Homemade Cranberry Jam is my absolute favorite thing to make with cornbread muffins. I typically make the muffins once a week as a yummy treat to heat up throughout the week. Taking ownership over what food products you consume and knowing what goes into the things you are eating is a major part of wise stewardship of the body. Eating intentionally does not mean that you have to miss out of amazing flavors and delicious foods. Thank you so much as always for taking the time to come to my blog and hang out with me. I would love to hear how this recipe goes for you!

Ingredients: 
2 Cups of Cranberries 
Water 
Fresh Orange Juice or Fresh Oranges
Cinnamon Sticks 
Nutmeg (Optional) 
Maple Syrup or Honey
Arrowroot, Pectin, or Cornstarch (I prefer arrowroot)

Directions:
Place the cranberries, water, and cinnamon sticks in pot. Allow to simmer until the cranberries begin to soften and cook down. Add your fresh orange juice. You can either juice oranges, squeeze orange slices, or add organic organic juice If it's all you have. Substitute with water If need be making sure the cranberries to not get dried out. When the mixture begins to look soupy, begin slowly adding the arrowroot, cornstarch, or pectin and stir as you go. Continue adding and stirring until the mixture starts to thicken and look like jelly. Add nutmeg and honey or maple syrup. Continue smashing the cranberries with a fork and stirring until you get the consistency that you prefer. 

 In Ecclesiastes 3:1 we read,
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."
​
Here in the Jersey pocket of the East Coast of the US, we are in the dead center of winter. The temp rested around 6 degrees last night and the usual loud nature sounds outside retreated to stillness. 
Just like the weather here in the North East, sometimes life has seasons that  feel an awful lot like winter. Maybe you feel as though your spiritual walk is stagnant, or that you've been waiting for an answered prayer forever, or life has beaten you up a bit. You aren't feeling vibrant, warm, or alive. I have been there... we have all been there. Life is full of valleys, peaks, trials, and detours. Sometimes, God in His goodness allows these seasons to show us the greatness of His hand or to invite us to rest in His presence while we wait for our breakthrough to come. 
I could take it as far as to say that all of this life for the believer is a season of winter and that we are waiting on our King to come and bring Spring to the land and to our hearts again. It reminds me of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when they are speaking about Aslan returning... 
"Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight, At the Sound of His Roar, sorrows will be no more, when He bears His teeth, winter meets it's death, and when He shakes His mane, we shall have spring again."
The Lion of Judah will come and the age of winter will be over.... and OH what a glorious day.
Until then, here we are, all of us in different places on the journey, in different seasons of life, and with different testimonies to share. I look around sometimes at the winter landscape outside my window and I realize that it has its own unique beauty to behold. That there is something about the shorter days, the stillness, and the way the earth sleeps, that makes it shockingly beautiful. It is so much like the challenges of my life.... when I can see them through the lens of heaven and realize that there is beauty there If I choose to see it. 
I encourage you all today to see the beauty. 
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I will fear no evil,
 for you are with me;
 your rod and your staff,
 they comfort me. You prepare a table before me
 in the presence of my enemies;
 you anoint my head with oil;
 my cup overflows.
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
 all the days of my life,
 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
 forever.” Ps. 23:4-5 (ESV)

This is one of my favorite DIY homemade facials because it's simple, easy to make, and makes my skin feel amazing. This facial recipe is exfoliating and nourishing for your skin and you don't have to worry about any harmful chemicals because all of the simple ingredients are edible! 

Ingredients: 
Coconut Oil
Raw Honey
Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar

I mix all the ingredients today and when I apply this mixture to my face I first rub it in to allow the sugar to gently exfoliate my skin and then I let the masque sit in my skin for another 10-20 mins. 

Benefits of Coconut Oil: Adds healthy fats to the skin, nourishes, heals inflammed skin, combats dryness. 
Yes, according to our experts. Coconut oil is used in many natural beauty products, and for good reason: It's naturally antibacterial and antifungal, coconut oil for skin is an excellent moisturizer, it can penetrate hair better than other oils, and, well, it smells like cookies and awesomeness.
Benefits of Raw Honey: It's antibacterial properties flush out impurities and kill unwanted bacteria. Acne: Honey is naturally antibacterial, so it's great for acne treatment and prevention. Aging: Full of antioxidants, it is great for slowing down aging. Complexion boost: It is extremely moisturizing and soothing, so it helps create a glow.
Brown or Coconut Sugar will give your skin a gentle exfoliation which is so needed in these dry and cold winter months. 
I also use this as a masque on my lips!

I pray that you enjoy this facial recipe and that you take some time for yourself to breathe and think of all the things that you are grateful to God for. 
P.S. I won't tell If you eat a little while you're making it  :)
Hugs and Shalom,
​Lea

This is a healthy delicious version of fried rice and also a great way to use up that day old rice nobody wants to eat. I used rice that was uncooked and rinsed but as I said you could also use rice that has gotten hard from the previous day. 

Ingredients:
Rice
Oil (I recommend avocado or sesame)
1/2 yellow onion
Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
Water or Broth
Carrots, Peas, and Peppers or Broccoli  (You can use any veggies you have and like)
Spices If you so desire

How It's Made:
Heat the oil in the saucepan on medium heat, add onions and cook until soft, and then add your rice.
Once the rice is coated in the oil, pour some of the soy sauce or liquid aminos into the saucepan and continue stirring. (If the rice is uncooked you will have to continue stirring and watching the rice until it reach desired consistency.)
As the rice is cooking, you can add small amounts of broth or water and continue to stir (If you add to much it will get mushy so only add a little bit at a time) 
Add your veggies and chopped chicken If you so choose and continue to cook until everything has reached desired consistency. 
Super easy, delicious, and frugal! 

Being set apart. As a believer, we may hear this term often... but what does it really mean? The biblical definition of this term is something that is holy or sanctified. When something is set apart, it is taken out of something else, and becomes holy or sanctified. Throughout scripture, The Most High refers to many things as set apart, certain foods, spirits, regions, and us! The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) quite literally means the set apart spirit of Yah. When God takes something and sanctifies it by the Word (Yeshua), he is calling it something that can enter His presence. We know that no unclean or sinful wicked thing will be able to enter the presence of The Most High, but If it be made holy or sanctified by the Word, then it may enter into His presence. We see all throughout the 1st testament, the process that one had to go through to make themselves clean and sanctified to be able to step into the holy place before God. Now, we are sanctified by the blood atonement of the one to lived blameless.
::Chills! Every single time, chills.::
We can now enter into the Holy place with Yah because of Yeshua (Jesus).
Another aspect we see in this is the choice to live righteously. So, what does that mean exactly? We know that it is by no power of our own or justification by our works that we are deemed clean and holy before God; it is only by faith in Messiah. However, Yah calls us to be set apart from the world and continue to choose to aim to live righteously and follow the perfect example of our Messiah. Truth be told, you will fall short... we all do.... and thank God for grace and the sacrifice of Messiah. 
When Adonai asks us to come out from amongst the world and to be ye separate, He is calling us to live lives that are in contradiction to sin and to the world and live in alignment with His standards and statutes. Scripture says, "If you LOVE me, you will keep my commandments" 
The bible defines sin as transgression of God's commandments (of His Torah). He is asking us to live in alignment with His perfect and good Torah to the best of our ability as an act of love towards Him and as a choice to live lives that make us set apart, peculiar, and a light in a dark world. 
We can not be the salt of the earth and a light to the unbelievers If we are blending in with Babylon. 

​Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Hey beautiful friends! Here is the recipe from VLOG 24 that was requested by so many of you. If you haven't checked out that DITL Vlog episode yet, I will post it below. Please let me know what you think of it when you try it! This recipe can be altered to accommodate dairy free diets. 

Broth (Bone broth, chicken broth, veggie broth)
Organic Cream  (Coconut Milk for dairy free)
Arrowroot or flour to thicken
Lentil, Chickpea, or Regular penne pasta
Chopped up chicken (I used the leftover roast chicken)
Carrots
Celery
1 Clove Chopped Garlic
1/2 Yellow Onion
Butter or Oil
Turmeric, Salt, Pepper, Paprika
Parsley to garnish

​The amount of ingredients used will vary based on how many mouths you are looking to feed. 
Chop onion, garlic, celery, and carrots and add to butter and oil on medium heat. Allow to sauté until the onions are translucent. Next, drop the chopped chicken and stir all the ingredients together. Add the broth of your choice about three inches over the ingredients in the pot. Allow to simmer on low medium for about 20-30 mins. Once the carrots are tender, add the thickener and the cream (add thickener to your desired consistency) Continuing stirring until everything is mixed together and the soup begins to thicken. Simmer another 10 mins. Add the pasta and simmer on medium another 10-15 mins or until pasta in cooked through. Add spices and stir. Garnish with parsley and parm cheese. Enjoy! 

There are moments in life, mountains, and memories, where we feel like it's too much and that we are too weak to face it. Those moments happen, and it seems that no one is exempt from the aftershocks of our fallen nature. The unexpected occurs, a challenge arises, battles confront us, and it's easy in the midst of those times to forget our identity, our inheritance, and our armor. It is easy in trial to begin to rely too much on our own strength and feel that it's up to us to make it all happen and to get it all to work. I suppose in essence, we start giving ourselves too much credit. 
I have had moments in my own life where I have had to acknowledge that I didn't have the strength to keep fighting whatever I was facing. I know that Abba was allowing me to get to that point so that in the midst of wanting to control it all that I would be moved to remember who really held each breath I took in their hands. The verse in the picture above became an anthem for me in moments of weakness and self surrender. "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness" - There is so much packed into the beauty and power of this verse. One thing, is that it lets you know that it is OKAY that you don't have it all together, it is OKAY that you can't do everything on your own. God is telling you that the power of His might is made perfect in your surrendering your burdens to Him. The other thing that is so beautiful about this verse is that His grace is sufficient for us. In those moments when you feel like everything else has been stripped away, the grace of God through salvation in Messiah is enough. He is saying that it is the starting point for every purpose and plan He has for your life. We can know with confidence, that If we are in Christ, that we have the foundation of everything we need to be everything we will be. 
I encourage you to hold tight to His grace tonight and His abounding love for you. Whatever giant or mountain that you are facing... however weak you may feel... He loves you and His grace truly is sufficient.