Brazil Mission Trip

We have arrived from our Brazil Mission Trip. I cannot believe we left sunshine & sunburns for being snowed in. I love it.

But, we will certainly miss the tropical fruit - mango, graviola, silver bananas, acai, papaya, passion fruit (maracuya), guava, jaboticaba, sweetsop, cashews, cashew fruit, jackfruit - growing in the wild Brazilian land. Yumm! We need to go back!

The view from Escola dos Profetas, (Alcançando Corações, RHI Brazil). In this picture, notice how the tree casts a shadow on the lake that makes it look like a heart.

Sabbath. The children singing "This Little Light of Mine" in Portuguese.







After Sabbath lunch, we walked door-to-door to visit a few of the locals to hand out donated toys and remind them of Vacation Bible School starting that evening. One of the locals showed us this cute little monkey.
This was absolutely delicious as a main dish. Jackfruit "meat". Wow, the center is cooked and prepared, breaded, and fried/baked. A nice meaty main dish for any meal. The edges (yellow part) is the fruit eaten raw. Interesting taste.

RHI group built the foundation of the married housing and the cesspool.



Driving through the city...




Vacation at the beach, swimming with the fish, and enjoying more coconut water.

Wilted Kale Wreath & Pineapple Icebox Dessert

Merry Christmas!

This is a dish we enjoy making for Christmas - Wilted Kale Wreath. The recipe is James Russell's Wilted Kale Salad & it makes for a perfect wreath with tomato ornaments.

Substitute sesame seeds for hemp seed, if you can't find it in stores.

Thanks for all the great comments about the Pineapple Icebox recipe. I didn't come up with the recipe; but, I did share the dessert with several people and they enjoyed it. (Recipe and pictures.) We made two batches of this recipe. The first was eaten before we could take pictures of it. We'd like to post our pictures, but I think the second may also be eaten before we get the camera out.

Tips:

* Use a silicone loaf pan or springform pan so the dessert can be easily removed for serving.

* Use vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract.

* The filling was really a workout for my high speed blender. So, I added a little more coconut oil and water, being sure to add more coconut oil since it will keep the shape better.

* Best served frozen!

Christian Evolution?

At church a few weeks back, the pastor's sermon made some interesting points about Christians and evolution. I just want to share them here:

If you, a Christian, believe in evolution, do you believe that God created you? If God did not create you, what purpose does He have sending His son to save you - someone He did not create?

Jesus, our Creator, had to die for us because He was responsible for creating us. So either the Creator pays or evolution pays.

Search for "Creation," 8/19/09 on the Reaching Your Heart website.

Did Jesus always exist?
And for some reason, I recall a sermon from a few months back which answers the question "Did Jesus always exist? Did God the Father create Jesus at some later time?" If Jesus has a beginning where he was created sometime between "negative infinity" and some point before or at the creation of the earth, then that would mean God existed at some point without Jesus and God didn't really give a part of Himself when He sent His only son to die for us. Any created being, such as angels, could have died for us if that were the case.




Thus, Jesus, like God the Father, has always existed. "...before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" - Isaiah 43:10b.



I have to find the link for this sermon...

Battle of the Bibles & Changing the Word.

We recommend DVDs Battle of the Bibles and Changing the Word by Professor Veith.

We found this SO interesting... comparing the KJV with the NIV & RSV!

The following verses are NOT found in the NIV & RSV; but, they are found in the KJV.

Matt 17:21, 18:11, 23:14
Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28
Luke 17:36, 23:17
John 5:4
Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:6-8, 28:29
Romans 16:24
I Tim 2:7

II Tim 4:22

In the DVD, Veith compares the KJV with NIV & RSV. He then explains the differences between the verses... and I was just amazed. Why does this matter? Well, removing or modifying certain verses make it hard/impossible to prove that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy... and Jesus' diety!

Compare also 1 John 5:7. It would be difficult/impossible to prove the trinity in the NIV, but not the KJV.

Here are some modified verses you can compare for yourself:

1 Cor 15:34, Job 26:5, Matthew 1:16 & 25, 24:36, Mark 2:17, 10:21, Luke 4:4, 9:55-56, 11:2, John 5:39, 16:23, Acts 13:42, 16:7, Ephes 3:9, Col 1:15-16, 2 Tim 4:1, Heb 11:3, I Peter 1:22, Rev 14:5

I highly recommend the DVDs!

Or watch on YouTube. This is just Part 1 of the second DVD:

The Coming (Spiritual) Oil Crisis (Excellent Sermon & Highly Recommended)

The Coming Oil Crisis is a great sermon by Ivor Myers. I highly recommend it... and you may find yourself listening to it more than once. There are two others parts which are just as good: part II: Striking Oil and part III: God's Fire Alarm.

In The Coming Oil Crisis, Myers talks about the spiritual oil crisis and why we need to drill deeper! He basis it on the Ten Virgins parable, where the oil represents prayer, our communion with God, and he explains how & why we should be wise virgins so that we will not be left when "the door shuts". This will change your prayer life... forever.

Part II explains how each day of creation, in Genesis 1, represents a day of our spiritual creation. Awesome!

Part III explains how every week is a preparation and reminder of how to rest in Christ. And, how we prepare and keep the Sabbath will prepare us for Jesus' coming. It will change the way you view the Sabbath. Awesome too!

We have shared this sermon with several people!

Free Raw E-Cookbook

To this day, people still mention how wonderful Cheflandria's Mango Cheesecake is. It uses Irish Moss, but I've made it several times with agar-agar. Irish Moss is the raw version of what you know to be a common ingredient in your food - carrageenan. I have been curious enough about Irish moss, especially after Chef James Russell has used it with cashews to make a "tofu", that I bought some from Pure Joy Planet.  I will make Cheflandria's Mango Cheesecake with Irish Moss this weekend... hopefully.

Here is Cheflandria's free raw e-book which has that recipe:
Cheflandria VIBRANT Recipe Book FREE!
Linked from GoneRaw post.

Other food raw recipes:

Curried Cabbage, Marinara Sauce, Mango Avocado Salad, and Wilted Kale Salad

Christian Movies

Who has time to watch movies these days?  We typically don't, but someone recommended these Christian movies:  Saving Sarah Cain and Faith Like Potatoes

I recommend this movie... beautiful.

If the link does not work, click here for the trailer.

  Faith Like Potatoes (Global Creative Studio)

Raw Food Recipes

We enjoyed our time savoring raw food dishes prepared by several friends. The food was absolutely delicious! Thank you everyone.

Below are most of the recipes from the potluck. Additional recipes are found on a previous blog entry.

Eggless Salad

Recipe by Matt Amsden from Rawvolution

Equipment: Blender

Wilted Kale Salad

Recipe by James Russell.

Equipment: Blender, however optional

Pasta Primavera

Recipe can be found on The Sunny Raw Kitchen.

Equipment: Mandoline Slicer (or the like) & Blender

Mango Avocado Salad

Recipe can be found on We Like It Raw.

Falafel

Recipe can be found on The Raw Chef Blog (James Russell).
Equipment: Dehydrator & Food Processor

Pictures for... Mexican Patties, Tropical Pie, and Strawberry Pie

Russell James' Curried Cabbage Pillows with Dipping Sauce

Equipment for Cabbage: Food processor and Sprout Jars for Germinating (optional)

Equipment for Wrap: Dehydrator

Equipment for Dipping Sauce: Blender

First cold pressed olive oil and Braggs can be used instead of cold pressed sesame oil and tamari.  Optionally, add one tablespoon germinated black sesame seeds.

Refrigerator Cucumbers

Prepared by Pat

Equipment: Mandolin slicer (or something that slices thinly)

Ingredients:

8 cups cucumbers
1 medium onion
1 medium red pepper
1/2 medium green pepper
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup raw honey
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp celery seed
1/2 tsp ground pepper (optional)

Slice cucumbers very thinly. Chop onions and green peppers. Place cuccumbers, peppers and onions in a bowl. Sprinkle with celery seed and ground pepper, if used. Mix honey, lemon juice, and salt. Pour over cuccumbers and mix. The hyperosmotic solution of lemon juice, honey, and salt will pull the water out of the vegetables. (It's how pickles are made!!) Mix several times before putting in the refrigerator. Best made 24 to 48 hours before serving for the flavors to blend.

Strawberry Parfait

Recipe is posted on Any Phyo's website.

Equipment: Blender

We did not add agave to the strawberries, nor did we blend the strawberries.

Growing Your Own Fresh Air Indoors!

Researcher Kamal Meattle recommends these three plants for fresh air:

• Areca Palm - Converts CO2 to O2
• Mother-in-law's Tongue - Converts CO2 to O2 at night
• Money Plant - Removes formaldehyde and other volatile chemicals
  
  For more detailed information, watch this short video on WeLikeItRaw.com.
  It's worth the watch for cleaner indoor air!
  
  
  

Dehydrating Grapes to Make Raisins for Raw Baklava

Kurt made Cherie's raw Apple Baklava posted on Get Fresh magazine.  It tasted so good!  And, it tasted cooked!  For this special event, we made our own raw raisins.  Next time, we'll just use regular raisins, but we really wanted to make our own.  In a glass bowl, we squeezed some of the juice out of the raisins (but not too much), just enough to break each one open for better dehydration.  You can drink the delicious grape juice.  Place the raisins on parchment paper on a dehydrator sheet.  Dehydrate the raisins at 115F for 36 hours.

The raisins were used for the agave-raisin syrup in this recipe layered with apples, syrup, dehydrated-germinated walnuts, and raisins.  Additional raisins were sprinkled in between the layers

Kurt's artistic placement of the apples, which you couldn't see after we put the syrup and walnuts on top.  He did a very good job!

Applying the last syrup to be spread on top.  Beautiful!

This dessert was a delight.

Yellowstone or Northern VA?

With temperatures below freezing, the fountains in Landsdowne are quickly looking like geysers from Yellowstone NP. This is Young Faithful.

Reaching Hearts Brazil

Following are video clips about Revelation. I encourage you to watch the sample video, at least. It is less than 4 minutes long with English/Spanish subtitles. God is at work... here is just a piece I'm sharing.

Reaching Hearts International is our home church. And, although I have never met Maiza Dias Ribeiro, the videos are well done... and I've been curious enough to watch them and figure out what she is saying (in Portuguese).

Reaching Hearts
Reaching Hearts Radio Ministry
www.alcancandocoracoes.org
A Verdade Presente

Sample - Apocalipse, Medo ou Esperança? Maiza Dias Ribeiro with English (or Spanish) subtitles:


Apocalipse, Medo ou Esperança? - Maiza Dias Ribeiro - Programa #1 Approximately 30 minutes long.

Apocalipse, Medo ou Esperança? - Maiza Dias Ribeiro - Programa #2 Approximately 30 minutes long.

Apocalipse, Medo ou Esperança? - Maiza Dias Ribeiro - Programa #3 Approximately 30 minutes long.

CNN says RAW is better - sorta

Here is the link, but please do not microwave as the article seems to suggest... I can post about that later, if you request:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/02/cl.produce.preparation/index.html

Green Smoothies/Juicing Class and Organic Farming Talk

Saturday, during potluck, the Reaching Hearts health ministry team worked together to have a juicing and green smoothies class! The class was a success. Many people contributed, bringing fruits, vegetables, recipes, and equipment. I gave the class, but knowing more about smoothies than juicing, I did focus it on smoothies. We made spinach-mango, pineapple-banana-kale, pineapple-mango-raspberry, carrot-apple-grapes, carrot-cucumber, grapes-blueberries-banana. Most people were surprised at the green smoothies flavors. I feel the class accomplished its goals when they walked out of there feeling that they could "do this" - that is, green smoothies. Someone even said they walked over to the pot-luck dessert table and walked away without picking up a dessert! I was so happy to hear that. Maybe they were just full of the sweetness of the smoothie samples... well, whatever it takes to kick the sugar-habit, even for a day.

Green smoothies, the more you drink them, the more you find you crave them! ...as long as you vary your greens. They are rich in amino acids, minerals, and chlorophyll. Did someone say they alkalize the body?

Here is a GREAT READ on Greening Up your life: Ode to the Green Smoothie by Victoria Boutenko.

Ever wonder about the nutrients in your produce and how much you lose from the farm to your table? Here's an excellent read: From Farm To Table and How soon should I expect to experience the effects of dietary supplements? . These article-links were sent to me by Wellness Coach, Sharon Gluck. I first heard about glyconutrients, from my friend Kirsten Balatgek. They have worked for her mother and grandmother. Then, a friend from church, Sharon, mentioned them, too, and how Dr. Ben Carson used them, too. There must be something to them!

Talk on Organic Farming
Later that evening, we listened to a talk on organic farming and learned a lot. Wow! Gus, the farmer, used to be a physician's assistance and changed his career to be a farmer to be home with his family. He farms 5 acres and gave several tips on how to start your farm. We thoroughly enjoyed it. DID YOU KNOW? With gas prices going up, local organic foods are becoming more affordable. One, they are not farmed with petroleum-based fertilizers which means as gas prices go up, the price of petroleum goes up and the price of conventional produce goes up kur-ching. Two, they are local, requiring less gas for shipping, unlike conventional which travels a long way kur-ching.

More Benefits of Local Organic Food
Other non-gas-price-related benefits of organic produce are the nutrients they have. They have more nutrients (depending on their soil) and since they are freshly, locally picked, they have more nutrients! The older a fruit is since it has been picked, the less nutrients it has.

No to Hyrbrids. Yes to Heirlooms
Shockingly, seeds produced by hybrid plants should not be saved and planted the following year because they are crossed with other 'stuff' , which means if you planted a new squash hybrid seed this year... you grow squash the first year... but if you saved its seed and grow it next year, who knows what you may get... it may not be the same type of squash! Heirloom seeds are the real food here!

We learned so much... so much to write about it here, but we would love to tell you about it! Maybe Gus will have another talk sometime soon.

Are you Guilty?

Today at bible study, I learned a couple things from a few people that made me think. I want to share a them with you.

If you were convicted of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

God does not give up on us. The devil does not give up on us. The only person giving up on God is you.

Sugar Blues

I will admit. I love sweets, especially cookies. I have used agave or honey as my sweeteners, but I eat the occasional donut at work and desserts at potlucks and buffets. However, by writing about this, I am hoping to give up sugar... or at least non-organic sugar.

Why? Genetically Engineered (GE) sugar has made its way to the U.S. starting this year - 2008.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12700

Additionally, this may apply to corn & soy.

"Meat" Akron, OH

We stopped by the vegan/raw cafe - The Web of Life - in Cleveland and were disappointed. The reviews we read are all true...well, only because the customer we talked to at The Web of Life said the place was not what it used to be. So we left... but not without a vegan soft serve cone. It was the best vegan soft serve we've ever had.

We headed straight for Vegiterranean vegan-kosher restaurant in Akron, OH which just opened 6 months ago. These pictures are from there. At $23 a dish, the food was delicious. And the tofu dessert was amazing. I had Gardien Chicken with tuscan bean mashed potatoes. Kurt had the Gardien Steak special. Kurt has never had steak before in his life... until today! Is your jaw dropped because you read "Kurt ate steak" or because you think nothing vegan can imitate steak?

We love to sample each other's dishes and being from a state where steak restaurants have their own zip code (okay, slight exaggeration), plus growing up in a meat-eating home, I took a bite of his steak and was certain it was the real thing. The first several chews were reminiscent of steak prepared over the charcoal grill on a July 4th weekend at my aunt and uncle's backyard cookout... until its texture changed, but only slightly. I tell Kurt, "If you haven't had steak before, you just did."

By the way, Gardien is a trademark for GARden grown protIEN.

Chicago's Raw Restaurants - Karyn's and Cousin's

We went to both Karyn’s and Cousin’s. If we had to recommend one, Karyn’s wins!
Karyn’s has everything I would ever want in a raw food store. The store sells many products, from to-go raw food to raw food ingredients to supplements. They even sell gallons of rejuvelac and ice cream! The food we had was all delicious. We had the buffet and tamales. All tasted great. I was impressed with the tamales and the cabbage with walnuts, raisins, and dressing. Plus, we had a mango ice cream. The downside, customer service is not that great… well, when compared to Cousin’s. We ate at the cafe and not the restaurant next door (it was still morning).
Cousin’s has a smaller store, but the restaurant is bigger. Customer service is great, but they were short-staffed (on a Monday) that they didn’t have everything on the menu. That’s okay, it seems to be quite common with several of the raw restaurants we visited. The food was good, but at Karyn’s every bite I took was amazing… not so, at Cousin’s. It was just okay… or good. We had the popular falafel and kebabs… plus their brownie and truffles were great. Oh yeah, and they served ionized water!
Here are pictures from Karyn's:

Here are pictures from Cousin's:

Quick stop in Macon, GA

On my way to Robins AFB for business, I got hungry so I stopped in Macon for lunch. I knew there was a vegan restaurant there and I wanted to try it out, especially since I probably wouldn't get to be vegan much of the rest of the week.

It's a nice little place. I opted for the buffet, so I could try several different dishes. I don't know if it was because I ate from the buffet or because I've been eating more raw recently, but everything seemed very soft to me, as in well-cooked, maybe over-cooked. If I can, I'll try their Warner Robins location this week which doesn' have a buffet and see if the texture is different.

Other than the "mushiness," I liked the food, especially the fake chicken. Nothing in the buffet was spicy, even though it looked like it. If I weren't trying to eat less spicy food, I would have been disappointed. The ginger beer was good, though. It's homemade and I was warned it was very strong. Maybe it's very strong for a typical american, but for someone like me who orders food hot at Asian and Indian restaurants, it was the flavor I was looking for! I thought it was just right.

Below are some pictures of the Macon Eden'z Vegetarian Restaurant.

Polonium Halos: Evidence of an Instantaneous Creation

We heard Robert Gentry speak at Reaching Hearts International and the University of Maryland last week. He is a world renowned nuclear physicist.

The most interesting part of his lecture was about polonium halos. They are present in granite rock from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The half life of polonium is so small... Like seconds (or maybe less) that a "slow cooling" rock like granite should not contain polonium halos. Well, Robert Gentry found the polonium halos in the granite... Which could be formed if the granite cooled instantly. So, the halos are evidence of an instant creation.

His website: http://www.halos.com