Made To Crave Study and Hibachi Stir Fry Recipe

I love Mexican food.
I love Chinese food.
I love Japanese food.
I love Thai food.
I love Italian food.
I love American food...

I think I just love food.   Have you found that food really gets in the way of weight loss?  Me too!

Made To Crave was such an important Bible study for me because I finally understood my problem and its root.  The root of my problem wasn't food.  Everyone needs food.  The root of my problem was the love I had for food.  It is embarrassing to say that there were times I thought more about food than I did the Lord.

Most of us know we should stay far away from sin,  but in the Christian realm overeating is not considered a sin.   My eating habits had become very self focused.   I ate when I wanted to and what I wanted to eat.  I didn't eat for necessity but pure enjoyment.   It is not wrong to enjoy food, but for me it went beyond the enjoyment to the replacement...I was replacing my joy of the Lord with food. 

I have heard from many of you that you are also on this journey.  I am praying for you all as you really seek God in this area of your life.  I have really learned that cravings are not wrong!  Misplaced cravings are wrong.  Lysa Terkeurst says, "We should crave God, not food!"   Our deepest desires should be met through God not food.  I am learning more and more about this everyday!  I am not sure if this struggle will ever end, but I do know that by having this struggle I have grown so close to the Lord.

I have lost all of my weight by counting points.   I am not a part of the Weight Watchers program, but I have a Weight Watchers slide that I use to count points.  I am in the last stretch of my weight loss and for me it is the hardest.  I no longer have an easy point target and it is really hard to fit all my food in to 22 points a day.  Even though it is harder it is also better for me because it causes me to eat lower point foods like fruits and veggies.  

I have shared a lot about what I eat and why, but if you struggle with food temptations like I do you might also want to ask yourself;  Are the foods I eat bad?  Why do I eat what I eat?  Am I pleasing the Lord in everything I do, including what I eat? 

I want to share a recipe that I love and often make for lunch - Hibachi Vegetables and Rice

Ingredients:

Sesame Seed Oil - In my opinion this is what makes it!
Favorite Veggies:  I use onion, broccoli, zucchini, and peppers.
Soy Sauce
White Rice or Brown

Veggies

• Start by heating the sesame oil.  (I use about 1 tablespoon)
• Throw in the onion and broccoli first because these take longer to cook.
• After a minute add in the remaining veggies
• Stir in a little bit of soy sauce right before taking the veggies from the pan.

Rice:

• In the same pan add a little more oil and fully cooked rice.
• Fry the rice for a minute or two.  If you like egg in your rice add it at this time.
• You can also add some pieces of cooked chicken as well.
• Stir in a little bit of soy sauce and your done!

This is my version of my favorite Japanese Hibachi Vegetables.  It is even better with yum yum sauce, but that would take up WAY too many points so I suffer without.  :)