Love has no limits

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Life has limits. We are limited to twenty four hours in each day. And, unfortunately there is a limit on how far you can stretch a dollar. My two daughters think there should be no limit to the volume of their favorite music when it's time to dance--thankfully for me, there is.

Sometimes limits can be stifling. Sometimes they are humbling. Sometimes limits can direct us to a new path. But sometimes lives are lost to limits and complexities that we may not understand.

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Today, all of us here at Praiseworthy are thinking of our dear friend and her family who are faced with the loss of an unborn child. While that pure and sweet life has reached an untimely end, there is no limit to the love that is swelling in our hearts for him. There is no limit to the love that will blossom from the deep soil of mourning. There is no limit to the love that will forever find place in a quiet corner of our hearts for a sweet little boy who reminds us that life is precious.

Yes, life has limits. But love does not. And so, this little boy, though we will not meet him now, will forever be remembered with love.

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"And in the mornin', I'm makin Waffles!"

There is something about eating pancakes or waffles for dinner. We fairly, if ever, eat them for breakfast. That typically only happens when we are visiting family. (My husbands family has a waffle tradition.)

So what is there no limits about pancakes and waffles you ask. The syrup and sauces, that is what!

Here are some of my favorite Syrup and sauce recipes.

Blueberry Sauce

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup orange juice
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil.
2. In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract and cinnamon. Thin sauce with water if it is too thick for your liking.

Serve with whipped cream if you want. (They are yummy either way!)
This sauce is also good on ice cream, cheese cake, in smoothies, etc.

I-Hop Cinnamon Roll Pancake Sauce (Thanks Angela!)

Melt ¼ cup butter

Add:
¾ cup brown sugar
2 T half and half or milk
1 T ground cinnamon
1/8 t salt
1/8 t ground cloves
Microwave until bubbly (1-1 ½ min)

Add:
1 T half and half or milk
1 T flour
Whisk until well blended

Easy as that!

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 C Sugar

2 Tbs light Karo Syrup

3/4 C buttermilk

1 Stick of Butter

2 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Soda

Combine first 4 ingredients in a pan twice the size you think you will need, and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and then the baking soda.

It will foam up quite a bit (hence the larger pan.) Serve immediately.

It will store in the fridge for a few days, although it will not be as foamy, but it is still yummy!

Put these last two together, and you have my very favorite! They will always be my favorites and always had been. In fact for a side note, when I was in 1st or 2nd grade, I broke my collarbone. I was sent home from school and the doctor at the Dr's office did not even ex-ray me and sent me home with an adult sling and said I would be fine. Well I went home and laid in bed the rest of the day. My mom made my favorite dinner of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream (although it was cool whip growing up) and I did not come down to eat it. That was when she really knew something was wrong. She took me to the ER, and sure enough it was broken. Nd I have a tiny Teddy bear sling to show for it. So there is my randomness, and onto the recipes.

Growing up, like I said before, it was cool whip, and strawberries mixed with a ton, and I mean ton of sugar. Lucky for you, my tastes has refined a little bit and these recipes are yummy!

Whipped Cream

1 C Chilled Heavy Cream

1 T Sugar

1 t Vanilla

Before I make cream I put my kitchen aid bowl and whisk in the freezer. About 20 min to an hour before I make it.

Add ingredients to mixer and let it go till it is as firm as you like it.

I am still perfecting the thickness of the cream to my liking. Jenni always makes the best cream, mine is a little runny, but like I said, I grew up on cool whip, so this is new to me still.

Strawberries

8 cups (about 2 1/2 lbs) Strawberries

6 T Sugar

Wash and top your strawberries if they are fresh. We don't want any green of course. ;)

In a large bowl place 3 cups of strawberries. Crush with a potato masher.

Slice the remaining 5 cups of strawberries and add to the bowl of mashed ones. Add the sugar too.

Stir and let it sit to macerate foe 30 min-2 hrs.

By mashing some of the strawberries up and letting them sit, it makes it a little more saucy, and they don't run off the waffles or pancakes. It is so yummy!

Well I hope you go eat waffles or pancakes for dinner tonight, or breakfast. And remember, it is a no limit food! Try some sauces today!

Do you have any favorite toppings? Please Share!

No rules, no limits

Before I was married, a friend and I had a little tradition of either having a party or going to a party on New Year's Eve, sleeping in on New Year's Day, and then spending the day at her parents' house. Big deal, right? Well, this was not just a celebration of a new year but a day of no rules and no limits. And no judgement if you wanted to eat ice cream for breakfast, cake for lunch, brownies for dinner and m&m's for snacks. Then we'd watch Alias marathons or as many Rocky movies we could fit in one day.

So why just dedicate just one day to "no rules"? I'm not advocating this kind of behavior on any kind of regularity or frequency. I mean, we have kids and homes and jobs to attend to, right? All I'm saying is that we all need (and deserve!) a little flexibility and allowance in our routines from time to time. A day, or even part of a day, where we ignore our food journal, look past the sticky spots on the kitchen floor and just relax, allow ourselves a little freedom from limits, rules and judgement.

How about it? Consider it a reward for a day's job well done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the rest of season one of Glee with a special treat, and the ironing can wait.

eXtreme Pantry Staples: No Limits!

Oh, it seems there are no limits to the uses for humble vinegar and simple baking soda in my home.

From cleaning my floors to washing my hair; and from making laundry powder to ....

SCIENCE!

Baking soda is also my go-to for scrubbing the sink and bathtubs, and for blotting up messes made on the carpet by my son-in-potty-training. It seems there's not a problem under the sun that I haven't tried to solve with baking soda and/or vinegar.

What's your favorite way to use vinegar and baking soda?

No Limits

“We know that there are some limits on what you can do, but we know also that there need be no limits on enthusiasm, planning, thoughtful consideration, and effort.” 

 -President Gordon B. Hinkley

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Several months ago, a church leader gave me and another woman in my area an assignment.  To say the least, this assignment would be hard, it would take up a lot of time and was way out of my comfort zone.  It would challenge me in every way and in every area of my life.  It would take months to prepare for and would become a huge part of every day.  I said yes knowing that there might be a reason why I was called.  Who knew it would be because I needed to know that my Heavenly Father really loved me. 

In the beginning I was afraid and because I was fearful I became discouraged and then I became upset. I was mostly angry with myself for saying yes to something that I could  fail at and I didn't want to deal with others being dissapointed in me.  I became stressed and irritated with everyone.  I was letting my own idea of what I was capable of get in the way of what my Heavenly Father knew I was capable of. 

After a lot of turmoil and self doubt I knelt to pray.  I told Him all of my fears and all of my reasons for wanting to duck out of this job.  I honestly was hoping I would get some form of okay on how to go to this leader and tell her I wouldn't be able to do this.  Surprise!!!  I didn't get that inspiration.  Instead I was overcome with feelings of His personal love for me, I felt hope in what I could do and an immediate 10 minutes of flooded materials and ideas on how to make this program work.  I didn't get it all handed to me that night but I knew, after I had submitted to His will, that things would be okay and that He would be by side every step of the way.

This other sweet woman and I went from being discouraged and stressed out to motivated and excited to see what would come of this.  We planned a lot and we worked hard and with the Lord's help we completed this  assignment and bettered our lives and the lives of those who got to see it.  It's difficult nature proved to be just that, but instead of giving up or taking the easy way out we grew and we rose to the challenge.  We realised that with our Heavenly Father's help we had no limits.  He was with us, guiding us and teaching us what He would have us do.

I love looking back on that day that it was presented.  It will forever be one of my favorite me moments.  You know...those special moments when you realise a little bit more about your own Divine Nature and your purpose for being on this earth.  It makes me excited to go throughout the rest of my life.  Only the Lord knows our spiritual capacity and He will give us opportunities like these to help fill us.   Even the hardest things can be accomplished if we are willing to go about them the right way.  I know that through Him is always going to be the right way!!!