Monday Motivation: June 1, 2015

As I set to the task of seeking the Lord as a means of waiting upon Him, I'm meditating on this hymn that we sang in church on Sunday morning.  The words are precious and striking.  In praying over my weaknesses and areas of sin I am prone to fail in, I find comfort and courage here.

Holy Spirit

by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend

 

Holy Spirit. living Breath of God,

Breathe new life into my willing soul.

Let the presence of the risen Lord

Come renew my heart and make me whole.

Cause Your word to come alive in me;

Give me faith for what I cannot see;

Give me passion for Your purity.

Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

 

Holy Spirit, come abide within;

May Your joy be seen in all I do--

Love enough to cover ev'ry sin

In each thought and deed and attitude,

Kindness to the greatest and the least,

Gentleness that sows the path of peace.

Turn my strivings into works of grace.

Breath of God show Christ in all I do.

 

Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,

Giving life to all that God has made,

Show Your power once again on earth;

Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.

Let the fragrance of our pray'rs arise.

Lead us on the road of sacrifice

That in unity the face of Christ

May be clear for all the world to see.  

May the Holy Spirit truly breathe new life into my willing soul. 

May He turn my strivings into works of grace, showing Christ in all I do. 

Give me faith for what I cannot see.

Sunday Sabbath: Waiting is Seeking

My Sunday day of "rest" included a time of worship with our church family.  The sermon was, as always, a great blessing. I came away with some great courage regarding the concept of waiting on the Lord.   You can listen to the message at this link, if you'd like. 

The message is built on chapter 3, verses 24-39 in the book of Lamentations.

" 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." (v. 24-27)

In the teaching of these verses, I was struck with the truth that waiting is GOOD, waiting is ACTIVE, and, most importantly, waiting is SEEKING.  Specifically, seeking HIM.

As I meditated on this I was reminded of a journal entry I wrote years ago on this very blog. Another time I was challenged with the concept of Active Waiting. You can read that entry if you click on the link.  Here's a quote that stood out to me tonight as I reread it:

'...when you do one thing right--at the right time--the next thing works even better, and you, one day, will become what you want to become.'

As I work at resting today, (trust me, it's WORK to rest around here ;) ) I'm newly challenged that my waiting should be an active time of seeking the Lord.  As I seek him, I can rest in Him, knowing that it is His work in my life that will bring to fruition His purposes.  I am waiting in Him to accomplish His will in and through me.

Lord, cause me to be faithful to your word that your Spirit would be strong to lead and guide me each moment of each day.

                                                           

Thrifty Thursday: Pasta Night!

Every Monday night is Pasta Night on our menu rotation.  A few weeks ago I tried something new and decided that it was so clever, I would make it into a new habit. :)  After all, if I'm saving money AND time, I can't lose, right?

Introducing: Pasta Meets Soup, and they lived happily ever after.

It's a simple concept, really.  I make a large batch of soup to enjoy over the weekend.  This makes life more doable when we are busy on Saturdays or all enjoying our Sunday rest so much that we don't want to cook. A large pot of soup is a great way to feed a small army. 

Come Monday, I reheat what's leftover of the soup and serve it over noodles for the children. (David and I are avoiding pasta right now, so we either serve ours over cooked vegetables or just enjoy another steaming hot bowl of soup.) 

Truly, I think they like the soup as sauce over noodles than plain soup. I don't mind at all. Leftovers become Upcycled and that makes everyone happy. :)

Just some ideas for soup that can work well as sauce over noodles:

Plain old vegetable soup with legumes for added texture. We liked this over penne.
Taco Soup was great over long spaghetti noodles.
Vegan "cheezy" broccoli soup. 

The broccoli soup was something I tweaked as I was wanting to serve our Monday pasta in an alfredo fashion.  I found this recipe and then tweaked it to fit what I was looking for. It turned out delicious! Creamy, rich, and my husband's first reaction was "Mmmm...cheesy!" 

Big score. :)

Here's my personal version of the recipe in the link:

"Cheezy" Broccoli Soup

Serves a family of 11 twice (once as soup, once as sauce over pasta and veggies) 

Ingredients

• 2 medium red onion, diced (I used yellow onions
• 1 quart of mushrooms, finely diced
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 5 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 10 cups broccoli florets (I combined raw and frozen)
• 2 cups nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (I was out of lemon juice so substituted ACV)
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
• 1 can (15oz) cannellini beans

Instructions

1. Set raw cashews to soak in hot water.
2. In a large pot, cook the onions and mushrooms in vegetable broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and dijon and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Add the milk, broth and broccoli.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
6. Turn off heat and stir in nutritional yeast and lemon juice.
7. Pour cashews, soaking water, and can of beans into blender.
8. Remove about ½ of the soup (or as much as will fit in blender with other ingredients) and puree in a blender.
9. Pour it back into the pot with the remaining soup.

 

Fit Friday: May 29, 2015

Well, I'm finally seeing the scale go down again. I've been so frustrated and doing so poorly I haven't even been stepping on the scale.  But, some good friends are working to cheer each other on so this month I've been paying attention.

Good thing, too, because, just as I suspected, those numbers were moving in the exact opposite direction that I wanted them to go.

So, the 9 week challenge began the first week of May. Here's my progress so far:

May 9th :  186

May 29th : 181.4

I'm glad the numbers are retreating again.  But, they hadn't done so until this week.  I am thankful for some scale consolation that I am finding my right place again. But, still working through many daily battles with my mind and flesh to make choices that honor the Lord.  Praying He continues to work in me so that "whatever I eat or drink or WHATEVER I do" it is for the glory of God.

Tots-n-Teens Tuesday: Special Soup

This little book was passed along to me years ago. It's a simple, clever resource that has given most of my children their introduction to finding their own special recipe to make for the family. 

Recently, one of our daughters was planning out her birthday dinner and was determined that we would make the "Special Soup" from this book.  Knowing that "Special Soup" is another name for good ol' Toss-In-Whatcha-Got Vegetable soup, I was more than happy to comply.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to locate this title anymore. It's rather dated, but if you happen upon it in your thrifting or used sales adventures, you won't be sorry you grabbed it.  The layout isn't overly stimulating, but the instructions are easy to follow for little ones. 

I've used it in many different ways from reinforcing phonics to learning basic kitchen skills. It's well loved around here.

Side note: This recipe book has ingredients we don't always use in our home. I find it very easy to substitute ingredients with what we have. I also find that our discussions surrounding those changes has led to some great education on our food choices regarding health.  In short, I love having a simple way to be introducing wise food choices at a very young age.

Monday Motivation: Humble Pie

Still struggling to stay on track and keep up with feeding my body well while managing life. The cycle goes on of eating what's easy and lacking, feeling sluggish and lazy, eating more of what's easy and lacking, feeling depressed over making poor choices and seeing the consequences every time I look in the mirror. 

My motivation this week come from the source my victory came from when the return of my health began. There are many sources of motivation that can encourage me for a day or so. But, until I rightly deal with my heart and the issues that cause me to make wrong choices regarding my time, food, and struggles, I will only be motivated for a short while. 

I will not be changed. 

Change comes through repentance.  Change is what I need.

"As for me, I said in my prosperity, 'I shall never be moved.' 

By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong;

you hid your face; I was dismayed." 

Psalm 30:6-7

 

 

These words are my heart right now.  I have become more and more aware over the last few weeks how prideful I am regarding my health and weight loss. I had found the golden key, the perfect plan, the secret formula for what works for my body. If I just followed it then all would work perfectly.  Again. I thought you had given me a special tool that I could use again and again to get what I wanted.

 

I trusted in a plan instead of the lover of my soul and changer of my life.

 

Sadly, even though I realized and rejoiced that it was Christ who had done this work in me while I was in the midst of "my prosperity", I somehow thought I would replicate his work easily on my own through the same outward choices, the plan, never considering the powerful work He had accomplished within me. 

 

The soul-work was the primary component and it isn't something I can replicate on my own.  The body work was a secondary work to the primary soul work that He was accomplishing in me.

 

I believed I would never be moved. I believed I would forever be strong in my choices now that I had a plan. It is obvious that my strength is weak and faulty.  It is only by Christ's favor that I have any prosperities in my life.  It is only by keeping my heart and mind on Him that my choices will honor Him. The results are His doing, the work of the Holy Spirit within me.  He makes my mountain stand strong as a work of His sanctification in my life. 

 

Soul work comes first. And soul work changes with each season.

 

Have you hidden your face, Lord? Because I am dismayed. 

 

Yet, seeing my pride and my sin, I now rightly see my failings.  I see the reality of my struggle to abuse and misuse my time and food to accomplish what only you can do in my life. 

 

Forgive me. 

 

Forgive me for trusting in myself and my plan. Those are outward idols that keep from you.

 

Let me give thanks that in every purposeful bite I will not only restore my health, energy, and strength, but that I will know it is YOU that has enabled me to make the choices behind the what, why, when, and how of those bites. 

 

Let me give thanks that every step I take will strengthen me for the work you have given, not for my vain longings.

 

Let me remember the joy that comes through obedience, discipline, and surrender.

 

It is by your favor I am made strong.  It is by your mercy I am rescued. 

 

It is by your grace I can begin anew.

 

"To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: '

What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!

O LORD, be my helper!'

 

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"

Psalm 30:8-12

Monday Motivation: The Best Sauce

I've been derailed for a good six months now.  That's how old baby is, at least.  Truthfully, it's been longer since pregnancy gave me good excuse to deviate from the weight-loss plan and get into habits of snacking and overeating. I could really use some STRONG motivation.

Yesterday, David and I committed to getting back onto Dr. Furhman's 6 week plan. I've mentioned it before on the blog.  Quick visual here shows what we are aiming for on a daily basis for optimal weight loss.  

My exceptions for nursing are an extra 1/2 cup or so of raw oats and an extra two or so ounces of nuts/seeds for good fats.

One of the things I forget when I'm snacking and allowing myself to eat foods with little nutritional value is how they trigger what Dr. F terms "toxic hunger".  The last couple of weeks I've been feeling very poorly.  My persistent headaches have returned, my jittery feelings at meal time, and just an overall sense of feeling shaky and unsteady between meals.  I knew what those feelings meant. They were the trigger that set me looking for the right path for health two years ago when I needed help.  It's time to get serious about my health again and stop giving in to emotional eating and the wrong cues for hunger. 

So, today, as I cruised through my day following the plan and feeling great because of it, I noticed how GOOD my food was tasting every time I sat to eat it. This was one of the TRUE hunger symptoms I was having contrasted with the toxic hunger I was battling last week.  What a difference!  Dr. F. talks about toxic hunger in this article. I learned of it when reading his book, End of Diabetes. 

All I needed to do was give it a week of experimenting with what I read to know my body was struggling with toxic hunger and was quickly able to remove those symptoms by filling my belly with the nutrient dense foods on the Nutritarian diet.  It took just about the same amount of time this time around for the same results.

So, that lead me to this WONDERFUL remembrance today of just how delicious food is when you are truly hungry!  As I mentioned this to someone, they gave me a quote they heard and I thought it was simply perfect, "Hunger is the best sauce." 

So true!!  And what better motivation than to have your food taste EVEN BETTER than usual?!

Then, I made an incredible (and easy!) sauce for dinner tonight, so I figured that ties right in with that fabulous quote. :D

Here's the link for the recipe.  I hadn't tried this version of vegan cheese sauce yet, but it was tucked away in my recipe binder. It's going to replace the old standby we used before.  I seriously LOVED this sauce.  Maybe it was just the hunger talking, but I was VERY happy there were leftovers for me to enjoy it again this week. :)

Sorry, no pics! Can you BELIEVE that??? 

Personal notes: 
I doubled the recipe (sorta, I didn't measure the potatoes and carrots and ended up with more than would fit in the blender, so after I processed the sauce, we just dipped the leftover potatoes and carrots IN the sauce for taste-testing. ) But everything else I doubled, except the salt.

I did not use the cayenne pepper or the McKay's seasoning in the recipe. I have no idea what that is.

I skipped the olive oil but replaced it with a small handful (maybe a 1/4 cup??) of raw pumpkin seeds in the sauce.

I had to add in quite a bit more water than the recipe called for to get my blender to blend. 

I don't have a Vita-Mix, so that could be the reason I needed more water.  It was still thick and creamy and delicious, though. :) 

We served our sauce over whole wheat pasta noodles (Monday is pasta night), steamed broccoli, green beans and green peas.  All made delicious with this sauce.

I had about a 1/2 cup of pasta tonight and skipped the chocolate Nice Cream that everyone else had for dessert in lieu of two chocolate date balls, which are my one true dessert love. :)