Fruit of the Spirit - LOVE

But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22 & 23

Today we will begin a nine part series that I call "Spiritual Fruit of the Month Club".  Have you ever seen or received a gift where you are entered into a club and once a month you are sent a box of fruit - a different kind of fruit each month?  Well, that is what we will be doing here - on the first Sunday of each month for the next nine months I will be sending you a digital box of "Spiritual Fruit."  We will study and try to use that fruit in our daily lives.

When we become a Christian we are filled with the Holy Spirit and these "fruits" (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) are the characteristics that overflow from us.

Today we will concentrate on LOVE.  I think we could spend the whole year studying "God's Love" - so many authors have written books solely on this subject.  However, we will only be spending 1 day on this subject and that's why I am narrowing it down to Love and fear.  Where there is love - no fear can exist.

"There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out all fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The man who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18

The first thing that I thought of is that we must "fear" our heavenly Father - it says so all throughout the old testament.  There are many different kinds of love (eg in the Greek language - Agape, Eros etc) and I also believe that there are different kinds of fear.  I believe that as children of God, we are to respect, honor, revere and admire Him - instead of the modern day meaning of "fear" (terror, panic, dread and horror).

"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:7

When I read "there is no fear in love" - I recalled when my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma...... I was afraid.....terrified even.  My love for him wanted to protect him but of course in my own power I was helpless.  We had to trust in God and hope for the future and in so doing we were able to persevere.  It's all about love - love never fails.


Please take some time this month to read
1 Corinthians 13 (the entire chapter) - it is all about LOVE.  Also, let us try to use this Spiritual fruit box of - LOVE in our daily lives.

Fruit of the Spirit - JOY
Fruit of the Spirit - PEACE
Fruit of the Spirit - PATIENCE
Fruit of the Spirit - KINDNESS

Fruit of the Spirit - GOODNESS
Fruit of the Spirit - GENTLENESS

Garden Preserved Beef Stew

Garden Preserved Beef Stew

Nothing says "Comfort Food" like homemade Beef Stew.

Today we will be using 3 items from my garden:

Carrots (mulched for the winter)

Parsnips (mulched the same way as carrots)

Tomato Sauce (Homegrown and homemade)

 

2 lbs beef (cut for stew)                                                                  Printable Recipe

1 large onion (peeled and chopped)

1 large celery stalk (washed and chopped)

3 carrots (peeled and chopped)

3 parsnips (peeled and chopped)

3 potatoes (peeled and chopped)

1 quart tomato sauce (preferably homemade tomato sauce)(If you are using store bought then look for a chunky sauce or a can of chopped tomatoes).

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons instant tapioca

ground black pepper to taste

NOTE:  If you don't like parsnips then simply add 3 more carrots instead.

Prepare all of the ingredients as listed above.  Use a large casserole dish with a lid or a roasting pan with a lid.  Spray the dish or spread a little olive oil to prevent sticking.  Spread the stew meat on the bottom of your dish.  Pour 1 cup of the tomato sauce on top of the meat (and reserve the remaining tomato sauce for later).  Now spread all of the vegetables (onion, celery, carrots, parsnips and potatoes) on top of the meat/sauce.  In a small bowl - stir together the salt, sugar and tapioca.....and then sprinkle that on top of the vegetables.  Finally, pour the remaining tomato sauce on top of everything.  

NOTE:  the pepper can be added now or after it is cooked on each individual plate according to taste. 

Bake in a preheated 250 degree (F) oven for 4 hours (remember to cover your baking dish).

I like to serve this stew with homemade biscuits.

ENJOY!!

© (2012)

The Basics - How to Cut a Fresh, Whole Pineapple

The Basics - How to Cut a Fresh, Whole Pineapple

Pineapple is so healthy and when eaten fresh it contains "Bromelain" - which is a very important
 anti inflammatory enzyme.

The first time that I peeled a whole pineapple I was worried that I was going to waste the entire pineapple (and my money) - but if you follow these steps you will see that cutting pineapple is easy.

Also, I use fresh cut pineapple in my
Chicken Pineapple Kabob recipe.

STEP 1:  Cut off the top green part of the pineapple and place the entire pineapple cut side down on a plate.  Allow this to sit at room temperature overnight. (by turning upside down gravity pulls the pineapple juice down and evenly spreads out all of the juices) 

 

STEP 2:  Cut off the other end of the pineapple.

STEP 3:  Place securely on a cutting board and begin slowly slicing off the skin from top to bottom (as seen in the 2 pictures above) ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHEN CUTTING ANYTHING!

STEP 4:  Discard or compost the peelings.

STEP 5:  Now cut the peeled pineapple into quarters (as seen in the picture below).

STEP 6:  You will notice that the core is white - Make a diagonal slice along each side of the core (it should resemble a "V" slice) and the core should just pop out (as seen in the picture below) (discard or compost the core)

STEP 7:  Now cut each cored quarter in half and slice into smaller triangular shapes (as seen in the very first picture)

ENJOY!!

Mediterranean Many Layered Salad

Mediterranean Many Layered Salad

Over the past few weeks I shared with you the basic "7-Layer-Salad" recipe and the "Mexican Layered Salad".  The layered-salad recipes still to come in posts later this year are:   

Asian Seven Layer twist

and

Spring Life Layered Salad

 Today I am sharing the Mediterranean Many Layered Salad version that I created.

Printable Recipe

Romaine Lettuce (washed, drained and chopped)

1 can of black olives(drained) (green olives or stuffed olives are both great options)

1 jar of banana peppers (drained)

1 red onion (peeled and sliced into rings)

1 block of feta cheese (cut or crumbled)

1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken (cooled and cut into bite sized chunks)

1 package of garlic couscous (cooked according to the package and cooled)

1 large container of greek yogurt (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups) (it must be the thick greek yogurt)

juice from 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 of a burpless cucumber (peeled and washed) (Optional- see NOTE)

Prepare the ingredients as listed above.  Mix the greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt/pepper(add to taste but remember the cheese & olives are salty - I only added a dash of salt) and cucumber in a food processor until well blended (NOTE: I think it is too runny with the cucumber but my husband thinks it is too thick and dry without.  It's up to you whether to use the cucumber or not).  I like to see the beautiful layers of this salad so I use a large glass bowl (However, if you don't own one then any large serving bowl will do - stainless steel, ceramic - whatever). 

All ingredients have been prepared according to the instructions above and are now ready to be layered.

Begin layering the salad and start with the lettuce first. 

The order doesn't really matter but this is the order in which I build this salad (going from the bottom of the bowl to the top):

1.  Lettuce

2.  Red Onions

3.  Chicken

4.  Yogurt mixture

5.  Banana Peppers

6.  Couscous

7. Olives

8.  Feta Cheese

When you are dishing up this salad - make sure you serve all of the layers and scoop all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. 

I like to serve pita chips or just plain pita bread with this salad.

ENJOY!! 

© (2012)

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Special Post: Versatile Blogger Award

I have just been awarded the "Versatile Blogger Award" by Lynette from "Sweet Posy Dreams" (Please visit her blog - It's fantastic)

It is so wonderful to know that my blog is appreciated and that the information that I share is helpful to others.  This Award is really a way to share appreciation and encouragement. 

This is how it works:

1. Thank the person that nominated you, and give a shout out to them on your blog with a link to theirs. 

2. Share 7 random facts about yourself. 

3. Send the blog award to 15 other bloggers whose blogs you love and appreciate, and let them know they won the award.

In other words - the 15 bloggers that I have nominated will appreciate 15 other bloggers and those 15 bloggers will appreciate 15 more bloggers each, which equals 

exponential encouragement!

7 random facts about myself:
1.  I am a Canadian married to an American
2.  My favorite book is the Bible
3.  I love to garden but hate the heat
4.  Wearing a hat throws my neck out of line
5.  I am distantly related to Chief Pontiac
6.  I’m a little OCD and I don’t like my food to touch
7.  I have an extra sesamoid bone in both of my feet

Here are the 15 talented bloggers that I have awarded the "Versatile Blogger Award":

A mom, a Kid and Art

Alyssabeths

Chatter from Texas

Crafty Saints

Enchanting Little One

Keeping it Indie

King Mountain Treasures

Lessons from the Lathe

Miss Firths Attic

Miss Hetties

Modern Buttercup

My Inspired Reality

Quiltin Cats

Wrapped by Design
Yonder

A super duper sparkling "Thank You" to Lynette at

 Sweet Posy Dreams. 

As White As Snow

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."  Isaiah 1:18

Have you ever really looked at newly fallen snow?  It is truly amazing how white snow is - blinding white at times.  I especially enjoy staring at snow in the moonlight - a sparkling wonder. No man-made glitter can glisten, twinkle and shimmer like moonlit snow does.  Newly fallen snow is so utterly clean looking.

Scarlet & crimson were dyes used in ancient times.  These colors are deep red and It was impossible to get fabric white again after being dyed scarlet or crimson.  Even in modern times there are certain stains that are impossible to make white again.  The stain in this verse is our sins and God has cleaned our soul.  Our sins have been washed away and our soul has been made as white as snow through the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

Let's praise and thank our heavenly Father for making our souls as white as snow.

NEW! - God's Garden Gems

New item:  "God's Garden Gems"

Garden Gems, by Angie Ouellette-Tower

I created these gems using pictures that I took from my garden (many of these pictures made it to this blog).  Each pendant has a miniature photo that I painstakingly placed inside a metal bezel and then I protected the photo with a resin finish.

The subject of these photos was taken from God's Growing Garden - His beautiful creation made into jewelry. 

I have 1 piece of "Garden Gem" Jewelry for sale in my Etsy shop right now and there will be more to come - Please check it out by clicking here: GOURDONVILLE

Each piece of God's Garden Gem Jewelry comes with a Bible verse wrapped in a homemade box - ENJOY!