New Food Page

I met a minister’s wife in December who shared with me a special “diet” that she has been on for a number of years. Actually, it’s more of a lifestyle change. After listening to her, asking her questions and doing some reading on my own, I decided that during the month of January I would try going on a mostly raw vegan diet. It has been a challenging but fun experiment. I am finding that I have more energy and am enjoying this change more than I thought I would. With that in my mind, I have renamed the former “Favorite Family Recipes” page to Raw and Cooked Vegan Dishes and will be sharing some of the recipes I have made. Feel free to visit the page, and if you decide to try any of the recipes, let me know what you think. Bon appetit!

Clowning Around For Christ

This past Saturday, we had a fun time reaching out to children and families in our community.  Heads were turning as a couple of clowns and other colorful characters walked through the neighborhood handing out candy sticks,  icecream certificates, balloon animals and invitations to attend our children’s church and family worship services.  We are looking forward to seeing many new children and their families coming and being blessed at our new location.  Everyone had such a good time that we’re going to do it again this weekend.  Here are a few pictures from our neighborhood excursion.

Isabella helps dress up Mr. Clown Around. (her dad)

Mr. and Mrs. Clown Around

The daughter with a colorful hat and me, a little more subdued.(but I’m really wild on the inside)

A few of the kids we talked with along the way. The girls were a little camera shy.

Two young boys enjoying their balloon swords.

What a team!

I’ve Got The Joy!

You never know where a preacher might receive inspiration for a sermon.  Yesterday, we had a visiting minister with us who got his sermon at Wal-Mart.  One day he was on a shopping trip with his wife, which is not something he enjoys doing. His wife asked him to go down a particular aisle and get some soap that she needed.  As he was walking toward the aisle, he noticed people just wheeling their carts, most of them with their heads hung down, just going through the shopping routine.  The soap that he needed just happened to be up quite a ways on the shelf, but he is pretty tall, so it wasn’t going to be a problem for him.  Suddenly, he jumped up, grabbed the bottle of the shelf, and shouted, “I’ve got the JOY!”  Most people just kind of stared, but one lady shouted back, “I’ll take two of whatever he’s got!”  Anyway, Brother Savala went on to preach from a familiar text in Nehemiah.

Neh 8:9

And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

Neh 8:10

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

 

It was a wonderful message and exactly what our church needed.  As you begin your busy week, may you have the joy that comes from worshipping and knowing the One true God.

Do or DIEt

There comes a time in some of our lives

due to the things we ate,

our expanded girth tells us that now is the time

to lay aside some weight.

 

I’ll be cutting back on food drastically

at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

I’d sure appreciate your prayers

in this, my time of sorrow.

 

It’s grapefruit and toast for breakfast;

and tuna and toast at noon,

if I stick to my guns and this diet

you’ll be seeing less of me soon.

 

With varied fruits and vegetables

and 3 ounces of meat at dinner,

and 64 ounces of water a day

how could I not get thinner?

 

So, I’m laying aside all my junk food.

Yes, I will be an absolute saint.

But please, could you send up some prayer for me?

I’m beginning to feel quite faint!

 

This is for real.  Monday is the big day.  My husband and I are going on a diet!  Aren’t you just excited for us?  Thursday night after Bible study, some friends of ours shared with us a diet that they have been trying that a friend of theirs got from her doctor.  You do the diet for 3 days a week and eat normally for the other 4 days.  This is what we get to eat the first day.

 

Breakfast – 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice toast, 2 tbsp. peanut butter

 

Lunch – 1/2 can tuna, l slice toast

 

Dinner – 3 oz. any meat (we’re going to have steak, seasoned with salt and pepper only), 1 cup steamed string beans, 1 cup beets, 1 small apple, 1 cup vanilla icecream. (the reward for eating beets)

 

Of course, you’re supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day too.  Diet sodas are not allowed and you can only drink decaffienated coffee with sugar substitute while on the diet.  Diets aren’t really something incredibly enjoyable, but I really want to try and make this fun.  Thus, the silly poem and this post. (and hopefully I’ll feel more accountable now that I’ve announced it to the blogging world)

 

You all pray our strength in the Lord.  🙂

Bombed!

To those of you on 3 different continents that have been waiting with baited breath for the result of my science experiment, I bring you the following news.  My experiment bombed.  After a day of sitting in saliva, my tiny piece of meat hardly looked changed at all.  I took before and after pictures, but Jennifer begged me not to post them, and I think in this case, she displays the wisdom of the Ancients.  I think I will just continue to accept by faith that my food is chewed up, swallowed, passed through my esophagus and into my stomach where the miracle of digestion takes place. 

Experiment Results

I think I blew it on our disgusting experiment.  First of all, I believe I should have used a piece of chicken that was a little bit smaller, and second of all, there wasn’t enough saliva to cover the piece of chicken I used.  When I observed my specimen, it looked pretty much the same, except for a brown spot that I don’t remember seeing before.  I’m going to redo this experiment shortly with an itsy bitsy piece of chicken and a lot more spit.  I’ll let you know when I have results.

Simple But Disgusting Science Experiment

I was reading tonight in this book I got from the library about different science experiments kids can do that involve food.  Paul and I decided to try one that is somewhat disgusting.  We took a small container and put a tiny piece of meat in it.  Next comes the gross part.  Paul couldn’t quite bring himself to do this, so I did it.  I spit all over that piece of meat, and then I put the lid on the container.  You’re supposed to leave it sit for a day and see what happens.  What do you think will happen?  I wonder if I’ll gag when we took off the lid.  Honestly, the things we homeschoolers do for the sake of education!    😀