Scraps and Snippets ~ Fudge Fondue ~

Fudge Fondue

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 cup chocolate chips

2 TBSP flour

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 TBSP non-dairy milk

Place ingredients in a small warmer crockpot or low setting on a fondue pot, stir until combined and all chocolate is melted. Spoon fondue over the dippers. Dipping the items into the pot will leave residue so drizzling over their dippers is recommended.

Dipper ideas: strawberries, graham crackers/cookies, vanilla or mini chocolate chip cookies, mini oreos, strawberries, fresh pineapple chunks, grapes, pretzels, mango slices, dried fruit, marshmallows, banana chunks, apple or pear slices.  You can also use this as hot fudge for ice cream.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Buffalo Dip or Sandwich Spread ~

This dip was a hit at a potluck. Even with the most meat-loving, anti-Vegan men in the group. Got two thumbs up. And there wasn't much left.

Buffalo Dip or Sandwich Spread

Makes approx 4 cups.

2/3 cup unflavored, unsweetened soy yogurt 
2/3 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce or your favorite buffalo or hot sauce.
1/4 teaspoon ground celery seed
3/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon (heaping) ground black pepper
2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro (or additional 2 TBSP finely diced onions)
2 Cans rinsed and drained garbanzo beans (approx 3 1/3 cups)
1 cup finely diced celery
1 TBSP finely diced onion or 1/2 TBSP dehydrated onions


Pita rounds, cocktail, Italian or French bread, tortilla chips or celery for dipping or sandwich making.

Directions:

Put drained garbanzo beans in bowl and crush with a fork. Mix in all additional ingredients. Serve with celery sticks, chips, tortillas, pretzels, bread of choice.

QuitCHIR # Open the Door...

I snapped this picture when touring a local, historic jail.

And it occurs to me that our lives are a lot like this wall in the jail cell.

We write our version of our story on top of the circumstances that have placed the walls in the first place.

And then many of us continue to be imprisoned by the story, the walls, and the bars.

But, the jail I visited was open to come and go. It would have been a little crazy for me to close the door, sit down on the metal bunk and claim my place in that cell. 

Because the words written on that wall aren't my life, my story to tell. Nor are the words that I've written on my own walls complete truth. We are not stuck in the cell, and with that story, those words, unless we don't do anything about it. 

Choose to live. All aspects of living. Reclaim, Rewrite. Live. 


So. I wrote new words. 

QuitCHIR # 24 Through and Through

True? 

Through shows what was hiding behind the scary obstacle. 

Through shows us landscape we've never encountered.

Through shows us what we are made of.

Through teaches.

Through shows us who's really with us on our journey through life. 

Through changes us, grows us, and challenges us. 

Yes.

QuitCHIR #23 I Will Tomorrow...

 The quote is buried in the trees, as in can't see the forest for the trees. 

So here it is because it's a thought provoking one. 

Isn't it?

" Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day saying, 
'I will try again tomorrow.'"

Sometimes, it takes courage to just get out of bed and stand to face the day.

Sometimes, courage is opening that door and going back into that place that shreds your bravery, tests your boundaries and causes you to break out in a sweat.

Sometimes, courage is ending the battle you've been waging when the battle costs too much to continue. 

Many times, it is falling to your knees and giving the control of your life to God, and accepting His love and guidance. 

Courage has many faces and they all come with a price tag.

God tells His people to take courage and fear not many times throughout His Word. Is that because He knows how prone we are to losing hope? 

One of the most valuable discoveries I made about courage was during a Bible study. If God tells us to have courage, hang on, fear not...and He tells us to ENcourage each other (building up courage), then what is the opposite of encouragement? Discouragement. Which is the taking away of courage. And who's goal is to steal, (take away) kill and destroy? 

Is there a quiet courage whispering that the time to do the very scary thing right in front of you is now? 

QuitCHIR Winding Down....

#21 QuitCHIR ~ Seeing through

This quest for less negativity. Indeed a journey. 

Some days are better than others for me. 

 Lately, I've been challenged to see things from another person's point of view. And God's is a really good point of view to start with. If God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die for any person who would be believe in Him, well, I think I need to acknowledge that each of those people is valuable to Him. Even the ones who drive me batty.

The other day a friend mentioned something that's hung around my mind for awhile. She said that if we are each created in God's image, then the basic human personality types are part of who God is. 

Hmmmm. So if a melancholy is a deep thinker, creative and artistic, God has those qualities. A phlegmatic is laid back and dependable, yep, God has those qualities. A choleric is detail driven, God is a God of exquisite detail. And the sanguine. The dreamer. God dreams the best dreams, doesn't He? 

Our personalities are tainted by sin, selfishness and circumstances. God's attributes are pure and motivated by love. He is light without shifting shadows. At the deepest core of who we are, we are created in the image of God, and He loves each of us.