A Path of Reflection: food

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

26 November 2013

Full to Overflowing

My heart, which is so full to overflowing,

has often been solaced and refreshed

by music when sick and weary.

~Martin Luther

What a beautiful quote!

This quote has been displayed on my desk for the past few days. I haven't wanted to flip to the next quote because this one spoke to me so much!

When I read it, I realize just how full my heart is. I feel the Lord's presence with me daily, and He has given me so many amazing gifts that I don't deserve!

I continue to count my blessings - aiming to reach One Thousand Gifts sooner rather than later!

315. Being able to put a nice outfit together while still sleepy in the morning.

316. My Mum and Dad's marriage - 24 years yesterday!! So inspiring!

317. Having my brother and sister sleepover for two nights in a row.

318. Last night's dinner, made up of all the food we had left in the house.

319. Having my husband arrive back from 5 days in Melbourne.

320. Mid-morning coffee.

321. My job.

322. An easy house inspection.

323. The prospect of a fixed (or maybe even new??) phone.

324. Being given more responsibility at my work. Challenging? Yes - but rewarding at the same time.

325. The knowledge that I have just blogged for the first time in 8 and 1/2 months. Yay!

My heart... is so full to overflowing...

What are you thankful for today? I know you can find something!!

~Rachel

26 February 2013

My Nose's Favourite Scents...

This morning when I got to work I went through my usual routine:

Dump my bags on my desk
Turn on the computer
Get out my lunch and smoothie from my bag
Check my phone
Hang my jacket on the back of my chair
Put my lunch and smoothie in the fridge

After this, my morning routine really depends on the day.

Today, though, I poured myself a little bit of cereal.

Muesli.

Mmm!!

Muesli makes my heart happy.

As I walked back to my desk, somehow I caught a waft of the muesli...

And I sighed in happiness.

Not for the first time, I realized I love the smell of oats. Comforting, soothing, delicious...

Then I started thinking about what some of my favourite smells are... So here are some of my nose's favourite scents, in no particular order:

Oats
Rain
Freshly mowed grass
Horses
Coffee (it kills me, every time I walk past a coffee shop in the morning!)
My fiance's deodorant
Fresh hay
Homemade baked goodies

So there you have it!! The random things that my nose enjoys smelling! I know there are many, many more, but I would also love to hear from you!

What are some of your favourite smells??

~Rachel

9 January 2013

Date Cacao Balls

Everyone loves chocolate, right?

Do you?

Come on, admit it.

Especially if you are of the female gender, you probably have a soft spot for chocolate ;-)

Now I have a confession to make: I love chocolate :-) All that smooth, sugary goodness just tastes so yummy!!... and then an hour (or two, or three) later, I realize that my heart is pumping fast, I have a headache, I feel anxious (even when I'm simply laying in bed!), etc.

I've come to realize in recent months, that when I eat too much sugar / junk / bad food, my body actually reacts in ways, such as the ones I listed above. When I have eaten [insert bad food item here] in the late afternoon or even for dinner or after dinner, I find that when I am in bed trying to sleep, I can literally feel my heart pumping and I am restless. I'm still learning how to read my body, but this is one side effect of chocolate that I shouldn't ignore!

But, a girl can't live without chocolate!

So...

Enter, Date Cacao Balls!!!

If there are ever any kind of chocolate balls on the table amongst a selection of sweets, I will always, always choose them. They're my favourite! But I know they're full of bad stuff, so after I received inspiration from my friend Anna, who posted a picture of some raw chocolate balls that she made, I googled a recipe, bought a couple ingredients, and made these for my first time!!

The recipe that I used can be found here.

They are super easy!

Chop up 1 cup of dates, put in a bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons of cacao powder. You'll probably need a bit of warm water to make it moist (add just a little at a time - you'll need to get your hands in there later!)

Did you know that cacao is a super food??! How awesome!!

The recipe calls for 1/4 cup slivered/chopped almonds and 1/4 cup coconut. Next time, though, I wouldn't even use the almonds. I absolutely love coconut, so that would be good enough for me! The almonds do give a nice crunchy texture, though. I found that I had about 1/4 cup of the mix leftover, so next time I would half these two items!

Coconut and almonds, for rolling the chocolate mix in

Voila!! Date Cacao Balls!

It will take a little while to get used to the "bitter" taste of raw cacao - because we are so used to the artificial sweeteners that is in general chocolate - but I really, really love these!! They a great substitute for any chocolate craving!

What is your favourite sweet? Would you be game to try a chocolate recipe that has no sugar?

~Rachel

3 January 2013

Hello, 2013!!!

Wow.

I cannot believe that we have entered the world that is 2013!! It feels like just a couple years ago that we moved from the 90's into the 00's - and here we are, 13 years into this century, already. How time flies!! (and how I feel old when it feels like we just exited the 90's...goodness me!)

My new year's day was a perfect mix of a few of my favourite things: family, friends, and food. I started off the day by sleeping in (sleep is also one of my favourite things at the moment). It felt so good to wake up slowly and not have to rush anywhere!

My brother had some fun with Andre's and my new camera

My sister got out her recipe book, chose a lunch recipe, and then came to every family member with a little notebook and pen, and got our orders for lunch. She made toast with canned spaghetti and ham and cheese for us. Thanks, Amy!!

My awesome sister making lunch

I also had a productive morning in the kitchen!! Andre helped me (okay, so he actually did most of the work...he's good like that ;-) hehe) make tabouleh salad. I had tabouleh for the first time, a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it, and then on the weekend we bought a huge packet of fresh parsley for $0.50c - so, I figured that was the perfect time to try making tabouleh myself!

I bought some bulgur wheat to use in the salad, but then when I searched for a recipe yesterday morning, one with quinoa popped up in Google...and I had the perfect amount of quinoa left...so I went for the non-traditional tabouleh recipe! It turned out wonderfully!

The recipe that I used can be found here. I replaced the green onions with about 1/3 of a red onion, and I didn't put carrot into my salad. It is still really good, though! I brought the whole container to work, so this will be my lunch for the rest of the week.

My Tabouleh Salad - deliciousness!

I also had some fun making another new recipe, which I will share very very soon. Hint: if you think chocolate, you're on the right track ;-)

After lunch, Andre and I went to Semaphore beach with some friends. It was so lovely down there! The water was comfortably warm [most of the time], and the sunshine was beautiful! We spent over an hour in the water, and then (as all good beach-goers do) had fish and chips.

Our butterfish and prawns

=D Love this guy!

My new hat :-)

Remembering to treasure the memories and actually get photos of ourselves. Never mind our partially wet shorts. *cough, cough*

Happy 2013, my friends! I hope you were able to enjoy the first day of the new year as much as I did mine!

What did you do on new year's day this year?

~Rachel

2 January 2013

My Very First Smoothie

Do you like smoothies?

I love smoothies!!! Smoothies with mango are my favourite - the creamy sweetness makes my tastebuds sing!!

I have always wanted to make smoothies. Last year during my whole foods detox, I made a few smoothies with almond milk, banana and chia seeds. I tried one with baby spinach, but... let's just say that didn't turn out so well!

So now, a year later, I finally mustered up the courage to try again... and I had great success!!!

1/4 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of natural greek yoghurt, 1 banana, 3 strawberries (plus the one in the picture for decorative purposes), 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, and 1/4 of an avocado all blended together gave me this:

Yummy goodness!!

I created the recipe myself, and it was pretty close to perfect.

What is your favourite flavoured smoothie? Do you ever make your own?

~Rachel

10 December 2012

Every Good Gift...

...and every perfect gift...

...is from above...

Therefore, I am here again today, being thankful...

[continuing my count up to One Thousand Gifts]

254. Late-night weekends, in the lounge by myself, losing myself in the world called Pinterest. And such other time-wasters ;-)

255. When my cat lets me pat her - and purrs.

256. Being asked, "Have you lost weight?" and truly not knowing if I have or not.

257. Digital cameras.

Photo courtesy of the man himself :D:P

258. My nephew Daniel - a.dor.a.ble!!! (see top picture)

259. Spring flowers!!!! They make me SO happy! (see second top picture)

260. Lunch this past Sunday with my amazing, inspirational friend Shirley, and Andre.

261. Lunch / coffee dates at a new coffee shop with my bestie.

262. My pinboard at work :-)

263. Still thankful for the time on the train every day, reading, chilling, thinking, sleeping...

264. That I ran not once, but TWICE around the block tonight!! Woohoooo!!!

265. That hayfever is not as regular as it was last month... SO GLAD I'm no longer sneezing constantly, dabbing at my watery eyes, and trying to get rid of an itchy throat!

266. Visit from Dani and Yannis...

Photo courtesy of the beautiful lady on the right

276. ...cupcakes and hot chocolate...

277. ...D&Ms :-)

278. Sugar free chocolate.

279. Inspiration and joy from reading blogs such as Young Wife's Guide, Ministry So Fabulous, and The Random Writings of Rachel.

280. My workplace.

281. The awesomeness of sleeping in a double bed!!!! I can stretch out as much as I like! =D

282. Cheese. Mmmm. Cheese will always be my favourite!

283. A clean house.

284. Ladies morning tea on a special Saturday.

285. Straight hair.

286. Exciting news from a dear friend.

287. The opportunity that I have had to travel this year - Thailand, Canberra, Sydney, Darwin and Papua New Guinea!

288. Friendship. [Jewelz, that will be us one day ;-) ]

289. Hairdressers. Because I need to pay a visit to mine, soon.

290. A lazy Saturday morning that let me sleep in, read, bludge on my computer, and eat a random breakfast of cucumber and cheese on bread.

291. Getting a little tan line from my sandals.

292. These boys. Sitting in the front row at church. Singing. Playing drums on their knees. Reading the words of songs and Scripture. Do I worship as they do??

293. A peaceful house, late at night.

294. 3-hour long chats with my friend Brookie :-)

295. An awesomely successful surprise party for my man!

296. This post: my 100th post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

297. One of the most special moments of my life >>>

[in case you're wondering...I said yes :-) ]

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father..." James 1:17

What are you thankful for today? Come on - you know there's something to be thankful for!! :-)

~Rachel

14 April 2012

One Day to Celebrate One Year

At the end of March, André came down to Canberra for a weekend visit. Not only so that we could see each other, but specifically to have a little celebration of being together for one year :-)

We went for a really long hike up Mount Majura, which is just behind the YWAM base. It was SO lovely to be in the outdoors for over 6 hours that day! The weather was perfect - the sun was shining, yet it wasn't too hot; not windy... Praise the Lord for the glorious day! And for this man to spend it with ;-)