The other day I was putting compost in the 5 holes in our front yard, where I hope to plant fruit trees this year. While I was out, I noticed that Sarah’s beehive was as busy as can be in the middle of the 60 degree day, and there was a pile of dead bees at the entrance of mine. The first thought that hit me was, “Great! Another dead beehive!” You see, I lost another one earlier last fall. As I continued to work, I was thinking about what I was going to do, and the Lord brought the words of Solomon to mind from Proverbs 27:1-2 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.”

I was immediately reminded of times in the past few months when I had done both of these things; of all the plans that I had made to get VSH queens, split my hive, get tons of honey, get even more money, and even help coach one of our friends on how to start and successfully keep their beehive. It was a humbling thought that this may be directly related to all the “great plans” I had in store for myself. The Lord has some reason for allowing this to happen, and it should not surprise me that this would happen. Maybe I need more character training. Maybe He wants to build my patience. I began to see this as the perfect opportunity to look for reasons why the Lord may have allowed this to happen. Now, I am starting from scratch (along with my dad, whose bee hive also died last winter.) with those words from Solomon deeply engraved in my mind. Also, fresh on my mind is the Scripture, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away…” (Job 1:21b) I think that the Lord needs to bring us tests like this. If not controlled properly, we may find ourselves becoming angry about the situation. I found myself giving in to this when I first saw my dead hive. But, the Lord also wants us to think about benefits that come from a situation. Lets see; what could possibly be “good” about a dead hive? For one, it will give me a little more time until spring. Secondly, it may cause me to do some more study and research, and less planning on making money. See, the benefits are good ones. We just have to learn how to look at it that way.

I want everyone to learn from this experience – not just bee-keepers. Everyone needs to know that, at some point, there will be a consequence of “boasting of tomorrow”. Learn to give thanks to God for the things that He gives us today. Not tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, if He gives us those same things again, we can thank Him again. You see, we can never praise God too much, however, we are always in danger of praising ourselves too much. Be a learner, and praise God!

So here’s what you do for the salsa…

In a mixing bowl combine the following ingredients:

There’s really no rule as to how much of everything you add. Just mix, taste, and add a little more of this or that until it agrees with your taste buds!

Now for the guacamole…

In a mixing bowl combine the following ingredients:

And just like the salsa, be creative! Do what you like to it to make it perfect…

Since we are not able to have salad dressings on our Candida diet, we have been using fresh tomatoes and avocados with every meal. Some of us were doubtful about putting the salsa and guacamole all over our salad… at first! It was DELICIOUS and we have decided to do it often.

If you do decide to create your own Mexican salad, add a little cooked brown rice for more deliciousness.

One thing we learned about Christen, is that she LOVES hot peppers. In fact, she loves everything spicy! As a family, we don’t usually include jalapeno peppers and habanero peppers in our daily diet, but Christen showed us some tasty ways to include them (Since she puts them in just about everything) . One morning a few of the girls tried them in their eggs. Someone decided to fry a few so they would be less spicy. The result… well, let’s just say that when you fry jalapeno peppers, you end up inhaling the spice instead of eating it! We were all sitting around the breakfast table coughing and choking and laughing…

A few highlights from our week were:

- Doing a photo shoot an old farm behind our neighborhood.

- Preparing Christen’s special homemade salsa and gaucamole for our salads – a new delicious favorite!!!

- Singing choral arrangements and then sharing one at church (David enjoys learning them for us to sing, and Christen is an excellent pianist!).

- Playing a family game of Settlers of Catan!!!

- Visiting the horse farm in our neighborhood

- Designing fun t-shirts (another story for another time…)

- Laughing, talking, and doing fun projects all weekend!

Everyone made the most of the last night by staying up until midnight. Christen had a 7:40 flight, so some of us got up around 4:30 AM, fixed breakfast, and had a special devotional time before heading to the airport.

Thank you for coming to visit us Christen!

Apple-Berry Crisp

Serves 10

I posted this recipe on day 13, but wanted to share the yummier version we created this week! This recipe has the original oatmeal crust from our first recipe, but still includes the delicious crumb topping from our second recipe. Of course we made a few other changes along the way for further improvement .

To prepare the crust:

Melt 1/2 cup butter and pour into the bottom of a 9×13 in pan.

Mix together 3-4 cups cooked oatmeal (we used steel cut oats) with 3/4 TBSP Agave syrup, and cinnamon to taste.

Spread in the bottom of the pan.

Bake @ 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until slightly crispy on top.

For filling, mix together the following ingredients:

2 TBSP lemon juice

3-4 TBSP melted butter

6 drops liquid Stevia (vanilla creme flavored)

1 TBSP Agave Syrup

3 oz Apple Juice

Cinnamon

1/4 cup (slightly heaped) Tapioca Flour

Prepare the fruit in a separate, large bowl.

6 cups apples (a slightly tart but sweet apple works best), peeled and finely chopped

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Pour the filling mixture over the fruit and stir until thoroughly mixed.

For crumb topping mix together:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 cups finely ground nuts (we use pecans)

1 cup Teff flour

3/4 TBSP Agave Syrup

6 drops liquid vanilla creme stevia

Pour the fruit filling mixture over the baked crust and sprinkle crumbs evenly on top. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 degrees for about 1 hour. Remove foil and bake 10-15 minutes longer.

Hannah’s Vegetable Soup

Enjoy!

Spanish Paella

Taken from Wisdom Booklet #49

32 oz short grain rice (we used brown basmati)

4-5 single chicken breasts, cut up (we eliminated this)

3 red peppers

3 tomatoes

3/4 of a lemon, juiced (optional)

Garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley (Either dried or fresh from the garden )

Brown the chicken breasts in olive oil in a large pot. Add 12 cups of water, and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, saute tomatoes and garlic in olive oil in another large pot. Stir in dry rice, cooked chicken pieces, 9 cups of the chicken stock, red peppers, lemon juice, and seasonings. Boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes more. Check to see if all of the water is absorbed. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Note: The cooking time is not very accurate. We had to let it cook for additional time until the rice absorbed all of the liquid.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Layer the following ingredients in the bottom of a large greased crock pot:

3 lbs stew meat

4 large carrots, sliced

5 medium potatoes, sliced (we eliminated this)

2 onions, sliced

10 oz frozen green beans

1 cup frozen peas

1 can cream of mushroom soup (we eliminated this)

1 can cream of celery soup (we eliminated this)

1 jar gravy (we eliminated this)

Cook 5-6 hours on high, or 10-12 hours on low.

Note: We did 1 1/2 of the original recipe to feed 10 people (our grandmother is with us for four months). In place of the soups and gravy, we thawed the stew meat by placing it in a pot and adding just enough water to cover the meat. We later poured this water over the layers of meat and vegetables, in place of the creamy liquids. We also added salt and tapioca flour (to thicken the stew) just before serving. It was delicious – unanimously voted the best meal on the diet so far!!! I think it has to do with the fact that it includes MEAT!!!

Join us for a live Raising Entrepreneurs Workshop at Fort Rock Family Camp in

Saint Paul Arkansas!

Thursday, April 12th (Arrive)

Friday & Saturday, April 13-14, 9AM-5PM (Raising Entrepreneurs Conference)

Sunday, April 15th (Fort Rock Family Camp Chapel)

Family rate: $795 (There is an additional fee if your family exceeds 5 people)

Food and lodging are included in the family entrepreneurial conference rate. Activities will be provided for younger children, and those who do not wish or are not able to attend the workshop.

To register, Click Here.

For more details on the Raising Entrepreneurs Workshop, or to read about the VA conference and view pictures, visit www.raisingentrepreneurs.net.

The first version of this recipe started with our everyday breakfast (oatmeal!) for the crust, and included a fruity filling with ground nuts on top. Delicious, right?! It was really VERY good, and you would not have guessed it had an oatmeal crust. But this second version is really yummy with the crumb topping!

Apple-Berry Crisp

Mix together the following ingredients in a large bowl:

Stir together the following ingredients and pour over the fruit mixture:

Pour into a oiled (olive oil) 9×13″ pan (we used a glass pan).

For crumbs, mix together the following ingredients:

Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the filling. Bake at 375 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly (If you use a glass pan, you will see the liquid bubbling at the bottom and up the sides of the pan).

I promise it takes much better than it sounds!!! (of course we have not had white sugar for 2 weeks though, and we only eat a small measure of agave and stevia once a week )

Lentil Casserole ~

Serves 5

Combine all ingredients in lightly greased 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Add 2 sliced carrots, 2 cups sweet corn, and some celery, chopped small. Cook 30 more minutes.

Optional: Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and heat 5 more minutes until melted.

Note: We usually double the recipe to make two casseroles.