Chocolate Cake

Homemade chocolate cake is hard to make. 

I mean it isn't really, but it's hard to find a recipe that is moist, flavorful, not tough, but not crumbly. 

I'm normally not even a cake fan, but I love this cake. I like to eat it without frosting, just pure chocolate cake! 

I got this recipe from a missionary here in PNG, and she got it from her mother, who got it from a magazine...so if you're reading this recipe, and it's your recipe, I thank you for putting this delicious recipe in a magazine many years ago! 

Mix dry ingredients, then wet. Combine ingredients, and beat for 3 minutes. 

Pour into a greased and floured 9" pan or into cupcake cups.  Bake in a 325° oven for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. 

I honestly believe the secret to this cake's moistness, richness, and over all deliciousness is the coffee. I've tried making it with just water, or milk, or even hot water, and it just isn't the same. 

One thing I did learn last time I made this recipe is that the batter must be baked immediately. My oven was full, and I wasn't able to bake my cupcakes immediately. The cupcakes still tasted great, but the cake was a bit crumbly, and would not have been firm enough to frost. I am not sure why this is the case. If you know why, let me know, please!

Amber Wells
Papua New Guinea
🇵🇬

God's Provisions

We are currently on furlough and it is difficult to find the time to write blog posts as I would like.  God is teaching me and reminding me of so many lessons during this time.  Today, I thought I would share one of them with you.     

There has been a circumstance in my family recently that has driven me to my knees.  I have shared at my personal blog before, that one of the things I have struggled with as a missionary is not “being there” or being able to provide some things for my kids.  This hasn’t lessened since my kids have left the nest.  In fact, in some regards, it has been a little more difficult.  

During a recent situation with one of my children, I found myself wondering what God might be up to.  One thing I did not do was doubt that He had a plan.  I’ve seen Him work too many times to doubt Him and what He was doing.

As in the past, I’ve seen God work in a miraculous way.  I’ve seen Him provide in ways that it could have only come from Him.  I have found once again that I can trust God to care for my children.  He loves them far more than I ever could.  He has everything under His control.  I can rest in the fact that He will always do what is best.  

My heart is overflowing with praise as I write.  My faith has once again been strengthened.  

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him…”  ~Psalm 37:7

*The photo is from my favorite place near my home in Japan.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Olive Garden salad.... why is it so delicious? It’s pretty simple as far as salads go: no fancy lettuce or exciting toppings. But that dressing sends it over the top!

I made this dressing all the time (until we started deputation, and then I found out Olive Garden sold the dressing at Walmart. We always had a bottle in our RV fridge 🙂). Now that we are in PNG with no Walmarts around, this recipe is quickly becoming a favorite again. 

This recipe is so easy! Just throw everything in a blender until the dressing is smooth and combined. It is also very easy to adjust to your tastes. If you like it a little thinner, add more oil. If you want it a little less tangy, reduce the vinegar by a tablespoon or two.  The dressing can be stored in the fridge for about 10 days. 

If you can’t find mayonnaise or corn syrup where you are, make your own! There is a recipe for mayonnaise on this blog already, and we have plans to do more “staples” and substitutes for ingredients (including corn syrup) here soon! In the meantime, you can use honey as a corn syrup substitute in this recipe. 

Stay tuned for more delicious copycat recipes. Let us know if there is a specific copycat recipe you’d like us to work on!

- Kayleigh Dye

Fajita Seasoning Mix

When I first started to cook, my parents gave me a day of the week to make dinner. That day was all on me, I could make whatever I wanted! Every single Tuesday I would get all excited and go through all of our cookbooks looking for a tasty new recipe to make. 

However 

I never made any of those. Why? Cause I was on Fajita kick. I made fajitas every single Tuesday for a couple of months. I loved them so much! I would roll out my tortillas, slice up the onions and bell peppers, and mix up a recipe of Fajita Seasoning Mix. A friend of ours from Montana had given us the recipe when we were on deputation, and I thought it tasted so much better than  the seasoning packets from the store. Plus, I'm a snob and I don't like using seasoning packets. 😬

Use this Fajita Seasoning to your own taste. Some like to add a lot, some like to add a little. It depends on what you're wanting. Normally one recipe makes 2-3 meals for my family of seven. 

I am so thankful my family didn't complain about eating the same meal every week! I still love Fajitas, but have learned that variety is a good thing. Right around the time I learned that my mom gave me more nights to make dinner.....hmmmm, maybe they were afraid I was gonna make fajitas several times a week!

Fajitas are a great low carb meal - you don't have to serve them on tortillas. Sometimes we just make the bell peppers, onions, and beef mix and then make a fajita salad out of it. We'll put salsa, or guacamole, or sour cream, or cheese, or all that! It makes a delicious salad! 

Fajitas can also be a great keto meal. Lower the amounts of bell peppers, onions, and salsa, and just up the amounts of guacamole, sour cream and cheese! 

We make this more when we first get back from town and have fresh veggies to make the salsa, and guacamole. 

You can also make your own sour cream by just adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (white or brown work too, but we get better results with acv) to a cup of full cream. We can't always get fresh cream here. Sometimes all that is available is shelf stable box cream. If you only have the shelf stable cream make sure you chill it before making it into sour cream. If the cream doesn't thicken, try adding a teaspoon more of vinegar. Chill and stir before serving.

I love making my own seasoning mixes because I know exactly what is in them. We do have some allergies in my family, so I don't have to worry about "small traces of" or the ingredients I can't pronounce or have no idea what they mean! 

Meeting Gladys Staines

   

     Recently, my youngest daughter and I were able to meet a gracious, humble missionary who has inspired people around the world. Gladys Staines made world news as the wife and mother whose husband and two sons were brutally murdered in January 1999 by extremists who were angry about the number of conversions to Christianity in their area. The Least of These is a movie made about the story of their ministry and the murder of her family members.  In February, it was released in US theatres and has since been released in theatres around the world.
     We saw her at an event where she spoke of her life and ministry. As Gladys spoke of how she was raised in her native Australia, she talked about how her mother read missionary stories to her. She loved the missionary stories; and after she became a Christian, God started working in her life and made it clear to her that He wanted her to become a missionary. She completed a degree in nursing; and after a few years of working as a nurse in different places around Australia, she went to India as a missionary. It was there that she met her husband, Graham, who was also Australian and serving as a missionary. They married, and together they served in a leper community in India.
     As the years passed, God blessed them with three children, Esther, Philip, and Timothy. Years later, as Graham and their two sons were returning from running a camp for tribal children, they camped out in their vehicle for the night. That night would be their last here on earth as they were burnt alive in their vehicle by an anti-Christian extremist group. Gladys then made headlines around the world, as she grieved and was questioned by the media; to the amazement of many, she said that she and her daughter had forgiven the perpetrators. The two then went on to serve five more years among the leprous people there in India, before returning to Australia.
     Her testimony touched us in many ways. One thing that she spoke about was sacrifice. She left her comfortable life in Australia to go to an impoverished, disease-ridden place. She also said, that a few weeks before her husband and sons died, she was reading about Abraham being willing to sacrifice Isaac. She said that it crossed her mind at that time, "What would I be willing to sacrifice?" That spoke to me, because though we may be willing to give up some comforts in this life, how would we respond to giving such an unfathomable sacrifice as Gladys gave or that Abraham was prepared to give. (Many of us have a hard time "sacrificing" any material thing that makes our life comfortable.) Gladys then spoke about forgiveness. While she was clear that the perpetrators should pay for their crimes as required by law, she gave many verses and said that, as Christians, we are called to forgive. Wow! Although we all know that, think about that coming from someone who must have had unimaginable grief at the thought of the suffering of her husband and two sons being burned alive. In her greatest sacrifice and grief, she responded with forgiveness. (Often, we find ourselves having a hard time forgiving pettiness that is part of our every day lives.)
     Finally, a quote that was from someone who was a missionary in India and someone whom Gladys had read about as a child. This quote stirred our hearts and puts perfectly into words something that I have been thinking much about and that should be taught to our children and youth groups. It applies to all Christians and is never too late to put into practice in our lives.                                                                        

A life totally committed to God has Nothing to fear, Nothing to lose, Nothing to regret.

~Pandita Ramabai

When Planning Steals Your Joy

 

Any planners out there?  I'm one.  I love to plan.  I have daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, yearly goals, ....  well, you get my drift.  When I worked outside my home, I'd go into the office before my classes began and make my "to do" list for the day.  And, I'd check it off as the day went on.  I'd also add to it as needed, because let's face it, there's always something else that needs to be done.

As a stay-at-home, home-school mom and wife in ministry, my life may be vastly different than before, but my to-do list still exists.  And, sometimes, I get up in the morning and am already tired just thinking about what I need to get done around the house, with Ethan and Emily's schooling, and in preparing for ministry.  And, sometimes, I'd go to bed at night frustrated because not much got checked off that to-do list that day.  Please tell me you can relate, right???

As I was having one of those days where the to-do list seemed to be getting longer but every interruption kept making me put it off and I just got overwhelmed, frustrated, and started having myself a little pity party.  So, you know what I did?  I sat down on the couch, grabbed my cell phone, and started scrolling through Facebook (spiritual, right?? productive, yes??).  Sometimes, that app makes things worse...but, on this day, I saw a blog and read it and it was just what I needed from God on that day:  a gentle reminder to "do the next thing."

Elisabeth Elliott returned to the field where her husband was killed with her small child and continued the ministry God had given them there.  When asked how in the world she did it--she answered, "I did the next thing." (You can read the entire post here: Interview with Elisabeth Elliott: Do The Next Thing).  It also reminded me that we can plan our ways, but the Lord directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9). 

My days are filled with home schooling responsibilities, household chores, preparing for ministry (usually children's lessons), and managing our home.  Our ministry is very busy with church services five out of seven nights, late nights, and unexpected needs.  There are times when I'm so focused on my to-do list that I forget about why and for whom I'm doing it.  When this happens, the most important thing to do--build relationships with my Savior, my family, and others--falls to the wayside and suffers.

This reminder has been a game-changer for me in my life.  I still make my lists sometimes, but I've stopped obsessing over it.  And, when I do get up in the morning and look around my house and hear my kids make their never-ending petitions and start getting overwhelmed, I remember, "Do the next thing..."

So, single mom trying to hold it all together: do the next thing.  Young wife, going to school, working, and trying to meet the needs of those around you: do the next thing.  Mom of four, five and under, trying to manage your home and meet the demands of those needy, little munchkins: do the next thing.  Pastor's wife, youth pastor's wife, layperson in ministry, when the planning and the weight of ministry overwhelm you: do the next thing. That next thing may mean playing a game with your child, washing dishes, planning a lesson, sitting with someone and drinking coffee, or taking a few moments out of your busy day to simply rest.  Don't be like I was (and still am many days...because I'm just clay being molded in the Potter's Hands...): don't let the tasks of the day steal the joy that day awaits to bring you.  Every day is a gift.  Every cookie baked, conversation had, dish washed, and meal put on the table is a gift given to us by our loving, Heavenly Father.  Resting in Him and allowing Him to guide our steps to complete the next thing He has for us, will bring a daily peace and joy in the mundane and ordinary.  So, make your to-do list if you must, but allow your mind and day to be directed step by step by simply doing the next thing, finding joy in each task and a peace resting in your Savior's strength to get everything accomplished.  And, remember, sometimes that "next thing" that you need to do isn't on that to-do list you've made, and that's okay. It could be divine appointments set up to make the ordinary day extraordinary.

God Goes Before

I’ve mentioned here before a Bible study I do that was introduced by Mardi Collier.  This study (What Do I Know About My God?) has had such an impact on my life.  This week as we had our first mission conference of furlough, I was drawn back to this study and witnessed first-hand as God took care of me and met my needs. 

My God cares for me.  “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”  ~ I Peter 5:7 

As we were headed out to our first conference, I must confess that I had lots of questions running through my head.  I had to confess the sin of anxiety for sure.  What would be expected of me?  Where would we be staying?  Sometimes it is difficult for me to sleep in a strange bed.  I have food allergies, so I wondered, would I be able to eat the food?

BUT…

My God goes before me.   “And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” ~Deuteronomy 31:8

I didn’t need to be anxious.  God reminded me once again that He goes before.  He knows my needs.  He cares personally for me.  

There were no overwhelming expectations of me at this conference and we had wonderful fellowship with the people of the church and the other missionaries.  We had a lovely place to stay and I had a great night’s sleep every.single.night.  The pastor’s wife and our hostess were very accommodating with my food allergies and I had more than enough food to eat!  

God is so good, but too often I forget.  I’m so thankful for the wonderful conference the Lord allowed us to participate in at the beginning of this furlough.  It was a special reminder from Him to me that He will take care of me.  

If you haven’t yet started your own knowing God notebook.  I would like to encourage you to do so.  It will help you to change the way you think during the everyday events of life.  

*photo is taken at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan