by Amanda Barnard | Jan 1, 2022 | Everything Else, Faith, Motivation
HELLO 2022! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
As we embark into this new year, I want to post a word of encouragement to you all! I have been pondering and praying about many things going forward. Through the years, several plans have been made and haven’t followed through, but only I can make things different.
We cannot keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. Have you heard that is the same thing as insanity? Not sure if it is true, but we could decide it could be one of them.
ONE WORD
I am clinging to one word for this year. My word is – INTENTIONAL. I have so many areas that I can apply this, as I am sure you do as well. I am going to try to start with this blog, to make myself accountable.
Not in any particular order, but some ways that I am determined to implement this application are:
- be INTENTIONAL with my relationship with Jesus.
- be INTENTIONAL with family.
- be INTENTIONAL with healthy living.
- be INTENTIONAL in finances.
There are so many more that I could add. However, we all know that it is not a good idea to overwhelm ourselves. The world is filled with too much anxiety as it is.
Finding the determination to stay the course or make this year better than the last few have been might be a task. At the end of 2022, I want to say it has been the BEST year of my life! Therefore, the challenges will have been worth it!
Also, the big 5-0 will happen for me this year and I intend to celebrate in some ways for the entire year! I have some amazing plans! If they play out the way I want, I will be visiting family, going to Disney, attending some other important events.
We also have more grandbabies on the way, which is EXTREMELY exciting! In just a few short days, we will meet our first grandson! We have anticipated his arrival for many years!
I would love for you to share in this journey with me! If you don’t have a word for this year, I hope this inspires you to come up with one! And if you do have one, would you comment?
Thanks in advance for sharing!
by Amanda Barnard | Mar 5, 2020 | Everything Else, Family
On February 24, 2020 our family visited Papi’s Cuban and Caribbean Grill. This has become a favorite on our yearly vacation. There have been times when the food has been better than others.
This trip, we already had great expectations and they were all surpassed!
Between the 11 adults present, we tried a bit of everything from the beloved Cuban sandwich to the Churrasco steak. (Side note: ‘churrasco’ means steak in Spanish and is the word used for “grilled beef”.)
David is fluent in Spanish, so we were able to order without the language barrier. He had questions thrown at him from all sides, but we all know he enjoys that environment.
WHERE ARE THE MARIQUITAS?
We had to get Mariquitas, but no one could find them on the menu. David came to the rescue and soon we had 5 plates on the way.
I had the Palomilla Steak Salad. I was keeping it partly keto, but admittedly the mariquitas are not on the list. Hey don’t judge! It’s only one time per year and I have NOT been the most strict recently. (More on that later.)
Oh my it was very good! I tried a little bit of everyone’s food. (Again, don’t judge, this is something we do in our family.) The Cuban sandwich was “melt in your mouth”.
The Churrasco came with chimichurri sauce. It has lime which I am not a fan of. However, the lime was not overpowering and added a nice touch.
A couple of the kids got ‘Masitas De Puerco’, which is a pork dish. I have been moving away from pork, but this was cooked and seasoned ever so nicely.
DID YOU SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT?
We even splurged for dessert this trip. Have you ever tried Mango Cheesecake and did you even know there was such a thing? What?
Ok, I’m going to stop right there and say the cheesecake was interesting. It wasn’t bad at all, but I don’t know if I would order it again. The mango twist was different.
All in all, Papi’s Cuban and Caribbean Grill was a huge hit with our tribe and we would highly recommend it, if you happen to be in the Lawrenceville, Georgia area.
by Amanda Barnard | Mar 22, 2019 | Keto
As you may have seen in one of my previous posts, since I have been living keto style, one of the things I have extremely missed is pizza and breadsticks. The truth is I really like bread ALOT!
I am one of those people that would go to Texas Roadhouse or someplace similar and when the wait staff would come and ask if we were ready for dessert and I would have to say that my definition of delicacy are the rolls slathered in butter!
So I have ventured off to find something that fits that missing piece of my puzzle. I found several versions of what is called Fat Head Pizza Dough and this is my own modified version that I have turned into breadsticks. I also have made it as a pizza crust base.
I recently bought a flat cast iron pizza pan for the intentions of my pizza dough, but has turned into breadsticks most of the time. I haven’t tried it, yet I am sure a cake pan would work very well for breadsticks. Something to make them into a long stick. I just cut mine small so Alyssa can handle them well.
2 TBSP cream cheese
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cup pizza sauce
- Preheat your pan of choice in oven at 375 degrees.
- Set aside 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Mix the rest of the cheeses and the spices together and microwave for 90 seconds, then stir. If necessary heat for another 15-30 seconds, taking care not to over heat and burn your cheese. (I say this due to each person’s own microwave and area of the world you live in.)
- Knead in the 1/2 cup almond flour. (I don’t really know much about making bread. I LOVED my bread machine. So I sprinkle in a little of the almond flour at a time and fold and fold, until mixed in.)
- Press into (or onto) pan.
- Bake at 375 for 5-7 mins.
- Take the 1 cup mozzarella cheese that was set aside and sprinkle over the top and bake for another 5 mins.
- Let cool for 5 mins and cut in slices.
- Heat pizza sauce in microwave (if desired), use for dipping
If you try this, let me know how it turns out and how you like it! Good luck and happy keto living!
