Choose Fill Yourself with Goodness

After I had my third child, I started to notice that certain foods didn’t agree with me. Fast forward three years and now I have a laundry list of foods I can’t eat. For someone like me who loves to bake and eat (and I love to eat!), this isn’t too convenient. I can still eat bacon and most chocolate, so I’ll survive. I certainly had a lot of adjusting to do but I’ve managed to substitute almost everything. I have a great granola bar recipe now! Ultimately, I needed to learn what was and wasn’t good for me all over again.

The whole experience triggered a new way of thinking. I wasn’t a box-reader before but now, after learning that soy is in nearly every packaged food, I read everything carefully. The slightest failure means an unhappy night and next day. So, now that it matters so much, I watch what goes into my body carefully. (If this is familiar to you, you might like to know I learned to follow the FODMAP diet. For me, this plus avoiding eggs does the trick.)

Do we watch what goes into our minds? If some of the shows on these days tried to pass decades ago, there’s no way they’d be aired. While the quality has obviously improved with technology, look back on the content of shows and movies and even books over the last few decades. Looks like we’re being desensitized generation at a time. Abortion was unheard of except in extremely rare cases, but now it’s part of ‘reproductive rights.’ Sex wasn’t mentioned on family shows, but now it’s in elementary curriculum in some places (here’s one disturbing example) as a form of ‘expression.’ Religion was allowed in schools so long as other religions who wanted to participate could, but now it’s forbidden. Will my grandchildren be taught any morals outside of our family?

I’m not innocent by any means. I’m a fan of Marvel, Star Wars, and a few anime shows. I try to emphasize the good hero themes and point out the hidden (sometimes unintentional) prolife values being displayed. I used to watch other shows, let’s just say darker, but I realized finally that God was asking me to stop watching them. I did and I’ve had to share that with my kids when they ask if we’re going to watch it anymore. I’m listening to more Catholic radio and podcasts too. It’s all a work in progress.

Christianity is making some strides in the media and entertainment worlds with movies like God’s Not Dead, shows like The Chosen, podcasts like Bible in a Year, and fantastic radio stations like The Station of the Cross or KLove, but we’ve got a long way to go. So how can we help curb our own mental diet so we avoid getting trapped in the mainstream rush?

We need to look at what we put into ourselves in order to better to control what comes out of us in word, action, and even judgment. It’s not what goes in but what comes out that defiles a person (Matthew 15:11), but we should start by filling ourselves with the good message! (Philippians 4:8) Let’s get back to the Gospel, back to righteous content, and back to God’s Will for our lives. We can’t be holy if we’re filled with vulgarity and lude humor. We can’t be holy if we’re letting ourselves be entertained by demonic themes and twisted lifestyles. Let’s continue to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24) toward goodness, Godliness, and reject the bad and the unholy. Start with ourselves, our family, our friends and neighbors, and eventually our lights will attract more. Remember, Jesus started with twelve.

Hey, just for kicks, I’ll throw in the granola bar recipe. It’s quite tasty and can be adjusted for your own dietary needs. Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups oats
• ½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
• ¼ cup butter (1/2 stick)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¾ cup TOTAL of any extra ingredients (fruit like raisins or craisins, nuts, chocolate chips, mini candied marshmallows, etc.)

{Note on nuts: If you have plain nuts and want them toasted, they may roast differently than the oats, so watch for that. If the nuts you want to add are already roasted, you can just add them later with the ‘extras.’ They do mix better when crushed but it's up to you.)

{Note on heavy-handedness: I tend to overdo my extras in cookies, but this will throw your ratio so be careful or you won’t have enough sauce to cover the mix!)

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Line tray with parchment paper. Roast oats (and nuts if desired) for 8-12 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Add honey, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until melted. Let bubble evenly for one minute while stirring. Remove from heat.
4. Pour oats and nuts into a large bowl.
5. Stir vanilla into the saucepan, then pour the sauce into the bowl with oats. Mix evenly.
6. Mix in extras *except* chocolate (unless you want to melt it, your choice). Wait 15 minutes to add chocolate chips.
7. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper (I love the stuff)
8. Pour mix into the pan. Use another sheet of parchment to press mixture firmly and evenly into the pan. (I reuse the parchment paper from the baking sheet.)
9. Freeze for at least 2 hours.
10. Take out when ready and let come to room temperature before cutting.
11. Store in air-tight container.

Tips: add a touch of maple syrup to the sauce to make them softer. Not enough sauce to dry ingredients makes them crunchier and they may crumble. Experiment with your favorite flavors! I love dark chocolate and sea salt with almonds! You can even add a touch of peanut butter.