Banana Berry Trifle : Guilt Free, Gluten/Grain Free, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free

 

“All my life I live to follow

You alone as you change my desires

Liberated by the blood of Jesus

I’ve found life in the sweetness of freedom”

 

Tonight, as I stood in my kitchen, slicing strawberries for a yummy fruity dessert, I listened to this Citizen’s song, Sweetness Of Freedom. It made me think about how sweet our freedom in Christ really is.

 

I am so far from perfect. I sin every day. I sin thousands of times a day. It may be in an act, it may be in a thought or even in the absence of some sort of action. I usually don’t even realize when I’m doing it. Sometimes, I don’t even realize when I’ve already done it.

 

Sin can be tricky. What exactly is sin? When you Google sin, this is what you get: An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. What constitutes an immoral act? What exactly is divine law? Divine Law is defined as a law that is believed to come directly from God. So I’m thinking 10 commandments. The 10 Commandments are laws that come directly from God. If we can follow all of the 10 commandments we can be free from sin? Don’t steal, don’t lie and don’t cheat on your spouse. That shouldn’t be too hard, at least you wouldn't think so.

 

So, with an easy set of rules, how do I find myself sinning all the time? There are too many answers to that question to put into one blog post. I can start with the first commandment and I’m already done before breakfast. “You shall have no other God’s before me.” Every morning, when I step on the scale, and I let it define the start of my day, I make my body image a god. I make that number a god. If I’m up a pound, I messed up and it’s going to be a bad day, if I’m down a pound, I feel proud and good all morning. The correct way to start my day would be to ditch the scale and start with a prayer, asking God to define my day; asking God to give me a great day. But generally, I turn to the scale to give me a good day. How do you know if you are making something a God? What pulls your focus from God? What do you esteem higher than God? It could be your job or your spouse; it could even be your kids. These are all good and important things. If you make God your God, he will help you to love and serve all of these better than you could without him.

 

That is one example of one of my common sins. It’s not something I purposely do; it’s just the direction my heart tends to follow. My heart is selfish and I will always, without the help of God, work to glorify myself.

 

You may be wondering how I can find my sin sweet. My sin is not sweet. My sin is pretty awful. Where I find the sweetness is in Jesus. Jesus took my heart and changed it. He took my desires and gave me his desires. I don’t have to feel defeated because of my sin because Jesus defeated my sin. He paid for all of the sins I have ever committed. He paid for all of the sins I have yet to commit. What do I have to give for this sweet freedom? Nothing!! All I have to do is believe and trust him. He does all of the work. I don’t try not to sin because I am afraid of going to Hell or that I fear I will make God mad at me. I try not to sin because Jesus changed my heart and made me not want to sin. I try to not sin because I love Jesus and want to do things that make him happy. I’m kind of like my two year old that way. When he does something we like, he tries to do it over and over because he likes making us happy with him; because he loves us. That's pretty sweet!! What is sweeter is that we love him whether he does things to please us or not. Our love is unconditional, as God’s love for us is unconditional. We are his adopted children and he loves us, even though we sin thousands of times a day!!

 

Speaking of sweetness, here is the recipe for the so very yummy and sweet Banana Berry Trifle I was working on when listening to this song. It is gluten/grain free, dairy free and refined sugar free!! And completely Guilt Free!!

 

Banana Berry Trifle

Here’s what you need:

·         1 or 2 Cans of Full Fat Coconut Milk (refrigerated overnight)

·         2 Lbs. of Strawberries (give or take, it depends on how many layers and how thick you layer them)

·         5 Bananas (give or take a banana, I had extra and froze them for future banana/peanut butter ice cream)

·         About ¼ cup of Real Maple Syrup (check the label for any other ingredients, there shouldn’t be any)

·         About 2 tsp. of Cinnamon (to taste)

·         About 1 tsp. of Nutmeg(to taste)

·         Extra Berries for Topping (I had blueberries and raspberries)

·         Glass bowl or Large Glass Measuring Bowl or a Trifle Bowl (something glass and deep)

 

 

 

1.      Core and slice the strawberries. I use an egg slicer to do the slicing. This makes the strawberries a uniform size and takes a tenth of the time. Set the bowl of strawberries aside.

2.      Peel and slice the bananas, set aside.

3.      Remove thick fatty portion of Coconut milk. I strain mine. Save and refrigerate the thin portion for something else. I have been using the leftover milk for a DIY all natural shampoo I’m working on. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

4.      Whip the coconut cream with a mixer until it starts to form peaks, like whipped cream. I use my stand mixer but I’m sure you can use a hand mixer.

5.      Add Maple Syrup, preferably while still mixing the cream. This could take a little more or a little less, depending on how sweet you want it. Keep in mind the strawberries and bananas are already pretty sweet, so a little does a lot.

6.      Add cinnamon and nutmeg while still mixing. As with the syrup, I do this to taste, too, measurments aren't exact.

7.      Mix until you get medium peaks. I have never got this cream to make stiff peaks, but it will make medium peaks. It’s done if it stands up when you lift the mixer out of the cream.

8.      Put Cream in the freezer and continue to do this between layers. (You may not need to do this if your house is pretty cool, it was upwards of 90 degrees here)

I filled in bananas after the picture!!

9.      Layer the bottom of the glass bowl with strawberries. I try to make my strawberry layer somewhat thick so you can see the layers through the cream. Start with strawberries, not bananas, because the bananas change color after being out of the peel too long.

10.  Layer the bananas then cover with cream.

11.  Repeat the layering process until you are out of strawberries, bananas or cream, or until you run out of room in your bowl.

12.  Top with whatever berries you have on hand. Do not top with bananas. I also usually make the top cream layer a little thicker than the other layers.

Put in the freezer until ready to serve.

These measurements are what I used to make this in my trifle bowl, which is a fairly large size. If making for yourself or your family only, you can make this much smaller with only half of the ingredients.

 

Leftovers are wonderful for breakfast!!!

 

I hope you enjoy the sweetness of this dessert and the sweetness of Christ!!

May Your Joy Be Full,

Rachel

 

 

                                        





                 

Sweetness of Freedom

By the Citizens

Verse 1

Within my heart’s a rebellious side

Conflicting with the Spirit’s desire

To keep my heart in step with you

So I do not do what I want to do

Verse 2

Only you have the power to break

Every chain I placed around my neck

I heard your call from the pit of death

To surrender all and nothing less

Verse 3

Through the Spirit I have righteousness

Sweet victory over the flesh

I can walk with confidence in you

As you gratify my soul with truth

Chorus

All my life I live to follow

You alone as you change my desires

Liberated by the blood of Jesus

I’ve found life in the sweetness of freedom

 

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How I Washed My Pillows With Homemade Bleach

I feel like I haven’t written a post in a very long time!! Now that my energy is up, at least for now, I’m trying to get more accomplished around my house. I love writing this blog, but in order to tell you how I try and glorify God by serving my family, I have to make my family my priority. So this week, I have been scrubbing and dubbing my apartment (It’s a really large apartment). I’m preparing to move in a couple of months and the cleaner it is now, the easier it will be when we move out.

Lately, I’ve seen several pins on Pinterest about washing pillows. Really, I didn’t even know I was supposed to wash pillows. Well, these pins caused me to look at my uncased pillows. They definitely needed cleaning. I think one of our pillows actually came from my husband’s barracks room from 15 years ago (it was stuffed in the guest room closet).

I decided it was time to wash my pillows. Some of them had come back from a recent camping trip and were in desperate need of washing, some of them were just old.

So to Pinterest I went. I found several post on washing pillows, but I wasn’t really sure I wanted to do it as most suggested. One post seemed great, but would require making a detergent that used laundry soap, borax and dishwasher detergent. That seems like a lot of materials and time. Other articles suggested using chlorine bleach. I don’t even have chlorine bleach in my house. So I decided to wash my pillows using my own homemade laundry detergent (I will share in a future post, I’m still working on making it more green) and my homemade bleach alternative.

After a little research, I learned that bleach can be controversial. Some people love it, some people despise it. I could not find a real valid reason why we shouldn’t use bleach. Personally, I don’t like the smell and I don’t want my son exposed to it any more than necessary. I also have an issue with getting it on my cloths every single time I wash a load of whites. I have ruined so many shirts and my favorite (Lucky Brand) sweat pants. My homemade bleach works really well; it is inexpensive and does not damage my clothes. I can wash my son’s multicolored/white t-shirts and not fade the colors. I also don’t have to worry about chemical reactions from mixing it with other chemicals.

·         One gallon jug (empty, I used an old vinegar jug)

·         1 cup of peroxide

·         1 cup of vinegar or lemon juice

·         Water

·         Lemon essential oil (optional)

Mix peroxide and vinegar in jug. Add water to fill. Add about 10 drops of essential oil.

This mixture will last up to a month in a regular, semi clear bottle. If you put it in a dark bottle, like the kind peroxide comes in, it will last three months. Peroxide turns to water after prolonged exposure to light. I spray painted a couple of old vinegar bottles black and covered with a little mod podge (it’s what I had on hand) to keep it from scratching off. You can make it cute or just functional, it’s up to you!!

As for the pillows, I put them in the washing machine on a normal cycle, with hot water. My washing machine has a soak option, so I let them soak in the washing machine for 30 minutes before the wash cycle started. You could easily do that by not starting the machine for 30 minutes if your machine doesn’t have that option.

Before: Nasty Camping pillow

 I used laundry soap and about 1 cup of my bleach alternative.

I washed two at a time, one on each side of washing tub to even the load.

After!! Clean, white pillow!! 

When the cycle was done, I used two dryer balls in the dryer with them to fluff them back up. You can also use tennis balls to do this.

I only lost two pillows (obviously very cheap pillows) and have more than 10 clean-like new pillows.

I feel so much better knowing my family is laying their heads on clean, like new pillows. And my husband is happy to have his old pillow back!! I don’t think he will get too much more time out of it, but I’m glad he’s happy and sleeping better for now.

The top pillow is a in a white pillow case to compare

         

May Your Joy Be Full,

Rachel

24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 3:24 (ESV)

 

 

 

 

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14 Years and Finally Going Strong

Almost fifteen years ago I met a boy. I knew right away that this boy was different than the other boys. He dressed a little different, and didn’t really care what anyone thought of him. The chains on his wallet weighed more than a small child. He also had more tattoos than anyone I had ever met in person.

This boy seemed hard and distant to those who didn’t know him, but warmed up quickly after spending a little time with him. The first time we hung out, he told me repeatedly how much Jesus loves us. As we sat in his barracks room, drinking Miller Highlife and wine coolers, he introduced me to MXPX and the Dropkick Murphy’s. I remember thinking to myself, “maybe I should listen to my Mom for once and date a Christian.” I was a Christian, but my relationship with God was at best strained. I didn’t like people to tell me what to do, and that included God.

Fourteen years ago, today, August 2, I married that boy. I would love to say that we loved each other well for the last fourteen years, but that would be untruthful. We did love each other, probably the best we could at that time, but it wasn’t a lasting love. We both needed to learn to love better. Many years and many mistakes went by, while neither of us kept a real relationship with God. It seems year after year, we got further and further from him, making us drift further and further from each other. If we hadn’t been so complacent and lazy, we would have probably divorced somewhere around year seven.

We tried going to church several times in our early marriage, but got discouraged because we felt people judged us because of our tattoos or the way we dressed. Somewhere around our tenth year of marriage, my coworker and friend made me listen to his pastor on our lunch break. It was a sermon about humor in a series called Religion Saves and Nine other Misconceptions. The sermon was really funny and interesting. That night, I played it back to my husband. He was impressed and started listening to this Pastor’s sermons online. A few months later, we made the trip into Seattle to see this church for ourselves. The next week, we went to our most local service and kept going for several years until we moved out of state. This was not a church that judged people, it was a church that loved and taught people.

For the next year, God used this Preacher and Church to break us. Week after week it felt as though every sermon was specifically for us in our own way. By the end of our first year, we both had repented a lot to God and each other. We had not loved each other well. The problems in our marriage wasn’t his fault or my fault, they were our fault.

It took a lot of repentance and forgiveness, but God healed our marriage. I love my husband more now than I ever thought possible. God changed us, and is still changing us. He is teaching us to love like he does. Until we learned his love, we couldn’t love. I put my husband on a pedestal. Most people would say that is very loving, but they would be wrong. It is not love to hold someone to a standard that they cannot possibly live up to. To love him well means to love him with his imperfections and accept that he will disappoint me sometimes. Then I have to be ready to forgive him. To love him well means to realize I am not always right and may need to apologize sometimes. To love my husband well means to respect him. He is the head of our household. God put him in that position and who am I to argue with God? Does it mean I am his servant? Absolutely not!! But I am his helper, and I’m really good at helping. I also get real joy from taking care of my family.

Is my husband perfect? Nope! But he’s perfect for me!!

My husband is a strong and loving leader. He loves God and loves his family. He is generous and a really hard worker. He supports his family with everything he has. He is a wonderful father and a hero to our little boy. I could not imagine spending any part of my life without him. Outside of my salvation through Jesus Christ, my husband is my greatest blessing!! I thank God for giving me my husband and for making my marriage what it is today. I thank my husband for trying to love us like Jesus loves the church. I thank him for leading and supporting our family well. I thank him for loving us well. I can say with a confident heart, though not always perfect, my marriage has exceeded any expectation I may have ever had!!!

May Your Joy Be Full,

Rachel

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Colossians 3:18,19

 

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