I want to give a shout out to all of you who have joined us through my friend Lysa’s recipe swap and hop. Just scroll down about two posts and you will find my recipe for Lowfat Black Forest Cake. Go further and you’ll find Michigan Dried Cherry- White Chocolate- Cashew bars, a recipe taken from my first book. They are always a hit! If this is your first visit, peek around my site a while and leave a comment if you’d like. I’d love to get to know you and even to meet you if I’ll be speaking in your area sometime soon. Enjoy!

Happy Weekend,

Karen

Welcome to those of you who have popped over due to my devotion running on Proverbs 31 Ministry’s encouragement for today. I’m glad you joined us! Feel free to poke around my site and leave a comment. For the rest of you wondering what the devotion is all about, you can read it here.

Since the devotion is on displaying the characteristics of love listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, let’s take a look at them and I’ll toss out a question. Of each of these characteristics, which is hardest for you to flesh out in your daily life with your family, friends and co-workers?

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

I’ll start off by baring my soul and saying that becoming easily angered comes all too easily for me! But it seems to be only with the members of my own family. I can hold it together when the dry cleaners ruin my new sweater, someone cuts me off in traffic or a friend goofs up my latte order. But if my husband or one of the darlin’ little dependents does something that ruffles my feathers—watch out!! I often have to go before the Lord and ask for a second chance after blowing my stack with someone dwelling within my four walls. Then comes the hard part. Going to that person who was the object of my wrath to choke out the words….”I was wrrr…wrr…wrong. Will you forgive me?”

How about you? When you look at the above list of love’s many characteristics, in what ways is it hard for you to love out loud?

Living, loving and still learning,

Karen

 

 

This past January I had the privilege of speaking at a Hearts at Home conference in sunny southern California. After one of my break-out sections, a beautiful and friendly woman approached me to chat about my talk. We hit it off instantly! Her name is Arlene and she has a fabulous website for women that I’d like to tell you about.

Many moms I meet struggle with their post-baby bodies and the disappointment and discouragement they feel trying to lose weight after pregnancy. I myself had over 50 pounds to lose after each baby. And, after my last pregnancy, I let myself get to the point where I had over 100 pounds to lose! (You can see the story of that by clicking on the sidebar with my appearance on The 700 Club) Well losingweightafterbaby.com is a wonderful resource for you new (and not-so-new) moms fighting the battle of the bulge. Hop on over and check it out. Arlene’s site has many wonderful resources and she also recently featured a piece on my weight loss. Thank, Arlene!

I hope that after viewing this site, many of you will be inspired to begin to eat less and move more as you peel off that baby fat. Why, I might even get serious about getting off my last 15 pounds too! (It used to annoy me when I was a size 24 and I heard size 10 or 12 women complain about those annoying 15 pounds that they had to lose. But, they were right!! The last 10-15 pounds is the hardest. I think I lost the first 50 easier than the last five!)

And just for a little inspiration, below is one of my favorite heart-smart dessert recipes!

Sweet low-cal blessings,

Karen

Lowfat Black Forest Cake

In a large bowl cream:

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. brown sugar

!/2 C. water

2 t. butter extract

1/2 C. lowfat buttermilk

1 1/2 t. vanilla

In another bowl mix together:

1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 C. cocoa powder

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

Mix the dry ingredients into the moist ingredients. Blend well and add:

20 ounce can lite cherry pie filling

3 egg whites

Spread in a 9 x 13 inch pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Do not over-bake. Remove from oven. Prepare frosting and pour hot over cake.

Frosting:

In a medium size sauce pan mix:

1 C. sugar

2 1/2 T. cocoa powder

1/2 C. flour

1/2 t. salt.

3 T. butter

Pour 1 C. boiling water over all and mix with a whisk over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 t. vanilla. Pour hot over cake.

Serves 15. Calories 240; 3 grams fat