Honey Graham Crackers {No Sugar!}

Finding healthy, yummy and easy to eat snacks for toddlers is not easy. At least not for me. It's hard for little ones to eat veggies (and honestly, they just aren't that filling!} Fruit is good, but not for every snack. And when I read the ingredients on most boughten snacks I just feel like an awful Mom to feed it to my kids very often. I start imagining what all that sugar and preservatives, not to mention high fructose corn syrup, is going to do to their little systems and I can hardly give it to them!

So yesterday I decided to just try to get a little more creative. I have made Graham Crackers before, but they're not much healthier than a cookie. So I decided to be brave and try to replace all the sugar with good, raw honey. And all the white flour with whole wheat.

And they turned out!! I was so excited. :)

I think it's all the butter that makes these so perfectly good. They have such a mellow, buttery, healthy flavor that is completely yummy. I cannot wait to try them with a marshmallow and some chocolate. Maybe even homemade marshmallows. :)

So, without further ado, here is the recipe. {adapted from Brown Eyed Baker at: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/homemade-graham-crackers-recipe/

Honey Graham Crackers

Yield: about 20 crackers - Prep time: 2 hours, 20 minutes - Cook time: 15 minutes 

You will need:

2 7/8 cups Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 cup Butter, room temperature

3/4 - 1 cup Honey

Directions:

Mix the Flour, Baking Soda and salt together in a medium sized bowl.

Cream the Butter and Honey together with an electric mixer {I used the dough attachment on my blender} for about 2 minutes, or until it's nice and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just well blended, right around 30 seconds.

Put the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours. It will keep for up to 5 days.

When you are ready to bake the crackers preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a couple cookie sheets.

 On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to 1/8" thickness.

 Cut them out in any shape you like. {this is the fun part!} 

Even little Kade was in on the fun!

I love this dough because there is no eggs and I let the kids eat lots of it. It makes baking so much more fun! :)

Make sure you space the cookies at least 3/4" from each other on your cookie sheet. I sprinkled them lightly with Raw Sugar, just because it makes them look pretty. Cinnamon and Sugar would be good too. Prick them with a fork for a more authentic look.

Bake for 15 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown. You don't want them to get dark around the edges. Let them cool slightly and then put them on a cooling rack. Make sure they are completely cool before you store them in an air tight container. Enjoy!

The kids and I had so much fun making these together! :)

So yummy with coffee!

Happy Memorial Weekend to you all!

I would love to hear how you like these and about any variations you came up with. :)

God bless you. <3

Purpose {Mother's Day Week Musings}

I had a terrible, grouchy, nothing-went-right day this week. Needless to say, it was not fun. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The kids were naughty and grouchy, I was halfway through making a meal and realized I didn't have the ingredients, I hit my head so hard it ached all day...and on and on and on. I dropped things and hit things and ran into things and got mad at things...you get the picture. I would not wish it on anyone. I was so glad when the day was over.

When I woke up the next morning I was so horribly, awfully ashamed of myself. How could I have let a few {ok, a bunch} of things get me down? I had not chosen joy, I had not chosen God, I was grouchier than the kids and in all honesty, it was quite mortifying to me. There is so much shame in falling short of our own standards ~ let alone God's desires for us. I thought about it a lot all day and knew that I must never let a day like that happen again. I felt God showing me that it is totally possible to choose joy. And I purposed to do that all day, and every day.

And then I read a blog written by a childhood friend whom I have not seen for years and years. And although her post was not specifically about purpose, there was a paragraph that stood out to me.
She basically said she lives her life by the conviction that life is God's gift to her and her response is living a life as a gift for others. {You can read her blog here:  http://charitymaurerblog.com/uncategorized/a-big-announcement-for-cmp-introducing-new-team-member-april/ ~make sure you check out her *amazing* photography!!}

And I was like wow. What purpose!! I need that in my life! And so this is a challenge - a challenge to me and to you-: Every day, have a purpose. And cling to that purpose. And live by that purpose. And think by that purpose. Have purpose, always.

Because of the stage of life I'm in, my purpose will be a relationship with God that pours into my relationship with my husband and children. We can purpose to not have regrets down the road when our children are grown. It is so easy to get caught up in the every day mundane. To do laundry and dishes and floors and dress kids and read Bible Stories with your mind on everything but tending your little "olive plants". What if I added purpose behind each of those? The results would be amazing!

And just having purpose for a day...purpose to blow bubbles, purpose to clean a room, purpose to memorize a verse or try a new recipe or have an all day "I love you" text campaign for your husband. Baby steps in purpose...some days I think that's just what it takes!

I wrote this on my chalkboard cupboard door, because what is better than having inspiration popping out at you all day? :) My chalkboard font skills aren't that great, btw.

What is your purpose?