Happy Sunday

Deuteronomy 30:19

 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

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Linking up with Deidre and the Sunday Community, and Scripture and a Snapshot!

Doing You WELL Wednesday

Practical Tips For Cutting Back On Meats

 CDC photo

 

 

To check out an in-season list of fruits and vegetables, go to www.cdc.gov .

1. Reduce your meat portion.  If you usually eat three pieces of chicken, reduce it to one piece.  If you usually eat a supersized portion of meat, eat a regular sized portion!
2. Increase your vegetable portion. If you reduce your meat portion without increasing your vegetable portion, you will either be too hungry or you will fill up on breads and pastas. Your goal of deciding to eat more fruits and vegetables should ultimately make you healthier , not fatter. Therefore, you do not want to overcompensate for meat by loading up on breads, cookies, white rice and junk food.
3. Take baby steps. Start by eliminating meat for one meal a week . Progress to eliminating meat one meal per day. Eventually take week-long meatless challenges. I am happy to say that I eat meatless meals at least three days per week. This did not happen over night! When I do eat meat, meat is no longer the main course. This is something that I had to get accustomed to. In my household - growing up - meat was the main course. I can remember, at family gatherings, we often had three or more meats. They were not served as just choices. There was enough so that everyone could have a portion of all of them.
4. Enjoy your vegetables. Google or You Tube different ways to prepare your favorite vegetable. If you are not a vegetable eater, challenge yourself to try a different vegetable each time you grocery shop. Trust me, there are bound to be vegetables that you've never tried that you are sure to like. One thing that surprised me about eating vegetables is that I had no idea that so many of them can be eaten raw.
5. Network with supportive people. Find You Tubers or bloggers who share the same or similar goals. Listen to what they have to share. Learn from it. No two people are the same. You must ultimately do what is best for you!

 

 

Disclaimer: These are tips that I have found helpful for me.

Meatless Monday #16

 

3 Beans Meal

 

Speckled Butter Beans, Butter Peas, Lentils 

 

To make this 3 Bean Meal, I sautéed chopped onions and celery along with green and orange Bell Peppers in about a tablespoon of coconut oil.  Afterwards, I put the onions, celery and Bell Pepper in my heated crockpot along with a teaspoon of curry, a half teaspoon of garlic powder, and about a half teaspoon of seasoning salt.  I , then, allowed this mixture to cook in the crockpot for about 30 minutes.  During that time, I rinsed my speckled butter beans and butter peas (similar to lima beans).  Then, I added them to the crockpot along with just enough water to cover the beans.  As this was cooking, I soaked a half cup of lentils for about 30 minutes.  After the butter beans and butter peas had cooked for 2 hours, I added the lentils and allowed them to cook for another hour.

 

 

I finished this meal with fresh tomatoes, rice topped with curried potatoes and carrots and cornbread.

Happy Sunday!

Proverbs 22:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 

Linking up with Deidre and the Sunday Community, and Scripture and a Snapshot!

Old School Blogging Alphabet Soup

I've never been tagged before today.  Hope over at  Defining Hope tagged me!  Here goes...


A. Attached or Single? Attached. MARRIED

B. Best Friend? My husband

C. Cake or pie? Red Velvet Cupcakes

D. Day of choice? Sunday (I love church.)

E. Essential Item? My computer

F. Favorite color? I have two - green and brown. I love the warm colors.

G. Gummy bears or worms? NEITHER!

H. Hometown? Montgomery, AL

I. Favorite Indulgence? Reading and researching anything about hair, health and God

J. January or July? July - not because of the heat, but because I usually travel and spend time with family

K. Kids? 3 that I birthed, 2 step-children and 1 Godchild

L. Life isn’t complete without? My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

M. Marriage date? February 14th

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 brother, 2 sisters

O. Oranges or Apples. Apples

P. Phobias? To be driving along and have something creepy and crawly moving around in my car

Q. Quotes? If you don't include me in your plans, don't put me on your schedule!

R. Reasons to smile? I smile when I think about the goodness of God and how HE keeps me when I can't keep myself!

S. Season of choice? Winter (I love VERY cold weather. I enjoy dressing in boots, jackets, and sweaters.)

T. Tag 5 People. ANYBODY WHO IS READING THIS AND WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE

U. Unknown fact about me? I am the mother to twins that will enter their second year of college in the fall!

V. Vegetable? I like most vegetables, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be kale. (I wouldn't have said that two years ago!)

W. Worst habit? Getting hooked on Starbuck's coffee!

X. Xray or Ultrasound? NEITHER

Y. Your favorite food? Cracker Barrel Pancakes!

Z. Zodiac sign? I don't do zodiacs, but because of my birthday, it would be scorpio.

Doing You WELL Wednesday

It is very disturbing to me whenever I discover that someone that I consider a friend has been witholding valuable information from me. I know that no one tells everyone everything. However, I believe that there are certain things that a friend should tell another friend. I believe that friends should have your back -PERIOD .

Am I expecting too much? Am I asking too much? I was always taught that to have a friend you must be a friend. And, you should cherish and nourish relationships.

　
Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

　

　

Product Review

On a lighter note, I will be enjoying a fresh green salad topped with my favorite alternative to bacon bits. This meatless alternative has a smoky taste and it adds great crunch to salads or baked potatoes. It is made by Frontier Natural Products Co-op and comes in two choices - vegan or vegetarian. I have only tried the vegan bits. I purchased it at my local healthy market for $4.79. My sons tried it and could not believe that it was bacon-less! If you are looking for a topping to your favorite salad or baked potato, OR you just want to add some crunch to your favorite recipe without the added cholesterol and preservatives, give it a try!

Frontier Products

Meatless Monday #15

I made a chocolate, almond butter banana smoothie.  I blended 1 cup of Banana Honey Champions Yogurt with 2 tablespoons of almond butter, a half of a frozen banana, 2 teaspoons of Hershey's chocolate , 2 packets of Splenda and about 6 ice cubes.  It was delicious!

 

  

Macaroni Salad atop a bed of Kale w/ a side of Kale - Spinach Chips

1 diced yellow squash

1 diced zucchini

half cup of thinly sliced carrots

half cup of diced celery

half cup of diced bell pepper

1 tablespoon dill cubes

cooked elbow macaroni

Mix with mayo and/or mustard.  Season to taste.  Chill before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Sunday!

Happy Father's Day!

 

 

Psalms 103:13

 

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

Linking up with Deidre and the Sunday Community, and Scripture and a Snapshot!

Doing You Well Wednesday

Google Image (www.organizedchaosonline.com)

 

 

Have you ever tried watching a pot of water boil? If so, do you remember the exact point that it started to boil? Have you ever wondered about the exact temperature of the boiling water?

If you didn't already know, water boils at 212 degrees - not 210, not 211. If water is to boil, the temperature of the water must increase to 212 degrees.

If you are cooking or experimenting and you need boiling water, you must wait until the water boils. Too often, in life, we impatiently move before the water boils.

We make decisions before the water boils.

 

We impulsively go out and buy things before the water boils.

 

We speak before the water boils.

 

We form relationships before the water boils.

 

We destroy relationships before the water boils.

You get the picture. We do a whole lot of stuff before the water boils. In other words, we often make decisions or fail to make decisions before the appropriate time. Sometimes, these choices and decisions lead to disasters that are nearly impossible to rectify or repair.

On this wonderful Wednesday, I challenge you with a couple questions.

Are you moving just a bit too fast - before the water boils, OR have you gotten all of your ducks in a row and you are just waiting for the water to reach 212 degrees?

 

** I am not a chemist, but I do understand that the boiling point may change above and below sea level.**

Meatless Monday #14

Last week, I really missed sharing a Meatless Monday idea. Because of internet problems, I was unable to share. So, today, I will be sharing a couple of Meatless Monday foods that I think you are sure to enjoy.

First of all, I tried a new brand of almond milk (Califia) that is, by far, the best I've ever tried. I purchased it from Earthfare. Although I have NEVER been a fan of cold cereals, I decided to try Nature's Path Organic Corn Flakes as a way to drink more almond milk. My stomach is VERY intolerant of dairy milk. The Califia Almond Milk paired with the Nature's Path Organic Corn Flakes was delicious! I topped the cereal with sliced bananas and peaches.

I bought the Vanilla Almond!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, smoothies are an excellent way to eat more fruits and vegetables. By way of blog hopping, I discovered an excellent way to enjoy smoothies during the summer months. (Sorry, I don't remember the blog! I know I should have written it down.) Anywho, I froze my smoothie in popscicle molds for a delicious, non-preservative frozen snack. I will be doing this again!

To make the smoothie, I pureed (fresh) bananas, diced cantaloupe, diced mango, diced peaches, and about a tablespoon of lime juice with a half cup of water.

Happy Sunday!

 

 

Psalm 23:3

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 

Linking up with Deidre and the Sunday Community, and Scripture and a Snapshot!

Doing You Well Wednesday

Encourage Yourself!

Sometimes, you have to encourage yourself. Perhaps, you are going through a real tough time in your life. You are angry, confused, depressed and/or frustrated. It seems the more you try, the tougher things become until you reach the point where you are about to throw your hands up and surrender to defeat. If you are at this point, I have GOOD NEWS for you today.

I'm reminded of the Old Testament story of David. Allow me to give you a quick recap of David.

• Before David was king, he was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel the prophet to become king.
• He killed Goliath.
• King Saul had jealous rages and tried to kill him on many occasions. 
• The women during that day made things no better by publicly proclaiming, "Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands." 

On one occasion, David and his men had returned to their camp to discover that the enemy had stolen everything - their wives and all of their goods. Not only did the enemy steal their stuff, but the enemy burned the camp. Imagine how he must to have felt! Just as most of us would have done, David immediately had a pity party. Please understand me, David was depressed. His own men talked about stoning him. (1 Samuel 30:6) Now, at this point, David realized that the pity-party had lasted long enough. He began to encourage himself! And, he asked God if He could go into the enemy's camp to recover his stuff. God gave him permission to go into the enemy's camp and to take back everything that was stolen!

So, today, I want you to know that it is time to end your pity-party! It has lasted long enough.

1. Stop the pity-party.
2. Seek guidance. (And, if God says so, then ...)
3. Seize what is rightfully yours!

Be encouraged, and better yet - encourage someone else!  Please know that you have been blessed to be a blessing!  

Happy Sunday!

Isaiah 41:10    

 

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed ; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Linking up with Deidre and the Sunday Community, and Scripture and a Snapshot!