediate family lives in our town, so it makes get-togethers fairly easy. We didn't meet until 7:30, so we just indulged in desserts. I made a Funfetti Dip I had seen on Pinterest. The recipe is below.

Since I'm lactose intolerant, I only ate a few bites. (I'm obviously still having an issue cooking like I can't eat dairy). I liked it, but honestly didn't find it that different from just eating icing. However, my husband loved it and ate on it all week. So I will probably make it for him again. It's also good for parties. We ate it with animal crackers. I think you could probably change up the type of cake mix or the dipping item and get pretty creative. You could probably even use it as a special frosting.


http://www.littlebittybakes.com/2011/01/3-2-1-funfetti-cake-batter-dip.html?m=1


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Flood

Our house flooded early last week. I walked in to our office/ storage space to grab a pair of scrubs and experienced a gush of water flowing over my foot. What an early morning surprise!

It turned out that two rooms of the house and some hallway space had flooded. We're still not entirely sure why. We had to rip up the carpet and the house is still drying out. It smells damp and moldy. Since Lee's grandpa built the house 55-plus years ago, there are a few special aspects to that house, including the fact that the windows don't open and some lovely yellow linoleum that looks like carpet.





In a miracle show that only God can be recognized for, the majority of our stuff that was resting on the soaked carpet remained dry. Considering all the supplies my sister had been storing to take to Africa were in there, as well as three boxes of childhood memories, that was pretty dang awesome.

Staying at the in-laws has been pretty fun. I enjoy seeing them and spending time with their dogs. And they have cable! And snacks. It has been a little annoying trying to shuttle my clothes and toiletries back and forth. It seems like I never have what I need in the place I am located. It also has been a pain driving 15 minutes each way to go home and play/feed/ love on our dogs. Other than that, it has been enjoyable staying over here.

Have you ever had a flooded home? What did you do?

Pumpkin Dump Cake

I love all things pumpkin. Lattes, ice cream, pasta. Yum. So when I saw this pumpkin dump cake recipe on Pinterest, I knew it was a must make. Here is the link to the original blog. The pictures are great and the instructions are clear and very easy.

http://cookiesandcups.com/pumpkin-dump-cake/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cookiesandcups+%28cookies+and+cups%29










What the pictures don't show is the bite I had to steal... I couldn't wait until bible study to try it. And boy, it is very yummy!


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Toe

You may remember me mentioning that I had a toe problem. It started as a running injury and went very wrong (it's the "ring" toe on my right foot, the little piggy that doesn't get any roast beef). It was a big ordeal- nasty, painful, and a mystery to all medical professionals. Eventually the amazing Dr Jill Jackson-Smith told me it was a wart. Which I really didn't want to admit to people, because I think warts are gross. We did a round of a topical treatment- no dice. We did a round of cantharone (blister venom)- no dice. More topical medicine- no dice. Then Dr Jill had me take a high dosage of dry Vitamin A and zinc. Within a week there was a remarkable difference. It was a miracle. And here is my toe today, almost totally healed.


Aren't feet weird?

Also, I started reading the book Go Dairy Free by Alisa Marie Fleming. I highly suggest this book to anyone needing to go dairy free. Or anyone at all, really. I have been annoying my family all night with texts if dairy facts I find fascinating.

Something the book discusses is some of the sneaky names of dairy or sneaky places it can hide. For example:





That's right- the calcium supplement I take because I an't digest milk contains milk. Really???? How aggravating and interesting at the same time.

I think I am about to get pretty radical with eliminating dairy from my diet. I am tired of the side effects.


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Healing

I've been thinking a lot lately about healing.  I've been waiting for my ankle to heal and waiting for my heart to heal.

My walking shoes

My child, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.- Proverbs 4:20-22

Life can get pretty rough.  We live in this fallen, awful world.  We try to do our best (most of the time) and we still end up hurt. 

I've been pondering the ways we get through our grief.  How do we find hope, comfort, peace?

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.- Psalm 107:19-21

I found this quote on http://www.calebwilde.com/-

"You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp." — Anne Lamott

I love this quote.  Love, love, love.  It speaks straight into my soul.

I've also been thinking about rehab.  No, not the kind the late Amy Winehouse sang about.  I've been sittting around on my lame ankle waiting for it to heal itself.  I've ignored it and ran rough on it, which made it worse.  When that didn't work I braced it up and babied it for awhile, which kept my pain at the same level.  Next I decided "Oh, screw it" and ran on it.  Which made it worse again.

The heart is the same way.  I've ignored the grievances in my heart, pushed them to the side.  Or I've pushed too hard, determined to heal myself and get through it.

I need a physical therapist for my heart...I need to admit my failings and pride and allow God to come in and perform some rehab for me. 

Why do I think I can do it myself?  Why do I resist asking the only one who can help to help?