Tea for Two, Bible Wheel October 25, 2015

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

Make my Saturdays Sweet hosted by Christina

No Rules Weekend Blog Party hosted by Paula

TGI Saturdays hosted by Latisha

Spiritual Sundays hosted by Charlotte

The Art of Homemaking Mondays hosted by JES

Women With Intention Wednesdays hosted by Jenny

I'm updating my former matcha tea gelatin recipe with two new tea flavors.  I make tea gelatin because I have an intolerance for most fruit, and also want to have a sugar-free diet as much as possible for the health benefits.

Rooibos tea makes an excellent-flavored tea gelatin.  If the tea is high quality it makes a slight tingle on my tongue.  Rooibos tea is also a very healthful tea.  Organic Facts says it cures- "nagging headaches, insomnia, asthma, eczema, bone weakness, hypertension, allergies, and premature aging."  This site also lists health conditions tfor which Rooibos tea would not would not be beneficial.

Recipe Rooibos Tea Gelatin

*Boil 1.5 quarts / ~1.5 liters water
*Add ~10 tsp. / ~50cc of Rooibos tea
*Optional- add 1 tsp. whole cloves
Brew for 10 minutes.   I like to intensify the flavor myself by putting the pot on a low simmer for the 10 minutes, and keeps it hot to make the gelatin dissolve.

Make Gelatin-
*In a 3 quart / ~3 liter bowl, put 6-7 Tablespoons / ~100 cc ( I use 1.5 scoops with a 70 cc scoop from a whey drink) Beef Gelatin
*Add sufficient cold water to liquify the gelatin, stirring rapidly, then immediately pour the hot tea into the bowl, so that the gelatin completely dissolves and leaves no lumps.
*Add the amount of Stevia that you desire for almost 3 quarts of liquid.
*Add 1 tsp. of citric acid.  (I had a lot of citric acid on hand and looked up uses and one is to make gelatin, it adds a little acidity that is really beneficial especially when making fruit gelatin from scratch.  Sometimes gelatin reacts with fruit to make a greyish color.  The addition of citric acid will miraculously turn the gelatin a lovely color of red instead.

Hint: To shorten the chilling time, I usually put 4-5 handfuls of ice cubes in at this point and stir until they are all melted.   Then I add water to bring it up to a suitable level in the bowl.  Stir well.

Refrigerate until firm.  When I want a little sooner, I put some in a small glass bowl and put it in the freezer, then wait ~20 minutes until it is firm.

My second tea is to make Holy Basil Gelatin.  Here is one among many articles about health benefits of Holy Basil,.  The recipe is the same as for Rooisbos tea, amount of tea is the same but brewing time would be shorter, 5-10 minutes without the simmering, though it also needs to be very hot to make the gelatin dissolve.  Optional additional flavoring would be to add some lemon extract at the end.  Here's the tea after adding the hot water-

It is a brownish tea, but after adding the citric acid, it changes to a pretty pink color-

To make it look really impressive, you can put it in a goblet to chill-

Gelatin would have a range of firmness according to the proportions of beef gelatin and water, so you can alter the firmness to whatever you desire.  I hope you like the gelatin and there are plenty of other teas that could be used as well, along with added extracts like almond or peppermint.

For the devotional part of my post, I'm exploring more of the concepts from

http://www.fivedoves.com/shaddai/pi_8.htm

This time about the organization of the book of the Bible.  Some people think the books of the Bible may have been selected by men, and therefore maybe some book should have been included or excluded.  I admire someone who can see patterns in the Bible that are amazing, the original source is
http://www.biblewheel.com/Wheel/symmetries.asp  The Bible makes a pattern with the Hebrew alphabet that is amazing.



If you have doubts about God and His plan for your life, it may help to see how incredibly He planned and organized His Word.  He inspired the structure of the languages of the Bible.  He breathed the scriptures into the writers word by word.  He caused the choices that resulted in our present canon of books to include in the Bible and even their order.  If you have doubts about whether He will answer your deepest desires, consider the things He has done, and His promises.  A favorite chapter of mine is Psalm 21 about "the king".  Jesus is the King of Kings, so it can be about Him, but He also has made His redeemed ones kings and priests according to Revelation 5:9-10, so it is also about us.

Psalm 21:1-7 (Interlinear Bible)-
1. The king rejoices in Your strength, O Jehovah (Yahweh);
     and how greatly does he rejoice in Your salvation (yeshua, Jesus' name that means salvation).
2. You have given him his heart's desire,
    and have not withheld the prayer of his lips.
3. For You will precede him with the blessings of goodness;
    You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4. He asked life from You;
    You gave to him length of days forever and ever.
5. His glory is great in Your salvation (Yeshua);
   You have laid honor and majesty on him.
6. For You have set him blessings forever;
   You have rejoiced him in the joy of Your face.
7. For the king trusts in Jehovah (Yahweh);
   he shall not be moved.

What can we do to receive His promises?  Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."   John 15:7

So stay in His Word, the marvelous Bible, and trust in Him.  I look at the stars, the wonders of what He has made, and know that He is able also to do the things I ask.  Another comforting, and totally mind-blowing scripture, is Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)-
20. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21. to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I say these words to myself every night as I go to sleep.  What wonderful promises, they make my faith "gel".   Meditate on His word and relax.    Hannah

©Transforming Path, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option, as I am not a member.  If you want a reply to your comment it would be helpful if you left an email address or url for your blog.

I had a comment about problems with leaving a comment here.  If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, you can send me an email at  z8hannah8z@gmail.com to comment and let me know of your difficulties.  Thanks!  I looked up solutions on Blogger and apparently Wordpress has not updated their Open ID servers, so to comment on Blogspot blogs, you must select OpenID then enter your address, changing it to plain http://address  instead of https://address.

Sweets for the Sweet October 18, 2015

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

Faith Filled Friday hosted by Laura

Make My Saturday Sweet hosted by Christina

Spiritual Sundays hosted by Charlotte

No Rules Weekend Blog Party hosted by Paula

The Art of Homemaking Mondays hosted by Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

I want to share one of my recipes, Chocolate Coconut Cup, that I make for my sweet husband.  I am allergic to all of the ingredients myself, but he likes them.  They are sugar- and gluten-free.  They use properly refined and extracted coconut oil which is a very healthy fat and even useful in dieting.  To prepare them I use egg poaching cups arranged on a dinner plate.   I was able to find several sets of egg poaching cups on ebay or thrift stores.    Poaching is my favorite method of cooking eggs.

Recipe

6 oz or 180 ml of coconut oil, melted, 

2 oz or 60cc scoop of xylitol

4.75 oz or 140 cc of raw organic Cacao powder (2 70cc scoops) 

raw organic coconut flakes

Instructions

Measure the coconut oil into a small saucepan and melt, I usually just estimate 7 spoonfuls close to what I think the egg cups hold.

Stir in the scoop of xylitol and 2 scoops of Cacao powder and mix well.  The xylitiol crystals will remain at the bottom.   Other sweeteners could be used instead if xylitol is a problem, such as Stevia or perhaps honey, I'm not sure what that would do to the texture.

Spoon the chocolate mixture into the egg cups, usually about 3 spoonfulls per cup, trying to get the crystals on the bottom evenly distributed.

Spoon some coconut flakes into each cup, approximately 1 heaping teaspoon per cup, and press them into the chocolate with the spoon.

Chill in the refrigerator to harden.  Dried fruit or nuts could be added instead or in addition to coconut.  My husband usually cuts the chocolate into quarters with a knife to eat them.

The round shape of the poaching cups makes me think of math formulas relating to circles, they involve a very important and pervasive formula constant, Pi, Greek letter ∏.  Recently I found a marvelous website that presents a positive proof that God authored the Bible, it involves the first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1-  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  

The formula is based on the gematria of the Hebrew words, which is based on the numerical value given to each letter of the alphabet, which added together gives the value of the word as above.  How this proves the divine authorship of the Bible is explained in this wonderful website with lots of mathematical information about numbers in the Bible and the formula to derive Pi to the 5th decimal place.   

A parallel is found in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word."  The gematria of the words in this verse, based on the numerical values of the Greek Alphabet, are used in the same kind of formula to determine the value of a higher math constant known as "e", used in calculus.  Both formulas are demonstrated in this website, from which the inserts come-

http://www.biblegematria.com/pearls-of-wisdom.html

Another series of websites address these formulas in addition to other geometric marvels from the Bible, which show forth an intellectual basis for belief in God's supernatural authorship of the Bible.  

http://www.fivedoves.com/shaddai/pi_2.htm

I would hope if you are an intellectual person and in need of some intellectual proof of the existence of God and divine authorship of the Bible, these websites would help you.

As for me, I started as a small child to observe God in nature.   I studied the plants, and the animals, and  at the same time learned about God from my parents and church.  I was able to see the hand of my loving God in all of His Creation.  I grew up to study Biology, but having to learn about and study Evolution could not extinguish what I knew of God in my heart.  I can feel and have experienced many times His loving care.  Twice in San Diego He warned me, through a still small voice, of the hidden presence of rattlesnakes in my yard, and three times where I live now He warned me of deer on or by the road so that I slowed down and passed them safely.

If you never had the privilege of growing up being taught about God's great love for you and plan of eternal salvation, or you have been taught different beliefs instead of the Bible, ask yourself if you are willing to risk your eternity when God demonstrated such proof of the truth of His Word and wants to surround you with His love and adopt you into His family, when you accept His grace extended to you through His Son Jesus, whose Hebrew name is Yeshua, meaning Salvation, who Himself took our sins and diseases away when He suffered for us on the cross, and paid in full, even overpaid, the penalty for the sins of the world, so we can come boldly before God's throne as His sons and daughters.

Accept His grace and new life today.

Hannah

©Transforming Path, all rights reserved.  I enjoy reading your comments and will visit your blog and comment in return, but cannot do so if google+ is the only option

Bamboo Vegetable Soup May 13, 2015

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

Woman 2 Woman Ministries hosted by Shari

The Art of Homemaking Mondays hosted by Jes

Women With Intention hosted by Jenny

Mondays @ Soul Survival hosted by Donna

I've been reading some Japanese blogging friends talking about cooking and using bamboo shoots, so I thought I would like to share a recipe using bamboo shoots.  This is the kind I can get at the Asian market, it has a very interesting interior, Japanese artistic cooks slice it in ornamental ways-

Recipe- Bamboo Vegetable Soup
1 large cone bamboo, sliced and chopped or 1 can bamboo shoots
1 cup / 250cc celery, chopped
1/2 yam or sweet potato, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2" / 5cm ginger root, minced
1 turmeric tuber, minced,
and/or 2 Tbsp / 30cc turmeric powder
1taro root, peeled and chopped
1 cluster oyster mushrooms
2 cups / 500cc broccoli or kale flower bud heads, chopped
1 cup / 250cc Chinese pea pods, optional
Water for cooking level
Lemon pepper to taste

Instructions-
Boil water, add Turmeric powder, add rest of ingredients, simmer to desired degree of doneness.
Season with Lemon pepper to taste, serve with chicken, poached eggs, or other protein source.

Part of the ingredients, the taro root is the small fuzzy kind, R of the ginger root-

Served with poached eggs-

Served with pea pods-

The taro root, along with conjac root, purple yam (brown on the outside, purple streaks in the flesh), and 4 other Japanese root vegetables, contain Hyaluronic acid, which is the basis for collagen and causes the people in the small Japanese town of Yuzurihara to live to very old ages.  Their joints stay flexible, their skin doesn't sag, and they don't have problems with the usual level of heart disease and cancer.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/312974-yuzurihara-diet/

These may be available in your local Asian market.   Some foods that also boost Hyaluronic levels according to this article are potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, peppers, citrus fruits, berries, cherries, bananas, brown rice, pumpkin, beans, parsley, and cilantro.

Turmeric powder, for best absorption and health benefits as an anti-oxidant, must be added to boiling water and then kept at boiling temperatures for 10 minutes, so I add the powder at the beginning of cooking but use a pressure cooker since it cooks the food in 3 minutes after pressurized, I hope this doesn't decrease the absorption.  Cooking in a normal pot would probably take 10 minutes or more.   The recipe could be stir-fried but would not benefit from the Turmeric powder as much, though that could be boiled alone on the side.  The yam has a pleasant sweet taste.  I enjoy the intense taste and crunch of the minced ginger and turmeric, but it might be an acquired taste for some.

The lowly bamboo root does not look appealing as it emerges from the ground, it takes skill to turn it into a useful and tasty food.

The Asian people are resourceful to use many of the plants in their environment, and treasure bamboo roots in the spring.   It takes knowledge to use them since they must be specially cooked and processed to take away harsh tastes, and picked correctly as well since at some point they develope cyanide.

We similarly have a sin nature that renders us unuseful and unappealing, but God through His great grace sent His Son to take our sins in His own body on the cross and wipe out all the law that was against us, so the penalties of our sin are paid in full.

Since we have been given such grace and mercy, we are to be ambassadors for Christ, telling others this message, that when we come to God in faith, Jesus' righteousness covers us and we become new creations, so we can stand blameless before God.  So reconcile others to God, don't try to shame, blame, or guilt trip them into the kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NKJV

17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

19. that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

21. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The finished work of Jesus to take all our sins makes us righteous in God's eyes, He can not see sin in us because the bill was fully paid.   Micah 7:19 NKJV:  "He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities.  You will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea."  

So we can come to Him in confidence that when we confess our sins, they have been taken away and cast into the sea, never to be seen again.  So we are enabled to walk in love.

Hannah

©Transforming Path, all rights reserved.  I enjoy reading your comments and thoughts on my post, and will visit you and comment as well.

Savoury Roasted Eggplant May 6, 2015

Welcome, today I am linking with-

Woman 2 Woman Ministries hosted by Shari

The Art of Homemaking Mondays hosted by Jes

Women With Intention hosted by Jenny

Mondays @ Soul Survival hosted by Donna

I am sharing my favorite side dish I make when I am roasting chicken or lamb- eggplant.  I also
 roast sweet potatoes or  cut, cleaned squash halves, and white potatoes at the same time.   

Recipe- Roasted Eggplant Side Dish

2 large eggplants 

or 6 long Asian eggplants

Slice, put in 2 large baking dishes

Top with-

1/2 chopped onion or 2 shallots, optional

6 oz / 170 gm butter or coconut oil or olive oil
Roast at temperature of meat, from 325-400ºF  / 163-204ºC

Flip when bottom of eggplant pieces is getting brown, then several more times to brown evenly

Remove when browned to taste

Sprinkle on Lemon Pepper

Top with Onion/Garlic or Herb Tomato Sauce, optional

Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese, optional

Or top with Sour cream, optional

With spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese-

Plain with sour cream-

This dish is very savoury, I sprinkle the eggplant on vegetable dishes, rice, or rice noodles for flavor.  Or serve plain with Sour Cream.   A vegetarian can use roasted eggplant as a substitute for meat, to give dishes a meaty taste.

A sweet savour is mentioned for the first time in Genesis 8:20-21, when Noah offered one of every clean animal and bird on an altar to the LORD, Yahweh, and as the LORD smelled the sweet savour, or fragrance, He said in His heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."

Jesus says we should be like the savour of salt to the unbeliever, through the knowledge we have of Him.   We should spice up the other person's life and give them a thirst for the things of God.  We do this when we have the fruits of the Holy Spirit manifesting in our lives, Galatians 5:22-25 NKJ-

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

As other people observe us in the circumstances and pressures of life, they should experience these strengths in our lives that would make them desire to also have them to cope with the stresses and hardships of life. 

I've had experiences with people who viewed me with some prejudice and persecuted me, sometimes rather vigorously.  Because I always reacted with love and patience, over several years I actually experienced a reversal of their attitudes, indeed even love and affection.  A verse that helps me when people are difficult is Proverbs 16:7- 

When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

I want my life to make a sweet savour for my Heavenly Father, so someday I will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant.  I can't think of a better goal to strive for.    -Hannah

©Transforming Path, all rights reserved.  I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on my blog, and will enjoy returning your visit and commenting on your blog.

. 

Turmeric-Ginger Soup April 29, 2015

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

A Wise Woman Builds her Home

Woman 2 Woman Ministries hosted by Shari

The Art of Homemaking Mondays hosted by Jes

Motivate and Rejuvenate Monday hosted by Letitia

This is a recipe for a vegetable soup dish which can be eaten with various protein foods, like beans, eggs, fish, beef, lamb, or poultry, depending on what diet you are on.  

You can also serve it with a side of rice, quinoa, or buckwheat if desired.  The individual vegetables can also be whatever you have on hand, and the ginger and turmeric can be powdered if fresh roots are not available.  Other mushrooms can be substituted as well, so the recipe can be altered according to what you have.  The sweet potato can also have as substitutes a darker sweeter yam or even the purple yam or Taro root available in Asian markets that are high in Hyaluronic Acid.   I generally pressure cook the soup but cooking in a regular pot will work, I like the pressure cooker since it only takes 3 minutes to cook and tenderizes things.

Basic ingredients-
2-3" Turmeric root chopped finely or 2-3 Tbsp powder
2" Ginger root chopped finely or 2 Tbsp powder
1 med cluster Oyster Shell mushrooms or 4 Shiitake mushrooms

Vegetables, chopped fine or in chunks-
1/2 onion, optional
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch asparagus
1 stalk broccoli or several stalks kale flowers
1 stalk celery
1 carrot

1 regular or 1/2 large sweet potato

water to barely cover vegetables

If you like the onion browned, saute it first in butter or oil, then add water.
Add the roots and mushrooms, then the vegetables and cook until degree of doneness you like.  Eating food that builds up your body will transform your health.

To transform your spirit as well, learn to react to other people according to Yeshua's teachings,  as Yeshua (Jesus' original Hebrew name which means "salvation") states in  John 14:21 (NKJV)- “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

We are called to serve others, following His example.  Galathians 5:13- For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

This principle is reiterated in the parable of the wise man vs. the foolish man in Matthew 7:21, 24-27

21. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

24. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

25. “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

27. “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

James 1:23-

23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24. for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The natural man in us is full of selfish ideas and motives that cause strife, because we are all sinners.  But if I take up His words and principles instead of my own, then my actions are transformed into ones that will bring life and peace to myself and others.   A fundamental action is to be a servant in love, pleasing others rather than ourselves.  

1 Peter 3:8

8. Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

9. not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

10. For he who would love life

And see good days,

Let him refrain his tongue from evil,

And his lips from speaking deceit.

11. Let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

12. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their prayers;

But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.

So I can choose to exalt God through my actions toward other people. -Hannah

Gluten-Free Wednesday Matcha Gelatin March 25, 2015

Welcome to the first post for my new blog, which will be about wholeness and health both physically and spiritually.  Today I am linking with-

Gluten-Free Wednesday hosted by Lynn, Cassidy, and Linda

This is a gelatin dessert I made using some Matcha tea.  Matcha is a green tea that is a powder ground from the whole tea leaf, so it is much higher in the important antioxidant EGCG, Epigallocatechin Gallate, which is the cancer-fighting compound unique to green tea.   Matcha has an ORAC (antioxidant) value of 1300 units, compared with 105 for pomegranate fruit or 103 for wild blueberries.  The USDA recommends 3000-5000 ORAC units per day, and one teaspoon / 20gm of Matcha powder contains 2600 units, so is very helpful in obtaining enough anti-oxidants.   A teaspoon of powder can be blended in boiling water to make the tea, but I am looking for ways to use it as a food as well, so I am making a gelatin gluten-free dessert from it for a cool treat.  

Boil 3 cups / 710 ml of water, remove from heat

add 1 Tablespoon / 60gm Matcha powder or more to taste

Soften one Tablespoon scoop / 60cc of Beef or vegetarian gelatin in 1-2 cups of cold water, stirring to moisten, then immediately pour in hot water and stir to dissolve all the gelatin.  Fill remainder of the bowl with cold water to make 6 cups / 1420ml.

Sweeten with Stevia according to your brand to sweeten 6 cups / 1420 ml water.  I also like to add Peppermint, Almond, or Lemon extract for flavoring.

Chill and serve alone or with Stevia-sweetened whipping cream.

Another gelatin dessert can be made in the same way, but using hot water then adding frozen or fresh fruit juice instead of the cold water, and also sweetened with Stevia to taste.  Here 2 Tbsp frozen Blueberry Pomegranate juice and 2 cups Pomegranate juice were used.  I like to add almond extract for flavoring to this as well.

I enjoy eating guilt-free desserts and knowing that I am strengthening my fingernails and cartilage at the same time.  

Hannah

3 John 1:2- Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

©Transforming Path, all rights reserved.