GUILT FREE pizza & 50 calorie muffins!...

I am so happy with these little pizzas that I have to share what I did.

I am one of those eaters who wants to LIKE what I eat, and that is half the battle when weight loss or maintenance is a factor. I LOVE good food, and if it's healthy and low calorie, bring it on!

The other goal is to have the sense of feeling full, not hungry. These pizza's make you feel full and satisfied!

These pizzas were probably someone else's idea, but I have added my own twist, and here's what I did. There is very little fat, and it's full of veggies, which I tend to ignore sometimes, as well as very low calorie...

one pkg. of whole wheat pita breads
bottled spagetti sauce

add as much or little of whatever you like the best of these ingredients:

fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
can of artichoke hearts, chopped
purple onion sliced very thin
mushrooms, also sliced thin
zuccini sliced thin
red & green bell peppers, thin
or any other veggie you like, asparagus, broccoli, etc.
(if you like it better stir fried, toss all the slices into a pan with pam and saute them a couple of minutes first)

add sprinkles of bottled red pepper flakes

(My hubby likes sliced black olives so I added some of those too)

fresh grated parmesan cheese sprinkled lightly over the top of the whole thing. (bottled is fine too)

If you want the extra protein, I add browned Laura's Lean Ground beef sprinkles over the top, or pre-cooked chicken cut into pieces, Both are delicious additions. (add the calories accordingly, but it's protein, so it's good!)

Bake on cookie sheet at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

Slice each pizza into 4, and you can have 2 whole pizzas for about 400 calories!! Or just one with some soup or fruit. Now THIS is the way to eat when you want to be both leaner and healthier!

It's crispy and just perfect! Each pita is 150 calories, (check the cal. on the pkg., they can varie) the only additional is the small amount of sauce and the parm. sprinkles... I never even count the veggies. I am always on the hunt for healthy, filling, very low fat and calories but also delicous things to eat. This one is perfect!

This is a recipe that my mother made all through the years.

It is LOADED with health, and it tastes declicious. I make the little muffins, 24 makes one recipe, or 12 regular. Regular works out to about 50 calories each, or 2 little ones for 50 calories. I have 2 little ones for breakfast.

God is interested in the 'whole man', and that includes what I eat, not to mention how MUCH of it I eat. I know that eating right makes me happier, healthier and more confident. Good grief! I sound like one of those rah rah people who 'preach' fitness. If you knew my track record with 'this issue', you would be laughing out loud with me right now!

SIDE NOTE: My husband does NOT like bran ("shredded hay"... OR raisins, but he asks for these muffins all the time! :)

Try these, and let me know if you like them.

Amazing!...

Amazing grace.

This morning I was thinking of how God extends His grace to me, over and over. Yes, His discipline comes my way too sometimes, but even that is part of His grace.

All through each day, God does things that I barely take time to stop and ponder. A close call with another car who turned too soon, a bargain we need at the store, or the right little thing to do for another person who may need to hear from us, or someone sent our way to say just the right word, and on and on...

When we truly trust our whole lives to His care... ALL that happens to us is known by God.

When we were kids, I used to ask my mom & dad... 'how do you KNOW that God had something to do with that??'.. their answer was always the same.

"When you trust your whole life to God... He is in ALL of it."

I'm not sure I really 'got that' as a child... I sure do now!

It never gets old, does it... the knowledge that our lives are held secure because of God's Amazing Grace!

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

When I look over the titles of past blogs I've written, they are all over the ballpark!

This one is no exception.

Isn't life like that? I can be caught up in a deep new spiritual truth in the morning, and know that God is specifically speaking to my heart... and by the afternoon I am caught up in the traffic on the main street close to where I live, and wondering how the guy who just cut in front of me could be so rude as to force his way into our line of cars who have been patiently waiting for a long time. I don't do it, but I FEEL like honking my horn and telling him how rude he was!

I am thankful every day for the grace of God!

I need His grace, about 100 times every day. I'm so glad that since I am created by God, He cared enough to include many facets into each one of us. I am serious, hilarious, spiritual, ridiculous, emotional, sensitive, creative, hopeful, etc. I am, most of the time, content with a life that holds lots of laughter, as well as tears, joy and happiness as well as sadness.

One of the special things He designed into us is humor...

Today is just plain for fun, and maybe you can relate to this time in your own life, even though it's been awhile...

Questions on pregnancy and child birth...

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q : What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q?: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.


(photo is courtesy of Google)

Revival??...

Revival and prayer.... prayer and revival...

Those were the 2 things that filled my dad's heart and ministry all through his life. These are some of his books on the subjects.

Prayer is something I live every day, and so do you. We think prayer, we speak prayer, we pray as we think, our hearts constantly voice our needs, thanks and requests. We keep a running conversation with God through our days.

Revival is a word we don't use as much.

What does it mean, and do we need it?

I'm not the one to write on this subject, but my dad sure was, and through the years I saw his heart and I also can't ignore his vision.

I'm talking about the kind of revival that isn't necessarily scheduled for a week in our local church. I'm talking about the kind of revival that draws the hearts of believers back to their first love, to go deeper with God. I wrote about it here, when my mother became a christian in one of the great Norway revivals, where she was born.

As I look back on dad's life... I see so many things now that I probably missed along the way. He LIVED prayer, and he prayed his whole life for churches to be revived, for christians to experience revival in their own lives. Revival as in renewal, renewal of all that we first were so smitten with when we trusted Jesus way back when, and knew that our lives were never going to be the same.

Dad saw that need, all through his life... the need to stay open, obedient and pure before God. .. I see it now.

So many churches today are good, many even great... good sermons, wonderful worship and music, even lots of mega churches, and then what??

I may be stepping on some toes here, but I seldom see the kind of soul stirring 'fire in the heart' desire for more of God, and I sadly confess, it's been true of me too. I WANT that, but my pursuit of God has been too soft and often irregular.

Revival means a deepening and new insight and nearness of the Lord. A desire for more of Him. A new commitment to obedience no matter what. It's costly.

A couple of quotes from one of dad's books:

Conviction of sin is the hallmark of genuine revival, and the lack of both shows how needy we are...

When christians repent, sinners will repent...

Non- christians will deal with their sins according to the way christians first deal with theirs...

The church must be concerned for the world if the world is to be concerned for the church...

When christians walk in the light they have, sinners will see the light in and through them...

I wish my dad could hear my heart today, and maybe he can... I get it dad.

God has told us ...

"You will search for me and you will find me, when you search with your whole heart"... and

"If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from heaven and will forigive their sins, and will heal their land."

I pray for revival, and I pray that it begins in my own heart.

What does your hair say about you??...

If my daughter is reading this, she is already laughing.

I don't change hairstyles.

Years ago it was a shorter 'bubble', now it's a longer style, not a bubble, but not what a modern hair stylist would endorse either. What it really is NOT, is this picture I've posted from Pinterest. That hair exists only in my dreams.

I don't have that swingy casual beautiful blonde hair that I always dreamed about. I still stop in my tracks when I see it on someone else. I love shiny, thick, swingy blonde hair (or any color that does all that, blonde just happens to be what I was born with).

No, my hair has NO style, UNLESS I get it right when I comb or brush it out, and then cover the whole thing with a strong protective 'helmet' of hairspray to make sure it doesn't move.

I'm sure those ladies with the swingy hair do NOT use hair spray! If they did, their hair just would not swing like it does when they shake their heads!

The truth is, without hair spray... I don't have a hairdo! It falls and it goes flat and just lays there. I am not a good straight haired person. I wish I were. I use those huge Wal Mart rollers, pink and green ones, and my hubby has faithfully endured that all these years.

In California where I grew up, it was better... the climate was dry. In Texas, no way on earth can I leave the house without my shield of spray. Now, here is an interesting thing. I have gotten comments in the store about how pretty my hair is... WHEN I have sprayed it thoroughly INTO that style. When I HAVEN'T... I get looks of sympathy and maybe even horror!

Moral of this story... the picture you see on my sidebar is not likely to ever look very different. Hairspray saves the day! As to the blond color... another blog entirely!

One more thing... my daughter has stick straight long hair, and it swings! Go figure.

Godly heroes...

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to go to a christian boarding school in Zellwood, Florida. My dad was a minister, and this school was loaded with PK's and MK's. One of the MK's (missionary kids) was the younger brother of Elisabeth Elliot.

Jim & Elisabeth Elliott and 4 other missionary families had flown into the remote area of Ecuador where the Auca Indians lived, and there they began to live among the indians and share their faith in Jesus with these natives.

During that school year, Elisabeth's husband, Jim Elliott, and the other 4 other missionaries were murdered by some of the Auca's. I remember clearly the day we all got that news during a chapel service.

This is a round about memory, so bear with me...

Fast forward from those days, to a Billy Graham World Congress on Evangelism, Amsterdam 2000, which my dad was a part of.

The story that still gives me goose bumps, is dad coming home and sharing with us the most memorable thing of that conference... the riveting testimonies from 2 of those Auca Indians whose spears had murdered the 5 missionaries years earlier. They stood and told their stories, their hearts and voices full of emotion, as they shared how their lives were completely changed, because of Jesus. Dad said it was utterly amazing...there was not a dry eye among those 1000's of ministers and leaders in the audience that day.

Some of the wives & families of the men who were killed, Elisabeth Elliott, Rachel Saint, and others, had returned to that land after their deaths, to continue to minister to the Auca's. They saw God's life changing power transform many of them, including these 2 who stood and emotionally told their stories, and gave praise to God with the story that never gets old... the story of redemption!

Doesn't it build your faith when you read about the testimonies of how God has intervened and changed lives and made the old new... just like He's done for us.

You've probably read their story, and seen some of the movies on their lives. Still... in this day and age when we elevate people to hero status over so little, I love to read and re-read the stories of those who really lived what they claimed, and were willing to die for their faith, as Jim Elliott said...

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

I accidentally murdered some fish...

If you're looking for something deep, today's blog is NOT for you.

When we were moving, many years ago... I emptied the kids aquarium, fish and all, into a dark green glass pitcher sitting with about 100 other kitchen items, next to the sink.

As the move drew closer, and all the rest of the kitchen stuff needed to be boxed... Into the garbage disposal went the 'water' in the dark green pitcher... and the fish.

As I turned on the disposal, it dawned on me!!!! I shrieked and called my hubby to come quick...

It was too late!

That was more than 30 years ago, and not once, when the subject comes up, has he failed to grin and remind me that he thought he heard the fish 'screaming as they went into the sink'... I'm not sure what it is, but his 'funny gene' seems to get a kick out of that story. Is it just men??

Before you shake your head and wag your finger at me... it's with a certain amount of relief that I also remember this verse....

"You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. Matt. 5:21(Msg)

Now I'm smiling... as I am reminded that none of us are exempt, from either calculated or accidental deeds.

Just a fleeting memory... about as fleeting as the lives of those poor little fish.

Why do I pray?...

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God - it changes me. " C.S.Lewis.

We pray because we HAVE to pray, we pray about everything... our needs are immediate, ongoing and constant. As he said, waking and sleeping. (It's for sure, mine seem to be that way!)

The part of that quote I love the most is the last sentence..."It doesn't change God - it changes me."

And that is the whole point!

Prayer CHANGES things. GOD changes things.

There is always hope, because He hears every prayer and because He changes things, lives, circumstances, outcomes, past pain, attitudes... all of it!

When I really understand that, clear down to my toes, it makes my prayers so much more alive, and with such hope that all of it is beyond me ... but NONE of it is beyond God!

What a strong way to begin another week. knowing that God hears every prayer, and that He is at work on the prayers of our hearts!...

From my treasure box...

Once in awhile I get out one of my 'past treasures' boxes or bins, and I get a brand new blessing out of the original blessing that came my way.

This was today's... sent to me from my daughter a while back.

When our 3 kids were little, it was the hope and prayer of my heart that as they grew up and became adults, that our relationship would be the kind that would bless and encourage them as they married and became parents themselves.

This card reminds me that so many of those prayers have been answered. We are so blessed by our 3 children, and we share a friendship with them that enriches us every day. They are definitely the 3 jewels in our earthly crowns (if there is such a thing!)... Not to mention the 6 tiny jewels that have also been added with our grandkids. :)

Do you think women are hard to understand??...

The title of this picture is:

"Now Out in Paperback, a Book on How To Understand Women"...

Really though, are we that hard to understand??

Maybe so, since my husband's first response was a good chuckle. Was he agreeing??

I don't think we are that hard to understand...

Even when I don't know what I'm talking about, I understand what I'm trying to say!

I especially understand other women... we tend to think alike. It's one of the best reasons to spend time with our friends, there is a fellowship we share with each other that blesses, challenges, and sharpens us!

I share with so many of you a true heart connection. I've said it before... even if we never meet face to face in this life, I am so sure that we will recognize each other in heaven!

'Oh look... there's Debbie from Heart Choices, or Kathleen from Sassy Granny, or Janette from Janette's Sage, and I see Lea from My Letters to Emily, and Lisa Shaw with that big smile on her face from way across the room, Sharon my old pal from Westmont, Elaine from Peace for the Journey, Debbie from Words on Wheels, Kim from My Field of Dreams, Andrea, Lidia, and my good sister from Norway, Felisol, my first blog friend, Andrea, Shirley, Beth, Mary, Melanie, Cindy, Debby, Debra, JBR, Marsha, Anita ... and I could go on and on. If I left your name out, forgive me...

All of you and more, I think you know who you are, since I comment on your pages every week, and you encourage and challenge me over and over. You have made me laugh out loud, and brought me to tears with your sharing...

Each one of you whose blogs I faithfully read have become my friends! I feel that way, don't you??

Even though we know there won't be marriages in heaven... my mom used to say that 'maybe God would reserve a tiny section in heaven for she and dad', since he had traveled and preached away from home so much during their lifetime...

Maybe there will also be a section for blogging buddies whose hearts have been so connected through our words and expressions on the pages of these blogs!

Again, I have no theological backing for this, but on the other hand...