Gluten Free & God Seeking

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

JoAnna's Dilled Garbano & Cherry Tomato Salad

Don't let the name of this salad make you go what?! And then not try it.  This is a light side salad that is a great accompaniment for your BBQ chicken, beef kabobs, or salmon.

This salad comes from my Come & Dine church cook book, but I ate this salad at JoAnna's house years before she submitted it for this cookbook.  I didn't use garbanzo beans that much in my cooking  so I found this salad both delightfully delicious and different. 



Dilled Garbanzo & Cherry Tomato Salad

1.  Prepare vegetables:
(1)  Rinse 1pound of cherry tomatoes and cut in half.
(2)  Mince 1 rib of celery
(3)  Optional: 1 green onion diced (I added and it was a great addition!)

2.  In a medium sized serving bowl put:
(1)  1 15 1/2 oz can of drained garbanzo beans.
(2)  Add tomatoes and celery.

3.  Make dressing in a small bowl put:
(1) Whisk  3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with 1 teaspoon of country style Dijon mustard
(2) Slowly whisk in 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
(3) Add seasonings:  1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 2 teaspoons of dill.

4.  Pour the dressing over the salad.   Chill for a few hours.

List of Other Salads on this Blog:

Greens/cabbage:
Make it Yourself Thai Peanut Dressing for Mandarin Salad  (My friend Judi's recipe)
KFC Copycat Cole Slaw   (A friend shared this with me)
Belizean Coleslaw    (From Internet search)
Antioxidant Rich Kale Super Salad  (A copycat from a deli, dressing from Syre School Cookbook)

Main Dish Salads
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (A remake from something I ate at a restaurant)
Jackson Square Shrimp Salad   (From my Syre School cookbook)

Pasta & Quinoa:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad  (Something I picked up over 20 years ago!)
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls   (From an Internet search)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My foodie daughter's own delicious creation!) Another Great Salad with Quinoa - Janah's  Original Quinoa, Cranberry & Feta Salad  (a recipe my daughter came up with)

Vegetable:
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad   (My son-in-law's recipe)
Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad   (Family recipe)
Rose's Refreshing Cucumber Salad   (From a Chinese friend)
A Great BBQ side Salad - Curried Pea Salad  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Dot's Easy Bean Salad  (Recipe from an  83 yr old friend of my father's)
A Great Summer Side - Broccoli Salad  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Fruit:
Grandma Marilyn's Frozen Fruit Salad  (My mother-in-law's recipe) 
 

Sunday, April 22, 2018

From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?

   There were two returns in the book of Ezra.  In the first return God stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation, and this stirred up the spirits of many leaders to return and rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. But sad to say after living in Babylon for 70 years, the Israelites had become Babylonian in their hearts.  

So God put it in Ezra's heart to ask King Artaxerxes if he would let Jews throughout his empire go back to Jerusalem.  I learned from reading the Life-Study of Ezra that because Ezra was both a priest and a scribe, he was fully qualified to reconstitute the hearts of God’s people with God’s law and statutes. 

 This Ezra went up from Babylon, he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given: and the Lord granted him all his request according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.  Ezra 7:6
 In chapter 4 of the Life-Study of Ezra I liked this quote on page 28, and on pages 33 and 34  of chapter 5:

"Ezra realized that the first return was not perfect, not complete. He realized that there was the need for someone who was skilled in the law of God to help the people to know God not merely in a general way but according to what God had spoken.....He [Ezra] bore the totality of the heavenly and divine constitution and culture. Ezra called the people together and confessed not only his own sin but also the sin of Israel, to bring them back to the Word of God....Today we need Ezras to teach the people, to educate them, and to constitute them with the heavenly truths" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995, Print).

     What I saw from my reading was it wasn't enough for the Israelites to just return and even rebuild the temple. They themselves needed to be inwardly constituted with the God's word so that they would REALLY be God's testimony on earth. 

   Ezra helped the entire nation align themselves with the law of Moses so that could happen. It's the same today.  This inspires me to spend time in the Bible to learn the truths and be able to share them with others, and in a small way that's why I try to write up these posts from what I've read in these Life-Studies that have helped me understand God's word more than anything else.

     At the end of chapter 5 brother Lee says that both he and Watchman Nee spent a lot of time reading and studying the Bible so that they could become skillful in the Word just like Ezra. The burden of both of their ministries was to teach and educate God’s people with the truths in the Bible.  I've always appreciated how their books have helped me understand the spiritual truths in the word.  

  You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.
 

Sunday, April 8, 2018

A Northeast Classic - Blueberry Grunt

I like to pick up new recipes.  This recipe comes from a student who was working writing about his family and his recipe for a class cookbook.  I never heard of this one so it caught my eye, and I wrote it down. 

 Last week I made it for my husband, and I have never made it before so I followed the recipe exactly. We were both like yum, this is so good! 





A Northeast Classic - Blueberry Grunt


1.  In a medium sized skillet put:
(1)   1 cup water and 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup); and cook on medium high.
(2)  Then stir in 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 4 cups of blueberries.
(3)  Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer.

2.  Mix together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:
(1)  2/3 cup of sorghum flour, 2/3 cup of tapioca flour, and 2/3 cup of rice flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 
(2)  With a pastry cutter cut in 3 tablespoons of butter.
(3)  Quickly stir in 1 cup of buttermilk or 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice/vinegar.

3.  Cook the batter over the blueberries:  Drop the dough in large spoonfuls over the blueberry mixture.  Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or until the dough is done.  DO NOT LIFT THE LID!   It's amazing how the dough cooks up beautifully right on the stove! 

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Crisps & Pies:
Lena's Rhubarb Crunch (A crisp with a gluten free top and bottom crust!) (My daughter-in-law's mother. She's an amazing cook, which I think most of us moms become after a few years!)
Delicious Gluten Free Apple Crisp    (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Ginger's Outrageous Apple Pie    (From a church friend)

The BEST Lemon Meringue Pie with Mrs. Lauralicious Gluten Free Pie Crust  (Internet)
My Grandmother's Favorite Banana Cream Pie  (A recipe from my grandmother)
Granny's Lemon Cheesecake Squares   (From my friend Judi's granny)
Simple & Gluten Free Chocolate Cream Pie   (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Judi's No Fail Gluten Free Pie Crust    (From my friend Judi)

Sunday, March 25, 2018

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?

     A lot of people have asked questions like why am I here? Or what is the purpose of my life?  When my husband was in high school, these questions bothered him.  Life didn't make sense to him--he couldn't settle for the philosophy that you live, work, and then die.  My husband was like--Is that all? 


Pussy willows are out again!
    When I read about why God created man in the Life-Study of 1 & Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther, it was a whole different take than what he grew up thinking.  In chapters 2, 4, and 7 Witness Lee talks about how God created man. so He could have a  reproduction. This excerpt explains what that means and is from chapter 2, pages 9 -11:

"After God finished the creation of Adam and his wife, He looked upon everything that He had made....However, God's hobby was far from complete because at that time man had only God's image and Gods likeness but not God's life and nature....According to His eternal plan God Himself had to become a man....Eventually after another thousand years, four thousand years after the creation of Adam, God came to be a man, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a human virgin (Matt. 1:20, 23). He grew up for thirty more years, but no one knew that He was God become a man, a God-man" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra & Nehemiah. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995, Print).

      Through Witness Lee's study of both the Bible and church history, he used the expression God-man to describe the two natures that the Lord possesses. As you will see in the article quoted below he wasn't the first to do that.  Way back in the second century the church fathers spoke about why the Lord became a man; this is quoted in chapter 7 on page 48:

"The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4):  "For this is why the Word became man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3. 19, 1).  "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God" (St. Athanasius, De inc., 54, 3). "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57:1-4).  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, pp. 115-116).



       It's obvious God isn't happy to just be a God-man all by Himself. In order to do this ,the Bible shows us that the Lord's divine life needed to get into man.  Later on in this chapter Witness Lee says the Lord told His disciples in John 12:24  how this would happen. Through death the Lord would be like a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies so that He could be reproduced into many grains, like you and me.  Doesn't this astound you? 
 
     Hearing and reading about this truth has helped me understand what God's goal is, and that He is using everything in my life to accomplish this goal of spreading His divine nature into me.  Knowing this has helped me understand why God has arranged so many things in my life!

  You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.
 
Other Posts from the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther:

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - How did Watchman Nee & Witness Lee Take a Stand For the Truth?
From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?
From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose
From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?
How Did God Use Nehemiah's Aggressiveness in Nehemiah 2:20?
Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read the Bible to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?
What's Really Happening in the Story of Esther?

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Savory Chicken Mornay - Easy to Make Gluten Free!

    I first had this recipe when I was in junior high and the woman who made it just called it chicken broccoli.  It was one of my favorite casseroles because of the way all the flavors seemed to explode in my mouth. 

Anyway today I was looking through my Come & Dine church cookbook for a chicken recipe to make for a friend who just got out of the hospital.  Making the gluten free chicken soup for the sauce is a cinch.  I've done it so many times, and it tastes just as good!.  Get all the ingredients together by the stove before you begin and it will be easier.  Enjoy!


Chicken Mornay - Serves 6 to 8

1.  Prepare chicken:  Rinse 3 whole chicken breasts or use 1 whole chicken chopped into pieces. Salt and pepper the chicken and sprinkle lightly with Indian Curry.

2.  Partially cook chicken:  Put 1/4 of a cube of butter into an 8 x 8 baking pan and melt it at 350.  Then add the chicken pieces and bake for 30 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile make gluten free cream of chicken soup:
(1)  In a pan melt 2 T of butter and stir into it 1/4 cup of tapioca starch. 
(2)  Whisk in 10  ounces of milk
(3)  Stir in 1/2 tsp. dried basil, 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2-1 tsp. of salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. 
(4)  Then add 1 tablespoon of Better Than Chicken Bouillon,  and 1 teaspoon of Indian curry. 
(5)  Stir in 2/3 cup mayo, and 1/3 cup evap. milk Taste and make any adjustments.

4.  Arrange casserole in a 9 x 13 casserole pan OR put in a crock pot:
(1)  Arrange 20 oz. of frozen broccoli on the bottom of the pan.
(2)  Lay chicken pieces over the top.
(3)  Pour the sauce over the chicken.
(4)  Sprinkle with 2/3 cup of cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 more minutes or until browned on top.

Note:  You can prepare this casserole in advance and refrigerate until cooking.  Just add 10 more minutes to the cooking time.

You can also make this recipe with some rice and layer it on top of the chicken or serve it on the side.

 List of other chicken recipes on this blog:

Asian:
Authentic Chinese BBQ Chicken  (From my friend Rose)
Gluten Free Soy Sauce Chicken   (Modified from Internet search)
Tasty Gluten Free Filipino Chicken Adobo  (Modified from Internet search)
Gluten Free Sweet & Sour Chicken (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Make Your Own G.F. Teriyaki Bowls  (From me!)

Italian & Greek:
Chicken Souvlaki   (Marinade for chicken from my son-in-law)
Gluten Free Chicken Cacciatore With Peppers & Mushrooms  (Modified from my mother-in-law)
Delicious Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan   (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
My Son-in-Law's Own Recipe for Greek Chicken
Delicious Chicken Florentine Lasagna  (From my church cookbook)

Mexican:
Pollo Guisado (Mexican Braised Chicken)  (From a church friend in Phoenix)
Belizean Chicken, Black Beans & Rice, and Belizean Coleslaw  (From my daughter's family)
Make Your Own Chicken Burrito Bowls (From a collection of my recipes)

American Favorites:
Amazing BBQ Chicken    (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
The Best Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken   (From my sister-in-law)
Fantastic Gluten Free Chicken Kabobs  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Great for Summer BBQ - Lemon Rosemary Chicken Legs  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Curried Mushroom & Apple Chicken  (From my church cookbook Come & Dine)
The Best Homemade Chicken BBQ Sauce  (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
A Gluten Free Twist on Tarragon Chicken - From my  church Come & Dine cookbook
Saucy Chicken 
Chicken & Mushrooms in Wine Sauce   -( From my church Come & Dine cookbook)
Our Family's Fall Favorite - Chicken & Zucchini Casserole with Gluten Free Biscuit Topping - -( From my church Come & Dine cookbook)
Blackberry BBQ Chicken - A Tasty Sauce You'll Have to Try! (Off a package of blackberries)
Ray's BBQ Chicken - (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
Country Style BBQ Chicken - (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)

Chicken Casseroles
Chicken Divan  - From my Come & Dine Cookbook
Chicken Pot Pie - A combination of 3 different recipes!

Sunday, March 11, 2018

From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose

     God is the sovereign ruler of every country. You can see this again and again in the Old Testament.  When the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed God and worshipped idols, He first raised up the Assyrians to capture the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Then when the Southern Kingdom didn’t get the message and they fell into idolatry, God raised up the Babylonians to burn the temple and tear down the walls of Jerusalem.  They left only the poorest people of the land; the rest they hauled into captivity.

    The prophet Jeremiah foretold that they would be in captivity for 70 years (Jer. 25:11).  In the book of Daniel we see that God had led him to pray three times a day for Jerusalem. And just like clockwork we see in the Bible that God worked through that prayer to stir up Cyrus the King of Persia’s heart to issue a decree to let the Israelites return and rebuild their temple. 


Ezra 1:1-3 Now in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, so that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia; and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying,
      Thus says Cyrus the king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of heaven given to me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
     Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him; and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel--He is God--who is in Jerusalem.

      In verse 5 it says that God stirred up the leaders of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi to return to Jerusalem.  It’s touching that the first thing the people did was rebuild the altar of God and offer burnt offerings like Moses had commanded the people in Exodus (Ezra 3:2-3).  By keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and offering the daily burnt offerings, the worship of God which had been lost for 70 years was finally recovered!
      In chapter 3 of the Life-Study of Ezra  Witness Lee talks about the difficulties the Israelites encountered rebuilding the house of God.  Mostly they were frustrated by the people brought in to Samaria by the kings of Assyria and Babylon.  These people even hired counselors to frustrate the rebuilding of God’s house throughout all the days when Cryus was king (Ezra 4:1-6).  They even got King Artaxerxes to issue a decree that stopped the building work.  But God wasn’t stopped; He raised up King Darius to support Cyrus’ decree that the house of God should be rebuilt.   Finally in the sixth year of his reign, the house of God was dedicated (Ezra 6:15). 

At the end of chapter 3 Witness Lee ties this in to the situation among believers today:

"Today very few believers care for the building up of a proper local church in their locality as the house of God.  This means that God is kept homeless. He does have a home in the heavens with the angels, but He needs a home with the humanity of His heart’s desire. God wants to have such a house. through such a house God will have His kingdom" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995, Print).

It amazes me that the story of captivity and the return of the Jews to rebuild God’s house is a parallel of what God is doing among His believers today.  What I see here is it's important for God's people to cooperate with God when He stirs up our spirit. What would have happened if Cyrus hadn't made a decree?  What would have happened if none of the Israelites had responded?   

You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts from the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther:

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - How did Watchman Nee & Witness Lee Take a Stand For the Truth?
From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?
From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose
From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?
How Did God Use Nehemiah's Aggressiveness in Nehemiah 2:20?
Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read the Bible to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?
What's Really Happening in the Story of Esther?

Friday, March 9, 2018

A Favorite of the Irish - Mulligan Stew

This week I read a St. Patrick's book to a kindergarten class, and it mentioned Mulligan stew.  I remembered seeing that recipe in my Come & Dine church cookbook. I never tried it because it looked a bit different with Vienna sausages and cheese. Mulligan stew includes meat, potatoes, and vegetables, and I learned that you can add pretty much any kind of vegetable to it.  I've never made it before, but I plan to try it out this next week.

  In my recipe they made hamburger into patties and cooked on top of the vegetables.  So I checked about three websites to compare it with others.  Here is my outcome--I added a few more ingredients, and cut out the sausages and the cheese! 

MULLIGAN STEW

1.  Prepare veggies:
(1)  Cube 2-3 russet potatoes
(2)  Cut 2-3 carrots into 1/2" slices
(3)  Chop 1 onion
(4)  Cut 2 ribs of celery in 1" slices
(5)  Mince 2 cloves of garlic

2.  Prepare meat:  My church recipe calls for ground beef, but I also saw recipes for 1 pound of cubed stew meat.  You dredge this with 1/4 cup of rice flour and brown it in a Dutch oven with the onions and garlic.

3.  Then add 20 oz of beef broth.  You will need enough to cover the vegetables so you may need to add a bit of water to it.

4.  Add spices:  Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.

5.  Let this simmer for 40 minutes.  Then add the potatoes and carrots and let simmer an hour or more.  Add 1 cup of peas during the last 30 minutes.

Serve with homemade biscuits.

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  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)
Lisa's Red Lentil Soup - From my friend Lisa

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 Very Own Recipe for Chinese Beef Bone Soup  (from Rose my friend from Taipei)