Happy August 2023

Some fun stuff for Saturday morning...

Hello, my creative friends,

It’s been extra hot these last two weeks. I’ve been making more salads to eat lately… because (a) it heats up my kitchen drastically each time I cook, and (b) it’s cooling to eat something cool and not hot. HA!

What’s your favorite summer salad?

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I love lettuce salads packed with all my favorite toppings… tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs, crunchy peas (good replacement for croutons for that crunch I crave), garlic, onions, and sometimes bacon… you get it… the more toppings the merrier! haha.

So what’s your favorite salad? Please share a comment with me!

And to cool off quickly after hot yard work outside…

Quick banana ice cream to the rescue!

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I cut up a banana in small chunks, toss it in a soup mug, and pop it in the freezer for a couple of hours…

Then, bring it out to toss the frozen banana pieces in my small food processor (Keep that cold soup mug handy!)…

Next, drizzle on a little bit of cream over the banana chunks, add two TB of peanut powder (or use some other protein powder), two tsp. of low-sugar strawberry jam (or your own preferred flavoring)… press that go button to give it a good whirl to whip up a smooth concoction…

Now, toss in a few walnuts (or your favorite nuts) and pulse just a few more times, but not too much, to reserve some of that chunky-nut goodness… and out comes the most fantastic peanut-butter-jelly ice cream treat.

Pour it back into that super cold soup mug and enjoy!!

AHHHH… it’s so cold, creamy, and tasty. (Of course, you can get creative and mix in all kinds of flavors with a frozen banana.)

This summer, I’m also working on decluttering all my old recipes.

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My first goal is to simplify my meal plans by creating a written set rotation plan of weekly menus to make menu planning super fast.

To get started… I suggest keeping a list of what you’re eating for meals regularly for 30 days. These are obviously your favorite go-to’s. (With the exception of seasonal recipes, for example, soups in fall/winter.)

And my second goal is to toss out all the recipes that require special ingredients, way too many ingredients, or is extra time-consuming.

I want to keep mainly recipes that are super simple and fast to make, yet still use mainly fresh ingredients and not heavily dependent on processed foods. (I’m not opposed to using “some” convenient foods…. I just know that fresh is better for us if time allows.)

My third goal is to declutter “duplicate or similar” recipes. For example, instead of keeping 10 broccoli recipes, I’m choosing just one or two favorite ones to store in my recipe box.

Side note: I’m also using “Microsoft’s One Note Feed” in the sidebar on my laptop to quickly jot down new recipes & keep track of them. I add #hashtags so that I can easily find specific recipes at lightning speed. Would you like me to create a video about that so that you could create a similar system? If there’s enough interest, I may do that.

What I’m reading…

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I’m currently reading I Corinthians.

The Apostle Paul, inspired by God, wrote the letter of First Corinthians to address several issues and challenges that were affecting the Corinthian church. The congregation had sent Paul a letter seeking guidance on various matters, and he responded with this letter to provide spiritual guidance, correction, and encouragement.

I’ve just started reading this book, and I invite you to read along this month as well!

One verse that I have marked, and is such an encouragement us as Christians, is I Corinthians 2:9…

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

~ I Corinthians 2:9 KJV

Journaling question: How much do you love God? Really consider and answer that question. I know there’s always room for improvement for us.

Freebie time…

Here’s a phone wallpaper I created for you. (A beautiful glimpse of Moraine Lake Lodge, Lake Louise, AB, Canada)

Side note: If you’d like to snag the whole beautiful photo to put on your desktop computer or laptop, here is the source link:

A blue lake surrounded by mountains and trees photo – Free Canada Image on Unsplash

And here’s an August 2023 Printable Calendar

Simple August 2023 Printable Version:

https://media.publit.io/file/CreatewithMeGifts/August-2023.pdf

August 2023 Fillable PDF Version:

https://media.publit.io/file/CreatewithMeGifts/August-2023-1.pdf

And a Camping Checklist…

You can keep track of your favorite summer camping places.

https://media.publit.io/file/CreatewithMeGifts/Camping-Checklist.pdf

I know summer is ending soon…but you might one to snag the printable for future reference.

NEWS: I’m also working on a brand new project. If I make some good progress, I’ll be sharing it with you next month.

Okay, well, I will sign up for now…

Look for God’s daily blessings today,

Rhonda White