Lemons To Blueberries

From roller coasters to water slides, from laughter to tears and everything in between. Yes this has been one of those summers. My expectations for myself and my business seemed to come to an abrupt stop from Memorial Day weekend to the present day. Summer was going to be all about fun trips to the beach, amusement parks and all things Hot Chic Sports. But as the story goes, that was not to be. Bear with me for a few moments, as in the midst of all the chaos that erupted, a much greater lesson emerged.

On Memorial Day weekend, a friend from high school collapsed with a brain aneurysm.  A week later my girlfriends daughter, who was 27 weeks pregnant, collapsed from a brain bleed, and remains on life support. If this was not enough, another friend shared news that her husband had Leukemia however since the doctors thought it was caught early, things should be okay. On July 4th, he passed away leaving a very young wife and a precious two-year old son. And it continues…. A good friend whom I’ve been blessed to race alongside for many years, found out she had breast cancer, and has possibly spread to other areas. She has been enduring grueling aggressive chemo treatments all the while with smiles and encouraging words to others. It doesn’t end here.  A couple of weeks ago my best friend collapsed from what they believe was a heat stroke, with her potassium levels at a very low and dangerous level. She was knocking on death’s door for a spell, but thankfully she is now recovering and doing well. All of this in a time span of 8 weeks.

So where is the joy in all of this you ask? As I wrestled with my faith and tried to keep my head above water, I found strength from an unexpected source. Remember my friend whose husband suddenly passed away from Leukemia?  While she has been wrestling through so much sadness and grief, she  has ministered to me on so many levels. Her postings on Facebook have not only brought tears to my eyes, but have also put a smile on my face with her strength and perseverance. I quote her below from a recent post she shared:

“When life give you lemons, make lemonade. How convenient. I understand the real message of this statement is making something delightful out of  something that is perhaps sour. Well, sometimes life doesn’t give us what we need to make what we want. Sometimes we have to make something out of  something we weren’t expecting, into something we never really wanted to begin with. Did I ever want to live life without my husband? Heck no. Life has given me loss, grief and pain. What do you make out of those things? Only negative things come to mind. So somehow, I need to make somethings out of loss, grief, and pain, that isn’t natural. I need to make something that is worth living for”.

“This morning my mom was making chocolate chip cookies with my son. Without notice, he threw his blueberries into the mix. Did they throw it out? No. Did she scold him for ‘ruining the mix’? No. They baked them and guess what, we ate them. Was it what we had planned on making? No. Were they different? Yes. We enjoyed them all the same”. 

“When life gives you blueberries, make chocolate chip cookies”. 

This beautiful friend of mine has been through hell, and yet she is finding new joy each day. She is learning to smile through the tears and embrace life in a new manner.

I envisioned a summer of roller coasters and water slides, trips to the beach and amusement parks, Mickey Mouse and ice cream with everything in between. Instead I was stopped in my tracks for a spell to sit, watch and learn from these beautiful, powerful, amazing women who are walking a journey much harder than mine.

So eat ice cream for breakfast and make chocolate chip cookies with blueberries. Smile through the pain and find your joy. Wether your journey is an easy hill or a rocky road, how you choose to embrace it makes all the difference. I’m ditching lemons and trading them for chocolate chip cookies laced with blueberries!

 

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!

 

I think I may have stumbled upon something I can really sink my sweet tooth into. Living healthy often consumes me, and while I know that balance is good, I find that too much sugar is not. Living in a house of three rambunctious boys is challenging to say the least and any added sweet treats are hard to come by. It truly is a treat when there is ice cream cake or cookies in the house! It is my daily mission to provide healthy choices for my family so when I was introduced to The Wonder Mill recently and started grinding my own wheat, I discovered a whole new world! Home-made bread was one thing, but realizing one can use any of the varieties of hard red wheat, hard white wheat, or soft white wheat to make just about anything that requires flour, was like opening Pandora’s box.

I poured over blogs and recipe sites in search of a healthy chocolate chip cookie. Seriously, was there such a thing as a “healthy” chocolate chip cookie? I finally settled on this one from a Veggies By Candlelight. The recipe seemed straight forward and simple so I dove in, and literally after I mixed the dough. YUMMMM!  I used their recipe but not the exact instructions since I am “one of those cooks”. You know, the cook that doesn’t typically follow or use a recipe, but adds spices and such to taste. Yep, I’m that kind! Go ahead and roll your eyes now, I know you want to!

Okay back to the cookies…… After a good mixin’ (insert southern drawl) with my new favorite kitchen appliance The Universal Bosch Mixer, I was ready to scoop, drop and bake. HA, that could be a song! After baking 22 min and a nice cool down on my handy-dandy cookie cooling racks that I’ve never used, we had the most glorious round chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever seen. Mind you I’m not a baker, and when I’ve attempted to bake cookies in the past, they usually come out looking like flat flying saucers! SCORE for this chic! Now to taste these little beauties. The moment of truth has arrived.

As nervous as I was, I just knew we had to have struck gold. My first sinking bite was pure bliss! Not only had I achieved baking a perfectly round plump cookie, but the burst of flavor was exquisite! I forgot to mention that instead of using regular sugar, I used Organic Sucanat in place of regular sugar. This gave the cookies a rich bold taste. My moment of quiet cookie bliss lasted all but few seconds as my rambunctious crew of boys came barreling into the kitchen to taste the new cookie creation. Being a mom, I decided they didn’t really need to know what kind of cookie this was, other than the simple chocolate chip kind. Never mind that I used healthier sugar and freshly ground hard red wheat flour to boot! No one had a clue! Mission accomplished.

Yes, you CAN have your cake and eat it too…… or cookies for that matter! The possibilities are endless!