Outrage

I think for some reason, I feel like God has really been laying food on my heart.  Let me explain. Lately I've been very interested in finding recipes involving all natural ingredients, and trying to incorporate them into my life, with my limited budget. At first I was just think about it from the standpoint of my own personal health goals. I want to maintain my weight, keep a trim figure, so it makes sense to eat GOOD food, not all that processed artificial food that your body wasnt meant to consume.
But today my view on that matter has drastically changed, because my English teacher showed us a movie in class, called Food, Inc.
Which shocked, horrified, and terrified me.
Because from what I understood, it is so so true.

It was all about how none of us have any real idea about how our food is processed, how the animals are being treated, or the actual ingredients in our food. Anyone know what Xanthum Gum is? Yeah, i didn't either.
We look on the back of cereal boxes, and have the time there are these huge lists of chemicals, and we have no idea what they actually are. How could it possibly be a good idea to feed ourselves ingredients of which we are totally ignorant??
But the worst part for me was the images of animals.

Thousands of chicks being run down a conveyor belt as if they were not living, breathing animals, just merchendise, being tossed down chutes, then grabbed by their tiny necks and being stamped for identification.
Hundreds of adult chickens packed into tiny, windowless tunnel-like houses, filled with feces, pumped so full of antibiotics and growth hormones that their bodies are overdeveloped, and their feet cannot support their overgrown bodies.
They can't even walk. Then they are packed away  for slaughter, thrown roughly into tiny crates in trucks, just thrown, as if they were nothing but garbage.

Cows standing knee deep in their own feces, covered from head to toe in manure, forced unnaturally to eat corn instead of grass...It was one of the saddest and most heart wrenching sights I have ever seen.
How could this be happening?? How could any human be so heartless as to subject another living, breathing animal to that kind of treatment?

They aren't even recognised as animals anymore, they are crops, merchendise. The companies "grow chickens" (and this is a quote from a Tyson Chicken farmer), simply for their meat, and for money. They dont care what happens to them before or afterwards.
Some farmers do care, but they are so indepted to the large companies that they dont have any say in how the chickens are treated or raised.

All I am is a child of God. And it hurts my heart so much to see other members of God's creations being so exploited and mistreated. We are supposed to be the animals' CARETAKERS. Yet we have subjected them to mere merchendise, we figure its okay to do whatever we want to them, as long as WE get meat on the table.

I'm sorry. But God would not, and is not pleased, with how those animals are being treated. I know He has ordained for animals and plants to be our food. That's why I don't have a problem with eating meat perse. But I DO have a problem when I see how the food I am eating was treated when it was still alive. Just because we are allowed to eat them does not give us the right to mistreat them so horribly while they are in our care. They are so innocent, and they have no voice, and yet they are being treated like the scum of the earth.

That makes me really, really angry and sad. People freak out when a puppy has no home, or when a racehorse is put down simply for having a leg injury, as well they well they should. But why does nobody care about these cows, chickens, turkeys? Are they any less creations of God? Why are there rescues funds for dogs and cats and horses, but no one cares that there are thousands of cows standing knee deep in their own feces??

IT'S WRONG.

And I want so desperately to DO something, to somehow change what is happening, and I don't know how. I don't want to become like one of those paranoid PETA  membors, freaking out every time any animal is eaten.

But I cannot just ignore what I saw today, act like its not happening. Because it is. I've lived my life in ignorance of what I've been eating. And I'm going to try not to do that anymore. I will go to the grocery store, and instead of just picking the cheapest cereal, I will try to look through the ingredients, and see if I actually know what they are. I will try to buy free roam, antibiotic free eggs. I will try to get free range and organic meat whenever I can.

Honestly, at this point, most people become vegetarians, because they want to protest the animal cruelty. But honestly, I don't see how that would solve anything. i would be just one vegetarian among millions of avid meat consumers. It wouldn't put any kind of a dent in the meat production process.

So what I'm going to do, is try to support those who don't mistreat their animals as much as I can. Because I don't think the meat is the problem, the process is.

.....

That's all I have to say. Except that I hope you guys will go on youtube and watch Food Inc.

Ari

For the past three days, tortilla wraps have been my lunch of choice, and let me tell you, its been a wonderful change. Because....usually I hate lunch. It's just not a good meal. Unless i get to eat leftovers from dinner, its just sandwiches, day in and day out.
Tortillas have saved my lunches.

And....here is the recipes for the heroic lunch saving tortillas:

See? Super easy, and super tasty!!
Yesterday my tortillas were filled with

                                                    
1. Breaded Chicken, sliceed up into little chunks.

                

2. Corn, black beans, and ranch dressing, plus



Some avocado if you can find some!!

Put it all in the tortilla, and vwallah, a tasty and filling lunch!!
And for today's tortilla lunch:

                            

A couple of fried eggs with salt and pepper and some turket lunch meat--also delicious!!

Thus my lunch has been reincarnated into something awesome--what are you guys going to try?

Love,
Lunch Lover,
Ari

So. Today I made homemade tortillas.
I would like to be:

-Making healthy, delicious food rather than simply buying everything, and eating junk food full of preservatives.

Because food doesn't have to be fatty, processed, or chemical laden to be delicious.





I am going to be filling my body with whole grains, fruits and vegetables, plenty of water, nuts and nutrients. Because our bodies are meant to be cherished and treasures, they need vitamins, protein, nutrients to thrive.






Because the healthy options...they just look way too delicious to pass up :)

Oh my goodness...it just all looks so delicious. I want to make like all of these things all at the same time!!

Yeah. I kind of love all this...and the images are from this AMAZING blog My New Roots , she takes the most gorgeous photos of her recipes, and all them are all natural and super delicious looking! So check her out!

Not only am I going to eat as naturally and organically as I can, I'm also trying to limit my hair and bodycare products to all natural ones.

For my hair I'm currently using all natural shampoo and conditioner:

                                                         

The lovely Burt's Bees shampoo, free of parabans and alcohol, and it smells really good.

For my conditioner....shea moisture raw shea butter restorative conditioner. I JUST got it today, and so far I like it, but we'll see how it stands against the test of time! But its fragrence free, paraben free, alcohol free, and as far as I can tell, its pretty moisturizing-
UPDATE: Feb. 2017, as far as I remember, I didn't end up liking the shea moisture conditioner, so I don't think I would recommend it.


Love,
Ari

Love is HardCore

People these days have all the wrong ideas about love.
They think it's something that can be fallen into, jumped into, created, or even bought.
They think love is a feeling, a mushiness around your heart slowly melts away like snow.
They think love is lust, passion that burns hot, then fades to ashes.
They think love doesn't exist, that its a word used to manipulate others.
They think love is an idea for those living in a fantasy land.
They think love is overrated.

Well. I'm here to tell you they are wrong. Love isn't selfish, it's selfless. Love isn't a feeling, it's an action. Love exists, because God IS love, and He is everywhere. Love isn't lust, because when one person truly loves another, they want what's best for the other person. Love can't be overrated, because it's one of the most powerful forces on earth.

Love fights for what is right, but never judges.

Love gives, but doesn't expect payment or returned favors.

Love speaks the truth, but without cruelty or malice.

Love can melt hearts, mold souls, and change lives.

So on this Valentines Day of 2012, remember that the point of love isn't chocolate, roses, and teddy bears because love is much BIGGER than that. It's a force that can change your life, and the lives of others. So spill out your love today and be a force for good!

And never forget, the ultimate expression of love, which was the death of Christ on the cross, where he bore the sins of the WORLD. The world. All the sins of all time that anyone ever commited, in thought, word, or deed. Can you even imagine the pain he endured? Everyone always emphasizes the physical pain Jesus endured. But can you even imagine what He was going through mentally and emotionally? God Incarnate, covered in the filth of humanity, so drenched in the sins of man that the Father, a part of Him, a part of the Trinity, turned His face away from Him. I couldn't imagine anyone having to deal with that kind of pain. And He was completely blameless. Utterly.  All for us.

And half of the time, we forget about it completely. We forget to thank Him for what He did for us.

So I propose, that this Valentines Day, we remember who taught us what love meant in the first place.

LOVE,

Ariana

Praising Jesus

Sometimes I forget how large God's plan is, and how small i am within it. How big He is and how much He knows, how well He knows me, inside and out. I mean, He created me. He knows me better than I know myself.
How easily I forget that.
But sometimes all it takes is just one little thing, one gesture, to make me realize how much He loves me. It sounds so cliche, but I mean it. It makes me feel so unworthy. What  have I dont at all to deserve to be so blessed? I havent done anything. In fact, many times I've done the exact oppasite of what He tells us to do. I don't understand why he continues to love and bless me so much. It doesn't make any sense.
Yet He does.

Every situation in my life somehow plays into it too, that's whats so amazing. Sometimes, about half way through the year, I'll look back on my list of New year's resolutions, and i'll be amazed by how many have come true even after I completely forgot about them.

I forgot, but He always remembers.

And somehow, He always provides at the right time. Like when I was looking for a photographer for my senior pictures, I discovered a woman I used to babysit for at my church is a photography major. It just blows my mind how He works like that, sometimes without my even asking.

So That's my tidbit for today.

God is awesome.

The end.

Love,

Ari

God in the Overcast

My.

I am quite thrilled that picnik is now allowing me to use the premium features for free.

Of course I am VERY sad that they are closing in April...but I am so glad I can use the premium features until then!

It's been a good day. A nice, overcast, take-pictures-and-drink-tea kind of day. 

Praise God, Who created beauty in the days with sunshine and the days without, and is creating a Home for those who are believers far more beautiful than anything on this earth. 

Seek Him, His Kingdom, and His Righteousness FIRST, 

Ari

Matthew 6:33