Blueberry Peach Galette

This past week flew by! It was definitely the quickest week so far this summer because I had Band Camp! No, I wasn't a student, I was the coordinator and one of the directors. 

I host a super fun summer band camp for my students and students from surrounding schools. We play movie music or other popular pieces that the kids get excited about learning. I love seeing them accomplish so much in just 5 days of rehearsal. My 5th graders stare at the music with confusion and fear the first day and by the time of the concert it has become familiar and playable.We have high school students come to help out and guide the younger students. They love coming to play along and help!
So, one evening after band camp, I made this beauty and typed up part of this post and then didn't find the time to finish it until today!

I love the recipe for the crust. It's super easy and quick, creates the perfect flaky texture, and I can fill it with sweet or savory treasures!

I'm still reading John but I don't have any significant applications to share. I know God's Word doesn't return void, I just think some days I see myself learning through life experiences more directly. That's why we read, to see God's word work through our daily lives to help us grow.

 God created us for relationship and interacting with others and I was able to spend some time with one of my students this weekend. We got to have some really good conversations and I learned more about her. She asked good questions about life and I got to see how she is growing spiritually and socially. I love those interactions. Ones where you know you are setting an example and where I'm encouraged to learn that a student loves God and wants to follow Him!

This galette is a wonderful summer dessert! It's refreshing and light; you can fill it with any fruit you like. If I had had ice cream at the time, I would have eaten them together. My galette wasn't super sweet because I only sprinkled sugar on but if you follow the recipe, it should be sweeter. You can also add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the crust if you want. 

Blueberry Peach Galette

Serves 4

Filling:

1-2 peaches sliced

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup sugar or honey
1 Tbs butter

Dough:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup ice cold water

1. Combine flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl. 

2. Cut the stick of cold butter into the flour with a knife or pastry cutter until the butter is in small pieces.

3. Pour in water and mix until dough forms a ball. Add a tiny bit more water as needed.

4. Chill dough while you prep the fruit and preheat the oven to 375° F.

5. When the fruit is cut, you have two options; stir in the sugar or drizzle with honey. Both will add a good sweetness but give different flavors.

6. Roll dough out into a circle about 1/4"-1/8" thick on parchment paper, use a sprinkle of flour to limit sticky-ness.

7. Arrange fruit as you like on the dough leaving at least an inch of uncovered dough at the edges to then fold over as the first picture shows. Cut the tablespoon of butter into small pieces and place/sprinkle them on the fruit.

8. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it, looking for a light brown on the bottom edge.

9. Take out and let cool for several minutes. Slice with a pizza cutter and enjoy on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Dark Chocolate, Almond Bites

Enjoying the summer temps this past week?! It's truly been a hot, humid week here in Iowa. I think I'm like most people in that I don't like extreme temperatures. I hate the you-can't-stop-shivering cold of February but I also don't like the feeling of sweat dripping down my back after simply walking to my car in July.

While I don't love the humidity, summer sunshine is the best! Long, long days are my favorite. There's sunshine from 6am-9pm with trailing light until 10. 

To beat the extreme heat and cold, I've been able to go indoor rock climbing at a gym about 10 minutes from my apartment. It's a fun sport for anyone to try! There is muscle strengthening, problem solving, and the chance to meet new people. The climbing community here is super friendly and helpful. People offer to belay freely and give climbing tips if they can. You can come with me sometime to check it out:) Or you can check out my recent climbing injuries on my Instagram account ellenccwalker.

Whatever activity you enjoy, these little energy almond bites are a great pre-workout snack!

I don't normally post on a Sunday but I had time this afternoon so I'll share a little from church.

I attend Johnston Evangelical Free Church and have been for about 10 months. It's the largest church I've ever been a part of with around 800 people each Sunday. Our pastor has been there for a year now and he's been wonderful. His passion and vision for the church is Biblical and contagious!

Biblical Stewardship has been the message series over the past 4-5 weeks. Today the focus was money, a potentially touchy topic. No one likes asking for money or being told how to use their money. It's usually a private topic. But God isn't quiet about it. The message was specifically speaking of giving to the church and its ministries. Second Corinthians 9 has some guidelines for our giving practices and verse 7 hits at our motives for doing so. "Each person should do as he has decided in his heart - not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."

I give because I know I should but not necessarily because it fills me with joy. As the offering bag thing (they keep calling it the offering plate, but plates don't have handles) comes by  I'm not singing "He has made me glad" (clap, clap). I need a little motive check when it comes to giving. It shouldn't be an afterthought or cause me to wince when I drop a check in. Don't worry, I won't start singing about the offering but I do want to be generous rather than giving out of obligation.

I'll admit, I've already had two of these today. They are so tasty and sweet! Also, crazy simple to make which is why you should try them out.

I love recipes like this where you can modify things to your own taste or what you have on hand. The original recipe is here but because I didn't have coconut, I used some dried cranberries. They are a little messy to assemble but I found that using two spoons to shape them, keeps your fingers clean and creates the perfect 2-3 bite sized treats. 

Dark Chocolate, Almond Bites

Makes 15-20 bites

1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats

1/2 cup of ground flax seed

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup almond butter (easily sub peanut butter)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 dark chocolate chips

1. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

2. Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to shape 1-2'' balls and place on parchment paper.

3. Let sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so to set up and then enjoy!

Two-in-one PB&J

There are days in my laid-back summer when I don't feel like putting much effort into my single serving lunches. I'm home alone at lunch so anything goes, right? 

I grew up on PB&J. I mean mom made good meals all the time but a great easy lunch was just the kid favorite sandwich. I used to make my own version of a peanut butter sandwich that was, in my opinion, awesome. I still want it sometimes. I would cover two slices of bread with pb, put slices of banana on one side, and then sprinkle Honey Nut Cherrios or Frosted Cherrios on the other side. Smoosh the bread slices together and enjoy! It has flavor, texture, and simplicity. You and the kids will like it, just like this new version of PB&J I created!

I'm reading through the book of John now and it's making me think about how new and non-traditional Jesus' teaching seemed to the Jewish people. Jesus didn't come like they expected and for him to say he was God's son sounded crazy to them. It did take some great faith to trust what Jesus said and believe that his miracles were from God. 

The disciples had that faith. They followed Jesus when others turned away. I love what Simon Peter says in 7:68 "Lord, who will we go to?You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God."

This reveals their sincere belief in Jesus as the Messiah. Through being with Him and listening to His teaching they "came to believe and know" Him. Isn't this true for all of us? We hear and are taught by God's word and our faith grows. Fortunately, we don't stop learning from God's word no matter how many times we've studied it. He will always teach us and challenge our hearts. 

I have a few weaknesses when I go grocery shopping. I love saying yes to ice cream pints and cereal. I love buying new foods to try even when the price is a bit high. I'll splurge once in a while just to try something different. 

I did some good budget work and compared prices of a normally high-price item; almond butter. I checked out Target's prices and Trader Joe's. They both have a 16 oz jar for $7.99. I went with Trader Joe's because it looked smoother than Target's. I'm guessing places like Costco have a larger size at a good price if you want a better deal. 

So, have you tried almond butter? It's so different. It's smoother than natural peanut butter and has a milder taste. It's a pretty good sub for pb if you are allergic but they are not interchangeable for me. I will always love peanut butter and forever be grateful that I'm not allergic to it!

And finally, my new experimental pb&j sandwich! I guess it should be titled pb, ab, ab, & j. Standing for peanut butter, almond butter, apple butter, and grape jelly. (which of these is not like the other?)

I thought the pb and grape jelly would pair well but grape and almond sounded like a bad idea. But doesn't apple and almond sound great!? So you get two sandwiches in one. Simple but fun!

I'm sure you don't need directions but just in case, you'll find them below;)

Two-in-one PB&J

2 slices of whole grain bread

peanut butter

almond butter

grape jelly

apple butter

glass of cold milk

1. Use one slice of bread for the nut butters and the other slice for the fruit spreads.

2. Spread the ingredients on so the peanut butter will be in one bit with the grape jelly, and the same for the almond butter and apple butter. 

3. Smoosh together and enjoy with a glass of milk! (Chocolate milk if you really need a treat!)

Breakfast Tostada

So, it's been about a month since I last created a blog entry and I decided to jump back into it. I don't have much of a reason for not blogging, just a lack of motivation. I'm not an awesome photographer so it takes me a little while to get good pictures of my food and I'm a slow writer. But the more I blog the better I should become so I want to keep working on it. I have about 5 1/2 more weeks of summer so that's plenty of time to get some entries in!

What I have been doing for the past month has been fun and simple. I was able to volunteer for the Des Moines Art Festival at the end of June. I volunteered for artist relations, aka booth sitting. My job was to let the artist have a break from sitting with their work for 10+ hours. It was really fun to interact with the artist and visitors. I really needed my t-shirt to say "I'm not the artist, they're on break". I had many people come up to me asking about the artwork and I could have told them just about anything and they wouldn't have known differently but I decided to be honest and say "I don't know, I'm just sitting in for the artist."

I've also been rock climbing at Climb Iowa in Grimes. I go 2-3 times a week.  Currently, I'm in the beginner movement class which teaches you about balance, footwork, movement (obviously) and the basics of climbing technique. People seem surprised to hear that there are classes for climbing. I think in Iowa, we are just naive to the world of climbing. Crazy I know, I mean look at the vast climbing terrain we have here;) It's a tough sport but great for anyone to try out!

This summer I've also been memorizing a small set of verses from the book of Proverbs. Chapter 4:20-27 is a passage I've loved for a long time. I thought I was doing really well with memorizing it but then I was trying to say it to my mom on vacation and I butchered it. So, I'm still working on keeping everything in order. I love that it touches on the most important parts of us as people; our hearts, minds, eyes, and mouth. 

Here it is:

"My son, pay attention to my words, listen closely to my sayings. Don't lose sight of them; keep them within your heart for they are life to those who find them and health to one's whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. Don't let your mouth speak dishonestly and don't let your lips talk deviously. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Don't turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil."

I bought a package of corn tortillas just over a week ago and the smallest size you can get at Fareway is like 3,000 tortillas. Ok, more like 30 but it's still way more than I need. So, I'm coming up with ways to use them. I could also freeze them if I get sick of them.

Tostadas are great. Its really just a toasted or fried tortilla with anything in the world on top. In my brief internet search, I read that the Tostada is mainly from Mexico but popular in most of Central America. The internet's always right you know, so I'm sure that's perfectly accurate;)

Here's how I made mine.

Breakfast Tostada

Makes 2 tostadas

1/2 cup browned ground breakfast sausage

1/2 pepper large diced

1/2 cup black beans

1 tsp ancho chipotle pepper

1 tsp cumin

2 large eggs

2 corn tortillas

1. Brown the breakfast sausage in a medium/large skillet

2. Turn oven on to 250° F to toast the tortillas. Leave the tortillas in for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the peppers to the skillet with the sausage and saute for a few minutes. 

4. While the peppers are sweating it out, add the cumin and pureed ancho chipotle pepper to the black beans. Add that mixture to the meat skillet.

5. Set the skillet to medium heat and crack the eggs over the meat, beans, and peppers. Allow the eggs to cook for a few minutes but keep the yolk runny. 

6. Remove the tortillas from the oven when they are lightly toasted and set on a plate. 

7. Use a spatula to place the egg and friends on the toasted tortilla.

If I had had an avocado I totally would have cut that up and put it on the dish too! There are many ways you can make this fit your taste so have fun trying it out!