Lisa's Red Lentil Soup

One of my friends brings this soup regularly to our church pot lucks.  It's delicious and soothing.  A few months ago I asked her for the recipe. 

 I made it last week with just a few changes, and it was yummy!  The combination of the red lentil and rice makes this soup a filling entree or a great side dish. Because of our international students we've gotten into the habit of having  some kind of soup every night at dinner.   

Red Lentil Soup  - For 6-8 servings

1.  Prepare vegetables:  
(1)  Dice 1 onion
(2)  Dice up 1 1/2 cups of carrots
(3)  Chop up 2-3 T of parsley (something I added!)

2.  Prepare the soup:
(1)  Put 1 T of coconut oil into a soup pot and saute the onion.
(2)  Add 7-8 cups of water mixed with 3-4 t of veggie bouillon (The recipe calls for 6 cups of water, but I add more so it's not like a stew.  I added about 3 t of chicken bouillon because I didn't have the other).
(3)  Then add 2 T of tomato paste, 3/4 cup of red lentils,  carrots,  and 3 T of wild rice (I used a rice combo from Trader Joe's).  
(4)  Stir in 1-2 t salt, 3/4 t cumin and  1/2 t black pepper (I added a bit of pepper).  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the rice is done about 30 minutes or so.
(4)  Add one 14 oz can of tomato sauce.
(5)  Taste and make any seasoning adjustments. or if it needs more water to thin it out. 

List of My Favorite Soups, Chili & Stew Recipes: 

Beef 

Grandma's Favorite Beef Stew  (My mother-in-law's delicious recipe!)

Just Like Home Ukrainian Borscht   (A Polish student  said this tasted like his mom's!)
Mouth Watering Italian  Sausage Soup   (This is my friend Debbie's recipe)

Poultry

This is the Best Gluten Free Minestrone Soup!   (A recipe my son modified)

Mexican Fiesta Chicken Soup   (A recipe I got years ago from a Mexican cookbook)
My Thanksgiving Turkey Soup  (My very own special concoction!)
Gary's Incredible Gluten Free Arkansas Gumbo  (Given to me by a Bible study friend from Arkansas)
Jeannie's French Market Soup  (A friend from when my kids were little)
Southwest Turkey Soup  (From my Syre School cookbook)

Fish
Northwest Salmon Chowder  (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Almost Like Ivar's Clam Chowder (From my Come & Dine Cookbook)

Bean & Legumes
Vi's Best Chili  (A  Bible study friend's great recipe)
Bethany's Crowd Pleasing Tortilla Soup  (One of my daughter's friends special soup)
Country Style Lentil Soup   (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Kathy's Texas Chili & Chips (From my Come & Dine cookbook)
Spicy Cuban Black Bean Soup (From a store recipe card)
Marilyn's Make It From Scratch Chili  (From my mother-in-law)

Vegetable

Downright Delicious Potato & Kale Soup  (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
A Great Fall Soup - Make it From Scratch Corn Potato Chowder  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
French Pumpkin Soup  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Asian
Chinese Chicken Soups  - Bok choy chicken, chicken & spinach, and chicken & cabbage (Modified from Internet search by our Chinese students)
Make Your Own Gluten Free Chicken Pho!  (Modified from a newspaper article)
Gluten Free Chinese Hot Pot  (Modified by a Chinese student)
Chinese Egg Drop Soup  &  Chinese Egg & Tomato Soup  (Modified  from a student's recipe)

Vegetarian & Gluten Free Tom Yum Soup (A delicious Thai soup) 
Deluxe Miso Soup (Kenchinjiru)   (Adapted from Internet search)
A Thai Mom Teaches Me How to Make Tom Yum Kung  (A student's mom's recipe)
A Vietnamese Cooking Lesson - Lien's Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Soup  (An International student's aunt's recipe)
Cooking Beef Pho for Vietnamese Students  (Modified Recipe)
Asian Curried Chicken Soup  (From my Come & Dine church cookbook)
Rose's Chinese Beef Bone Soup  (My friend's recipe)

Why did God Use So Many Women in Exodus 1 & 2?

     Exodus is a book of pictures.  And in the first picture we see the children of Israel working as slaves to build Pharaoh’s treasure cities.  What happened between with that?  By looking at the end of Genesis, we learn that when a terrible famine hit that part of the earth, and Jacob had to send his sons to Egypt to get food.  There they met their long lost brother Joseph that they had sold as a slave.  But they didn't know right away that this ruler was their brother Joseph, and that his dreams were being fulfilled. 

   But after Joseph's death, the new pharaoh felt threatened by large population of Israelites in Egypt.  Not only were the Israelites working under harsh conditions, but Exodus opens with Pharaoh releasing a edict to kill all their baby boys!  

    Early in chapter 2 of the Life-Study of Exodus Witness Lee explains that Pharaoh represents Satan, the ruler of the world.  He states that Satan’s intention was to terminate the nation of Israel so God’s purpose would not be fulfilled through them.  In  fact, Pharaoh had charged all the midwives to kill only their boy babies.   It’s a bit surprising that the midwives refused to follow Pharaoh’s orders, but God honored them for that. 
 
    It's incredible that God used four females to help preserve Moses.  In chapter 4 of the Life-Study of Exodus he underscores that all believers should exhibit the "female" life which is one that's always dependent on the Lord.  On pages 40, 42-43 he explains this:

"Just as man represents God, woman represents man in his relation to God.  In this sense, woman, typifying man, signifies the dependent life….Man should not be a male, but a "female," one who lives a life of dependence on God.  Only such a "female" life is useful to God.  In Exodus, a book of pictures, this female life is portrayed by the midwives in chapter one and by all the females in chapter two--Moses' mother and sister, the female slave, and Pharaoh's daughter, and the daughters of the priest of Midian….In order to be "females" we need to depend upon the Lord"This indicates that Moses was living a female life, a life of dependence on God (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Exodus.  Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print). 

    This chapter closes with a passage  from the Word to show that the Lord and the apostles considered all the believers as  "females." First off, in Matthew 25:1 in the parable of the 10 virgins, the Lord is pointing out that His followers are "females."  And  in 2 Corinthians 11:2  the Apostle Paul tells the believers that they have been espoused to one husband.  And finally in Revelation 19:7 the Apostle John tells us that all the believers are considered the wife of the Lamb.  

My grandkids checking out the flowers

   And what does that look like for us today?  This helped me when he said it means that we don't initiate anything on our own.  It means we spend time on the mountain like Moses did to hear God speak to us and receive revelation from God.  And he said that this will produce in us a living that is completely dependent on God. 

Blog Update 11-10-17:  Another song I recently heard on Youtube put out by New York City Young People's CD called Choose to be a Living Overcomer.
 

You can listen to excerpts of this life training and some outstanding commentary by listening to Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee on Exodus.

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Exodus:

Why Did God Use So Many Women in Exodus 1 & 2?
Taking a Closer Look at the Conflict Between God and Pharaoh in Exodus 5
What Does the Name Jehovah Mean in Exodus 6:2?
Why Did God Really Send the Manna in Exodus 6?
What is the Meaning of the Bitter Waters at Marah in Exodus 15:23?
How are the 10 Commandments Like God's Engagement Covenant in Exodus 20?
How Can You Keep the 10 Commandments?
Why Did the Israelites Build a Tabernacle in Exodus 25:8?
Taking Another Look at the Priesthood of the Believers in Exodus 19:6
Seeing God's Spiritual Building in Exodus 26 - Part 1 of 1
Seeing God's Spiritual Building in Exodus 26 - Part 2 of 2
Taking a Closer Look at the Tabernacle in Exodus 25 - The Ark
Taking a Closer Look at the Tabernacle in Exodus 25 - The Showbread Table & the Lampstand

 

Rose's Very Own Recipe for Chinese Beef Bone Soup

    Soup on a cold rainy day really hits the spot.  Tonight I made my Chinese friend's  beef bone broth soup.  She gave me her recipe several years ago when one of our international students requested it for dinner one night.   

A few weeks ago I took a beef bone out of the freezer before heading for work.  And at dinner my husband helped me chop up the vegetables, and before long it was simmering on the stove. What a delicious smell, and it tasted amazing!  All of our students loved it!

Rose's Chinese Beef Bone Soup

1.  Prepare beef bone:
(1)  Rinse off 1 grass fed beef bone.  (I got mine at our Coop.)
(2)  Place into a saucepan with just enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil.
(3)  Immediately pour off the water and  place the beef bone into the pot with 12 cups of water in step #3.

2.  Prepare vegetables:
(1)  Chop up 1 daikon or some Chinese people call it white carrot.
(2)  Chop up 4 carrots.
(3)  Slice 1 onion
(4)  Optional:  mushrooms, nappa cabbage, bamboo shoots.

3. Prepare soup:
(1)   Put 12 cups of water into a soup pot. 
(2)   Add 1 T of rice mirin, 2 green onions, and 1/2 to 1" piece of  minced ginger, and 3 cloves of minced garlic.  Then stir in 1 T of salt and 1/2 t of black pepper.
(3)  Add the beef bone from step #1.
(4)  Add the prepared vegetables from step #2
(5)  Simmer for 1 to 2 hours.  Skim off any foam. 
(6) Towards the end add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of gluten free tamari (I used half Bragg Liquid Aminos and half tamari)and some rice noodles if you would like to add them. 

 Taste it and make any seasoning adjustments.

List of My Favorite Soups, Chili & Stew Recipes: 

Beef 

Grandma's Favorite Beef Stew  (My mother-in-law's delicious recipe!)

Just Like Home Ukrainian Borscht   (A Polish student  said this tasted like his mom's!)
Mouth Watering Italian  Sausage Soup   (This is my friend Debbie's recipe)

Poultry

This is the Best Gluten Free Minestrone Soup!   (A recipe my son modified)

Mexican Fiesta Chicken Soup   (A recipe I got years ago from a Mexican cookbook)
My Thanksgiving Turkey Soup  (My very own special concoction!)
Gary's Incredible Gluten Free Arkansas Gumbo  (Given to me by a Bible study friend from Arkansas)
Jeannie's French Market Soup  (A friend from when my kids were little)
Southwest Turkey Soup  (From my Syre School cookbook)

Fish
Northwest Salmon Chowder  (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Almost Like Ivar's Clam Chowder (From my Come & Dine Cookbook)

Bean & Legumes
Vi's Best Chili  (A  Bible study friend's great recipe)
Bethany's Crowd Pleasing Tortilla Soup  (One of my daughter's friends special soup)
Country Style Lentil Soup   (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Kathy's Texas Chili & Chips (From my Come & Dine cookbook)
Spicy Cuban Black Bean Soup (From a store recipe card)
Marilyn's Make It From Scratch Chili  (From my mother-in-law)

Vegetable

Downright Delicious Potato & Kale Soup  (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
A Great Fall Soup - Make it From Scratch Corn Potato Chowder  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
French Pumpkin Soup  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Asian
Chinese Chicken Soups  - Bok choy chicken, chicken & spinach, and chicken & cabbage (Modified from Internet search by our Chinese students)
Make Your Own Gluten Free Chicken Pho!  (Modified from a newspaper article)
Gluten Free Chinese Hot Pot  (Modified by a Chinese student)
Chinese Egg Drop Soup  &  Chinese Egg & Tomato Soup  (Modified  from a student's recipe)

Vegetarian & Gluten Free Tom Yum Soup (A delicious Thai soup) 
Deluxe Miso Soup (Kenchinjiru)   (Adapted from Internet search)
A Thai Mom Teaches Me How to Make Tom Yum Kung  (A student's mom's recipe)
A Vietnamese Cooking Lesson - Lien's Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Soup  (An International student's aunt's recipe)
Cooking Beef Pho for Vietnamese Students  (Modified Recipe with my Vietnamese students)
Asian Curried Chicken Soup  (From my Come & Dine church cookbook)