Hummus (Twyla's/Vegan)

makes about 2 cups

Juice from one lemon
3 T. Tahini (or try substituting peanut butter)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 15. oz. can of chickpeas- drain but reserve liquid
1 T. finely chopped parsley

1/4 tsp each of:
cumin
paprika
salt

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend, adding liquid from the chickpeas as needed to achieve desired consistency.

Hummus is good chunky or smooth. Experiment with different seasonings, can also add chopped scallions, roasted red pepper, etc. (Use as dip for veggies, chips, sandwich spread...I'm going to spread it on a tortilla and add lots of roasted veggies. ::snort:: ) My guess is 1/2 Cup = 100 calories (chick peas).


Originally from,The Peaceful Palate by  J. Raymond

Click here for more recipes.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Lemonade (Renee's)

1/3 C Lemon Juice (2 - 3 lemons)
1/3 C  Agave Nectar (Xagave)
1 lt Perrier Water (sparkling water)

Mix. Serve over ice. Yummy! My new deployment drink of choice. For more yummy eats click here or link list below blog header. Made with Madhava Agave Nectar 80 cal per 8 oz.

Psst....I now make this with tap water and the kids love it just the same. 60 cal per 8 oz if made with tap water. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai Festival

I'll share more thoughts and post a zillion photos tomorrow....but for now...let me say attending this festival with Akikosan was a blast. 

Crowds like this in America would alarm me....

But the girls were fairly easy to keep track of...the crowds honestly parted and the comments were often and loud. I could get rich if I sold photos of these two. 

Jared was easy to spot and by this point seems to be tired of keeping an eye out for his sisters. Poor guy. He does look rather fearsome doesn't he? 

I felt totally safe, but when I mentioned going to Tokyo with the kids...Akikosan said she thinks it would be a better idea to wait until Mikesan is home. She said maybe Okinawa would be a better idea than Tokyo?????

Family Portrait 

May I say a Victorian corset has nothing over a Japanese Obi

Poor Arielle couldn't eat....

Stacia had no trouble - sweet pineapple

Akiko steered us from the "ice cream" stands to a little man with a cart for "old style Japanese Icesu"....yummm....like a slushy on a cone. 

A very fun evening.....many more sights to share...tomorrow....
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Very Cool Video

We topped off our VBS week, by heading to a local church where a Youth Rally was being held. The video above is the chapel's Human Video team (summer time - small)....at a Japanese Youth Rally. Jared is the central devil tonight.....Nolan is front on the right and Arielle is front on the left. A funny aside is that Jared instructed all to remove glasses and jewelry etc before they went on. It wasn't until the middle of the thing that I began to wonder how Arielle would see to jump off the platform....she said she counted everyone else's steps...and remembered how high to jump etc from practice. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

"Chocolate MnMs"

"Can I have a chocolate MnM? "


Distracted, I agree. 


"Oh, people...lovelys....Mom said I can share chocolate MnMs?" 


What in the world is she talking about? Has she gotten in the Daddy jar - our deployment countdown? 

No.....Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds.... ::snort:: 


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

I think Zander did o.k. at VBS today. He went to bed early on Tuesday night to be sure.

We enjoyed lunch with Renee and Ricky.

We checked at the BX for magnetic tape strip (to hang PWOC fliers in the chapel). They didn't have any.

We stopped at Y100 and bought two rolls.

Jared took a nap this afternoon.

Arielle and Nolan went to the beach with friends.

Zander, Stacia and I prepared and  delivered a meal to a brand new baby gal and  her family. Enjoyed the visit immensely.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Summer Fun

This week is full of VBS in the mornings.

We've also been working on school (reading, math, language arts).

I've been working on some local PWOC publicity...and trying to find time to work on regional PWOC projects as well.

We've found time for water fun....

The key seems to be to get YOURSELF wet. ::snort::

 Nothing like kicking back with a brother

We're still enjoying a bit of fresh produce from our garden. The strawberries are nearly played out. I pulled the romaine and broccoli. We now have some healthy watermelon plants but I'm not sure they'll produce an actual melon. We still have a red and green leaf lettuce that are supplementing our lettuce....those fresh salads lost a bit of their appeal when a slug crawled to the side of my plate one evening. ::gag:: 

I planted a pepper plant 3 - 4 weeks ago....and look at this. I think we'll roast some veggies for dinner. 

Renee B, shared a yummy lemonade recipe. I really should find time to get it into my recipe section....1/3 C fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2/3 C Agave Nectar (or Xagave) and 1 ltr Perrier Water (sparkling water of any type or tap water should work). I figure about 120 calories per 8 oz.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...