One Step at a Time

I watched an interview with our new Miss America the day after she was crowned, and found deep encouragement in her words. Mallory Hytes Hagan was Miss New York 2012 before she won MA. She moved to New York 5 years ago from Alabama with nothing but $1000 in her bank account. She was actually a waitress while she was competing for Miss New York. She had some good advice about college that has encouraged me that I'm on the right path in regards to my higher education.
"It’s okay for you to take time to figure out what your passion’s going to be. And education is extremely important but let’s make sure that you’re going to school for what you want to do and that you have a passion for what you are doing”

Perfectly said, Mallory. If I could give advice to any high schoolers who are unsure about what path after high school, it would be this: take it one step at a time.
I don't know what my major will end up being, or when I will achieve it. There is such pressure to jump right into a major university setting when a lot of us aren't ready and are unsure of why we are there. I feel such peace knowing that I'm not on a time crunch to make a rash decision.
With my ultimate purpose in life to fulfill Gods plan for my life, I found that I had to let go of my obsession with finding MY perfect college, and meditate on what Gods perfect plan says of my future.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:2 ESV)

Miss Keller 2013

To keep up with me during my new reign, please follow www.misskelleramerica.blogspot.com

I PROMISE I WILL POST ANOTHER RUBIES POST ONCE I FINISH MY COLLEGE APPS :) stay tuned!

Something's fishy...

My dinner!
Thought I'd share this dish I made that I'm rather proud of.
Spicy cod filet with okra, tomato and onion on top of brown rice pilaf.
I baked the cod wrapped in tinfoil with some peppers and onions plus spices.
The okra and tomato topping for the rice was okra, tomatoes, onion and jalapeños sautéed in a pan.

In the spirit and theme of "fishy"....

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. (Mark 1:17 KJV)

Will you drop everything and follow him?

Respect, Class, and a Chicken Sandwich.

All this talk about chick-fil-a is starting to get really nasty, and honestly I am appalled by the way the national conversation about this has become a national argument. It is arguments like these that have divided our nation.

We live in a broken, sinful, world. While I do have my personal opinion about the situation, in the end I know that I am not of this world, and I am not called to love the sins and temptations of it.
What I AM called to do is: Love God and let his will be done in my life, and share God's love and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all.
I believe in the love story that God has written for us.
The bible is a not only a guidebook but a story of God's pursuit of the hearts of the human race. And our constant ignoring of a loving father who sends his son to overcome death so with faith in him we can be saved and transformed.

A lot of people have been offended by Dan Cathy's comments about his beliefs and faith, and opinions.
Others have been offended by the backlash against his statements and business.

I am proud of the rights we have as American citizens to use our freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly (among others).

Both sides of this argument have fully used these rights, and I will fight for the right for any group to protest, voice their opinions, or worship whatever they please, so I can retain my rights to do so as well.

The main things that are lacking in this controversy is RESPECT and CLASS.
Respect for Dan Cathy's RIGHTS of speech and religion.
Respect for the LGBT community's RIGHTS of speech, and to protest or to boycott if they want.

Can we please inject some class into the conversation, and stop name calling? Using derogatory terms toward The LGBT community, or terms like "bigot" and "homophobe" all hurt the same... And only pour salt in wounds.

Words can be healing, or dividing. And right now what our country needs is healing, and something to remind us that our differences don't have to tear us apart. In order to keep America strong, we need to be united as a nation, not divided by economic class, political parties, or gender. Differences don't have to be divisive, instead they can be the very glue that holds us together.







I encourage an intellectual and civil conversation on the issues at hand, because I believe that is the only way this issue can be solved.

Raw goodness

The past few weeks I've been experimenting with raw veganism. No, it's not a cult. My best friend was a vegetarian for a year and chose to cross over to raw veganism. Basically, the diet consists of eating pure, uncooked fruits, veggies and nuts. I was not consistent on this, I tried my hardest to see the benefits that my friend experiences from it with an open mind. As a pageant girl, fruits are something that are kind of demonized when in preparation of a diet regime to get in shape, merely because they are high in sugar, and sugar can be the cause of weight gain in a lot of circumstances. What's so interesting about raw vegan is that over half of your diet relays on fruit in a given day. We'd have fruit smoothies with kale, watermelon, plums, berries, and normally a huge salad for dinner. And dessert was probably the biggest surprise of them all to me. FIG AND DATE PIES. Guilt free. The crust was walnuts, almonds, dates and coconut oil. Filling was purred fresh figs, dates, and agave nectar. Paired with coconut milk, it was probably the most satisfying dessert ever, because I knew exactly what I put in it was fresh.

THE CONSENSUS
this diet is a cleanse diet, and while I can't say that I'm completely a raw veganist now, I definitely have a new understanding that pure food is the best food, and all the added chemicals and preservatives that we consume in a day really do drag us down.

THE CHALLENGE
try one or two raw vegan recipes, or one day eating a fully raw vegan diet, plan out your meals for the day, and if anything, do it for the cleanse, because Your body will thank you for it.

Summer Shares!

Here are some cute must have items for summer: via Modcloth!

I'm loving the wide array of swimsuits were seeing this year from one piece, one shouldered, and high waisted!
Also swingy dresses as well as simple shift dresses with funky assessories!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Oh pinterest!
I modified a recipe for Zucchini fries because I REFUSE to eat breadcrumbs.
So here's a heart healthy recipe for your fry fix:

1/2 cup oatmeal ( quick, old fashioned or rolled)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated ( or substitute wheat germ/ crushed almonds)
1beaten egg with water
Spices of your choosing ( I used crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning)

Turn your oven onto 425
Throw your oatmeal into a food processor and process until it looks like a coarse flour. Add cheese ( or substitute ), and spices and process untill dispersed.
Lightly coat a cookie sheet with olive oil .
Set up your coat station with strips of your zucchini and two separate bowls for your beaten egg and oatmeal crumbs. Dip zucchini in egg, then coating, and place on pan. When done bake 10-15 mins , flip, then another 10-15. Enjoy with marinara sauce or tzatziki sauce. ( a cucumber yogurt sauce)


Hope y'all enjoy this, I LOVE baking things coated in oatmeal.