Hello Friends!! I hope you have had a good week thus far! It's been a whirlwind around me. Some days I wonder where the time goes -- it just seems to fly by! So this week, I've been playing catch up on all the things I missed last week during "SALSA WEEK". And at the end of this week, we'll be participating in an area wide evangelism explosion called "Ignite '11" -- check it out on Facebook or at their web site - http://www.ignitepellcity.com/. There's a great lineup of artists and it's FREE so if you have a chance to come on out - please join in on the fun -- it will crank up at Avondale Park around 1:00 pm on Saturday.
Speaking of Ignite '11 -- my assignment for this event is to make brownies -- so I decided to make some delicious Peanut Butter Brownies. These have become my favorites because they resemble my favorite chocolate treat "Reese's cups" and they have that wonderful sweet/salty taste to them. They are beautiful and simply not light on calories by any stretch of the imagination! But ohhhhh so good!
Here is my secret recipe:1 box of Milk Chocolate Brownies (you can use the other kinds but this one is the best)
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups smooth/creamy peanut butter
2-3 T. self rising flour
1/2 cup Confectioner's sugar
Mix Brownie Mix, eggs, water and oil in a large bowl by hand. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Hint: you can cross line the dish with foil (lay foil vertically and horizontally and let lap over sides) and lightly grease -- this will aid in easy removal and helps with clean up as well.
Put Peanut Butter in a medium bowl and heat in the microwave for 40 seconds to melt. Add flour and sugar and mix well. Mixture will thicken but remain smooth.
Using a large serving spoon drop big "glops" of peanut butter on top of brownie batter...all over the pan. Use all the mixture - it will seem like a lot but it's well worth it. When all mixture is in the batter, use a knife or flat spreader and swirl peanut butter thru the batter making big figure 8s all thru the batter. This will evenly distribute the peanut butter through the brownies for a marbling effect.
Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Don't over bake, but be sure the middle is not gooey -- this is important.
Remove from oven and let cool. Remove from pan (of cross-lined) or cut into even squares. I make even squares by cutting in the horizontal middle first (short side to short side) and then divide the pan into quarters, then eighths and down to roughly 2" squares. Larger than this and they are a little bit rich...but it is very possible to consume an entire pan in one sitting! (I personally haven't done that, but would if I didn't have any measure of self-control!)
I'm sure once you try these you'll never go back...but please send me your comments...I love to hear what you think about my recipes.
Since Sweet/Salty seems to be my theme for today - I wonder - how many times do was scowl at the sweet/salty days that come into our lives. Maybe we have a good day, but we get an annoying phone call. Maybe we sleep well, but wake up with a nagging ache or pain...Maybe we are experiencing a stressful time in our lives but God sends a friend to encourage us or we hear a song on the radio that brightens our day...We love the flavor of sweet/salty but when our lives are flavored with unexpected seasoning, how often do we react with objection rather than enjoying the possibility that God may be working in us to perfect our faith.
We are the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13) - if the salt loses it's flavor, it's no better than sand and should be thrown out -- How do we keep our flavor? Our faith should be a reflection of the fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15) - a pleasant aroma to the God of Creation...how do we produce a pleasant aroma? Our lives should bear fruit (John 15:5)...how are we pollinated in order to do so? By counting it as joy when we face trials - because the testing of our faith produces endurance (James 1:2) -- By remaining in Christ - leaning on Him when the trials come our way -- by asking God to help us to see us and our circumstances as He sees them...
If we can do that, our lives will bear much fruit - spiritual fruit. It will draw others to Christ. We will experience joy regardless of our circumstances. We will bring glory to God and please Him as we become more like Christ in enduring the trials and suffering in this life. It will make us stronger, more faithful and able to face this life knowing that this isn't home...Heaven is our home -- so that gives us hope.
One aspect of Heaven that a lot of my friends and I who enjoy food, love to talk about is that in Heaven their won't be any fattening foods....in other words...it won't matter what we eat because we will have glorified bodies...created for eternity - so no worries about diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and all those food related illnesses -- but what will also be absent is stress related cravings too -- Imagine being able to eat because you want it not because you need it to deal with that unreasonable boss. Imagine being able to enjoy chocolate without the guilt of tighter jeans. Imagine being able to talk to God about how He created such wonderful things as avocados, tomatoes, chocolate, olives and olive oil, and all those wonderful things that satisfy our taste buds...
Heaven is going to be wonderful -- the saltiness of our lives here is annoying at times. But if it keeps us from being boring, worn out saints and keeps our senses keen and our faith rich and strong - then let's endure it for the Glory of God...and be thankful for the opportunity to serve Him.
We are His people - the sheep of His pasture -- enter into His presence with Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise....Be thankful in all things -- not just the good things -- all things are important and relative in our lives...let's not miss an opportunity to praise Him -- especially for the wonderful combination of chocolate and peanut butter -- the sweet and salty deliciousness that are these brownies!!
Enjoy your day, dear friends...I'll write again soon!! Blessings! Amy
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