Peanut butter Bars

One of my favorite past-times is cooking (especially baking). I love finding new recipes and trying them out. So the other day I found this recipe and thought I would share it.
But first just a little bit about cooking in Kenya.
Living in Kenya has taught me to cook in a whole new and different way. For instance when I am looking for a new recipe I have a check list I go through before I decide if I am going to make it.
1) does it look good?
2) can I get the ingredients here? (like chocolate chips you can't get here)
3) if I can get it, is it too expensive? (like cream cheese, you can get it but it is really expensive)
These are just some things I think through when I am going to make something; and this recipe was perfect. I love that it is just a little more complex, because it makes it fun...
So here is the recipe... Note: it is not original with me, I found it on the internet (http://triedandtriedagain.blogspot.co.ke/2011/06/school-lunch-peanut-butter-bars.html)

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C Flour

1¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¾ C Butter

¾ C Sugar

¾ C Brown Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split)

2 Eggs

1 ½ C Quick Oats

Frosting:

½ C Butter (1 stick)

3 ½ C Powdered Sugar

2 T Cocoa

¼ C Milk (I use whatever I have in the fridge)

1 tsp. Vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated.Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

The frosting is a two step process. First, whip the remaining ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy. Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.

Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened. Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.

I lined the pan with wax paper...best decision I ever made. Made the bars come out really easily and it made clean up "a piece of cake".

I loved that I could cut them into whatever size I wanted. It made them stretch so everyone could at least have one if not three.

Ahhhh, all that was left... but not for long...

By: Emily Swain

Tea and Followship!!

We had the ladies from Lighthouse Baptist Church come over for a Tea and Fellowship. We had around 11 ladies and 10 kids. The kids were going crazy. So when Mrs. Canedy (our visiting speaker) was going to speak We (Em and I) took all the kids out side on the pouch to play quietly. It wasn’t very quiet, at lests to me it wasn’t.

Isn't this a nice, sweet picture?
Don't be deceived, Amber was complaining how she can't take a picture with Josiah, a boy!  

I was very thank for this make-shift jungle-gym!



Can you guess what Amber is saying?

They found two baby lizards and we got the kids a big plastic jar to put them in. Levi didn’t want to touch them and he killed one in the process. All I could think was I was an accessory in a murder. How many years do you get for that?  Finally they got the other one in there and then I told them to get some grass and dirt and put it in there. Later I found the little girls dropping rocks into it. All I could think then was, two murders in one day, Nice.  Don’t worry guys, He didn't die.

Isn't he cute!!

Putting the grass in...

Amber holding him

 .     After the lizard lost their fascination Emily had a grand idea of going on a “Hike” (Walking around the house). :o) They loved it!!           

Look at how cute this is!! Stacy and Amber holding hands!

Cuteness

Playing on the swing

I love those smiles <3

Muffins!!
And yes, most of it ended up on the floor, but that is why we have dogs... 

 Talking about muffins, lets move inside and get some.

Ahh, Don't they look good?
They were!

 Mrs. Rains made zucchini and carrot muffins. I only had the carrot muffins, and they were perfect, just what a carrot muffin should be. With every thing in them but the kitchen sink! :o) 

Doesn't that table look nice?

The Ladies

 After everyone else left we let the dogs out with the Rains kids.

Amber petting Kwanza

Andrew playing with Kwanza's tail! :o)

 Thanks for joining me for the day! Hope you had as much fun as the kids!!



By Sara Anne

Game Day

So a couple of Saturdays ago we helped with a game day at one of the churches in the Thika area. We had lots of fun watching the kids play games and have fun. One new thing we did this time was do a craft with the kids. For these kids it was a new experience and they had a lot of fun doing it!

By: Emily Swain

Making Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

©       Hot Water –you can heat it up either in the microwave and be really high tech or you can do it the old fashion way by putting a pot on the stove. It’s all up to you! :o) 

©       Cocoa powder- I would use Cadbury, but my American friend who cannot get Cadbury, have to use what they have on hand. Which is Hersey or Nestle. Poor Americans we are thinking of sending chocolate aid to them.

©       Coffee- This is optional and you can either stir it in or sprinkle it on top at the end.

©       Ice Cream- I used vanilla but you could use coffee, peppermint, chocolate, or any other flavor that just flips your gizzard. Let your imagination run wild with all the flavors!

©       Spices- I used ginger, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, black pepper, and nutmeg. But you could use whatever spices you want. This is not optional by-the-way.

©       Other things you could add- nuts, a peppermint stick, drizzled chocolate or Carmel, marshmallows, sprinkles, your significant other (if you’re married), Christmas music, and a Christmas tree!

Now quick make some for yourself and relax!! <3

Side Note: You may have notice that there is no sugar or milk in the recipe. That is because the ice cream should cover all those areas! Enjoy!! :o)

By Sara Anne

 

Making Wise the Simple

 

Jeremiah 1:6-9 “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”

When God came to Jeremiah and told him he was going to make him a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah told God that he was a child. I remember a preacher once saying that Jeremiah may have been in his late teens. Even thou Jeremiah could have been around 17 years old, God desired to used him to preach to the nation of Israel.

 

  I remember being 13 and being scared to talk to people when I went out soul winning. I felt I was too young, no one would respected me, and no one would listen. One day I read those verses in Jeremiah and claimed them as a promise from God that he would use me and speak through me.

Last year in August we had a discipleship seminar. At the end of the week they asked those to raise their hand who would commit to doing the discipleship with people for the next five years. Not wanting to be the only one not raising my hand I put my hand up, but in my mind I was thinking how can I do this I am only 15. I don’t know that much of the Bible to sit down with someone and teach them. There are no teens younger then me at my church. If I did it I would have to disciple someone who is older than me. Nope, I am too young. I can’t start a discipleship with someone.  A few weeks later Emily, Ashlyn and I started disciplining four ladies attending our church, who by the way are all older then us.    

Psalm 19:7b “…the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

Emily, Ashlyn and I were out soul winning one week when a lady asked us how old we were. We then told her our ages. Looking at us very surprised she said, “I thought for sure you girls were at least in your mid-twenties. Not that you look that old but you act older.” I really believed that following God’s wisdom gives a young person maturity beyond his years. We are really not that mature! :o)

 

The proof  

Luke 5:4-11 “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

This passage reminds me that if you just simply obey Jesus, he will bless you abundantly! Simon Peter had been fishing at the best time, night and yet had caught nothing. Then Jesus tells him to go fishing at the worst time, during the day. I am sure Simon Peter was thinking that he knew better than Jesus how to fish, and yet he simply obeyed him. He put down his net and caught so much fish that his net broke. Then he had to ask help from a nearby boat and then both boats almost sank. When he got back to land he forsook all and followed Jesus. We should remember that God often has greater blessings in store for us than we imagine, if we simply do what He says.

Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Chapter two of the book of Acts explains that one day Peter preached about Jesus, and three thousand people decided to believe on Him as their Saviour. What Jesus had planned for Peter was amazing! It was better than Peter could have imagined!

Now for all those teens out there, Jesus wants to surprise you with the blessings He has in store for your life. He wants to bless you more than you can imagine. He wants to use you more than you would understand. But His ability to bless you begins with your decision to obey.

By Sara Anne   

Life in Kenya - Rats

I'm sure you all have had your trials with rats too, but something happened this morning that was just a little interesting.
This morning I got up before the sun. Mom had a class this morning so she was up too. We were drinking our coffee in the Kitchen when we noticed something strange. I noticed that Kelele (our dog) was looking up and I mean up. He was looking towards the roof and not towards me... I was so offended. Being curious I turned on an outside light to see what he was looking at. Mom said he must be looking at a lizard on the wall. He wasn't... as I looked I realized there was a rat on a gate outside just out of Kelele's reach. A Rat!!! Mom and I were astonished, shocked, and disgusted all at the same time. This posed a problem Mom wanted to start the laundry but she didn't want to pass the rat. I personally wanted to close all the doors and windows and prevent the rat from coming into the house. When Dad woke up he went out to investigate. By that time the rat had disappeared and even though we had both man and dog on the case nothing could be found.


I couldn't find a camera so I had to use my computer. In the black circle is the rat. Just so you get an idea of where it was. 

By Emily Swain

P.S. There is a new picture in "Only in Africa". Check it out!

Count Your Blessings

   This has been a terrible, yet awesome, and an always to be remembered week! Terrible because my mom has had to spend most of it in the hospital. Awesome, because through it my faith and dependence on God has been strengthened, my prayer life, and more of an appreciation for the blessings I do have...for each one of my  family members, especially.

    I have a tendency  to go through life not focusing on my blessings but everything that's going "wrong." I see it as wrong but really, God sees it as perfect, for His way is perfect. I have to remind myself over and over of Romans 8:28 -"...all things work together for good to them that love God..." More often then I want to admit do I fail to put my trust in this truth and that's when I start going down the path of worrying and focusing on the bad...but that's where this week has made me go back to 2 Cor 12:9, over and over again -  "...My grace IS sufficient for thee..."
 Relying on this truth has made it come alive for me.

Mom is back home now!!! :-) She still has a ways to go to be completely recovered, so please, keep praying for her! That's another thing, thanks so much to all who have been praying! It helps so much to know their are others holding us up in prayers...and that we have a God who never ceases to hear and answer those prayers as He sees fit!

By - Ashlyn Elaine

 

"Make Me to be feeble, Lord"

Finding me enchanted now
By all this worldly dust
Seeing that I'm striving, Lord
For things that only rust,
Captivate my scattered thoughts
Transfix my gaze on thee,
Cause me to be poorer, Lord
That Thine the glory be.


Trembling for the future's store
Not trusting in Thy grace,
Fearing what Thy will might be
I dare not seek Thy face,
Drown my fears within the depths
Of love Thou hast for me,
Cause me to be trusting, Lord
That Thine the glory be.


Serving Thee by my own might 
When I'm to weak to stand,
Trusting still in all my strength
And not Thy mighty hand,
Empty me of all my pow'r
And fill the void with Thee,
Make me to be feeble, Lord
That Thine the glory be.


Ev'ry time Thou givest strength
I claim the praise as mine,
Stealing glory for myself
When honor should be Thine,
Mortify my prideful heart
To give all praise to Thee,
Make me to be humble, Lord
That Thine the glory be.


This poem is one of my favorites to read over and over, because it often describes my life and way of thinking. All the verses have something I need to work on, but If I had to pick a verse that convicts me the most it would be the first.
 "Captivate my scattered thoughts, Transfix my gaze on Thee."
  So often my thoughts scatter all over the place and what I need is a good transfixing. To get them back to where they need to be...on God.
Then the phrases  "worldly dust" and "things that only rust" to think these are the descriptions of what I so often scatter my thoughts on and seek after. 

I know God gave us this world to live in and enjoy but it's when I'm enchanted in the creation more than in the creator that my thoughts need some transfixing. 

By - Ashlyn Elaine (writing this as I eat one of my -many-  favorite things...oreos! Maybe, I need my mind transfixed back to vegetables;-)

Our Mother's day photo

The Greatest Woman I know

Happy Mothers Day!

We LOVE You!!!

I always wanted to be a pink giraffe...

A good guide line to follow ;o)

We, MKs, love African animals especially giraffes! Ashlyn always reminds me of them, both are tall, graceful, have a hard time gaining weight, and always have their heads in the clouds (Get it...?)! Giraffes are really cool animals. Did you know that the “giraffe has intrigued various cultures, both ancient and modern, for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons?” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe) “Well, you know it now, and don’t you forget it.” (Odyssey) In this blog I would like to answer the three most commonly asked questions about giraffes.  1. Where is there habitat? 2. What is their physical characteristics? And 3. What is there diet? I hope you will learn a little more about these amazing animals. 

  

Giraffes lives in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. But they do best in dry savannah areas like Kenya! So yes we do enjoy seeing them around here. The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. (Pretty much all of Africa)

Fully grown giraffes stand 16–20 feet tall, with males taller than females. Just think a giraffe can look into a second-story window without even standing on his tippy-toes! :o) The average weight is 2,628 lb for an adult male and 1,825 lb for an adult female. (Ooh, I think someone needs to join weight watchers!) Despite its long neck and legs, the giraffe's body is relatively short. Some people think that the back legs look shorter than the front legs, but they are about the same length.  Located at both sides of the head, the giraffe's large, bulging eyes give it good all-round vision from its great height. Giraffes see in color and their senses of hearing and smell are also sharp. One time someone told me that a giraffe can have half of his body sleeping at one time, and the other half keeping watch. This animal can close its muscular nostrils to protect against sandstorms and ants. The giraffe's tongue is about 20 in long. It is purplish-black in color, some people say it’s to protect against sunburn, and is useful for grasping foliage, as well as for grooming and cleaning the animal's nose. (Now don’t you wish you had that ability?)  The lips, tongue, and inside of the mouth are covered in papillae to protect against thorns. (Very handy, since they eat trees and bushes with thorns.) The coat has dark blotches or patches, which can be orange, chestnut, brown, or nearly black in color separated by light hair usually white or cream in color. Male giraffes become darker as they age. The coat pattern serves as camouflage, allowing it to blend in the light and shade patterns of savanna woodlands. While adult giraffes standing among trees and bushes are hard to see at even a few feet away, when moving about to gain the best view of an approaching predator, they rely on their size and ability to defend themselves rather than on camouflage, which appears to be more important for calves.

 Giraffes mainly eat leaves off of trees, or twigs. Mimosa and acacia trees are their favorite but they also eat from over 100 other varieties of plants and trees. They eat shrubs, grass, and berries. And when stressed they can eat the bark off of trees. Although herbivorous, giraffes are said to be known to visit carcasses and lick dried meat off bones. Their long necks make it able to reach high branches that are out of reach for other animals. Also they can use their long necks to eat things down low. (Pretty much, they have the best of two worlds) They can eat hundreds of pounds of leaves a week; however, they don’t drink a lot of water. Most of their water that they get is from the moisture of the plants they eat. Their drinking processes looks really funny, kind-of-like the splits. They spread out their legs and then bring their head down to drink. This is dangerous for them because crocodiles could easily attack them in this vulnerable position.

See what I mean giraffes are cool. They live in Africa, they look so tall and graceful, and they eat a very nutritious diet. How many of you have all of those things going for you?

  

                               What Giraffes tells us about themselves:

They have amazing tongue skills

I mean it...look at him and his tongue!

This one gets the grand award of the Best tongue

They are very cool!

Every one loves them! Have you ever seen a more happier sloth?

They are very photogenic! 

They are everywhere...I mean everywhere!!

By Sara Anne

Suzy"s Birthday and a trip to Nairobi

in her new birthday dress

My youngest sister turned nine this last week! 
I remember going to meet her for the first time at Nairobi hospital nine years ago. 
She chose to celebrate by going out for Ethiopian food...I enjoyed that choice!;-) Ethiopian food is one of our favorites. 

eating cake and ice cream

Tuesday we girls  and Zach went to Nairobi for the day, since all the guys were on their Safari. So while the guys were busy, tired and sweating climbing Mt. Logonot, we girls were eating pizza and shopping.;-) 
Taylor even got to try something he had never tried before , and that was falling into quick sand waist - deep, on their hike.;-)  He probably would have rather done without that experience.
Anyway, we had fun and so did the guys.
By - Ashlyn Elaine

We are still working on trying to get them to smile at the camera

3 Mksketeers

Some awesome looking, young ladies;-)

I love Suzy's face...not sure if that is a 'like the Pizza" face