Made with Love

I wanted to share a little more of my heart with you all today.

Something I noticed happening over this year was with all the craziness as mentioned in my previous post, was that cooking became a burden. It was just a chore I begrudgingly did because we needed to eat. I made THM treats so I could do my best to try to stay on plan, but it had lost it's joy.

Prior to my THM lifestyle change, I LOVED to bake. It was one of my love languages to my family. I would make fresh bread for my families sandwiches, breakfasts etc. Cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, muffins. I truly enjoyed making yummy foods for my family and I truly did it with love. Something therapeutic for me to feel the dough in my hands...my brain knows the food is done before the timer goes off....then watching their faces.....I love it all.

Then THM came in to my life. With my food intolerances I realized baking was going to be a huge learning curve now and I was really missing this area of my love language for my family. So, I dug in and played and experimented and guess what happened? Oil of Joy, my blog was born! I was having success, my family was enjoying my baked treats again and again I was making delicious things with love...and excitement!

Fast forward to 2015, such a hard year. I was in survival mode, which was appropriate for the time. I had to do what I needed to make it all work, and by the grace of God I did. But I am not there anymore. I am now free to enjoy making things with love once again, but I have realized that I am not. I am still making things because I have to, until this week. One evening this week I was just sitting and reflecting on the jobs that needed to get done around the house, making food was on that "job" list.

I wondered how it had become a job and not a love anymore, I realized that along the hard journey of this year, I had let that go but I want to reclaim it.

I want to encourage you (and me) to find the love of cooking and baking for your family, to spend the time not as a chore, but as an act of worship to the Lord, as an act of Love for your family and for yourself. When I make/bake THM foods for my family now, I know not only are they going to be satisfied by delicious flavors and happy tummies, but I am also nourishing their bodies. I also love and am so thankful I can be a full time mom. It's been a joy to be home with my children for these past 20 years! It's also so easy to feel like these daily tasks are meaningless, to not take pride in them or to just get them over with. However, I want to remind myself, I love to cook and bake. I love the creativity involved, the joy on their faces and the delicious sounds they make as they devour my latest creation.

Last night, before bed I was feeling inspired again, ready to enjoy the creative art of cooking and baking. I decided instead of just finding something to eat for breakfast, I would get up and create something delicious! I did.....I played with my S scone recipe and made cranberry orange scones with a protein london fog tea. It felt GREAT to enjoy the time in the kitchen, playing with ingredients, coming up with ideas. The house felt warm and the air smelled heavenly as they baked. Food really is one of my love languages, I am glad to have learned it in such a way as to heal and not harm my family.

Now it is time to start remembering why I cook and bake for my family. So it can be Made with Love.

With joy ~ Tina

PS - you can find that new addition to my scone recipe in the link above, I have added it as a variation to my original blueberry.