Homemaking... Living the Simple Life

Homemaking is simple and yet it is not.  It is a life that is slowly evolving for many of my generation.  Some would say that we are going backwards, attempting to live a life from the past generations.  I disagree!  For one, I don't do daily baking, Monday washing, Tuesday ironing, and so on.  Many in my generation are working hard to learn skills that have been neglected and lost.  We want to produce, not be constant consumers.  We want to offer the world something other than filling a spot at some desk in corporate America.  The new homemaker has shunned an 8- 5 job and taken on something so much more important.  We are attempting to heal the world through simple everyday acts.  Acts that have the potential to turn things in another direction.  The world has slowly been degrading into materialistic and morally bankrupt societies separated by focusing on differences.  Homemakers can turn the tide in a positive direction.  First, by embracing simplicity and change.  For me personally, this involves homeschooling my children, daily washing up, gardening, soap making, candle making, cross-stitch, quilting, coming up with new grain-free recipes, and even the occasional building or refinishing of furniture.  This life looks a little different for everyone.  Just as much as our daily tidying of home and caring for our children, we need to connect with others, to create wholesome communities.  Teach the skills we have learned to others who are interested.  Spreading this wholesome sense of community as we do.

Vegetarian Chili

During the fall and winter, a nice bowl of chili is nice and warming.  Sometimes, I just don't feel like a bowl of meat and sauce.  I crave something with more flavor complexity and plant based.  This is my go to recipe. 

Veggie Chili

2 cups chickpeas
3 cups kidney beans
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 diced onion
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp cumin
Generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 to 2 Tbsp garlic powder

Soak and precook chickpeas and kidney beans.  After this initial step, the chili can be cooked stove top or all ingredients can be placed into a slow cooker.  Stir to combine. 
Stove top:  cook on low for 2 hours
Slow cooker:  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
                      Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
                      Times will depend on your specific slow cooker.

Cleanliness

As a homemaker, I have a lot of balancing to do.  One of those balancing acts is finances, health and cleanliness!  Without making things overwhelming, of course.  The way I do that is to make my own cleaners.  Today, I made a cleaner for the shower and bath.  It's super simple.  Takes no time at all.

First things first.  Make a cup of tea with the water left in the tea kettle.  Tea steeping always makes the break after the work all that much nicer.  Then I heat vinegar in the tea kettle or coffee pot.  Clean the tea kettle and coffee pot.  Pour 1 part vinegar and 1 part dish soap into a spray bottle.  Now, I found this on pinterest, which calls for Dawn.  Not my kind of cleaner! I use a natural dye and fragrance free dish soap instead.  At this point, essential oils of your choice can be added.  About 20 drops should do it.  Today, I am using a blend called 4 thieves.  I like to change it with the seasons.  Next step is to spray shower and bath surfaces.  Wait!  Really, wait, you don't want to jump the gun here.  Wait at least 10 minutes.  Then take a dry towel and wipe down all surfaces.  Then rise.  Works like a charm.  This way there is no scrubbing.  For anyone, with lots of little ones or even a chronic condition that makes keeping things clean difficult, this is the way to go.  Easy on the budget, body and it's healthy.

Now don't forget your tea. 

Missing...

Ah, the things that go missing during moves.  I was hoping to get some cold process soap made today.  It wasn't meant to be.  My soap molds seem to have gone missing.  I will continue to look, but I am running out of places to look.  If all else fails, I have extras coming in the mail.  Hopefully next week.  Schedules aren't everything.  Sometimes, I have to be flexible.

Israel Longhorn Project

Part of healing the world, is mental and spiritual, but we must never forget the many projects around the world that work to physically heal the earth, which has far-reaching, positive effects.  Please take the time to check out the Longhorn Project.

"The Negev’s extreme heat and lack of water create difficult agricultural conditions. Farmland in Galilee is being overrun. Growths of non-native thorn bushes, shrubs and low trees leave farms fallow and create fire hazards that threaten the entire area.

Advocate Robin Rosenblatt, speaking today for the American Israel Texas Longhorn Ecological Project, declared with hopeful confidence that an economical solution to Negev’s hostile and the Galilee’s damaged environments has been found, and it comes right out of the American Old West ---Texas Longhorn cattle. He wants to bring the critters from America to Israel.

These hardy creatures are highly adaptable to harsh environments. They feed on shrubs, tree leaves and cacti and they can function well in feedlot or range conditions. They have excellent calving and mothering capabilities. They protect their calves from predators and cattle thieves. Longhorn cattle are also highly disease resistant and their average yearly loss rate is as low as 3%.

To date, Israel has acquired cattle from America and Europe that are not suited to the region’s semi-desert environment. They suffer from a variety of preventable problems including poor mothering skills, birth complications, high losses to predators and cattle thieves, and poor disease resistance – in short, high death rates and low reproduction rates. In some Galilean locations, losses run as high as 30% of the annual calving crop. Israeli cattle producers have tried and failed to improve their cattle’s’ adaptation to the environment.

Rosenblatt said this research project could benefit Israel, the Middle East, Africa and US cattle producers. Texas Longhorn cattle may represent the solution to restoring the natural environment of the Galilee and developing the Negev. The research, if successful, could also help to boost Israel’s lackluster meat production, decrease fire hazards, increase open space for indigenous animals and tourism, and foster business with United States ranchers. Eventually, benefits would accrue to third world nations who are experiencing similar problems.

The Israel American Texas Longhorn Ecological Project is endorsed by the Texas Longhorn Heritage Foundation and operates in conjunction with scientists from Israel’s Department of Agriculture. This project is the only nonprofit that its business model is structured to be completely self-sustainability, once we get our startup funds."

ISRAEL LONGHORN PROJECT

501 (c) 3 Non-profit # 74-3177354

Robin Rosenblatt

815 Hill St. # 5, Belmont CA 94002;  (650) 631-9270 

robin@longhornproject.org / http://www.longhornproject.org

"Ikarian Stew"

A few days ago, I finished to book The Blue Zones 9 Lessons for Living Longer.  Loved the book, and I highly recommend it.  In the chapter on Ikaria, the author mentions a dish that sounded wonderful.  There was no recipe, so I decided to come up with my own. 

Ikarian Stew

3 cups black-eyed peas
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp ground fennel seed
1 Tbsp dried minced garlic
2 large handfuls of spinach or wild greens
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to finish

Soak black-eyed peas in plenty of water with Apple Cider Vinegar for 12 hours. 
Cook black-eyed peas over night in a slow cooker on low.
Half an hour before finish, remove excess water and add tomatoes, fennel, garlic and greens. 
Stir to combine. 
Finish cooking on high for about 30 minutes. 

This was a wonderful dish, that even my children enjoyed.

A Sweet Life

I am not one of those people who "loves" sweets.  But for rare occasions something sweet adds that little something that expresses our joy of an occasion.  Icing on the cake, so to speak.  I have recently found an amazing recipe for Vanilla Brownie Cheesecake.  It is in Paleo Indulgences by Tammy Credicott.  This recipe is grain-free and luscious!  I still have many recipes to try, but the ones I have tried have all been excellent.