Anyway, I will probably be tweaking it for awhile to get it just right.
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]]>I go to the local Asian food store and buy 3-4 things. You may find them elsewhere, but usually are cheapest at the local Asian market.
For the quantity I usually make which feeds 6 with some leftovers
– 2lb/1Kg Boneless Chicken Thighs cut to bite size pieces
– 2 Tablespoons of Green Curry Paste (over time you will figure how much more or less to your families level of hotness)
– 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
– 6 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
– 3 Cans of Coconut Cream
Three or Four of the Following:
– 1-2 Green Peppers (or Yellow) cut to bite size pieces
– 12-16oz of cut Broccoli, Frozen or Fresh
– 12-16oz Brussel Sprouts (Frozen) – Frozen Baby Brussels from Aldi work best size wise for us.
– 2-3 Carrots cut in circles a little thicker than an iPhone
– 1 Onion
– 1-2 cans of Bamboo shoots
– 8 or so stalks of Kale cut to bite size pieces
– Can of Artichoke
– 2-3 Tablespoons of Moringa Powder (Optional) to make it extra green and add amazing nutrition (I was disappointed to find I was out otherwise Moringa Powder would have been in yours)
– 3 Cups of Jasmine Rice thoroughly rinsed until water is clear and then cooked in rice cooker (Or cook rice how you would normally do it.)
– Sweet Chilli Sauce to taste on plate if you want (about 1/3 of the time for us or less)
Instructions:
Get Rice in Cooker going first
Cut/Chop any vegetables that are not bite size
Heat Wok or Pot on the stove (I use a soup pot most often now)
Add Coconut Oil and Green Curry Paste and stir fry for about 1 minute
Add Chicken and stir fry for about 10 minutes or until pretty well done.
Add Coconut Milk
Add Fish Sauce
Add Moringa Powder (optional)
Add Vegetables (except for Brussel Sprouts)
Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes. Add Brussel Sprouts at about 10 minutes.
Serve over Rice with optional Sweet Chili Sauce
Hint: If you want to get meal done 10 minutes faster cook the chicken on one burner while coconut milk and veggies are heating up on the other, then add chicken to the coconut milk and veggies.
]]>What is Faith? … Hebrews 11:11 -Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (ESV)
How do we show faith? James 2:14-26 teaches we show our faith by our actions.
How about Courage and Bravery? They are tied to actions as well. As I evaluate actions, acting in faith is acting without fear, where acting with bravery is acting despite fear. Both are important but they are different. To act in faith is to act without fear for oneself because of a full trust in our God and His Savior.
An Australian singer/speaker/author, Aliki Flodine, summed up some related thoughts in her book Fine Lines as: On the surface, faith and bravery look similar. The difference is below the surface. There’s a storm under bravery and a calmness under faith. I’ve gone through seasons of bravery and it is hard work keeping up appearances. The battle keeps raging, and the butter knife achieves nothing. Faith doesn’t necessarily remove the obstacle or end the battle, but faith puts a sharp sword in our hand to cut through layers of burden, doubt, fear and the enemy’s lies. Faith grows when we find out what God is really like. It is found in the Bible and it’s found in the character and person of Jesus. The search for understanding and faith will slowly disband the exhaustion of bravery. That’s freedom. Easy? No. Achieveable? Yes.
Here are some examples of the World’s view of courage:
For the record, I think Mandela’s and Holmes’ definitions are closer to bravery than courage. But in either case, neither really offer a true biblical view. The biblical definition of ‘bravery’ is more along the lines of not showing fear even if you are afraid, whereas when God tells us to be courageous, in most cases it is stated as ‘take courage’ or ‘take heart’ which infers it is something outside ourselves, whereas in our culture, courage comes from within. I.e. “dig down inside and find your courage” or something like that.
Stated in another way, a truly courageous act would be one that happened by faith, not by bravery. Today’s bravery or world definition of courage is substituted as a cheap form of faith. Bravery is what the world refers to most when referencing courage. And when the world does refer to faith it refers to “blind faith”. ie Trust without any knowledge. While many times we need to have faith without the full knowledge, we almost always have some knowledge. And that knowledge of God and His work enables our faith to grow.
Conversely by not having fear because of a firm trust of Christ, we will see amazing things happen. Jesus said with a mustard seed size amount of faith a mountain could be moved. Therefore, if your calling is to be where you are and the calling has come from God, what do you have to fear? Now, let me make a case for when bravery may be appropriate. Sometimes, we may be afraid, but have a small amount of faith in God coupled with bravery to get us past our fears and into action. Next time we face a similar challenge, we will have less fear as our faith based on knowledge has grown. And thus we move toward a fully faith filled life.
To sum up: faith is in opposition of fear.
One last thing I want to mention briefly, the Bible does point to a proper place for fear and that is fear of God. But this fear is a different type of fear than what I have been talking about which has more in common with terror. The fear of God is more of a true proper respect for the ultimate authority above Creation who holds our eternal existence in His hands.
Remember perfect love casts out all fear! Walk today without fear because God, who is by definition perfect love, has called you.
Questions for reflection/discussion:
I took a 5mi/8km walk through an 8700 acre / 3500 hectare park. (Being Florida and not Australia it was fairly flat.) I was wanting to pray and walk and listen for God on the trip. After about 2/3 of the walk, I really felt that God was saying some things to me. I had about three things just before this photo.
As I was walking at about 3/4 of the way through my walk, I chose to move to the other side of the trail, As I took the first or second step toward the other side, I saw there exactly in the path that I had been walking, this snake about 2/3 (give or take) of the length of the snake in front of me. So had I not made that change of direction, I likely would have been within easy striking distance of an uncoiled poisonous snake. I instantly felt that God wanted me to know that although I think that I am making a choice or change of my own, It is really He who is guiding my way.
After snapping the picture and walking 20 meters or so further, I had the thought that if God is guiding my way, why not close my eyes and see where I end up. Well that was followed immediately by the thought that “God is not a mystical Force that is guiding me and controlled by me [e.g. Star Wars], but He uses the things He gave me and gave me eyes so that I would use them. I am not to follow [put my trust in] my feelings [instincts] but to follow my God.” It is more of a partnership/relationship as opposed to me being a marionette. In other words He has given me a brain and the ability to think, but He is still guiding/protecting also. Such a wonderful paradox.
Anyway I felt cared for and loved because the God of the universe, who created more than the mortal humans can ever see, cared for me and has time for me.
He cares for you and has time for you too.
Have you taken time to listen to Him? How have you listened to Him lately?
]]>1 tsp of No Egg (or just cornstarch) 1/2 cup of prepared Darifree (or other non-Dairy Milk) 1/4 tsp of GF Vanilla Extract 4-8 pieces of acceptable bread. (Lately we have used Schär Pan Carré, which isn’t sold in the US and their products in US have Soy in them. The first time we used Sol Bread Pumpkin loaf.) Place non-stick or oiled pan on stove and place on med-high heat. Wisk the first three ingredients in bowl large enough for the bread to fully be able to go into the bowl. Using a fork or your fingers place a slice of bread into the liquid and let sit for a few seconds, then flip over the bread and repeat. After making sure the pan is hot enough, by placing a drop of water or drip off the mixing wisk and hearing a pleasant sizzle, place the slice of bread on the pan. Repeat for the number of pieces of bread that the pan can hold without overlapping the bread. After about 2 minutes you should be able to flip the bread over to brown the other side. Remove when both sides are a pleasant golden brown color and place on plate. Top with favorite topping such as Real Maple Syrup, Margarine and sprinkled Powdered / Icing Sugar, Strawberry Syrup, or any suitable fruit topping.
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