Tag Archives: Mark

Friday Favorites: A Sweet Treat

This is going to be the most practical Friday Favorites to date!

If you’re like my wife Laura, you love sweets. Heck, most of us do!

And it’s often difficult to stay on that diet while eating the treats we all love around Thanksgiving.

Since the start of this year, Laura and I have been making small changes in our lives to get healthier and lose some of that newlywed weight (which is totally real).

We’ve found that small changes here and there really add up, so I want to share with you all a recipe I’ve discovered that delivers on flavor without adding a bunch of extra calories.

Our favorite recipe to boot.

Anabolic Pumpkin Pie made by Remington James.

It’s an anabolic recipe, which simply means it’s designed to get you extra protein, so your body has the building blocks to build muscle and make those gains.

I’ve been baking like a proper Britt from the Great British Baking Show, and this recipe is definitely our favorite.

First you’ll need these ingredients:

For the filling
427g canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
112g fat free cream cheese
170g plain fat free Greek yogurt
124g protein powder (whey protein can be purchased at Costco or Walmart)
30g zero cal sweetener (stevia or one you prefer)
5g cinnamon (you can also buy pumpkin pie spice)
5g vanilla extract (about 1/2 tbps)

Just mix all these together and you’ve got the inners!

For the crust
155g graham crackers (10 rectangles)
60g sugar free syrup

First, break up the graham crackers in a zip lock bag and then add the sugar free syrup. This will form into a nice ball which then can be pressed into a crust in a pie tin.

You’ll want to bake the crust first for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. (If you start with the crust first, while it’s baking you can make the filling)

After the crust bakes for 10 minutes, place the filling inside and bake that for 30 minutes at 350.

After 30 minutes lower the temperature to 300 and bake for another 15 minutes.

When it’s done it will have a small jiggle in the middle and it should be firm like a cheesecake.

The best part of this recipe are the nutrition facts.

It has…
1497 calories
21g fat
138g protein
189g carbs

Let me know how it turns out and enjoy those gains!

Mark

Friday Favorites

Written by: Mark R.

This is a new segment we are trying, based on a blog Laura follows called, “Mix and Match Mama”.

Side note from Laura: Mix and Match Mama is one of my favorite blogs to follow for simple and delicious recipes, and to learn more about adoption. Her family has adopted two girls from China and they have a huge heart for adoption, which I love! We’re starting this now, but hoping we can share more about Japan through this when we move there. ☺️

We are simply going to take some time on Fridays to share with you some of our favorite things of late. Enjoy!

Favorite Person


I thought I’d start out with my favorite, favorite! It’s Laura! I love her. She’s remarkable. Anyone who’s known her has seen how caring and thoughtful she is. She is incredibly bright and she loves learning new things, especially about languages and cultures. She has a unique way of truly seeing people and making them feel known. Laura’s desire to grow and mature is inspiring and I’m glad we are in this together.

Favorite Book


I’ve been on a sci-fi kick again and I’d have to recommend, “Ender’s Game”. It touches on themes like identity, manipulation, leadership, and legacy. If you’re into sci-fi fiction and haven’t read this one, it’s worth the read (or listen 😉).

Favorite Food

The smoked eel sushi- front and center.


This is based on my time in Japan recently and I’m gonna go with the obvious— Sushi. We ate at this traditional restaurant with a pastor and some missionary friends and the eel was fantastic. It was slightly grilled on top and had a wonderful smoky flavor. 🤤

I have to give my honorable mention here to Atsuka and her ginger pork! She taught Laura how to make it and I can’t overstate how delicious it is.

Favorite Movie


For recent movies I’m gonna say, “A Quite Place”. It’s a sci-fi ish movie staring John Krasinski (Jim from The Office). The overall message of love breaking the weight of shame is beautiful. A quick note, this movie is a bit scary. Laura needed a little more light heading to sleep after we watched it.

Favorite Bible Passage


I’ve been studying through Acts again and I love how God uses these fundamental people in Jewish history to foreshadow who Jesus is to the Jews.

In Acts 7, Stephen is trying to persuade the Jewish people to accept Jesus as the Christ with an awesome recap of their national history. He points out that both Joseph and Moses were not known or received by their brethren at first, but that salvation came for Joseph’s brothers and the nation as a whole the second time they were seen. Joseph saved his brothers from famine and Moses led them from slavery in Egypt.

It’s crazy to me that God had these events occur so that when Jesus was rejected, and killed, Stephen could present his case to the Jews that even though he was rejected at fist, the promise of His kingdom is valid and he is ready to establish that now, if we all accept Him.

Obviously this was rejected by the Jewish nation at the time as they went and killed Stephen, bringing about Paul and salvation to us Gentiles. It’s beautiful to me how Old Testament history can be used to present such remarkable illustrations.

That’s all for now! We’ll see you next week for Laura’s Friday Favorites.