My adventures in living mindfully... To honour myself with raw vegan food, physical exercise and mental stimulation, with love, compassion and laughter...
29 June 2009
mmmm, CHOCOLATE.
um, where did the weekend go? How can it possibly be Monday already?! Trying to think what I *did* all weekend. Life gets a bit smeared around the edges when dh's in town - hard for either of us to remember what day it is. (blissful sighhhhhhhhhh) Must be love! ROTFL
OOOOH!!! I remember ONE thing I did this weekend. I took a 2 hour raw chocolate workshop and it was fanTAStic!!! These two fabulous raw divas gave a demonstration on making chocolates, talked about the ingredients and then we all got to make our own batch to take home! Mine were (oooh darn I wish the digital camera had some way of getting the photos online right now. darn darn DARN) little frogs that looked like they are praying or meditating - they are SOOOO adorable... and stars. Then today, because EVERYONE (yes, even the omnivores) in our house absolutely LOVES these raw chocolates, I whipped up another batch of hearts and seashells, including (ahem) one chocolate starfish. (I can see just by typing that that any naivety I may have pretended to portray on here has just disintegrated. Honestly, I'm not like that. dh was the one ROTFL about the starfish. He's the one you should be glaring at theatrically, not me!!!) (that link's hilarious)
*dusts herself off* (ahem) Yes, well... Anyways... the raw chocolates were divine and we'll definitely be making more.
Oh, the recipe you say?
Well, if I may...
1c of raw cacao butter, grated, or in shavings, or 1/2c cacao butter and 1/2c of coconut oil
2/3c raw cacao powder
pinch of salt
1tsp of vanilla extract (just started making my own; recipe to follow)
a good squeeze of raw agave nectar (to taste; I use about 2Tbsp in the recipe)
1Tbsp of either mesquite, maca, or lucuma powders
Start by melting the cacao butter/coconut oil in a double boiler over low heat, stirring well. Remove from heat, stir in the cacao powder 'til smooth, then add in the rest of the ingredients. Keep stirring, or the chocolate will set up!!
You can add in optional ingredients like shredded coconut, goji berries, raisins, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, crushed cashews, hazelnuts, or even things like crushed rosemary, or fresh minced ginger, raspberries, or what about (organic) orange peel and some orange essence? Play around with different things. I can't claim any creativity on these additions on my part; I've had each in (vegan) chocolate bars from various companies. Still, they are all yummy flavours. I'm still working on the espresso-chocolate. mmmmmmm YUMMY
Pour into chocolate molds or even just pour it into a pie plate and freeze it 'til it's set. Turn it over once set and they usually just *POP* right out of the molds, very easily.
Raw Vanilla Extract
Take 3 vanilla beans and 1c water. Blend well in high powered blender and soak for 24 hours. Then strain through a nut milk bag. Voila! Non-alcoholic, home-made vanilla extract.
GEEZ I wish I could share pictures with you! :( Alas...
Enjoy your raw chocolates!!!
25 June 2009
Thursday's Thoughts
Today I had 2.5L of green smoothie this morning, 3 nectarines (throughout the day), 1 banana, 1 1/2c of almond milk chia pudding, 1L of smoothie this evening... quite a LOT of food. I felt lousy this afternoon but am feeling better tonight. I skipped out of tai chi class tonight, but did manage to row 6 kms this afternoon.
Going to go rest and read a book... dh and the kids (incl ds's neighbourhood pal who's been over for ~4 hrs now) are playing "Pass the Pigs" downstairs (lots of giggling goin' on) and Pat Boone is serenading us from his "In a Metal Mood" album over in the living room. (LMAO) Welcome to my life. Like Jon says on the opening of Jon&Kate Plus 8, "It may be a crazy life, but it's OUR life." and as ds is so fond of saying, too true, my friends, too true.
24 June 2009
Things you may not know about me...
I've lost 75 lbs in the past 3 yrs. On Earth Day 2006 I went overnight from a standard north american diet to a 100% vegan diet, and then last April (2008) I became a raw vegan. What do I eat? Vegetables (including the very important dark leafy greens), fruit, nuts and seeds. No meat, no dairy, no refined sugars or processed foods. Still, there's LOTS of variety on a raw food diet and I don't feel deprived. And did I mention I've lost 75 lbs? LOL I'm WAYYYYYYYY healthier now in my mid-30s than I was at nearly any point in my 20s. For more than a decade I was obese and I finally feel like I'm gaining a little control over that whole part of me.
I have no tattoos. otoh, the idea of getting a tattoo intrigues me, otoh, it creeps me right out. if i *did* get one, it'd be a dragonfly with irridescent colours. but (shivers up my back) i can't see it happenin'.
i have had my nose pierced. i have had my ears pierced. at the moment i have no piercings, and have not for more than a year and a half now. i don't miss the earrings - i haven't worn them in more than a decade - but the nose ring, i do kinda miss sometimes. but i'm not getting it repierced.
i have now logged over 6.9 million metres on my rowing machine. this month i will reach (maybe i have already, i should check) 7 million - which means Concept2, the company that makes the rower, will be sending me a new pair of socks!!!! (no, sadly, not organic cotton) If that's not incentive - a free pair of socks - I don't know WHAT will get you off the couch and exercising. ROTFL i row 100 kms a month - 5 kms a day, 20 days a month. i used to row 10 or 12 kms a day, 6 days a week, but that was really a lot.
that is all. ;)
23 June 2009
you say "po-tay-to" i say "po-tah-to"...
today i spent 3 1/2 hours in the farm field, hilling potatoes, with some very bored children in tow. actually it went quite well - they amused themselves for most of the time. it helped we had grampa's two chocolate labs with us; they're always good for some entertainment - especially in the pond!! anyways, i got the entire field hilled today. (YEAH for me!!!) i have SUCH an appreciation for my food now. my son said at one point (when he was kinda helping pull thistles), "how does Marika does this every day?! like, how does she keep smiling?!" Marika is the farm worker at the local organic farm where we get our CSA box from. Week after week for several years now she's been providing our family with delicious food. I replied that she's really passionate about her work - about providing families like ours with delicious, healthy, organic, local, in-season food. About helping us make a connection with our food. Passion. That's what's driving her... and me.
Someone the other day (father's day, actually) said on facebook that he was grateful for all the times his dad made him work hard when he was a kid, because now as an adult, he's not afraid of a little hard work to reach a goal. I thought of all the times when I was a kid, working on the local raspberry fields, that my dad would say, "go and work there - then you'll really appreciate getting an education. don't settle for becoming a farm labourer in life. working there will get that notion out of your head - then you'll be motivated to get a higher education." (basically; he'd never say it in so many words. LOL) Well, here we are, full circle. I went and got that higher education, and here I am, back toiling in the field. Only this time I'm passionate about it. This is MY food I'm growing, damn it. (well, actually, I'm not planning on eating the potatoes, LMAO, but STILL....) Funny how things have come 'round. Farming is not an occupation we should demean or belittle, yet, socially it sure isn't equal to lawyer, doctor, university professor. Far from it, eh. Sure, farmers get paid very little for the sweat and labour they put into growing our food. That's exactly one reason it's all so messed up. We have no real appreciation for just how much sweat and energy it TAKES to grow our food. We just happily go to the grocery store and buy whatever we feel like to eat. No connection to the land, no connection to the seasons, to locally-grown food, to its carbon footprint, to how much precious water was used to grow or produce it. No connection at all. That's one reason I'm out there, growing potatoes. My kids need to SEE the connection. They need to FEEL it. They need to remember the hours Mom was out there, toiling away, and them feeling bored bored bored with it all. Because when they're adults, they'll remember and maybe, just MAYBE.... they'll want to plant a potato for themselves and seek what kind of crazy joy there is in watching a plant grow, produce food and seed, and go through its full cycle. THAT's what I'm talkin' about. I remember how BORING picking raspberries was. I remember. And yet, here I am.
Doin' the right thing.
I hope.
22 June 2009
Monday's musings...
Had a great day... I worked on excavating the front path up to the deck/stairs I just completed. I got it about half done in 3 hrs, took out about 5 wheelbarrows of subsoil. I'm going to put flagstone or slate rocks down and then in between them plant creeping thyme. I think that will look beautiful. yes, i'll post pics once it's all done (and the computer gets fixed)
Took the compost out; it's doing beautifully - everything I added about a week ago has virtually disappeared, which is always nice to see. It's definitely heating up nicely in between. Our 11 remaining chickens are doing very well. ds replenished their feed and water. He's been a good caretaker for them. The kids and I washed the car (they *love* washing the car - shhhhh don't tell them they shouldn't enjoy it! LOL). I got sunburned on the shoulders and back of my neck (first day in a tank top - shoulda known better). Not too badly. About a 4 out of 10. ds rode his bike around lots again today and then got interested in geocaching. We've had a GPS for a couple years but have never used it - at all. So he got it out and read the instruction booklet and tonight we searched geocaching.com for some nearby caches. My half-brother has more than 1,500 caches under his belt. We're definite newbies to geocaching. But ds seems to have been bitten by the bug!
Took the kids and one of their friends to Aikido class in town tonight. First time at the real dojo (not the local rec ctr). Very formal but they had oodles of fun.
Today's intake:
2.5L green smoothie
3L water
a couple pounds of strawberries - 2? 3? something like that - maybe even 4.
a Raw Organic high fibre bar
avocado salad roll
some flax crackers with raw ranch dressing
3 raw coconut macaroons
maybe something else... can't quite remember. still, i feel filled up tonight. (the avocado salad roll & fibre bar were impulse buys at the grocery store. wasn't intending to buy & eat those. still, there's a lot WORSE things I could've impulsively eaten, right?)
now ds has found the chess computer and is playing against the computer. he was quite into chess a couple years ago but hasn't played in quite a while.
namaste
~n~
21 June 2009
Happy Solstice & Happy Father's Day!
So today I slept in. LOL I'm going out in a minute to work on the deck railing and stairs, though. It's just too sunny out there to not be out enjoying it.
I ate *SO* much yesterday. I only drank 48 oz of water, where I usually drink 3L (96 oz). I had, among other things, 1 1/2 c of hemp milk-chia pudding, 2 lbs of strawberries, 1.5 L of green smoothie, 2 avocado salad rolls (in rice paper, so not completely raw, as I don't think rice paper is completely raw - it's certainly quite processed - you don't find "rice paper plants" in nature anywhere, LOL - and I think this was also 2 full avocadoes, which is quite a bit to eat at once, for me anyways), 2 juicy nectarines, a "Raw Organic" bar (I like the high fibre chocolate one - it has 14g of fibre in it and has the consistency of toffee. mmmmmm, toffee). Oh, and and 3 pieces of raw candied jicama. A mug of herbal tea. Some salmonberries. (Are you getting full yet, just reading about all the food I ate yesterday?!) 2c veggies (carrot, celery, mushrooms) & 1/2c raw ranch dip (cashew based). An apple. hmmm, there's probably more. I was eating and eating and eating all day. At least it felt like that. But then again, I *did* expend a lot of energy working yesterday, and I rowed some, too.
Anyways, enough talking about food. ;)
Enjoy your Solstice, and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!! You've given us the gift of life, you've guided us as we've grown, you've worked hard and fulfilled your responsibilities of keeping us sheltered, clothed, fed. You protected us from danger and taught us skills like using the lawn mower, weedeater, chainsaw, all the power tools.... You've taught us how to change tires, oil, and belts on our cars. You've watched as we've grown, from little infants, through toddlerhood and into young children, through the teenage years and as we've become adults and moved out into the world on our own, creating families of our own. It's been a long road and I'm sure not always easy for you as we've made choices you haven't necessarily agreed with. You've shared your thoughts with us, and in your own way, showed us you love us and care. I for one am grateful for all the dads I have in my life - my own dad, my husband, my father-in-law, my grandfather, my husband's grandfather, the kids' godfathers, my brothers and brother-in-law, uncles, and others. They have all, in their own way, contributed so importantly to our lives, and I'm very grateful for them all. Happy Father's Day.
17 June 2009
Wednesday's words...
I've been out in the sun mixing up a little cob today. i'm also working on building a small front railing for our front deck that i built 2 yrs ago... it's coming along... (later update: i should clarify the front deck railing is not out of cob; it's wood. and it's not finished. i forgot to pick up the nails. kind of important, so i didn't get much done on it today. LOL)
yesterday i had 1.75L of green smoothie, and 3 small raw pizzas (flax crusts) with ranch dressing (cashew based), a little guacamole and a few olives on them (I chuckled at the amount of fats (albeit healthy ones) in that meal). and 3L of water. i was actually a little surprised by how little i ate. most days i eat considerably more. :D like today, I had a bowl of almond milk-chia pudding, some flax crackers with guacamole and salsa, 1.3L of green smoothie, a little coleslaw, 1 pint of strawberries, a coconut macaroon (yes, raw), a mug of mint-rose tea, some salmonberries from around the yard, and yes, 1.5 oz of denman island espresso chocolate (vegan, but not raw). an indulgement (is that a word?!) as i'm experiencing pms this month (i don't usually, but when you have a day where you feel possessed by the raging hormones, it's really okay to just go for the chocolate. LMAO)... ROTFL was that TMI?! ;) i've been making sure to add maca powder to the smoothies lately (it's reputedly a hormonal balancer)... the last few days, anyways.
I've had a couple ideas for e-books lately so I'm going to start working on those.... just as soon as my outside to-do-list is accomplished (LMAO, will it ever be? realistically?!). And I have a couple other things I'd like to write... articles and such. Just need to get the computer fixed first!!!
Spending time outside working each day the past couple weeks has been soooooooo wonderful. the sunshine, the fresh air, getting things on my list of ongoing projects accomplished (or at least worked on).... such a sense of purpose and accomplishment each day! gardening, the cob oven, painting parts of the house, building the deck railing (and i'll get to the path soon)... these things have been intentions and now they're becoming reality, and that's terribly exciting. i admit i really don't generally have an appreciation for how much ENERGY goes into projects. if you invite me over to admire your new gazebo, i kinda glaze over and nod and say, ya, that's great... without a REAL appreciation for how much time, effort, energy you put into it. working on projects... for example, planting 200 lbs of potato seed, and being responsible for watering, weeding, harvesting eventually.... suddenly i have SUCH an appreciation for how much time, effort, energy goes into so many things in my life... from the food i eat to the water flowing easily from the tap, to the car running smoothly to the walls of our treasured home. I am beginning.... just beginning.... to realize, to appreciate so many of these things in my life. Things I previously took for granted. It's a wonderful space to be in.
hey char - the kids took the drawers out of your old bed and are both inside the frame of the bed (yes at 11:00 at night, LOL). i simply mentioned how i used to do that occasionally as a kid and suddenly they needed to try it out. too funny.
cheers
~n~