Rustic Pear Butter Quick Bread

Pears! Last week, a friend brought me two big bags of pears...which became my UF Homecoming day off project of peeling and chopping for cooking them down into pear butter. About 24 hours and 3 crock pots later, I had a yummy batch of pear butter...about a gallon and a half of it! Of course, I thought of it too late to pull some out as pear sauce to make the work go a little further in volume before letting continue to cook down...oh well...it's all delicious. 

Well, I've been getting some pinterest time in lately as a product of limited attention span when it comes to a 3-hour statistics course. In my latest browsing, I came across an applesauce bread. My first thought was that I could definitely adapt it to use some pear butter. So, here's how it turned out...a rustic quick bread that I would love to try in muffin form. I call it rustic because it just had that whole-oats look to it, and "rustic" just seemed to pop in my head. After consuming a test slice, then the slice and pear in the photo below...now I can share the creation with confidence. :) I'm sure it would be great with some additional pear butter spread on it, or made with any kind of fruit butter. Enjoy! 

Rustic Pear Butter Quick Bread
Slightly adapted from Lovely Little Kitchen
Yield: 4 mini loaves*

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
2 eggs
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups pear butter

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350'F. Prep mini loaf pans with non-stick spray or butter and flour.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours, leavening agents, salt, cinnamon); set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar and wet ingredients (oil, eggs, yogurt, pear butter, vanilla).
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just to combine.
- Drop batter into mini loaf pans to distribute evenly.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Cool and enjoy (or let it rest for a few minutes and then cut in to enjoy a warm slice). 

* I made two mini loaves and one larger loaf, but it definitely would have done well in 4 mini loaves. 

Obedience in Encouragement

"Obedience is never convenient." - Batterson

As I was reading the other day, I had to read this quote a few times...it was one I really needed to let sink in. I kept thinking about how often God has put something on my heart - to write a note, to give someone a call, to just pause and pray - yet, I was simply 'too busy' and kept going, thinking I would get to it at a more convenient time. Naturally, I wouldn't get around to it, would think about it again and realize the thought had escaped of what I wanted to do or write. As I let this sink in I realized that convenient or not, when He puts something on our heart He intends for us to follow in obedience sooner rather than later. If we follow sooner, He may desire to use us to interceded for a situation that we don't even know is going on in someone's life at that moment, to show His faithfulness in the little things, or to bless and encourage someone's day.

Lately, God has been reminding me how much joy I take in encouraging others...yet, it's often one of the things that gets pushed to the side when my schedule ramps up (or as it seems to lately, consistently stays in 'full throttle' mode). So, I have been trying to be intentional about obeying when He puts someone on my mind to encourage and pray for...and, you know what?!? He has provided energy when needed and blessed me with the peace and joy that comes from following in obedience. "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage..." (Romans 12:6-8). So...what gift is God bringing to mind today that He desires for you to obey to bring Him glory (because we know it's a daily struggle to keep life moving forward for Him)? What's your next step of obedience...convenient or not...in that gift?

One of my favorite verses says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." - 1 Peter 4:10 So, if we know we are gifted in something, it is our responsibility to use it...especially when He lays someone or something on our heart. My prayer today is that I (and you) will be faithful to obey his promptings to use the gifts he has given me (you), trusting that convenient or not in my (your) schedule He will sustain me (you) and provide for me (you).