tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64740041618700401412024-03-05T02:01:22.162-08:00MariahLeeMariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474004161870040141.post-56836359841421320982014-01-14T10:52:00.001-08:002019-01-24T13:17:51.576-08:00Imitators of Christ<b><i>Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." Ephesians 5:1</i></b><br />
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As I read this verse it made me ask myself "How are we practically supposed to be imitators of God?".</div>
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God always desires for us to know more of who He is and to be more like Him. There are several verses in the bible that express this desire of God's heart. In knowing these few things, I concluded that we need to imitate the attributes of God that scripture specifically calls us to follow in.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">There are twelve attributes that I came up with.</span></div>
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The first attribute was <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Holiness.</b></div>
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<i>"...but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16</i></div>
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<i>"...You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Leviticus 19:2b</i></div>
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Having <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Mercy</b> or being <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Merciful</b>. </div>
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<i>" Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:36</i></div>
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Being <b><u>Compassionate</u> </b>or having a <b><u>Compassionate</u> </b>heart.</div>
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<i>" Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience..." Colossians 3:12</i></div>
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Having imperishable <b><u>Beauty</u> </b>of the heart.</div>
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<i>" But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:4</i></div>
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<i>" How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" Romans 10:15b</i></div>
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God is <b><u>Truth</u></b> itself and He desires us to be <u style="font-weight: bold;">Truthful</u> and to delight in it.</div>
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<i>" Behold, You (God) delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." Psalm 51:6</i></div>
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God wants us to shine forth His <b><u>Light</u></b>.</div>
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<i>" In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16</i></div>
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God delights in a <b><u>Humble</u></b> spirit.</div>
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<i>"...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5b</i></div>
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To have <u style="font-weight: bold;">Love</u> for one another</div>
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<i>"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:7-8</i></div>
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<i>"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16</i></div>
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<i>"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19</i></div>
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<b style="text-decoration: underline;">Purity</b> in heart</div>
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<i>" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8</i></div>
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<b><u>Righteousness</u></b></div>
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<i>" For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21</i></div>
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Serving God with <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Faithfulness</b></div>
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<i>" Now therefore fear The Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14</i></div>
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<i>Having <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Wisdom</b> from God</i></div>
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<i>" But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." James 3:17</i></div>
MariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474004161870040141.post-65686092005405910772014-01-14T09:25:00.001-08:002019-01-11T10:04:29.192-08:00Encouragement for Difficult TimesThis blog post originated from my bible study in Acts. We were currently studying Acts 14.<br />
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<i><b>" We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" Acts 14:22</b></i></div>
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As a believer you have probably experienced the reality of this verse in your own life. Often it is through suffering that we discover the door of faith opened to us. Unlike Paul, if the choice is ours, we would (no doubt) choose the easier and shorter road, opting for comfort and convenience. However, there are no shortcuts into the kingdom of God; hence time and time again we find our faith being tried in order to produce in us the qualities that God so desires.</div>
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<i><b>" For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but to suffer for His sake." Philippians 1:29</b></i></div>
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<i><b>"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..." 2 Timothy 3:12</b></i></div>
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Following Christ is not easy, in fact, it says that we too will be persecuted just as Christ was but in the end it is so worth it. </div>
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<i><b>“ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5</b></i></div>
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Romans 5:3-5 is a beautiful picture of peace and joy in tribulations.</div>
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<i><b>" My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4</b></i></div>
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Notice that these verses do not imply <i>if</i> but rather <i>when</i> you encounter trials. There is a promise here to each one who believes, that their faith will be tried. Patient submission will result in growth and maturity.</div>
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<i><b>" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Psalm 34:19</b></i></div>
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<i><b>" I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me (Paul) has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14</b></i></div>
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<b>“ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" 1 Peter 5:10</b></div>
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<b>“ Do not fear what you are about to suffer...Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10</b></div>
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You, Christian, must lay hold of the truth that the kingdom of God may not be entered without difficult and even painful experiences.<b> <i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">" If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." </i></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">You are His disciple and will, at times, have to endure ridicule, overcome opposition, and rise above your disappointments while keeping in mind the ultimate destination of your journey, and the blessed hope you possess in Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i><b>" The path of sorrow and that path alone, leads to that land where sorrow is unknown."</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">(Author is Anonymous)</span></div>
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MariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474004161870040141.post-46565120250695944232013-09-24T13:53:00.001-07:002019-01-11T10:04:17.762-08:00Passing Seasons Seasons are like a passing breeze, they come and go so quickly. Yet when you are in the midst of one it seems to like forever until the next season will come and time is slowly ticking along. But before you realize it the change in seasons will already be coming.<br />
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Oh! How we can relate this to times and seasons of life. For God says in His word that "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Time can seem to creep painfully slow especially when you are going through a trial in life, but just as quickly as this trial has come upon you the next season is just ahead. </div>
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"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6-7 </div>
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“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3</div>
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“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14</div>
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And on the contrary, when things are going good, just remember that a trial is going to happen at one time or another so keep on the look out and don't grow weary of doing good.</div>
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“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13</div>
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“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.</div>
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Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;</div>
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but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;</div>
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they shall mount up with wings like eagles;</div>
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they shall run and not be weary;</div>
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they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31</div>
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“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9</div>
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So my encouragement for all of you today is to embrace, with open arms, the season and time that God has currently placed you in and strive to give glory to God through your circumstance until you get to that next season in your life. "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31b</div>
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"Finally, be strong in The Lord and in the strength of His might." Ephesians 6:10</div>
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~MariahLee</div>
MariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474004161870040141.post-61513928435419505642013-05-28T10:10:00.001-07:002019-01-11T10:03:40.869-08:00What's for dinner tonight?So what's for dinner tonight? Here is what we have for dinner some nights. I got this recipe off the Internet but I have changed it to make it dairy-free and gluten-free. If you don't want it to be gluten-free and dairy-free you can use the underlined ingredient. And there is an added gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe at the end that is delicious.<br />
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<b><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswW5pK4ZCCcs4sTYazhe4s8VHE-CLVcdRjC5rMTATvYeMCE-pL-PHeBeLSIZVKDXMXvufzZ_2pHLO2aMARpGgLMK4xvfXj0-XgKRwIP3OOwOdUtzkFQf04uQeQ0nHnZ2gLx2N7mzxlsXy/s640/blogger-image--1075875136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswW5pK4ZCCcs4sTYazhe4s8VHE-CLVcdRjC5rMTATvYeMCE-pL-PHeBeLSIZVKDXMXvufzZ_2pHLO2aMARpGgLMK4xvfXj0-XgKRwIP3OOwOdUtzkFQf04uQeQ0nHnZ2gLx2N7mzxlsXy/s640/blogger-image--1075875136.jpg" /></a></u></b></div>
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<b><u>Baked Turkey Swedish Meatballs</u></b></div>
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<b>For the Meatballs:</b></div>
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1 Tablespoon Olive Oil</div>
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1/2 cup minced Fresh Onion</div>
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2 cloves Garlic, Minced</div>
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20 oz. , weight Lean Ground Turkey meat</div>
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1 whole egg<br />
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1/2 cup Quinoa Flakes or <u>Dry Bread Crumbs</u></div>
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1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce</div>
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1/2 Tbsp. Dried Parsley</div>
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1 teaspoon ground Allspice</div>
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1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg</div>
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<b>For the Sauce:</b></div>
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14-1/2 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Beef Broth</div>
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3 Tbsp. Brown Rice Flour or another flour substitute or <u>All-purpose Flour</u></div>
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1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce</div>
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1/2 Tbsp. Dried Parsley</div>
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1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper</div>
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1/2 teaspoon Salt, Or to taste</div>
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1/4 cup full fat Coconut Milk or Light Sour Cream (I used Canned Thai Coconut Milk, mixed well)</div>
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1-2 Tbsp. of Agave Nectar or honey or stevia <b>(optional)</b></div>
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Then for the gluten-free and dairy-free version, I added some Arrowroot Powder and Glucomannan to thicken the sauce a bit. I also forgot to sauté the onions and garlic last time and the meat balls still tasted fantastic</div>
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<b>Instructions:</b></div>
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<b>For the meatballs:</b></div>
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</div>
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In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, sauté 2-3 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl, combine turkey, onions and garlic, egg, quinoa flakes, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, allspice, and nutmeg. Shape into meat mixture into 1" balls and place in a lightly greased baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through.</div>
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<b>For the sauce:</b></div>
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Pour beef broth and flour into a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously until well incorporated. Pour beef broth mixture into a large skillet with a lid and add Worcestershire sauce, parsley, black pepper, salt to taste, arrowroot powder, Glucomannan, and agave nectar (optional). Heat to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in coconut milk. Add meatballs and cover. Simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over brown rice or brown rice noodles, if desired.</div>
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<b>Enjoy!</b></div>
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Now for gluten-free peanut butter cookies. Yum! This recipe is extremely easy and ,yes, there is only four ingredients.</div>
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<b>Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies</b></div>
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1 cup Natural Unsweetened Peanut Butter or Unsweetened Almond Butter</div>
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1/2 cup Sugar or Coconut Sugar (any sweetener)</div>
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1 Egg</div>
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1 teaspoon Vanilla</div>
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<b>Instructions:</b></div>
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until well incorporated. </div>
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Spoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet a tablespoon at a time. Then take a fork and lightly smash down to make a criss-cross pattern. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until done.</div>
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MariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474004161870040141.post-49084054198983918132013-05-09T08:40:00.001-07:002019-01-11T10:02:01.922-08:00Lentil Soup RecipeLentil Soup<br />
By The Dempster Family<br />
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2 Tbsp. Olive Oil<br />
1 Onion<br />
About 1 Tbsp. Garlic<br />
3/4 cup Lentils (I used Green Lentils)<br />
1/2 cup uncooked Brown Rice<br />
2 3/4 cup Organic Broth (I used Chicken Broth)<br />
2 tsp. dried Basil<br />
1 tsp. dried Oregano<br />
1 tsp. dried Thyme<br />
1 tsp. Sea Salt<br />
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper<br />
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Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Then throw in the lentils and uncooked brown rice. Stir well. Add the broth and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 min., adding extra water if needed. So that there will be some liquid on the bottom. Serve hot. Enjoy!<br />
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Until later,<br />
MariahLeeMariahLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671918016323052909noreply@blogger.com0