But Christmas is also an invasion. The kingdom of God striking at the heart of the kingdom of darkness, with violent repercussions.
via Remember the Dragon: Christmas Is an Invasion – FaithGateway.
A truly thoughtful take on Christmas. This article relates to the time of Christ’s birth through current headlines and reminds us that we are continually engaged in battle.
This article was first published on December 16, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
So we picked up a bag of parsnips at the store yesterday. I’ve heard of them and found where they are considered low-carb. They’re not exceptionally low-carb so if you’re working towards or trying to stay in a ketogenic state then you should probably consider skipping them.
I’ve never had these strange vegetables that look like a malformed, white carrot.
I sliced the top off of them and inhaled their aroma. The flesh of the parsnip smells like a combination of carrot, ginger, and some sort of citrus. I also noticed how light they seemed to be for their size. Their similarity to carrots and the fact that they belong in the same family made me expect they’d weigh about the same. Not so. They are much lighter, less dense, than their carrot cousins.
I peeled them, sliced them, and dropped them into a pot of hot oil. They fried up nicely into chips. Just make sure you don’t walk away while their cooking. This site points out the quickness with which they will go from soggy white yuckiness to burnt, black nasty in a few seconds. Tis true. While none of them made it to the burned stage, they are the only thing I’ve dropped into hot oil that you can literally watch the color change on. Pull them out before it’s too late and you end up with a batch of nice, browned chips.
I cut the thinner ends of them into fries after slicing off thin bits for chips. My opinion? Don’t go with fries with a parsnip. When the outside is perfect, the fibrous inside is still a it too uncooked for my taste. I imagine it’d be the same for most people.
I tried a couple of other experiments with them. I whipped them into something was an attempt at mashed potatoes. So uh…. that didn’t work out quite right.
It was good enough but even better, it gave me a great idea after the wonderful wife tasted them.
The other bit that they can do was so excellent my brother-in-law, who happened to drop by, declared what he tasted to be amazing. When it’s perfected I’ll post an actual recipe here.
Merry Christmas!
This article was first published on December 7, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
I was ready to try something new with whole wheat today. After church I set up the KitchenAid to grind some wheat into flour. The little man got into the action to help with this part.
They were amazingly simple to make and required very little time where I was actually having to do something. I had to let them rise for an hour, boil them for one minute, and finally bake them for about twenty minutes. Getting the dough mixed probably took about thirty minutes including grinding the grain.
The ultimate test came when I dropped one into the toaster and covered it with butter after it came out. Once that was done it was very plain to me that I was having breakfast for dinner. A couple of pieces of bacon, a scrambled egg, chipotle mayo, and a little smoked cheddar finished off my day. This thing was more hardy and filling than any bagel I’ve ever had.
I have no doubt one of these things could power me through an entire day. Hmmmm, wonder what breakfast will be tomorrow.
This article was first published on November 23, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
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I tried something completely new this past weekend. I made sausage.
I initially intended only to put three heads of garlic through the grinder attachment of the KitchenAid. While I had it out I thought, I might as well grind up the pork shoulder roast my lovely wife picked up for me. It occurred to me that I was more than halfway through with making sausage. Something I’d been wanting to try. So off we went.
Once all the spices were decided on, I started dumping them in with the ground pork already in the mixing bowl.
The hog casings were not as gross to handle as I thought they would be. Even the little man got in on the action. He was enjoying keeping the casing straight until he asked, “What is this stuff anyway, Dad?” Strangely, he lost most of his interest in helping about that time.
As they came out I twisted them into a few different lengths. I figured I’d cook a few individually then later smoke a few lengths.
That evening when it was time to eat, I cut one of the shorter ones off and tossed it in a pan with some sliced onion. I’m fairly certain my wife would have been quite justified in questioning my sanity shortly after. Not many mid-forties men go running into the living room yelling, “Look, it’s a sausage!”
I did.
It tasted good and had zero sugar or chemicals.
This article was first published on November 19, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
Heat one block of cream cheese (half of a box of cream cheese works fine, too) with half a stick of butter (decrease the butter if using less cream cheese) and a little cream
add garlic powder, dried parsley, and salt to taste
whisk until smooth and hot
whisk in a handful of grated parmesan
yummy on veggies and/or meat
no noodles necessary
This article was first published on November 17, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
It is almost Thanksgiving in the United States, and I need to get a move on in my preparations. First of all I need to finalize what my contributions to the family gathering will be.
Here is what I have so far:
oven roasted turkey
twice baked sour cream & chives faux potatoes
I have not tried this recipe before, but it looks like it should be a good one. I will likely make it in a casserole dish instead of the cute individual servings.
This is another recipe that I have not tried, but hey I like living on the edge (uh, not really). This has been a busy time in our lives, and we haven’t been able to try many new recipes. However, this recipe looks great to me, and I know the kids will really enjoy helping make these.
Happy Cooking and Making Wonderful Family Memories!
This article was first published on November 13, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
I can’t see it, but I know it’s out there. Somewhere the sun is clawing through the darkness. It will announce its presence with burst of wonderful color.
Down below, many of us will miss it, caught in the rush of life. Are the kids ready? Do I have my school assignment ready? Am I forgetting anything for that presentation?
I’ll just stop and grab something to eat somewhere.
Take a moment and take the time to cook. I know I have another long day ahead of me. I need a breakfast that will last. A carb-filled fiasco handed stuffed in a paper sack isn’t going to do the trick.
I toss some butter in a pan and put about a third of a chopped onion on it. I follow that with a chopped jalapeño. I scrambled three eggs while the onion, peppers sautéed. I tossed in a quarter cup of some leftover, diced ham and poured in the eggs.
When it was done, I topped it off with a little bit of sour cream, some cheese, and a dot of hot sauce for some extra color.
In all it took about twenty minutes, and I am sure was less costly than anything I could have picked up on the way to work.
This article was first published on November 10, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
“Any publicity is good publicity.”
I don’t know how many times or ways I have heard sayings expressing the general idea that bad press is still press. According to Plunkett Research, there are $177.8 billion dollars spent on advertising in the U.S every year. To get an idea of how big that number is, 177.8 billion seconds will take 338,280 years.
SOOOoooooo it would seem reasonable to assume that getting your brand or product out there is a good thing. I’d always assumed that was kind of where those saying came from. Even bad stories get you exposure.
What if the government mandated your product be identified? How excellent would that be? Apparently it’d be terrible.
Oregon recently had to decide on whether to pass a bill requiring labeling of GMO products. It failed. The cash and other contributions given to defeat this bill are outlandish.
Monsanto Corporation boasts on their website how adding genes to various vegetables gives them resistance to disease. Why then, would they feel the need to give almost $6 million dollars to keep the state of Oregon from requiring genetically modified foods to be labeled as such? What is worth $20 million to an advertising agency to keep voters in Oregon from knowing what they are eating? Why is PepsiCo willing to fork out over $2 million to defeat this bill?
The group opposing labeling GMO’s claims they fear the destruction of family farms because of costs associated with labeling what someone is eating. Why then are their top thirty supporters corporations? (PDF based on Oregon Sec. of State records)There are reports that GMO foods lead to organ failure. Perhaps this COULD be the reason that makers would oppose labeling products properly.
Unfortunately, I’ve asked several questions here without providing any answers. Obviously private companies operate for a profit. I can only think these corporations must feel that their profits would go down at least as much as they donated if the labeling was required? I would love to know why they feel that way.
This article was first published on November 8, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
It’s a bit late in the evening. Today was a hectic day, and things didn’t quite go as planned. A late dinner awaits me. As it cooks, the smell of smoked bacon, garlic, onion, and a load of spices fills the house. While the pot of beans cook I decided to make use of the time by going through some folders filled with photos.
I noticed that many of the pictures had my children helping out. Something kids love to do before they hit the teenage years. Even though I have not been eating better and cooking healthier for long, it has paid benefits beyond how I look or feel.
Just about every time I walk into the kitchen the kids run in behind me asking “Daddy can I help?” The answer is almost always yes. Knowing that I am passing on healthy habits while I spend time with my family is somehow very satisfying. Much more satisfying than the bowl of beans will be in just a few short moments.
(NKJV) Ecc. 6:7 All the labor of man [is] for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.
Changing your lifestyle is about more than what and how much you eat. It’s about focusing your life on those things that are important. God. Family. Contentment.
Everything else is chasing the wind.
This article was first published on November 3, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
What makes up the food you eat? Is it real?
Consider the screen-grab of the “chef” below from a video promoting a flavor house. Not exactly the type of image you see pasted across the front of your foods’ label.
Food industry publication Prepared Foods subtitles a brief in the August 2014 edition with, “Flavorchem’s new enzyme modified cheese flavors are cost-effective alternative to traditional cheese ingredients.” Why bother with traditional cheese ingredients when you can use cheaper enzyme modified cheese flavors?
There are lots of flavor houses that do the same type of work. I’m not knocking any of them. I do knock the fact that they still won’t tell you what natural flavorings are in your ice cream.
I watched twice trying to identify something that looked like a chef or a traditional kitchen. I couldn’t find one. I guess they’re not cost effective.
This article was first published on October 25, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.