Joy from January

Winter days in Israel haven't been to cold for us. A typical day here are highs in the 50s to low 60s and normally a chance of rain. January and February are said to be the rainy months in the North to help nourish all the crops.  It is a good thing cause it provides us with lots of natural goodies!!! I have never had the experience to indulge in so many fruits and veggies. I have found that I love so many different natural foods while living here.

 What a delight it is to have strawberries in the winter :) Believe it or not, I've never tried a real coconut! I have been missing out!  Persimmon's have stole my heart with such a strong natural sweetener and lots of fiber! I wish I could bring them back to North Carolina!


Rainy season, in my opinion is a great excuse to stay inside and bake! Oh how I love to bake! My favorite thing to make is banana bread. I have tried five or six different recipes in the past four months. I recently found a delicious banana bread recipe from pinterest made with pure honey, applesauce, and lots of walnuts! The honey and applesauce really help keep the bread moist and last a little longer! Click here for the Banana bread recipe

I blame Thomas for the next recipe, although I secretly love them too!  Thomas got a craving to make some REAL DEAL cinnamon rolls;  The ones that take two hours just to let the yeast settle and the bread to rise (never knew it could make such a difference in taste); I'm talking cinnamon rolls you see in the bakery that you feel guilty for eating after you've indulged in a couple! haha... These are definitely a treat for occasions only! Believe it or not we only had a few and gave the rest to our neighbors and Thomas's teammates, who responded on a sugar high, "Thanks for the  wonderful cake!" haha... We loved baking these together!

A few other recipes I would like to share that I've found to be quick and easy.  Just click on the link below if your interested. Most of them are breakfast foods because that's my favorite meal to prepare :)

Banana Nut French Toast   On the top of the list for Thomas

Whole Wheat Pancakes    My personal favorite :)I add bananas to mine while they are cooking-delicious addition! You can also add a teaspoon of pumpkin spice (thanks ama)

Quick Skillet Whole Wheat Pizza    Another personal favorite and very unique!

Baked Bananas  Oh so yummy!

Baking Powder Biscuits  

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Crumble Topping 


Along with lots of baking I'm keeping up with my knitting as well :)  Now that I can actually knit without mistakes, I'm working on some "simple" headbands for little babies and kids at our church! I'm really looking forward to sharing them this Saturday :) My next goal is to tackle how to make button holes.