Veggie Pasta

Pasta

• 1 large zucchini, peeled into noodles (can do with a Julian peeler)
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup asparagus

Sauce

• 1 avocado
• ½ cup 4 cheese tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 6 TBSP water
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 TBSP fresh thyme

1. Peel the zucchini. Using a vegetable peeler (the results are more fettuccine-like noodles) or a spiralizer, prepare a large bowl of zucchini noodles. 
2. Sprinkle the zucchini noodles with salt and let them sit
3. In a blender combine the sauce ingredients and blend until smooth.
4. Remove the asparagus and peas from the freezer and place them in a large bowl. 
5. Boil a kettle of water. Pour the hot water over the asparagus and peas and let them sit for 1-2 minutes. 
6. Drain the water and add the vegetables to the zucchini noodles. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss to coat.

Eggplant Lasagna

• 1 lg. eggplant, cut in 1/4 inch slices
  
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp. Garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Pinch of garlic powder
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 8 oz. part-skim Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1. Bring large pot of water to boiling; remove from heat. Drop in eggplant slices; let stand 5 minutes. Drain slices; blot dry with a paper towel. 
2. Heat oil in non-stick skillet; brown eggplant on both sides. 
3. Combine Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano in a small bowl. 
4. Spread a little tomato sauce over bottom of a 9-inch square shallow baking dish.
5.  Arrange eggplant in layers going eggplant, mozzarella, then Parmesan mixture. 
6. Pour remaining sauce over top then add a healthy dose of grated Parmesan cheese. 
7. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Makes 6 servings at around 200 calories each.

Health, Family, and Props

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It has been a hectic few weeks. It started with a trip to my fathers that was really quite pleasant. My father has been a work-a-holic for his entire life. Regrettably he has been sick for quite sometime which has forced him into an early retirement. A silver lining from this though is he now has much more time to spend with his family so the girls and I packed up the SUV and headed down for a week full of zoo trips, park playing, and couch snuggles with Pa Pa and their Uncle. Once we returned home is when the trouble started. Bronchitis swept through our home like Hurricane Katrina placing everyone on bed-rest one after the other. Although we are still fitted with an incredibly unhealthy cough we are all starting to feel much better and it is time to get back to the dealings of everyday life.

I want to thank Veronica Lee from http://ofmiceandramen.blogspot.com/ for making the first comment on my blog and pushing my behind back into gear. She has a very attractive blog full of interesting art, cute crafts, recipes, and family antics. She is definitely someone to keep on your watch-list.

So lets get back to the beginning of my blog. I mentioned in my posting a “slight hinting” (lol) of having a weight problem. Now I wouldn't say I am obese but I am definitely far from healthy. Evenings of Totino's pizza and Mac and Cheese, although delicious and easy to make, are not in our families best interest. It is amazing how we let things that we know are not healthy into our lives and how they quickly become the norm. So now its time to put an end to it. No more will I allow myself to fall to pieces. With horrible food and little exercise I have become tired, sick, and a lot of times quite surly.

Although it is unquestionably not the “focus” of this blog my families health is quickly becoming of the utmost importance to me. Watching my father become more and more sick and requiring a kidney transplant at such an early age I need to reverse the damage done to my body and prevent my children from continuing bad habits in health care. Once a week starting next week I will be making a post on food records and exercise records for our entire family titled “Fitness Friday's”. I will be living proof that despite hectic schedules and kids, health can be a priority and weight loss is possible.

So now it is time to be honest. I am a 24 year old, 5'4 mother of two who weighs in at a hefty 180 lbs and fits into size 18. My goal to begin with is 160 lbs and I hope to eventually sit at 130 lbs and fit into a single digit sized clothing. I plan for 20 minuets of exercise a day to start with and my large goal today is to drink my recommended 8 glasses of water, make a meal plan for after payday, and take an inventory of our pantry to remove all junk food to a high shelf (lets be realistic) to be eaten only for special treats.

Photograph provided by http://blogs.bgsu.edu/dballar/2012/10/06/should-bgsu-incorporate-more-healthy-food-choices-for-diners/

Cheese On A Stick

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• blocked Cheese, your choice (Cut Into 1/2-inch X 3 Inch Sticks)
• 3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil 

1. Set Wire Rack inside rimmed baking sheet
2. Whisk cornmeal, 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in a bowl
3. Whisk in buttermilk and eggs until incorporated.
4. Place remaining 1/2 cup flour in shallow dish.
5. Dredge cheese-stick in flour and shake to remove excess.
6. Thread cheese-sticks lengthwise onto eight 8-inch skewers.
7. Add oil to large Dutch oven until it measures about 2 inches deep and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees.
8. Stir batter to recombine, then transfer half of batter to tall drinking glass.
9. Working with one at a time, submerge cheese-stick in glass and twirl to coat with batter.
10. Allow excess batter to drip back into glass and place cheese-stick in hot oil.
11. Repeat immediately with 3 more cheese-sticks.
12. Fry cheese-sticks, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
13. Transfer to wire rack.
14. Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining batter and cheese-sticks.
15. Serve

photo provided by  http://www.flickr.com/photos/augustusgloop/3447971028/

Separate Beds, Separate Rooms?

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A few days ago I ran across an article titled “The Marriage Bed Undefiled” and was intrigued. If you want to read it the web address is: http://www.thepathoftruth.com/teachings/marriage-bed-undefiled-nocturnal-relationship-husband-wife.htm but here is the article in a nutshell.

Basically it discusses how the idea of sleeping in the same bed as your spouse had actually originated from a predominant pagan focus on sex. How in fact biblically it was not uncommon for “Christian” married couples to sleep in separate beds, sometimes separate homes, and on occasion even in separate towns in order to preserve the sanctity of marriage. It also discusses how many couples don't get decent sleep due to the sleeping patterns of their spouses, such as a difference in bed preference.

Now I know for my marriage this has been tiff point for my Tom and I for years. I like a soft bed he likes a hard one, I like the TV on he wants complete darkness, I get up repeatedly through the night, he steals the covers, I squirm in my sleep, the list goes on. So I decided to experiment and apply this principle. While Thomas was at work I devised a plan. We have four bedrooms, one for each of our girls, a guest room, and mine and Tom's shared room. They all got flipped. My youngest and I share a room since she is only 8 months old, my oldest got our full sized bed which she thought was the best present ever, and I got the soft twin mattress while Tom got the hard one from our guest room. Our office has become a child play room which my oldest can sleep in when we have guest therefore freeing the large bed for our company.

Now one would think after almost five years of sharing a bed this transition would have been difficult. But in fact it has become a blessing in disguise. At first when Tom came home he was in complete and utter shock. Of course his first reaction was to make sure I wasn't angry at him after all it looked as if he was being banished (I probably should have discussed it first). After showing him the article and explaining why I had done this and that it was only an experiment he at last seemed to settle on the idea. I don't think he wanted to look overjoyed but I could tell their was a release of tension in his shoulders at the idea of a good nights sleep. It has only been a few days but things are already beginning to improve.

For one Tom is refreshed when he gets up in the morning for work and in most cases I am rearing and ready to jump out of bed at 7:00 am at the latest rather than my usual lets drag out getting up until 10:00 depending on how late my daughters will actually let me get away with it. We are even spending more time together. Since we both head to bed at different times and don't just sit in our shared room all evening right next to each other we have been putting time aside to communicate and do things together. It has become quality time rather than quantity time. We are no longer arguing right before bed and best of all on nights when finding sleep is as scarce as a hens teeth we are not keeping each other up all night guaranteeing the others resentful attitude the next day which makes not arguing much easier.

This is not a statements saying that all couples should sleep in separate bedrooms, nor am I saying that the act of sleeping together is sinful, if it works for your marriage then by all means keep things the same. What I am saying is that as for me and my husband this has worked wonderfully. I might even go as far as to say it has begun the process of repairing our marriage. It is much easier to work out dysfunction with a clear and wakeful spirit rather than an exhausted one.

Photograph provided by http://www.983flyfm.com/deejay/2012/03/impossible-question-thursday-march-1st/ 

Potato and Cheese Knishes

 

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 sticks of butter
• 3 teaspoons vegetable shortening
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup of ice water
• 1 pound of potatoes peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup diced sautéed onion
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup of grated parm
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• Egg wash

1. Prepare the dough. Sift the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Add the shortening and the egg yolk. Mix until blended then add water and continue to mix until the dough comes together.
2. Transfer the dough to a work space and knead for 2-3 minutes. Wrap the dough and place in the refrigerator overnight.
3.  Boil the potatoes for about 20-30 minuets or until fork tender. Drain and then set aside to dry. Put the potatoes through a food mill and reserve anything over 2 cups for another use.
4. Heat oil in a small sauté pan over medium low heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until shiny about 3-4 min. Transfer the onion mix to the bowl with potatoes. Add ricotta and parmesan cheese, the parsley and remaining salt, pepper, and mix together with a wooden spoon.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rectangle. Cut each rectangle into 3X8 inch strips. Spoon some filling along the center of three strips. Brush the edges with egg white and top with remaining strips and press along the edges.
6. Arrange the knishes on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown- about 20 min. Cut into 2-inch lengths and serve immediately. 

Photo provided by http://www.jewishboston.com/279-jewishboston-com/blogs/2072-dairy-potato-knishes
 

Is The Torah Obsolete?

For many years I have listened to friends and family debate over the application of the "OT" into our lives. My problem with the constant argument is not in the original debate in it self but rather that it becomes a debate over why it is obsolete rather than if it is obsolete at all. I fully believe that Yeshua is my saviour, but where I differ than many mainstream "Christians" is that just because I believe Yeshua died for my sins, does not mean that I believe that Gods original law is no longer valid. 

Some would argue that the law of Moses was only intended for our Jewish brothers and sisters but let me put it to you this way. My daughters come to me and ask me for a cookie. Now would I tell my oldest (the Jewish people) "you must clean the house, behave perfectly, and say all your pleases and thank you's then and only then can you have a cookie", but now I turn to my youngest (the gentile) and say "just say I love you and you may have a cookie". Does this portray me as a fair mother. Do you beleive that God is not fair, even when he himself claims to be a fair God? Ezekiel 18:25 God states:

Yet ye say, the way of the lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal?

Yes God sent Yeshua to die on the cross for our sins so that we would not be judged on the ability to follow a perfect law with our imperfect hearts. But does this mean that we should not try? Now you will say but Yeshua himself did not follow the law. I tell you this is untrue. Yeshua was in the truest sense Jewish by birth as well as action This means he grew up and believed in being Torah bound. He followed God's law perfectly what we interpret to mean that he dissolved the law was not him abolishing Gods law but instead it was man's law. Over the years Pharisees had developed Rabbinical law in order to initially give you a how to book on following Gods law. The problem was that over time they began to place their law at the same level and sometimes higher than the law of God. This is what Yeshua abolished. Remember Yeshua states in Matthew 5:17-18:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Now I ask you has heaven and earth passed away, is their world peace, is the Egyptian river dry, has death ceased, and the dead been resurrected? Then not all has been fulfilled. Basically until Yeshua returns the law is not obsolete. Then and only then will their be no need for it. 

Photo provided from http://www.simchatyeshua.com/2009/02/restoring-torah-to-his-people/torah-study-2/