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ATG Today – Review

This is a sponsored post – all opinions are my own.

ATGToday

About Awakening to God Today (ATG Today):

ATG Today is a devotional journal to help you enjoy your walk with God, with thanksgiving from your heart, everyday touches and prayers. Inspiration for 8 minutes with God at the start of your day, learning to hear His voice, memorize scripture, pray and journal. Lots of great ideas to build your faith, share scripture, encourage others and strengthen family devotions.

Basically, there’s a new verse each day, and there’s a journaling portion of the app for recording your thoughts/feelings/etc. each day. I’ve been using this app for a month now and it’s great to be able to easily look back and see what I’ve been learning this past month.

The creators of this app, Gerald & Jeannie Long experienced success and wealth based on the values of the world and also the deepest grief and suffering from the death of two of their three children.  On their journey, God has revealed His grace and glory to them in extraordinary ways.  In particular, they’ve experienced how God is able to redeem the most painful areas of our lives and turn them around for good.  Gerard has caught a deep awareness of eternity and Jeannie has experienced God’s presence and glory when she was close to ending her own life.  Their marriage has triumphed when all seemed lost and they’ve learnt invaluable lessons on their unbelievable journey.  And, they have a very clear message of God’s calling for each Christ follower to obey the Great Command and the Great Commission.

They created this app to inspire and encourage thousands of people in their walk with Christ.

Follow this link to find the app for  apple and android.

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Good2Grow Juice

Thanks to BzzAgent I (“I” being “the kids” since the kids actually drank them all and didn’t share with me) got to try a whole 6 pack of Good2Grow juice for free. They also threw in 3 extra bottle caps, which the kids just loved. Plus, there were coupons for a free refill pack with any individual bottle purchase, so I let each of the kids choose their own bottle at the store, then we shared the rest of our coupons with friends.

Want a chance for your own free juices? Click Here to enter their birthday party giveaway!

Good2Grow has an apple juice and a fruit and vegy juice. My kids loved both of them! The kids are picky about their fruit and vegy juice – they won’t drink V8 because it’s a little gritty – so I’m really happy to see them drink the Good2Grow juices. The juices are 100% juice so I know the kids aren’t getting a ton of sugar.

Plus, the tops are spill proof so if they sneak the juice off to their room I don’t have to worry about it spilling.

I just can’t give these to my 10 month old, the lid pops right off every time he throws it from his highchair – to be fair, I haven’t found a cup yet that fares well when he throws it, so he’s currently only allowed water when he’s eating.

Also, since Kroger sells them, and Kroger is my preferred grocery store, they’re super convenient for me to pick up for a picnic, party, or just a snack!

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Dutch Apple Pie

So, Cayenne pepper is my new favorite spice. I made an apple pie yesterday and I couldn’t resist using it. Before you think, oh, no!, spicy apple pie. Don’t worry, I didn’t use that much! I’ve discovered that a tiny amount of cayenne pepper adds flavor to sweet foods without being spicy.

I was making a dutch apple pie and when I went to make the crumb topping I discovered that I was out of brown sugar. The pie was already sitting in the pan ready to go and I really didn’t want to make a crust for the top. So, I improvised:

1 C Sugar
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/2 C shredded coconut
4T unsalted butter

Blend well and sprinkle on top. It was quite yummy! The pepper adds flavor without adding spice, and without it I think using the white sugar would have been a bit too bland for the top of my apple pie.

I also tried a new crust, which actually turned out! I have trouble with my crusts being too tough. I think I overwork them. Use oil instead of butter, so you mix it all together with a fork and then press it into the pan instead of rolling it out. My crust was actually flaky for once!


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Apple Pecan Cake

I tried out this cake recipe yesterday. Unfortunately, I sent it to work with my husband before I got a picture. However, it was delicious, easy to make, and contained all ingredients that I keep on hand so I’m going to post it without a picture.

I got this recipe out of this month’s Everyday Food magazine. This is my favorite cooking magazine. Most of the recipes contain ingredients that I can identify and the recipes are not too time-consuming to make. A must with little kids!

This recipe did use a large number of bowls, which my kids appreciated since they got to lick out every one of them 🙂

Apple-Pecan Cake

1/2 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
3/4 C pecans, chopped
2 1/2 C all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 C all purpose flour, and 1 C wheat flour)
2 t baking powder
1 t nutmeg (I did not add this – I don’t usually like the aftertaste of nutmeg)
1/4 t salt
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 1/3 C sugar
1 t orange zest
3 large eggs
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9in square pan. Line with parchment paper, butter parchment. In a med bowl, toss apple and pecans with 2 T flour to coat. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl, combine applesauce and yogurt.

2. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, and orange zest on high until light and fluffy, 3 min, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions applesauce mixture, and beat to combine. Fold in apple mixture. Transfer batter to pan and smooth top.

3. Bake until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 min. Using parchment, lift cake from pan. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.