Keeping Kosher

I will be the first to tell you that to eat Biblically clean you DO NOT have to buy everything kosher. In fact if you know what you're looking for, and you do most of your cooking from scratch you can completely avoid hechshers {the symbols on food that tell you if they are kosher or not}.

But in light of our almost dinner fiasco tonight, we have decided to go kosher. Now of course anything that we know to be clean we will still purchase, like cheese, but we will be making sure that the bulk of our products are hechshered.

So here's what happened. My husband purchased a bottle of sweet and sour sauce that he wanted me to use for dinner. Nothing wrong with that. Well I ended up reading the label, because we have a youngin' with allergies, and guess what I saw? CARMINE. Now if you don't know what carmine is let me just tell you that a it's unclean, and b it's gross. Carmine is a red food coloring that comes from the Cochineal bug, which is a cactus parasite.. Blech! 

Being that so many food additives are derived from rather unsavory sources, and we can't keep up with them all, we've decided to trust those whose job it is to make sure that unclean things do not get into our food. This also means I'll have to start digging into which hechshers are actually good. Because I know some rabbis believe that things that are derived from an unclean source are so far removed from the original source that they can be considered clean. We do not agree with that, nor do most Orthodox Jews, so those are the type of hechshers we will be sticking with. One hechsher that everyone is very familiar with it the OU symbol from the Orthodox Union. That's the most common one, but as I study things out I will share the other ones that I find to be valid. 

In the mean time while you're trying to figure things out READ READ READ those labels! Even if you don't keep kosher do you really want to eat a bug, just to make your food red? 

This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. -Leviticus 11:46-47

Learning to Heal Naturally

It's been quiet around the blog this week because a lot of life has been happening. As I mentioned in this weeks Torah Momma Journal we've had decisions and changes to make. The bulk of the changes we're making have to do with health. As believers I think its important to take care of our bodies. I'm sure how that is approached will be different for every one, but here are some of the things we're doing. 

-Switching to a natural toothpaste. With all the chemicals in toothpaste this was probably our easiest switch. Currently we're using a store bought natural toothpaste, but going forward I'll be making it. 

-Eating more real foods. I've always cooked, but now I'm purposing to make more things from scratch. 

-Eating more raw food. My husband definitely pioneered this one, which I was a little surprised about. Our current plan is to drink more green smoothies. I'm hoping to get more creative in this area as we continue on. Although I did make a delicious Israeli style salad the other day that everyone loved.  

-Using herbs and oils instead of traditional medicine. I was around 11 when I first heard about how awesome YHVH is when it comes to healing. My family and I were at a powwow (we're part Native American) and someone was explaining how the cure for poison ivy grows right next to it! I was totally blown away. So since then I've been pretty naturally minded but haven't fully educated myself. This stops NOW!

-Buying organic. We most likely will not be buying everything organic but the things that are known to be the worst offenders we will definitely buy organic. 

-Significantly reducing our use of sugar and working on eliminating white sugar. Someone gave us a bottle of agave and now I'm hooked. I thought it would add a funny taste but it doesn't, and you don't need a lot. I like to use it to sweeten tea for my girls, and myself. It's taking a little convincing to get my hubby on board with this one. 

-Switching from plastic containers to glass. There are so many chemicals in plastic that get released into our foods, so in order to prevent that we're switching to glass storage containers. 

These 7 things are our first steps to living a healthier lifestyle. There is still so much to be done but you have to start where you can. Some of the books I will be reading to educate myself are:

The ABC Herbal: A Simplified Guide to Natural Health Care for Children {EXCELLENT book lots of information, definitely one I will refer to again and again}

Naturally Knocked Up {tons of info about healthy living in general}

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year {not done reading}

Back to Eden {still haven't read yet}

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Our Shabbat in Pictures

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. -Gen 2:2

Our Shabbat didn't go exactly as we planned, but it was a blessing none the less. We watched some videos from Passion for Truth, spent time reading scripture, and enjoyed each others company. After I lit our Shabbat candles I got the idea to share our day with you. Everyone was too hungry for me to take any pictures of dinner though :o)

The challot I made!

They looked so pretty, before I baked them lol. The funny shaped one was part of a project I'm working on for a friend. 

The funny shaped challah didn't make it pass dinner!

This is what it's all about, spending time with Abba.

Pumpkin cookies! 

Lunch!

The girls "reading"

Time for havdalah:
grape juice, spices, and braided candle.

Hubby doing the havdalah service.

There you have it, our Shabbat. It was very refreshing and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to fellowship with my family. I can't wait until next week! Shavua Tov {good week}from my family to yours!

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. -Revelations 14:12

God's Unwavering Faithfulness

Around here lately money has been tight. Well actually it's usually tight, but lately it's been even tighter than usual. We've been doing our best and by the grace of God we've had everything we need and some of the things we want. Our method is to focus on food and then fill in the blanks after that.

We keep a somewhat vegetarian diet with fish being our main Source of protein. I try not to fry things, but when I bake I still use a little bit of oil to keep things from sticking to the pan. Because of this we buy large gallon bottles of oil. That way we'll have it for awhile. Well, a month ago I noticed that the oil was getting low. Pay day came and we decided not to get another bottle of oil just yet, and instead buy more food.

Now these bottles of oil aren't that expensive. It's not like we strain to buy the oil normally. But this time around we just thought it best not to purchase another bottle. I watched as the oil got down to almost the last bit and I just figured we'd make it. I knew that God would provide, because He always does.

I made dinner and went to get what I thought was the last of the oil. I poured out what I needed, but the bottle didn't empty. I made dinner another night, and the bottle did not empty.  It has been close to three weeks and that bottle of oil still has not emptied!

I can't help but praise God for this. I can't help but share this with other people. For some this may be a small thing. But for me and my family, that oil not running out has been a huge blessing.

I'm reminded of the story of the widow's oil in 2 Kings 4:1-6. Now of course the widow wasn't using her oil to cook with, but, God still gave her all the oil she needed. How great is His faithfulness!

"Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. ²And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. ³Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. ⁴And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. ⁵So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. ⁶And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed."

Preparation Day!

Since the sun is setting later on Saturday than it was a month or so ago I have to prepare more food in order to make sure that no one is hungry. So I've decided to share our menu. We're sort of vegetarians. We still eat kosher fish but no other meat. We eat cheese, but drink soy milk and use margarine in stead of butter. Strange I know, but its us. :o)

Dinner: 

Tomato Basil Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Peas, Challah, Fruit Cobbler with Ice cream

Breakfast:

Salmon cakes, Corn bread, Fruit

Lunch:

Vegetarian Soup, Challah, Fruit salad (kiwi and apple)

Snack:

Vegan Brownies or oatmeal cookies (I'm not sure which yet)

We usually eat dinners late so if anyone is hungry after Havdalah then I'll cook something quick.

Shabbat Shalom!