Tolerance vs. Loving . . .

The Devil's Plan For DestructionWritten by Guy Finley

The chief devil calls together every possible evil entity that is in range of his magnetic voice and says, "How can we interfere up there in the world that dwells between ours and the Light we despise? What can we do to further deceive human beings? We must keep them living in the dark, unaware of the Light that wants to release them from our influence. I want something so evil, so sinister, that no one will know what happened. Who's got a good idea?"

That instant the flames of all the little imps gathered there in the smoldering dark go dim; they're afraid of their leader, who will fry them for failing. A day later, as planned, they all return with a few ideas, although nothing spectacular. Then, out of nowhere, one tiny imp hops on the shoulder of the chief devil and whispers something in his ear. A second later, and *kaboom* flames shoot out of every pore of the chief devil as he shouts, "Ah! I have the plan in hand!"

He looks around at all of his lieutenants, each of whom is assigned to certain individuals on Earth, and gleefully instructs them: "I want you to go up there and slowly spread among the sleeping masses the idea of 'tolerance.' Do whatever it takes to succeed. Convince them that this idea is their own, and that they should start teaching that learning to tolerate each other is the same as loving one another. Oh yes! This is my best deception yet! It's a real killer!"

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Gluten-Free and Suffering? You think? :-)

When I mentioned to a friend that we were trying a gluten-free menu, her first explanation was, "You are going to starve!"

As I try to type and munch on a warm oatmeal cookie from the oven, I don't feel deprived of anything! It seems that eating gluten-free has exploded on the scene and just about any 'normal' recipe you have enjoyed, can now be worked into a gluten-free format. No, bread will never be exactly like the wheat version but we are finding a lot of bread recipes that actually appeal to us more. The challenge adds a lot to my interest in baking and no one around here has lost any weight over the gluten-free lifestyle. When we decided to try going gluten-free, my husband started rattling off the favorite Christmas cookies he looks forward to each year and wanted to know if I could still make them. So far, I have either adjusted recipes or found gluten-free versions - some of which we have liked even better.

Today, I tried a gluten-free version of oatmeal raisin cookies. As you can see from the pictures, they worked out very well. Since the first batch is almost gone, I'd venture I could pronounce them a success. The recipe can be found here: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/thick-chewy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/ The only changes I made to the recipe was omitting the chocolate chips and adding some freshly-grated lemon zest and two tablespoons of chia seeds for some added fiber.

I have a small collection of gluten-free cooking/baking books on hand now and have found recipe keepers in each of them, however, my favorite author has to be Nicole Hunn. She has written two cookbooks to date : Gluten-Free on a Shoestring and Gluten-free on a Shoestring - Quick & Easy. I like her books as she does, indeed, simplify gluten-free recipes with basics. If you follow her advice, you will actually save money rather then feel like you are putting out more money to do this. She also has a Blog that I highly recommend as there are even more recipes listed there.

A sideline to our adventure into gluten-free eating is that less than a month into it, my husband realized that he does have a mild case of celiac. Once we got the gluten out of the house and his system, he had been able to put aside all the digestive medications he has been taking for years. It was by mere accident that I picked up a book on being gluten-free. It was amazing that my husband said to go ahead and see how it goes. Looks like God sent the message and, for once, we listened!

Girl Scouts and the Real Agenda . . .

Over the years, I have had many people encourage me to have my daughters participate in the Girl Scouts. My initial reason for not joining was the constant sales required by the girls in the troops. There was the annual cookie sale and then, at least in earlier times, some kind of calendar sale going on. Although I'm sure they did more than compete for selling the most of anything, all I ever heard about from other mothers was the cookie sale competition. How much of the profit went back to the individual troops, I can't say but it seems like the people at headquarters pull in good salaries.

Later on, I checked out a Girl Scout manual and didn't like the path they were taking on health and morals. Today, my avoidance of the group for my children was rewarded:

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/31/girl-scouts-join-planned-parenthood-at-huge-pro-abortion-conference/

I found this horribly sad. I've heard rumors of this sort of activity but to see it in print and know for a fact that the Girl Scouts support the wholesale murder of babies, is sickeningly. I've had arguments from well-meaning Catholic mothers who have daughters in the organization. They claim that they don't allow this discussion in their groups and keep it clean and moral. I have no doubt of that but how is the profit from their fundraisers ultimately used? And isn't a person judged by the company they keep/support.

It is disheartening, however, to see girls actually selling their cookies after Mass in some parishes. Either the pastors are uninformed or they just don't want to make waves. Given the current change in the Boy Scouts' bylaws, it will be interesting to see how many chose Faith over values.

Makes sense! Cookies beware!

Home of the Free? - America in decline . . .?

If a teacher cannot teach students about their rights as American Citizens and is punished for doing so, there is something very dark and evil going on in our world today. Why are 'freedoms' limited to what a person in power deems to be free? Wasn't America founded on individuals working together for the common good even when people begged to differ on issues? Unfortunately, if you follow all the news sources, you will find this is just one aspect of our regimented freedoms today.

http://lastresistance.com/2187/teacher-faces-disciplinary-action-for-telling-his-students-about-their-constitutional-rights/

Gluten-Free Bread - Recognizable as Bread!

 I've been baking 'things' that are supposed to be bread. They have tasted okay and were handy for bread puddings or crumbs for breading chicken, etc. I had yet, however, to produce a loaf of gluten-free bread that looked and tasted like the real deal . . . until today!

I found the recipe in Gluten-Free on a Shoestring - Quick and Easy. As you can see the recipe worked well and we enjoyed our chicken soup accompanied with bread and butter. I highly recommend the book.

The interesting aspect of this recipe was that it wasn't as touchy as some have been where you have to either hurry or avoid working with the dough too much. You basically mixed the ingredients together, dumped it into a roomy container, and left it to sit in the refrigerator twelve hours to rise. It could also be left for up to a week. The bread had a great crust, good crumb, and a sour dough tang. I had better put another batch to rise as I'm afraid there might be some confrontations on the remaining half of the loaf.

Almond Snack!

Since I try to keep the foods around the house of the healthier variety, I'm always on the lookout for ideas to provide snacks that satisfy yet aren't full of empty calories. Over the recent weekend, I remembered a favorite one. After making a batch, I couldn't believe I had forgotten about it. It all started when I was sorting through the freezer and discovered a bag of almonds . . .

Almond Snack
Approximately two pounds of shelled but unblanched almonds
1 egg white
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like it hotter)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.

Dump the almonds into a large mixing bowl. Add the egg white and mix into the nuts to coat them all. I know, it seems that one egg white isn't enough but it is! Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to get all the nuts coated.

Spread the nuts evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes or until the nut are hot through and the coating is dry. It is a good idea to pull the pan out every few minutes and stir them around for more even roasting.

Let them cool thoroughly before storing them in a container. Makes a great hostess gift packed in a small canning jar with a bit of fabric to decorate the lid. Nice to have a jar on the counter for the family to grab a quick snack. Goes well with an apple for breakfast!