Fermented Friday: Leftover Oatmeal Turned Bread- Cranberry-Sage or Multigrain

Fermented Friday: recipes featuring yeast, wine, beer or some form of fermentation.

Guess what happens when make a batch of rather bland slow cooker steel-cut oats one day, and then make Chocolate-Pumpkin Quinoa the next day?  That's right, leftover oatmeal.  I'm not one to let leftovers stand in the fridge, they always turn into something else.  It would be pretty fun to make cookies or granola bars with cooked oats, but we need a little yeast action for Fermented Friday.  If we can make bread with rice why not bread with leftover oatmeal?

Thursday's Thoughts: Ebenezer

Thursday's Thoughts: a taste of what I'm thinking

Ebenezer.  How cool of a word is that!  Say it again, a little more slowly...Ebenezer.  I love funky sounding words, but that could be another post entirely. Typically when I hear the word Ebenezer around this time of year the first thing that pops into my head is Ebenezer Scrooge, the grouch in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  But last Sunday, I learned something that shed a brighter light on the word Ebenezer.

Since I've moved home I started attending a different church than my parents.  Seeing as it was a holiday weekend and my brother was home, I decided to go with them last Sunday. The sermon there ended up playing off the concept of a recipe.  That got my attention.  I speak, breathe, live and eat recipes.

We looked at verses in 1 Samuel 7 as an example of the ingredients needed in a recipe for renewal.  Near the end of this 'recipe' was the act of giving thanks and acknowledging how God has helped us.  In verse 12 Samuel sets up a stone as a reminder of God's help and faithfulness.  He names the stone Ebenezer, which means stone of help.  As he sets up this stone he says, 'thus far has the Lord helped us.'   When we pause to give thanks we are reflecting and acknowledging all the ways God has helped us in the past.

We are reminded that He has helped us up until now (thus far has the Lord helped us).  This gives us hope and peace that he will continue to help us even though we don't know what's coming next.  Regardless of what may come we choose to pause and thank God for all his help.  His rock-solid help and faithfulness have proven themselves over and over.  Time and time again I see how God has helped me.  I am thankful for this pattern and trust it will continue.  He is my Ebenezer, my stone of help.  A concept that makes me love the word Ebenezer even more.

Food for Thought: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning ; great is thy faithfulness." -Lamentations 3:22-23

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Chocolate-Pumpkin Quinoa

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

Are you sick of pumpkin yet?  Too bad, I'm not.  I'll try to transition from fall mode into Christmas, but I'm not quite ready yet.  It's still November after all.  Come December warm comforting spices like cinnamon and nutmeg will jump from apple and pumpkin to gingerbread and eggnog.  My swooning over squash will melt into chocolate, cookies and candy.   But for this week, we'll ease the transition by combining our chocolate and pumpkin. And eating it for breakfast.

It's okay, really.  Let me rationalize this one for you.  It started with this recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Quinoa Porridge.  Replacing oats with quinoa gives oatmeal a modern makeover.  Porridge packed with protein and pumpkin, yes please.  Then there's this Double Chocolate Oatmeal which appears to make eating chocolate for breakfast completely acceptable necessary.  But since we just had oatmeal yesterday, we'll stir up some chocolate-pumpkin quinoa.  Breakfast.  Dessert.  You decide and I'll provide the proper justification.

Tuesday's Twist: Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oats

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

I think I still have a Thanksgiving food hangover.  So before I jump into my usual overkill of Christmas treats I figured some oatmeal was in order.  Somewhere along the line I bought a large bag of steel-cut oats. Why?  Hmmm, a good question.  I wish I remembered my exact plans for these little grains.  But alas, there they sit in the pantry, nearly untouched.

Steel-cut oats are oat grains that have been cut into 2 to 3 pieces rather than rolled and flattened into flakes. They retain a chewier texture than rolled oats and take between 20 to 40 minutes to cook (depending on you texture preference). Time has been the deal breaker thus far.  I just can't wait that long for breakfast.  So instead of 40 minutes at the stove, I threw them in the slow cooker to cook for 6 hours.  I know.

Mindful Monday: Patience

Mindful Monday: On Monday's I'm going to share what's been on my mind. I by no means have any of this figured out, I'm just thinking out loud here.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. -Psalm 37:7

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. -Psalm 40:1

A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. -Proverbs 14:29

A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel. -Proverbs 15:18

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. -Proverbs 16:32

A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. -Proverbs 19:11

Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone. -Proverbs 25:15

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. -Romans 8:25

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. -Romans 12:12

Love is patient. -1 Corinthians 13:4

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. -Galatians 5:22-23

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. -Ephesians 4:2

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. -Colossians 3:12

I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. -1 Timothy 1:16

And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. -Hebrews 6:15

Food for Thought: "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." -Lamentations 3:24