numerology at it’s best

September 16, 2012 11 Comments

today is the 16th day 9th month of the 2012th year

I am 41 years old and my sister is 38  years old.

today we ran our first 5k,

Jodies’ bib number was 902

Mine was 2029

(it’s alphabetical.. for those who do not know)

in case you do not know, a 5k is 3.1 miles.

my personal goal was to finish in 45 mintes.

we crossed over the finish line ant the clock said 39 :40

I was thrilled with this number.

On the way home, by brilliant sister and I started talking about how the clock read that, but those were the first runners…. the fast runners.. and that in fact it took us a good 4-5 minutes for us to start our race

*keep in mind, we are newbies here*

so alllllllll day we have waited for the final results to be posted… 5 minutes ago.. they were

34 minutes and 26 seconds!  yeah baby!!!  we ran a n 11:05 mile!!  WWWAAAAY beyond what I could  that I could ever do!!

I will post more on this whole experience tomorrow, but I have a hubby who is in actually in town and some legs that need some rest 🙂

Onto the giveaway..  42 of you  qualified.. thank you for every share that you made. The only way for me to help my blog grow is for those who like it to share it with others. If you don;t like it.. that is ok.. I don;t want to bully anyone ( except my sister… it’ s a God-given right ~ thanks, mom and dad :)..I owe you both for this!!!!)

*evil grin*

when I went to random .org.. it turns out that I had to pay for it… I just bought my domain this week

I’m broke.

So I yelled to Scott ( who was in the kitchen )  scottinthekitchen stories up soon? possibly 🙂

me : hey hon pic a number between 1 and 42 ( I had the paper way away from me with every name having a number attached)

him : 42

me: really

him : what’s wrong with 42?

me.. nothing.. it;s the winner….  let’s see who won….

Kathy with a K…….. !!!! congratulations!  I will need your address…email at barefootgirl27@comcast.net

Thanks to all who shared and entered. Details on the next giveaway tomorrow 🙂 This one will be quite bigger !

thanks again for all the race love

and thanks, Jo…  for running with me despite the fact that I bullied you into it! I could not have done as well I I did without you by my side  smoooooooocheroni!!!!!!

Happy Sunday evening, friends!

oxoxox

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race day

September 16, 2012 10 Comments

race day is here..  I am excited and scared and nervous and extatic all at once.  *squeal* I can’t believe that today is the day!!

You can read about why this has been so important to me here  🙂

My little sister and I are as ready as we are going to be… and that is in thanks to many friends along the way who have answered even the silliest questions about running for me.

so THANK YOU!

and yes, I did go out and buy new sneakers yesterday…. because everyone who knew anything about sneakers told me that mine were way too small for me & my ‘toe box’ would end up hurting my toes.

I also started to get really bitchy  nervous  yesterday afternoon…. so I took my patootie to the running store, where I was surrounded by runners who didn’t even know and still answered questions for me.

Thank you for everyone on my personal facebook page for the music suggestions… I appreciate them all and her is what I ultimately came up with..

St.Elmos’ fire? why yes…. it is where I fell in love with the jeep Wrangler and knew I would someday drive one…

Prince?  why, yes.. because I am still ( and probably always will be looking for the purple banana….)

Flashdance? well, honestly, wouldn’t you be more surprised if it wasn’t on my playlist? 🙂

thought so 😉

Today is also the day that I announce the winner of the giveaway !!  And i know that I said the deadline was last night, But I’m feeling all warm and generous this morning…  So I will extend your chances to win Until I arrive home from the race….  ( I have a complete list of everyone who was entered based on how you could enter as stated in that post.. some of you have multiple entries! Thank you!!

So same as before..  like barefootgirl in the kitchen on facebook

Share a status update from barefootgirl in in the kitchen on your own facebook wall…

Sign up or have a friend sign up for email alerts from the blog.. or by wordpress.

Have a friend like barefootgirl in the kitchen on facebook. ( then write n the wall your name so that I know who sent them over 🙂 )

You guys are all the greatest…  I’m off to the city where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air…

I’m such a lyric junkie 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’ll be back around dinner with race results and giveaway winner!  good luck friends!!!

I gotsss to run!!!!

Filed Under: Run Tagged With: , , ,

quaintness overload.

September 13, 2012 32 Comments

seriously.

be ready.

Yesterday after my mom & I had a most wonderful lunch, we went to Christmas tree shops (❡❡ dontcha just love a a bargain ❡❡)  to browse through things that we didn’t need to find things that we couldn’t live without.  I bought some super-de-duperly cool fall napkins .

Ali’s lunch is stylin’ today, I tell ya 🙂

Mom asked me if we could stop at this little shop that she had always wanted to… it is called Cinnamon Sticks and Candlewicks  it is tucked into a little shop on route 28  at a bend in the road in lovely, West Dennis, ma.. on the Cape. 

If you think it is quaint from the outside….. just hold onto your pants, cause the inside is downright charming 🙂   :if you are a boy in your teen years that still thinks that your bum hanging out makes you look cool… the for the love of God.. PLEASE hold those pants!!!!:

and it smelled HEAVENLY!  The first thing that we saw were 1803 candles. These are the nicest candles that I have ever had my hands on, and let me tell you, I’ve had my hands on A lot of candles!  They are made of Soy wax…. grown by AMERICAN farmers!  how cool is that?

The packaging had my heart instantly, being ball jars and all….. ( I have a slight obsession with ball jars) 

what’s so cool about soy you ask??

well here ya go…

Soy Wax is made of soybeans grown in the United States.  It is a renewable resource and environmentally friendly.

 clean burning
 non-toxic
 non-carcinogenic
 biodegradable

Soy candles will leave your home free of soot on your walls, curtains and furniture.

and… they smell amazing!  And they have the coolest names..  Cabin on the hill, barn raising, grandpa’s trees, north woods cabin.. just to name a few…  The gentleman behind the counter told us that once we burned one of these candles, we would never go back to any other candle. I think he is right 🙂

the store had all sorts of tiny cubbies with a mix of antiques

LOVE! the rolling pins!!!

Mom and I spent quite a bit of time walking around and taking it all in… enjoying the incredible smells:)…  This business is run by a lovely husband & wife team, JoDee& Bob Harvey.  ( their adorable granddaughter was there as well as their pup and a sweet little kitty cat 🙂  ( I forget their names 😦  )

~ Btw…. the first weekend in December they host a holiday festival with clam chowder, pulled pork, dips.. and a whole lot more.. if you are in the area and want more info… leave them your email on their home page and they will keep you up to date.. I’ll be there 😉

Something else kinds cool happened…  While checking out , Mom started talking to Bob and it turns out that Bob’s family grew up RIGHT across the street from my stepdad, John’s family!  ( North of Boston).. small world, eh?

While Mom & Bob were reminiscing  about the good ol’ days, I thought it would be fun if I wandered around & took some pics.. and bought a small gift to share with one of you!!!

YOU’RE always on my mind 🙂 

so that’s exact-alatally  what I did 🙂

My favorite scent from all that I had to choose from was called ‘barn-raising’.. the description states

Everyone has a job to do on barn raising day…(blend of barnwood, redwood, cedar)

so here is what I have for you ! a six pack of 1803 melters. Each soy cube is infused with fragrance, essential oil and botanicals…  You can melt each wax sube in a wax melter for hours of scent.

yeeaaah…. I debating on telling you this, but since we are friends and all…. I bought a set of wax melters for me in a different scent … and I went to smell it lsat night and the wax and essential oil blend is SOOO  soft.. that I broke off a tiny piece and massaged it into my dry heels.

Now you REALLY think that I’ve lost it… It’s ok.. I get it… I live with me too… le sigh.

I’m certainly NOT recommending that the lucky winner try this…  but I’m also not certain that I won’t do it again tonight 🙂

I really did fall in love with this scent… and to prove it to you ….  here is my barn raising candle next to my birds nest of sea glass

( sea glass is sea glass that Ali has been collecting for me for years and the birds nest is from a mama bird who had her babies right out side of my window… I watched them grow actually fly away… months after the nest had been abandoned, I took it as my own to hold treasures 🙂

the label on the candle reads…. ‘Men women and children have a job to do on barn raising day’.. I mean, how could you not love that? you can get your kids to do work!

ps.. if you want see see more pics of this adorable store… click here

SOO…   down to business… what do you have to do to win? I’m offering you a lot of chances!

1~  LIKE barefootgirl in the kitchen on facebook.. then leave a quick comment there..( on barefootinthekitchen’s facebook page)  it can be one word. just let me know that you were there.. if you already like me *flips hair* then just leave me a quick comment… again.. one word is fine… you could even just say booger. I would take that.. because I know that that is your secret way of professing your undying love to me  .. *swoons*

2~ refer a friend that you think might like barefoot to my blog and follow either by signing up for emails ( click the white box on the left above the facebook like box)  or following though wordpress…Have my new found friend ( thanks to you ) Leave a quick comment with who it was (AHEM… YOUR NAME)  that referred them. You each will get an entry into the giveaway.. you refer  ( I keep spelling reefer by accident.. this could be bad)  let’s try that again…. you can refer as many friends as you want.. and you will receive a separate entry for each  one of my new friends… AND  your friend can get an extra entry ( or 10) if they refer one of their friends and do exactly the same thing…. leave a comment about who loved who first… I promise , I’ll keep track.

3~ and if you don’t think that you have any friends that want to love me, or you just want to hoard may awesomeness all to yourself, I understand.. I’m a girl 😉 If this is you, then all that you have to do is leave me a comment in the comment area.

you are welcome to say booger too.. there is no food in this post 🙂

AND!!!!  you can do ALL of these for multiple entries!!!!  because you are my friend… and you rock my world!

2 last things……   I only mention this because when I first started reading blogs..this I did not know… ( don’t laugh ) but many times in a post I will refer to something that I’ve written in the past & I will type a hyper link this will take you back to that post that I was talking about… if something that I wrote did not make sense, then perhaps the past post will clear things up ( keep in mind, I’ve been at this for a few years, so some of you may have read things that others have not)  I try to make sure that you see the hyperlinks by making them a different color.. so if you see writing that isn’t this lovely black, there’s your sign 🙂 If the word is a purty color then click on it… It might make my post make a whole lot more sense…. then again, maybe not.

Once in awhile I will change the color just for fun, so if you roll over a colored word and when you click it it does nothing… then just move on.. there is always tomorrow.

and lastly, my dear friends…. I will keep the contest open until midnight on Saturday.. this gives everyone time to share the love. Think Woodstock here…

I will choose the winner at random  using random.org  when I get home from runningmy first 5 k on Sunday…….and promptly ship out to the winner on Monday morning. 

I have 6 other prizes for upcoming give aways… and waiting to hear back on many more… some are home made and some are donated and kinda funky &  fun stuff 🙂

have a great night, invisible blog world friends 🙂

Filed Under: giveaway, quaint Tagged With: , , , , ,

where we were

September 11, 2012 9 Comments

9/11/2001.

A day that will we will never forget.

Victims that we will never forget

Heros that we will never forget

Terrorists that we would like to forget

Family who will forever be in our hearts…

It was a day that we held the ones around us just a little bit tighter.. because we could.

this was a day that everyone remembers where they were.. what they were doing and who they were with.

here’s my story…

It was a beautiful Monday morning. The kids had recently gone back to school. I was a cosmetologist with some wonderful clients and I would often go out of my way to accomodate their schedules.

Back in the the the Beauty industry really didn’t work on Monday. They just didn’t.

One of my favorite clients ( they all were, really ) was Mrs. M. That’s what everyone called her.. never by her last name. She was from new Jersey and had a summer home in Chatham, on cape cod.  She was a fabulous cook and we got along perfectly despite that fact that she could have been my grandmother.

(on another note.. she was a hot spook…. she helped set my kitchen up with everything form an ice cream maker to food processor because she was mad at her husband.. I’ll share that story another time )

So I had met her at the salon for a 9 am appt. It was just the two of us.  I didn’t bother to turn on the radio because she didn’t like music… and we would be doing what we always do.. I would be doing her nails & we would be talking food.

Which we did.  For over an hour.

We left the salon together around 10:20 am.

I went to the grocery store, and remember thinking how happy I was.. It was fall, my favorite time of year, I had a great job, happy kids who were busy in a cute school house being educated and I had a beautiful kitchen to cook in and the afternoon to do just that. I left the salon and went to the grocery store.

And stood at the deli and ordered turkey breast.

A man was standing next to me & I turned to him and said ‘” isn’t this nice to not have to wait in line now that the tourists are gone? I’ve missed turkey.”

( if you live on the cape or visit the cape you know that the in the summer the stores are CRAZY to navigate  and the deli line is simply ridiculous.. Everyone wants to buy deli meat to make sandwiches for the beach.. it’s common to wait in line for up to 45 minutes… or just go a summer without deli meat, like I had )

He looked at me blankly and said ‘ ” how can you say that after what just happened… all those poor people”

Now I was really confused because I still had not known.

He said, ” the world trade center was attacked.. planes flew into.. many people died”

The blood went from my face and I left the store, leaving my cart behind.

You see, Scott worked in Boston. a few blocks from the world Trade Center and his company actually had meetings there often.

I quickly drove home ( I lived close) and saw the answering machine blinking.

First message was from my mom ‘ “is Scott ok?”

Second message was from my mother -in -law ” have you heard from Scott?”

Third message… the kids’ school ‘” due the the tragedies of today we are releasing the kids to be dismissed”

I tired calling Scott’s office and did not get an answer.

57 times.

This was before cell phones so I only had the one number.

Sick to my stomach and worried how I was going to raise my kids on my own I sat on the couch and finally turned on the Tv.

It was only then that I realized that it was the World Trade Center in  NYC, not in Boston.

I felt relief, then sadness.. I could not believe what I was seeing.

All of those people, all of those families..

I never did hear from Scott. And I kept worrying about that because at that point, America didn’t know what was next .. it was surreal.

He arrived home almost 3 hours later. HIs company sent everyone home as a safety precaution.. and he never thought to call me to let me know.

he was home safe, but I still kept thinking about all of those people who weren’t so lucky… all of those familes.. lives changed in an instant.

I hugged my kids so tight that day.

A new new generation of Military was born that day… Kids in middle school who quickly learned that they loved their  country and that they would fight to defend it… Years later, I’m proud to say that both my son & nephew were two of those kids.

We all know that sadness and empathy that  came in the days to come. I know this anniversary affects some more than others, so if my thoughts and prayers go out to you if you or your family were directly involved.

I’m off to play with some watermelon, but I felt like I needed to acknowledge this day and share my story…..

what’s your story?

I’ll be back later on

Image

Filed Under: family, random, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

born to run

September 9, 2012 9 Comments

 

well….. not really… but born to TRY 🙂

T-minus 7 days until my first race. I purposely chose a RACE that was a run/ jog/ walk. I expect that I will be doing 50/50 jog/ walk. My personal goal is to finish within 45 minutes, but if I don’t achieve that, I’ll still be proud.

And be fore warned… not matter how sweaty & red I am once I finish… I will post pics.. because I will be SO proud of myself 🙂

while I’m working on running to me walking for a cure ‘my thing’  This year once cross the finish line of the 2 day- 40 mile Avon walk for breast cancer I will have walked over 360 miles for breast cancer research ( not including the months of training ) and together with my team raised.. are you ready for this..almost $30,000!!  That’s an awful lot of cookie.. and brownies… and spaghetti dinners 😉

In the years passed, we have walked just because we could.. because we wanted to be able to make a difference. I have prayed that my family never had to hear the words, ” you have breast cancer”

This year we will be walking for a personal reason, My stepsister was diagnosed early last month. I won’t go into details, as it is not my place to, But walking for a cure just took on a whole other meaning for us.

I’m also walking for a friend of a friend with 4 small children who also is battling breast cancer.

prayers for all involved would be super cool 😉

In a few weeks, my team and I are doing a smaller walk in Boston to kick off our 2013 training.

This year we are able to have other family members who otherwise could not walk the 40 miles to make a difference ( but are always on the sidelines cheering us one when the going gets tough)

There is a choice of walking 1.5 miles of 6… either one that you chose, you’ll be part of an amazing experience! We are excited to have the extra company and if you are free to join us, please do!

Our team name is Team  Pinkteenies.  Come join us!!

I have been working very hard ove the last few days trying to format my blog & have it come across as who I truly am. ( mind you, I have almost zero technical skills) but I slowly am getting there.  As a result, I have not spent a lot of time in the kitchen ( ironically)  but trust me.. I did work on a few watermelon recipes early this morning and once I have a finished product. I’ll be sharing.

You may want to go out and buy a watermelon in advance.. trust me 🙂

Lastly, before I head out for my little training run ( which admittedly, I’m trying to avoid) I want to shout out to my good friend. Celia, over at River Cat Chili, who is a whizz at this stuff and actually spent time on the phone with me yesterday during a chili competition to walk me through some things that I just could not figure out.. Smooch!  you are the best… ( and she has the puuuritest little voice too 😉 )

Ok.. lacing up my kicks and loading the tunes..  ( and it’s drizzling out…. WHO am I ?? )

xoxox

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manifesting abundance

September 6, 2012 16 Comments

soo here I am again…..

*actually, I’ve always been here, I just haven’t shared a whole heck of a lot *

How have you been? Good. Me too!

manifesting abundance.. exactly what does that mean?  Since I’ve been posting I have completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training course, which has me certified ( and no longer scared 🙂 to teach yoga!

It was an amazing journey and it really transformed me in many ways.  As part of our training, we had certain electives to choose. One that I signed up for was “manifesting abundance”

I had no idea what it was….  and I made that perfectly clear as the day-long class began. I was sitting all properly propped up on my yoga mat, tea by my side ,honoring my body as we were taught to when Tiffany, my teacher asked if there were any questions. I promptly raised my hand and asked, ” what is manifesting abundance? ”

She smiled and simply said that she would not be able to answer that question… It was a question for me to answer.

I turned bright red and was so embaressed that I actually asked the question.

I almost walked out. But I didn’t.   I stayed and had a most amazing day with a bunch of wonderful women. I cannot go into too much detail of what happened in that room, but I can tell you that it was amazing and it changed me. When I left at the end of the day, I knew everything would be ok. I also realized just how many signs in my life are all pointing me in the direction that I am supposed to be going in.

The signs have always been there, I was just too naive to see them.

Let me explain a little.

As some of you know Scott and I had our children very young. I was 16 when our oldest, Jason, was born; Ryan and Ali followed when we were in our early 20s.

We have spent not only our entire adult lives raising our children, but much of our adolescence as well.

It’s pretty much all that I know.  Jason has been out on his own for many years now, happily married to a wonderful girl , Amanda Sue, who I am proud to call my daughter- in-law. I love her for loving him.

Y’all may also know that ryan has had a rough road. The deck of cards that he was dealt left him with a wild, wild ride for him to get to where he is today. I cannot tell you how much of my life revolved around helping him get to where he is now

( he has done so much on his own, but I have always been right in the sidelines ready to help him with whatever twist or turn was waiting )

Unfortunately, there were far to many turns.

Fast forward and He is now a freshman in college, at his dream school, majoring in history, a subject that he is passionate about.

He is clear on the other side of the country.

Ali is a senior in high school, very independent, and very goal-orientated when it comes to her picking her college for her next 4 years..

Scott and I have raised 3 independent, compassionate, thoughtful kids who have carried on with them the ability to think out of the box and take the road less- traveled and stop to enjoy the view.

26 years ago, if you had asked me what I would want for my children when I was becoming a parent, I could not have dreamed the outcome.

It was what I had , unknowingly, had spent my life manifesting.

So that day in the room, Tiff had us write some things down… Things about us now, things that we would like to see in our futures.

I came across that paper the other day.

1~ become a yoga instructor.  check. I love yoga and I love to teach others to be healthy and HONOR and LOVE yourself for who you are today.  I’m all for being healthy, but I get bothered when I see folks beat themselves up for that ‘extra 5 pounds’..

to put it in perspective, somebody going through chemo would LOVE those 5 pounds..

right? right.

And look back at a picture of yourself from ten years ago.. most likely you were thinking to yourself , ” I could be skinnier, or more muscular, or richer, or… well, you get the point.

And I’m willing to bet that when you look at that pic now, you would love to be who you were back then.

So stop and love yourself for who you are today… strive for more, but accept who you are. for who you are.

I always say, stop comparing yourself to the person next to you…. they are doing a terrible job at trying to be you .

2~ I wanted to become a runner. I have never been athletic. Like ever. I purposely bailed out of gym class ( but excelled in home EC.. go figure?) I’ve played one tiny season of softball when I was 9 and even though I was supposed to love it, I hated it. ( I’m sorry, dad , 😦 )

I have always envied runners.  They just seem to have a sense of self and look so carefree and comfortable in their own skin.  I have tried many times to learn to run, but I’ve just simply hated it.

So one of the things on my list that day was to become a runner.  I am working very hard on that one. I have some excellent guidance and I am determined. And when I set my mind to something.. that’s it.  I signed up for my first 5 k  (dragging my little sister along with me)  and I am scared to death… but you know what? I am going to do it. And I am going to love it… because I want to..

perhaps I should have warned you ahead of time regarding the length of this post.. sorry 🙂

back to being a mom.. I have dreaded this time in my life for the past few years. what would I do without my kids here? This question has had me lose more nights of sleep than I care to admit. I have obsessed and dreaded it.  I have even gone as far to talk to my doctor about it.  26 years of being a mom & being SO involved in my kids lives… what would be around the corner for me?

What I learned in that room that day was like I said, I am going to not only be ok, I’m going to be better than ok. I have been working on ‘manifesting abundance’ and by that I mean that I am going after all of my little dreams one at a time.

When I left Ryan last week, I cried one tiny tear. No where near the mess that I thought I would be.. Pride took over . and Happiness. As sad as I am to not have him here to get my quirky humor ( he ‘gets’ me like no one else does) .. the smile on his face and seeing him in his element SOO happy washed away any tears that I might have cried.

This happened once before too…  When Jason graduated from Navy boot camp.  I was ready to be a mess, but when he marched in, a man… I was overwhelmed with pride. I simply cannot describe it.

It is safe to say that my kids mean the world to me, and while I am still their mom and biggest fan, the fact that they are all living their own lives SO happy.. well, that make me happy.

and ready to manifest what is next for me 🙂 I’m only 41 years old. Really, quite young to be at this point of my life.

I do still have Ali for her senior year, as well as Tian, my exchange daughter form Hong Kong ( who i love like my own) and Ali’s multiple friends who call me mom & make our home their second home. It will be an amazing year for all of these beautiful young women, and I intend on keeping in touch with each and every one of them.

( I may be known at the post office as the queen of care packages )

I love that they are all going on with their own lives and that I am ready for this point of my life.  I never imagined the peace that I could find in my own skin 🙂

so.. if I haven’t lost you yet, thanks for letting me share. I love to write and I have alot to say ( clearly)

don’t give up on me, food and quilting will still be here…. ( I’m about to make mushroom soup for one … as my entire family is currently in 4 separate time zones )

as I leave you… think about this…  what are you manifesting? can you picture it? can you love yourself just as much as you love that certain someone that you would do anything for?

just try

xoxoxoox

~s

Filed Under: family, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

simple addition

January 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

hiya!

4 things~

THIS

plus

THIS

plus

THIS

 

equals

 

happy birthday, Ali  I love you very much & am very proud of you!

Filed Under: dessert, family Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

times.. they are a changin…

January 3, 2012 2 Comments

happy 2012. It’s hard to believe that it is a whole new year.

Some of you know ( not from the blog, but from knowing me elsewhere) that in June I attended an all day workshop on participating in a 21 plus day cleanse, where I slowly ( safely) eliminated food group from my diet * untiI was down to raw food only then slowly added certain foods back.

I began this on father’s day.  I remember this because my daughter left the next day for a 10- day missionary trip to the Appalachian mountains to work with under-privileiged  children with her then best friends.

I felt safe starting this when I did..  she would be gone, which really left me just feeding the boys during this time ( and quite frankly,the meat & potatoes that the were wanting didn’t appeal to me at all) so it was rather easy for me to do this without much temptation. Not to mention that I had a veggie garden that had wonderful, healthy greens that were always available.

I has set my mind that this was going to be a succes. Or at the very least, I would not have succeeded, but I would have at least tried.

It turned out to be the single best thing that I had ever done for myself. I learned SO much about my willpower. I felt great. I looked healthy , I shed pounds.

The end of 2011was a strange time in my life. Without getting into too many details, things in my life spiralled. Not in an ‘oh my life is over’ kind of thing, but a constant feeling of not being able to control what was going on around me. This feeling had taken it’s toll on me.  I felt as though mercury is in retrograde 24/7

I found some inner peace within yoga, something that has had an impact on my entire year. I began teacher training that will have me certified to be a yoga instructor as well as other certifications.  Through this training my eyes have been opened up to how all in this world is connected. Many many things have happened that have had me step back in awe. Things that I never would have noticed prior to my training.

I have learned so much this past year. About myself and the world around me.

I have kept this training a secret from some.  I realized in the middle of the night that the energy I have been putting into shielding people in my life from certain things not worth it.

I was just plain silly.

My ramblings may seem to be all over the board here, quite literally.  If you thing I’m all over the board here, you should see what is going on inside my head.

I have decided to begin the cleanse again. It feels like right time. The beginning of this new year has me filled with excitement and hope for a wonderful things to come.

It will most certainly be more difficult. Not only is it the dead of winter here in New England ( not the best for fresh produce) but I have to make dinner for 4 each night as well.

* in October we had a wonderful young lady from Hong Kong, Tian, come to live with us for the year*

It will be difficult to cook for them while I am trying to eliminate food in my own diet, but I feel that it is the right thing to do and so my mind has been made up.

What will I post here? a few different things. I will share some of what I will be eating .. but also what I am cooking *healthily* for the rest of my family.

One of the things that we have done is to get a cookbook with authentic Chinese recipes & occasionally making mini- feasts. I will share some of these.

so there you have it. In a very abreviated way, what has been going on in my world.

and for now..

thats’s all she wrote

* I do not like the word ‘diet’. The mere word to me sets one up for failure. When I use the word ‘diet’ it will always be in a term regarding  which foods we eat.. for example.. ” my diet consists of”

peace out 🙂

Filed Under: family, health Tagged With: , , ,

ricotta.

August 27, 2011 8 Comments

I can’t seem to get Dexy’s midnight runners’ out of my head today. Anyone else??

 

I know that the song is about  EILEEN  but in my head I’ve been singing IRENE. I know, I can be twisted.

Kay.. enough of that. who likes Cheesecake?

Lasagna?

Cheese ravioli?

yeah. me too. and three.

Ok.. guilty, when it comes to cheese I eat one and a half my portion of a serving. Sometimes more.

I must have som kind of mis guided genetic mutation. Yeah, that sounds good. It couldn’t POSSIBLY be my lack of self control??

nah.. didn’t think so.

 

I like super-dee-duperly love cheese

 

It is the sole reason that I could never become vegan.

Cheese. I love ricotta cheese. I used to be able to buy an imported one that I just LOVED. Then the store stopped carrying it. That one cheese ruined me for any other ricotta. Ruined. I swear I could always taste the careseaguem gum ( or whatever it was called) in most grocery store brands.

I’ve seen fresh ricotta in the gourmet cheese section, but just could not stomach the price.

Imagine my surprise when I came across a recipe for freshly made home made ricotta. made at home! (hmm. probably why it is called home made?)

If you are ready to walk away right now, thinking ” no way. she might be able to do it, but I never will.” then STOP. right in your tracks. You CAN do this, you  SHOULD do this & you will not believe the results! ( and never ever need to recycle a plastic ricotta container that the ricotta had started sucking the plastic container taste into.)

adapted from epicurious

you will need.

1 quart ( 32 ounces) of milk ( I used 1 %)

1 Cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

juice of 2 lemons.

cheesecloth-lind strainer over a bowl

In a large pot over high heat, bring milk, cream & salt to a rolling boil, stirring often so that it doesn’t scorch.

Then add the lemon juice, again stirring often until it curdles. ( don’t be grossed out, we WANT it to curdle) Cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

Slowly pur mixture ( be careful. it’s hot *sizzle*) into cheese cloth lined strainer

*FULL disclosure*

Ryan came up while I was making this today just as I was pouring it into the strainer. I SWEAR to you.. It hit me at that moment why it is called cheesecloth!  HE said, “mom, you are kidding me!!” sadly. no.

 

and let it drain. Once curd is separated from the whey, place in the refrigerator to chill (keep a bowl underneath because it will continue to drain) .

Now when I made it yesterday, I through out the whey. But I have been reading about ways to use it AND got to thinking about how much we pay for whey protein in the store.  HMMM???

 

so today I drained it into a mason jar. I will find a use for it.

Muhawww!

so here is the final product

what? you want a closer look?

cool. buckets. I’m yer girl 🙂

this was amazing on our pizza last night.. and will somehow be a part on tonights’ dinner. Please try to make this. I can only compare it to….

jarred store- bought sauce vs. home made marinara

 

chocolate flavored candy disks vs. Godvia Chocolate.

giant jug of wine to Vintage cabernet.

Easter peeps to.. well, really?… anything……

ok.. one last bit of news .. My half-sister gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl today!

welcome to the world, Kalli Grace… I will embroider your quilt & send it on you way!

I made it for you with much love 🙂

~aunty shel 🙂

 

Filed Under: 2011 quilts, make-ahead Tagged With: , , , ,

all in the family……

December 17, 2010 4 Comments

I have very fond memories of a cookie that my mom & grandmother would bake when I was a child. They seemed labor-intensive to me way back when..

my meme…..wasn’t she beautiful?

They only made them around Christmas time & it seemed to me like they took  forever ….

I have never made them or even asked for the recipe.. until last week. I called my mom & asked her if she would like to come to my house & teach me to make these special cookies 🙂

She & my stepdad came down for the day & my mom & I made

date-nut filled cookies…

she brought an old photo copy of my grandmother’s copy..

you will need

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

date filling :

2 cup finely chopped pitted dates

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Start by mixing shortening, ( yes, I actually bought it!) sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Slowly blend in flour, salt & baking soda.; wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour

(perhaps this long hour of waiting in my childs’ mind was all day to me?… remember as a kid just how loooooonnnnnggg December seemed?)

while the dough is chilling you can either jump in the car, get coffee & drive to pick up your children/ grandchildren from their perspective schools… (which we did ) 😉

OR

you can make the filling ( which I had prepped while mom made the dough….)

Add dates, nuts, sugar & water to a saucepan & cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. ( if you want it even smoother, once it is thick you can use an immersion blender to make it smoother, just don’t completely puree it, you will want some texture to the filling)

When said kids are home & have had a snack, preheat oven to 400 degrees and begin to roll dough out on lightly floured board.  Roll dough to 1 /16 inch ( thin)

Using the bottom of a glass ( that’s the way my meme did it…. no fancy cookie cutters back then) cut 3 inch-ish circles from the dough.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling on 1/2 of the circle

fold edges over & press edges together.

Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet ( we used parchment paper… hey, I finally bought it!!

Brush the tops of the cookies with a bit of milk & sprinkle with sugar

we were so excited, we completely forgot this step… oops!

Bake 8-10 minutes or until very light brown. Remove from baking sheet & let cool ( filling will be really hot!)

One bite of these cookies & I was 7 years old again…

who am I kidding,  I’ve always been 7!!!

oxoxo enjoy!

Filed Under: cookies Tagged With: , ,
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