Mele Kalikimaka

“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.”― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet (Make each day special so in retrospect you will enjoy it a second time.)  …Across the world…thank you Melanie….

…songs of the day….

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmases When You Were Mine


McDougall’s Baked Kale Chips
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Wash the kale well and leave some of the water clinging to the leaves. Strip the leaves from the thick stems and cut into uniform sized pieces. (Mine are usually about 2 x 2 inches.) Place on a non-stick baking sheet or on top of parchment paper on a regular baking sheet and sprinkle with seasonings of your choice (do not oil the pan or spray kale with oil).

Bake for about 30 minutes until crispy. Store in a tightly covered container to keep them crispy; they taste best the day that they are made.

Try spraying them with a light coating of Bragg Liquid Aminos or balsamic vinegar before baking, or just a light dusting of sea salt. They are easy to re-crisp if you don’t eat them all right away, just put them back in the oven for a short time.

Happy Birthday Ma Grande!!

Miranda Lambert The House That Built Me

...Happy Birthday my girl!!


Also...some alternative cooking techniques!!

Solar cooker for prepping/cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

If not enough sun, then use a rocket stove for minimal fuel consumption.

"Hay box" technique to slow cook breakfast overnight.

...some good ideas to try out!!

Eskimo Cookies--her childhood favorite!!

¾ cup margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon water
½ teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 cup quick oatmeal
Powdered sugar
Put margarine in a large bowl and let stand until soft.   Beat well.  Add sugar and mix well.  Mix in water, vanilla and cocoa.  Mix in oats.  Keep in refrigerator overnight.  Shape into small balls and roll in powdered sugar.  Store in the refrigerator.

11-11-11

The Holiday:  Iris' monologue ...it turns out he wasn't in love with me like I thought...I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as is humanly possible...and how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had in side of you ...and it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get or how many gyms you join, or how many glasses of Chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends...you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood...and how in hell for that brief moment you could think you were that happy...and sometimes you can convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door...and after all that...however long all that May be...you'll go somewhere new...and you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again ...and little pieces of your soul will finally come back...and all that fuzzy stuff...those years of your life that you wasted ...that will eventually begin to fade...

Streamlined Healthy Eating

Can I really eat JUST what I could grow in my garden??  Of course!! Happy Eating!!

A "test" menu.....

Breakfast:  cooked grain, beans, jalapeño
Snack:  fruit
Lunch:  seasonal vegetables, onion, garlic
Snack:  fruit
Dinner: gold potato, sweet potato, tomato

Grains grown/growing in the demonstration garden:  amaranth, millet, quinoa, corn, sorghum, wheat, barley, spelt, triticale, and dry land rice.

Looking Forward

...Happy Birthday month my sweet brother and sister!!

Epiphany
She saw herself reflected in the store window
& then the sun changed & she disappeared
& all she could see was her eyes
& she remembered thinking I make a very nice floor lamp
& that was the day she decided to quit her job.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Evelyn)... There is no past that we can bring back by longing for it. Only a present that builds and creates itself as the past withdraws.

The year has passed most agreeably...not regretting taking that radical step...looking straight ahead...with the breeze in my hair and the sunrise on my face....

Garth Brook's The River
You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores...and

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied


Millet-Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"
Robin Asbell:  Potatoes aren't the only way to make delicious puréed vegetables – and a tender grain contributes even more taste and nutrition. Add your favorite herbs, some caramelized onions or a pat of non-dairy butter to this savory millet-and-cauliflower mash.

1/2 cup millet
2 1/2 cups water
4 ounces sliced cauliflower stems and florets (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
Optional: non-dairy butter, roasted garlic, wasabi, horseradish and/or soy sour cream to taste

1. Wash and drain the millet, then put it in a saucepan with a lid. Add the water, cauliflower, and salt.

2. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to the lowest simmer. Cover and cook for 35 minutes, checking and giving it a stir after 30 minutes. The millet will bread open and thicken the liquid in the pot. When the millet is very soft and thick, take it off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Use a blender for the smoothest puree, but a food processor will work almost as well. Purée until the mixture is as smooth as ou can get it.

4. Add other flavorings, if desired, and serve as a side dish.

Tour around the Garden

I hope you enjoy a tour around the garden.........  :-D

The Nicaragua House/Kitchen and the "Nic Garden."

A fig and loquat tree, nopales, salvia, flame acanthus, cranberry hibiscus, yellow canna lilies, red yucca and a few other stray things!!

Nic House front landscaping.  Under the ornamental palm is the "mint bed." Behind the cranberry hibiscus bushes are hoja santa and more yellow cannas, with malabar spinach creeping across the ground. 

Miraculous hyacinth bean (lab lab) vines from my friend Dyan.  Only 5 seeds created this purple beauty!! Jalapeños, beans, and wild blackberry bushes are all in there along the fences.

The demonstration "fenced" area...in case where you garden...free-range livestock (either belonging to your neighbor or you!!) are an issue!!  Sweet potatoes, Peking black beans, Chinese cabbage, carrots, and more lab lab are growing in here.

The Nicaragua House Kitchen

Currently, the "Lorena Stove" is not working...so I've COMPLETELY taken over the "kitchen" area as the "nic garden" shed...or as Kathleen would say...this is now my personal "office!!"  The little beds on either side of the shed are filled with wild edibles--unicorn plants and purslane.  The trash cans hold harvested garden soil and compost for upcoming compost pile building and seed flatting.

Love Pinterest for clever trellising ideas!! You'll see these things growing here: radishes, kale, pickling cucumbers, beets, leeks, one lone mammoth sunflower, rutabagas, arugula, Swiss chard, mustard greens, vegetable amaranth, asparagus beans...with broccoli in the back bed.

A random "kitchen sink" bed...started off with lab lab planted in the bed, only a few plants came up on either end...so I salvaged some "volunteer" squash and watermelon plants that came up unwanted at other random places in the garden and transferred them to the central part of the bed.  So...hence...a little of this and a little of this...everything but the kitchen sink!!

Before everything really started growing BIG in this bed, I had small rocks marking out curved sections...for visual effect!!...of course you can't see any of that now...but the hodge podge is very pleasing to me.  Thai basil, regular basil, Swiss chard, yellow leaf sweet potato vines.  I LOVE the metal flamingo!!

...one of the many "cold" compost piles we've built.

Asparagus beans took over the red bud tree.  I think the "volunteer" squashish looking vine that is NOW taking over is a bird house gourd!!  YEA!!  I had transplanted it from elsewhere in the garden and had no idea what it was!!  5 perennial tree collard plants, a few pickling cucumbers/kale/beans all around the red bud tree.  HUGE mass of lab lab that had to have fencing around it to contain it!!  I've cut it back out of the pathways...just so I could get through!!  LOVE IT!!  I pray for it to flower and make some seed pods before freezing weather sets in!!

...some cantaloups, fava beans, purple potatoes, red clover, velvet beans, butternut squash, canary melon,  lima beans, pumpkin, a few more mammoth sunflowers...more compost piles...YEA--black gold...and I don't mean OIL!!

In honor of my "African brother" Job's "no-till" agricultural philosophy...my "no-till" bed along the chicken yard.  A teeny tiny mimosa tree just getting started at the corner, loofah gourd plants vining up all along the fence, random quinoa, purple potatoes, Chinese cabbage plants thrown in for good measure!!

Pathway between that obstreperous "fenced-in" lab lab and my "fun flower bed" along the east side of the chicken yard.  Yellow cannas...just now recuperating from the HOT summer, dusty miller, more cranberry hibiscus, some cute little red perennial flowers the name of which I still do not know...I just dug them up from the abandoned perennial flower nursery beds!!

The butternut squash, canary melons, pumpkins, and lima beans....

The tree collard space....

Some "urban gardening" techniques are also incorporated in the Nic Garden.  Rooftop gardening here...with Chinese cabbage and radishes.  Testing out using empty soda cans in one of the boxes (old dresser drawer!!) along with some compost/soil and with hay on top for mulch.  The set-up has a soaker hose to make it easy to water.

The outdoor work area.

Inside my "office."  Barley is drying...sorghum and millet are drying in pillowcases hanging from the ceiling.  The seed saving project is under the plastic bags to protect from a leaky roof!!

Trying my hand at propagating things I have found around the farm along with seeds I've saved from things I've eaten: cottonwood, mulberry, crepe myrtle, fig and moringa trees; oleander bushes, several (no names as yet!!) wild flowers, avocados, papayas, curry trees.....with a tub of purple irises waiting to be replanted...which Courtney rescued from a compost pile!!

Nic House north landscaping bed.  The yellow cannas have been the HAPPIEST in this bed!!....very little direct sun...and a "leaky" soaker hose!!  I built the beds and gravel pathways in this area where there were once just weeds and snakes!!

South side of the chicken yard...this is where the bio mass stockpile is kept organized awaiting the next compost pile building.  Rain-ruined goat hay, harvested bio mass from various grain crops, and a little "kitchen/garden" compost pile where I throw garden clippings/vegetables (not weeds with seeds!!).  Previously, when all of this area was just weeds, a pile of firewood/sticks was also in here which would have been used in the outdoor kitchen stove.  That is where I found the 5' long snake skin...and I have still seen LIVE big garden snakes around the area!!  So...I made a raised firewood stack along the kitchen wall.  I think it looks MUCH better...if I say so myself!!

Another alternative gardening approach...some vertical gardening.  Trellising the watermelons up the chicken fence...with plastic jugs as "cradles" for the baby watermelons!!  This bed is sort of another "kitchen sink" area!! Morning glories (unfortunately NOT the beautiful deep purple ones like Mamaw Dare used to grow!!), zinnas, basil, yellow cannas, Chinese cabbage and two mimosa trees on both ends of the bed...along with a wild edible "buffalo gourd" vine brought  from Deonne's in Oklahoma... all co-mingling together!!!  The solar dehydrator can be seen on the back left.

The once weed/snake patch!!  The rainwater collection area with outdoor shower...the washboard sink for hand washing my clothes...the clothesline...I LOVE IT!!

More urban gardening techniques...potato tower with a few zinnias for color until the potatoes come up!! A rain gutter "salad" greens vertical garden as seen on Pinterest!!  I have spinach and arugula growing there and will harvest them as "baby greens."

A beautiful moringa tree!!...investigate the wonderful nutritional value of that tree!!  My beauties...the eggplant plants below.  Trumpet vine, also brought from Oklahoma, vining up the wall of the shower.  The rainwater collection cistern works great.

More Nic House landscaping...cranberry hibiscus and yellow cannas.  I've been swapping people here and there for other colors of cannas...to give some color diversity to the areas around the Nic House.  In the "nursery" I currently have a little peach canna, some "short" cannas (currently of undetermined color!!),  and a little burgundy variegated leaved variety...next year it will look amazing around the Nic House!!

Some flats of seedlings...waiting for their optimal time to transplant.

The composting toilet facility!!  LOVE IT!!  No flush toilets for this girl to own on her homestead!!

The south side of the Nic House.  Very lucky to have the pea gravel around the area for walkways!!...even if it is a pain to weed it after it rains!!

A very COOL place to sit for "siesta time" as a respite from the summer's sun!!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour...I LOVE this garden!! :-D

Zeer

To keep cool and hydrated while working outdoors during the summer, I used a small ice chest to hold glass bottles of water...with a frozen 1 gallon jug of water for the cooling agent.

The evolution of that process to not have to use the FREEZER for the frozen water jug involved putting together a Zeer--pot-in-pot--desert refrigerator.

...still working out the kinks on this one!!...the outside pot is suppose to be covered in condensation...as the evaporative process is working...but haven't gotten it to work properly with the terra cotta pots!!

Life Lessons

10 Life Lessons from Alexander the Great

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 10
translated by Chao-Hsiu Chen (2004)

Can one hold the soul in the body,
hold the mind in the spirit,
and keep them as one?

Can one concentrate the energy of life
and keep it supple like a newborn child?

Can one study everything and really know everything
without making a mistake?

Can one govern the nation with all the right actions
and really love the people?

Can one always make a decision with the right mind?

Can one empty the mind and fill it with the brightness of wisdom
and learn to step back from this knowledge?

Can one give life and grow life and yet claim no possession?

Can one supervise and benefit others,
yet exercise no authority and rely on no pride?

This is what is called the mysterious virtue.


Southern Cornbread Stuffing (adapted from Paula Deen's recipe)

Vegan Cornbread

7 slices oven-dried white bread

1 sleeve saltine crackers

2 cups celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

8 tablespoons non-dairy butter

7 cups no-chicken chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices and saltines and mix together and set aside.

In a large skillet sauté the chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5-10 mins.  Pour sautéed mixture over cornbread mixture.  Add the stock, mix well, taste and add salt, pepper to taste, sage and poultry seasoning and mix well.  Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy.  Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is done, about 45 mins.  Serve with tofurky as a side dish.

6-8 servings

Off the grid--sort of!!

I guess it is a bit funny to have a solar panel for a tent!!  The tent is now predominately off-the-grid.  I'm still tweaking the set-up...so I have the "on-the-grid" electric cord as a back-up!!

Keeping a log of charge/usage, to determine if I'll need a second battery and/or solar panel.  Will have to test out the process to determine how long the batteries will run a small heater when it is REALLY cold this fall!!

Laundry Duty

The morning chores include: running, dressing for work, eating breakfast, checking email, brushing teeth, washing clothes, hanging clothes on the clothes line...then off to work in the bio-intensive demonstration garden.

After researching the most effective way to do hand washing...I pre-soak the clothes over night in a small plastic tub.  Then I scrub them the next morning on a washboard I borrowed from my sister.  Then comes two rinse cycles...wringing out between each batch.  If it is rainy, I hang the clothes in the little shed to dry.

I've embraced Mother Teresa's plan for clothing...only having "wash one/wear one" sets of work clothing...and I have added a "spare" set of everything...just in case!!  Also, only using a thin hand towel for drying off is MUCH easier to wash and dry every day.

So...I'm wearing one set of work clothes and then I just take the clothes off the line and have them ready to put on after I shower.  This streamlining has SO SIMPLIFIED my daily life!!  I love it!!

...cloudy mornings are the BEST!!  When the temperatures are still high, the cloud cover makes for lovely morning work in the garden!!

Beautiful morning at the Farm

Birthday Party

Flowers and such from the garden for the birthday party: zinnias, sunflowers, hyacinth bean, cranberry hibiscus, canna lilies and sweet potato vines.

Farm family chowing down...I was the chef of the day!!

60 Years Young Today!!

My...OH... My....has it really been a "new beginnings" year!!  Time sure flies when you're having a gypsy adventure!!

"How to live a life (or what I know so far...) 1.  You already are. Now. When are you going to choose to enjoy it? (How's that for clearing up the clutter?)"

I moved into a tent the end of June...yes...Texas summers are HOT!!  For a girl who loves to live in Alaska in the summers...you ask...WHY??...live in a tent during long stretches of 3 digit temperatures??

I was in between living places, so I thought taking the leap to the tent would be perfect timing...so...I embarked on a 6 month experiment in reducing my carbon footprint...one little step at a time.

I was still "connected" to the grid...using a small fan to keep cool when I went to sleep.  Once the sun went down behind the trees, the temperature dropped and sleeping was just fine!!  Only a few nights was it still 99 degrees at 8:00pm!!...but I survived without much angst!!

Also...my Pinterest-Homesteading board....

Center

Optimism is the foundation of courage....Nicholas Murray Butler

“Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment-to-moment.  At each point of intersection, each encounter, suggests a new potential direction.” Cloud Atlas

Songs of the day....I hope you Dance....The Mummer's Dance.....

Storypeople's Center on Wheels:

I spent a long time trying to find my center until I looked closely one night and found it had wheels and moved easily in the slightest breeze, so now I spend less time sitting and more time sailing.

McDougall Chili with Yams

Servings: 6-8

1 large onion, chopped 

3 stalks celery, chopped 

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 3⁄4 cups water 

3 teaspoons chili powder 

1 1⁄2 teaspoons smoked paprika 

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

4 cups peeled and chopped yams 

1 cup red lentils 

2 15 ounce cans diced tomatoes 

1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed 

2 tablespoon peanut butter (optional) 

2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)

Place 1⁄4 cup of the water in a large soup pot. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and crushed pep- per. Mix well, then add the remaining water, yams, lentils, tomatoes, and beans. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the peanut butter, one tablespoon at a time, if using. Season with lime juice and a bit of sea salt, if desired.

Consequences

"Think of the consequences if you do nothing."  Fuelism

Summer flowers from Dad's yard...have never seen a red sunflower before....

McDougall’s Creamy Garlic Soup

2 whole heads of garlic

2 medium onions, chopped

4 white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (2 lbs)

5 cups vegetable broth or water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the loose papery skin from the garlic. Slice a thin strip off the top of the head and discard. Place the garlic in a dry baking dish and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the onion is a large pot with a small amount of liquid. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the onion softens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth or water and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Press the cooled garlic cloves out of the skins and discard all the skins. Add the garlic to the soup pot. Continue to cook for 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Puree the soup in batches in a blender. Return to the pan and heat through. Season with pepper, if desired.

Number of Servings: 5

Before Dawn

"I've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be, so it's easier to remember who I am." Storypeople

Assignment from the youngest...think about the dream job if money, family, time, etc were no object!!  That's a tall order!!...where do you even begin??

...in the garden is a good place to start!!

McDougall Baja Soup

4 cups water

1 cup salsa

1 medium onion, coarsley chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 green pepper, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

2 red potatoes, cut into chunks

1 cup corn kernels

1 cup shredded cabbage

1 tomato, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup cup fresh cilantro (optional)

Place the first eight ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the corn and cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Add the tomato and heat through. Garnish with cilantro, if desired, before serving.

Number of Servings: 6

In an instant

Cheryl Richardson--A Simple Act--"life as you know it can change in an instant."

“There is a power inside every human against which no earthly force is of the slightest consequence.” ~ Neville Goddard

Song of the Day: Hotel California....acoustic version....



Bernadette's Chocolate Mousse

6 pitted medjool dates, soaked in warm water (reserve date water)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ avocados, mashed
¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or carob powder
¼ cup date water
Yield 1 cup or 2 servings.

Double-batch:
12 pitted medjool dates, soaked in warm water (reserve date water)
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 avocados, mashed
¾ cup cocoa powder
½ c date water
Yield 2 cups or 4 servings.

Triple batch recipe
14 pitted medjool dates, soaked in warm water (reserve date water)
½ c pure maple syrup
¼ c agave
2 t vanilla
5 avocados, mashed
1-¼ c cocoa powder
¾ c date water
Yield 3 cups or 6 servings

Place the dates, maple syrup and vanilla in a blender and process until smooth.

Add the avocado and cocoa powder and process until creamy.

Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the date water and process briefly.  Store in a sealed container.

Serving suggestion:  layer in parfait glass with diced strawberries

Chocolate mousse will keep for three days in a refrigerator or two weeks in the freezer.

Comfortably Numb

Cheryl Richardson--"When we are tolerating a mediocre life, it's as though we step into this comfortably numb place. It's where we operate on autopilot. On autopilot we end up not seeing the signs that say, 'Hold on, here, something's not right.'"


Chai Rice Pudding

1 1/2 cups water
4 cups unsweetened almond milk, divided
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons dates, chopped
1/4 cup raisins

In a medium pot, bring water and 2 cups almond milk to a boil.  Add rice, agave nectar, and salt.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 mins.

Add remaining almond milk, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and ginger.  SImmer, uncovered, for 20 mins or until rice is very soft.

Remove from heat, add dates and raisins, cover, and let sit for 10-15 mins.  Dust with additional cinnamon and cardamom and serve warm or at room temperature.

Life Purpose

Self-Growth--Gay Hendricks: "...ask yourself a big question that reveals your life purpose. One way you can do that is by saying, 'If my life was a success at the end, what would be one thing that made it a success?' I say that each human being has the power and potential to make five big dreams or wishes come true in their life. Ask yourself to look back through your whole life and find what was it that you most loved to do? What was the thing that when I’m doing it, time disappears. For me I get that feeling when I’m doing my writing in the morning. It’s the same kind of thing I used to feel as a kid when I’d be absorbed in playing with something. It’s that same sort of consciousness that when you look back through your life you find moments where your heart, body and mind are really engaged and you’re of out of touch with time."

"There is plenty for everyone, and we bless and prosper each other."  Louise L. Hay

Song of the Day:  Stairway to Heaven.....


Agave Chocolate Pudding (food.com)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups soymilk (plain or vanilla)
1/2 cup agave nectar or 1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cocoa powder, corn starch, salt in a 1 quart saucepan. Add just enough soy milk to make a smooth paste. Gradually stir in rest of the soy milk and agave nectar or honey.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into serving dishes and chill. Serves 4.

42 years!?

Has it really been 42 years since High School graduation??!!  Surely not!!

Dusty Britches, (aka Byron Townley and fellow HHS 1971 graduate) was inducted into the Bandera Music Hall of Fame. (I Gotta Talk to You)

...always been a StoryPeople goddess!!....hoping all of you boot scootin' boogie goddesses can take a turn around the dance floor with the man of your dreams.....


McDougall Gallo Pinto (Spotted Rooster)

Servings: 4

1⁄4 cup vegetable broth or water
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained (liquid reserved) and rinsed
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Place the water in a large non-stick frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until onion softens and begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a bit more water or broth and re- peat until onion begins to stick again. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add a bit of the re- served liquid from the beans to make the rice look “dirty”, if desired. Cook until heated through. Serve hot with salsa on top.
Hint: To be more authentic, you can cook dry black beans in water to cover until tender (about 3-4 hours). You will need about 3 cups of cooked black beans. Save some of the cooking liquid to mix with the beans and rice.

Participatory Universe

Gregg Braden--"In a participatory universe, you and I are part of the equation. We are both creating the events of our lives, as well as the experiencers of what we create. Both are happening at the same time! In other words, we are like artists expressing our deepest passions, fears, dreams, and desires through the living essence of a mysterious quantum canvas. The difference between us and conventional artists, however, is that we are the canvas, as well as the images upon the canvas. We are the tools as well as the artists using the tools. And just as artists refine an image until it is just right in their minds, we may think of ourselves as perpetual artists, building a creation that is ever changing and never ending. Through our artist’s palette of beliefs, judgments, emotions, and prayers, we find ourselves in relationships, jobs, and situations of support and betrayal that play out with different people in different places. What a beautiful, bizarre, and powerful concept."

Homemade Sausages (PostPunkKitchen.com)

1/2 cup pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cold vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced (or 1 t garlic granules)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Several dashes fresh black pepper
1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten

Before mixing your ingredients, get your steaming apparatus ready, bring water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.

Have ready 6 sheets of tin foil.

In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until no whole ones are left.

Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed, except for the vital wheat gluten and mix with a fork.  Mix in vital wheat gluten.

Divide dough into 16 even parts. Place one part of dough into tin foil and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.

Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes.

Serves 8

Happy Mother's Day

"Take a deep cleansing breath and give yourself three minutes to relax with this short inspirational movie" from Simple Truths.....

Inner peace is sent to you all the sweet mothers in my life.....


Cornmeal Pancakes

2 c almond milk
2 T agave nectar
2 T cider vinegar
1 c cornmeal
1 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt

In a 2 cup glass measuring cup mix together almond milk, agave and vinegar.  Set aside.

In a medium size mixing bowl stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add milk mixture, stirring just to remove any lumps and make a pourable batter.  Add a bit more almond milk if batter seems too thick.

Cook on a hot griddle and serve with pure maple syrup or warmed preserves.

Serves 4

Selflessness

Cheryl Richardson--"Self-care is good for the planet.  From years of personal experience, as well as coaching great men and women, I’ve come to understand that selfishness leads to selflessness.  When we care deeply for ourselves, we naturally begin to care for others – our families, our friends, our greater global community, and the environment – in a healthier and more effective way. We tell the truth. We make choices from love instead of guilt and obligation.  And we soon realize that we’re all connected and that our individual actions affect a greater whole."  "Affirmation + Action = Miracles"

Healthy Nutty Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oats

½   cup chopped nuts

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups almond milk or water

Mix the dry ingredients and then stir in the wet ingredients.  If the batter is too thick, add water a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency, is reached.

Pour batter onto a nonstick pan and cook over med heat, turning once when the edges begin to bubble and brown.

Serves 8

Higher Self

Angel Therapy--Doreen Virtue: The voice of the ego is always fear based. It will make you feel like you’re getting away with something; like you’re sneaking. It will make you feel anxious or edgy. It will make you feel filled with guilt and fear. The voices of the higher self, which is one with your angels, will always make you feel loved, safe, nurtured, affirmed and honored. The higher self will push you to do things that may intimidate you because you don’t know whether you can do it, but it won’t make you feel afraid. It’s like a loving motivational coach.

Song of the Day:  Wish You Were Here....

Maja's Granola
7 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup cranberries, currents or chopped raisins
1 cup chopped dates

2 cups chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews & pumpkin seeds)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup agave nectar

Mix together and spread out onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hr stirring every 15 minutes.

Farmers

― Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table: Writings on Farming and Food

“As Gil says, 'every man is called to give love to the work of his hands. Every man is called to be an artist." The small family farm is one of the last places - they are getting rarer every day - where men and women (and girls and boys, too) can answer that call to be an artist, to learn to give love to the work of their hands. It is one of the last places where the maker - and some farmers still do talk about "making the crops" - is responsible, from start to finish, for the thing made. This certainly is a spiritual value, but it is not for that reason an impractical or uneconomic one. In fact, from the exercise of this responsibility, this giving of love to the work of the hands, the farmer, the farm, the consumer, and the nation all stand to gain in the most practical ways: They gain the means of life, the goodness of food, and the longevity and dependability of the sources of food, both natural and cultural. The proper answer to the spiritual calling becomes, in turn, the proper fulfillment of physical need.'”

Check out Ecology Action...and the instructional videos....how wonderful to have found a life's mission!!


Ratatouille 'Caviar' 
(International Vegetarian Union)

SERVES 6
• 1 vidalia onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 medium sized eggplant, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 4 roma tomatoes, pulp and seed removed, diced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• salt and pepper
In order to taste proper, vegetables have to be sautéed separately. Eggplant taste like poop if its boiled. Take a small pan, and start sautéeing the onions and the garlic in some olive oil.
When they are slightly browned, add to a pot.
In the same pan, cook all the vegetables (except for the tomato) separately, until they are slightly colored (we call that The Maillard Reaction!).
Then add the tomatoes and the thyme to the pot, and simmer on low heat until mixture hold together and looks like a compote (approx 30 minutes).
Taste, then season to your taste, If it's going to be served cold, add a little bit more salt.

Old Love Songs

StoryPeople's Old Love Songs....

We listened as he played the guitar & sang old love songs & then there was a moment we looked at each other & discovered we were much younger than other people might suspect & it was good to know we had that much more time together.

Song of the day.....Falling Slowly....


Provencal Olive (Bean) Spread 
(from Cooking Light-June 2005)
Makes 3 cups—enough for 8
• 3 (15 1/2 ounce) cans great northern beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 6 teaspoons capers
• 6 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 24 kalamata olives, pitted
Place all ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.
Place bean mixture in a bowl and refrigerate.

Food for thought

What a joy to grow your own food...all one person needs to eat can be grown on 4,000 square feet of soil in a bio-intensive mini farm!!

Continuing a love affair with food......

Dr. John McDougall's healthy eating program....

"Food as love. Food as creativity. Food as art. Food as health. Food as consciousness. Food for the sharing." (Tiffany’s blog--Como Water)

Lefse--a Blossom's family Norwegian tradition

4 cups mashed, riced potatoes, leave no lumps

Add to potatoes while hot and mix well:

¼ cup soy margarine

¼ cup unsweetened, plain almond milk

1 ½ teaspoon salt

When cold, add 2 cups flour, roll on well floured surface till very thin (similar to a tortilla).

Bake on a non-greased griddle.

When browned on both sides, place in a towel to keep moist.