Snack Time!

#1 Cake-batter snickerdoodles

Time for some BAKING!!!

Well...sometimes don't you just crave something sweet? I totally do at times!  Most of our sweet cravings come from when we aren't wanting to eat a lot of sweets, right?  Usually when we're dieting?  Well here are some "sweet tooth' cravings 'with' and 'without' a lot of sugar in them.

I've wandered through Pinterest a few times....okay maybe more than a few times, (totally addicting site, what can I say), but there's some great ideas out there.  I first found these cake-batter snicker-doodles, and while I've seen them before, I really just had to try them this time.  

That, and I was having a group get together for facial one night and I wanted to have some snacks available.  I also didn't want to be in the kitchen all-day preparing them.  So I found these four snacks that I literally made in under 2 hours. Which wasn't a huge chunk out out of my day and at least let me get some of my work done that I needed to do to prepare for my skin care class that night. 

#1: Cake-batter Snicker-doodles - they were really simple to make when you just want to whip us a late night snack.

#2 Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Then I wanted to make something that consisted of peanut butter and chocolate, something that tends to be a craving a little more often. What can I say...

#2:  Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sqaures - defiantly an amazing treat! 
         Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Awesomeness! 
Defiantly enjoyed by everyone!




Well, I thought after these two sugar-packed recipes I should go for something a little more on the healthy side. So I tried recipe number 3.

#3 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

#3: Chocolate chip cookie dough dip - AND YES! It actually is a HEALTHY snack!  You would never believe that it was, because you could pretty much sit down and eat the whole bowl of it. I took it to one of my parties and it defiantly was the hit of the night.  I served it  with graham crackers to spread the cookie dough.





Next, I really wanted to try another HEALTHY food, with brings me to....

Banana, Applesauce, Raisin Cookies

#4:  Banana, applesauce, raisin cookies - 

Yes, those are pretty much the main ingredients in this recipe. Plus, they are totally and completely sugar-free.  And if you're looking for a pretty decent sugar-free snack to quench your sweet tooth than this would be a good choice for you. 
About half the people I gave these to really enjoyed these cookies; although, on the other hand the other half of us thought the taste was okay, but couldn't get past the texture and chewiness of the cookie.   Maybe these cookies can be re-worked a little, for some of us. :-)

These were great fast and easy snacks and treats to prepare when you don't really want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and fun to make as well.   

Grace and Peace, 

Dreams!

                         DREAMS! 

Now that's a great word, just by itself!  But, for a small word it can provide an amazing and huge impact on our life.

Have you ever had a dream? Yes, many of us have!  We dream at night and then there are those little daydreams through out the course of the day that can sometimes happen, right?  We think about things that we would love to have and be, if we only had the time or we were in a different place in our life, right?  Sometimes we tend to give up on our dreams a little to quickly, right?  But, really.....we don't have to. No, we don't have to give up on our dreams! And Yes, we can achieve anything we set our hearts and minds to.

It may be a difficult process but it could be worth it, when find out what we're really supposed to be doing.  If we don't attempt to go for our dreams, we may never know what could or would have happened.
What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve!  God has given us the ability to dream...to dream BIG!  God has plans for each and everyone one of our lives.  Now...how are we going to pursue these great things planned for us.  Like it says in Jeremiah 29:11 -- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Our hope is in the Lord because He gives us that hope for our futures.  

We all strive to be successful, because let's face it...success and achieving your goal is HUGE!  But, Success is a Journey, not a Destination! To achieve success we have to take this amazing journey that keeps us moving.  We just don't stop at a destination, we eventually keep going and move on.  We just don't sit in one spot and not do anything.  We need to be always moving forward toward the next goal once we reach the previous one.
As we go through life we find that 'life' is a series of choices, and we all have choices in life that we make.
Is your life a joyful noise to the Lord?  Sing your dreams, share your dreams with others around you.  Is your smile glorifying God's name?  Do you bring joy?  Can people see your dreams with you?  If you let people in on your dreams, they can help you achieve them.  So go out there and BE JESUS to those who surround you!  Show the love of Christ through your smile and through your actions....let those people see Jesus through you!

Make a list of 25 dreams...what you would like to have, do and be, if you could have, do and be whatever you wanted/needed. Make a book, cut out pictures and watch your dreams come to life.
{in no specific order -- I just want to see my dreams be accomplished :)  Then look back and see all the things you've checked off, maybe then you'll have to start a new book; because you've accomplished everything from your previous book.

Meet and marry my future husband! :-)
Be a mom
Be debt-free
Be able to buy my dream house with my future family
Travel!!!
Be able to sponsor a child full-time through a sponsorship program
Tithe regularly
Become an actress in movies, tv and Theatre - Extra in Christian Mingle
Become a journalist and work for a newspaper/magazine -- Created Evoke Magazine
Publish a book and be an author of many books
Buy a car
Be able to share God's Word with anybody that I come in contact with boldly and confidently. -- Working on stepping out of my comfort zone. 
Go on a missions trip
Participate in Christian Theatre
Live in another state
Visit every state --- almost done
Visit every Continent  -- America, Central America -- done
Graduate from a University
Have an Internship
Sing in front of a large audience
Act in front of a large audience 
Create and Write my own blog
Go on a road trip with friends
Learn to play the guitar -- getting closer