Holy Yum

I love bacon. More than I ever realized. For the most part, I don't really enjoy eating pork but I've found a bacon that does NOT disappoint. The bacon from Niman Ranch is thick and luxurious. I picked some up from Trader Joe's during my last visit and I can tell you, if you like delicious bacon, it's worth every penny. We're already planning to make BLTs with it the next time I buy it.

I never knew I could the capability of enjoying such greasy, fatty food SO much.

Imago-Dei

I've been reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz and the following paragraphs really spoke to me about the true essence and potential of what "church" could be like.

First: It is spiritual. What I mean is the people at Imago pray and fast about things. It took me a while to understand that the answer to problems was not marketing or program but rather spirituality. If we needed to reach youth, we wouldn't do a pizza feed and a game night, we would get together and pray and fast and ask God what to do. God led some guys to start a homeless teen outreach downtown, and now they fed about one hundred homeless teenagers every week. It is the nuttiest youth group you will ever see, but that is what God said to do. I love that sort of thing because rather than the church serving itself, the church is serving the lost and lonely. It gives me the chills when I think about it because it is that beautiful of a thing.

Second: Art. Imago supports the arts. Rick isn't much of an artist, but he turned things over to a guy named Peter Jenkins, who created the drawings for this book. Peter started an "artistery" where artist live and create art, teach art, and encourage people to be creative. Peter recently held a gallery opening in a local coffeehouse, and all the art was created by people who attend Imago. Artists feel at home at Imago. I even led a short story group where we wrote short stories and then had a reading under Christmas lights and candles over at the artistery. I think there are artists at a lot of churches who don't have an outlet, and by creating an outlet, the church gives artists a chance to express themselves and in return the church gets free stuff to put on their walls. Creating an arts group at a church is a great idea.

Third: Community. Rick is very, very serious about people living together, eating together, and playing together. He encourages young single people to get houses and live with each other. Rick doesn't like it when people are lonely. We have home communities that meet all over town, and we consider this to be the heart of our church. Almost every church I have ever been to already does a great job at this.

Fourth: Authenticity. This is something of a buzzword, I know, but Imago actually lives this. I speak from the pulpit at Imago from time to time, and I am completely comfortable saying anything I like. I don't have to pretend to be godly in order for people to listen. Authenticity is an enormous value at Imago. I love this because by being true I am allowing people to get to know the real me, and it feels better to have people love the real me than the me I invented.

I think most of all, what speaks to me is the bit about authenticity and relevance. If there were no authenticity in that church, then there would be no place for community, art or spirituality and those seem to be such vital pieces of the church's ability to effectively communicate love. That's what I want most of all: to live with relevance while being completely authentic. I am terrible at this. I wonder if it had to be put in to a percentage how much of my time would be slotted towards living with relevance and authenticity. And moreover, how much better would I sleep at night without all of the internal struggle?

It's hard to know how I'm living a life of relevance going to the same job everyday, coming home to the same apartment every night. Maybe I'm not. Maybe this is my wake up call. I think I justify my desires to do this or that by believing that it will impress someone here or someone else over there when really it's all just empty, endless actions. No one's being impressed and I'm not even experiencing true joy in the midst of it all. I don't expect living a relevant life to look the same for me as it does for anyone else. I don't know. What is relevance, to you?

Progress.

Whether you say a small prayer, think good thoughts, wish us well, send positive energy: whatever it is you do, I'm asking you to do it.

Casey finally received word from VCOM and PCOM that they have his application and are in the process of reviewing it.

We're praying big prayers, thinking positive thoughts and hoping for an invitation to interview.

Operation Sprout

Success! At least thus far. Can't really mess up part one : soaking overnight. Although, for a little while, I was sure I had. I thought the wheat berries would swell more than they did but they really didn't grow too much.

I transferred them to mason jars last night with the cheesecloth fastened as a lid and placed them on top of the fridge.



When I got home from work tonight this is what I saw!



See all the little white tails?! The easiest one to spot is top and center. A few more days to sprout and then on to the next step!

so healthy.

Is it odd that if I don't finish a cup of green tea I'll pour the rest of it on a house plant? Is that okay for the plant?

This doesn't happen often, as I usually finish my tea. So, not to worry, I'm not drenching my plants in day old green tea on a regular basis. Just every now and then. I'm curious though, does anyone else do this? Or anything similar?

The Wheat Berries came today! Stay posted for results.

With a bang.

Dear Neighbor Directly Downstairs Otherwise Known As B8,

I apologize for the two abrupt, extremely loud thuds. You see, I'm going to try my hand at cooking a venison roast in my crock pot while at work tomorrow and my preparation was much more involved than previously anticipated. The meat had been cut into small portions but when frozen formed a huge piece of meat that probably wouldn't fit in my ancient and miniature sized oven, let alone, my crock pot. Thus, I had to slam the entire chunk on the floor of my kitchen not once but twice in order to break it down to a usable size.

Thank you for your kindness and understanding,

Esther

Baking and Budgeting

Last Friday night, Casey and I ventured out to find the perfect Crock Pot. Perfect for us, I mean. Obviously, if we could have it our way we'd be buying the All Clad Slow Cooker but we were thinking more along the lines of fifteen to twenty five dollar range. Just in case we're not Crock Pot people. Besides, there are only two of us. We're so busy that we rarely have time to invite friends over for dinner so we really just don't need anything that large or fancy. Yet.

My true desired use for the Crock Pot is twofold. I'd like to use it to help with maintaining our food budget while continuing to eat healthy and to cut back on time spent in the kitchen. One of the things I'd love to do is try making my own Sprouted Grain Bread. And now, my mind is flooding with so many answers to the questions that I could imagine you are asking.

Interrupting the flow. Okay, Q & A.

What is Sprouted Grain Bread?
Sprouted Grain Bread is bread made from living wheat berries. It is a raw food as it is still living which is why it is usually found in the frozen section of the healthy sections in grocery stores. It is nutritionally dense and usually costs between five and seven dollars per loaf.

What are Wheat Berries?
A wheat berry is the kernel of wheat. Similar to a popcorn kernel. Typically, they are ground up in to flour which most of us buy as bleached, enriched and so on.


ELBfoto

How do you make bread without flour?
The most common type of sprouts are probably Alfalfa or Bean Sprouts. These are commonly added to salads or sandwiches and are known for their nutty flavor and dense nutritional value.


Ann Arbor

Sprouted wheat berries are very much the same in that they have a versatile range of uses and in and of themselves they are also very nutritionally dense. However, to make the bread, the berries must be sprouted which is done through a process of overnight soaking and rinsing. Once they are sprouted, they are blended in a food processor where they should form a ball of dough-like substance. This dough can be placed in a Crock Pot for about eight hours on the low setting to bake a loaf of bread. At the end of this time, you'll have your own loaf of low-maintenance preparation Sprouted Grain Bread for a very small fraction of the cost of a loaf from the store. A near two pound package of organic wheat berries from Bob's Red Mill costs all of 2.40 and has about four cups of berries. Only one cup of berries is needed for a loaf that will last about a week. At sixty cent a loaf this is very budget friendly.

Which takes me back to the Crock Pot. Once I get good at the whole throw-five-or-ten-ingredients-in-the-crock-pot-and-have-a-delicious-meal routine AND have a substantially larger family then I'll consider the Slow Cooker. But for now, I just needed an in-my-kitchen-science-experiment worthy Crock Pot. And so I present Target's 16.99 special. Perfect for my trial run recipes and cutting down on time spent in the kitchen. It also happens to match the red and black theme I have going on.

In other news, in all of my nerdy glory I found a budgeting tool that I absolutely love. It's called Pocket Smith. Projected income and expenses are entered as events on a calendar and it projects your balance and cash flow for up to six months. In addition, it will compare your projected balance with your actual balance and inform you whether you are behind or ahead and by how much. You can set up goals and it will calculate when you should be able to reach your goals. I'm a visionary budgeter. I need to have a goal or a long term explanation of benefits in order to stick to the plan. This is why I think I love it so much.