Growing and Dying

Today I have been thinking a lot about the processes of life we go through. God has truly blessed us in so many ways, even down to the very end. The excitement in our youth about the days to come Then the joy that new birth brings. We get to watch our children go through those same things, with joy and fulfillment like no other. Then we watch our parents pass, the deterioration that happens as our bodies age. We see in our aged parents the regrets and satisfaction from various decisions that they have made. We can rejoice with them and honor them by listening to their advice and carrying on the wisdom they give us. This too is a blessing. Even though we have sorrow, joy comes in the morning. One day, if our parents believe in The Truth, we will rejoice again with them.

What a great week!

We have had a very eventful week here. It started off pretty difficult with our heating unit going out. We ended up having to replace the unit but found out on the same day that we were going to get enough money back from our tax returns to cover the expense. I am so grateful to God for providing for us(like I should have ever doubted, right?) Then today Jason got to take the day off to start our 4 day weekend. My Mil will be keeping the kids tomorrow night. I am super excited to spend time with him. I know I have been terrible about photos but the camera I got from my Dad has a battery life of 10 minutes and my other one just stinks. I know I need to invest in another one soon. These moments won't happen again. So here's to a great God and a blessed weekend!

Question about the Ark of the Covenant/Temple

We know that the ark of the covenant is somewhere, right? It has to be if we are going to build a new temple. Could it be possible that Aaron's descendent's are still around? God ordained them to be the priests forever, right? When the new temple is built, won't they have to come forward? Can you tell I've been reading Leviticus? lol I don't know how the new covenant fits in with the old but if there is someone out there that does know, enlighten me! :)

Dance Central for Xbox Kinect

I wish I could give a great review of this game but I haven't even played it. I went to the store a couple of weeks ago to possibly purchase it and they had a demonstration of it that you can play. I could not believe the images before my eyes. Just in the song selection list there are explicit images that I would not want in my house. The words to some of the songs are just...horrible. How could I bring this into my home? No way!! As much as I would love to exercise this way I had to turn it down. I am hoping that someone will come out with a family friendly dance game for the kinect. If anyone knows of one, let me know!

Swissmar Borner Mandoline Review

This just came in the mail yesterday. My previous mandoline had to put retired so I ordered this one hoping that it would serve me well. I really like it so it far.
Pros:

• Cuts like butter, really it does
• Fairly easy clean up
• Safety storage. There is a little safety lever that you have to push in order to get it out of the compartment. This is a huge benefit for me.

Cons:

• I would have liked to have it elevated a bit more. It doesn't have a stand that it sits on so it is a little awkward.

Overall, it is far better than my last one! I would recommend this to anyone wanting to make chips, fries(the fries are a little smaller than McDonald's fries), and julienned/sliced veggies.

Homemade Sour Cream and Raw Food Ramblings

Today I am going to go to 14 carrot and pick up some raw milk. I am excited because I am going to make sour cream! I have never made it from scratch. We use it a lot to replace Mayonnaise on sandwiches and such. I thought about making some homemade tortillas tonight as well but I don't know if I will be that adventurous.lol Jason loves %100 whole wheat tortillas so I just might surprise him.

On another subject, I am reading a book by Weston A. Price called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration I have been doing the raw food thing for so long and my body has enjoyed the extra time to heal, but I have been reading about many people who claim that this is not sustainable. It has me questioning. Don't get me wrong, this is not a complete change, I'm not even saying I will change. But, if there is something I need to add to my family's diet so that we will feel better, I want to pay attention. So I will do the research and come to some conclusions. I have a 3 month window to do the research in. I committed to an experiment recently and I want to finish it out. I had set out for it to be a 6 month experiment but we decided 3 would be more attainable. The experiment is whether or not I can gain muscle on a predominately raw food diet. If I change anything by reading Mr. Price's book it will likely just be adding in some dairy as condiments, bone broth every now and then, and maybe some meat once and a while. We will see. I don't know what he says about grinding your own wheat and whether or not that's ok. I know that my kids prefer my bread over store bought though. Yay! It's fun experimenting!
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Well, I went to buy some milk but they were all out. This will have to wait till Friday I guess. Bummer.

Ani Phyo's "Love-The-Chicks Pate"

This recipe was ok. I think one of the problems that many people might have with this recipe is that it misguides you into thinking that this will taste like scrambled eggs. Not even close. So, if you don't go into it thinking that's what your going to get, you'll be fine. I made the base pate and added tomato, onion, and yellow pepper all wrapped in a romaine lettuce wrap. I also tried it on my buckwheat crackers. It is very filling. It really needed something though so I tried to put a little nama shoyu on it and that worked. It was awesome then. We have alot left over in the fridge so I guess I will be experimenting with it. I thought about trying to put it in nori sheets.  If you're looking for a pate that's hearty and NOT humus like, this is it. Otherwise, stick to the humus.

New Meal Planner

I am so excited about a new meal planner Jason is creating.

• It will give me the ability to schedule meals on certain days
• Because many raw food meals take several days to prepare, this planner will create an event for the number of days needed, which will allow me to get reminders, etc...
• I get to customize it the way I want! yay
• It will be web based which means I can access it anywhere
• I *think* I will be able to drag and drop recipes on the day that I want. 
• It's free
• Eventually, I believe we will be able to have a community that can access each other's public recipes.

I love my husband! 

Laughter!

This is Toby and Daniel playing around yesterday. It was very welcomed after dealing with sickness all day and night. Kaitlyn was sick till midnight and thankfully noone else came down with it last night. I am praying we have seen the last of it. Enjoy!

From Jan2011

Sweet Potato Chips

"Raw" Sweet Potato Chips

You will need:
3-4 Sweet Potatoes
3/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/8-1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Use a mandolin on the first setting(thin) to slice the potatoes. Combine all ingredients and mix it really good. I would let it sit for 10 minutes and then mix it again. Place on dehydrator trays(It's ok if you don't use teflex sheets). Dehydrate for 1 whole day or more. They are so good, the kids devour them. Here they are all stacked together. This was about 4 trays worth of chips.

2010 Reflection

As I was analyzing this past year I have to admit that I was disappointed. What happened to that "This will be the best year of my life!!" mentality? I had failed, miserably. With a new resolve to make THIS year the best year ever I told Jason how I felt. He looked at me and said "Are you kidding me? This year has been the best year you have had in 15 years. Think of all the ways that God has worked in your life, the things he has brought you through, the progress you have made!"
At his point I had one of those AHA! moments. Wow, I was looking at this year singularly. Sure, there were things that I would have loved to change but he was right, God has brought me to a new place. I know that I have new places to go to, that I MUST go to but I am so grateful that I am not in the places that I have been. Dark, hideous places. He rescued me from them, still bringing me up to see light. Jason made the comment yesterday regarding people who say that they are too far gone or don't have any hope "If you are so far down in the pit that you can't see the light, the least you can do is stop digging. Start trying to climb out, even if it's a little bit at a time. Eventually, with God's help, you can see the light again." This was me several years ago. Every day, every hour I would cry out "Why can't I see the light?" He is faithful, he pulled me out inch by inch. I can now look at this next year with gratitude for his sustaining me thus far and hope that he will sustain me always. Happy New Year!!
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