Happy and Hopeful

I was thinking about writing a negative post about all of the things wrong with the world right now... not just my little world but the world in general... you know what I mean. However, I figured since there was enough negativity going around without me contributing I'd post something happy and hopeful. :) So since I normally like to think about the negative things in life, I'm going to counter that by posting five positive things going on in my life right now (besides the "still alive", "have a great family", ect. ones). Comment on what is positive in your life right now!

1. I have a really great prayer group that meets weekly that has not only helped me with prayer but also just support and friendship. After our hour or so of prayer we will talk afterwards, catch up on how we're all doing, talk about books, movies, ect. and I absolutely love it! It's a really great time to just wind down as I spend some time with God and then some time with my fellow Christians. 
2. I didn't fail my return demonstrations (have to do it in front of a teacher) for NG tube insertion and catheter insertion. For me that's a big deal as I always think I'm going to fail everything. 
3. I can now drink my coffee black. For me that's positive as I never used to and I would dump a heart attack's worth of sugar and creamer in it. No more! That's what being an nursing student does to you... I want every spare centimeter of my cup to be full of pure black coffee.
4. I have an electric blanket to snuggle up in at night. Since I'm always cold this is very important to me as it is absolutely frigid in my house every night.
5. And finally but certainly not lastly I JUST STARTED WATCHING DOCTOR WHO AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT!!!!!!! :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Recipe- Pumpkin Baked French Toast

I know you're beginning to notice a new trend...a trend where I am pretty much only posting recipes anymore. It's because they're GOOD! And perhaps I'm too busy or too lazy to write you out a real blog post...
Today I bring you what I practically lived off of last week. I had it for breakfast every day and if I could I ate it at lunch or dinner also. I really REALLY loved it and it is probably best that it is gone now. Today I bring you pumpkin baked French toast!

Pumpkin Baked French Toast

Ingredients
3 1/2 C cubed bread of choice
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a little extra cinnamon)
3 T sugar or sweetener of choice
1 1/4 C milk
1 Cup yogurt (the original recipe called for tofu or yogurt but I'll die before I use tofu and obviously I live by greek yogurt so...)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Directions
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except bread and stir well. Grease an 8X8 baking pan and pour  the cubed bread into the pan. Cover evenly with wet mixture and then cover the entire dish with a lid or saran rap and refrigerator overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 400 F and bake 30-35 min. Top with maple syrup or eat plain (it is actually very delicious plain). I enjoyed it both hot and cold.
NOTE: You may need to adjust milk and bread proportions depending on the type of bread you use.
Recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie.

I know you all are worried about seeing my cup of coffee in the picture but we've had this conversation before. I like coffee AND tea. Actually I've really gotten into a tea drinking mood recently so you may see some more tea inspired blog posts around here soon.
Have a great day and don't forget to like my blog on Facebook! :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

As my lazy Sunday afternoon draws to a close, I sit down to reflect on it.  First off, my kind of Sunday afternoon is one where I can be lazy.  It involves lying down with a book, playing a game with the family, watching a movie with the family, and above all drinking a cup of hot tea or coffee.  As spring and summer make their presence known, I suppose I will have to change that to a tall glass of iced tea or coffee, but I digress.  Sunday is that day of the week were we can just pause.  For my family we begin it by going to church in the morning and then finish it by coming home, eating lunch and then relaxing.  Sandwiched in between a previous week of busyness and a coming week of busyness, Sunday stands alone.  It isn't a "me" time though, it is a God time.  While it may seem like we restrict our God time to church in the morning, my family does carry that into the rest of the day as we spend time together as a family.
Treasure those Sundays of worship and rest.  Treasure those Sundays of family time.  You are blessed to have them.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Tea vs. Coffee

Yes, I'll admit it, I am not the hard core tea drinker that my blog makes me out to be; I drink coffee too.  Before you stone me let me give my defense; Tea vs. Coffee.

Let us begin with tea: a delicious beverage hot or iced with many different flavors to choose from.  Of course there are the complications of black tea, green tea and the not even really tea at all herbal tea.   There are many pros for tea: tasty, soothing, no calories and fat, or sugar for that matter if you sweeten with honey.  There is only one con I can think of (and it is probably just me) and that is that tea is rather hollow, there isn't much to it, just tea and water (and the sweetener if you have any).  Maybe that is what you like about it, I don't know, it is probably just me. :)

Then there is coffee: the beverage that people cannot live without... supposedly.  Coffee is great in the morning when you need a good caffeinated shock.  It can be flavored in a million different ways from vanilla to caramel.  There have been so many variations made of it (the mocha, the Caffé Macchiato, the latte, ect.) that it is really rather ridiculous.  It has more substance then tea but that also comes with a drawback.  Yes, coffee has a con.  If you are like me then you have a half coffee, a quarter milk, and a quarter creamer (with a teaspoon of sugar too).  Don't ask me how many calories are in that; I don't really want to know.  However, if you are like my friend, then I suppose you are okay as she drinks it straight black.  Of course there is the whole "Is coffee good for you or not?" debate that has been going on for forever.  It changes every year so I won't even try and resolve that.

So there you are tea and coffee.  I like them both, that is legitimate you know. 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.