Bread, Bread, Bread for Life

 I rarely toot the horn of a site if I haven't used their services but I'm going to make an exception. Recently, I found this site and I'm kind of excited. I have been checking out their blog also. 

The only reason I ever found Food to Live (FTL) was because my doctor has warned me to get a bit more serious about eating healthier things. I'm not eating super-junky stuff but I need to go harder at the fiber and nutrients than I have been.

The first change I made was to cut out the sliced garlic and herb turkey deli meat I so love for sandwiches. I switched up and kept everything else except for the meat and bread. Yeah. I now use high-fiber bread instead of brioche or Italian white bread and I just enjoy it with the avocado, tomato, and yellow onion. It's a tasty sandwich. Because of the delicious bread and the avocado, I almost don't miss the turkey.

This Aldi's Ancient Grains is the bread I started to fall in love with:

I need to be able to control
that sodium level...

It's pricey though. Like around 5 a loaf. I wanted to try Ezekiel Bread or Dave's Killer Bread but their prices make the Ancient Grains look like nothing.

I've switched over to eating a lot of cabbage and other greens, white meat, and using good oils. When I was going over my budget, I realized I need to find a way to afford really nutritious bread. So...

My family has asked what I want for Christmas. My answer: bread machine. I picked out one that will let me add nuts and seeds or just prep the dough so I can finish the rest myself. Then, while looking for affordable seeds and grains, I found Food to Live.

FTL recipes are heavily vegan and I am not interested. I just want to be able to make my own sprouted grains and seeded bread. It has to be less expensive than keeping Killer Dave in business. Those prices!...

Normally, I am not a big eater of bread. However, I would rather get full from eating a highly nutritious bread than eating a ton of veggies and fruits. I can only take so much of salad and chicken. With the right bread - seeded with tasty nuts - I could go from breakfast to dinner on just that with some butter.

In case any of you are interested, here are some links I have found to recipes. Enjoy.

• Easy Dutch Oven Bread  this one not only looks good but I can't wait to use my Dutch oven for bread
• Fast No-Knead Multi-Seed Bread and this one... that bread looks amazing.
• Seedy Sandwich Bread with Sprouted Wheat I'm not as visually excited by this one, but I love the idea that it's with sprouted wheat.

I was happy to see that The Prepared Pantry had this helpful write-up on designing whole grain bread recipes. That will go up on my fridge.

This all has me very excited to get my hands on that bread machine! In the meantime, I am going to start trying some of these recipes by hand. Pictures (good or bad) will be coming up...

Peace

--Free

Every Day Thanks and Every Day Behavior

While doing my Bible read-through, I keep being struck by how many times Israel fell back into doing "evil in the sight of the Lord". At first, I was feeling a little self-righteous, thinking "when do they ever get it?!?!?" 

Then I thought of my own habit of sliding back into sin on a daily basis. 

I was telling someone something my late auntie said about Thanksgiving and that every day should be one of thanksgiving for us all. It's not about food or even being together - thought that is nice It's about being thankful. People not able to be with their families still should be thankful; those who don't even have homes should be thankful, and those of us who are going through whatever life is throwing at us should be thankful. Thankful for our own wanderings and journey through this life to a reunion with our eternal family.

When I think of how loving and forgiving God is to Israel and all of us Gentiles, every moment is one of thanksgiving.

Sorry. Rant over.

Anyway.

Here is a list I culled using  eSword to find all the times the phrase "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" is used. This doesn't cover all the variations on the phrase, but it is a reminder to me of God's forgiveness.

(Jdg 2:11)  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.

(Jdg 3:7)  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

(Jdg 3:12)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(Jdg 4:1)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died.

(Jdg 6:1)  The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.

(Jdg 10:6)  The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

(Jdg 13:1)  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

(1Ki 11:6)  So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.

(1Ki 14:22)  And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.

(1Ki 15:26)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

(1Ki 15:34)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

(1Ki 16:25)  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.

(1Ki 22:52)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 3:2)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

(2Ki 8:18)  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ki 8:27)  He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.

(2Ki 13:2)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.

(2Ki 13:11)  He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

(2Ki 14:24)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:18)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:24)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 15:28)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

(2Ki 17:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

(2Ki 21:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

(2Ki 21:16)  Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ki 21:20)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done.

(2Ki 23:32)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

(2Ki 23:37)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

(2Ki 24:9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

(2Ki 24:19)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

(2Ch 21:6)  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ch 22:4)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing.

(2Ch 33:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

(2Ch 33:22)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

(2Ch 36:5)  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

(2Ch 36:9)  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

(2Ch 36:12)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.

(Jer 52:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

By the way, that is 39 verses. I love eSword so much for this. I am going to tape this list near my desk so that I see it every day. Instead of wagging my head at the hardheaded nature of my ancient Israelites siblings, I need to just do better myself. Every. Day. And I can take a lesson from Israel: they always repented and turned back to the Lord.

Therefore repent and return,
so that your sins may be wiped away, (Acts 3:19 NASB)

Peace

--Free

Questions, Questions (and some answers)

 As I am doing this one-year Bible reading plan, I am making a list of questions. I do my Bible reading in the morning before I start the day and my goal had been to try finding answers to the questions every night before bed. Good plan, but...

I am listing way more questions than I will be able to look up answers for over the next couple of years. If I am lucky.

Is this normal? To have so many questions about the Bible? I am nearing the end of the Book of Joshua and I have 18 questions. And these aren't minor issues. Here are just a few:

• When are why did Ishamael's descendants stop believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and start believing in the Muslim Allah?
• Of the peoples named after their tribes and "fathers" (Reubenites, Dan-ites, etc) where are the descendants today? Are they traceable?
• Reading Exodus 20:4 {You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.} makes me wonder if we aren't supposed to have paintings and other artistic portrayals of (our idea of) God, and of nature, etc. As humans, our tendency is to worship what we can see. After all, one of the reasons we idolize celebrities is because we have their images on film and photographs to refer to. Here's one answer to the question, by the way.
• Reading Deuteronomy 22:9 {Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.}makes wonder about plant hybridization>

These are more to do with my curiosity for life application purposes than simply not understanding the verses.

Thankfully, some of the resources I have linked to here on the blog have been helpful. I think I must visit Got Questions about 20 times a day. Because I have such a bad memory and some comprehension problems, I have been printing out a lot of those pages.

Because I have so many questions, I wonder what kinds of questions other readers have. 

As I mentioned, I am nearing the end of Joshua. Honestly, it's been tedious reading through all the land allotments. I have butchered many of the names of different lands. Bible Speak is a good resource as is How to Pronounce.

The image above is a good guide. It's from Woman of Noble Character. I know nothing about the site but found the image on Pinterest and love it.

Anyway, I hope that there are many of you reading your Bible on a regular basis. We all need strength and hope, especially with the global health crisis and the other stresses of life.

Peace

--Free