Africa 2016!

This little girls name is Maria.  I don't know if I will see her again as she did not live in the orphanage but was one of the village kids.  She had a spirit that would light up the night sky.  I pray for her often.  

We have some exciting news to share with you. Julianna and I have been given the privilege of being part of the 2016 Africa Mission team to Mozambique, Africa. As most of you know I had this awesome experience back in November of 2012. It would be impossible to describe how that trip has changed how I view life and how I love other people. I am absolutely ecstatic that I get to share this adventure with Julianna.

We will be working with Iris Ministries (www.irismin.org) in providing assistance to an area of Africa which has been ravaged by AIDS. Nearly 50% of the young adults are dying of AIDS and leaving large numbers of orphans behind with no one to care for them. Our church members now sponsor more than eighty children in the village of Meize. We will be involved in projects such as much needed medical care, health training, and construction of homes for our sponsored children as well as some other village children so they can attend high school in the city of Pemba, and possibly other projects intended to improve the economic opportunities for the villagers, blessing and being blessed by some of the poorest of the poor. We have committed to returning to the village of Meize every two years to maintain our relationship and support for these orphans and their village.

As a team member we are responsible for raising our own travel costs in addition to collecting clothes, tools and medical supplies to be given to the people in the village we have adopted.

Part of the commitment to the mission is the requirement to enlist the support of others in funding and praying for our participation and the success of the mission. We would love for you to be part of our team, either by donating and/or with your prayers. The total cost of the trip is $ 3,000.00 for each of us. That's a total of $6000.00 for the both of us. This covers everything….plane fare, food, lodging, in-country travel and supplies.

If you would like to support us in this effort we would appreciate it if you would respond immediately as we must have my funds in place as soon as possible so that our flights can be booked. You can click on the donate button below or on the right hand side of the blog. 

You could also send a cheque to Summerside Community Church. Please make your cheque payable to:

Summerside Community Church
150 Industrial Crescent
Summerside PE C1N 5N6

Thank you so much for your support! Please continue to pray for us as we move forward towards this goal.

Here are some pictures from the orphanage we will be visiting.  

Many of the kids wear rags and are so dirty.  This little ones name is Anna and had a gorgeous smile when she smiled. 

Many kids walked around with younger siblings on their backs.

After the feeding program where each child gets a dish of rice and beans, this sister of five took all their dishes, emptied them in to a tupperware type dish and then gave each of them a handful and took the rest home to their family.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes! (S)

Trim Healthy Mama has a fantastic recipe for pancakes.  They are so delicious with a bit of greek yogurt and fruit on top.  The only problem with them is that they are an "E" meal and so I need to limit my fats with it.  You know what that means?  NO bacon!  I know! It's so sad!  Breakfast would not be complete without bacon.   I've looked for pancakes that I could have with bacon but all the recipes I found seemed so complicated.  So I set out to make an S pancake on my own.  Here's what I came up with. I use a baking blend that I make from another website.   Click on the word baking blend to see the recipe. Or THM has their own baking blend but I haven't been able to try it yet.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes 
servings=1 
time=10 mins 
difficulty=easy

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp peanut flour
• 2 tbsp low carb baking blend  
• 2-3 packets of Truvia
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 2-3 frozen strawberries chopped

Directions: Mix all ingredients together.  Fry pancakes with butter in a pan.  Serve with sweetened greek yogurt and strawberries.  

Berry Crisp for One (S)

 So I've been following Trim Healthy Mama now for over a year and a half and I have just finally started to write down some of my recipes.  Now I will share.  This recipe is classified as a "S" for satisfying.   This would be a good dessert to have after a nice steak dinner.  It's classified as an S because of the almond flour and the amount of butter used.  It could be easily converted to an "E" (Energizing) by switching out the almond flour for oat flour and only using 1 tsp of butter.  That way you could use apples or peaches.

Last night I was totally craving a crisp.  So I made this last night for a snack and served it with one spoonful of So Delicious Coconut Milk sugar free ice cream.

Anyway here is the recipe.

Berry Crisp for One

1/2 cup frozen berries
4 packets truvia
Sprinkle of glucomannan
2 tbsp rolled oats
2 tbsp almond flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1tbsp butter, melted


Place berries in ramekin and sprinkle 2 packs of truvia and a sprinkle of gluccie. In separate bowl mix oats, almond flour, cinnamon, and 2 packs of truvia.  Mix in the melted butter and place on top of the berries.   Bake at 350 for 20-22 mins.

Net carbs work out to be 9.9 grams so just under the allowed 10 carbs for a S snack.


Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 241 g 

Calories  462 Calories from Fat  362

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  40.2g 62%

Saturated Fat  9.4g 47%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  31mg 10%

Sodium  102mg 4%

Potassium  43mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates  40.7g 14%

Dietary Fiber  7.3g 29%

Sugars  23.5g

Protein  13.5g

The day's meals.

Hey everyone. 

So I've been doing the Trim Healthy mama plan now for 19 months tomorrow. I have not lost a pound since January but I have gone down in pant sizes and inches since then. This is a hugely successful plan and a way of life for me. I can't believe I get to eat such yummy food that is actually healthy for me. 

Lots of people have asked me what I do and I've explained that on the blog before so today I want to give you an idea on what I eat. I woke up later than usual this morning and I didn't feel like having my regular eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. So I booted up my computer and searched for a pancake recipe that I could have bacon with.  I finally found one that was low carb so I managed to have pancakes and bacon.  The recipe I found had a recipe for a maple butter that was super good. I didn't even need syrup or anything like that. I did put a dollop of greek yogurt on top of each pancake for some extra protein.   Here's where I found the recipe. http://rohndasue.com/2014/05/01/pancakes-grain-free-dairy-free-low-carb/

Because I woke up late and had breakfast late I didn't have time in my day to be able to have a snack. (Since I eat every three to four hours.) So my next meal was lunch!  This was leftover cheeseburger salad from last nights supper. It was so delicious. This recipe is from the pioneer woman website. (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/cheeseburger-salad/). Her cheeseburger salad, only I omit the croutons. I added a spoonful of chipotle ceasar dressing as well. 

I love adding pickles to this salad!

I added dessert to this meal. Yesterday I made a flourless chocolate cake (http://thehomesteaderswife.com/flour-less-chocolate-cake/) and it is delicious!  So dark and rich!  I had it with some sugar free So Delicious coconut milk ice cream. 

No snack again since I had a later lunch so supper is next. I put a small chicken in the oven to roast and served it with green beans and potato wedges for the rest of the family, I had pureed cauliflower with mine. So yummy!  I gulped it down quick as I had some chauffeuring to do with kids activities so I barely got to taste it. Lol. But it was good. 

My evening snack was another slice of cake. This time I sweetened some cream cheese and spread it on top. So yum!  I was so eager to taste that I forgot to take a picture. So there you have it. My day of meals.