Lycopene & Spring Soup Recipe

Lycopene comes from tomatoes and some other red vegetables. It is what gives the red color. It is considered an antioxidant and numerous studies indicate that it helps the body fight against cancer.

An article from the Mayo Clinic reports studies on lycopene as treatment for cancer are inconclusive because the studies were done using tomatoes which also contain vitamin C and other nutrients as well. They're saying that it's not certain that lycopene, taken from its natural environment and used as a medicine for cancer, would produce the same results.

My suggestion, therefore, is to use lycopene the way God intended when He created it in its natural form, combined with all those other wonderful nutrients in tomatoes, red peppers, etc.

Here's a new recipe I made for Easter dinner to accompany brisket, asparagus and salad. It's a great soup to serve warm or cold and is chocked full of lycopene in its natural environment of others nutrients.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Orange, Black Olive, and Orange "Salsa"

Recipe from Lunds and Byerly's Real Food, Spring 2012
Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 C chopped onion
1 strip orange zest (3in by 1/2 in)
2 cloves chapped garlic
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 med. leaves basil, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp coarse salt, or more to taste
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
3 C water (or half water and half chicken or vegetable broth)

Garnish
8 pitted Kalamata olives
1 strip orange zest (2-inches by 1/2 inch)
1 leaf basil

1. Heat oil in a saucepan until hot enough to sizzle a piece of onion. Add onion and orange zest. Cook, stirring, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
2. Add red peppers, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add water and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cook, covered, over medium-low heat, 5 minutes. Cool slightly.
3. Ladle soup (include orange zest and basil leaves) into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and puree until smooth. If preferred, puree with an immersion blender in saucepan. Season to taste. Keep warm over low heat.
4. Garnish: Gather olives, orange zest, and basil in a pile and chop finely until blended.
5. Ladle hot soup into bowls and sprinkle each with a tablespoonful of garnish before serving.

It's light, fresh and makes your mouth come alive.

Also try it cold, just allow to cool in refrigerator before serving.  Yum.

The All-Seeing God Within

"Prayer is standing in the presence of God with the mind in the heart--that is, in the point of our being where there are no divisions or distinctions and where we are totally one within ourselves, with God, and with others and the whole of creation. In the heart of God the Spirit dwells, and there the great encounter takes place. There, heart speaks to heart as we stand before the face of the Lord, ever present, all seeing, within us. And there, in the place of the heart, spiritual formation takes place. . . 

"The work heart is used here in its full biblical meaning of that place where body, soul and spirit come together as one. . . the word heart in Jewish-Christian tradition refers to the source of all physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional and moral energies."

~Henri Nouwen, Introduction Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit

This type of spiritual encounter with Almighty God is available to us at any time. It is too incredible for us to grasp and yet, too available for us to recognize it's value. This week we celebrate what God did through Christ to purchase this privilege for us. His death and resurrection wasn't only about escaping hell and going to heaven when we die. It was to open the way to communion with the Holy God.

So why do we resist the awesome honor of that communion?

We say we desire communication with God, but we're too busy. We ask Him for a lot of things, yet we resist the Spirit's wooing to come away with Him alone.  I think our hesitance has to do with part of what Nouwen refers to above when he says, "There, heart speaks to heart as we stand before the face of the Lord, ever present, all seeing, within us."

Talk about hitting close to home! Talk about vulnerability!!


We don't like to be vulnerable. It feels unsafe--no longer in our control. While we honor honesty, we we don't reveal everything to anyone.  No wonder we resist direct communication with this all-seeing Presence.

But we lose so much when we give in to that fear and resist that direct communication. Yes, He may enlighten us to something that is displeasing to Him, and bad for us; but we must remember, we are safe with Him. It was for this very purpose that Christ died and rose again. We are forgiven before we're even faced with our sins and defects. At the moment we turn to face the sickness He already sees, we are healed.

This Easter season, may we put aside our excuses, make time to commune with Almighty God--for Spirit to speak to spirit. And may we discover what we've been longing for all along. I pray for you, what I pray for myself, a regular practice of the presence of God.

Can Mantras be Christian?

What do you think about Mantras?

I know the idea comes out of Eastern practices, especially Eastern meditation, but is there any use for them in Christian practice?

Like most things, a mantra is nothing in itself. What that mantra states, however can have a powerful impact on a person's life.

The things we repeat to ourselves everyday, are our mantras. In meditation we choose a mantra. For Christians it should be something biblical, something that builds us up spiritually. Outside of meditation, however, we often repeat unhealthy mantras to ourselves without even thinking about them.

"I hate my job."  "I'm so tired." "I feel like ----"

These may be some of the mantras that repeat themselves in your head. These negative mantras have power too. They become our constant chant. Here is where the devil gets a foothold. He may be able to convince us to make a bad decision in order to escape what we feel is a bad situation. He may be able to plant sickness into our body too.

Remember what Proverbs 23:7 says? "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

This week let's make it a practice to repeat something encouraging, something from Scripture to counter the negative thoughts each time one of them pops in our head.

"I hate my job."              "Thank you Father for providing a job for me in this down economic time."

"I'm so tired."                 "The Lord is my strength when I am weary."

"I feel like (fill in the blank)"   "But as for me, I will hope continually, I will praise You yet more and more." (Psalm 71:14).

What are some of the mantras that have helped you?

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