Sunday 24 January 2010
Join me on Homeschool Blogger!
Please join me over at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/befruitful I can't seem to work this blog as well!
Sunday 10 January 2010
winter warming recipes!
Spicy cream of Butternut soup
You will need
1 butternut squash
2 large onions
garlic, curry, salt, and pepper for seasoning,
milk, and your favourite stock.
Method:
1) Cut the squash and onion into small pieces and fry in a little oil. Season with spices and curry and garlic and cover for 10 minutes.
2) Add half milk and stock so the vegetables are covered and simmer for 20 mins to half an hour.
3) Blend till smoooth in a blender.
This should serve about 10 people for a light lunch. Any left over can be frozen.
You will need
1 butternut squash
2 large onions
garlic, curry, salt, and pepper for seasoning,
milk, and your favourite stock.
Method:
1) Cut the squash and onion into small pieces and fry in a little oil. Season with spices and curry and garlic and cover for 10 minutes.
2) Add half milk and stock so the vegetables are covered and simmer for 20 mins to half an hour.
3) Blend till smoooth in a blender.
This should serve about 10 people for a light lunch. Any left over can be frozen.
Saturday 2 January 2010
Why so Many?
People often wonder, why such a large family? I have to say it goes all the way back to when we first got married. I had decided I wanted six children and thought it was as clearcut as that! My first labour was extremely painful and 17 hours of it were spent at home. Dd was in the wrong position, she was back to back, which caused me excruciating pain. I remember saying to my husband, "Do you mind if we don't have anymore?" Ha, ha, famous last words. Having looked into the various birthcontrols I could see they were not God honouring and I didn't even know that the birth control pill murders babies. I felt I was being led to trust God and we both shared that belief. Sadly there seemed to be no one around at the time who shared that and we were very much frowned upon and mainly through other Christians.
I am happy to say that the 2nd and 3rd births were easy compared to the first and before we knew it we had three children under two and a half! They were tough days, but I think that the first few children are the most difficult. There are many reaons for this, one of the main ones being that there are no older children, or teenagers. Believe me, if you are on your first four, it will get easier! You also learn more about the best way to do things. I started off putting the babes in a cot, now I feel they are best served with us in our bed. I get more sleep that way!
So, we have followed God's leading and have been blessed. It has not always been easy and we have suffered many persecutions because of it, but I can say that the Lord has worked all things for good and we have been mightily blessed.
Don't worry if you are facing opposition from family, it is not the end of the world. Our family opposition was extreme, but I have known that some people's families have been won over.
We have nine children to date, the youngest is almost two and the oldest is fifteen. I would love to have lots more if that is the Lord's will.
I am happy to say that the 2nd and 3rd births were easy compared to the first and before we knew it we had three children under two and a half! They were tough days, but I think that the first few children are the most difficult. There are many reaons for this, one of the main ones being that there are no older children, or teenagers. Believe me, if you are on your first four, it will get easier! You also learn more about the best way to do things. I started off putting the babes in a cot, now I feel they are best served with us in our bed. I get more sleep that way!
So, we have followed God's leading and have been blessed. It has not always been easy and we have suffered many persecutions because of it, but I can say that the Lord has worked all things for good and we have been mightily blessed.
Don't worry if you are facing opposition from family, it is not the end of the world. Our family opposition was extreme, but I have known that some people's families have been won over.
We have nine children to date, the youngest is almost two and the oldest is fifteen. I would love to have lots more if that is the Lord's will.
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Healthy tips for families large and small
Over the years I have gathered a lot of information on healthy living and what works. Here are a few of the points that we use in our family. It is not always easy to come up with healthy recipes for feeding so many, so I will be posting some of our favourite recipes.
1)Always use wholegrain flour, rice and pasta where possible. The carbs in these are complex and release sugar slower. Important for expectant mothers and anyone at risk of diabetes. They are also a great source of fibre and minerals, which refined carbs leave out.
2) Use brown sugar. Brown sugar is unrefined, thus better for you.
3) Reduce sugar in recipes. I always reduce sugar by a third, or even half and no one is the worse for it. They don't notice if you do it gradually!
4) Don't buy squashes, it is basically sugared water- same with pop. We have red bush tea, or fruit juice and water, or plain water.
5) Add oat bran or wheat bran to foods. Wheat bran is great dusted on home made rolls and great mixed in plain yoghurt. Oat bran is great for cookies.
6) Use lean meat and when using mince choose a lean good quality steak mince. You can pad meat out with lentils and lentils are a great source of iron, protein and minerals.
7) Use cheese sparingly, especially highly processed. Cheese is high in salt and the bad fats.
8) Only use sunflower/olive oil for cooking.
9) We keep food simple and wholesome and avoid processed and keep canned food to a minimum.
Since I have stuck to this, I have more energy and am slowly losing weight. I find I have lost my sweet tooth and rarely crave sweet things. I guess it has become a habit and the children are healthier for it!
1)Always use wholegrain flour, rice and pasta where possible. The carbs in these are complex and release sugar slower. Important for expectant mothers and anyone at risk of diabetes. They are also a great source of fibre and minerals, which refined carbs leave out.
2) Use brown sugar. Brown sugar is unrefined, thus better for you.
3) Reduce sugar in recipes. I always reduce sugar by a third, or even half and no one is the worse for it. They don't notice if you do it gradually!
4) Don't buy squashes, it is basically sugared water- same with pop. We have red bush tea, or fruit juice and water, or plain water.
5) Add oat bran or wheat bran to foods. Wheat bran is great dusted on home made rolls and great mixed in plain yoghurt. Oat bran is great for cookies.
6) Use lean meat and when using mince choose a lean good quality steak mince. You can pad meat out with lentils and lentils are a great source of iron, protein and minerals.
7) Use cheese sparingly, especially highly processed. Cheese is high in salt and the bad fats.
8) Only use sunflower/olive oil for cooking.
9) We keep food simple and wholesome and avoid processed and keep canned food to a minimum.
Since I have stuck to this, I have more energy and am slowly losing weight. I find I have lost my sweet tooth and rarely crave sweet things. I guess it has become a habit and the children are healthier for it!
Saturday 12 December 2009
Badman- Record breaking petitions!
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Living in Grace- Freedom without Legalism
It is easy, as a Christian to become over zealous and fall into legalism. If we are truly saved, we want to do good, that is part of our wanting to please the Lord. We are not saved by works." For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.
So, what is legalism? It is the strict adherence to the law, that is the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. The Jews were required to follow the law and to strictly adhere to it, but now we have Jesus Christ and he died in our place and became our priest. The former in the Old Testament was just a shadow of what was to come. Now salvation is for everyone who accepts and it is free, we don't have to work to get it. As Christians we no longer follow the ceremonies and judicial law laid out in the Torah, rather we follow the moral law as a guide. If we love the Lord we will do it willingly, we do it to grow more like God and we do it through Christ. The moral law doesn't save, it sanctifies. The moral law is our guidance, as what to aspire to and the main point is to worship God as creator. Exodus 20:3 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' The moral law requires obedience, but does not give strenth. It shows the standard we are to live by. (not to take the Lord's name in vain, commit adultry, and murder, e.t.c.) Galations 3:24 'Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.'
Regarding justification, or being justified, the moral law is abolished. We are only saved through Christ's righteousness. We are free from the curse and condemnatory power of the moral law. We are not under the condemning now, rather the commanding Gal 3:13'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.' That doesn't give us free licence to do whatever we like though. Romans 3:31 'Do we not make void the law through faith'. Legalism is when we overstep that line and think that somehow it counts towards our salvation, or we insist on following the old ceremonial and judicial traditions we are stepping into a cult like situation. Any religion that bases salvation on works, is a cult, but it can also be considered cult like if we try to insist on certain other things, or to be contentious.Colosians 2:16 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.'
We are now permitted to eat pork and do not hold to the Jewish customs and practices. Acts 11:7' And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.'
Some people may think they are better Christians because they follow this law and maybe they don't have TV, or they don't listen to a certain music.We need to be extremely careful that our faith is not overtaken by a religious formalism, having an unhealthy fear and being robbed of our joy. It doesn't stop there, as once it has overtaken us we start to judge others, maybe on their dress, what commands they obey e.t.c. this is what the Bible means when it says to judge not. We are to recognise false teachings and try people's statements against scripture, but not to judge in a critical selfish way.
Let us not be robbed of our joy and follow the Lord with joy and remember Titus 3:7 'That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'
So, what is legalism? It is the strict adherence to the law, that is the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. The Jews were required to follow the law and to strictly adhere to it, but now we have Jesus Christ and he died in our place and became our priest. The former in the Old Testament was just a shadow of what was to come. Now salvation is for everyone who accepts and it is free, we don't have to work to get it. As Christians we no longer follow the ceremonies and judicial law laid out in the Torah, rather we follow the moral law as a guide. If we love the Lord we will do it willingly, we do it to grow more like God and we do it through Christ. The moral law doesn't save, it sanctifies. The moral law is our guidance, as what to aspire to and the main point is to worship God as creator. Exodus 20:3 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' The moral law requires obedience, but does not give strenth. It shows the standard we are to live by. (not to take the Lord's name in vain, commit adultry, and murder, e.t.c.) Galations 3:24 'Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.'
Regarding justification, or being justified, the moral law is abolished. We are only saved through Christ's righteousness. We are free from the curse and condemnatory power of the moral law. We are not under the condemning now, rather the commanding Gal 3:13'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.' That doesn't give us free licence to do whatever we like though. Romans 3:31 'Do we not make void the law through faith'. Legalism is when we overstep that line and think that somehow it counts towards our salvation, or we insist on following the old ceremonial and judicial traditions we are stepping into a cult like situation. Any religion that bases salvation on works, is a cult, but it can also be considered cult like if we try to insist on certain other things, or to be contentious.Colosians 2:16 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.'
We are now permitted to eat pork and do not hold to the Jewish customs and practices. Acts 11:7' And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.'
Some people may think they are better Christians because they follow this law and maybe they don't have TV, or they don't listen to a certain music.We need to be extremely careful that our faith is not overtaken by a religious formalism, having an unhealthy fear and being robbed of our joy. It doesn't stop there, as once it has overtaken us we start to judge others, maybe on their dress, what commands they obey e.t.c. this is what the Bible means when it says to judge not. We are to recognise false teachings and try people's statements against scripture, but not to judge in a critical selfish way.
Let us not be robbed of our joy and follow the Lord with joy and remember Titus 3:7 'That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'
Saturday 26 September 2009
Elderberries
Elderberries are in abundance at this time of year. We have been picking them from the hedgerows and have so far made elderberry jam and cordial.
To make the jam, all you need is a pound of berries and nearly a pound of brown sugar. Boil them up with a little lemon juice for 20 mins or so. You can add pectin if you want to make a thick jam, but we like it runny.
To make the cordial boil up a pound of elderberries with 200 grammes, or just under half a poud of sugar add boiling water to taste as it is cooking. Strain, bottle, cool, then chill in the fridge.
They are well known as an anti viral, so great for the flu season. What are you waiting for? Enjoy!
Check out this site for more info on how to pick and more recipes.here
To make the jam, all you need is a pound of berries and nearly a pound of brown sugar. Boil them up with a little lemon juice for 20 mins or so. You can add pectin if you want to make a thick jam, but we like it runny.
To make the cordial boil up a pound of elderberries with 200 grammes, or just under half a poud of sugar add boiling water to taste as it is cooking. Strain, bottle, cool, then chill in the fridge.
They are well known as an anti viral, so great for the flu season. What are you waiting for? Enjoy!
Check out this site for more info on how to pick and more recipes.here
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