Coffee Cake

This is one of our special sweet treats.  It uses a bit of maple syrup granules (dried maple syrup) which is very sweet and thus I use it sparingly.  It is a good substitute when you need a dry sugar to make a cinnamon/sugar mixture.  I like to have this coffee cake for breakfast on special days with some breakfast sausage.  This year, I plan to have it for my birthday breakfast.

Ingredients:

2 cups soft white wheat berries, grind to pastry (or 2 1/2 cups pastry flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
1 stick sweet cream butter (cold)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or homemade kefir
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbl maple syrup granules

Mix together the pastry flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt.  Remove cold butter from refrigerator and cut into dry mixture.  You can do this in your food processor, but I do it by hand with my pastry tool.  Cut in butter until evenly dispersed and you have a uniform crumbly mixture.

 

Take out ½ cup of the crumbly mix and place in a separate small bowl.  Place 1 Tbl. of ground maple syrup granules in your flax coffee grinder and process.  Add to the 1/2 cup of crumbly mix and stir in well.  Reserve to sprinkle on top before baking.

In a separate bowl, mix together the homemade kefir (or buttermilk), baking soda and maple syrup.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture (not the reserved crumbs for topping), and pour in liquid mixture.  Gently incorporate dry crumbs into liquid and stir to mix.  Do not over stir or you will make the batter tough.

Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Grease and flour an 8" x 8" glass pan with butter, and pour batter into pan.  The batter will be thick.  Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top and bake at 350 °F for 45 minutes or until center set.  Cool and enjoy.

Homemade Diced Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce

 

After years of painstaking tomato sauce preparation (blanching, peeling off skin, running through tomato sieve, etc.), we came up with a quick, easy tomato sauce method.  I am all for the quick and easy, yet delicious, recipes.  This tastes great and I use it to make spaghetti and tortilla soup, burritos, and any other recipe which calls for diced tomatoes.  Puree it finer initially if you want more of a tomato sauce texture.

Each year something does spectacular in the garden and with our cool summer, this year it is tomatoes.  After two late freezes and losing half my tomato plants, the five plants that survived are doing great.  With all the extra tomatoes, we have made a few pots of tomato sauce.  I photographed the last batch so I could share our method with you.  I included large red tomatoes, medium blush-colored tomatoes, and small yellow pear tomatoes in this batch of sauce.

Ingredients:

A large batch of garden fresh tomatoes, any kind

~ 2 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

~ 1/2 yellow onion, diced

~ 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1 tsp honey (essential)

1 - 1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp dry basil (or you can add fresh at the end)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp oregano

 

Method:

 

 

Cut out tops of fresh tomatoes and then cut into chunks.  Don't worry about removing the skin or seeds.  If you don't have your own tomatoes, look from some at a farmer's market.  Toss chunks in small batches into your food processor.  I fill it about half way, as shown.  If I put too much in at once, it leaks out all over the place.  Then process as shown above (I like it to be a chunky sauce).

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot (I use my glass pot that I make broth in).  Add diced onion and garlic (and any other fresh veggies you might want to include) and sauté.  Reduce heat to low and add your processed tomatoes, batch by batch.  Add spices and honey.  Something sweet is needed to cut the acidity of the tomatoes, which is why tomato sauce you buy lists sugar as an ingredient on the label.  I don't keep any sugar in my house, so I use a bit of honey instead.  Simmer, uncovered, on low until sauce thickens (this big pot simmered for about 12 hours).  This batch just barely fit in my pot!  I watched it closely at first to make sure it didn't boil over.

I stir it occasionally and slow cook it down until it is about half the original volume.  Next I cool it on the stove and then place it in a glass bowl in the refrigerator.  Once it is refrigerator temperature, I dish it into plastic Tupperware type containers and store it in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.  (Do not place hot foods directly into plastic containers.)

 



This is such an easy, quick method.  You can also make spaghetti sauce by adding more ingredients such as basil, peppers, mushrooms or any ingredients you or your family enjoy. 

Tomatoes are easy to grow, and also do well in containers on a patio if you don't have yard space for a garden.  If you don't have homegrown tomatoes this year, you might consider starting a plant or two next spring. 

Weekly Challenge - Week 29 (July 16, 2013)

Make a conscious effort to think about every food choice you make this week.



How is your 100% approach coming this week?  Did you spend time last week thinking about the challenge to find your 100% approach?  Let's work on implementing it this week!

 

It is so important to your success that you don't mindlessly eat or eat for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes, it helps to break old, unhealthy habits by just being more aware of what you are doing.  So stop before you fix anything or eat anything and evaluate your choice. 

 

Julie and I are having a wonderful time at our Bible study brunches with our friends this summer.  We always serve a 100% FoodsbyGod lunch to give ourselves and our friends good choices of foods to eat.  Since we plan in advance what we will serve, we do not need to worry about our food choices.  But you must find your approach that is fun for you, and not a drudgery list of to-do's.

 

Here are some tips to help you this week:

 

1.  If you are a journal person, set a notebook by your place at the table.  Think about jotting down what you eat.  If you begin by writing down what is on your plate before you begin eating, you will begin to think about your food choice before you mindlessly eat something.  Seeing the journal at the table will help you remember.

 

2.  Start a note page on your phone or take a small notebook with you, and do the same when you eat out.  Try to think about what you are going to eat before you are out and starving and ready to grab the first fast food option that you see.  You might even find that this helps you to remember to bring along a snack that you can eat while out.  If you work, think about bringing your lunch and snacks with you from home.

 

3.  Make a meal planner.  I like to use a weekly one; use one that works for you.  Then purchase the foods you need for the meals you have planned so that you have good options at home. 

 

4.  If a meal planner approach is too structured for you, then be sure you get rid of all man-made processed foods from you home and replace them with good quality foods and ingredients.  Then you will only have good choices available when you decide what to fix to eat.  I hope you have or are working on cleaning out and restocking your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.

 

5.  Try Joanna's approach and praise God with joy and thanksgiving before eating anything.  Not only will this help you be aware of your food choices, I know that God will strengthen you and bless you in your effort.

 

6.  Involve a friend and share with each other your food choices.  Sharing a project with a friend is an excellent way to encourage you and help you remember when you get busy.

 

If you slip up and knowingly or unknowingly indulge in some junk food that you didn't really want to eat, DON'T beat yourself up and get depressed about it.  This will not help.  Instead try to learn from the experience and evaluate what happened.  Then plan for the next time you are in this situation so you can do better.  You cannot change the past, only the future. 

 

For example, if you have been doing great at home and go away on a trip and completely fall off track with your diet, remember this before your next trip.  Then make some plans in advance to help you do better.  I've outlined several things we do concerning food when we travel. 

 

Enjoy the abundance of great foods that God has given us.  There are really so few restrictions, so don't listen to Satan's lies that you must give us the good foods to eat healthy.  You only must give up man-made processed foods, which are so addictive and not really foods anyway (or they would not destroy our health).  AMAZING results are possible when one simply goes back to eating real food!

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1

Sloppy Joes



Julie shared this recipe with me.  My guys loved it!  Very simple to make - definitely a quick meal.  When buying your beef, read the label carefully.  It must say '100 %' grass fed, not just 'grass fed'.  All cows start out on pasture before being moved to a feed lot to be fattened up.  Thaw your ground beef a day ahead in the refrigerator.  Also find a better quality ketchup.  There are a number of good brands of organic ketchup.  Read the label.  Most contain some sugar, which is o.k.; make sure yours does not contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  I buy organic ketchup. 

 





 

Ingredients:

 

1 pound '100% grass fed' ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, diced fine

1/3 cup organic ketchup
1/4 cup strained tomatoes (Bionatura brand)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
1 large tomato, diced fine
4 whole grain hamburger buns

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet (I use my cast iron; don't use a skillet with a non-stick coating).  Pour out grease.  Add onions and continue cooking until translucent (a couple more minutes).  Add the remaining ingredients and cook until tomatoes are softened, about 5 more minutes.  Serve immediately on a hamburger bun.

Refreshing Mint Iced Tea

 

Another great recipe from my friend, Lynn.  This is so simple to make and so refreshing in the hot summer.  This is a great drink to serve to large groups.  Mint is extremely easy to grow.  In fact, I always grow mine in a pot because it will take over everywhere when planted in the ground.  It spreads by runner and is very difficult to contain or eradicate which is why growing it in a pot works so well. 

 

In the photo, I am making a quart of the tea concentrate.  This will make about 3 - 4 gallons of tea.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 clean quart size glass jar 

a large handful of fresh mint leaves (stems and all)

1 large white tea bag (or tea bag type of your choosing)

filtered water

 

Bring to almost a boil one quart of water on stove top.  I know everyone today boils their water in the microwave, but studies have shown that water boiled in the microwave is 'dead'.  I don't have a microwave in my kitchen, and recommend you not using it for heating or cooking you food.

 

Pick and rinse clean one handful of mint leaves.  Place in glass jar with one large tea bag.  Pour (almost boiling) water into the jar.  Let sit for several hours.  Remove mint leaves and tea bags and store in refrigerator until ready to use.  This is your tea concentrate.

 

When ready to make the tea, I like to use my one gallon glass sun tea jar.  I fill the jar about half full with ice, then pour in about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of tea concentrate, and fill the jar to the top with filtered water.

 

Mint smells great but also has many health benefits including being a digestive aid.  It also has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer and to be beneficial for asthmatics.  Enjoy a great drink that is very inexpensive, refreshing and good for you. 

Does What You Eat Make a Difference? Peggy's Story



I met Peggy (far left) and her daughter this spring at a FoodbyGod class.  Jennifer shared Peggy's recent results from her doctor's appointment on the FoodsbyGod Facebook page.  Oh, my, I was so happy, for Peggy and for her sharing her story of the amazing results that can be had eating a diet of God's foods!!!  After seeing what Jenn wrote, I asked Peggy if she could write up a post for us too.  Don't forget how important it is to include healthy fat in your diet.  Here is what she wrote (thanks, Peggy and congratulations - awesome results):

I have been using coconut oil for over 2 years.  I knew it was good for us, but didn't realize how radically good it was until recently.  My family has a history of heart disease.  My father suffered horribly from its effects.  I have kept an eye on my own health and was diagnosed with a 30% blockage at the top of my heart 4 years ago.  30% - that is almost 1/3! I tried not to worry too much but it was a burden to carry.

On Monday (7-1-13) I had a shooting pain through my shoulder blade into my chest.  It stopped me dead in my tracks.  Although it didn't last long, I was concerned.  So I chewed and swallowed an aspirin and tried to remember the signs of heart attack.  Should I call an ambulance or not?  Should I?  When I began to get dizzy and light headed, I called.

The cardiologist at the hospital said it definitely was not my heart, but scheduled me for a stress test the next day.  It turned out well, but he went further and scheduled an angiogram since I had told them my history.  The results of the angiogram were miraculous to me!  NO blockage at all. A normal healthy heart.  Wow!

As I digested all this, I remembered the results of my bone scan earlier this year. It returned better than the one of 4 years ago.  Without medication (which caused severe pain in my thigh bone). My doctor said that "rarely happens"!

God created our diet to nourish and repair our bodies.  Mankind, in his own wisdom, has altered all that is good and true to the point that our entire nation suffers.  Learn how to eat foods raised and processed by your own hand or by those you trust.  Not only will your health thank you but so will your taste buds!

Psalm 103:1-5 ...satisfies my mouth with good things so my strength is renewed like the eagle's.

 

Peggy

Joanna's Approach to 'Going 100%'

 

Joanna and I went on a grocery shopping trip a few months ago, but having good quality foods in her house was only a temporary fix.  She sent me an email of her thoughts a few days ago that I want to share with you.  I added a bit more that she sent me yesterday morning on how to succeed.  She wrote this part on how to succeed while I was writing yesterday's challenge post.  I praise God that He was telling us the same thing without the other knowing it.  I hope God is speaking to you also - go to Him and He will.

 

Thank you, Joanna, for letting me share this email you sent to me with everyone.  I hope you find Joanna's words an encouragement and that you see the vastly different approach she needs to use compared to me.  You are probably somewhere in between and I pray that you find what works best for you!  Remember as you read Joanna's post, that man-made foods are MADE to make you crave them, making your struggle to eliminate them from your diet even harder.

The email I received from Joanna: 

P.S.  I'm going to  begin with a P.S.!  This may seem like a blur of words!  SORRY, as I finished it, I almost deleted it.  It was so cool today thinking of all this....but now...well ...I might should spare you!  But maybe there is a little something below that could be helpful. 

 

I wrote:

Dear Mary, Julie, Phyllis, and Camary, and....whoever is seeking "100 %" with their eating on the FoodsByGod blog,

 

The question:  what is 100%?  what does it look like, what do you mean!!!????

 

Today I was sharing with Camary on the phone, and I told her all that Phyllis and I have been giving to God and praying for PLUS what Mary and Julie were discussing before God on Friday and it was really great how it was all working together beautifully.

 

I think the victory of 100% will be found in unique ways for each of us because that is the way God will be most glorified.  This area of food for me certainly comes from a wounded past and from an eating disorder, so it is not easy to be free in this area. 

 

As we walk up and look over 100%, it will play out differently for every single person.

 

There just is not going to be some magical list of '1,2,3, yay', or we would not need God.

 

Nothing wrong with the list of 1,2,3....the problem is I don't have the strength to follow that list!  Even though the list is 100% logical and wise and healthy and even yummy. 

 

Background:   

We (Julie and I) had asked Mary last Friday to write a post to explain what 100% means on her FoodsByGod blog.  But I really already see what has brought her into such 100% victory with her weight and health.  She follows the lists!!!!   1,2,3 and it works but  the reason it works so well for her is because of God who has given her a gift of a very analytical, mathematical, scientific mind.  (Why would ANYONE not follow these lists, she must think!)

 

God gets the glory in her amazing strength and victory!!!!  Analyzing labels and all this research motivates her and gives her exact guidelines so she shines in that line of thinking/living. I have never seen anyone so amazing in the kitchen as her.  I appreciate it greatly, it glorifies God and His amazing invention of food, ....

 

.....but honestly every time I try to pick up her victory, I begin to suffocate;  it quickly turns to ...as my friend said concerning how she saw the blog, "It looks like legalism".  It is not legalism for Mary and perhaps for many others, it is freeeeedom and joy!  I admire that and I love that mind and the logic of it all.

 

God gifted Mary to create these lists for His glory and for the blessing of His people. The blog is not legalism, it offers critical information...but for defeated people it is a chasm to cross!

 

I HATE lists!!!  I hate routine and boxes.   I am wildly creative, but put me in a box and I will quickly wilt.  I suffocate under analysis and mathematical logic.  (Ask my friend that I teach with!!!!  I LIVE outside the proverbial "box".) 

 

I am all words, words, words, relationships, exhortations.....in that realm, I begin to float up to the clouds and there in my happy place and in that place I could care a less about overeating or junk food!  I want nothing but healthy simple foods.  In Africa, I ate only healthy foods, craved only healthy, freshly grown foods.  WHY can I not crave that here!!!  What has been missing?????   Perhaps it has been all the to-do lists I'm living under in MISD, so I found a refuge...food.

 

Camary and Phyllis and I have been trying to figure out our missing link, the root of our indulgent spirit in eating, we have stayed in Romans 6-7, "I do what I don't want to do, I know what to do but I cannot carry it out..."

 

We were discussing the whole matter before the LORD today, here is our verse that directed our thinking process:

 

Haggai 1:3-6

"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while my temple remains in ruins?"  (Our bodies are the temple of God, mine is in ruins because I have created a paneled house of pleasure for myself, eating for pleasure.)  "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says, "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," 

 

I haven't given "careful thought to my ways"!!!!  (Mindless eating.) 

 

He said, "go to the mountains"....  ("I will look to the hills, where does my help come from, my help comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth."  Psalm 121)

 

He said, "His pleasure and His glory!"  That has not been in my little self-made paneled house where I'm focused on my pleasure!

 

We decided to invite the LORD into our "paneled houses".  When I sit down at the table, I will dine with Him, with my Bible and notepad and fellowship with Him for His pleasure and for His glory (yes, while I enjoy healthy foods). 

 

When I call Phyllis or Camary, I will NOT tell them how I did this week by saying, "I ate well, or I overate, or I ate junk!!!!!"  I will not discuss how bad the junk is nor how great the foods by God are, BUT HOW GREAT GOD IS!!!

 

So far, there has been no victory even though I have made many changes to my eating...I bet my cholesterol levels have dropped more points too!  Still no victory.

 

The food is a burden and a dreary list of things to-do. The focus has been on how I did, not on God's pleasure and glory. This is the way to 100% and weight loss and victory. 

 

I will share with others ONLY words that tell about my time with Him, His pleasure and His glory. 

 

For example, "Oh, while I was eating, God showed me this verse, or wow, I saw a connection of how I am a living temple being nourished "not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD". 

 

Camary reminded me that gratitude and praise brings victory and joy. 

 

My personality can't follow a list, so I will praise God and bring Him into fellowship while eating.

 

I am so curious to see how this plan works this week!  I am so curious to see what Julie's 100% looks like filtered through her unique personality, gifting, processing.  Thanks for praying for "victory of 100%" for ALL of us...and our families!

 

If you are already enjoying 100% in eating, then I pray for 100% freedom for you in clutter-free living, in letting go of control, in WHATEVER is your personal defeat.  Don't let that area be a paneled house, invite Him in for His pleasure and His glory. 

 

Continued from second email...

 

So how do I get to 100%? 

 

I love escaping to my self-indulging paneled house, I've run into these walls for so long that they are fortified and tall.  I've tried quoting verses at this wall...it didn't fall.  I tried yelling at the devil...it didn't fall.  I've confessed to others, I've tried yelling at myself!  Why doesn't it fall?  WHY am I STILL not free? 

 

Answer?

 

Well, let's look at an impossible wall called...Jericho.   How did the walls of Jericho fall? 

 

Every archaeological site around the ancient times in the Middle East shows walls that fell inward...except one, the walls of Jericho.  The walls of Jericho were the ONLY walls ever found that fell outward.  Why is that important?

 

According to www.bibleprobe.com/jericho.htm , the walls of Jericho clearly fell outward, thus creating a flat surface because God was helping His weak, disobedient people to besiege a city that was impossible to fall, remember they were all like giants to them.    

 

"Jericho is a wonderful spiritual lesson for God’s people today. There are times when we find ourselves facing enormous “walls” that are impossible to break down by human strength. If we put our faith in God and follow His commandments, He will perform “great and mighty things” (Jeremiah 33:3) and give us the victory."  http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v21/n2/the-walls-of-Jericho.

 

It was all about faith in God, after the people had marched around them for seven days, it was “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down” (Hebrews 11:30).

 

So to bring down our paneled houses, our personal impossible walls that cannot be broken down on our own, it is God alone, "I will go before you and will level the mountains." (Isaiah 45:2)

 

How?

 

Invite God into our paneled house and fellowship with Him, simple.  No battles.  No rebuking Satan.  No lists.  Matt 11:28-29 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

 

WAIT, you mean the weary can level walls by resting!!!!!!!!  Yes, resting in Him who is great and mighty.

 

I've been practicing this now for 4 days, doing nothing but inviting God into my old paneled house to fellowship with Him, while I enjoy good, healthy foods (okay, foods off the lists, Mary!), and it is gone.  Walls are down, flat, fallen outward as His great big presence certainly didn't fit into my self-created paneled house!  He came in and the walls came tumbling down.

 

How long will my victory last?  As long as when I enter my temptation zone and consider excluding God and rebuilding a little privacy wall from God's eye that I instead, stop and I invite Him in and fellowship with Him and enjoy His presence, seek His "pleasure and His glory."   (Haggai 1:8)

 

Almost every single verse I see today, fits this victory plan!    "The fruit of righteousness will be PEACE; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.  My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest...and the city is leveled completely, how blessed you will be..." Isaiah 32:17-20      

 

Read Psalm 84.

 

Just sharing all these thoughts....

 

Joanna

 

Amy Carmichael said, "When you have decisions to make, don't look around to others to see what they would do, look UP, and light will come to show what our LORD and Master would have you do."      (A Chance to Die, p 345)