Friday, March 16, 2012

Cabin in the Mountains & Oat Bran Muffins


image courtesy photobucket.com

My folks had a cabin in the Stanislaus Forest near Coulterville. When there was a holiday giving us a long week end, we would take our children and head for the hills.

Dad and my Uncle had built a larger cabin, so the original one room cabin was being rented to an old miner who was retired. He was an interesting and eccentric old codger, with some strange ideas about diet and food.

He showed me a book on food that seemed to be his diet Bible. It gave all the reasons why almost any food was bad for you. It listed roughly every vegetable, meat and dairy product with rationale as to why you should not eat this or drink that.

I’m telling you I was almost afraid to eat or drink anything at all after speaking with him for half an hour and reading his strange book. I wondered if a “spirit guide” had written it.

Many books and articles can scare the living daylights out of you if you allow them to get the best of you. The Bible tells us to eat that which is set before you with thanksgiving, and that all food is good when you are willing to accept that Food is a gift from God.

Don’t get me wrong, because I do believe that we should follow good health guidelines and partake of plenty of green vegetables, with legumes, and a temperate amount of red, and white meat that should include fish.

The best thing is NOT to go off on a tangent and follow some of the fads that are from cults and offbeat religious groups. It is easy to get side tracked when we want to eat right and provide a healthy diet for our family.

Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves!

If you need a good recipe for a healthy breakfast or snack, here is my favorite Muffin recipe.

Oat Bran Muffin with apple and carrots
courtesy photobucket.com
Basic Oat Bran Muffins

2 ¼ cups Oat Bran
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 T baking power (not soda)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey or molasses
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
2 eggs
2 T Olive oil
1 cup chopped fruit (apple, carrots, zucchini)
(optional 1/2 cup plumped raisins)

Mix well and pour into greased muffin pans and bake at 425 degrees for 18 minutes.

This post is linked with Ann Kroeker’s, Food on Fridays
Also linked with Laura at: Faith Filled Friday

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5 comments:

floyd said...

I'm with you, it's more about moderation than anything else anyway. The old miner sounds like a character from the novel you're gonna write someday!

You know I love those childhood stories, we can all relate to them. What a wonderful childhood and memories...

Laura said...

It is so easy to make an idol out of anything isnt it. Thanks for the encouragement to keep our eyes on Jesus.

Denise said...

Loved reading another great flashback from your childhood Hazel! :) I think God encourages regular, healthy meals… "Give us today the food we need" (Matthew 6:11). When you're nourished, your ministry is nourished… and those you work with and serve can be nourished, too!

Blessings and hugs,
Denise

Sheila said...

The intense preoccupation with diet (in the absence of some specific health problem that warrants it) always strikes me as self-aggrandizing.

But then who am I to say what's intense for anyone besides me?

caryjo said...

I'll print off this recipe. That looks great... and easy for me. I also agree re: the food. Other than living in foolish eating habits, we can be pretty flexible. It's harder and harder as time has changed, shopping has been adjusted over and over again. I appreciate your approach and commentary.