Month: October 2015

Joey Feek: Softly and Tenderly (music video)

Aynaria 4 Comments

Yesterday, I heard one of my favorite hymns (Softly and Tenderly) on Facebook. At the moment, I cannot remember who posted the link; however, I remember clicking through just to hear how the singer preformed the song. I must say Joey Feek did an amazing job singing one of my favorite hymns and I truly love her voice.

Joey Feek is a country singer. I have never heard of her before and it seems she sings with her husband and they are known as Joey and Rory. Reading the backstory about this lady was bittersweet. Apparently she’s in stage four cancer and has been sent home because the doctors can no longer do anything for her.

Rory, her husband, posted this on his blog. She’s spending her remaining days with her husband Rory and their daughter, Indiana.

 

I’m not going to tell you that I’m okay with this because ‘God has a bigger plan’.  Or that ‘we’ll understand His bigger purpose somewhere down the line’.  That logic  doesn’t really work for me right now.  I’m not angry at God.  I’m not angry with anyone.  I’m just disappointed.  I hoped that Joey would get to be one of the lucky ones that somehow overcome stage 4 cancer and get to hear words like ‘remission’ or ‘cure’, instead of ‘I’m so sorry’.

It’s hard for me to feel slighted, when I know that the career that Joey and I have had – this amazing last 7 years or so – has only been, because God reached out His powerful hand and chose us.  He lifted us up from our little farm. and let us see and do things beyond our wildest dreams.  And you can’t be in awe of an amazing road that God leads you down, and then be any less in awe of a corner that He has you turn.

I think in the end… the good and the bad, He just wants us to give it to Him.

And so we do.

Wow… what a powerful testimony and an inspiration for me, the times that I lose focus. While I might not know where the path I’m on will take me, as long as I rely on God, he will see me through whatever comes my way. It’s something I already know but to see this being practiced by others is always an inspiration.

Since I really love her voice, I’ll definitely look up a few more of their songs and of course keep her and all her loved ones in my prayers.

Bible journaling

Aynaria 2 Comments

I keep dairies, although the past few years I’ll admit that most of my personal notes have been digital. Some that is seen; however, there are entries that are only accessible by me. The past few years, I’ve actually thought about purchasing a Bible where it’s easy for me to take notes. I must admit, that’s a foreign concept for me, since I don’t write in any of my books; however, during my daily Bible reading I’m often inspired or want to highlight passages that really resound  with me and since I don’t take notes in my Bible, I find myself writing my thoughts down somewhere else.

It wasn’t until I discovered Sandy Allnock’s  videos that I realized that Bible journaling was something that people actually did. How awesome is that? Last evening I started researching websites and the video I included below, is the first video that I watched about Bible journaling.

I’m still getting over my reluctance of writing within my Bible. I use the New American Standard John Mac Arthur study Bible. As a child, I was raised with the King James Bible (home and church). I also have the New International version. That’s what they use at my daughter’s Lutheran school. My biggest concern is bleed-through from my Copics markers; however, Valerie Sjodin, mentioned (a little after the 7:00 mark) that she uses acrylic glazing liquid to help prevent this! The accompanying post, for this Bible journaling video is located here. Awesome, I’ll definitely purchase some of that. I’m still researching journaling Bibles; however, when I make my choice, I will be purchasing two. One for myself and the other for my twelve year old daughter. She’s a talented artist and is constantly drawing. She also reads her Bible daily and some of her drawings are inspired by her scripture readings. You can see more of Valerie Sjodin’s work by visiting her website.

Vegan: Raw banana cookies

Aynaria 3 Comments

Earlier this morning, I made a batch of raw banana cookies. I’m making three trays.

Raw banana cookies.10.27.15
Raw banana cookies

I mainly make plain banana chips; however, today I decided to do something a little special for my daughter. What’s in them? Of course there’s bananas. However, I’ve also ground up cashews, ground pepita seeds, ground cinnamon and have added raw maple syrup. Of course, it has the place smelling amazing.

They’re naturally sweet and with nothing the body does not need. Simple, delicious and nutritious!

Salmon and string beans

Aynaria 3 Comments

This dish was prepared in less than 15 minutes and it was freshly prepared. Why would anyone choose processed food, when they could make freshly prepared healthy meals daily. This morning, I made salmon and string beans for my father.

Salmon and string beans
Salmon and string beans

Besides the fish and string beans, not too much was added to this dish. I knew the salmon was fresh and of course the string beans were also since they came from our garden.

Vegan: Sweet potato, pumpkin and banana curry

Aynaria 4 Comments

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was thinking about making a pumpkin and banana curry.

Sweet potato pumpkin banana curry.10.22.15
Vegan: Sweet potato, pumpkin and banana curry

Today, I got around to making it, so yeah! You know something?

Bananas.10.22.15
Bananas

You can’t even taste the banana in this dish. The flavor that it brings to the dish is hard to describe, but I must say that I like it very much. More importantly, my daughter loved it! The sweet potato and pumpkin came from our garden. Along with the sage (which I had dehydrated that morning). I most likely will make a flavorful rice to accompany this dish, similar to the spicy coconut rice that I made a few days ago.

Autumn Harvest 2015

Aynaria 6 Comments

About an hour ago, I decided to take a few outdoor photos so you can see what we view daily. The majority of the food we consume comes straight from our garden. Which means our produce is fresh and organic.

Gardening. Pumpkin. 10.21.15
Pumpkins harvested from the garden

 

A few days ago, I made a pumpkin curry. Currently, I have the seeds from that pumpkin drying in my Excalibur food dehydrator. I have no idea what I’ll make with this one? Perhaps a pumpkin pie or a pumpkin banana curry? We’ll see…

Gardening. Tomatoes. 10.21.15
Tomatoes, zucchini and habanero peppers

 

Today I’m canning. You are looking at some of the tomatoes that did not make it into my stockpot. I am canning marinara and pasta sauce.

Gardening. String Beans. 10.21.15
String beans

 

I love eating string beans raw or lightly sauteed in a skillet.

Gardening. Drying beans.10.21.15
Drying beans outdoors

I also love dry beans. I have an Excalibur food dehydrator; however, I’ve always preferred drying my beans outdoors. Afterwards, I shell the dried beans, set aside for storage, and prepare them (when needed) in my pressure cooker. I use the cooked beans in our meals.

Gardening. Sage. 10.21.15
Sage

 

We have an abundance of sage. I love its scent and enjoy adding it to a variety of dishes.

Gardening. Collards. 10.21.15
Collards

 

Here’s an up close and personal shot of one of our collard plants. Oh my they are so good. They make the perfect wrap and they are quite tasty in a stir fry.

Woods.10.21.15
Our woods. It’s a perfect place to hang out and reflect.

 

This is a picture of our woods. We live on four acres of land, about three acres is woods.

Is this a munchie post? It is in our household, since we mainly eat whole foods. Which simply means as close to the natural food source as possible. Because of that, I’m linking up to Midweek Munchies.

 

 

Vegan: Pumpkin curry

Aynaria 5 Comments

My pumpkin curry was a hit. This afternoon, I stopped by my BF’s house and  brought him some. Of course, I made sure I set some aside for my lovely daughter.

Pumpkin Curry_2 10.20.15
Pumpkin curry

 

Take a look! This is how it turned out.

Pumpkin Curry.10.19.15

If you remember, I posted this photo yesterday. In that picture you can see the pumpkin, potato and freshly ground spices all waiting in the pot to be cooked.

My daughter said this was delicious! When I arrived home, I ate a tiny amount and I would have to agree with her. I’m glad I let the curry marinate overnight. Today I added the lentils to the dish. It’s so good!