Bettering ourselves and homemade mushroom soup

I was just listening to Joel Osteen as I was also baking a cake.It is 10:30 at night and I am still finishing up.This has been a long day.I have been on my feet so much I decided to skip my exercises,but I did take time to have a bubble bath and that felt nice.jOEL WAS SAYING SOME VERY INTERESTING THINGS AND i FELT VERY INSPIRED AND WANTED TO SHARE IT.Sorry about the caps,it was an accident.Anyway he was talking about making sure we don't get destination disease,where we feel like we have arrived at our destination and not be continuosly striving to go higher with the Lord and in our learning.We need to make a plan of some kind to each day take steps toward a goal and always be putting good things in our minds.I personally have gone through the benefits received when we fill our mind with positive instead of negative.When I had panic attacks,the only way Ihad to control them was to be listening to sermons,reading my bible,or listening to chritian musics.By keeping good things going in it kept the focus off all my fears and insecurities.Even thenI didn't get total victory until I started to consciously choose forgiveness and to speak scripture over myself and family daily.I have heard that you haven't forgiven someone unless you can pray for God to bless them.That was very convicting for me.Joel also stated that if we spend just one hour studying something daily then in three years we will be an expert on that subject.I thoght that was very encouraging because I often don/t have more time than that.So I encourage you alonmg with myself to keep actively learning new things and striving to grow in the LORD.We don't have to learn it all at once.The other thing that caught my attention was that we should seek out people who we admire and strive to be like, and that life is to short to spend your time with those who drag you down with them.We do have a choice about who we hang with .Umm my cake is smelling really good.I am making it for my sister A as she is coming over tomorrow and it is her favorite cake.The thing she really likes is that she can enjoy it guilt-free as I have improvised on the recipe to make it healthy.I have been a little stubborn about sharing the recipe as I invented it butIT IS SO GOOD i DON'T WANT YOU ALL TO MISS IT.i WILL POST IT TOMORROW.Tonight I will post the mushroom soup recipe so we can make it from scratch rather than buying the MSG ladden stuff.I prersonally would probably leave out the roasted red peppers depending on what I am using it for.Also you can substitute whole milk or evaporated skim milk instead of the cream to save fat and calories.
MUSHROOM SOUP
1/4 CUP BUTTER,1 ONION FINALLY CHOPPED
2 BAY LEAVES,2 TSP FRESH ROSEMARY
1 AND A HALF POUND BUTTON MUSHROOMS CHOPPED
2 -14 OZ CANCHICKEN OR VEGETABLE BROTH, 2 CUPS WHIPPING CREAM
1 CUP BOTTLED ROASTED RED PEPPERS,DRAINED
2 TBSP OLIVE OIL
IN PAN MELT BUTTER,ADD ONION,HERBS AND GARLIC,COOK FOR 5 MIN TILL TENDER.ADD MUSHROOMS,COOK AND STIR 5 MIN.ADD BROTH,BRING TO BOIL.REDUCE HEAT,SIMMER UNCOVERED,5 TO 10 MIN MORE,REMOVE BAY LEAVES

IN PROCESSOR OR BLENDER,BIT BY BIT,BLEND SOUP TILL SMOOTH.RETURN SOUP TO PAN,SEASON W/SALT AND PEPPER,BRING TO BOIL.WHISK IN CREAM AND HEAT THROUGH. MASH PEPPERS,STIR IN OIL AND USE THIS MIXTURE TO SPOON ON TOP AT SERVING[OPT]good night and enjoy

Pictures,Pictures and more pictures

This was when I went to Ohio and visited my sisterKat.The baby is her new little bundle of joy.

The pictures on top are the kids roasting marshmallows and Bubba poking a cookie when he thought no one was watching.Then there is Tinkerbell with the baby Ry's big sister.I sent one of all but one of my cats at dinner time.
The two hottub pictures are me and Tinkerbell enjoying our hotel privelages.I also have a picture of Princess with her new haircut.

Fun with family and smoothies

I actually have a moment to post earlier than a week since my last one.It seems there is always something to do with 3 active children around.Also right now I have 3 kittens which are 10 weeks old and getting into everything.We are still looking for homes for them,but in the mean time we have as many cats as people in our house plus a chihuahua.If I didn't have my high tech air purifier I wouldn't survive.It is amazing what that has done to prevent allergies in my children who could never handle pets before.It has also kept all our animals from shedding along with a holistic diet and vitamins.Yes even my dog is a healthnut.His favorite snacks are steamed broccoli and banana chunks.Now I've gotten sidetracked with what I was going to talk about.We went to my aunts church today to here my sister A sing and her brazilian boyfriend play piano.They did a beautiful job,someday you will see thei CD's in the store.Then my baby brothers girfriend was graduating today so we saw her graduation which just made me think about how little time we really have with our kids and that someday it is going to be them up there.I want to cherish every moment with my kids and not be so busy with cleaning all the time.That is so hard for me because I am a neat freak but it takes a lot more time to keep up with it then it used too and I have to make time for other things as well.The kids are getting old enough to help out too.I haven't been real good at enforce it because I had to work so hard as a child and I want them to be kids as long as possible.But we do have to maintain balance.Well I have officially gotten off track again but it has been kind of an off track day and besides my husband says I am not open enough about things and that I need to let myself out.Anyway we went to my parents house and had a delicious brazilian dinner which was pretty healthy except for the pies.My mom knows how to make some good pie and I broke the rules and had one piece.I could barely even finish it because I have been away from sugar long enough it tasted too sweet to me so I was pretty happy about that,especially b ecause conquering my sweet tooth has been my biggest challenge.We all got a little crazy and wild as can happen when you get us sisters together so we hope we didn't scare the new boyfriend off.We all date and marry these shy quiet guys who have to adjust to our huge,boisterous family.They must really love us.My nephews Big andLittle mister are recovering from thechicken pox quite well but they were pretty speckeled looking.Somehow we ended up running relays,I think my husband started it because he used to lead exercises in the military and he was working them military style.Even the kids were tuckered out.Needless to say they conked out pretty easy tonight.Now about the smoothies,one of the things a former ice cream addict does a lot is make smoothies.I also like to take advantage of their deliciousness to stick in a few very healthy ingredients.I always keep frozen bananas,berries,sweet potatoes,and frozen spinach or broccoli on hand.By having half your ingredients frozen it makes it creamier and more like a milk shake.I also stick carrot juice and barley green or acai berry concentrate in them.Stevia,honey or maple syrup taste great and help sweeten the ones with more veggies in them.Also kefir or homemade yogurt are very nutritious additions too.One of our favorites is an apple pie shake with frozen apple slices,half carrot juice and half apple juice,apple sauce,yogurt,sweetener[maple syrup is good] cinnamon and vanilla protein powder.I do almost always add some form of protein powder to keep the blood sugar levels steady.The sweet potatoes make a great smoothie for those who love sweet potato pie and ice cream.Take frozen sweet potatoes,frozen banana,apple juice ,yogurt,vanilla protein powder and pumpkin pie spice and blend.Avacados alsoadd creamy body to fruit smoothies.The broccoli and spinach work well in any of the berry smoothies,trust me it really tastes good.The neighbor kids come here after school just for my smoothies and I always make them healthy.Anothe thing I have added is glutamine powder to them as that really helps the stomach and the brain and also helps with sugar cravings.It really helped with my Tinkerbells stomach issues and gluten sensitivity and it is flavorless.When my kids are sick I make a sweet fruity one and throw in about 10 1000mg vitamin c.You need to add a little extra honey to this one and bananas help too but they do enjoy it.I hope these ideas have helped in finding ways to sneak in healthy things for your family.Just let your imagination go wild and your taste buds guide you.Spend time with your family and drink smoothies to your health.