PREPARING FOR DANIEL FAST

In Matthew 17 a man brought his demon possessed son to the disciples. The disciples prayed for him and the demon did not come out. The man took his son to Jesus and told him that the disciples were not able to cure the boy. Jesus rebuked the demon and immediately the demon left the boy. The disciples asked Jesus "why could we not drive it out?" Jesus said to them "20 - because of the littleness of your faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 - But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." 

We all have mountains that are in our way. Some mountains are small and some are HUGE. Casting out demons has to be one of the biggest obstacles you could face. Being diagnosed with a terminal illness; having a loved one addicted to drugs and there are other HUGE mountains that get in our way. Those HUGE mountains require HUGE faith and fasting. If you really and truly want that mountain to move, you can't just whisper to it or spend 5 minutes a day praying about it or crying about it or whining about it, you get what I'm talking about. You have to get SERIOUS in order to see SERIOUS results. Spending time in prayer, reading your Bible and fasting is serious. You are honoring God by denying your fleshly desires for food and maybe giving up a little television time to spend more time in the Word and in prayer. 

If you have chosen to do a Daniel Fast (no bread, no meat & no sweets) here is a list of foods to have on hand: 

Apples and peanut butter

Nuts

Plain Greek yogurt with fruit (I love frozen blueberries)

Cottage cheese with fruit

Cheese

Carrot sticks

Beans

Rice

Veggies 

Beans & rice

Stir fries with rice & veggies and/or beans

Vegetable soup

Tomato soup

Salad

Oatmeal

Eggs

Quiche

Veggie omelet

Potatoes - don't forget sweet potatoes

Here are a few links to some of my recipes that can be used for a Daniel Fast. The Gumbo and soup can be made without the meat and still be delicious. 

http://4newtons.blogspot.com/2012/05/broccoli-cauliflower-salad.html

http://4newtons.blogspot.com/2012/05/anti-inflammatory-sugar-free-cole-slaw.html

http://4newtons.blogspot.com/2012/03/healthier-gumbo-with-flaxseed-coconut.html

http://4newtons.blogspot.com/2012/02/belly-busting-soup.html

http://4newtons.blogspot.com/2013/12/scalloped-potatoes.html

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014. 

Keeping you all in my prayers, 

Lori 

FIRST FRUITS FAST

First of all, I AM NOT A BIBLE SCHOLAR. I am ONLY a sinner saved by grace. I am not worthy of God's grace, mercy, love & blessings, but I am so thankful that He gives it to ALL who are willing to accept it. That being said, the last few years, Kevin & I have fasted for 21 days at the beginning of each year. This is called a First Fruits Fast because you are sacrificing and honoring God for a certain length of time at the beginning of the year or giving God your "first fruits" of the new year. 

I have always loved our New Year's tradition of fried pork chops and black eye peas (with lots of ham in them) on New Year's Day, so we usually begin our Fast on January 2. But as I was talking with God about our upcoming Fast this morning, I felt that He was urging me to begin ON January 1 and not wait until January 2. My flesh wants those fried pork chops and that ham in the black eye peas just one more time, but my Spirit knows that if God is prompting me to begin ON January 1 and not wait, I would be foolish to not listen and obey. So our Fast will be from January 1-21. 

There are many different ways to fast. My son did a 40 day nothing but liquids fast a few years ago. He normally does only liquid the first 3-7 days, then follows the Daniel Fast. I have friends that fast one meal a day or do not eat from sun up to sundown, etc. There are many different ways to fast. There is not a right way or wrong way to fast. It is all between you and God. I urge you to seek His guidance and direction before you fast. Kevin & I and a lot of our friends choose a Daniel Fast which is no meat, no bread & no sweets. 

Whatever you choose to do, don't overthink it and don't spend more time focusing on what you can and can not eat than you do spending time with God. So many people get so caught up thinking about the food that they lose focus of the whole reason to fast in the first place which is to draw closer to God, to experience His presence like never before and for those miracles that you need in your life. 

I am going to try to blog each day during our Fast. I will try to share scriptures and encouragement for you as well as the types of foods that Kevin & I are eating. If you have a specific need that you would like for us to pray about for you, please let me know. Kevin & I would be honored to pray for you. If you are fasting, I would like to ask that you pray for us as well. 

I am posting some links to some websites about fasting. We love Jentezen Franklin's Fasting Journal. One of these websites has some good information, but I personally don't agree with all of it. But, again, it is between you & God. There is not a right way or wrong way to fast. This website has recipes for desserts, muffins, etc. and personally, I don't want to do that while fasting. She is not using flour, but I feel that fasting is not supposed to be pleasant and comfortable. It is supposed to be a sacrifice. We still eat good food, but the closest we get to bread is corn tortillas and as far as sweets we only eat fruit for our sweets when fasting. We also eat fish a couple of times a week while fasting, but no other meat. We also eat lots of eggs. I noticed some websites say to not eat eggs. We both work fulltime and have to keep our energy up, so eating eggs and fish helps us. 

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/

http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/

Many blessings, 

Lori 

SCALLOPED POTATOES

My husband's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. All he wanted for his birthday was scalloped potatoes, pork chops and red velvet cake (I make Non-Red Velvet Cake because I don't use red food coloring, but it doesn't change the taste of the cake). He LOVES potatoes and he loves cheese, so scalloped potatoes are his favorite. Through the years I have tried several different recipes and they were all okay, but a few years ago I used Pioneer Woman's recipe and now that is the ONLY recipe I use. I don't even like potatoes very much, but these are amazing! WARNING - THEY ARE NOT CALORIE FREE! But they are so worth splurging on for special occasions. I don't know what the difference is between scalloped and au gratin, but we just call them scalloped.

Here is a link to Pioneer Woman's recipe

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-potatoes-au-gratin/

Of course, I change it up a little to add the flavors that my family likes so here's how I do it:

SCALLOPED POTATOES

2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 large russet OR 8 red potatoes
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons McCormick Hot Shot or pepper
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup shredded monterey jack
Option - cooked & chopped ham or bacon are great additions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice potatoes into circles or diced cubes. I use red potatoes because they are less starchy and have lots of iron, so since they are smaller, I just slice them in circles.

Combine milk and cream in bowl.

Add the flour, garlic, salt, pepper (Hot Shot), basil and onion.  Whisk together well so that the flour is incorporated into the mixture.

Grease square baking dish with the softened butter.  Pour potatoes into dish. Pour mixture over potatoes.

Cover the dish with foil and bake it for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes more.  Sprinkle the cheese all over the top and bake 5-10 minutes more or until cheese is bubbly.

TIPS FOR A BUSY WEEKNIGHT - I got these all ready in the morning before I left for work, covered with foil and put in refrigerator.  Kevin gets home an hour before I do, so he took the dish and set it on the counter to get to room temperature and turned the oven on.  Then all I had to do when I got home from work was pop the dish in the oven and let them bake while I cooked the pork chops. I think these could be cooked in a rectangular slow cooker also. I haven't tried it yet.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Lori