Senomyx

When I started this blog, I didn't intend it to be a sounding board for "political" ideas, but as a Christian mom, abortion really bothers me.

I found out yesterday that the #1 killer in Canada is...Abortion!  In fact, when you factor in abortion, the infant mortality rate in Canada is 215/1000!  That's 1 out of 5 babies.  Get this...in the US, heart disease is listed as the official #1 cause of death, with about 600,000 deaths per year.  But the actual #1 cause of death is, in fact, abortion--killing about 1.6 MILLION babies a year.  That means that close to 25% of all pregnancies end in abortion in the US.

And today, I found out that a company called Senomyx is using the cells of aborted babies to create "natural flavorings" for food.  The cells are not actually IN your food--they are used to test the flavors, but still--isn't this a little disturbing?  http://www.catholicdadsonline.org/posts/7303/2415-senomyx-green/

Where does it end?  We are encouraged to inject our babies with vaccines made from aborted babies, and now we are told it is perfectly safe to feed our babies foods made with the help of aborted babies.  I just wrote a letter to Campbells thanking them for severing their relationship with Senomyx, and I will be writing to Nestle, Kraft, and Pepsi asking them to do the same.  If you want to take action on this issue, visit this site:  http://www.cogforlife.org/senomyxalert.htm

Here is the text of the e-mail I sent to Nestle, Pepsi, and Kraft (be sure to change the company name): 

As a mom with small children, I want only the best, most natural foods to enter their bodies. While I find the use of high fructose corn syrup and other unnatural ingredients appalling, it is unbelievable that a company like Nestle would use artificial flavorings made with the help of aborted babies.   You can be assured that I will NOT be purchasing any foods created by Nestle, and I will be sharing this information with everyone in my network.  

Karen

Pancakes update...

If you are like me and you are wanting fluffier, more cake-like pancakes, I found a way to tweak the recipe I gave a week or so ago.  Just substitute applesauce for the coconut oil and add a bit more flour.  Absolutely delicious!

Karen

Tyndale House Contest!

Tyndale House is launching a new book club enewsletter called the Book Club Hub Newsletter.  It sounds like a great idea if you have a book club, as the newsletter will feature "suggestions, discussion guides, and great ideas for your book clubs." 

You can see a preview by clicking here.

In honor of the new newsletter, they are giving away free books!  My favorite thing!   Here's the directions from Tyndale:  "To enter the giveaway you just need to visit the contest page and click on the book you’d like to sign up to win. You can even go back and sign up for both books. Each day is a new giveaway so you can return to the site each day and try to win. Every few days the books change, so check back!"

I just entered to win Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers (one of my favorite authors!)--I hope you enter, too!

Karen

Raw Milk...

So, this week we are going on Friday to get raw milk for the 3rd time!  We get our milk from Stryk Dairy,  which is one of the few farms certified to sell raw milk.  They are inspected every day by the TX health department, which is great because I know that we are drinking milk that is produced with the highest standards, is healthier for us, and tastes great! (Josyan says that the milk from the farm is the best--and he was disappointed when we ran out!)

The claims that raw milk is dangerous are based upon the conditions at factory dairies, where filth and disease run rampant and cows are fed feed, rather than grass.  Raw milk from such dairies is dangerous.  However, raw milk from a clean, grass-fed cow (or goat!) milked in a clean barn is definitely NOT dangerous.   In fact, we happily drank the goat's milk we received when Ryan milked our neighbor's goat back in AZ! 

If you are contemplating trying raw milk, I highly encourage you to visit the Campaign for Real Milk site.  There are tons of articles explaining the benefits of raw milk.  And, before you go buying milk from just anyone, do your research.  Make sure that the milk is from grass-fed cows/goats in a clean environment.  If you don't have a dairy or a neighbor where you can get good raw milk, you can probably find lightly pasteurized milk in your local health food store.  That's a great way to start!  :-)

More on Sour Dough

Sour Dough Cinnamon Rolls!

While my starter was gaining strength in weeks 2 and 3, I started using it every day.  After my pancake adventure, I made English muffins, banana muffins, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls (glorious!) and bread.  The English muffins were really weird to make (the dough is soupy), but they turned out so good!  The bread rose like crazy--how fun that I didn't have to use yeast!--and had a yummy sour/honey contrast in taste.  The muffins & cupcakes tasted good, but didn't rise the way I wanted them to.  And the cookies...let's just say I need to tweak my recipe a bit!  lol

English Muffins!

I knew that last week was going to be a pretty busy week, though, and I knew I wasn't going to have time to play with my sour dough every day, so I fed my starter and put it in the refrigerator.  (You can do that after 3 weeks, as long as you work with it once a day!).  When I went back to the course, I realized that I had not followed the procedures properly (feed it, let it sit for a few hours to get it going, then put it in the fridge with the lid not down all the way--then a few hours later close the lid all the way). 

BUT when I took my starter out yesterday morning, there were still bubbles!  So, I fed the starter and it was full of life again by afternoon!  I'm excited to bake more bread and experiment with some other goodies this week while my sister is visiting.  Today, bread is on the menu!  ;-)

The Cause Within You

The Cause Within You, by Matthew Barnett, not only shares the story of how God used him to begin an extraordinary movement--Dream Centers--but it also shares with readers how they might find their own cause.  In this compelling read, which concludes with Scripture and a discussion guide, Barnett gives readers an inspiring call to action, "you need to identify the cause within you now.  Today."

Throughout the book, which contains many, many moving stories of not only Barnett's faith journey, but of others who have found their cause, Barnett gives readers solid, biblical wisdom about seeking God and distinguishing between their dreams and God's divine plan for their lives.  "When you find that sweet spot that reflects your cause, it is at the intersection of your passion (what really matters to you), your gifts (what you do best), and your contribution (how you make the world better)." 

In a world where the vast majority of people seem to be consumed by busy-ness and the pursuit of monetary happiness, this book opens the eyes to something bigger and better--to the joy and peace that pursuing God's plan for you can bring. 

***I was given a free book in return for my completely honest and unbiased review of this book. ***