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Healthy Spirit

Lots has been going on. I made a wonderful new friend. Who is as excited about nutrition as I am. So hopefully I will have more info to share!!

I have still been crocheting away. Not selling much but that's ok. Selling enough to make it, I suppose.

I enjoyed a women's retreat with my Mom, Grandma, and Sister-in-Law,last weekend. That is really what I want to blog about today. I believe that being healthy does include being spiritually happy. I have always wanted to go on a women's retreat so when my Mom told me about their church having one I was excited about getting to do something with her, I just wasn't excited that it was her church hosting it. Here is my confession, I have attended their church on more then one occasion and was blessed each time I went, but it is a small church and it is very different from the church we came from in Georgia. So I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out; a small church hosting a women's retreat didn't sound so promising. (Harsh I know, but that's really how I felt) As the time neared for this retreat I started praying. I didn't want to have any expectations. I was afraid if I expected too much that it would hinder what God had planned for me. So I prayed for Him to prepare my heart for whatever He had for me. The first day of the retreat arrived and when it came to introductions, I gave my name and said "I came expecting nothing, but willing to receive whatever is offered." and I meant it. The purpose of the retreat was revealed later and it was "Women Under Construction".

Perfect. I was ready to receive. I have to admit I had a great time at the retreat and do look very forward to attending next year. God showed me that He is mighty in ALL things, including small churches. I never excepted to see or feel the intimacy that was there. I never felt isolated or alone and felt very welcomed. I came away with one word that stood out more then all the other words spoken at the retreat and that word was COURAGE.  Others may not have received the same thing, but for me courage is what I kept hearing God speak to my heart over and over.
In order for God to change you; you need to have courage. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. You can't even begin the process of change without having the courage to admit that you need change. You can't offer grace without first admitting that you need grace. Admitting that you need grace takes Courage. God can't restore you until you have the courage to release yourself to Him for Him to begin that restoration.

It was a great weekend that I can't possibly cover in one blog..lol. I just mostly wanted to share that we shouldn't put God in a box. We shouldn't assume that He only does great things through mega churches. I encountered more intimacy at this small baptist church women's retreat then I have ever experienced anywhere. I shared a wonderful healing weekend with some very radiant, captivating, and beautiful women.

God is mighty in all things and through all things (we just have to take off the blinders!!)

Till next time enjoy the photo's

Loves Angela

Three women packed for 2 days. can you say excessive!!

32 women in one cabin!! God is mighty..lol

Blessed to be able to share this experience with my mom and Grandma

Just a bunch of country girls and a truck:O)



Nature trail stop



Cabin companions



Not so green but still healthy and happy!!

We hhaven't been eating to green lately. I mean I have still been trying to be careful of what we purchase at the grocery but I haven't really been to the grocery very much in the last few weeks. Tito has been fishing up a storm and bringing home shrimp too. My freezer is staying full thanks to his new found skill and passion for fishing. I just wish I liked fish...ick. Some days I just can't bring myself to cook it. I have also realized that fall veggies are not my fave and neither are the fruits really. Maybe I can survive on bread and water alone..:O) Just kidding. I really have been living in fast forward for almost a month now but I can see the slow down coming of course it won't happen till next week and even then will be a short lived slow down before we will be going again. I never thought I would say this but, I dislike staying so busy that you can't breathe!! and really staying so busy you can't eat right. But there is truth to that. In this fast paced society it makes since that we have issues with obesity. We are just too busy to slow down and eat right. We need everything fast including food and most of us believe that it takes to much time to make healthy food. We had to chance to eat at home on Saturday night, and I really contemplated for a good hour and a half about just ordering out. then after much debate with myself got up and made a black forest ham sandwich on french bread with pepper jack cheese and sweet potato chips on the side. How hard was that!!? Not hard at all and it took no time, now I should have had it on wheat bread with no mayo but lets just be real what I had was way lower in calories then the burger or pizza we would have ordered!! I think I have to stop making eating right so darn hard and then maybe I will quit beating myself up on the days that we didn't eat perfectly natural food.

I went to LNO tonight and had a great time with some wonderful Christian women. We ate at O'Charley's which is probably my least favorite place to eat. However I ordered the bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and cinnamon and sugar donuts for dessert. I was very pleased with myself when I walked out because I walked out with half my meal in a to-go box. I made a conscious decision when I placed my order to NOT CLEAN MY PLATE (yea isn't that going against the grain) and I was just satisfied, not over full and not starving!! The burger was very good and I was very happy with the service. When I inquired about the use of peanut oil the manager came out with the waitress to assure me that they don't use it but they did want me to know that they deep fry pecans in the oil. It made my day that my peanut allergy was taken seriously because sometimes I don't believe the waitresses really care.

Say a little prayer for me, I am going on a women's retreat this weekend and it looks like the menu may be a little challenging for me. So I will have to make and pack different foods that I can eat and not have reactions to.

Anyway gotta run...thanks for listening to my rant..lol

Loves Angela!!

Roadblocks

Yea so I have not been wanting to cook. I am not sure why we go through these lulls with things. I am sure Tito can't wait for me to be over it though. We bought a grill and I was so excited, but I have only used it twice. The weather has turned cooler, yay that it is plus. Fall is my favorite time of the year, yet I am not feeling very full of joy these days. Funny how that happens. Anyway enough of my depression. I am reading a great book right now, Waking the Dead by John Eldredge. Very good read, of course I haven't read one of his books yet that was difficult.

On to cooking. So I cooked steak and some grilled veggies and sweet potato fries over the weekend. Oh they were so yummy. I love grilled veggies. I also made homemade banana walnut bread for our growth group on Sunday. It was very good, Tito was bummed I didn't make a cake he could it.

I have been getting out with my friends more the last couple of weeks. My friend Kristal and I had lunch at Southern Grounds, its off of Cowan Rd in Gulfport, and I was very pleased with my Tomato, Bacon and Cheddar Panini. I also had a brown sugar and cinnamon scone that was wonderful. The atmosphere at this little coffee house that serves lunch is very friendly and inviting. I was surprised to see all the people showing up there for lunch. The only down side to it is they are only open till 2.

I have been taking Brooklyn the little one I babysit to a Mommy Mixer group from our church on Tuesdays. I know she is a bit young but I enjoy us being able to get out of the apartment once a week. I can't wait for her to get a little bit older so she can start engaging in some of the things we are doing.

I had dinner at Los Tres in Gulfport for our Ladies Night Out (LNO) time. (Something the church does). It was pretty good. I had the Monetary Chicken with rice. It was very good. I ate way more of it then I should have, however it still bothered my stomach so I am guessing they use corn oil to cook the veggies and chicken in. So I can't say that I will frequent there.

I have been crocheting up a storm. Tito asked me last night if I really enjoyed doing it or if it was just a filler for my time. I said, I like it. I enjoy seeing how cute things come out when I am finished. Who would have ever thought that knotting yarn (that's basically what it appears like you are doing) could make such adorable things. I am happy to say I am getting better at it. I will post some pics of my finished projects at the end of this post.

Anyhow so that's my happenings for the last week or so. I am hoping to get back to my bread making and baking very soon. Oh yea, I have also been doing Brazil Butt Lift workout!! OMG...my fanny has been killing me. Can't wait to see if I lose inches at the end of the 4 weeks.

Loves Angela

Been awhile..

I don't really know what has happened that has stopped me from blogging and cooking for matter. Maybe life, maybe bordedom, maybe life and boredom..haha. But I am back and ready to bring it. We bought a new grill (yay!!) I decided that is why we like to eat out cause we both love grilled food. I especially love grilled veggies. We made a trip to GA and TN and really enjoyed ourselves. I met Gelato and fell in love, (don't worry its a frozen dessert not another man..lol) if you have never had Gelato you should find a place that sells it (and makes it fresh themselves) it will ruin you!! You will never want plain ole ice cream again. It was soooo soooo very yummy. We have also had to give up driving to the Whole Foods Market in New Orleans until our home in GA gets some reliable renters in it. While I can't buy all hormone antibiotic free meats at the commissary they do have some and I know that their standards for meat are higher then other grocery stores. I found Gelato at the commissary and was so excited I bought two flavors and tried it as soon as I got...it was ok. Not the same as the fresh stuff. But it will have to do for now until I can find a place around here that sells it. I am still working on Christmas gifts but its taking longer then I thought it would.

I love the fall, ever aspect of it really except 1. I don't really like fall and winter fruits that much...I know I am going to have to expand my pallette and try some but I am really afraid. I can only eat apples if I peel them but I can manage that, but pears are so gritty....I really don't like it and then their is the dreaded fig...ugh, really not looking forward to that one. Well enough of my chatty cathy-ness. I gotta run till tomorrow...Loves Angela

Oh PS tomorrows dinner will be Chicken Caprese with bacon (our favorite but I am beginning to get bored with it. Spell check isn't working....so sorry about all the errors:O(

Burger Come Back

I haven't been posting because I have been sick. As much as I have tried to stay away from the sick people out there I still  managed to get their sickness. So while I was sick my hubby had to pretty much vend for himself for a couple of days. For lunch today he brought home Sonic (ick) but I appreciated the fact that he was trying to take care of me and feed me. lol

I was feeling well enough to cook today so I decided to make some orange muffins. I think they taste ok but Tito says they taste like flowers...lol. I shouldn't have used olive oil for the oil in the recipe cause they smell kind of like olive oil they taste fine though. I also decided to take the easy way out for bread this week and used the master boule recipe my sister gave me to make some ciabatta bread. I made two small ciabatta bread rolls to use as buns for the homemade hamburgers I was making for dinner.

I made homemade hamburgers and french fries (yummy) there is nothing like homemade fries. I also sauteed some onions and cooked up some of the deer sausage a friend gave us that Tito has been dying to try.  It  turned out pretty good. I use Montreal steak seasoning by McCormick in my hamburger patties. I added some pepper jack cheese and lettuce and tomato.Tito said "yum so much better then that burger from sonic" He even liked the homemade bun it was on. It made me feel good to come back from being sick and make him a meal that made him happy:O) (minus the orange muffins)

I love feeding people. Hope everyone had a great week!! Happy to be back on my feet

Loves Angela

Crazy busy

Wow! My life was so busy since last Wednesday, no wonder I was so exhausted by Sunday not to mention feeling under the weather.
 Let me update you on the last several days:

before I put it in the oven

Wednesday my girlfriends came over for dinner with their little boys and we had a great time visiting and catching up with one another!! Brooklyn even was in a pleasant mood for the first part of the morning so I was able to get my pizza's almost made up by time my girlfriends got here. I made a whole wheat plain cheese pizza for the boys. I was very pleased with myself because it was all homemade (except the cheese :o) I thought the pizza turned out beautifully...

The only bad thing was it bubbled in the middle the last few minutes of baking. I am not sure why but it still tasted fine. I forgot to take a picture of the Margarita pizza I made for us ladies but I did get a picture of a slice. It tasted just as good as the cheese only pizza. We also had mango strawberry smoothies...they were de-lish!!

I also have been keeping really busy trying to expand on my reduce skills by "reducing" the amount of money I spend on Christmas. So I have been slaving away with my crochet needles making gifts..hopefully I get everything done by Christmas!!

Just started my first baby blanket ever as well...its a little frustrating for me because I am dealing with curling and rippling but its because I don't keep the same tension...I guess..oh well maybe over time I will get better at it and I am hoping that once I am done I can block it to fix my mistakes.

Mom and dad visited for the weekend and we had an awesome time!!  Friday night we didn't feel like waiting till 9 to eat so we decided to order pizza from a local restaurant called  Winter Garden bistro. They sell Toarmina's pizza (which I have never heard of) but it tastes very good and isn't very greasy. Well we decided to save money and order the 24 inch Jumbo...lol. We  had no idea how big this pizza would be. It barely fit in the front of my dads truck! We didn't even dent it and Tito and I had pizza leftovers for three days.


We went to the Long Beach Farmers Market this weekend and I was so excited when I saw that they had local farm raised eggs!! I can't wait to dig into them. But we have to finish off the other eggs first!

Also we went shopping over the weekend for my daughters birthday gifts and she said she only wanted stuff from this store called Justice. Well I almost chocked when I saw the prices of this clothing store for little girls. I had to pretty much shop clearance only. (Thats probably the way I should always shop anyway). Well as we were checking out we found out that it used to be Limited Too. So it made a lot of sense that it was so expensive. However the cashier was really nice and gave us the coupon discount (even though we didn't have the coupon) and we got 40 percent off of our total purchase...so naturally they gained a new customer by being so kind:O) I just know that if this is all she wants for Christmas I am going to have to start buying a little at a time.

I made Carne Asada and home made tortilla's for my parents on Saturday night and they really enjoyed it. I love when my dad is pleased with my food!!

So that pretty much sums up my last several days.

So on the menu this week is:

Eggplant and Zucchini Picodillo

Stuffed Poblano peppers (I didn't get to these last week)

Hamburger Steak

Some type of Chicken and chile soup!!

Hope I can stick a little closer to my menu this week. Hope you have a great day:O)

Loves Angela