Breakfast in a Jar

Several months ago, we downsized our 15 passenger van to a minivan. It cut our gas bill tremendously.  But, it also gave us a car payment.  We brainstormed ways to cut our expenditures elsewhere in the budget to help make up for the new payment.  One of the biggest expenditures we cut was breakfast and lunch for my hubby.  He had been eating out a lot for those meals.  So, we decided he would take breakfast and lunch each day.

One of the most common breakfasts I have been making for my wonderful, hard working man, is breakfast in a jar.  http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal These are so delicious.  I often whip up a batch on Sunday afternoon, and he has breakfast ready for the whole week.  Yes, I make them that far in advance, using raw milk. He likes to grab breakfast, pack his prepared lunch and head out the door.  He eats breakfast on the way to work.

This week, I got a little lazy and made a quick breakfast parfait with yogurt and frozen fruit.  I know he likes granola with his yogurt, but we were out last night.  So, I made some this afternoon.  When I make granola, I make a big batch.  Three large cookie sheets full. (Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.)

Then I whipped up this jar of breakfast parfait.  Honey Greek yogurt, frozen berries and granola.  Maybe he'll like this even better than this morning's version.

And, now the kids can eat granola for breakfast, too.  Cereal is a treat around here.  It disappeared quickly with the budget cuts. 

Now, I need to come up with some more interesting lunch ideas.

And, here is my granola recipe.  I cook it at low heat to keep it healthier.  One of my sons doesn't like it that way.  He says it's not crispy enough.  But, I think the health benefits are worth it.

                  

                                 Granola

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method

--------  ------------  --------------------------------

  10              cups  rolled oats or combination of grain flakes

  1                cup  wheat germ

  2               cups  shredded coconut

  2               cups  slivered almonds

  2               cups  sunflower seeds

  1                cup  sesame seeds

     3/4           cup  honey

     3/4           cup  maple syrup

     1/2           cup  coconut oil

  1                cup  sugar, rapadura or brown

  2          teaspoons  vanilla

  2          teaspoons  cinnamon

  1           teaspoon  salt

Combine all grains and seeds.

Mix remaining ingredients in a small saucepan.  Warm gently on stove until coconut oil is melted.

Pour over mixed grains and seeds. Mix well.

Spread on 3 large cookie sheets. 

Cook at 145* for 3 hours.

Yom Teruah

Last week, we celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Yom Teruah. It was an awesome celebration.

The Bible doesn’t say a lot about the Feast of Trumpets. 

Lev 23:23-25

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"

From this we know it’s a day of rest or a Sabbath.  We also see that we are supposed to blow trumpets and meet together with other believers (holy convocation).

Num 29:1-6

'And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. 3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Here, we see a little more detail on the offerings to be made on that day.  Really, God doesn’t give us a whole lot more detail.  Each of the holy days have prophetic meaning.  Some of those have already been fulfilled.  Many people have ideas of what the day represents. But, the fall holy days have not yet been fulfilled, so we get to look forward to the day that God reveals their meaning.

We are so blessed to meet with God on these appointed times that He has set aside for us.  So, taking the information that we have, we joyfully celebrated Yom Teruah.

We enjoyed a festive meal with about 50 people.  After the meal, we made a teruah.  Lev 23:24 says it is a “memorial blowing of trumpets”. The word translated as “blowing of trumpets” is teruah. The definition of teruah is clamor, i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarm. So, in our backyard we did just that.  We made a lot of noise – with shofars, voices, noise makers, etc.  And we made a noise for quite some time.  It was awesome J

We have no temple in which to offer sacrifices.  But, we can bring a sacrifice of praise (Heb 13:15) So, that was what we did for the rest of the evening.  We sang praises and danced and rejoiced in Him.  

It was such a blessed evening. And, I am so thankful to have wonderful people to celebrate with.

Communion

I've had a blessed Sabbath today – unlike any I can remember.  It all started with Jim registering for a weekend training in Las Vegas.  After he reserved his hotel room, he mentioned that I should go with him to enjoy the room since he would only be there at night.  After a little coaxing from him, and the older girls saying I should go, I decided to go with him. 

I don’t like Las Vegas.  I don’t like the strip.  I don’t like the city. I don’t like gambling.  And, I don’t like the heat. But I knew I would appreciate having some quiet, alone time (in an air conditioned room).  I love alone time.  I always have.  And, with 6 kids at home, it’s not something I get much of. That’s not a problem for me. I just enjoy the snippets of quiet time I do get.  But, I thought this trip to Las Vegas was a great opportunity for a mini-retreat.

So, today, I have been alone in a hotel room all day.  And, today is Shabbat.  So, I’m not going to do normal, everyday things. I’m not going to watch movies or do paperwork or go shopping (that’s another thing I don’t really like, anyway) or do an hour on the elliptical. It’s a day to rest and spend time with our Creator.  And, today it’s just Him and me.  I started by sleeping until almost 10:00, since it is a day of rest.  I think that’s the 2^nd time I’ve done that in the last 20 years, so that was a treat. I read the Bible. I practiced praise dancing, since this room has a little 6x6 foot square just big enough for one dancer. And, I watched a teaching that I had on my to-do list for weeks, but hadn’t gotten around to watching.

http://vimeo.com/40825903

Ironically, this teaching was about communion.  Not about taking communion.  Not about eating the bread and drinking the wine.  But, about having communion with God. About regularly setting aside time to have communion with Him.  Why is that ironic?  Because watching the teaching has been on my to-do list for weeks and I can see that my time of communion is often put on the back burner just like that teaching.

To think that He’s there ready and willing to meet with us whenever we want and we put Him on the back burner!  In our busy lives, we have too many things that take priority over Him. And, often, when we do spend time with Him, it’s in a rushed, distracted sort of way.  We combine time with Him with other things.  And, I realized that I need to change that.  I need to get back to time of communion with Him.

I’ve been through a long season - 20 years of baby/toddler in the house.  It was a blessed season, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, that’s a whole different life and it’s hard to find time for communion when you’re living in that season.  (It's also hard to find time to take a shower or even go to the bathroom by yourself, but that's a whole different subject.:)) I’m not making excuses or saying that making communion a low priority is OK when you have little ones. I’m just saying that it’s much harder in that season of life. That’s reality. And, for me, that season was much longer than for most people I know.

So, here I am with my baby 4 ½.  I can easily set aside a time each day for communion.  And, I need to do that.  I’m off to a good start with my mini retreat here today. (I should do this more often, actually. But, that’s a different topic.) I’ve spent most of the day in communion.  And, I have a chance to be still and know that He is God.  I don’t often get that chance, because even when I’m still, the kids around me aren’t. J So, He has to talk louder so I can hear Him.  But, I’m ready to listen.  And, I’m ready to make communion a higher priority in my daily life.

Praise Him in the Dance

Ps 150:4-6
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance ;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

Ps 149:3
Let them praise His name with the dance ;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.

Eccl 3:4
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance

Jer 31:13
"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance ,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

Ps 30:11
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing ;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness

2 Sam 6:14
Then David danced  before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.

God’s Appointed Times

Sometimes I just can’t get over the incredible blessings of meeting God when He says to meet Him. In Leviticus 23, he tells us the dates on the calendar that He has set aside to meet with us.  How cool is that?!  The Creator of the universe has set aside specific dates to meet with us and focus on His plan for our lives!

The appointments for the year begin this week.  We have been counting down for months – anticipating and preparing for Passover.  This is a great opportunity to share the plan of salvation with our children.  After all, this is the holy day when God specifically talks about teaching your children why you do what you do. (Exodus 13:8, 14-15)  The children are a central part of the Passover celebration.  In order for them to ask questions, as God expects, they have to be involved in it and taught what God has done for His people.

During our service, we sacrifice a stuffed lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day as they did in Exodus 12:3).  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost. We discuss who in the room is a firstborn and how they would have been protected from the death angel because of the blood of the lamb.

We review the Passover in Exodus and how it foreshadows what Yeshua (Jesus), our Passover lamb did for us - a reminder that we are all saved by the blood of the Lamb. We also take the bread (Mark 14:22), representing Yeshua’s body, and wine (Matt 26:27-28), representing His blood. We follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)  After we have reviewed the more somber remembrance of his crucifixion, we celebrate with dancing and singing in thanks the sacrifice he has made for us. And, to top it all off, we finish up with physical food – a Feast!

As if that isn’t blessing enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends for fellowship, and, of course more worship and dance. After Bible study, we stuff ourselves physically and spiritually. We share in a potluck meal and, once again, study God’s word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath! We got to enjoy one more round of worship, Bible study and fellowship.  Our cup runneth over.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23:15, on the day after the Sabbath, we offer the wave sheaf offering.  This pictures Yeshua’s resurrection and His ascension up to our Father in Heaven.  This day isn’t a Sabbath or a holy day, but the wave sheaf is a commanded offering.  The Bible doesn’t give us much detail on what to do, so we do our best with the information we have.    

What an awesome week we have had!  For a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking unleavened almond bread to keep up with the demand. J Lev 23:6 commands us to eat unleavened bread.  We remove the leavening, which pictures sin, and fill ourselves with unleavened bread, picturing our sinless savior.  When the prescribed 7 days are finished, we get to enjoy the last Day of Unleavened Bread with friends and family, spending time in dancing, worship and study of His Word, once again.  With so much meaning built into the days that God set aside to meet with us, we have no desire to worship Him with manmade celebrations.  They just don’t measure up to the celebrations that He created just for us.

A Busy, Blessed Week

Whew!  What an awesome week we have had.  Preparing for Passover and then the day finally arrived.  Such an awesome time to share God’s truth with our children.  After all, this is the only appointed time where God specifically talks about teaching your children. (Exodus 13) So, not only do they help with the physical preparations, resulting in a table like this,

They are a central part of our Passover celebration.

Part of our service is sacrificing the lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day) as they did in Exodus.  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost.

We discuss the Passover in Exodus and Yeshua’s fulfillment of it.  We also take the bread (Mark 14:22) and wine (Matt 26:27-28)  as He instructed us. And we follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)

And, don’t forget celebration and dancing in thanks for what He has done for us.

And, we finish up this evening with physical food.

As if that isn’t enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends.  We have time of fellowship.

And, of course, worship and dance.

And, once again, studying God’s  word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath.  By that time, our cup was definitely overflowing.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23, we took the time on the day after the Sabbath for the wave sheaf offering.  This year, we grew our own wheat. Actually, the chickens planted it and my daughter harvested and prepared it.  We used part of it for our wave sheaf and the rest was baked into our Passover bread. 

And, for a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking almond bread to keep up with the demand.  And, before the week is up, we get one more appointed time with our Creator to celebrate the last Day of Unleavened Bread.

Climbing the Walls

I realized, as I was planting the garden, that I have this large wall on the north side of the yard that we could grow climbing fruits and veggies on.  All we need is something for the climbing plants to hold onto.  So, I enlisted the help of my handy dandy husband. He got the little guys out in the yard so they could build a trellis on the wall.  

He got some pieces of wood that they cut to size and attached to the wall.

Then they added some wire lattice, which he attached to the wood.  The wood holds the lattice off the wall so we have room to weave the plants in and out of it.

Now I just have to decide what to plant there! Berries?  Dragon fruit?  

And, here are pictures of the happy helpers.

Passover Preparations Begin

Today, I finally got around to removing all the leavened products from the pantry.  I put them in a crate so we see them and make sure to eat them before Passover.  Of course, the crate is pathetically sparse this year.

The last couple years, due to budget cuts and wanting to improve our health, we have bought very little prepared food.  So, all we have is some crackers (which can easily be eaten in no time in this house), some baking soda/powder and three candy bars from Daddy’s candy stash.  The candy bars were consumed by the kids before I even sat down to write this blog post J

I also have a list of foods that are in the refrigerator and freezer.  That way I don’t forget about it and we can make sure to eat that food, too.  If we don’t get around to using it, I can remember to throw it away and not find it in the back of the freezer halfway through the Days of Unleavened Bread. But, even that list only has about 5 things on it. 

Tonight is new moon.  So, only 2 more weeks until Passover!! So, it’s also time to start thinking about the 10 plague adventure J

Preparing the Melon Patch

Last week, four of the kids and I took the better part of a day to prepare the melon patch.  We plant this area Three Sisters style each summer.  In the winter, we put the chicken tractors on it.  It’s doubly great because we don’t have to move the chicken tractors around the lawn, and the chickens prepare the soil for the next planting.  This is how the area looked when we began.

We started by watering the area.  I mean a serious watering.  It hasn’t been watered in months other than the pathetic California rain we get.  So, we used the jet setting on the sprayer to stir the dirt, wet it and loosen it up all at the same time. 

Then we started weeding the area.

Before too long, the mud became irresistible J

Once the irresistible mud play was over, we worked on making the mounds for planting.  I raked the soil to loosen it and get it ready to be moved to the mounds. Before we formed each mound, we put down a layer of steer manure.  Then I raked the piles of dirt on top of it.  Hannah formed the mounds with a slight indentation on the top to help hold water.  And, Lucas covered each one with mulch.  I added more mounds this year, so we have a total of 11.

We also prepared to plant potatoes.  These are the bins we used for potatoes.

And, these are the seed potatoes ready for planting.

The littlest ones planted corn on top of each mound. 

Lucas planted onions all around the edge of the patch.  And, Hannah planted potatoes in the buckets.  She put about 6 inches of garden soil in the bottom, then she spaced the seed potatoes around the bucket.  After that, she covered them with a couple of inches of soil.  As the plants grow, we will slowly continue to cover them with soil.  The ultimate goal is to have buckets full of potatoes.  We’ll see how it works.  We haven’t tried this technique before.

I put the buckets in the melon patch because I can’t seem to keep anything alive if it’s not planted in the garden.  So, I’m hoping that if I put the buckets in the garden, the potatoes will do well.

And, here is the final product.  Actually, it’s missing the white potato bucket.  But, since this was taken, Jim drilled drainage holes in the bottom and planted potatoes in it also.  So, we’re ready to see how our harvest turns out.