Ice Cream Spree

It feels like summer here in Plano and it's not even June yet. I think the high yesterday was somewhere around 91 degrees. And heat like that makes me crave ice cream. (Ok, I'll be serious, everything makes me crave ice cream.) I've been playing with my ice cream maker and experimenting with some different flavors. Here are two of my recent creations.

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

This one was really simple. Just two ingredients: Chocolate and Yogurt. It is really rich and creamy, and has a nice tangy flavor from the yogurt. What I particularly love about this frozen yogurt is how there are tiny flecks of chocolate that hardened when it was freezing. It adds an interesting texture to the final product.

I also get to tell myself that it is healthy because it's yogurt not ice cream. I happened to have made some homemade Greek yogurt about two weeks ago and I really needed to use some of it up and that's where I got the inspiration to make this one. You can just use store bought yogurt, if you don't have the time/desire to spend about 8 hours making yogurt. (Fortunately, I had both.) I don't know if you make much homemade ice cream, but isn't it the best when it first comes out of the ice cream maker and has the consistency of soft serve? Yum!

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

8 Ounces of Chocolate (I used a mixture of 5 oz semi-sweet and 3 oz of milk chocolate)

17 Oz container of Greek Yogurt (at room temperature)

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Start by putting it in for 1 minute and then stirring. After that, microwave for 15-25 second intervals until most is melted and then stir until all the chocolate is melted. (The residual heat will finish melting the rest of the chocolate and you don't have to worry about burning it by leaving it in the microwave too long.)

2. Mix the chocolate and the yogurt together and place in your ice cream maker. Freeze according to your manufacturer's instructions.

3. Store in the freezer and enjoy your sweet treat!

Adapted recipe from The Nesting Project.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

One of my favorite things to do is check out Food Gawker website. I get lots of inspiration from the photos that are featured there. I found a recipe for this ice cream and it was perfect because I already had everything I needed. I had half of package of cream cheese and some heavy whipping cream. I also had some leftover strawberries after I made a Berry Cobbler for dessert this week. Since I only had half of the cream cheese needed I just cut the recipe in half, but it still made quite a bit of ice cream.

The ice cream was a really pretty pink color. I was pleased with the flavor; you can definitely taste the strawberries, and the cheesecake part was understated but detectable. If the seeds bother you, strain the ice cream before freezing it to get them out, but I don't mind the seeds, so I didn't. Overall, I thought it was a really good ice cream, but I think my Strawberry Ice Cream from the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Cookbook is still my favorite.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

3/4 lb Strawberries

8 oz. Softened Cream Cheese

3/4 c Sugar

1 c Milk

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Pinch of Salt

1/2 c Heavy Cream

1. Put the strawberries, cream cheese, sugar, milk, lemon juice, and salt into a blender or a food processor. Blend until everything is incorporated.

2. Stir in the heavy cream and freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Recipe from Bakin' and Eggs website.

Hope you enjoy these ice cream selections! As the summer warms up, I'm sure I'll have even more to share!

Can A Person Really Change?

In life, everything changes. Your circumstances, your finances, the politics of the nation, our economy, the technology, etc.... Change is all around us. But, can a person really change?

First we must ask ourselves, do we really need to change? The answer is yes, we do need to change. Why? Because it is in our nature to sin. Ever since Adam and Eve first ate that forbidden fruit, we have had sin in our lives.

• "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.'" Romans 3:10-12
• "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
• "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:5

Sin corrupts everything in our life. All of our attitudes, all of our actions, absolutely everything is corrupted by sin.

• "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Matthew 15:19
• "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." Ephesians 2:1-3

The Bible tells us that with this sin we are separated from God for eternity. We need to change our heart and turn away from our sinful natures.

So, how do we change? How does it happen? Can we do it ourselves with self-discipline? Can a self-help book change us? What about a therapist? While all these things can be good for us and do good in our lives, they ultimately can not change our sinful nature and they definitely do not eliminate the separation that exists between ourselves and God.

• "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." Jeremiah 13:23

To change, it takes four steps. First, we must transfer our trust from ourselves to Christ. We can't do it ourselves. God has to do it. Second, we must receive Christ as our Savior. Third, you must trust in Him as Lord. Finally, we must repent of our sins and turn away from these. When we follow these steps our nature changes instantaneously.

• "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything to hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27
• "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Matthew 19:26

People can change by the gospel and love of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

(Part 2 of the sermon preached by Jarrett Stephens on 5.8.10 at Prestonwood Baptist Church)

Quilting-My New Love

Last night I took a quilting class. And I fell in love. Move over knitting, you've been replaced! (Really though, I'll eventually get back to Justin's scarf. It's quite a while until winter.)

This square is what I made last night and it's the barnyard door pattern. Tonight, I went back to the fabric store to scout out my next design. I love how creative you can be with your fabrics. Quilts can truly be works of art. I sure hope mine are one day. There was only one slight snag in my new found love. It requires sewing. I don't know how to sew. Yes, I took Home Ec in high school, but the apron I made looked terrible and it's been 10 years since my freshman year when I took the class. (That makes me sad. I'm getting old.) Anyway, the hardest part of sewing the quilt pieces together was threading my machine. But, I think I got the hang of it and I'm happy with the way my first quilted piece turned out. Next week I am taking a binding class that teaches me how to put the backing in and finish the quilt. I'll keep you updated on my quilting adventures!

Why Share Your Faith?

Hello Blog Readers!
Time for a new sermon snipet. I'll be breaking this week's sermon into two sections. First, "Why Share Your Faith?" and second, "Can A Person Really Change?". This first section of the sermon really explains why I feel compelled to put my sermon notes on my blog and why I feel like I should share my faith.

There are two reasons we share our faith.

1. FEAR OF THE LORD. 2 Corinthians 5:11 says, "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men."

As Christians, we must tell others the good news. God has commanded us to share our faith and we have a fear of God. We know one day God will look at our life and ask us, not if we believed in Him, but what we've done to further His Kingdom. We will be held accountable and rewarded for our actions and obedience. On that day, I want the Lord to say "Job well done." not "Why didn't you do more?" So I will set my sights on sharing my faith more every day.

• "For we will all stand before God's judgement seat. It is written: "'As surely as I live', says the Lord, 'every knee shall bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:10b-12

We aim to please the One who has given us life. We should ask ourselves "Who are we aiming to please?". Who is the commanding officer of your army? Are you living for worldly, fleeting pleasures? Or are you striving to fulfill what has been commanded of us by our Heavenly Father?

• "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body (on this Earth) or away from it (in Heaven)." 2 Corinthians 5:9
• "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord." Ephesians 5:8-10
• "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer." 2 Timothy 2:4

2. The Love of Christ "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

God loves us. What an amazing statement! We, who are so unworthy, are loved by a majestic God. We should want to share the good news because we are loved by Christ.

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
• "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
• "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Also, we must share God's love in a method of love. There are two parts to sharing God's love: meeting needs and sharing the message. One without the other just isn't good enough. Lots of people can meet people's earthly needs, but are they telling them about what will save their eternal life? On the other hand, if you can't have compassion for people and meet their physical needs (as Jesus did for so many), why should they listen to what you have to say about Christ? These two components are essential for sharing the Word of God.

Ultimately, these two reasons are why I share my faith. Tune in tomorrow to find out if people can really change.

(Part 1 of the sermon preached by Jarrett Stephens on 5.8.10 at Prestonwood Baptist Church)

Homemade Granola

This stuff is awesome. And it's addicting. Just try to eat one handful. I dare you.

The beauty of homemade granola is that you can put whatever you want in it. Don't like raisins? Then don't use them. Try dried cranberries instead. (Which Justin tells me I must call craisins. Umm...why must I?) The recipe is just a jumping off point, and I only follow it loosely, therefore, my measurements are pretty loose as well. I threw in some flax seed for some crunch and extra fiber. You could also use wheat germ. I have made it without either in the past. Isn't this a great recipe? You can't mess it up! You are only limited by your imagination.

There are two big pluses for making granola yourself. One, you can also make it more healthy than the stuff they sell in the grocery store that has lots of oils and sugars in it. This recipe does have some sugar and oil in it, but you control the amount you use and what kind you use. For instance, for the sugar, I used a mixture of honey and agave syrup, which are natural products rather than regular processed granulated or brown sugar. They are also sweeter than regular sugar, so you can use less. Two, making your own granola is cost efficient. Oats are cheap, but good quality granola from the grocery store is not. You can save money by changing up the ingredients that you use. I used cashews this time, because they were on sale.

This time I made a double batch of the recipe and made it into two different flavors. One has chopped cashews and dried cranberries (or craisins, if you must) and the other just has chopped almonds. I'm going to be using it for some granola bars later this week. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Here's the recipe adapted from this website.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA

4 cups of oats

1/2 c of wheat germ or flax seed

1-2 c chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, etc...)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 t salt

1 t vanilla

1/2 c canola oil (I used vegatable oil, because it's what I had on hand)

1/2 c honey

1 c dried fruit (raisins, apricots, dried cranberries, etc...)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine oats, wheat germ, salt, nuts, and cinnamon. Mix together.

Add oil and honey. Toss to coat well.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. It should still be sticky when done, but have a nice toasted brown color.

Remove from oven and toss with fruit.

Allow it to cool and then store it at room temperature.

Serve plain as cereal or with yogurt, fruit, etc...

Enjoy!

Can You Trust the Bible?

Justin and I are Christians. We believe that we have been saved by Jesus Christ. It's important to me to share my faith and I feel like I haven't been doing a great job at that. I am a crazy note taker (it's probably why I'm an awesome student). Since college, I've taken notes during sermons and so I have tons of notes for many, many sermons, but I've never done anything with them. So here is one way that I want to improve in sharing my faith, I'm going to share my notes with you every week. They won't be perfect and these are just the major points that I took from the teaching, but I feel like God is calling me to put them out there. I think last night's sermon is a great place for us to begin. The topic we discussed was "Can You Trust the Bible?" Here we go!

CAN YOU TRUST THE BIBLE?

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17

First, we discussed how the Christian faith is built on believing that the Bible is true. Without the Bible, our entire faith collapses. So how do we know that we can trust the Bible? First we have to believe that there is a God. God reveals himself to us in 3 ways.

1. In Creation. The world and the human body are so detailed and intricate that they are truly the work of an artist.

• "Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:19-20
• "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1
• "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:3

2. In Conscience. Mankind has a basic conscience built in us that knows right from wrong. This isn't the work of evolution, but rather a Divine good Creator.

• "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." Romans 2:14-15

3. In the person of Jesus Christ.

• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
• "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Next, we looked at the fact that God is true and can be trusted. He has revealed himself over and over to us in many ways. Every promise made in the Bible is fulfilled. Every prophesy is satisfied. We look to the character and nature of God. He is truth and so is the Scripture because it is rooted in him.

Here are 3 reasons that we can trust the Bible.

1. It is inspired. The Word of God was inspired by God. When people wrote the Bible, they were inspired to do so by God and they actually saw the events that they wrote about. They were not dictated to, but moved by the the Holy Spirit. These authors were inspired in many times and in different ways, because they were different men. The Word of God is forever. It is unchangeable and never lies.

• "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." 2 Peter 1:16
• "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21
• "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways." Hebrews 1:1
• "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

2. It is credible. Archaeologically, the Bible is accurate. It has never been disproven and never contradicts itself. Historically, it has been proven chronologically true. The Dead Sea Scrolls was a great find for proving the Bible's truth. It is an ancient document, that has been studied more than any other book ever written. The amazing thing about the Dead Sea Scrolls is that the translation between them and the more recent manuscripts that had been found was that they were perfectly translated. Hundreds, even thousands, of years could pass and nothing changed in the Bible.

3. It changes lives. If you were to look in the Bible or just look around at the people you see, you can see that the Scripture changes lives.

• "For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edge sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

So, these were my notes from last night's sermon. The sermon was taught by Jarret Stephens at Prestonwood Baptist Church. You can check the Church out here at www.prestonwood.org.

Another New Hobby: Photoshop

I have a new love and it's name is photoshop. Sorry Justin! (Oh, and I'll also need to take over your computer for hours on end, since it's not downloaded on mine. Thanks!) I have been playing around quite a bit with just one particular photo and I'm really excited about the results I've been getting. Justin and I both love this photo that we took in the Valley of Fire. I think I blogged about it sometime last year. Well, this photo just got a face lift! I have 6 different varieties of the photo to show you and please let me know which one you like best. The first picture at the top is the original. Now let's get into the remakes!

1.

So this was my first creation. I like the added color that it gave the rock and the sky. It was just the Auto-Fix button on Photoshop, so it didn't really require a lot of creativity from me. How can something be a hobby if you have a computer do the work for you? And if you click on the picture and make it bigger you can see a tiny magenta dot at the peak of one of the mountains. I have no idea where it came from, or how to fix it.

2.

Second attempt, this is one of Justin's favorites. I really wanted to get a more dramatic sky in this one. So I added more blue and more contrast to the sky. I think it looks like a stormy night and I like it, but it kind of takes all the drama away from the rocks, which is what this picture was about to start with.

3.

My third attempt. Here I got into googling how to do certain things on photoshop and I think it really made a difference. This version helped me to understand a few more technical elements of the program. I think the color is so vivid that the photo looks somewhat surreal. I personally love this version. I like the sharpness of everything and I think the sky adds some calmness to the photo.

4.

Neither Justin nor I were a big fan of this one. It appears washed out after the vivid color of #3. I can see using this technique that I used to bright up some food or people's faces, but it just doesn't do justice to the landscape here.

5.

Alright, my black and white attempt. I wasn't really excited about doing this photo in black and white because I think the color of the rocks is what makes this photo amazing, but I was actually somewhat impressed with this version. I think it is a nice change and it certainly has some drama to it. I'm excited to use this technique on a photo that doesn't rely so much on color.

6.

My final attempt, thus far, sepia/vintage. I really like this version, mainly because of the texture that I gave it. Throughout the journey of playing with this photo, I have been discovering new tricks and tools to play with and I can't wait to use this one again. I have always wondered how photographers gave their photos such interesting textures and now I'm on my way to finding out all those secrets!

Ok, those were my versions of our Valley of Fire photo. Tell me, which was your favorite?