I don’t know about you – but I LOVE salads!!  I can just about feel all the nutrients, found in all the variety of color in the vegetables used, helping my sick little body heal 😉

I also like making my own homemade dressings…it literally sickens me to read the ingredient list on so many commercial dressings…something so simple shouldn’t have thirty ingredients – most of which I do not recognize and cannot pronounce.

So – here is to being out-of-the-box…again!

Salad:

1 head of romaine lettuce – washed and chopped OR a couple cups of spring mix lettuce
1 bag of spinach
1 apple – quartered and chopped into small pieces
1 carrot – diced
1 yellow pepper – diced
1 cucumber – diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)
1/4 cup green onions – chopped fine
1/4 cilantro – chopped fine
1/2 cup raisins
1 – 1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 cup cubed Monterey jack cheese (optional if you are not dairy free 🙂

Dressing:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids
Garlic powder to taste
7 drops of liquid Stevia

Add dressing to salad and toss it all until it is well mixed!  This serves as a full meal for at least 4 adults.

If you have homemade sourdough bread to go along with it…it will be all the more delectable ;-p

*NF – nut free, SF – seed free, DF – dairy free

These are a family – and church family – favorite 🙂  Best part?  They don’t even have cane sugar in them!!

3 cups Millet Flour
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
2 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.  In a different mixing bowl combine wet ingredients:

1 lemon – juiced and skin grated
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp baking powder – add 2tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar and 2tbsp. Water (this is the egg replacement – if you don’t need to avoid eggs you can put in 2 large eggs instead).
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter.

After blending all wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients all at once.  Mix.

Add 1 12 oz bag of frozen or fresh blueberries.

Preheat oven to 400.  Grease 24 muffin cups and put equal amounts in each.  You can dust the top with sugar if you so desire.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove to wire rack and finish cooling.

Serve with cream cheese or sausages!

*Gluten-free, Egg-free

Being gluten free has forced me outside my comfort zone in the kitchen.   I have had to learn how to make yummy baked goods at home that are both safe for me, and actually taste yummy ;-p …yeah…the expensive cardboard tasting stuff from the store just was not doing the job… So, I hope that my many failures and few successes can give you some extra help when it comes to making nutritious, safe treats for your precious people!!

3 cups Millet Flour1 cup Brown Rice Flour
2 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients and set it aside.  In a separate mixing bowl, blend:

3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups applesauce
2tsp baking powder – then add 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar and 2tbsp water – it will fiz and you will mix it quickly. (This is your egg replacement.  If you do not need to replace the eggs for health reasons, then you can substitute this for 2 large eggs.)

Once your wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed, add the bowl of dry ingredients all at once and mix until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350, grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

Bake for 55 minutes or until center feels “set.”

Let cool for fifteen minutes on wire rack – remove from pan and let cool on wire racks for another 45 minutes.

Serve warm with butter… yummy!

*Gluten-free, Egg-free

 

All The Way My Saviour Leads Me
(Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”)

“All the way my Savior leads me,
“What have I to ask beside?
“Can I doubt His tender mercy,
“Who through life has been my Guide?
“Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
“Here by faith in Him to dwell!
“For I know, whate’er befall me,
“Jesus doeth all things well;
“For I know, whate’er befall me,
“Jesus doeth all things well.”
(“All The Way My Saviour Leads Me” by Fanny Crosby)

When the way is easy, decked with all manner of beautiful discoveries…When my feet have the sensation of soft grasses beneath them and it is well with my soul…It is easy to feel the Saviour’s presence.

When the panorama is breathtaking, and nothing obstructs my view… When I am on the mount of transfiguration and see and feel and know the Son of Light’s glory…It is as natural as breathing to savor the magnificence and know that only He could have led me to such a place.

When my cupboards are full of provision, my every need and want is satisfied…When there are no clouds on the horizon, no dread of evil building in my chest…I have no doubt that He is with me – blessing and protecting me.

When I am successful in the work of my hands and I can see the fruit abounding… When I get to enjoy the gift of God and partake in the reward of my labor…It takes no surrender or soul-searching to know that God is with me and leading me in the way that I should go.

When I feel good, and life is full of possibilities and brimming with excitement… When I see the desires of my heart unfold and the petition of my lips has been granted…It seems that no matter what direction I turn, Christ is there.

But so many times in life are not those times.

There are the valleys of grief, where life has changed from color to a drab gray that gives no joy.  Where we wake each morning, and face the sorrow of a love that has been taken from us for the rest of our earthly sojourn.  Loss touches us in many forms with its sickening grasp whether it is a person, a dream, a hope, an expectation, or a reversal of some kind.  It wraps its heavy weight around our hearts and strangles the song from it as it relentlessly reminds us of all that will never be the same again.  The grief of opportunities, time, people, pleasures…life as we dreamed it would be or life as it once was…that haunts our thoughts and keeps the tears of “hope deferred” beneath the surface.

There are the waves of fear (nay, terror at times!), when our security – or what we love best – is threatened.  It might be our health and our ability to be comfortable and safe within our own bodies.  It might be our financial security or the well-being of our country or loved ones.  Whatever stokes its fury, fear is a powerful reality.  The hopelessness that it invokes can be crippling as it reminds us that we are not masters of our own life – that there are choices we can make but there are many things we cannot control.

There is the pain of suffering – of necessities and deprivations and wants and afflictions that cause us to suffer.  Those places that make our life to stand still while those around us keep on living.

There are times we will visit where it seems that the promises of the Scripture’s mock us, and the desire we have to feel loved and secure eludes us.  There are places that by nature appear God-forsaken, and our heart trembles to enter them.

Yet the truth is, that all the way my Saviour leads me.  He has promised to never leave or forsake me.  Christ has not spoken this glibly to make me feel good.  He did not say it to make some poetic verse or beautiful sonnet.  He has committed Himself to us, and refuses to absolve Himself of the pain it will inflict on His heart to go with us through those difficult places.  He already bore our sins – and carried our sorrows.  He has paid heavily for the chastisement of our peace.  He has done all already to ensure that we will not only survive the passage of fire and water, but that we will not be alone.

And so, by faith, we see Him.  Christ, walking on the water during a storm that looks like it will surely leave no survivors.  The Good Shepherd, comforting us through the valley filled with despair and death, reminding us of His continual presence with His rod and His staff.  Our Jehovah-Jireh (The God Who provides), spreading a table for us of nourishment and blessing right in the place where our enemies hoped to destroy us.  The Son of God, in the midst of the fire that Satan hoped to silence us forever with – and with His presence, He transforms its fury into nothing more than a means to burn the ropes that would bind us.  When the flood comes rushing in, and it seems that all is impossibly lost, it is nothing more than a sacred tryst with the King of Kings Himself, and we will hear His sweet voice as He assures us that it will not go over our heads.

Come close dear heart and know this – that we need not fear the dark and scary places of life – that the circumstances which would rend the sweetness of life from our grasp are the very places Christ wishes to meet with us and pour out His abundant grace.  When we find ourselves without a song, without a hope, without a future – look up – for truly, there He is.  

All the way…Through the day and through the night, through the blessings and the sorrows, in abundance and in want, in love and in rejection, whether it is a time of peace or war, whether it is a place of healing or of pain… our

Saviour is leading each step of the way and will not suffer our foot to be moved.

And if I have Christ, what have I to ask besides?

“All the way my Savior leads me,
“Cheers each winding path I tread,
“Gives me grace for every trial,
“Feeds me with the living Bread.
“Though my weary steps may falter
“And my soul athirst may be,
“Gushing from the Rock before me,
“Lo! A spring of joy I see;
“Gushing from the Rock before me,
“Lo! A spring of joy I see.

“All the way my Savior leads me,
“Oh, the fullness of His love!
“Perfect rest to me is promised
“In my Father’s house above.
“When my spirit, clothed immortal,
“Wings its flight to realms of day
“This my song through endless ages:
“Jesus led me all the way;
“This my song through endless ages:
“Jesus led me all the way.”

7/11/207

It was another Sunday evening where I was shut up at home – but this time I was not alone.

My precocious five-year-old was home with me.  She was a little under the weather, and with mama being home, that was the best place to be.

We decided to color together while we waited for our church’s service to come online for us to watch.  I like to use these quiet opportunities with my children to touch base with their souls.  I took in the golden hair going every direction imaginable, the impish fun in her blue eyes, and the sparkle she sheds as she skips and runs everywhere.  She was kind of contained right now by our activity, but even with being under the weather she was squirming around and putting great energy into the simple task of coloring the picture.

So, as I was deciding between one color and the next, I quietly asked Kalli the first question that came to my mind, ”What are you thinking about, Sweetness?”

“Well,” she replies, “Sometimes, I don’t actually think…I just DO something – and think after… Unless it’s a REALLY great idea – then I think first.”

Truer words were never spoken!

Sunday Chicken

As a Pastor’s wife, Sundays have often been far from a day of rest ?  Don’t get me wrong – I love them – but it isn’t my idle day of the week.  To complicate the normal hectic pace, my family is super ravenous at lunchtime and it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that we might be entertaining company.  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY wants to wait around for me to put a meal together.

Enter, my Sunday maid – my crockpot.  It has saved my sanity and kept my children from going into some sort of starvation-induced state on Sundays.

All you need to feed a family of five or six is:

1 whole, cut up fryer chicken
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 lb of peeled and sliced carrots (or a bag of baby carrots if you prefer the easy way ?
1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
Salt
Garlic powder
Oregano Seasoning
Rosemary Seasoning

Pour the uncooked rice on the bottom of your medium sized crockpot (a small one will never fit all of it ?

Cover it with the chicken broth and sprinkle some salt across the top.

Add the layer of carrots – sprinkle some more salt

Spread a light dusting of salt, garlic, oregano, and rosemary across the bottom, and then the top of your raw chicken.  Don’t be too sparing!  The flavor is in the herbs ?

Place the chicken on top of the carrots – it will probably have to stack two layers deep.

Put the cover on and cook it on high for at least 4 hours.  If it cooks longer that is fine – it should just make the chicken even more tender ?

If you have company coming over or a larger family you can also use a roaster oven and simply double or triple the amounts.  I would cook it at 350 degrees and add an extra 1/2 cup of liquid per recipe.

Go to church, and come home to a complete meal ready to serve!!

WHEN GOD GIVES RAIN
by Kristina Jossund

We all dream of the sun…it’s light dancing all around us…it’s warmth caressing us

Those moments where we don’t need faith to believe that God is good, and life is full of His blessings.

Those times when our soul sings just because it can’t hold it in, and it feels like we can reach out and touch the Lord – He is simply that close.

But what about the other times? When the sun is hidden behind ominous clouds and the security of the sun’s language has been obscured by the deep roar of thunder and lightning? The times when God’s gift is the rain? 

What do we do with those times when we cannot see our Redeemer without faith?  When life has turned traitor on us and robbed us of our deepest joys?

What do we do with those hidden places when the knees knock together with fear over all the “could be’s” and the heart breaks over all the “has beens” and we find ourselves broken, drenched and cold to the core?

What about the times when there simply is. no. song.

What could it possibly mean when David cries out:

 “ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” (Psalms 139:11-12)

How could a place so God-forsaken ever hold the light of His presence?

How can I ever trace His goodness through the pain of brokenness?  How can I lift my head to the Heavens to seek His smile when my failure howls its condemning voice in the wind of adversity?

And in those places that seem so hidden from Heaven’s view I find myself asking…what did our Christ mean when he said that He had come to give us LIFE, and life MORE ABUNDANTLY?

Did He mean that if I walk with Him I would only know the joy of roses and never feel a thorn?

Did He mean that I would be immune to the ravages of sin on my life and the life of all I hold dear?

Did He mean that I would have great blessing – only health, wealth, and good success?

Did He mean that the cross that He bore would be the last one… and that its’ shadow would never cross my path?

Or did He mean something far richer than that?

As my heart throws its gaze over creation, and traces the Father’s handiwork in nature, I find myself in awe of the stark difference between a land that has too much sun and one that has the gift of sun and rain.  I see the parched places and ugly bareness of a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I see an environment that has grown so hostile to life that the creatures hide in the sand, waiting out the deadliness of the sun’s unbroken rays.  The song of the nightingale, sparrow, and meadowlark is absent, only the screech of a vulture is heard in the echoing silence.  It becomes apparent that the land cannot bear up under too much of the sun’s life giving power, and that the blessing has become a burden of death to the living.

And then I look at the bountiful harvest of a field that has known the terror of the thunderstorm and has endured the pelting rain.  I drink in the reassuring sight of boughs laden with fruit and the signs of plenty all around.  I am refreshed by the lush colors of resplendent flowers and feel that I am on the shores of Beulah land.  And I know that to create such fruitfulness the skies have not all been full of light, and the days have not all been beautiful, but they have accomplished their work.

And I can see so clearly then, that to reject the storm is to refuse to let Him do His most beautiful work of all!  Storms clean the air, water the earth, and enable all of life to unfold to its maximum potential.

The crop never reaches maturity, the flower never shows her intricate beauty, the air would become toxic – if the storm never passed over!

The storm is not God’s punishment in my life – it is one of His greatest gifts!  It is His love saying, “Come near, My child – I want to grow you, I want to cleanse you, I want to produce life that will overflow to others through you.  I want to cultivate the soil of your heart so that there is much fruit that abounds to the glory of the Father.”

Perhaps that is why Christ does not just reveal Himself in seasons of light… He says in the Psalms that

 “ He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.  And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.” Psalms 18:9-11

He has not moved – He is as present in the darkness as in the light!  His purposes are as true, as unwavering, as full of hope in the raging storm as it is in the gentle dew drops of dusk. 

Perhaps the problem is with me – that I have stopped looking for Him in the storm – that I do not see the love of His hand and the provision of His grace just as clearly as I do when my eyes and senses are delighted by life. 

Perhaps I am too much like the disciples of old who found themselves shivering and shaking in the bottom of the boat instead of marveling that the very storm they were in was going to reveal their Saviour to them in a whole new way.  Their faithless, fear-filled eyes could not see that they would walk away from that day having watched Him walk on the very water that threatened to kill them and overcame every obstacle to get to them.  They would forever carry with them the confidence that He was the Master of the wind and the waves and everything else that would threaten them in life.

Perhaps if I fell back into all that He has revealed Himself to be in His Word, and all that I have experienced of Him throughout the beautiful places of my life, I would find that precious closeness that only comes when I am sheltered in the shadow of His wings.

Perhaps I would know, that life is abundantly good not just because of the good places – but because of the dynamics of His presence in all the places of my life.

And perhaps…if I can look up while the storm is bellowing with full force and can throw my arms out and embrace God’s gift of rain…perhaps then I will say with Paul –

Rom 8:38-39  “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nordepth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.