Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts

Monday, September 13, 2010

Aventuras en salsa haciendo :Part 1

Happy Tuesday wonderful people!

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty awesome! But first off I just want take a minute to remember all those who lost their lives due to the tragic events on 9/11. I'll never forget waking up that morning and wondering why the tv screen was showing only smoke. I also send a big prayer out to those who lost family members and those who are dealing with major health concerns from the event. You will always be in our hearts!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was off to my mom's place this past weekend for some serious salsa making! We started off our crazy Saturday with an early morning walk to grab a tea! We walked down town and grabbed some Starbucks while snooping at the farmer's market. They wouldn't let us buy anything as I guess it was vendor's only buying time...bummer! As we had a million peppers/onions/tomatoes to chop, we needed to skidaddle.


I started the day with a cherry bomb shake - Kristen's recipe minus the hemp protein but with some romaine lettuce and coconut water added.


Take out my primrose oil, and you've got yourself a day job!

We chopped everything by hand as our food processor just not giving us the consistency that we wanted. Basically, it was making soup LOL!


From the bottom to the top - orange pepers, roma tomatoes, yellow peppers, and onions.

Mmm...the house was smelling pretty amazing:)


The goodness waiting to seal!

This bowl of salsa was from one of our last batches..and since this was at the 10 hour mark of our marathon of salsa making, we forgot to add in the vinegar LOL! We will have to mix a good batch with this one!

All was well in Nemo sleep land while the insane chopping, and cooking and canning
was happening!


Half-way there! We ended up making 70-something jars!


And this is what happens when you have been canning for 10 hours..nothing makes it into the jar! ...and you forget the vinegar LOL!

And then the wine came out! Unfortunately it was horrible. I didn't read the year on it and discovered it was only 2009 so it haden't fermented enough yet! Oh well. I slept like a baby anyways!

I'll be sharing part 2 of my weekend adventures tomorrow plus the recipe for our "secret" salsa and a tomatillo salsa that is out of this world!

Have a wonderful day!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Kraut adventures!




Happy Monday everyone!


Happy BC day to my local friends!! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I find summer weekends are on fast-forward and there are never enough of them. So, we try to take full advantage on them before they are a faded memory:) I started off the weekend with a massive kraut session at my aunt's house! I do come from a German family after all:)






All this cabbage was just picked from my aunt's garden!! Talk about fresh!
I went with glass jars because plastic scares me a little..especially for something like this that is going to be staying in the container for so long.

Check out that fermenting pantry LOL! I also picked up some pickles from my aunt's pantry as she had too many. My family is so giving..I'm very grateful! I think I'm going to go help my aunt when it comes to pickling cucumbers, beans, and carrots this year. If she will let me:) My favorite are pickled beans and carrots..I eat a whole jar to myself. With no shame either haha!


Oh so delicious!!! There is nothing like homemade pickles!! NOTHING!



On Saturday I started off the morning by doing a fun workout by this lady. I was just grabbing a glass of water when I found this taking place in my pantry.....

Nemo found the bag of catnip! It was EVERYWHERE!! So much for vacuuming!

He was loving it..rolling all over the stuff! It's funny because we gave him some catnip and Nelson and he wasn't really interested..apparently we needed to spread it all over the floor so he could roll in it HAHA!

I'll share more of weekend tomorrow including my thrift store finds, crazy blueberry field, downtown adventures, and my Inception thoughts!

XOXO

PS Kelli is having an awesome giveaway so go check it out!!

PPS Averie is having an amazing giveaway as well!





Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Feeling the Love, green clean, and giddiness!

Hello everyone,

Happy Wednesday to you all! I am so excited that this week is half way done as Friday is when my mom is arriving from the Okanagan. I haven't seen her since September so there is a lot of catch up to be done and sight-seeing as she only been to Nelson once. I love seeing the awe that visitors have when they get to experience an amazing view, a beautiful beach, or amazing food that they don't have back home. It really makes you appreciate your surroundings. As its my mom's birthday when she is here we are going to go out for dinner. I will take pictures of the meal for sure!! I'm lucky too that Nelson is super veggie friendly, even the steakhouse advertises that they have veggie dishes. Yum!


I want to give a huge, I mean HUGE shout out to Nikki and Evergreen for letting me know about my little commenting problem. Sorry, if you have tried to comment and the word verification was cut-off. I have changed the format so the comments will open in a new window. Looking forward to hearing from you!


I want to talk about some of the food I made this week and then I'm going to talk about something that happened yesterday that has made me totally giddy with delight:)

So, I made some of my chili and I'm amazed at how it gets better and better the more I make it. I took some pictures this time so you know I actually did do some work in the kitchen this week! It really is an easy dish and so economical too. I want to try it in my crock pot but I keep forgetting to dig it out of the box it has been since I got it as a wedding present (sorry auntie, I promise I will use it soon). Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that? lol!

I also made some sunflower seed Mexican pate from Brigette Mars's book Rawsome. I made some tweaks to suit my taste. I added a 1/2 cup soaked sundried tomatoes and some of the
soaking water just because my little food processor was having some trouble. My taste tester (hubby) told me he would like it with some fresh tomatoes. I didn't have any on hand so I took a couple tablespoons of the canned diced tomatoes I was going to add to the chili. This was great, although a fresh tomato would have really topped it off. I really like these with tortilla chips or with my salad. I usually add a dollop or two and then half the amount of dressing. love it! Pates are one of the best raw additions to my diet. Try a pate today, they are fantastic with a sandwich, salad, cracker, or veggies. Check out gone raw for some tried and tested recipes.


I'd like to switch gears a little bit and talk about green cleaning. I try to buy Eco-friendly cleaning products for every part of the house. I mainly use vinegar and baking soda. This combo is so effective and my house doesn't smell like a pine cones or a bottle of perfume afterward. Laundry detergent is one of those areas where I strive to get the best product out there. I'm quite sensitive to smells and the hubby's skin is very sensitive to chemicals. I have used a variety of Eco-friendly brands , including Ecover and Seventh Generation. They are all great and I highly recommend them. The problem comes with the price, usually the Eco-friendly products are significantly more expensive than your typical laundry detergent (at least in my neck of the woods). So, I looked into making my own and found a ton of recipes online. I followed the one for powdered detergent on the Planet Green website. This was so easy, taking only about 10 minutes to complete. I used a regular unscented bar of soap as the stores around here wanted too much for a more natural one (I already blew my weekly budget). The recipe barely made a dent in the Borax or Washing Soda, so its really great on the pocket book. The washing soda and borax came to about $10 and the bar of soap around $2. So, there is the initial investment but this will provide you with laundry detergent for a long time. The verdict? I washed my first load of laundry today and my clothes are nice and clean. I'm so glad to have a simple detergent with no added chemicals or perfumes. If you like to have a nice scent to your clothes, try adding some essential oils. Next week I'll make more and try it with an organic bar of soap. Or, I might get really ambitious and make the liquid version. Let me know if you make your own detergent and what has worked best for your clothes!


Now, what am I totally delighted about? Well, Evergreen read my post where I hoped that I could match her Happy 101 blog awards next time. Then she gave me an award! WOW, thanks Evergreen. I am smiling from ear to ear!




First: Copy the award image in your post.
Then, list 10 things that make you happy, try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.

For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you must link back to my blog!….the last part..only if you want too!

Ten things that make me happy? Can I list 100?...Just kidding! Here we go:


1. My hubby- Every day just keeps getting better! The support and love from him is endless and he truly is my soulmate. He still makes me laugh (benefit of dry humor, it never dries up haha) too much and we can still have fun doing the simple things!

2. My two families- My family will drop anything to help somebody out and they just genuinly care and love. My other family (hubby's side) is just as supportive and caring. They took me into their family and treated me with such kindness and love. They are so close and I'm so excited to have two sisters now!

3. BC- I love BC and all that it offers. The mountains, the lakes,the beaches, the ocean, the wildlife, its just incredible. I hope to discover more of my beautiful province in the summer. So much I have yet to see!

4. Blogging- Even though I'm relatively new to the blogosphere, I'm appreciative of the community that I'm surrounded with. Blogging has also allowed me to be proud of what I believe in, and to tell people about it!

5. Green Smoothies - I'm so happy to have the ability to use organic greens and fruits to make such powerful and delicious smoothies. These make my day!

6. My foster cats- These little critters have brought me so many smiles and laughs. In return, they have shown such love and affection.

7. Music - Music does something to the blood in my veins, it feels electric! I love to groove!

8. Turbulance Training- Yes, I love my exercise! I love moving my body and getting a sweat! It makes me happy to sit down after a workout and know I kicked but.

9. Eating more raw foods - It makes me happy to think that the changes I'm making to my diet are greatly benefitting my health. I love making new things and trying great recipes.

10. Doing things to better the planet- Recycling more, eating items that are not packaged, using eco-friendy products, and supporting local businesses. These put a smile on my face as I know it helps!


Now for 10 Bloggers who make my day:

The happy raw kitchen
Choosing raw
Renegade Health
Adventures of Raw Goddess Heathy
Yummy raw kitchen
A love for New Recipes
Vegan Dad
Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
Rawmazing
Love Veggies and Yoga



Hopefully, you check out these amazing bloggers! Have a great Thursday!

During my workout today Nemo was acting funny as usual! I look over and he is on his back in the prayer position. He's very spiritual, apparently. love him!



Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Unbeaten Path

Good Morning!


I have been reading some crazy inspirational blog posts today (and here). I’m feeling pumped! Here’s a little story of my struggles to be my own person. In the past I was always leery of people who would want you to do some self discovery to find your passions, needs, weaknesses, etc. You mean I have to go out into the big, scary world and blaze my own trail? No, no! I need direction, guides, step-by-step instructions, anything so I don’t need to use my brain or my personality. Please, please, pretty please, let mebe a robot! I was so afraid to be myself, I wasn’t. Being a follower created a lot of inner turmoil, suppressing my soul to the point where I didn’t know who I was anymore. I didn’t want to be around friends, I cried all the time, I fought with my husband, and made my amazing family pull away. But, I am happy to say my soul won the battle and I am now my own person, creating my own path. I am still tempted to be a follower, and sometimes I fail, but I get right back on my horse and move on. This has been such a HUGE development for me that I am near tears writing this post, actually whose kidding who, I AM crying. This has taken my whole adult life to figure out, and of course I just needed to accept and love who I am. The truth shall set you free!


I was raised in a single parent household. My mother is the strongest person I know (crying again), but I felt that in certain situations she could have used that louder roar I knew was in there somewhere. I believe that you learn habits from the environment in which you are surrounded. Naturally, I grew up being an independent lady but I still followed the crowds. Rarely did I speak my mind. Oh, the horror! This went on throughout high school and college. I very slowly started to change after I graduated but nothing major. I got married, adopted a plant based diet, and started my health info quest. This is when I learned to emotional side to health and how it impacts so many areas of life. I felt the urge to shine like never before. Yet, I still fought it and fought it some more. I was exhausted and feeling pretty sorry for myself. Then I woke up. I realized how destructive I was and that it’s not worth living life if you cannot express who you really are and live your passion. I feel like I have this new chance to make my life all that I want it to be. It’s going to take a lot of work, and yes, self discovery, but I finally feel ready. I will never forget what my seventh grade teacher said to my mom on the last day of class. He told her that I would be a leader in this world! Wow, such a powerful statement to say about a 13 year old. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, of course, but these days I use it as a constant reminder to be proud of the woman I am.


Wherever you are in your journey of “you”, I wish you lots of joy, excitement, and happiness as you blaze your path. You are awesome!!


Thanks to sraburton for such a great pict!