Last week I had a group of women over for a night of fellowship and I wanted to serve refreshments that were tasty, but not too heavy. So I dug into my recipes (some I’ve share here on the blog) and pulled out three appetizer dips! I had a couple that were sweet and one that was savory. Appetizers are fun because you can make a little meal with them. The ladies enjoyed them and it was fun to watch them go back for more. Here are the ones I chose for our party.
Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip
Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips
S’mores Dip
This Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip is great as an appetizer or served with a meal of Mexican foods! It’s super good and really fast to put together! You can make this ahead and pop it into the oven or microwave to warm up.
Our 39th Anniversary is tomorrow, June 20th. How in the world?!
We started our celebration on Tuesday when we had a spur of the moment opportunity to go to Pigeon Forge and stay at the Wilderness Wyndham for four nights! Yes, please!! This was a special blessing after our summer vacation got cancelled, due to the virus. We had been praying the Lord would open up a time for us to be able to celebrate our anniversary and this was the perfect get away!
We had no specific plans – only be together, rest and celebrate US!
This Wyndham has lots of fire pits on the property and with the temps dipping into the 60’s, we took advantage of the warmth of the fires!
Morning coffee and devotions
Our favorite restaurant is Pottery House Cafe. Due to Covid, they have put outdoor tables in front of the restaurant in addition to their back patio. One table was put inside the gazebo. We didn’t know it at the time, but each of had asked the Lord if He would be so gracious as to allow us to be seated at that table. After our 30 minute wait, our names were called and they headed straight towards the gazebo! It was so beautiful and romantic. It also protected us from the sprinkles that came while we were eating our meal. The Lord is so kind to us.
Pottery House Cafe
My husband suggested we come up with 39 of our favorite memories during our time away. He recorded each one on his phone. How special it was to recount so many blessings of dates, trips and special moments over the years. God has been faithful through all the years in the good and hard times.
We don’t do events in the area, we just pick a spot for our main meal, shop a little, sit and enjoy one another and the place where we’re staying. We read, journal, nap, chat, and create more memories.
If that sounds boring to you, you’re terribly wrong. Spending time together is what we got married to do. He’s my favorite person and “we like us.”
Here’s to many more memories!
Did your vacation get cancelled, too? Pray about how the Lord might open up a time for you and your spouse to get away and watch what an almighty God will do!
Homemade granola bars that are full of good protein and fruit are snacks I try to keep in my fridge. Before I walk in the morning, on a busy day when I don’t fix breakfast, or when I need a little afternoon pick-me-up, these are the perfect bars to grab!
Pan is ready for granola bars!
Cooking light has given a recipe that gives you the necessary amounts of grains, nuts, butter and fruits, then gives you the option to choose your favorites of each so you can create your best-loved granola bar! In other words, they give the formula to successively create your kind of granola bar your way. Here’s how to create them:
Create a base
Toast oats in the oven to give them a nutty flavor. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 2 cups old-fashioned oats onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned and fragrant, about 12 minutes. Transfer oats to a bowl, and cool to room temperature.
Add richness
Creamy nut butter and toasty coconut oil enrich the bars. Liquid sweetener, well, sweetens them. Place 1/3 cup nut butter,1/4 cup liquid sweetener (such as honey, maple syrup, or agave), and 11/2 Tbsp. coconut oil in a bowl. Microwave 30 seconds or until warm.
Boost the flavor
Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt to the nut butter mixture to heighten the flavor; whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1 large egg white; it’s a key part of the binder that will hold all the ingredients together.
Add Crunch and Chew
Stir 1/2 cup unsalted roasted nuts (or broken-up pretzel pieces) into the cooled oats for hearty crunch. Add 1/3 cup dried fruit (chop the pieces if they are large) for bright, sweet flavor and textural contrast.
Mix and Press
Pour nut butter mixture over oat mixture; stir well until all pieces are evenly coated. Transfer mixture to an 8-inch square metal baking pan lined with parchment paper. Press mixture very firmly into pan; packing tightly helps keep bars from crumbling.
Bake and Cool
Bake at 350°F until lightly browned around edges, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift bars out of pan with parchment paper; cool completely on rack before cutting (warm bars might crumble).
MY favorite combination is oats, walnuts, dried mixed fruits, maple syrup (or honey) and peanut butter. I store them in the fridge because I find it helps them not crumble as much. So good!
Rather than buying these, consider baking your own so you can customize them to your dietary needs and likes! Because of that, they will be your favorite bar!!
I have an older, gentler way of seeing these little ones! (My children probably wonder who I’ve turned into!
I have more time to just sit and play or read stories.
I’m not as uptight as when I was parenting – maybe because the ultimate responsibilities of my grandsons’ well-being is not on my shoulders.
Big things are little things. They don’t want to eat? “Okay., you can eat later.” Not sleepy? “Let’s take a drive!” That broke? “It’s just stuff!”
But I do realize that while I can play the day away with my grandsons, I do have a HUGE responsibility as their Gigi –
I must point my grandchildren to God!
It’s not my right to “spoil them then send them home,” but to have fun with them all the while I am showing a life that points them to Christ. We see this in Timothy’s grandmother, Lois in II Timothy 1:5. The faith that Lois had in God was passed to her daughter, Eunice and also to her grandson, Timothy!
Today I want to encourage you about one simple way you can do that with your young grandchildren. This is doable if they are local and you see them weekly, but also if you only spend vacation times together. As a matter of fact, part of this could be done using Zoom or an app like Maro Polo. What if you planned out a one hour teaching time, full of Bible truths in story form, activities and crafts to support the lesson, and maybe even a snack that continued the idea of what you’re teaching that day.
I’ve done this very thing with my neighbor children for years and now it’s time to pour into my twin grandsons! As a jumping off point for you, here’s what I do each week:
Decide the lesson to be taught and then realize what the theme for day will be. Search the Internet for lesson ideas (make sure it’s doctrinally sound and not just “fluff.”). Some of my go-to’s are Ministry to Children, Happy Home Fairy and Hands on Bible Teacher. I also search Pinterest. Last week I taught about Day 5 of Creation. The main idea was God made the fish and birds on Day 5.
I look in those places for songs, fun games and activities to go along with the lesson to reinforce the main idea. Last week we sang God is so good (“God made the birds” was one verse!). I got flannel fish and birds and let the boys put them on the flannel board either up in the sky or down in the water.They added pages to their notebooks, and they painted a wooden whale and owl. I added a magnetic strip on the back so they could put it on the fridge.
I come up with a little snack that would help to continue the theme. This week I made “fish” crackers and cheese for their snack. They may not look like fish to you, but that’s the blessing of teaching an imaginative child!!!
Teaching time – God made the fish on Day 5. Where does he live?
Activity pages I found online. I added the pictures, but the little song was part of a lesson.
As we went about our morning together, I just kept repeating our songs about Day 5 of creation. When we went outside, we looked for birds in the sky and I asked them Who made that bird and on what day of creation.
They painted Wooden fish magnets with a “5” written on them to reinforce what God made on Day 5.
Fish-y snacks!
There is every level of lesson and activity out there and God’s Word is relevant to each child and each age. Just teach your grandchildren. Make it fun. Be creative. Teach them God’s Word.
You will be exhausted and maybe even unsure if you got anything into their little heads, but we just obey and leave the results to God.
Some other little suggestions/helps:
If you live away from your grandchildren, you could do the story on an app on your phone or computer.
If you have teens you could do a Bible study with them. Here is a list of great resources for teens!
If you don’t have any children or grandchildren, look around for your neighbor children that could use a woman to teach them! Here’s a post about my weekly time with my neighbors. You can also see how I planned and scheduled our time together.
The influence of a grandmother is so vital. We will often be able to speak things into our grandchildren’s lives that they would not accept from their parents.
Let’s be a “Lois” and pray for a “Timothy” to be nurtured at our knees.
I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have about how you’ve nurtured your grandchildren in the Lord!
I have a husband who was taught to act like a gentleman. That means he sweetly grabs anything from my hands or grasp that is heavier than an envelope! There have been times when I’ve seen that he’s already carrying something else and I’ve said,
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.” To which he replies,
“Denise, give it to me.”
It’s then that I open my hands and hand it over. My load is lighter and I have appropriated all he desires to be as my husband – loving, leader, gentleman, and helper.
Last week I had a group of women over for a night of fellowship and I wanted to serve refreshments that were tasty, but not too heavy. So I dug into my recipes (some I’ve share here on the blog) and pulled out three appetizer dips! I had a couple that were sweet and one that was savory. Appetizers are fun because you can make a little meal with them. The ladies enjoyed them and it was fun to watch them go back for more. Here are the ones I chose for our party.
RefreshHer 