Dirt Pudding Trifile Recipe

This week's recipe is one of those kept for special occasions. It's so rich and unhealthy that it's definitely not one to eat often. However, it's usually a big hit and is another recipe I got from a co-worker. She is known for dirt pudding! If you need a rich, addictive dessert to make for a party, this is a great one.

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) pkg. Cream Cheese
1 stick Butter
1 (large) box Instant Vanilla Pudding
16 oz. Cool Whip
3 1/2 C. Milk

        Mix all the of the ingredients above and refrigerate.

1 pkg. Oreos, crushed

The pudding mixture and oreos can be combined and arranged in many ways. It can be layered in a trifle (shown below) or mixed all together in a large bowl.

Mystery Plants

One of the exciting things about living in a new place at the beginning of spring is seeing all of the plants and flowers that are starting to sprout up and bloom. Each new green sprout is a surprise to us because we have no idea what was planted in the ground before we moved in.

Even though we have many green thumbs in our family, Luke and I are simply beginners. We planted our first garden last year and learned a lot. This year, we probably won't be planting a garden because of time and space, but we will probably be planting some flowers. For now, however, we are content in admiring the plants that are already a part of this house. The plants pictured below have been our mystery plants. To those of you reading this post, you probably already know what type of flower this is (or what flower it will become), but we still don't know. We're waiting for the finished product to arrive for us to know for sure.

Taken About 3 Weeks Ago

Same Plant as Pictured Above (current picture)

The Front Porch Remedy

With spring in the air, I have discovered a new love--spending time on our front porch! When Luke and I end our day by sitting on the porch and talking about the many happenings of our day, it's amazing how the pace of life slows to a stop. Honestly, sitting on our porch is a mini vacation to me. It reminds me of those times when I've been at the beach, sitting by the ocean and hearing the waves crashing while feeling the breeze in the air. We recently bought two chairs for our front porch because I had a feeling it would be a purchase we would get a lot of use out of! And we already have. Each time I sit in one of these chairs, I find myself breathing in deeply and looking forward to the conversations ahead...for years to come.

Photo by Sara

Zzzzzz

It's time for the bedroom redo pictures! I get tired just thinking about it. The upstairs in our house is very unique because all of the ceilings are sloped. Not ideal, but it works fine for me since I'm short vertically challenged. With Luke being six foot, he doesn't appreciate the low ceilings as much. He's already accidentally hit his head once, but I guess each head bang is another hit closer to remembering not to get that close next time.

Redoing this room was a piece of cake for me! If you remember back to an earlier post I wrote about sweet surprises, Luke surprised me by painting this room before we moved in. Back when we were sick of painting, he took it upon himself to surprise me with a finished bedroom....all I had to do was decorate! No problem! :)

To make things easier, we just used the leftover green paint from the dining room. It worked perfectly because Luke used it down to the last drop, which means one less paint can collecting dust in our basement!



BEFORE

 


AFTER



You Are What You Eat

I read an interesting article today that connects the appearance of certain fruits and vegetables to the appearance of human organs. The article is fascinating because the foods actually look like the organs they benefit. Here are some examples:

Carrots - A sliced carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye. And yes, science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes!



Tomato - A Tomato has four chambers and is red, just like the heart. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.



Grapes - Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.



Walnuts - A Walnut looks like a little brain, with left and right hemispheres, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles and folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.



Kidney Beans - Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.



Sweet Potatoes  - Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.



Grapefruit, Oranges, etc. - Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.


Avocados & Pears - These foods target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female. They look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit.



Celery - Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb, etc. look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.




There were many more examples explained in the article, but isn't this fascinating?! I had never heard anything like this before. I can't help but think of how awesome God is in creating such a parallel between these foods and human organs!

Dining Room Redo

Our dining room was a fun project to undertake. The room itself has a lot of natural light from windows, so we were able to incorporate one of my favorite colors for the walls--green. I wanted to keep this room looking natural, so I brought the outdoors in by adding brown as the accent color. Take a look at the before and after pictures below.




BEFORE.....the white has to go!!

 



AFTER....green!
We inherited the table for FREE from one of Luke's friends.
It'll work just fine until we find one we want to buy.







The twigs in the vase are courtesy of the heavy winds that knocked some branches off our tree!

For the second jar, I used green split peas as the filler and topped it with a white candle.

The third is an apothecary jar from TJ Maxx filled with potpourri.

The buffet table is actually a dark espresso color, not black as it appears in this picture.

 



What's on the walls?....place mats!


We can finally enjoy a meal in this room! Unfortunately, our house doesn't have any blinds, so we just hope our neighbors aren't watching us talk with our mouths full or putting our elbows on the table while we're eating! Oh wait, I'm the nosy one....we're watching them! :)