Great Word from C.H. Spurgeon

C.H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotional
Wednesday July 6, 2011

"Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."-Proverbs 1:33

Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, He punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while He did this, He took care that His own chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, the Lord had not simply one "Elijah," but He had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab's table too by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God's people are safe. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save His people under heaven, He will save them in heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil. Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon His promise; rest in His faithfulness, and bid defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you. Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom.

Herbs at a Glance

Psalm 104:14a - "He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate - bringing forth food from the earth"

The following list is taken from Herb Guide and Prescription for Nutritional Healing. If you don't already use fresh herbs in cooking, but would like to, this may help.

Sweet Basil

Red Leaf Basil

Basil - Minty, spicy, sweet - Pesto, sauces, tomato salads

Chives - Oniony, mild - Butters, cheeses, eggs, salads, sauces, soups

Chives


Dill - Light, fresh, and faintly anise - Eggs, fish, poultry, salads, sauces

Lavender - Floral with evergreen notes, sweet - Cakes, cookies, fruits, jellies
HEALTH BENEFIT - Relieves stress and depression. Beneficial for the skin. Caution - should not be used during pregnancy. Lavender oil should not be taken internally.

Lemon Balm - Citrusy, refreshing - Drinks, fruits, salads, teas

Lemon Verbana - Citrusy, sweet - Desserts, marinade, salad dressing, teas

Lemongrass - Citrusy, warm - Asian dishes, curries, fish, seafood soups

Marjoram - Slightly minty and citrusy, sweet - Butters, cheeses, eggs, meats, soups, vegetables

Mint - Cool, sweet and refreshing - Desserts, fruit salads, jellies, teas

Oregano - Balsamic, peppery and assertive - Cheeses, eggs, salads, sauces, meats, vegetables

Parsley - Grassy, fresh - Butters, garnishes, pestos, sandwiches
HEALTH BENEFIT - Contains a substance that prevents the multiplication of tumor cells. Expels worms, relieves gas, stimulates activity of digestive system, and freshens breath. Helps bladder, kidney, liver, lung, stomach, and thyroid function. Good for bed-wetting, fluid retention, gas, halitosis, high blood pressure, indigestion, kidney disease, obesity, and prostrate disorders.*
Ancient civilizations have used parsley in medications, on wounds, poultices, boils, cysts and to draw pus out of an infected cut. Parsley is very high in chlorophyll, which acts similar to iron to oxidize the blood. Parsley juice added to vegetable juices will enter directly into the bloodstream - (get a juicer!!! - and use it but add parsley with hard vegetables when making juice as parsley can be hard on the juicer)
Flat and curled parsley have the same nutritional value.

Rosemary - Piney fresh, and strong - Breads, poultry, marinades, meats, vegetables
HEALTH BENEFIT - Fights free radicals, inflammation (COX-2 enzyme), bacteria, and fungi. Relaxes the stomach, stimulates circulation and digestion, and acts as an astringent and decongestant. Improves circulation to the brain. Also helps detoxify the liver, and has anticancer and anti-tumor properties. Good for headaches, high and low blood pressure, circulatory problems, and menstrual cramps. Can be used as an antiseptic gargle.
Rosemary is an intense flavoring agent, so a little goes a long way.
Strip fresh leaves from the stem and mince them with a chef's knife. Thick, stripped stems make savory skewers, too. Whole sprigs can be placed on grilling meats and fish, or even tossed onto coals to add flavor. Crush dried rosemary leaves before adding to your recipe. Substitute one teaspoon dried for one tablespoon fresh. From Allrecipes.com

Sage - Camphorasceous, woodsy, and faintly bitter - Cheeses, jellies, poultry, meats, stuffings

Tarragon - Hint of licorice, strong and a bit bitter - Cheeses, eggs, poultry, sauces, salads, vinegars

Thyme - Hint of lemon and mint: warm and pungent - Casseroles, cheeses, salads, sauces, soups, vegetables

*Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition

A Cool Soup

Green Gazpacho - South Beach Recipe
A simple food - a natural lifestyle

2.1/2 pound cucumbers (3-4 medium) peeled, seeded and roughly chopped (I use European cucumbers and do not seed them)
2 cups red leaf lettuce (about 6 leaves)
1 small green pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
2 scallions, white and green parts, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne
1 small avocado - (I usually don't dice avocado and garnish serving with. It's also great without this addition)
In a blender, puree cucumbers, lettuce, pepper, scallions, garlic, lime juice, water, oil, salt and cumin in batches until smooth.
Season with additional salt and add cayenne to taste.
Chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Makes four servings. Sprinkle avocado over soup and serve.
138 calories, 11 g. fat, 1 g saturated fat, 2 g protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 156 mg sodium.

Breakfast Ideas - simple foods - natural lifestyle

Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

These breakfast ideas come from either South Beach Diet or Six Week Body Make Over. I personally don't think that we have to follow a strict plan as long as we eat healthy, watch the calories and exercise. I have heard that to stimulate a sluggish metabolism, you must eat breakfast.

South Beach suggestions:
Option 1) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail (buy the low sodium for extra advantage), Ham and Cheese Omelet with chives*, Coffee or tea with 1% or fat-free milk and sugar substitute**.

Option 2) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail, Vegetable Quiche Cups (recipe following), Coffee or tea

Option 3) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail, 2 eggs scrambled with chopped onion and roasted red peppers (from a jar), turkey bacon, coffee or tea

Option 4) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail, Asparagus and onion omelet (cook asparagus and onion in olive oil before filling), coffee or tea.

Option 5) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail, Portobello breakfast stack (top a portobello mushroom with a slice of tomato and broil 3 minutes; top mushroom with scrambled eggs and chopped chives), coffee or tea

Option 6) - 6 oz. vegetable juice cocktail, Chunky Vegetable Hash (recipe below), 2 scrambled eggs, coffee or tea
If you are preparing this for one, it really can be used two days in a row.

Option 7) - Wake Up Energy Shake (blend 1/2 cup low-fat, low sugar artificially sweetened vanilla soymilk, 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt, 3 ounces firm silken tofu, and 1/4 cup dry-roasted almonds until frothy), coffee or tea

Option 8) - Morning Mocha Smoothie - (blend 1/2 cup fat-free milk, 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt, instant coffee powder to taste, 2 tablespoons sugar free chocolate syrup and 6 ice cubes until frothy), coffee or tea

BELOW ARE FROM SIX WEEK MAKEOVER -

Option 9) - 1/2 cup Oatmeal, 6 slivered almonds, 2 tablespoons raisins, 1% milk, coffee or tea

Option 10) - 1 sunny side up egg (use olive oil cooking spray), 1 slice light whole wheat bread (ever check out all the chemicals that they put in bread, even the ones that seem so healthy? I have a great, EASY recipe for bread for the bread machine I'll post in a later post), 1 tsp. butter, 1% milk, 1 small orange

Option 11) - Puffed Rice Cereal 1.1/2 cups, 1% milk, 2 Tablespoons raisins, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp. sunflower seeds***

Option 12) - 1/2 cup oatmeal (add cinnamon, tastes great), 3 scrambled egg whites.


VEGETABLE QUICHE CUPS - I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe. I like that you can make it and freeze it but I made it with the egg substitute that it calls for and I did not like the taste so if your going to make it, figure out a way to substitute real eggs for the amount of egg substitute if you agree with me.
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach (I use fresh, just microwave or steam it first)
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar or Jack cheese
3/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup diced green pepper (you could use another color pepper I'm sure)
1/4 cup finely diced onion
3 drops hot pepper sauce (optional)
Heat over to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray (I always use olive oil including in the spray version unless I absolutely have to use another type). Cook spinach and drain/squeeze out excess liquid. In large bowl combine spinach, cheese, egg substitute, bell pepper, onion and pepper sauce. Mix well. Divide evenly in muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Freeze extra.

CHUNKY VEGETABLE HASH -
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion chopped
Pinch dried thyme
Pinch paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 small red bell pepper, diced
4 large button mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 small zucchini, diced
1 small garlic clove, minced
In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, thyme, and paprika, reduce heat to medium-low and cook stirring occasionally, 7 minutes or until onion is softened. Stir in salt, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat and serve hash by itself or with a poached or scrambled egg.

* Chives/Herbs - GROWN YOUR OWN! I'm going to post later how I have been very successful in having fresh herbs on hand.
**Sugar Substitute - Don't use artificial sweeteners if you can avoid them. That is for another post though. I don't really have a problem with this because I do not drink soda's and never diet sodas and I drink my coffee and tea unsweetened. I use honey in the bread I make. But my husband drinks his coffee sweetened and he uses Stevia. Stevia is a plant and you can buy the powdered version in packets at health food stores - Wal Mart sells it on the bottom shelf in the vitamin section, at least that is where it is here in Gulf Breeze. I have no idea about all the variations in packaging and what one company might add to it that another does not but to be on the safe side, I usually by it at Everman's, our local health food store.
***Buy raw sunflower seeds. Our health food store sells in bulk. I use the larger size Mason jars to store items like this so I can see them and remember I have them!

Healthy Snacks: Roll-Ups

The South Beach Diet has some good recipes and snacks. I don't like everything they have but I do like quite a few of the recipes. I thought I'd make my first post for SSSC on these snacks because sometimes you just get hungry between meals and to eat something healthy and low calorie to take the edge off is a good idea to keep your metabolism up AND to keep from eating too much and too fast when you do sit down to a meal.

CALIFORNIA ROLL UP: use red or green leaf lettuce (use green leaf, it doesn't tear as easily as red leaf). The South Beach diet suggests a quantity of 4. Top each leaf with 1 slice each turkey breast and boiled ham (lunchmeat - Hormel Natural Choice is *nitrate and nitrite free), 1 thin slice tomato, 1 thin slice avocado (it tastes just as well without if avocado's are too pricey), 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, a few leaves of either watercress or arugula (I think you could arrange some thin radish slices here to give it a bite as the arugula does) and 1 tablespoon Ranch (Paul Newman's Ranch Dressing does not have MSG but it is hard to find. The Maria's brand in the refrigerated produce section does not have MSG**). Roll up and secure with toothpicks.

GRILLED CHICKEN AND ROASTED RED PEPPER ROLL-UP: using the same lettuce and rolling up when finished, use thinly sliced boneless, skinless grilled chicken breast, roasted red peppers from jar, top with reduced fat feta cheese and sliced scallions.

TEX-MEX SMOKED TURKEY ROLL-UP: same lettuce rolled up, combine all together 8 slices chopped smoked turkey breast, 1 diced avocado, 1/4 cup diced reduced fat pepper Jack cheese, 3 tablespoons salsa, 1 tablespoon lime juice. Mix together and divide amongst leaves.

*Nitrates - Sodium nitrate preserves the color of meats. It reacts with your stomach acid to produce nitrosamines. In large quantities, nitrosamines has been sown to cause cancer in animals.

**Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) - The Mayo Clinic posts the following regarding warning signs of negative reaction to MSG: headache, flushing, sweating, sense of facial pressure or tightness, rapid fluttering heartbeat, chest pain, shotness of breath, nausea, weakness.

The Line at the Horizon

Crashing and swirling
swells - oh my soul,
queasy in gut
and throat
from
movement's chaos.
I'm looking for
the line at the horizon.
The anticipated
journey of purpose,
planned by book's light,
has turned
into night lunges.
Where is
the line at the horizon?
Exuberant youth
with half a map: no land,
a waiting search
to be,
at the line at the horizon.

The Magnolia Will Live

The magnolia tree at the corner of the deck - the southeastern, is going to live. It was hit by Hurricane Ivan with what should have been a knock-out punch but this tree kept showing signs of life, right after the storm, in the fall of 2004 and every year after - dead limbs and leaves on the other edges but green, determined ones on the inner part. After a few years I noticed a crack in the bark of this magnolia, at the bottom in the trunk. It had holes in it like insects had also invaded. Not being an expert in gardening but being a person who loved to garden, I went to Lowe's to look at what I might do to help this tree. I found a product that both kills bugs that invade trees that have this type problem, but that also fertilize the tree. I have applied this solution every year in the spring for about 4 years. And so today - I just noticed that the bark around the base of the trunk is closing up, and I believe the tree is being healed. And I thought about the nature of healing after seeing this in the tree (which took me by surprise because I had kind of given up on the tree), that this process is slow and deliberate. And that maybe in our fast food, instant society we live in that maybe we are much too impatient with ourselves, and with others when we need to heal. Anyway, I thought I'd share that today because I was glad to have seen this - and considered it.

Concept and Conscience

STUBBORN
RESILIENT
BATTERED
ALIVE.
WAITING
WAITED
MEANT TO SURVIVE.
CHOOSING
CHOSEN
MOSTLY THERE,
aware of the misery
yet keenly
here
to do and
to think
upon sheets white,
pen held tightly and
mostly at night.
Thoughts that struggle
can rest here,
conquests and conflicts
and
vistas to see.
Daily, hourly or so,
by varying blows
of
concept and conscience
and days of despair,
waking a world up,
rested and fair.

A Wing and a Prayer

Perched on
the bare frame of
my neighbors boathouse awning,
...used to be
before the storm,
...they sing.
I listen.
These, my companions
while I wait
to capture dots of life.
They start
on a wing
and a prayer.
I have
ground to cover
before I fly.

Lavender Laundry Detergent - Mother Earth News

Vintage Mother Earth News MagazinesVintage Mother Earth News Magazines

This past week I found a recipe for Lavender Laundry Detergent in Mother Earth News. The recipe looks like it makes quite a bit so I'm going to half it. Here it is:

16 cups baking soda
12 cups borax
8 cups castile or glycerin soap flakes
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon or grapefruit essential oil
(remember that 8 ounces equal 1 cup if you have to buy by the ounce)

I couldn't find the soap flakes in the grocery store so I think I'l just look for them on line.

I would like to write something clever to end this post but not a thing is coming to me. My creative inspiration must not be in cleaning products.