Author: tortminder

Fried Rice Curry

Dressing up rice so we don’t get bored during the long haul

1 Cup White or Brown Rice (Cook this beforehand)
2 Tsp curry powder
1 Tsp pepper
1/2 Tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp Oil
2 Heaping Spoonfuls of Peanut Butter
1 Egg
Vegetable (I use 1 lb fresh spinach. Since we’re moving to canned
vegetables, I’m going to use either 1 can carrots or 1 can green beans)
Meat (optional)

Add oil and half the curry powder, the pepper, and the ginger. Heat in skillet for two minutes.

Add cooked rice, stir thoroughly. Drain fluid and add the canned vegetable. Get the mixture hot and coated in oil. Add peanut butter and the rest of the curry powder. Mix.

Crack the egg on top of the hot rice/veg mixture. Add meat if you like (This is a good recipe to use for leftover meat)

Leave on medium/high heat till egg is cooked and meat is cooked/heated up.

Pine Needle Tea

If you are coughing, pine needles can help to make the cough more productive. They relieve congestion. They also support the immune system to do it’s job recovering from viruses and infections. Pine is high in antioxidant flavonoids including anthocyanins


Pine needle tea has significant amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A, and flavoniods that make it a citrus-y flavored tonic drink to forage in winter. 

Pine needle tea has a citrus-y flavor with a hint of resin. The flavor depends upon the pine or confer tree you harvest the needles from. Nibble on a few needles from several pine trees before you harvest and pick the tastiest for your tea. Save the more resinous flavored needles for making pine infused cleaning products.

Health benefits of pine needle tea

If you are coughing, pine needles can help to make the cough more productive.  They relieve congestion.  They also support the immune system to do it’s job recovering from viruses and infections.  Pine is high in antioxidant flavonoids including anthocyanins

How to Make Pine Needle Tea

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes.
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 1 cup 1x

Description

Pine needle tea is a vitamin C and antioxidant rich tissane that is tonic and restorative in winter, with 4 times the vitamin C of fresh squeezed orange juice.  It should be avoided, however by pregnant mothers and those who plan to become pregnant.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons fresh pine needles
  • 1 cup boiled, hot water
  • Honey to taste

Instructions

  • Remove the fresh, unblemished pine needles from the pine branches.  Rinse the needles in cold water.
  • Using herb scissors or a sharp knife, cut the pine needles into smaller pieces.  Discard the brown scale that joins the needles to the brand.
  • Place the pine needles in a tea strainer.  Place the tea strainer in a mug.  Pour boiled water into the mug, over the pine needles.  Cover to inhibit the volatile oil from escaping in the steam.  Steep for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the strainer from the mug.  Add honey to sweeten the pine needle tea.
  • Drink while warm.

Notes

The needles of some species of pine can cause abortion in pregnant animals, including humans.  Avoid drinking or eating pine needles if you are pregnant.

Be cautious drinking pine needle tea:

Some species of pine have been known to cause abortion in pregnant cattle, so if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant soon, avoid using pine needle tea.

The diuretic actions of pine needle tea can be irritating to the bladder.  If you are taking other medication check with your health professional before drinking pine needle tea regularly.

Some conifers can be toxic so make a positive identification of the specific species before using it in this recipe.  Avoid yew, cypress, and Norfolk pine as they are reported to be toxic.



Isaiah 16:20-21


Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Isa 26:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.



Scripture-Isaiah 26:20-21

Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Isa 26:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Easy Navajo Frybread


Ingredients

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup powdered milk
  • 1 cup hot water
  • Oil for frying

Instructions

  • Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add in hot water a little at a time, mixing with fingers until it forms a ball that pulls away from sides of the bowl.
  • Add more flour or water as needed to form a dough that is not too sticky. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Pour 1/2-1 inch oil in a large skillet. Set a thermometer on the edge of the skillet and heat to 375 degrees F.
  • Meanwhile, pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough. Flatten the balls and gentle stretch out the edges while turning to form a 5-6 inch disks, 1/4-inch thick. (You could also roll them out on a lightly floured board, but pulling the dough is more fun.)
  • Make a small hole in the middle of each disk, so the dough doesn’t balloon up. Lay them out in a single layer so they don’t stick together.
  • Gently lay dough disks in the hot oil pressing down with tongs so the oil goes over the top of the dough. Fry until golden brown around edges, then turn over and cook until the color matches. This only takes a few seconds. Place on paper towels to drain. Repeat until all the dough disks are cooked.

Top it with Cinnamon sugar, honey, butter, fruit, eggs, taco fixings and more. Easy Navajo Fry Bread is so simple and inexpensive to make you will want to try it with many different toppings!



Easy Navajo Fry Bread

Easy Navajo Fry Bread is made from a very simple dough. I’ll bet you already have everything you need to make it.

No need to worry about the frying either. No deep fryer or gallons of oil are necessary. You can make Easy Navajo Fry Bread in a skillet with only an inch of oil, or less.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup powdered milk
  • 1 cup hot water
  • Oil for frying

Instructions

  • Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add in hot water a little at a time, mixing with fingers until it forms a ball that pulls away from sides of the bowl.
  • Add more flour or water as needed to form a dough that is not too sticky. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Pour 1/2-1 inch oil in a large skillet. Set a thermometer on the edge of the skillet and heat to 375 degrees F.
  • Meanwhile, pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough. Flatten the balls and gentle stretch out the edges while turning to form a 5-6 inch disks, 1/4-inch thick. (You could also roll them out on a lightly floured board, but pulling the dough is more fun.)
  • Make a small hole in the middle of each disk, so the dough doesn’t balloon up. Lay them out in a single layer so they don’t stick together.
  • Gently lay dough disks in the hot oil pressing down with tongs so the oil goes over the top of the dough. Fry until golden brown around edges, then turn over and cook until the color matches. This only takes a few seconds. Place on paper towels to drain. Repeat until all the dough disks are cooked.

Top it with Cinnamon sugar, honey, butter, fruit, eggs, taco fixings and more. Easy Navajo Fry Bread is so simple and inexpensive to make you will want to try it with many different toppings!

Shelter in place

Exodus 12:22-23

Exo 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
Exo 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Smiting the land

Exodus 12:12-13

Exo 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Psalm 91

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

A parable for our times

The weather soon turned cold. All the food lying in the field was covered with a thick white blanket of snow that even the grasshopper could not dig through. Soon the grasshopper found itself dying of hunger.

The Ants & the Grasshopper

In a field one summer’s day a grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content.  A group of ants walked by, grunting as they struggled to carry plump kernels of corn.

“Where are you going with those heavy things?” asked the grasshopper.

Without stopping, the first ant replied, “To our ant hill.  This is the third kernel I’ve delivered today.”

“Why not come and sing with me,” teased the grasshopper, “instead of working so hard?” 

“We are helping to store food for the winter,” said the ant, “and think you should do the same.” 

“Winter is far away and it is a glorious day to play,” sang the grasshopper.

But the ants went on their way and continued their hard work.

The weather soon turned cold.  All the food lying in the field was covered with a thick white blanket of snow that even the grasshopper could not dig through.  Soon the grasshopper found itself dying of hunger.

He staggered to the ants’ hill and saw them handing out corn from the stores they had collected in the summer.  He begged them for something to eat.

“What!” cried the ants in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter?  What in the world were you doing all last summer?”

“I didn’t have time to store any food,” complained the grasshopper; “I was so busy playing music that before I knew it the summer was gone.”

The ants shook their heads in disgust, turned their backs on the grasshopper and went on with their work.

There’s a time for work and a time for play.