Convictions and Biscuits

Circle 'round the wagons and pull up a rock or log to the firepit, folks...

While walking on Friday morning, that small, still voice said to me,

There will be voices and they will tell me what to do.

Let's take a step back and not breathe in the smoke from the fire too much. In the abundant sunlight as I was walking outside, I felt warm when I heard this. I was reassured. In recent memory, this is the second conviction I have had, have received. From whom or what, I can't tell you because I don't know.

I am using "conviction" in the second definition sense, that of a "firmly held belief or opinion." The usage is somehwhat arcane, and I am using it in the sense that Jonathan Edwards and his Great Awakening ilk described being "convicted" that they were having an experience of God's grace.

In conventional reality, yes, there will always be voices that tell me what to do. As my much older friends show me, as long as you still have parents, they will tell you what you ought to do, at any age. As a 22-year-old, there are a darn lot of voices telling me what to do, and as I work in customer service, yeh, it happens.

However, there will be voices. There will be guides, and I know my maternal great-grandmothers are some of my spiritual guides on the Other Side. 

They will tell me what to do. They can see what I cannot because their perspective is so vast and vastly different. In ultimate reality, I take this conviction as an article of faith. I can trust these small, still voices to say the truth of a situation.

I just have to step aside, take out my headphones, and listen. Hence, meditation.

Jumblejacks!

I finally came up with a name for the chickpea jack biscuits I developed in August 2012. They are freezer-cleaning, trailmix-absorbing tasty balls of weirdness.

Jumblejacks Biscuits
Modified from "Baking Powder Biscuits" on http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/baking-powder-biscuits-recipe

3/4 cup quinoa (or chickpea) flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup cornmeal (coarse or fine is up to you)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon summer savoury

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla breeze)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 cup trailmix (mix of Mesa Sunrise cereal, chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, and raisins)
1 1/2 cups daiya pepperjack cheeze shreds, thawed


Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment or oven-safe silicon baking mat (AKA: Silpat).

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. In a large measuring cup, whisk together wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and immediately fold in the chunks and cheeze. Mix well. Use a 1/4-cup ice cream or muffin scoop to dollop balls of dough on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 17 minutes or until golden. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.
Makes a dozen or so.


Last week, I signed up for Beachbody Insanity. I'm at the point where I need an external force for accountability in order to meet my health goals. The health coach student needs a coach, too. Plus also, as I have been lamenting here, I'm in a rut, health-wise, and it's going to take something completely different to get me where I want to be.

So, what are my health goals?

I leave you with this:

Don't get me wrong, it's not all about looks. It's about losing visceral fat around my organs, which will reduce my waist size to where it ought to be for my height and level of activity. Health is about feeling the best mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, et cetera. When I get there, I'll let you know. I just know I'm striving for my more excellent self with each step of the way (which is an Emersonian idea, FYI). Let's walk.