Recipe for today's lunch

Made this recipe today with a few modifications.

http://www.vegetarianventures.com/2013/09/22/chickpea-dumplings-in-curry-tomato-sauce/#.UziWjZK9KK3

CHICKPEA DUMPLINGS IN CURRY TOMATO SAUCE

adapted from Saveur Issue 156

• 1 cup chickpea flour (also called Garbanzo bean flour)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon peanut oil
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt (use soy yogurt to make vegan)
• 2 serrano chilis, seeds removed and minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated)

• Cooked rice

Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium. Add coriander, mustard, and cumin seeds; cook for about a minute or until they begin to pop. Add curry powder, one serrano pepper, and 1/2 the onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add tomatoes (with juice from the can), turmeric, ginger, and a cup of water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for ten minutes or until it has thickened up.

While simmering, combine the rest of the serranos, onions, chickpea flour, cilantro, oil, yogurt, and salt in a bowl. Stir until a thick dough has formed.

Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough into the stew; repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover mixture and let steam / simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Enjoy right away with cilantro and yogurt as garnish.

My adaptations were as follows:

All purpose gf baking flour since I didn't have any chickpea flour and the mix has chickpeas flour as it's first ingredient. 

No oil, used some water instead.

A little silky tofu in place of yogurt.

Left out the chilis since the one small can of tomatoes I used had chilis in it.

Used ground seasonings and left out the mustard. Couldn't find the curry powder so used a bit of garam masala instead.

It turned out good. The kids weren't fond of the dumplings, but Victor and I liked them. The curry was too hot for my taste so I'll add less curry powder and use tomatoes with no chilis next time. And maybe next time I'll use coconut milk in the dumplings, to help with the flavor. 

Curry and dumplings on left and quinoa with tomatoes and cucumbers and olives on right.

Health and stuff

I've been taking a health class, from a Biblical standpoint, and it's amazing the stuff I've learned over the years that I need to unlearn and the things I need to change to be in line with Gods Word and counsel. I'll post more later on some of it. 

Let's start at the beginning.

God created us perfect and good in the beginning. The Bible says in Psalm 139:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . . ."

God created our bodies to be able to heal themselves, and He also created us for His honor and glory and we are to go take care of them.

Th Bible says, "Whether therefor Ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD." 1 Corinthians 10:31

As Christians, we are called to take the gospel message of Salvation to the world. How can we do this if we are sick all the time? Or our brains are fogged up with allergies? Also, many people are not even willing to listen to Bible, or talk about Jesus. We must do as Jesus did and help them with their physical sickness! and then their hearts may be softened to be open to the Word of God. 

In 3 John 2 it is written, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even  as thy soul prospereth." 

So also in Exodus God promised health to the Israelites if they followed the laws set out for them. 

Exo 15:26    "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee."

What were the diseases of the Egyptians? 

If we read in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 we find a list of diseases, most of which we also find today in our modern societies. Things like tuberculosis, and fever, heart attack, arthritis and poxes of various kinds. Inflammation which is a symptom of many other diseases. And actually, diseases themselves are all symptoms of something wrong with the body.

Proverbs 26:2 says  "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come."

Disease always has a cause. We are told that disease is the body's attempt at getting rid of problems that came about because of failure to follow the laws of health. 

God gave us a manual for living, called the Bible. This includes care for ourselves  as well as others, and the world we live in. When we don't follow the manual, things break down and we end up suffering the consequences,

Deu 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:

Gal 6:7    Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

God's desire is that we choose life and be healthy and teach others the same, to bring them to Him as their Creator and Physician that they may also see their need of a Saviour. 

I pray we can make the right choices and educate ourselves as to how God wants us to live. He tells us how in His Word, and we must search it out. 

I will post more about what I have been learning in regards to health in the Bible.

Exercise and other things

This week I have tried to at least get in a 15 minute walk with the kids after breakfast, but that didn't every day. Today, I walked with the kids to the park and back. While there, I did some pull-ups and chin-ups and a few push-ups and then took Sarah down the slides a bunch of times. I did this last week as well. A couple days ago, I tried to take the kids and walk to the mailbox and back, but Josh crashed his bike and scraped up his side and knee pretty bad, so we turned around.

We are going to try to do more exercise everyday, for healing and to build up so that I, at least, can hike the mountain next year. See, I have to keep this goal in mind.

Tomorrow, I am going to do a fruit fast, and then add in some grains, and veges and then back to more normal. I haven't been very good the last few weeks and my gallbladder needs some extra healing.

The kids are doing great with their schoolwork. We just got through reading a book about the Puritans and the Mayflower which was really interesting. It was by Rush Limbaugh and was a fun way to view history. We have been doing a bunch of different things for the different subjects and I have been enjoying homeschooling these days. They are also picking up their reading and writing quite well. I got them each a binder with paper and pens and they have been really loving being able to draw and write.

Last year, we were given 9 months to move. That was up today. Well, along in there, the landlord/manager said he worked some sort of deal and nobody had to move after all. Today, we found out that the paperwork and the money for his deal hadn't gotten past the judges desk. So, we had a paper to sign for a 90 day extension of the 9 months. Now, the his hope is that the judge will sign off on the deal and no one will have to move at the end of the 90 day extension, but really, this is getting old, the uncertainty.

Oh, well. God has a plan, and is always in control. Lord, give us patience, and show us the way!

I guess that's all for now. I'm going to post more tomorrow on health and stuff.

Fun health stuff!

The last month or so I've been taking a class on Medical Missionary work. So it's all about God's Plan for health and helping other other people heal themselves as a door to leading them to Christ.

Having gone to Weimar, which is a health based school, I knew a lot of what we are learning already. However, there are things I have learned since school, that I am having to unlearn and many things to relearn, and a lot of stuff I didn't know at all. 

We are reading some awesome books on health, especially the Bible. And I have had some experiences with my own health that are confirming for me, God's way of health. And it is meant for everyone! It is a one size fits all, basically.

First of all, God wants is to be healthy. And physical health affects the mental and spiritual health as well. So, if our body is sick, our brain would be too, and if our brain is fogged up with sickness, we can't think or reason as well, and decision making becomes impaired, affecting the spiritual life. God has given us clear instructions in His word on how we can be healthy and most diseases are brought on by our own violation of the laws of health and nature.

The first step to healing is figuring out the cause. Then we remove the cause and change or correct whatever it is we need to change, such as lack of exercise or wrong foods in the diet, or lack of water. Finally, we aid healing by applying healing herbs, water treatments, charcoal, and whatever other natural remedies may be helpful.

For example, the last few gallbladder attacks I have had I was able to shorten them and leesen the pain using natural remedies instead of drugs. The first one, I used hot and cold water only. The second one, I applied some essential oils (wonderful aids, by the way. Check out my website! Www.Youngliving.org/sasekvj ) and also did a charcoal poultice which worked the best. I was able to completely relax and sleep through it. The most recent attack, I was at church and by had brought my box of oils along, not realizing til later that it was a divine inspiration to do so. I used Panaway for pain, lemon for inflammation and blood pressure, and peppermint for digestion. We were having an afternoon meeting, so I went for a walk in the warm sunshine, then just before we went home, I did a hot compress alternating with cold. A few minutes after we left, the pain was completely gone. 

The causes of the attacks were all diet related. So, I am going to work on changing it and doing better at eating right. Plus, I have a tendency to overeat. I am a glutton (pun intended) for punishment. 

Oh, another plug for essential oils and healthy eating. We had some unhealthy foods last week, and that brought on another round of constipation/vomiting/ diarrhea stomach bug thing with Sarah and then John. Only Sarah threw up. I used peppermint and Peace and Calming which has patchouli in it and that helped calm the dry heaves and nausea right down. I also put a charcoal poultice on her stomach and gave her some charcoal water to drink. That was Thursday night and she was well enough to go to church on Sabbath morning. 

Anyway, I think that's a start. I will write more later about what kinds of things I want to incorporate into our lifestyle.

Oh, yeah this last week we also walked 3 miles round trip to the park and then 2 miles round trip almost to the mailbox. Working on doing that more often. 

And got part of the garden planted, after we put down 2 tons of mulch. Fun times! Exciting times, as well. More on that later!!

www.youngliving.org/sasekvj