Best Vegan Bluberry Muffins

The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins Recipe I have ever made! 

  I have made this recipe for my family. many times. This is the absolute best vegan baked goods recipe that I have found! My family is not vegan but I'm always looking for healthier vegan versions of the foods they like. If I can make something yummy without eggs, meat and dairy then that is what I want to do! 

I also believe making foods like this fresh from scratch at home is the best if you're going to eat it. That way I can control what is in it and what I am giving to my family. These have become my go to blueberry muffin recipe! Sorry the picture isn't too good/ I will replace it with a better one when I make these again. Taking imperfect action and getting this post done for you :)

  These muffins are easy to make and don't taste vegan at all. This is a recipe that everyone is sure to love. These are great for breakfast, or any occasion. For this recipe I didn't use the soy milk suggested in the recipe. I prefer to use other plant-based milks like almond milk and cashew milk. 

  My muffins turned out great using these nut milks instead. I stay away from soy and soy containing products if I can. This is another reason why you should always make stuff like this from scratch since most premade, packaged foods contain some kind of soy product in them. 

The recipe suggests using vegetable oil, which is actually soybean oil and another soy product that I try to never use. I used same mounts of softened coconut oil with good results. Coconut oil is much better oil to use, and it may have some health benefits that other oils do not. You can also use corn oil or a light olive oil if you don't like soy-based oils either.

  This recipe says to use fresh blueberries, but I have used the small size frozen blueberries right out of the freezer with good results. I usually have frozen blueberries on hand, so it was easy for me to use what I already had. 

  I want to try this recipe as a base for other variations. Instead of blueberries I want to try diced strawberry and maybe a shredded zucchini for another version of the best vegan muffins. I will let you know how that turns out. 

I also want to try using whole wheat pastry flour instead of the white flour another time too. Or even a good gluten free flour to make them gluten free. For now, give these vegan blueberry muffins a try using the recipe. I found this particular recipe at My Darling Vegan. You can print it out via the link.

I think you will love this recipe too! 

Let me know in the comments and as always God bless you wherever you are in your life! 

Thank you! 

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What kind of person do you want to be?

 I have often asked myself this question. 

What kind of person do I want to be? At times in my life, I don't think I lived up to who I wanted to be. I went along with my friends, or I allowed the world to tell me what to think. As I grew older and started to investigate things for myself, I started to become more of who I wanted to be. I think we all go through this kind of journey. It is how we grow up and become who we are meant to be. As we grow, I think we change a little every ten years. 

  The experiences we have in life also can change us for the good or worst. It is our choice how we allow circumstances to change us. We can regret mistakes and close our self-off to learning more. We can learn from our mistakes and discover ways that it can make us better. I have done both lol! But I keep coming back to that same person that I always was just a little wiser every year. I just turned 42 and still have a long life ahead of me even though I might be halfway through it lol! I don't know exactly where life will take me, but I know that I will keep growing into the person that I want to be. I am not going to just wait for life to happen to me anymore. 

  I want to make life happen for me. Do the best that I can with what I have right now! And never stop improving on things and making my life better. Every day is an opportunity to change something about your life. I see a post today and the women said to make three goals for the day and do it. I think this is a good idea and can bring us closer to our bigger goals in life. 

  For me every day my three goals are the same and I do pretty well at accomplishing them. I am not perfect but every day that I practice being the person that I want to be. I get closer every day to my bigger goals. Just got to improve a little every day. 

  What kind of person do I want to be? I want to make my own choices, I want to create an income from home helping others, I want to achieve my health goals, and most important I want to be happy. In the past I spent too much time eating like crap and being unhappy. Not anymore! I had to nearly lose everything to get this. Sure, some days I get angry because I wish some things were different, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I had to learn, and I keep reminding myself of that. Then just do what I can and don't worry about the things I can't control.

  Anyway, that is my 15 minutes today and a short post. These are my thoughts for the day. I hope that it can be an encouragement for you. I know it is for me and a reminder to keep moving forward. Life is what we make it, so let's make it a good one!

By Joanne Utke

What do you think? 

Are you the person that you want to be? 

 Let me know in the comments.

Thank you! 

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Love and Hate

 Martin Luther King Jr

 I started writing this after I seen something about stopping the hate of a specific group. I was inspired to write something about that. St. Valentine's day, or Valentine's Day is coming up this week and love is in the air. Hate is the opposite of love so I'm calling this Love and hate, These are both strong emotions we are all familiar with as humans.

  There's not a day that goes by that we as intelligent sentient beings don't experience these two emotions. Depending on what your life experiences are you may feel more of one or the other. Sadly, for many the experience is all too often hate in their life. And no matter how loving you are, you have probably hated someone or something at some point in your life too. I know that I have loved as passionately as I have hated at times in my life. How about you? 

  Love is what we feel for those closest to us in life. We love our children because they are a part of us, we see ourselves in them. We are partly responsible for the people they become. Because of this we try to give them a loving and safe home. Writing this part makes me acknowledge that sadly many children don't grow up in a loving and safe home. 

I think why will be explained further in this article. My heart goes out to these people and children who desperately need love. 

  Hate is a very strong emotion that I unfortunately know too well! Not that I am a hateful person, because I'm not. I don't really hate anyone and I know we are all on a unique journey through this world. All of us for the most part are doing the best we can with what we have. This is why I am big on personal development, health and wellness. No matter who we are or where we are at in life we can get better and do better. 

  With hate comes anger and maybe it would be more accurate to say of myself that I have known anger all too well at times in my life. Hate breeds anger and we usually get angry when we feel that we have been done wrong in some way. These emotions exist in the natural world among all sentient beings and has a place. We can defend our self or our family when the need be. These emotions bring on adrenalin and this is useful in the natural world for self preservation. It is also useful in times that we find a need to protect our self and get out of a dangerous situation. 

  But it is a problem when it's used in everyday life for reasons that we should not. We should not hate others for race, or a belief system. In other words we shouldn't hate others for being human! Some would say that we should hate murderers or rapists. I think we should never hate a human being for being a broken human being. Instead we can hate the sin but we should love the sinner! No one who is broken is going to be better as long as they are hated. Love begets love and we are all broken on some level. Certainly some are extremely disturbed, and confused but hate is still not the answer. 

 I think hate in society happens when people don't want to acknowledge their own imperfections and brokenness. Instead of that reflection, and growth they turn on, what they believe is imperfections in others. The interesting thing is the hater only grows more imperfect and broken themselves. We cannot love others if we hate what is human about ourselves. I believe is has very little to do with race, religion or lifestyle choice and everything to do about one's own brokenness. People fear what they don't understand and what they hate about themselves. No one wants to admit their own imperfections or what they don't understand. So they point the finger, hoping that if they point out what they believe is wrong with others their own brokenness won' be found out. They may blame race but that is just a scapegoat. I think it is more about the hater, than the hatee. Whatever the reason hate has no place in a society that desires to be better today than they were yesterday.

 The answer to this I think is acknowledging that we are all in this world together. We are all the same as much as we are different at times. The energy spent on hate is a wasted energy that could be used in the form of love and compassion. We understand that we are all broken in some way and that personal development is what is needed. That way we can move past focusing on what is different and start leaning how to become better people in this world. 

  Now a little bit about love. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. probably says it best. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend." That is a powerful thought! In Christianity there are examples of this. Jesus loves every one no matter what. He certainly did not support or condone their sin but He loved the sinner. We can look at the conversion of Paul (Acts 1) as an example of this. Paul was the worst sinner, killing Christians but Jesus loved Him enough to impart His love and mercy. And Paul turned into the greatest Saint and Martyr because of it.

  In conclusion I think most of us can agree that hate is useless unless it is a life saving anger. If we wish to create a world that we can be proud of there is no room for hate. For the last words I will leave you with the words of St. Paul the Apostle who was bought out of that darkness in his letter to the Corinthians. Timeless words that are just as true today! 

"If I speak in the tongues a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

(1 Corinthians 1-13)

By Joanne Utke

 I hope you have a happy Valentines day! 

Thank you! 

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Master your day to live your best life!

 Master your day to live your best life now! 

        I have found that it is often difficult to even master the day, let alone the week or month. This can be really discouraging but it is all a matter of planning and discipline. I touched on this a bit in the last post about living your best life. Having a plan is key to mastering your day so that you are ready to face the next one. Discipline is really the key here! A good plan is only has good as the discipline to carry it out. When it comes to discipline, practice makes perfect, 

First you got to believe that you are worth it! You deserve to be more in control of your day and your life. Every day when you wake up say "I deserve the changes that I am making" or "I deserve to live my best life."  What ever it is, being positive and saying empowering things to yourself is a great start. You can't wait around waiting for people to cheer you on. You need to be your own cheerleader! This is something that I have learned in my life, if you don't take yourself seriously, no one will. 

Focus on what you can control first hand! You have more control over your life than you think. When you wake up put on your shoes and get dressed. Don't go straight to your phone! Spend time having a morning routine to freshen up and set the stage for the day.  I know from experience on the days when I stayed in my pajamas and slippers, I was lazy most of the day. Likewise when I get up, get dressed, freshen up, and put on my shoes, I am ready for the day. Bottom line is you need a good morning routine that gets you ready for the day. 

I mentioned in my earlier post about having a plan that way there are no surprises. You take the guessing out and know exactly what you need to do. I do well when I get up, and get started. I usually have the most energy in the first part of the day. So that is when I do my food prep for the day if I need to. I like to plan what it is I am cooking for my family this evening. For me the morning is a great time to prepare my salad and my dressing that way my meal is done before any one else's is. I fast for the first part of the day. That helps me because my morning is not wasted on eating a meal. It allows me to have more time in the morning for a good morning routine. It is also part of my healing plan so a win, win! 

Then around 12 noon every day I make smoothies for myself and my husband. This is easy and my first meal of the day. This frees up a lot of my time and fruit makes an excellent first meal. The point is it's my plan and it takes out all of the guess work. As well as gives me lots of time to get other things done. Every day we take my son for a good walk, that is a priority, and part of the plan for the day. And I set aside some time to get on the computer and do my online stuff. My point is make a list of your must do's actives and DO THEM! Yes it is going to take some discipline but this is how you master your day. 

I am not saying that I am perfect at this but these are all ways that I have learned to master my day. I am sure you do all of this already every day. You at least know how things go when you don't lol! I have learned a lot from my failures as well as my successes. I have already covered my top three practical ways to live your best life now in the past post. I don't want this post to be too much like that one. But these are just simple things you can practice daily to master your day and live your best life now!

More practical ways of Living Your Best Life NOW! 

4. Use your time wisely

Both successful and unsuccessful people alike have only 24 hours in the day. The difference is the successful people use their 24 hours more wisely than the unsuccessful people. There is certainly nothing wrong with relaxing and doing nothing for awhile. We need that time too! But we need to learn how to manage time wisely. For example I can't stand to watch movies during the week. Just takes so much time that I could be using for writing for my blog or planning my next day. Use your time during the week in a way that fosters success and allows you to get everything done that you need. I personally like to save any entertainment for the end if the day when I'm ready to relax. Relaxation and entertainment makes a good rewards for a productive day. Getting healthy and staying that way is a full time job in it's self. And you have to work on your business, take care of your family, run arands and sleep at night. There's no time to aimlessly scroll down social media or watching hours of television. Ask yourself if there are any unhealthy habits and activities that you can cut out in the name of more time and a better life? Set a standard for yourself and follow through. That's discipline! 

5. Keep educating yourself

Read something on time management to enrich your knowledge on the subject. The more you know, the better choices you can make. Watch YouTube videos, follow people on LinkedIn that know what you want to know. Also the best way to learn is too teach! That is why I suggest starting a blog or write articles on LinkedIn. Choose topics that interest you. Study it, talk about it and write about it. You will become even more knowledgeable about the subject. 

6. Write it all down! 

I mentioned this before but keeping a journal can serve as an important tool of success. Everything from meal planning, task organization, daily journaling, favorite quotes, blog ideas, book titles, I could go on. You get my point! Writing it down is a great way to remind yourself of what needs to be done. It also is a tool that can help keep you on track. Or take a step back to see where you need improvement. Like keeping a food journal so you can step back and see where you need to be making changes. 

Anyway these are all things that I do. I am a big believer in getting better every day. Always improving on things. As long as we do this we can be at peace knowing we are on the right track that leads to personal greatness! 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read it. I pray this was a reminder to you and help along your life journey. 

By Joanne Utke

Thank you! 

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The token with a purpose ZELDA INU (ZLDA )

   Doing this post today just to spread the word about this crypto currency that is right now in its infancy but already making a big difference. 

I am all about self-help and doing things for yourself. And achieve the life you want. Investing is just one way we can do that. I thought this little token was worth telling you about. If for nothing but the information. Maybe you have no clue what a crypto coin or token is. 

I am just learning myself. I am not an expert, but I can blog about what I know as I learn it. Comment below and tell me what you think. What topics would you like to see me wright about? Is investing something that you want to learn more about? 

Invest in a Crypto that makes a difference! 

ZLDA INU (ZLDA) is a coin with a purpose to help pets in need! If you are an animal lover, you will want to pay attention to this. It's a MEME coin that is around 0.02 cents currently. It's a fully transparent token with a mission to help dogs in need by funding the rescuers that do the work. We're talking rescues, shelter, helping dogs who really need it. Donations have already made a huge difference the lives of many dogs. Donations totaling $26,000 and counting. And that's a great start! This is a crypto worth investing in! Go to zeldainu.com for videos, and more information. Invest your money into something that makes a difference. Learn how to get this token at zeldainu.com

Check it out at Coin Market Cap. I have included a screenshot. If you click the image, you will be able to view the whole chart at Coin Market Cap. This token has been at as much as .10 cents so far! And at 0.02 cents currently and has huge potential. We haven't seen the last of this decentralized crypto currency! Crypto being a digital currency. Some Crypto like this one ZLDA, was designed for a purpose with a purpose. With the potential to make a lot of money. Decentralized means it is not governed by any central authority. I suggest going to YouTube and watching a video that can explain it all to you. This particular one is in the MEME category. MEME coins are a crypto currency that is inspired by an internet MEME, started like a joke. But ZELDA INU is far from a joke. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping as man dogs as they can. 

Check it out and see for yourself. 

If you want to get started investing and help dogs, this is for you! Go to zeldainu.com to find out how to get it and where. You're going to want to read the site, learn all you can and get started! The sooner the better but it's never too late to start your investment portfolio. 

With just a $100 investment you can get about 5,000 coins at the 0.02 cent price point. If the price goes to 0.10 cents as it has before, your $100 will turn into about $500 That's a nice return for you and more dogs that can be helped. Now imagine if that 0.10 cents turned into $1.00! Are you starting to see the potential? 

DISCLAIMER; This post is for informational purposes. These are hypothetical figures based on the current price, I make no claims. Trading crypto can be risky as is any worthwhile that you can do in this world. You can lose money. As always do your research and don't invest money that you need for something important. 

Also don't fall for an imposter! For every opportunity out there, there is a scam to follow. Make sure that anything you do involving your personal information is done at a crypto trading platform. Use Coin Market Cap as a source for your information regarding the charging of this crypto. 

If this is something that you would like to invest in just go to the Zelda Inu official website and follow the instructions via the "how to buy" tap at the top of the page. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to investing, especially crypto and MEME coins but it could prove to be worth the effort. Do your own due diligence and happy investing! 

Thank you! 

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Practical ways to live your best life now!

  YES, YOU CAN LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NOW! 

       In my last two posts I talked about my new motto, BEST LIFE NOW! I talked about what it means to live your best life now! In this post I wanted to just give to you reading this and myself of practical ways we can go about that every day. Sure, a nice motivational saying is great! But how do we go about practicing it? We need practical ideas that we can do every day that allow us to live up to LIVING OUR BEST LIFE NOW! So, I thought that is what I will do in this post. 

1. Adjust your mind set! 

     I am placing mind set as number one because there are some bad habits in our thought process that we need to change. I talked about this in the last post about getting rid of the "I will start Monday" Complex. You need to think differently! You need to know that the important things in your life can't wait for Monday, you need to do it now, today! You also need to BELIEVE that you are worth changing for the better. You are worth eating healthy, you are worth making the necessary changes that will dramatically change your life for the better! No more time needs to be wasted on not being the best version of yourself. Also included in mind set is staying positive. No matter what, you can look for the good in everything. You can stay positive and remind yourself that this will pass. And it will pass whether you are positive or not, so you may as well stay positive. I don't think I have to tell you that being negative and stressed will not make the struggles any less difficult to deal with. In fact, it will make the struggles worst. 

2. Have a plan! 

No matter what it is that you have to accomplish today, and, in your life, you need a plan. A long-dated plan is not for me. But having a daily plan is a great way to make sure that you are living your best life one day at time. Don't worry about your ultimate goal. You know you will get there after you have mastered your day first. It is certainly important to have those long-term goals. But if you don't concur your day first, you will not get to the end of the month or year. You know what it is that you need to accomplish every day to be living your best life. Every night before you go to bed write out a plan for the day. This is where a journal comes in handy. Make a list of tasks from most important to least important. Start your day with your most important tasks and then move on to the others. Healthy meals like salads, veggies, dips and dressing can easily be prepped the night before or in the mornings. Will you be scheduling time for exercise, work and family? When you have a plan, you take the guess work out of it and can just move on with your day. At the end of the day, you will see how much you have accomplished to better your life and will feel accomplished. 

3. Make yourself a priority

 We need to make ourselves a priority in our own life! I have learned, so I tell people that if you don't prioritize yourself, no one will! If you don't take yourself, your life, your beliefs seriously don't expect anyone else too. You need to star in your own life and the necessary tasks that make your life, your best life. No one will do this for you, you have to do it! This is not saying to be selfish, but if you are not doing your best, you are not going to be good for anyone else! You need to prioritize your life so that you can be a good example to those you love. And be healthy so you can be there for them when you are needed. Schedule time in your day for others so that it doesn't interfere with the time you need for yourself. You only have 24 hours in the day. That's why having a plan and then prioritizing your important tasks in absolutely necessary. 

These are my big three practical ways that you can do to live your best life now! I had a couple more, but I lost my post this morning. I hope this was helpful to you in some way! When I am inspired with more insights, I will include them in a post. Yes, we already know this stuff but let it be a reminder to you and an encouragement in your life. In a lot of ways, I have learned these lessons the hard way. We are all a work in progress and it is never too late to change your life for the better, as always God bless and thank you for taking the time to read this! 

By Joanne Utke

Thank you! 

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