out of the bounty of my pantry AND compassion by command

 

Top view of uncooked taco bake.  Leftovers:
tomato sauce, taco shells, and cooked corn. I
added ground beef with some taco spices and
some cheddar cheese. Yummy.

 

Side view of uncooked taco bake.
There is no view of it after it was
cooked because we ate it too quickly!

 


 

Here is S's plan for all that tomato soup! The

cans stack quite nicely.




I found six open bags of cereal PLUS the box
of marshmallows that pretends to be cereal PLUS
several packets of instant oatmeal.



 

I shouldn't be too harsh on the marshmallows that
pretend to be cereal: G found they were the perfect
breakfast time art medium.





5 or 6 rice bags in various states of fullness, 5
containers of pasta, a ton of lentils, some bulgur
and quinoa, and a bag of awesome coffee that
I had completely forgotten about. Plus lard and
vegetable shortening.


I organized my pantry last night and took an inventory of the goodies I have on hand! I actually found that I could make an entire pumpkin pie right now! Now if I actually do make one, I'll be sure to have you over to share.  I am showing only two of my pantry drawers, but I also have a drawer full of oils and vinegars (salad anyone??) and another drawer of flours, baking mixes, oatmeal etc. Speaking of baking mixes,  More with Less Cookbook (MWL) has a wonderful pancake mix on page 73 that I have made many times in the past and have shared with some friends who can vouch for its awesomeness. I also have a box of a factory-made biscuit and pancake mix. Put the two to a taste test - or a price test for that matter - and MWL wins hands down. You can make the dry mix so quickly (it only requires 5 ingredients), and making the pancakes themselves is super simple with just an egg, water, and oil needing to be added.  Mind you the commercial mix will probably last in your pantry for years thanks to all of the preservatives. The homemade mix will not last nearly that long... this is because you won't be able to resist eating it all in no time!

For the last two weeks my church has been running a series from another church called "Compassion by Command". The speaker was Greg Boyd. He has been working through what  God requires of those who profess to believe in him (to act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God - Micah 6:8) and what that looks like. He has been especially focussing on the humility part, on "knowing what you know you don't know" (Or as K'naan says in his song "Take a minute" "any man who knows a thing knows he knows not a damn, damned thing at all" - you can check out the music video here. Great lyrics on the beauty of giving).  He (Greg Boyd, not K'naan) talked a lot about stereotypes that affluent people have about the poor and stereotypes that the poor (and those who sympathize with the poor) have about the affluent, and the resulting stalemate that happens when it comes to actually fighting poverty and decreasing the gap between the richest and poorest in our societies.  In today's sermon he brought in the biblical perspective as to what's behind all our problems: 

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12 (New International Version, ©2010). 
I don't have any more time to work on this post, but I'd encourage you to listen to the sermon, it's about 1 hour long, but well worth the time. You might want to hear the first part too. (They can also be put on your iPod, so you can take it with you!)  Let me just say that Greg Boyd is a well-known, controversial (among other things he refused to tell his congregation to vote for a certain American political party), very intelligent speaker, professor of theology, pastor, and former atheist , but  perhaps my favourite parts of both sermons are the introductory and closing comments made by Christa Hesselink.  She exudes grace and I love to hear her speak.    It's really worth listening to, I know, two hours is a lot, but hey, you'll be happy you did!  Enjoy!! 



He looks pretty pleased with his handiwork.