A miracle in my garden.

I have been reading this book instead of studying for my anatomy exam and I am loving it. This book goes along with what I want to do with my life so closely, and is inspiring me to get up and grow my garden, make my own cheese and be more sustainable. I can't put it down. There is so much information between these two covers that it is astounding. There is not only the story of a family making a solid commitment to eat only locally grown whole foods for an entire year, but there is an overwhelming amount of information about farm bills, genetic engineering, the evils of trusting corporations to control our food supply and so much more.

And it's all about food! I love food! The last few years I have slowly come to the conclusion that what I really want to be when I grow up is a housewife to my entire community. I want to feed people and care for people. I want to show them how to sustain themselves while caring for the environment and the people that help us along the way. It's a little surprising to me that I crave such a "traditional" path in life. I want to grow my own food, can it or put it up for winter, I want to spend my days making delicious food made from homegrown ingredients, baking bread, making cheese and tending my garden. I want to homeschool my daughter, or at the very least, spend time engaging in these activities and others that reflect a value and respect for the miracles around us. I want to teach people how to eat simply yet vivaciously and deliciously. These things don't feel like work to me, they feel like giving back, something I enjoy doing.

So how do I make that happen? I don't know yet, but I know that someday i will make it happen.

For now, I will continue to curl up on my couch and read this book, and other books about container gardening on my little back porch, about preserving food, about the wonderful hidden pleasures in homemade cheese and bread. I will drink tea, and little by little accomplish each of these things. And it will be blissful and made of awesome.

And I will insist that everyone read this book.

summertime ease

This enchilada sauce is my new pantry accessory. It saved me tonight. I created a nice little improv enchilada bowl that my kid LOVED! I cubed carrots and zucchini, simmered it in this sauce, poured it over rice and topped with grated cheese. HUGE success. Yay for simple.

Summer classes started yesterday. Who knew online classes would involve so much work? Actually, I did. Wishful thinking told me to hope for otherwise thought I suppose. But so far, aside from the computer class, they are all pretty fun. More on those later.

Finding time to run is hard with the little one here. Now that we are home together all day, all my alone time has vanished when she is home. So, I missed my run today, ah well. She loves to dance so maybe I will make up for it that way?

Also, my freezer jam? KILLER. Its awesome.

A perfect morning

My daughter and I are currently sharing a love affair with these awesome pancakes and grooving to the Bob Marley station on pandora.com

It's pretty cute to watch her bounce and dance to Bob in her nightgown and wild curly hair. This morning we are celebrating the beginning of our summer. Yesterday was my last final of spring term and her last day at her pre-k and the start of the summer of unplanned exploration with semi-planned camping trips, beach trips and road trips that allow ample time of unstructured discovery time in wild and magical places. And ya know, spring cleaning. Today we are getting rid of books and clothes, and yes, I bribed my child with the incentive of being able to keep the money from her stuff that the resale stores give us for it, whats so wrong with that?

If your a pancake fan, you have to try these (pulled from this vegan website that is awesome)...

Pancakes (Version 3)

Breakfast - Pancakes - -

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups unbleached plain organic flour
• 1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1-2 t cinnamon
• 2 cups soymilk
• 2/3 stick soy margarine, melted and cooled a bit
• 1 T vanilla extract
• Opt: blueberries

METHOD

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and the liquid ones in a smaller bowl. Add the liquid to the dry, blending with a whisk (but not too much, or you'll activate the gluten in the flour. That's a secret). Now stir in the blueberries.

Cook them over medium-low heat (adjusting as neccessary), using the butter to grease the pan lightly for each cake if you aren't using a non-stick pan. Serve with *Vermont* maple syrup.

I use real butter because I feel like it, but earth balance works out well too. It makes about 10-12 small pancakes. We like them with fresh strawberries and syrup on top.

I can smell the summer

Two weeks left in this term, one of which is finals so I only have to go for two days to take a test. I cannot begin to tell you how very relieved I will be when Tuesday of next week rolls around. I love my classes this term, but I am feeling a bit squashed. I am also looking forward to having all online classes for the summer.

Lately, I have been taking really poor care of myself, which is bad timing because the pollen is out in full force, which makes me want to hide inside all the days of my life. This is not conducive to having a five year old. So I am making these resolutions for summer:

1) Continue exercising at least five days a week, even though I won't have the fancy school gym to do so. I will be picking the couch to 5k program back up, and tailoring my yoga routine to counter the running, so flexibility and relaxation. I tend to through in pilates with it too because who doesn't want killer abs?

2) I am starting the detox over since I let it go during week one due to youth con. After detox I am going to try and maintain a 60% raw food diet, and no processed foods. And eat as local as possible. More rant on that one later.

3) Get those damn tomatoes planted, as well as a second round of greens and peas.


4) Get rid of at least 50% of the shit in my house. It is insanely cluttered and I am sick of it. My mother is moving out in a month or so and I figure it is the perfect time to purge myself of all the posessions wearing me down and organize what is left. With this also comes taking the coat closet and turning it into a dry goods storage so I can buy larger quantities of bulk foods.

5) Learn to can foods from Sara, and get a better food dehydrator. Preserve as much food as possible. This of course means an excuse to spend lots of time berry picking.

6) Take my daughter into the woods and camp as much as possible. Today in global health we learned about nature defecit disorder and it is terrifying. And it's an excuse to go camping without feeling so irresponsible.

Rocking my spirit

"I am challenging you guys spiritually to BE THE CHANGE! To look the pain in the eyes and reflect the solutions WITHIN your life..."

I am taking a class from one of the most passionate teachers I have ever encountered and it is changing my life. Truly.

I knew when registering for this class (Global Health) that I would be looking at a lot at privilege and oppression, health issues, and sustainability. I didn't expect the amount of passion it is all evoking within me. Not a day in that class has gone by where I haven't cried at least a little, and walked out angry at the dominant paradigm, and frustrated with myself for feeling so helpless against it all.

The last few weeks we have been talking about food. Where it comes from, what is in it, and how awful agri-business is and the damage it leaves in its wake. Did you know that Monsanto owns rights to something like over 90% of the seed used to grow crops in North America? It may even be the world, I am not sure. And if their seed cross pollinates with a near-by crop they can sue that farmer for using something they didn't pay for? Hello!? That happens naturally! That is just how it works. It is ridiculous that anyone could OWN that process essentially. It means that eventually they will OWN the food supply, control the food supply, and therefore have all the power. This is scary to me. Not only that, but in addition to owning the rights to the seeds, they are using genetically modified seeds. And I know that some people think this is a miracle of science, and yes, it's amazing we can do this, but why on earth would we want to? Creating seeds that are pesticide resistant lead to pesticide resistant weeds, which was why you wanted pesticide resistant plants in the first place, to kill the weeds faster, right? And in areas this is used they are seeing astounding problems with pests that were HARMLESS before they fucked with the natural balance of nature. Also, why on EARTH would anyone in their right mind think that it is safe to create a TERMINATOR gene for seeds so they don't germinate, and instead die? I know, I know, so that the companies can make more money. But think about it...cross pollination just happens like the air we breathe. When the wind blows, when bees do their things, and when humans and animals move throughout the world. It is just a fact of life. What happens when said terminator gene reaches our trees? All our plants? THEY DIE! And then, so do we.

Another reason to eat organic I suppose. I could go on about the other awful stuff companies like Monsanto do, like taking land from indiginous people and monocropping, which then kills the soil, and then deserting their mess, all the while displacing thousands of people in third world countries, paying them crap and driving their countries deeper into poverty. I am sure I will at some point....

I guess the point of this rant at the beginning was to say that I am making some big changes in life right now and I am excited to see where it takes me.

Operation Eat Better

So lately I have put a bigger emphasis on taking care of myself, for real. I have been working out at least four days a week, not just doing yoga. My energy levels are much higher than before and as a side effect, my metabolism (which was that of a hummingbird to begin with) has also stepped it up and I have found myself constantly hungry. This change has truly highlighted my lack of planning in the food department not only for lunch at school, but in general as well, thus affecting my finances quite a bit. So I setting out to change this.

Last week I joined a co-op and yesterday I picked up my first order of produce from them. Holy cow! Keep in mine this is ALL organic food. I got two bunches of broccoli, two bunches of swiss chard, a leek, a half pound of onions, a pound of oranges, 15 apples (so roughly 5 pounds), a pound of green beans, three artichokes, two bunches of celery, a pound of dill harvarti cheese and a box of mac and cheese for guess how much? $35! I was astounded at the amount of good food we got for so little money. This is the perfect opportunity to start eating better.

So my plan? Fresh fruit/vegetables at breakfast and vegetables at lunch and dinner everyday. I will also be preparing snacks to save me money and keep my blood sugar at healthy levels throughout the day. This weekend I will be making some homemade granola (because having allergies to nuts makes it IMPOSSIBLE to buy granola and granola bars in most stores) to mix with yogurt for breakfast/snacks, a white bean leek soup for lunches and then prepping vegetables for salads, and rice and beans to mix together in varying ways for lunches as well. I am also going to try and record what I am eating for a month to track my progress.

Today, I slept in too late for breakfasty food in my mind, so I started with an apple, walked the dog, then upon returning home made lunch. (It is awesome that I get to start this during a stretch where I will have no school.) For lunch I had steamed broccoli with black eyed peas mixed with some chili oil, black sesame oil and garlic. I also had some harvarti cheese on crackers and an orange. I am headed to a youth overnight so will be eating on the go for dinner. I plan on steaming some green beans, maybe mixing them with some black eyed peas with a dressing my mom makes made out of lime juice, olive oil and maple syrup-I know, sounds gross, but is really good. I will take an apple with me as well.

We will see how this goes! I am excited to see how much money I save. And am giddy about the co-op.