Christ Who Lives in Me

Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us. 

Putting to death the sinful nature and putting on the new man that is made in the likeness of Christ Jesus.

Jesus was happy to submit to God in all things - He can do this in me 

Jesus put God first - He can do this in me

Jesus was... So many things that I am not. But now it is Christ who lives in me that can work these things out in my life. 

"It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." 

A Burden to Share {From 2013}

Here i am, with this burden, to write, to share. 

Amazing how much can change in a year! A year ago at this time Dan and i were about to be on our way to the hospital to have our third child, Elijah Michael Collinsworth :) so excited that the time had come, that in the near future we were going to God willing meet our baby boy! 

Bottom line, things did not go anything like I had pictured, things got scary, things got hard, life became very black and white for me. Life vs death. It.was.hard. But at the same time it. Has. Changed. Me :) i am not who i was when i walked into that hospital that night. Im not who i was when i left that hospital either. God has changed me. And He truly has and does work the scariest, most difficult, most painful experiences for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. 

Through this He taught me that He is what matters, He is the point, He is the beginning and the end. If i am putting anything else first in my life I am building it upon shifting sand, it will not last, it is not of lasting value to me or to anyone I am in contact with. I am not doing them or myself any favors by living for anyone or anything else besides God and the Lord Jesus. But Jesus... He lasts, He is eternal. Now that is something - Someone to build my life upon, to put my thoughts towards, to share with others, to spend my time with. This has eternal implications, for the life to come, not only for life on Earth. Day by da we choose where we put our time, our attention, our affections. Where am I, where are we, where are you putting your affections today? May we all choose to put them in Jesus Christ - the eternal One, the One who was and is and is yet to come. 

{Fall} Butternut Squash and Sausage Recipe

Here is a recipe that we made last night that reminds me so much of fall for some reason :) it is so delicious and is all natural, only good stuff from nature here! And yes the cooking with pumpkin has commenced over here at the Collinsworth household :) we have tried two recipes so far that I will be posting in the Pumpkin Round Up that I'll be doing in the coming weeks! Here is the recipe for Fall Butternut Squash and Sausage.

Fall Butternut Squash and Sausage 

1 peeled and cubed butternut squash (or pre cut if you can find it, makes it really simple!)
Coconut oil
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
Sea salt
1 lb. Italian Sweet Sausage browned and crumbled up
1/2 cup of raw whole pecans

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.) Place your butternut squash pieces that are peeled and cubed on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.

3.) Coat the pieces in melted coconut oil.

4.) Drizzle pieces with honey.

5.) Sprinkle with a little sea salt

6.) Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for 55 minutes or so until they are fork tender.

7.) Towards the end of the cooking time you can brown up your pound of Italian sweet sausage till done.

8.) To plate, place the butternut squash cubes in the bottom, followed by the browned sausage and on top of that a sprinkle of raw pecans.

9.) And ENJOY!!!

This butternut squash seriously tastes like candy to me... So good :) hope you guys enjoy it! Much love to all of you!

Ash

Five Minute Friday {Worship}

This is a weekly get together that Liso Jo Baker hosts over at her blog http://lisajobaker.com/ called Five Minute Friday. Each week Lisa Jo posts a prompt (one word) and we get to write about it for five minnutes without any editing or trying to make it look just write... Just good ol writing staright from the heart! Then everyone links their responses back to Lisa Jo's blog. Its so much fun having the chance to write this way and to read others writings too! This week Fuve Minute Friday is being hosted over at (In)courage if you want join in!

Five Minute Friday {Worship}

4:02 {start}

Anything can be an act of worship. I love this. I love this about our God that He made us this way. When i first bacame a Christian I didnt understand... I thought worship had to look a certain way, feel a certain way. Now I am beginning, (only beginning), to know the joys of worship in the little things (like playing with our littlest one). As I stop what I am doing and take a blanket that he loves to play with the excitment in his face grows and grows. I put the blanket over his face as he gets a woosh of air. He catches his breath and laughs and laughs that sweet little baby laugh. I am in awe of what God has created and the beauty of it. This game of cover up the baby has become in my heart worship to God, thanks to Him, standing (well in this case sitting) in awe of all that He has done and that He would bless me (us) with this little one. How awesome He is. I feel like even the smallest tasks that may seem on the outside unremarkable... Unspectacular can become radiant moments of worhship when our hearts are on Jesus and not ourselves. When our hearts are on Him we cant help but worship Him!

4:07 {end}

Come to Him {and Be Filled}

Sometimes do you find yourself feeling empty... do you feel dry... do you not know where to turn to be filled... do you try to fill that void in all kinds of different ways? I have DEFINITELY felt these things before through out my life. I think we all do. Still now as I press forward with God I forgot where to go to be filled, to quench my thirst...

"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 John 7:37

Where am I going to be filled? To my true Source or do I turn to doing things to make me feel full if even for a moment? I really love the doing. I love the planning and researching and Holy Spirit leading me in finding. But the question is where am I going to be filled? Am I going to God... Or am I going to the doing? Lord please create in me (in us) a heart that loves You first, loves You most and lives for You and runs to You to be filled. It's only You who can change this in me (in us) and place these areas of my heart in the order You designed them to be in.

A few weeks ago a very awesome friend (thank you God for friends :) ) gave me a picture of a tree on the edge of a body of water with it's roots down in there. I am like a tree on the edge of the water with my roots down in there (thanks to Jesus I am connected to the living water) but when we believe in Jesus and COME to Him we really begin to absorb that living water. The living water flows through us like water to a tree, transforming us into the "trees" we were made to be! A beautiful tree, reflecting You God! When we try to live on our own however without tapping into that living water we literally will come up dry... Often resulting in disappointment, frustration, anger, etc. And we remember Jesus's words... "Apart from Me you can do nothing." Apart from Him we have nothing to sustain us, give us hope, to  change us, to fill us. It's all about the living water. Where am I drinking from? I need to get a drink from somewhere. Is it from my true Source or am I trying to find satisfaction for my thirst in other ways? A tree cannot get its nourishment and need for water from any where else, it must come from the source, through the roots... We are the same. We were made with a thirst and it can only truly be filled one way... from our true Source, Jesus. I looked up the verse John 7:37 online and a sermon by John Piper popped up... Here is part of it!

"1) Three Things Implied in Thirsting

Verse 37: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” It seems to me that there are three wonderful things implied in the words “if anyone thirst.” First is that the gift of the water is free. The condition you must meet is need. “If anyone thirst.” That’s the condition. And the action you must take is to drink. Receive the gift. There is no thought here of earning or meriting. Anyone. Anyone who knows his own thirst is invited.

Second, the human soul has thirst. We know he is not talking about physical thirst. That’s clear. But what he is saying is that the soul has something like physical thirst. When you go without water your body gets thirsty. And the soul, when it goes without God, gets thirsty. Your body was made to live on water. Your soul was made to live on God.

This is the most important thing to know about yourself. You were made to live on God. You have a soul, a spirit. There is a you that is more than a body. And that you, if it does not drink from the greatness and wisdom and power and goodness and justice and holiness and love of God, will die of thirst.

Third, implied in the word “thirst” is that what Jesus offers is satisfying. The aim of all theology, all study, all biblical learning, all preaching it to spread the satisfying banquet for you to eat with joy, and to protect the kitchen from poison. The aim of cooking is eating. The aim of digging wells and clearing springs is drinking. Everything Jesus came to do and teach is aimed at providing the soul with food and drink that satisfy forever.

That’s what I see in the word “thirst.” The water is free. The soul has a thirst. And Jesus aims to satisfy the soul forever.

2) Three Observations About Coming to Jesus to Drink

Versed 37–38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Three observations:

First, Jesus is what we drink. “Come to me and drink.” Jesus doesn’t just have what our souls need; he is what our souls need. Recall John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He is the bread of life. He is the living water. Our souls were made for Jesus. The ache in our hearts is at root an ache for Jesus. This is how the soul lives on God. It lives on Jesus.

Second, the soul can drink. It can swallow. He is speaking spiritually, not materially, when he says, “Come to me and drink.” This drinking is not something you do with your mouth and your throat. You do it with your soul. You do it spiritually. You were made to do this. You are not a mere animal. You were made for this—coming, not physically, but spiritually, to Jesus, and drinking, swallowing the water for your soul that he is.

Third, this coming and drinking are what it means to believe on Jesus. Verses 37–38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me . . .” That last phrase is another way of saying come and drink. Coming and drinking Jesus is what happens when we believe. It’s what believe means.

We saw it in the parallel structure of John 6:35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Believing on Jesus is coming to him to eat and drink for our soul’s deepest satisfaction.

So be done forever with the sad notion that saving faith—that believing on Jesus—is a mere decision to believe facts. No. It is a coming to him as a feast. A treasure. A banquet. A spring in the desert when we are dying of thirst. This is what the apostle John meant when he connected believing on Jesus and receiving Jesus in John 1:12. Believing is receiving him as water, food, life for the soul.

So those three things: Jesus is the water we need, the soul does the drinking, and that is what believing means—coming to Jesus to drink for our soul’s satisfaction.

3) The Rivers That Flow from the Soul

Verse 38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Literally, it says, out of his belly. But the point is our inner being, call it belly, heart, soul, spirit. What does this mean?

It means that when you come to Jesus to drink, you don’t just get a single drink, but you get spring, a fountain, a well. You get Jesus. Rivers of water will flow because a River-Maker is in you. That’s the point. You will never have to search again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the joy of your soul will flow from Jesus. When you come to him, you get him. And he never leaves.

4) The Spirit of the Glorified Jesus

Verse 39: “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

There was an experience of the Spirit that could not be enjoyed until Jesus had died for our sins, been raised triumphant over death, and ascended to the right of the Father in glory—namely, the experience of fellowship with the Spirit of the glorified, risen Christ. This is what the Father gives to everyone who believes. The presence and power and fellowship of the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ.

Once Jesus was with us as an incarnate man, and now he is in us by his Spirit. Listen to John 14:16–17: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

And he is indeed in everyone who believes on Jesus. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:9? “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” If you come to Christ to drink for your soul’s satisfaction, you get Christ. And now we see that he means: You get the Spirit—the Spirit of God and of Christ.

Christ, as the incarnate Son of God, is in heaven. We can’t see his body now. We walk by faith and not by sight. But he is in us (Romans 8:10). We have the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ living in us. Which means Christ is in us.

5) The Witness of Scripture to the Plans of God

Verse 38 again: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

There are so many Old Testament texts that point to this reality. Let me give you just one. Isaiah 58:11: “You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

But here is the way we should end—the really wonderful implication for us that God spoke of this reality hundreds of years before it happened. It means that God was planning this for you. God was planning to send his Son. He created you to have an unquenchable soul thirst that could draw you to him. He planned for Jesus to stand in Jerusalem, and for me to stand in this pulpit, and cry out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me [Jesus] and drink.”

This is God’s invitation to you. Not just mine. Not just Jesus’s. But God’s. Come, drink, live."
- John Piper

(http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/out-of-your-heart-will-flow-rivers-of-living-water)

When He says "come to me" John Piper teaches here that that means to believe in Him. I believe He is always in us once we believe in Jesus but I also believe we can make a DAILY CHOICE TO COME TO HIM, to believe in Him for the things we need so badly... Love, healing, life, peace, comfort, change. Coming to Him could possibly be through just thinking on and believing in Him, praying and believing Him and maybe reading and meditating in the truth of His Word and who He is. I think as we do these things we are coming to Him, believing Him and in return we are transformed and supplied with everything we need. But it all comes from Him and from the waters that flow from Him. "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " John 14:6 Praying for each of us that instead of looking for another fulfilling source for our never ending thirst that we can each come daily to our One True Source... the Lord Jesus Christ :) and that we may be filled! He is faithful to fill us if we'll only come to Him! 

Paleo Dark Chocolate Cups {with Nuts and Dried Fruit}... Yum!

If you have a taste for some chocolate but would love to continue eating clean, this is a great way to go! Our whole family has really been enjoying these Dark Chocolate cups as a special treat or even as a quick pick me up later in the day (chocolate at snack time, yum!) This is a combination of two different ideas that I recently saw online. The first time we made them we used this recipe from Nourish Your Temple. We really like this recipe and have been putting it into paper cupcake liners to cool so they came out looking like Reeses Peanut Butter cups minus the peanut butter (makes it feel extra special :) ). I liked the chocolate on its own but I had been seeing an advertisement around for dark chocolate treats with dried fruit and nuts added in and I kept thinking how pretty they looked and really wanted to try making something like that too. So the next time we made the chocolate we mixed in nuts and fruit to see how it would turn out. It was tasty but not quite as pretty as the ones I'd seen online. So this time I tried just sprinkling the nuts and dried fruit on top after I poured the chocolate into the paper liners and I was really excited about how they turned out! Warning: this is some dark chcolate! If you like it sweeter you could probably add more honey to balance out the strong taste of the cocoa powder. So heres the combination of the Nourish Your Temple chocolate recipe which we love with the add ins, enjoy! Thank you Sam for letting me share this recipe!

Paleo Dark Chocolate Cups {with Nuts and Dried Fruit}

Using Nourish Your Temple Dark Chocolate Recipe plus Additions

• 5 tablespoons Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 6 tablespoons Good Quality Cocoa Powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Raw Honey
• 12 Paper Cupcake Liners (or you could use mini ones!) 
• 2 Cups of Raw Whole Almonds
• 1 Cup Chopped Raw Pecans
• 1 Cup of halved Dried Cherries (no added sugar if you can find them without) 

1} Melt Your coconut oil in a small - medium saucepan over medium low heat just until oil is melted.

2} Pull the oil off of the heat and mix in your cocoa powder and honey until well combined.

3} Place your paper cupcake liners on a small baking sheet that will fit into your fridge easily. 

4} Use a Tablespoon to scoop and pour your chocolate mixture into the paper cupcake liners.

5} Sprinkle your raw almonds, raw pecans and dried cherries on top of each cup.

6} Cover the whole tray with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to harden. Takes about 15 minutes or so :) good news, you dont have to wait long to taste one :)

Make sure these stay stored in the fridge, they melt VERY quickly due to the coconut oil I believe. These make a really fun treat or even a quick little pick me up! Yum :) hope you guys enjoy them as much as we have! Have a goodnight!

Love, 

Ash 

Standing in Awe - - - More of Him and Less of Me

Standing in Awe ----> Living in Awe

" I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" Psalm 34:1-3

"My soul makes its boast in The Lord." Psalm 34:2 

Why am I doing what I am doing......?? I feel like this question has been swirling around in my mind quite a bit lately. With regards to a lot of different things. With regards to training clients again, with regards to this blog, with regards to talking with people, with regards to where my heart is when I'm doing these things.... why am I doing them? I want to do them ALL for God but I feel like so quickly my pride can set in and what I started out doing because I love God and I want to do the things He's given me to do for His glory turns into me doing things to make myself look good or feel good. Sometimes it really starts to get me down... I'm like come onnnn.... I thought I went through this already :) but the cool thing is that God is not surprised by our waywardness. God is not surprised by our sins, our pride, our self focus at times. He loves us in the midst of it all. And He is there calling us back to Him to focus on Him time and time again. To focus on Him, to fix our eyes on Him and his MAGNIFICENT glory and to stand in awe of Him = living in awe of Him and not in awe of myself and what I think I can do. I feel like this can be a trap sometimes in being a mom... We are given a multitude of different things we get to do each day. In one day we can be in the role of teacher, mother, nurse (well applying band aids anyways... Not all the other things our awesome nurses do :) thank you guys by the way!) chef, household cleaner, floor scrubber, poopy diaper changer, juice server, husband lover... Lots of different things. Lately what has been on heart (not wart like my auto correct text tried to say hehe :) ) is how do I live this life while doing these different things to glorify God alone and not myself? How can I keep Him at the center? How can I keep it about Him and not about me? I would love to hear what you guys think, please comment with what you feel like God has taught you/showed you about this! For me... Without really realizing it until I started typing out this journal entry... I feel like God has really been pointing me to verses about standing in awe of Him, that call us to magnify His name together and proclaim His wonderful and awesome excellencies. I didn't put two and two together until now (thank you God... I need help seeing the connections... Sometimes it takes me a minute :) ) that to keep from making much of myself... I make much of Him!! :) how freeing! That by His goodness and His Spirit that my eyes may be so filled with Him that I don't have any room to be looking at myself or looking around at what other people think of me. My eyes looking only at Him. Only at those eyes. Those eyes that have seen every wrong I have ever done but have never wavered or turned away because He couldn't handle me and my wrongness. Those eyes that have seen everything from the beginning of time, from the very first leaf that was formed to the moment when one of His children takes their last breath... He is there, He has always been there and He is going no where! That's something to get excited about! That's something to boast about! That He is God, He is Lord! That He created everything, his creativity is amazing! That through Jesus God has shown His love for us... He knew we would do wrong but He didn't leave us alone in our wrongness... He came down, Himself, in a human body to take care of it once and for all because He loves us THAT much!!

"Come now, let us settle the matter," says The Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Isaiah 1:18 

(I love how He says "come now let us settle the matter" :) God got down to business and was serious about getting His children back, serious about saving His children. He took death and sin head on... no turning back. 

Now that's something to boast about... Our God is something to boast about. And in return... I will have no room left to boast about anything I have done! Thank you God!

Lord please empty us of us and fill us with you, please fill our eyes with you and our hearts full that we may "proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His glorious light." (1 Peter 2:9)

"I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" Psalm 34:1-3


Excited to hear about what God has shown you guys, feel free to share below if you feel led to do that! :) 
Lots of love to all of you guys!!

A Song and Some Moments from Women of Faith

This past weekend a group of the ladies from the Transit church got to attend the DC Women of Faith Conference... It was so. much. FUN! God is amazing! This was my favorite song from the conference... beautiful!

Victor's Crown (click here to see video on YouTube)

Hope this song encourages you guys too and maybe can help you when you are feeling beat up, beat down or just exhausted and feeling stuck. With all of the things that can come up in life sometimes we end up feeling this way. Many of us can have a hard time with everything from anxiety, depression, addiction, negative self image, suicidal thoughts. Just know that He is always there and He is always victorious! He has won he victory for you :)

As for the rest of the conference.. I really needed that time of focusing on Him and learning about Him. Been having some hard times with different things emotionally and just feeling really really held down by the weight of everything that was going on and was having a hard time doing the things I knew I needed to do. Was really getting my value from the things I do or in this case DONT do hehe. Yep, living this way and relying on others or what I do to validate myself can take me up up up when I feel like I'm doing good and down down down when I feel like I'm doing not so good (let's be honest here... when I feel like I'm doing awful). I know in my head that this is not how God made me to live but sometimes in the day to day things I lose sight of it... I lose sight of Him and what He has done for me and begin living in bondage again to the expectations and thought of others. But I do not have to live this way... WE do not have to live this way :) FREEDOM has already come. Jesus has already come and we have been set free to be ourselves. Each our very own, unique, wonderful, specially designed selves that God made only us to be.

"For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1 (ASV)

Another version:

"In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]." Galatians 5:1 (AMP)


He is the only One we need to look to and He loves us with a love that can not be shaken, can not be changed by what we do. He has a love that will never give up, never run away and never say that we are too much or that we don't do enough. This is our God :) He is AWESOME and SO worthy to be praised! Here some pieces of this past weekends conference...

* My victory and honor comes from The Lord alone! (This one hit home for me like a ton of bricks right at the beginning of the conference... Any honor I have comes from Him alone... That means I dont need to try and get it from other people or what I do. Yes! I don't know about you but this spells F.R.E.E.D.O.M. to me :) )

* "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (or in other words the devastated, ruined, broken beyond repair.)

* Storms are a gift.... (Really changed the whole thing for me).

* If Jesus says we're going somewhere (like across the lake 4:35), than were going somewhere whether there is a storm or two in the middle of the trip or not. He will get us there. He will get us across that lake if He says He will.

* We can either not get into the boat with Jesus at all, get in but be ready to abandon ship if it gets to rough, or be in all the way (if Jesus is in the boat... Its all good, doesn't matter where were going).

* Throughout the Bible sisters in Christ are calling out across the centuries echoing the same thing... BELIEVE! (Liz Curtis Higgs) believe and you will be changed.

* It is as if the world is a big game of chess. The devil on one side and God on the other side. Back and forth, back forth they have made move after move, the devil not wanting to be out done. What are they playing for, what is so important to them that they continued playing? You and me :) God made every move that He needed to and at the just the perfect moment He came down through Jesus Christ to finish it Himself as a Daddy would to win his children back from sin, death and the world. And on the Cross before he died Jesus said "It is finished" and it is!!!

* Each of us can come to God and say "Hi God, its (insert your name here), the one whom you love".

* Obsess over how God loves each of us and not what I do for Him. By doing doing and trying trying to be good....do we miss Jesus? Do we miss the One? The One who came down from Heaven to save us?

The point is Jesus :) He is everything! He can do anything and He is trustworthy :) He is perfect even though I feel broken at times. He is kind even when I feel rushed and frustrated. He is loving even when I am unlovely. He is selfless even when I feel like being selfish. He completes me and through Him we can receive all that we can not be on our own. He took our place in every way and now

"it is no longer I (we) who live, but Christ who lives in me (us)." Galatians 2:20 

Recipe: Honey Brussel Sprout and Sweet Potato Hash

I like hash recipes... ALOT :) Since starting the Whole 30 program almost 2 months ago its definitely been one of my favorite dishes to make for lunch! I love these recipes because you can really play around with the ingredients and add what you have on hand as far as fruits and/or veggies go and also with what kind of meat you add to it. You can add sausage, chicken sausage, bacon, rotisserie chicken, hot dog... Really any kind of meat that you can think of! So helpful when it comes to leftovers and making lunch... I feel like lunch can be tricky sometimes... Is it that way for you guys too? So this has been a fun way for me to practice being a little more creative and using up the things that we have on hand or leftover. Here are the two initial has recipes that I tried and ended up loving!


http://thehealthyfoodie.com/2013/04/22/turkey-apple-and-broccoli-breakfast-hash/ (the tricky part for me on this one was cooking the broccoli just a little so it still had that crunchy tasty bite to it)

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2013/05/breakfast-skillet-hash/


Yum!! So today for lunch I ended up making one that is almost exactly like the one from Multiply Delicious... Didnt realize it was so similar till I went back to loom at it :) love this one! The only additions I made were a little bit of cumin and a drizzle of honey to give it a little sweetness. Here's the recipe!

Honey Brussel Sprout and Sweet Potato Hash
2 T Coconut Oil or maybe butter or ghee (whichever you like!)
1/2 lb Brussel Sprouts
1/2 Large Sweet Potato (cooked)
1/4 t Cumin
1/4 t Honey (Raw honey if you have it)
Some Sea Salt to Taste
2 Eggs (Cooked as you like - I did over easy)

Begin by poking the top of your sweet potato a few times on top with a fork or a knife to let steam out and to keep it from exploding... No wants that, eek! Place sweet potato in the microwave (on a plate if you wish... I just like to throw it in there as is :) ) Cover it up with a slightly damp paper towel. Cook on regular power for 4 minutes... Check to see how squishy its gotten. For larger sweet potatoes  you might need to cook it for another 3-4 minutes or so for it to be cooked through all the way without any hard spots.






While thats cooking in the microwave you can begin slicing up your brussel sprouts. You can buy them already shaved if you'd like or you can take whole brussel sprouts and slice them in half and then into threee seperate strips for each half to make little brussel sprout strips.

Once done with the slicing you can place your cooking fat of choice (we did coconut oil, yum!). Heat  oil over medium high heat. Once hot place your brussel sprout into the pan and let them sautee for 6 minutes or so. They should be ome softer and be have some browning on them when youre all done. Make sure to give some stirs while its cooking so they dont burn.

Once theyre in the pan you can the sprinkle on your cumin, honey and sea salt. Give it a good stir to mix in all of those good flavors. Let it continue cooking for the 6 minutes or so.





Now you can remove the sweet potato from the microwave. Cut it up into little cubes or squares (also good for baby food if you have any little ones around that age :) makes it easy on Mama to only have to cook once! You can even add a little coconut oil if theyre old enough and not sensitve to it.)

Place cooked brussel sprouts on a large plate, scatter the sweet potato on top.

Cook up your two eggs, however you would like them done (I made mine over easy). Once done place those on tol of your veggies and.... ENJOY :) Healthy, tasty, natural... YUM! Let me know what you think of this combination and any other combinations you guys try!

Sweet Chicken and Veggie Stew (Paleo)

Sweet Chicken and Veggie Stew (Paleo)
Modified recipe from http://paleodietlifestyle.com/quick-and-creamy-chicken-stew/ (thank you for this awesome recipe

Ive been having fun adding cinnamon to different recipes lately, ones where cinnamon seems like kind of an odd ingredient to add. This is one of them :) it adds this awesome sweet flavor, so yummy! I played around with the recipe from paleodietlifestyle and used what i had on hand plus the diffrent spices, we all really enjoyed it! Hope you guys do to :)

I have a Paleo chicken pot pie recipe that has a similar taste but with a crust on top... Yum!! I think its so great and so much fun that we can still make really tasty meals while using only natural ingredients! I just feel like God made food to be so much fun :) He is awesome! Heres the recipe!:


2 cups of cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works awesome!) shredded
2 T organic coconut oil
½ a large sweet Vidalia onion (Yum!) diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
¼ cup of almond flour (we used Trader Joes brand, has a little bit of a nuttier flavor than others we’ve tried, like that!)
2 cups of chicken broth or chicken stock (we used Better than Bouillon Organic Chicken)
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (we used Trader Joes Organic Foursome, has peas, two types of corn and green beans). – note: we spilled half of the bag so we probably only ended up using ½ of the bag or so :)
½ cup of coconut milk (we used light coconut milk, but any kind is good I think!)
1 green onion diced
¼ tsp or less of cinnamon (sounds kind of strange but love this flavor in it!)
A dash of chili powder
A sprinkle of Morton’s Natures Seasoning  
A sprinkle of garlic powder
A sprinkle of Onion powder

1.) Cut your chicken into pieces.
2.) In a large saucepan over a medium heat, melt the cooking fat.
3.) Add the onions to the same saucepan and cook in the remaining juices. Once they have sautéed and begun to brown, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes together.
4.) If you wish to add a thickening paleo flour, do so now.
5.) Whisk in the chicken broth. At this point you will be able to tell if the stew is too thick. If so, feel free to add more broth or stock, or even just water. Do so slowly while continuing to mix
6.) Add in the vegetables and chicken
7.) Add seasonings
8.) Allow the stew to come to a simmer, and then cook on low, but still maintain the simmer.
9.) Cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes
10)  Stir in the cream or coconut milk and green onions.
11.) Cook for just about another 2 minutes and serve with avocado on top if that sounds good to you :) enjoy, yum!