Smoraciously Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter S'mores

S'moralicous Chocolate PB Smore's Recipe

Ingredients

• As many as you want Graham Crackers
• Jar Peanut Butter (crunchy or smooth)
• Several Chocolate Bars
• Handfuls of Marshmallows

Cooking Directions

1. Get your graham cracker laid out with plenty o' peanut butter spread on one-half of it. We like ours spread about 1/4" thick - oh yeah baby!
2. Then get your square of chocolate bar placed perfectly on top of the PB without squishing it too much.
3. Next, roast your marshmallow to perfection and place on your chocolate. Top with the other half of the graham cracker and VOILA!!!! It is simply SMORACIOUS!!!!!

Mission Trip Fundraising Ideas using Facebook, Twitter & other Social Media

So our family has been on quite the journey over the last 6 years. We would have never in our wildest of dreams imagined that by 2013 we would have traveled to Africa 6 times, that 4 out of 6 of our family members would have gone multiple times and that we would have forever heartstrings with so many living there.

 And yet, here we are finding ourselves in just such a position. How on earth have we accomplished this? This is something we still frequently try to wrap our brains around. The first trip was a stretch in itself - sending off two of our precious cargo. The following year 3 of us would make the trip. The next trip we would make would have a total of 4 from our family packing our bags. As you can imagine these trips are not cheap, in fact they are VERY expensive. For each team member the cost is about $3,000. YOWZA!

Every step of the way God's fingerprints are ALL over it! I tell you, the impossible is possible if you are willing to step forward in faith. So that is Step #1 - seek God and ask where he wants you to move forward. Then comes the fun of seeing him show off!

Our family has done a variety of fundraising events:

• Garage Sales, Garage Sales & more Garage Sales
• Dance 4) Africa: Dance Lessons, Dessert & Silent Auction
• Coffee Bean & Cocoa Sales from 963 Coffee Project
• Car Washes
• Worship Night & Dessert
• Jewelry
• Handcrafted Bags
• Freezer Meals
• Scrapbooking Night

Recently my friend found this site and used it for her fundraising towards another mission trip. It popped up on my newsfeed on Facebook. Totally intrigued me, so I checked it out today. SO EASY!!!

Our family is down to the wire now - we still need to raise $2,500 in just 10 days (deep breath)  - so we really needed to find a quick and easy method to get the word out. This is perfect. GoFundMe.com created a way for us to share our story and need while they provide an online payment method with a minimal fee. Payment is available real time. You simply set up your account and they will post it to your social media and send it out to the email addresses you enter.

The amount of time it took for me to check it out and research it was more then it took me to set it up and have it posted on my Facebook account. If I had twitter and others that I currently used it would quickly link and promote on those as well.

Here is our account we set up with them: http://www.gofundme.com/3cnk9g

Check it out! And if you want to donate, we will take that too! :)

-Simply Sublime

Family Summer Challenge: DIY Bible Verse Pennant Flag Project

Can you hear the birds chirping? 

Can you smell the the flowers blooming?

Summer is upon us. 

It's the time of year we all look forward to when we can finally get our ahhhhhh on. 

Our schedules relax a bit.

The kids have their eyes fixed on one thing and that is to:

PLAY! 

As much as I am looking forward to this respite, I am also sensing an urgency to press in and grab a hold of God with every ounce of my being. A call to keep our family focused and centered on things with eternal value. This is what spurred on the concept of this project. 

It began with the idea of each family member picking a verse for our whole family to memorize together. My thought was we would memorize one verse a week. Then God gave me this great picture of the scriptures on a pennant flag garland. So as we each picked our verses I designed a pennant shape on my design software and placed the text along with the keyword each verse represented. 

Next I printed them out and cut them in actual size so I could trace them onto a white tea towel. You could use any fabric but I like the texture and rough edges of a washed tea towel. It gives it a lil' vintagey feel. 

I placed the computer printed paper under the tea towel and am tracing the text underneath onto the tea towel with a sharpie pen. Since this will not need to be washed I didn't need a fabric pen - just a regular sharpie pen.

As fabric moves and shifts there are bound to be imperfections but I like the character this adds. You will notice in the above photo the fabric is longer on top than the paper pattern - I was going to have it go over the top of the banner and around the back - but changed my mind (yeah - go figure) I later trimmed it to the same size as the paper. 

Voila - the scripture pennants are ready - now for the colorful backing addition.

Check out the scraps we have on hand, just waiting for a fun project like this.

Now for the difficult part, picking which fabrics you want to use with which verses, making sure they coordinate nicely on the garland. I used pinking shears (because I like the look) and trimmed the fabric about a 1/2" larger then the tea towel panels - except for the top where I had about 1.5 inch larger so I could fold it behind and create a pocket to run the twine through.

Sewing the white panel to the colored backing. 

Now it is time to sew across the top back of the flag so there is a secure place to run the twine through. 

Here they are all sewn ready to be strung.

 I decided to use natural twine. I played with the idea of ribbon, white rope...but decided these would pair nicely with the craft look of the finished product.

I used a safety pin in the twine so that I could easily move the twine through the back pockets of the pennant flags. 

and here they are all strung and ready to hang. 

We hung them in a doorway of our house where we will frequently be reminded to memorize away. The wee ones are SO excited they each have their verse they picked out on display for us to work on. They can't wait to begin.

The kids decided we will be starting with the flag on the right and work our way to the left. Don't even ask me, I have no idea and can't begin to tell you how much this goes against my personal wiring - but I LOVE that they are excited and have a plan for our family to work through this together. 

Hoping this little family project of ours inspires you to channel your inner creativity and make a fun family plan to keep God the focus as you rejuvenate over the summer. 

-Simply Sublime!

BEST & EASIEST Paleo Barbeque Side Dish: Grilled Veggie Kabobs

Since completing our June challenge of 7:Food month with some success, and great learning experiences, we have been trying to keep a clean & simple meal plan. We are trying hard to keep some forever change after our month of deliberate simplicity surrounding our food choices. 

Well, it is sunny out here in the Pacific Northwest, which is rare for June. With the sun comes get-togethers, barbeques, gatherings, festivities...ALL SURROUNDING FOOD! 

This particular weekend we had a family barbeque where burgers and big 'ole dogs would be fired up on the grill. Yummers and at the same time yuckers as the sides are so often the stick to your gut type of filler food. Since we were asked to bring dishes to share we decided on two: 1) grilled veggie & fruit kabobs & 2) my daughter Madison made this incredible triple layer chocolate dessert made with avocado, dates and more hidden deliciousness. (link will be provided when she gets it posted)

 The Kabobs were my work-my-fingers-to-the-bones contribution - haha. Hey, she loves to bake paleo desserts and I am SUPER-dee-duper, crazy, busy fundraising for our upcoming Africa trip. Don't be a judger!

I painstakingly chopped up the mushrooms, onions, zucchini, green bell pepper, red bell pepper. I also took the possibly-chop-a-finger challenge of slicing discs of corn on the cob. Oh, yes I did! And - wait for it.... I perfectly sliced each single piece of the pineapple for the sweet, tart addition that these veggie creations needed to create the perfect balance on each precisely and artistically placed skewer! Gotta love it, am I right?

Aren't they B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L???

and they were SO yummy.

I would have some lovely photos of the finished, oh-so-perfectly-grilled, product from our PART-AYYYY - BUT...

we had a wee lil bit of a crank-fest happening due to over-crowding on the host homes grill. Oops! 

For those planning to bring this as a gift-offering to a potluck barbeque... do yourself a favor and give advance warning to the Bar-B Chef, that is if you want to remain on the guest list for the next party.

These really were simple & delish. A MUST try! 

***If using wooden skewers make sure and soak them for a good hour before skewering. 

-Simply Sublime