Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Baby Step Changes Part 8 Reinvent Yourself

Never, Never, Never

Never give up...

on the important things.

I just had a reminder of that after spending the evening with someone I loved enough to step out of the way of the consequences of her choices. Only after agonizing over doing just that, and weeping and praying and begging her to learn before she had to learn the hard way. And you know what? Some of those consequences hit like freight trains.

But, something else happened, too. She is deciding to stand up, brush herself off, and, I think, has learned something from each of those hits. That is powerful. And humbling. Because part of me wondered if anything would ever penetrate.

There are things and relationships that are pursuits that are too costly in the long run. Things that drain us of our time, resources and lifeblood. What drains you? Sucks the joy out of your soul? Maybe it's time to let it go.

But there are things and relationships that are worth fighting for. Your covenant relationships, your integrity and character, your soul-mates (the ones you share your journey with... you know who they are) your health, your future, your eternity.... those are pursuits that are worth wrestling matches, sacrifices, and the truth.

Go to a corner, take a breather and a few swigs of cold water. Stand up, get back into the ring and never give up.Who do you need to tell the truth to? What do you need to do today to fight for your future, your hope, your dream? One step at a time, take one today.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm Scramble

I learned a valuable lesson on the farm yesterday.

I can't claim that my mistake was from sun spots in my eyes or brain adlepation from heat exposure. The temperature was perfectly mild and reasonable...unseasonably cool.

I suppose it could have been a subconscious drive...since I don't love the vegetable which received my messed-up good intentions.

24 picked peas for an hour. A co-volunteer also picked...but she started even earlier. Three (wo)man hours picking peas. Whew. The net? Over 30 pounds. Trust me. That is a whole lot of green stuff. While they were picking peas I harvested Swiss Chard and Kale. A bunch of it. And some radishes, and yanked some weeds. Found a few good Lady Bugs and cheered them on. (Lady Bugs...not Asian Beetles that look kind of like them...no the little reddish ones, are the organic farmer's friend.) So much going on that I wasn't paying full attention to the pea-picking in the other field.

Here's where the dilemma began, had I been paying attention I might have gotten home earlier. But, alas, I was not. The second part of the mistake began with the washing of produce. We water rinse most things to just take the dust off...pretty much...and maybe Lady Bug poo....) Some items begin spoiling once water hits them, like herbs, so they don't get a bath. And items that come right out of the ground like radishes and beets get a shower in the field so they don't need one in the packing room...green, very green. And sometimes, the farmers make a judgment call about who gets dunked and who does not.

So we had loads and loads of veggies to wash. And only two sinks to do it. I thought I'd be uber efficient and wash out the sinks, fill them up with cold water and get going. I'd done it before...I knew the drill. One sink got lettuce. The other...well...we had a lot of peas...good idea to start on those. So I started dumping them in. I'm happily sloshing away and one of the farmers comes by..."Oh, we decided not to wash the peas." OOPS! Darn. But they were wet, and I carried on.

Until 24's co-picker says. "Hey, there are two kinds of peas. Don't mix them together!"

Oh boy. Did I mention that my uber-efficiency compelled me to dump all 5 bags of peas...all 30 pounds...into the cold water? Together.

Sigh.

I'm pretty sure I won't be doing that again. Good news. The peas are super clean and received lots of tender loving care. Bad news, it added about 45 minutes to the process. Ugh.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Some Fun Perks and Quirks.

So this is fun. Remember the coconut crust rhubarb pie that 24 invented? I posted the recipe at the Earth Balance web site because they offered a free product coupon for coconut oil recipes. They have a brand new line of organic coconut oil. How could I not send the amazing coconut crust rhubarb pie recipe in? 24 was pretty jazzed about the free product coupon. (Me too, and we just used the last one we got...nice.)

And they wanted to feature it on their website today.

Here it is. Isn't that cool?


And since creativity and fun is on the docket. Here are a few things recently made by yours truly and a few friends.

My folks, daughter in law and 24 (me, too) took another glass fusion class. Here is my end product. The four season apple tree. Not quite what I pictured in my mind. But I think it turned out nice. 24 made a wowser cool birdie in a cage, Mom a fabulous fish, Dad another Monet-type work-of-art rendition of their house, and my daughter-in-law a modern dot and stripe beauty. (Thanks for posing, taking and sending the pics, Dad. ) : )

And at the art fair on Saturday I made (well, mostly stood there while one of the volunteers did all the work) a sweet repurposed vinyl messenger bag....made out of old billboards. How cool is that? The company is called Revinylize... very cool idea.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Monday, Monday, Update

We had quite the Saturday. I slept in. Nice! And then we met a friend with a Costco membership for a look-see. I'm pretty sure we'll be getting our own membership, and leaving poor Sam's Club. Some of the products and prices were pretty tempting and they have quite a bit of organic produce and products.

Then we went to the big outdoor annual art fair. Lots of fun. The weather was perfect. But there was a bizarre little theme. A large octopus...and a man with barnacles on his legs. Odd.

But I don't think they were connected...to each other or the wedding party. The barnacles were actually instruments. And the wedding party...not sure if they were art fans or didn't check the city calendar before planning the wedding. And I didn't even try to figure out the huge psychedelic octopus.

Finally, we traveled to the highest spot in the city and looked out over the flooded parts and pieces all around us. I have included a picture of the same spot from a few years ago (not exactly the same same, but close enough.) There is water that is threatening a lot of homes and businesses in the lower lying areas of our city. It's done some serious damage to some smaller towns near us. It's pretty overwhelming to see it. And it was crowded, too. Hundreds of people were there checking out the water levels.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Baby Step Changes Part 7 Reinvent Yourself

4. Plan differently.

People often eat out because of exhaustion or overwhelmed schedules.

Think ahead about your menu for the week and have the ingredients on hand. Build a revolving menu based on what your family likes. If you have fifteen meals that are hits with your family, you can rotate them and only duplicate items twice a month.

Some ideas. And these will be really different for every family. So will the ingredients. Ours will be meatless and without dairy products.

Pasta and sauce
Stir Fry
Breakfast for dinner (omelets or tofu scramble or hash brown casserole, pancakes or waffles)
Indian spiced food
Burger or hot sandwich night
Build your own taco or burrito night
Lasagna
Pizza
Rice or Potato casserole
Soup and/or Salad
Side Salad/Appetizer night
Gravy over rice or potatoes
Calzones or Pockets
Comfort Food - roast, mac and cheese, meatloaf
Eggplant or Chicken Parm

Can you take 20 minutes in the morning to throw something together that you can pop in the oven when you get home? Not only will it save time when you rush into the house during the tensest time of the day, but if you put the ingredients together the dish will taste better as the flavors marry. (If you have raw meat, don't put it with the other ingredients except the marinade ingredients that then will need to be tossed.) Think double time and while you put one dish together, go ahead and make two and put one in the freezer for another time. This works great for lasagna, casseroles and soups -- even all veggie versions). Or put the crock pot to use.

Have healthy versions of spaghetti sauces and salsa on hand. (Plan ahead even more and make and can your own from your summer garden bounty or the farmer's market.) And always have a pasta you like on hand. Then you always have a quick, easy meal with the addition of a salad or bread.

If you plan ahead and have prepped bags of cooked brown rice, quinoa and black beans in the freezer you have the makings of a quick tortilla meal with the addition of quick sauteed pepper and onion strips (frozen in bags which is often cheaper than fresh, usually frozen quickly to retain nutrients, and sliced so you don't have to...win, win. If you really want to plan ahead you can do your own bags in the summer months from your own garden or the farmer's market.)

Potatoes are a good staple, too. And one that can be used in casseroles, soups etc. Allrecipes.com is a terrific resource. Type in the main ingredients you have on hand and you will find recipes.

Every meal you eat at home saves you money, and should likely be better for you (unless your home meal is exclusively boxes, bags and cans).

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Baby Step Changes Part 6 Reinvent Yourself

3. Cook differently.

Look at your family’s favorite recipes.

What ingredients can you change? What ingredients can you decrease?

Once you start, it's not that intimidating to tweak favorites and end up with the same feeling, similar flavor. And knowing that you made it yourself and made it healthier for your family can be a slam-dunk, fabulous feeling.

Look at each ingredient individually. I can't promise that if you switch one type of flour for another that you'll end up with exact results, or that if you cut the amount of cheese in half that you will still get the flying trapeze of cheese upside your chin. But. If you are willing to make a change at a time, or two if you are brave, you can end up with some really tasty results.

Note: You might want to make a photocopy of your recipe and write the changes right on it. That way you can recreate what you did. There is nothing more frustrating than creating a tasty dish and not remembering what you did to get there. Grrr. Another note. If the recipe is already billed as "healthified" be cautious on tweaking too much. The second worst thing is investing the time into something that is inedible. I'm talking about classic recipes or full octane ingredients for the major tweaking.

Basics.

Most items don’t need all the sugar and all the salt called for. You can reduce up to a third or even half the amount of sugar. Salt can be decreased by half.You will likely not notice the difference. Start with a third less and move up to half if you feel like you can go a bit more. Some fats can also be decreased.

Change out all purpose flour for a whole grain flour.Or make your own blends of regular (go unbleached for less processing), spelt, oat for a more traditional like flour with nutritional benefits.

Use whole grain pasta. Or a mix of half regular, half multi or whole grain.

Use a different milk like oatmilk, unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk to sneak in different nutrition when milk is called for. Oatmilk is the most milk like in texture for creamy soups or casseroles. Coconut can leave a bit of coconut flavor but is nice in asian dishes calling for milk.My least favorite is soy because of the flavor.

Blend up vegetables and mix them into old stand-bys. If you have a meat loaf recipe that everyone loves, try adding a half or full cup of blended sweet potatoes and spinach. Replace part of the ground meat with lentils, beans, brown rice, quinoa or nuts If it's a "busy" recipe (got a lot going on) or If there’s sauce on it your family may not notice.

I haven't played around with a lot of recipes that call for applesauce for fats etc with results I love. But. If you have a recipe that feels pretty greasy, by all means, decrease the fat by a quarter the next time you make it. You might want to "grease" any pans in case it really messes with your end result. Or try half applesauce or bananas or pureed veggies or beans and half the fat.

By replacing, tweaking or decreasing ingredients, you change the nutritional dynamics of the meal. I have discovered that real food with nutritional heft is often more filling and satisfying and requires less.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farmville

No, not the one on Facebook.

I've spent a few hours at our CSA farm this past week. Saturday saw us heading out at 9:00 a.m. to put in a few hours. My parents, son, aunt and one of her friends came along for the fun.

Some of the pictures I snapped. I also dropped my phone multiple times in the dirt.

My son, also known as Toad-Boy and daughter, 24, held onto a cart of horse poop as it was driven up the hill.

You might wonder what horse poop has to do with garden work. Okay. That shouldn't be a stretch for your imagination. We all know what poop is for. This particular pile was mixed into the furrows that would become holes for asparagus plants.

How many plants? 400. Planting asparagus takes a little doing. First the furrow, then the horse poo, the mixing of the two together, a hole dug approx 18 inches apart to allow for asparagus growth.

Asparagus plants live for 15 years. The best producing years are seven and eight. Pretty amazing for something that looks so delicate. After the tiny plant is placed in the ground and tucked in, bags of autumn leaves were pulled out of the shed and leaf mulch was placed around the plants.

What you might not know about horse poop and the organic gardener. Organically certified horse poop is a rare bird indeed. Too many hoops to jump through. However, the poop can be used if the horse is fed a proper diet. And if the bedding is approved bedding. Cool that this poop came from a nearby farmer who feeds his animals grass and other natural foods and buys the wood chip horse bedding from another local guy who doesn't treat his wood with any chemicals. Win. Win. Win. And a minimal carbon footprint (or streak).

We picked the first snap peas of the season and took the newbies on a guided tour. Lots of fun. Except for the residual sunburn. The weather was perfect. And dinner of snap pea stir fry. Yummo!

Tuesday was a beastly hot day. I went a little later than usual so expected all the harvesting to be done for the day and that we'd get out of there a little earlier than usual. Uhhh. What's that saying about best laid plans? We harvested the final cutting of lettuces from the greenhouse and finished up at about 3:30. Then we had the washing, the weighing, the bagging, boxing and tagging. I finally had to leave at 5:00 and 24 had to leave at 5:30. Amazingly, the majority of work was almost finished when she left.

We brought home two kinds of peas, more lettuce, more swiss chard, dill, kale and beets. 24 had a chance to prune tomatoes, too. We are getting quite the education. And finding that anything we pick and eat is extra tasty knowing the work involved in getting it to our table.