Looking at Breakfast a Little Differently...

Slowly over the years, I have found change after change that I could make to live a healthier life.  The biggest one is changing the way I look at breakfast.  Soups, stir fries and leftovers from dinner.  This morning's was a good example.  I cook up 1/3 cup of millet with a pinch of grey sea salt.  Then layer it with a mixture of sauteed red onion slices, mushrooms, spinach, olive oil and turmeric.  Third layer, a heaping tablespoon of kimchi or other cultured vegetable.  And lastly, an over easy egg.  Simple and delicious.

Here We Go Again....

There are some who have heard me say, "I hate labels!"  Well it was true in the past and it is still true.  And yet here I am, or have been rather, attempting to label myself over the last few months.  It never ends well.  I know these labels that we willingly take on lead to locking ourselves up inside boxes of various sizes and shape.  Labels and boxes demand that we submit ourselves to man-made laws.  It is just the same as praying for something very specific and then dictating to God who, what, when, where and how it will be accomplished.  I am very thankful for all I have gone through.  These months have taught me so much that I would not otherwise have learned.  The journey is not over.  Thank goodness!  I still have so much to learn.  I do hope that I finally have fully understood this lesson, so as not to have to repeat again.  As I grow and learn to follow the Creator, I aim to avoid labeling myself or allowing others to label me.  It is much more important that I live well.  Really, it boils down to fear.  Fear of judgement.  Which just creates more fear.  What a nasty cycle!  The choices we make should promote love and peace in our lives, never fear.  It is a wonderful in born compass.  Using this compass, has me make decisions I did not have the courage to make in the past and it is leading to physical healing.  I now have gone quite some time with no pain or exhaustion.  I am excited to see where the future leads.

Totally Plant-Based

Well it looks like it is time to give it up!  Yep, I have to give up dairy.  It was a hard decision to make.  I have really enjoyed my morning kefir.  I believe it is what has helped me put on some weight that I had lost, but ultimately it isn't healthy for me.  Constant sinus issues are not my idea of true health and that is what I am reaching for.  Also, eggs are out the door, at least for now.  I will reevaluate eggs at a later date, to see if they are effecting me negatively.  Then again, I may feel to good to even try it.  I guess that makes me a vegan.  Hmmm, I have been in this place before and it didn't work out very well.  Digging through research over the last few years, I have figured out where I went wrong.  It was a difficult task.  There is so much conflicting information out there and not all research is equal.  I know that we were created to eat a plant-based diet, I just had to figure out the details.  For me personally this means making sure I don't eat too much raw food and that I get a lot of calories!  The first time I tried a vegan diet, I made both of these mistakes.  I have to keep my calorie intake above 2750 and the majority has to be cooked with plenty of starches in the form of squash, potatoes and beans.  One other major difference is wheat.  When I had tried going vegan before, I still didn't know about my wheat allergies!  Over the last few days I have been switching over.  My sinus are clearing up and my energy is soaring and my brain-fog is drifting out!  I am so excited about how this is going to work out.  I can see so much positive improvement already.  Thank you Yehovah for giving us the perfect diet!

Here's to living at the farmer's market and growing a garden.

Getting To Work

As much as I am enjoying watching my garden grow this spring, it is time to get to work!  I have quite a few projects lined up.

• 3 new sets of cloth pads
• 4 projects that won't be named here ;-) (they are gifts)
• recovering the chair cushions on 6 chairs on our patio
• soap making (bars and laundry soap)
• improvements on my tichel pattens
• pattern making and sewing of a dress in some gorgeous brown linen 
• painting several shelves and a coat rack
• turning an empty frame into a bulletin board and another into a dry erase board
• sewing curtains for the living area
• reorganizing the herbs and spices in the kitchen, linen closet and the pantry

After these are done, I am hoping to slow down and get back to quilting.  Something tells me I have forgotten something.  No problem, if I remember I will add it to the list.  As these projects are worked or completed or delivered I will post pictures of them. 

Raising Children- Personalities

Something that has been extremely helpful in raising my 3 awesome children has been to understand the differences between different personality types.  The two big ones are introversion and extroversion.  Despite introverts being only about 25% of the population, in our family we have 3 obvious introverts and 1 borderline extrovert (hubby) and 1 very obvious extroverted child.  To top it all off I (an INFJ) am considered to be only about 1% of the population.  Crazy, but true.  Balancing my need for quiet and my extrovert child's need for noise and social interaction is difficult.  Difficult, but possible.  There are two great places to determine the sometimes subtle differences in a persons personalities are http://www.personalitypage.com/cgi-local/build_pqk.cgi for children 7-12 and http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp for adults and older children. 

The answers these tests give can really help make a difference in interacting with our children and choosing a homeschooling curriculum.

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. 

Patience

So, lately, I have been feeling a little under the weather.  I may have some chronic health issues, but I rarely get sick.  As in contagious, sinus and respiratory sick.  Not fun.  It has been an awesome, and yet unrequested lesson.  Sick I can handle.  A little pain?  No problem.  Not being able to accomplish my to do list?  Say it isn't so!!!  I am way too hard on myself.  Besides, as a homemaker, everything I do gets undone.  And with 6 children, (3 of the human variety and 1 canine and 2 felines) it happens quickly.  Don't take this as complaining.  I would be out of work and sulking of boredom without the continuous cycles of laundry, dishes, dirty floors, lessons for my children and myself, caring for my husband in a myriad of ways and the larger cycles of the year.  My lesson at the moment is patience.  Patience with myself.  I must not shame myself every time I am unable to accomplish the impossible tasks I set before myself.  Changing thought processes is difficult work.  Necessary though.  Healing the world has to start within. 

Fun in the Kitchen

I haven't been blogging,  I have been too busy trying out new recipes in the kitchen. All grain free!

Clean Water

When anyone asks what the most important action is to improve health, I always say Water!  Clean, pure water.  In this day and age, we need a little help in this department.  I highly recommend Berkey filters.  My family and I have been using Berkey for about four years now.  I won't be going back!  Start with clean water, but also make sure you are drinking plenty.  As of this morning, I am now a Berkey affiliate.  On my side bar is a link to Berkey.  I do receive a commission.  For those of you who choose to use this link, thank you for supporting my writing!

Gardening Conundrums

So, I finally decided that it is past time I get a closer look at the areas I have available for planting.  My grand ideas need some major changing.  How did I not notice that there isn't anything growing, because it is sand.  Not sandy soil, but pure sand.  :)  Yes, it can be done.  Considering the short period of time I have here in this beautiful place, and the expense and labor involved, it's not worth it to go all out.

I will be planting in a few pots, and everything will be staying in one specific flower bed that gets plenty of sunlight.  I will be adding organic compost and planting sandy soil loving plants like lavender, oregano, Russian sage, rosemary, and thyme.  I might even pick up some hardy grapes.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I am going to get a couple of citrus trees, also.  I'm thinking, Meyer's lemons and an orange.

So, now I'm off to the farmer's market.  It's always good to meet new people and buy local.  I really like to know where my food is coming from.

Everyone have a beautiful Shabbat!