The Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

 

"The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on the fortieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Since the date of Pascha changes each year, the date of the Feast of the Ascension changes. The Feast is always celebrated on a Thursday. The Feast itself commemorates when, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and after blessing them and asking them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ascended into heaven." - See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/ascension/learn/#sthash.DAPbJ4Mt.dpuf

Christ Is Ascended!

He is Ascended in Glory!

Chocolate Cheese Pudding

God inspired me to made for my boys this raw pudding, as I was not sure what to do with some of the left over mascarpone. (I just did not feel like making Tiramisu today). I wanted something fast and also gluten-free.

 

Ingredients for 2 servings:

1 banana

2-3 tbsp raw honey, to taste

2 tbsp cocoa or chocolate powder

1 box of mascarpone cheese (1 cup)

 

Directions: In a blender add all the above ingredients, mix well for 3-5 minutes until a smooth cream forms. Pour in the serving glasses and sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. (For me and my husband I added fresh mint and peppermint leaves). Enjoy! 

My Favorite Breakfast

I wanted to share this yummy omelet I tasted one morning. Since then, I  cannot stop making it for breakfast at least once or twice weekly.

 

Garlic Chives Omelet

Ingredients:

2 tbps butter

2 pasture-free eggs

1 cup fresh garlic chives, chopped (I used the Chinese variety, which are juicy and ribbon-like; Botanical Name: Allium Tuberosum)

Salt to taste

 

Directions: In a stainless steel pan heat the butter on medium heat, add the chives; cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the eggs and salt. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

 

The omelet was served with freshly squeezed orange juice and ½ cup of freshly picked blueberries.

Romaine Lettuce and Moringa Salad

Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, celery, chives, garlic greens, cucumber and Moringa leaves.

 

Beets and Moringa Salad

It has been a while since we ate moringa in our house. Now, as they are so vibrantly fresh, putting them in a salad, would be the perfect eating option.

 

Ingredients: 4 cups of boiled beets, chopped; 1 green apple, chopped; chives and garlic (to taste, I put about 3 tbsp), 1 green pepper, chopped, a large handful of fresh moringa leaves; other possible ingredients: celery, cabbage. Toss them together and add your own favorite dressing! 

Delicious Liver

For dinner we will have today liver! Yum!  This is the fastest recipe one can make, even after a long day at work.

In a stainless steel pan, add ¼ cup grass-fed organic butter. Turn the heat to medium-high and wait until butter melted. then turn heat down. Add several 1 inch size pieces of grass-fed beef liver and 3-4 chopped garlic cloves. Salt to taste and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes maximum, by making sure both sides are done. Serve with salad. Enjoy!

Note: if you do not plain liver like this, one can try to make liver pate:
In a frying pan brown 2 chopped onions in 1 cup butter and when done cooking add 1 egg and mix it well for another 2 minutes. Pour the onion-egg mixture in a food processor, add the liver as cooked above, 3 - 4 garlic cloves, spices (thyme, coriander, pepper, salt to taste) and combine well until smooth.

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) will peel your carrots nicely!!!

"Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound.

 

It has so many used, from chemical pulping (making paper), to dissolving amphoteric metals and compounds, or from cleaning agent to tissue digestion

(a process involved placing a carcass into a sealed chamber, then adding a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water. This eventually turns the body into a liquid with coffee-like appearance, and the only solid that remains are bone hulls, which could be crushed between one's fingertip; is frequently used in the process of decomposing roadkill dumped in landfills by animal disposal contractors)"

 

Have you known that this very same chemical can be used for food processing? This is the interesting part!!!

"Food uses of sodium hydroxide include washing or chemical peeling of fruits and vegetables, chocolate and cocoa processing, caramel coloring production, poultry scalding, soft drink processing, and thickening ice cream. Olives are often soaked in sodium hydroxide for softening;

Pretzels and German lye rolls are glazed with a sodium hydroxide solution before baking to make them crisp. Owing to the difficulty in obtaining food grade sodium hydroxide in small quantities for home use, sodium carbonate is often used in place of sodium hydroxide.

 

Specific foods processed with sodium hydroxide include:

The Scandinavian delicacy known as lutefisk (from lutfisk, "lye fish").

Hominy is dried maize (corn) kernels reconstituted by soaking in lye-water. These expand considerably in size and may be further processed by frying to make corn nuts or by drying and grinding to make grits. Nixtamal is similar, but uses calcium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide.

Sodium hydroxide is also the chemical that causes gelling of egg whites in the production of Century eggs.

German pretzels are poached in a boiling sodium carbonate solution or cold sodium hydroxide solution before baking, which contributes to their unique crust.

Lye-water is an essential ingredient in the crust of the traditional baked Chinese moon cakes.

Most yellow coloured Chinese noodles are made with lye-water but are commonly mistaken for containing egg.

Some methods of preparing olives involve subjecting them to a lye-based brine.

The Filipino dessert (kakanin) called kutsinta uses a bit of lye water to help give the rice flour batter a jelly like consistency. A similar process is also used in the kakanin known as pitsi-pitsi or pichi-pichi except that the mixture uses grated cassava instead of rice flour."

 

This all being said, how would like your carrots?  Washed and peeled with sodium hydroxide or chlorine?