Homemade Hummus

Ahhh I forgot how much I love spending the evening in the kitchen! I baked some pie pumpkins to make pumpkin pie for the future (freezers work miracles), made raspberry pretzel jello for our neighbor (long story) and hummus! If you do not know, I am a student, a nursing student to be exact. I'm not exactly made of money, so this is a "frugal" approach to enjoying hummus (which can be quite expensive!) All props go to Moneysavingmom.com where I found this recipe!

http://allrecipes.com/Cook/11694711/Photo.aspx?photoID=471245

Homemade Hummus

Price Per Serving: $0.05 (1/4 cup)
Recipe Yield: 1 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (about 3/4 cup dry) — see cooking notes below
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine all of the ingredients other than the water into a quality food processor or blender and let it do its thing.
2. Add some water 1/4 cup at a time and continue blending, scraping down the sides occasionally if needed. You can add more or less water than suggested, depending on your desired consistency.
3. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTES: 

To cook dried chickpeas, first soak them over night in cold water. Then, bring the soaked chickpeas to a boil in plenty of water and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours until tender. Leave the lid of the pot tilted slightly to allow some of the steam to escape. If you’d rather, you can cook them in a slow cooker instead.

If you’d rather just use canned chickpeas (already cooked), just realize that you’ll probably be paying more like $0.12 to $0.15 per serving instead.

 http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/09/easy-homemade-hummus.html

Healthy, yummy, simple. :)  Enjoy your week!

Date-less Distress (For All the Single Ladies and Guys)

To be single.
For some, that is a distressing thought. For many I have met, to be single means to be missing something (namely, their "second half"). Everyday I see young men and women in this world searching for a soul mate. They desire to undergo the transition from single to pair, and they want it NOW!
I believe we as humans are fashioned beautifully. God has made us as creatures who desire a significant other. We dream of that one person who will complete our soul by fitting their heart perfectly into the ragged edges of our heart. It is not good for man or woman to be alone.
So then the question comes to timing.
What if it is not our time to be searching for our other half? What if there lays a treasure before us, waiting to be opened? The treasure of singleness is not made to be ignored, pushed aside or treated with contempt. In it we can find the gold of time, the gem of ministry, the sapphire of serving and the crown of intimacy with Christ.
Careful, lest we look past this treasure and gaze too much into the horizon. That other treasure will be given to us at the right time.

So I do not know about you, but I'm taking hold of the treasure before me. When Uncle Fedya calls and instead of engaging in small talk (like normal people), asks if I am engaged; or when someone asks if I have a boyfriend, I will not be discouraged in my singleness!
Let the haters hate and the babas gossip, I'm single and content where I am in this season of life. How about you?

http://pinterest.com/pin/75787206199373347/

-Diana, 19, date-less and not in distress.

     

Southern Peach Cobbler

 

A delicious cobbler that intensifies in taste when eating and speaking in a southern accent. 

Anyway, you can add any kind of fruit into this cobbler... I imagine blueberry would be simply the bomba!

Ingredients

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
•  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water
•  
• MIX TOGETHER:
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes. 

Thank you Allrecipies.com! This website app on my phone always lets me search the best rated recipes according to what I have on hand. Very helpful. Click HERE for the link to the site.

Cell Group Meeting

    
     In our cell group we are currently reading and discussing the book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris. Frankly, we are having an incredible time growing together and learning about purity. This book is not only about dating, it describes a way of Christ centered love for ALL relationships. Here is an excerpt of what we read yesterday.

     "I fear that God might forget me. Instead of trusting in His perfect timing, I often try to take things into my own hands. I grab my life's calender from God and frantically begin to pencil in my own plans and agendas. 'God I know your omnipotent and all that,' I say... Eventually I sheepishly hand back the scheduling of my time, energy and attention, saying, 'Of course I trust You, Lord, but I just think You could use a little help.'"

     "Do you believe that God knows best? Then place your life's calendar at His feet and allow Him to handle the scheduling of your relationships. Trust Him even if it means not dating when other people think you should. When God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances."

     "'For I know the plans I have for you,' God says, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' (Jer 29:11). Let's live our todays for His kingdom and entrust our tomorrows to His providence."

     "We couldn't lay our futures in better hands. All we have to do is trust."

Presenting Self to God

While The World Watched (Kindle Edition)

 

Get this book for free on your kindle/kindle app on smart phone/computer by going on this link:

http://www.amazon.com/While-the-World-Watched-ebook/dp/B004JZYB20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347234382&sr=8-1&keywords=while+the+world+watched 

(it should say the price is $0.00, if not, then the deal is over)

 "Not many young people can pinpoint the exact date, time, and place they grew up and became an adult. I can. It was September 15, 1963, 10:22 a.m., at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama."

While the World Watched by Carolyn Maull McKinstry (with Denise George) is a moving memoir of horror and forgiveness. What struck me almost every page is that this happened less than 50 years ago. The title kept being played in my head with the question, "How could the world simply let this happen?"

The book details the accounts of the murders of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley who died when Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed. More than that though, it details the struggles of of the civil rights movement through the eyes of the author. It is simply an amazing account of two wars. One, the fight for equality for Black America, and two, the fight for meaning in the heart of a young girl who was forever changed in a moment.

I have to admit that I did not think I would enjoy this book. I assumed it would be of the "all whites are evil" variety. It was nothing of the sort. There was horror, but there was also hope. There was tragedy, but there was also triumph. There was hatred, but it was not ultimately returned - there was forgiveness.

As I finished, the same question continues to haunt me, "How could this happen?" And yet tragedy continues to flourish and the world still remains silent.

(Amazon Review)

I cried because this horror took place just 50 years ago. The depth of hatred is portrayed in such a real way. I really recommend this book, it is a thought provoking read! (And it's free

The Adventures of Dee in Nursing School

Do you not love that feeling of fresh ball point pens and highlighters? The feel of opening that new pack of index cards?! I DO! The next two years are going to be rough, but as long as I find joy in the little things, I'll get through it. Today was our first "clinical", not yet in the hospital (we have no idea what we are doing). We had time to practice basic skills such as checking and listening for pulse, blood pressure, checking temperatures and donning sterile gloves. I was serious when I said we are clueless. I will always remember the moment when the poor lady got the poor thermometer probe stuck in the rectum of the poor dummy hiney. Hey, last I heard, apparently you learn from mistakes. So better make mistakes now and not get probes stuck in people's hineys later.

PS: I'm having so much fun :)

He Simply Wants Us.

I'm really having trouble writing a caption for this. Let's just think about this truth, saturate our souls in it.
I once caught myself praying "Lord, help me surrender this part of my life to You." But if this prayer is studied, there is a visible mistake. I don't need to surrender a part of my life to Him. I need to surrender my entire life to Him. He wants US.  

Back to School

Today was my first day back at college, and after an amazing summer... going back to school feels almost normal. Schedules, books, parking and sitting next to Dasha in biology lectures, I'm used to that kind of stuff. As we were in the hallway we discussed how this summer was like a dream, and now it is time to get back to reality.
Anyway in my lovely community college, the first semester always has a plethora of new students arriving. Which means NO parking spaces. Good thing that I don't mind walking. But then, God decided to let it rain. In fact, He let it pour. So I had to run outside to my insanely far parked car in the rain. It reminded me of running in the rain in Buryatia with Mia.Only she was not there with me :( So I ran with a smile and laugh, making the most of it.
I hope who ever is back in school has a blessed semester. Now I'm just anxious for my first nursing class. Let the studying, running around, lab, lecture, conference, number two pencil days begin again!