Clearing

Over the past year I have done more clearing in my space than ever before.  I've moved every single year since I was 18, across the Country and back several times and it always seemed like wherever I went I accumulated more things!  Books, music, instruments, an excess of clothes, craft supplies, endless bins of material that I would "someday get to and make something beautiful out of".  All of this "stuff" started to close in on me.  I started feeling like I was being buried under it.  Packing to go on any kind of trip was burdensome because I never seemed to have enough room!  My need to bring more "just in case" was stressing me out.  No matter how hard I tried to "pack light" I couldn't seem to do it and it shone light on how hard it was getting for me to simplify.  Moving really drained me for the same reason (and most likely my friends and family who helped lift boxes)!  In fact, just living in a space where I was having a hard time storing everything and finding a place for was draining.

So, since this realization I have been taking control.  Blair is on board with this 100%.  Since we moved last August we have been slowly clearing our space.
I kept only the clothes that I felt good wearing!  I had no mercy!  The line "well maybe I'll keep it just in case" was banished from my vocabulary.  Anything that didn't make me feel good was donated to the Salvation Army.  We've donated clothes, books, paintings, figurines, kitchenware, furniture and more!  We even got rid of our TV!  Now the living room looks and feels so much better!
I feel our society has gotten into the practice of collecting material goods that we don't need, which clutter our lives.  We work hard to buy them and therefore have in a sense become slaves to them.  Then with no shame the material goods are thrown away and replaced with "better" ones.  It's a vicious cycle.  I'm getting into the consumer practice of buying only what I need.  I still want for things but now I ask myself if it really is going to improve my life and my headspace or am I just contributing to the vicious cycle of more, more, more!?  When I decide I really need it, I look at the second hand store first!  It's economical, the money goes to helping others and it's preventing perfectly good materials from getting dumped in the landfill.
There are shelters around which need donations as well.  I have included some in my area.  They are worth having a look at to see which common items a typical shelter needs.  Have a look for shelters near you!
http://www.busbycentre.ca/support-us/wish-list
http://www.youthhavenbarrie.com/howyoucanhelp.html
http://www.barrieoutofthecold.org/donating.php
http://www.covenanthouse.ca/Public/Donate-Items

Clear out your space and donate!  What's one man's garbage is another man's treasure!

Feeling Dehydrated?

In my quest to eat more raw, living foods I realized there is one tool that is very handy to have and many raw food recipes call for you to use one.  A food dehydrator!  There are so many great things you can make at a temperature that allows the food to stay alive!  I've learnt that 105 degrees celsius is the magic number.

On this new journey of ours we knew we had to invest in some kitchen tools such as a great blender, a great juicer, a dehydrator and a food processor.  To buy these things all at once was bit out of the question. A Vitamix blender (which we are saving up for) alone will run you between $600 - $800 depending on where you look.  Yowzah.  So, we borrowed a juicer from Blair's parents.  It's a centrifugal juicer but it does the trick for now especially when we run everything through twice.  We are making due with our regular run of the mill blender.  It's not even a brand name but it's holding up!  If it breaks that's $30 well spent.  As for the food processor I picked up an old classic Braun (it's white with  the mossy green coloured control button).  My parents had the mixer from the same family for all of my years in their house.  By the looks of it, it had sat in a cupboard for most of it's life.  Ringing it at about $15 taxes in gave me a buyers high like no other!  I was so proud of my thrift store deal.  Brand new and slightly vintage is right up my ally.  I was especially pleased with myself when I tried it out and it found it works like a charm!  This new lifestyle really doesn't require one to get a second job!

We felt we had to invest in a dehydrator right away.  There are tons of things you can make with it; we've barely skimmed the surface!  Beyond the delicious recipes for sprouted chickpea burgers, cookies, tarts, pancakes, breads, crackers, kale chips, broccoli chips, fruit leathers, and so much more, dehydrators are a great way to preserve food and help us in a comparatively northern climate eat more locally.  For example this summer we will be harvesting tomato's from our garden.  We'll eat some and dehydrate the rest.

We will also be buying as much produce as we can handle from farmers around the area at the local farmers market which is held every Saturday morning.  I will be spending a fair amount of my time in Bala so I'll be looking around for markets up there as well.  During this coming growing season, it is my aim to buy as much local food as possible.  It's cheaper that way in the long run, supports our farmers who do not get nearly enough credit and just tastes better!

I know I will get greater satisfaction knowing that my food was grown close to me by someone whom I can look in the eye and shake hands with (or hug) rather than some unknown source from somewhere in California using crazy poison pesticides.  Even when the package says "organic" that term is getting so loose now, and the rules slackened, I want to be able to speak to the farmers directly.  The more truly organic and local food I can get the better.   Yup, my dehydrating and canning skills are going to kick into full gear this summer.  I've never canned before in my life.  More on that later.

Our first batch of dehydrated Kale Chips YUM!!!

Kale tossed with lemon juice and himalayan salt heading for a dehydration session!

Kale Chips and Chocolate Cookies!  First dehydrating experience was a success!

My favorite snack is now officially Kale Chips.  I love them so much!  I can't make enough of them.  My latest feat was fitting three heads of Kale into our 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator.  The Kale shrinks down, so, once you fit it all in, you're good to go.  As long as there are no Kale leaves lying on top of one another it's fine!

My other favorite snack is chocolate cookies which have rolled oats, dates, raisins, brazil nuts, unsweetened coconut, honey and 100% cacao.  No white sugar and so tasty. These things are heavenly.  We got the recipe from "Rawlicious: Delicious Raw Recipes For Radiant Health" by Peter and Beryn Daniel.  

Let The Garden Games Begin!

A few years ago I purchased "The Garden Primer: The Completely Revised Gardener's Bible" by Barbara Damrosch as I felt I really needed to start banking gardening knowledge.  My main reason for this was the thoughts of growing vegetables, fruits and herbs really excites me.  Last year we grew a "porta garden" in pots and old apple baskets. We knew we were moving away from downtown Toronto on July 15th but I couldn't stand to go another summer without gardening so we opted for pots.  It worked.  But now, we have more space and land available to us.  Though we won't be staying at this location permanently, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to build a substantial garden.  Friends and family are warning me not to go too big... we'll have to see about that.

The thoughts of growing my own food gets me so riled up I have been literally dreaming about my garden for the past week.  I have been waking up between 2:45 and 3:30am wondering if it's time to get up yet so I can gather more tools and knowledge about gardening and prepare to break ground.  The other night I dreamt we had a 3 foot snowfall which refroze the freshly de-thawed ground.  Needless to say, I woke up in a bad mood.

So here is the plot of land available to us for our garden.  A long time ago (did I hear 100 years?) it was a cow pasture.  My challenge is to turn it into a vegetable garden.  How big are we going to go?  Well, I'm thinking it's going to be about 20' by 30'.  Let's just see how it goes.  Yesterday I was thinking 30' by 40' but after my first attempt to get the land cleared I'm thinking I'm going to cut it down a bit.  Though, I really do want it as big as we can manage.  This is definitely going to have to be a joint effort.  Thank you Blair.  

The Garden Site

The Tool!

As I was thinking, trying to decide what the birds were thinking of all of this and giving myself words of encouragement, I came to the conclusion that the garden is really going to teach me a lot. I have a feeling I am going to learn many lessons which will be able to be applied to the grander scheme of life.


Lesson #1: If you try to cut corners it'll cost you more time in the end.  
I borrowed this old wheel barrow.  With nothing in it it's a little wobbly.  In my typical North American way, I of course filled the wheel barrow with a heaping pile of grass, dirt and a few worms (sorry guys).  instead of a little at a time, I wanted a lot at a time.  How long will it take for me to erase my rush, rush, more, more blueprints?  My intention was to pile up as much as possible and wheel it over to the forest edge in a swift and time efficient maneuver.  Of course, not yet having learnt the art of really taking my time in these sort of tasks, the earth filled wheel barrow was way too heavy for me and it toppled.  I looked up at the sky and let out a huge sigh.  I could hear my heart pounding faster as my muscles recovered.  Looking at this pic makes me laugh out loud!  Too tired to shovel the dirt back into the wheel barrow, I started heaving it in there using my two hands, picking up clumps of soil held together with wild grass and roots and pretended I was a beginner 10 pin bowler.  Through the legs and right into that barrow!

My progress was really slow today.  I shoveled and moved earth for 45 minutes and was tired.  I did find some promising colours in the soil underneath that grass though!  There are some spots that have a really nice dark brown colour, just like 85% chocolate.  Mmmmmmm.....

Lesson #2: Be patient and be diligent.  It will pay off.  Slower, steadier and regularly is better than fast and inconsistent.
If you look closely, you can see a little strip of cleared land.  That's 45 minutes of work.  It looks like a little now but I'm keeping a positive attitude that a little will soon add up to be alot!   As a walked up the small slope away from the garden I looked back and chuckled.  It hardly looks like I made a dent!  Haha!  Tomorrow there will be no time for slacking.  I'm committing to at least two 45 minute shoveling sessions: one before work, and one after!

A strip in the right direction. :)

Zippety doo dah day!

First Time Sprouting!

I had seen sprouting done before but I had never tried it myself.  I knew from what I had read that eating live food is really, really good for you.  I wanted to begin sprouting and have it as part of my eating routine.  There should always be sprouts growing in a bowl or jar.

First I needed something to sprout in.  I went to a thrift store and found three perfect glass jars that tilt forward on a stand!  They were not made for sprouting but who's ever going to know?  Ha! 

We found organic sprouting mixes at the health food store.  We picked up Crimson Lentils, Mung Beans, Red Clover and Ancient Eastern Blend (which is a mix of Fenugreek, French Lentils, Kamut and Adzuki Beans) to start with.  I was going to buy generic legumes at the bulk food store but I didn't want to take a chance on not having the "proper" sprouting legumes.  The ones in the little green bags with the word "sprouting" on the package looked really promising. 

I didn't have proper mesh so I used a layer of cheese cloth held in place by an elastic band.   

After I had gathered all my goodies the first step was to soak the sprouts to be for 2 - 6 hours.  I think I soaked them for about 4 hours.  Then all I had to do was drain them and commit to rinsing them twice a day until ready to eat.  

In order of appearance Da da da Daaaahhhhhhh:  Ancient Eastern Blend (Fenugreek, French Lentils, Kamut and Adzuki Beans), Red Clover and Crimson Lentils. 

The first day!

The first day!

The second day Crimson Lentils

The second day Red Clover

Second day of Ancient Eastern Blend (Fenugreek, French Lentils, Kamut and Adzuki Beans)

How promising!  Just look at that green goodness!  They're alive!

Day three Red Clover

Day three Crimson Lentils

All the sprouts in a bowl ready to be stored in the fridge.  

Me, first thing in the morning, happy about my sprouting journey.

After looking at what I should have called, "The Sprouting Picture Book", you may be wondering how I was going to eat all of those sprouts.  Well, there are a few ways I have already fallen in love with.  

Me, in my chef hat and apron.  :)

Ingredients: Nori, Japanese Sushi rice, brown rice, avocado, carrots, cucumber and crimson clover sprouts.

Red clover (tidbit: my favorite colour is red) is absolutely perfect for putting in sushi/nori rolls.  

One of my favorite things to eat is an open faced tomato sandwich.  I crave these!  I'm never satisfied with just one.  Take your favorite bread (I'm really into rye and pumpernickel these days, but I'll eventually be making my own bread in the dehydrator) spread on some avocado, dijon mustard and pesto.  Pile on your favorite sprouts, layer on your sliced tomato and lastly sprinkle on some pepper and himalayan salt to taste.  Yum!  These red topped beauties are addicting.

Also, sprouts are a fantastic addition to any salad.  Anytime you want a refreshing crispy crunch just add sprouts!  They keep well in the fridge.  We put them in a glass container which has a plastic lid and they keep for days! I think we have some in the fridge now that have been there for a week and they are still good!  Try it out for yourself!  Gimme an S, gimme a P, gimme a R-O-U-T!  Whoooo!  Hahaha.  

Homemade Remedy

Hello Folks!  I'm back to the land of the living!  I was really sick for a full week which turned into a sinus and ear infection.  Kris Carr warned of this I think.  When you start detoxing by drinking green juice, eating tons of veggies, cutting out meat, diary and processed foods, your body may get sicker before it gets better.  This is a process of the body getting rid of toxins that were building up: the demons can start coming out!  Well, my experience thus far is supporting that theory.  I'm on the mend now though and finally have the energy to start blogging again.


While I won't go into anymore detail about being sick I will tell you of a homemade remedy that gave me some relief of a big bad cough I had.


Scenario:  I was on the couch keeling over with a cough and preparing to face my doom of not being able to get any sleep.  If I couldn't get sleep how would I get better?  I needed something that worked and we couldn't find the Buckleys.  So, we made our own cough syrup.  Well, actually, Blair made it while I was in my coughing stupor on the couch.


We got the recipe online at eHow Health .  Here's what was in it:

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 T honey

1 T apple cider vinegar

2 T water

I was skeptical that it would work and even more skeptical that I was going to be able to drink something with so much cayenne pepper in it!  Blair had to coach me through it.  It wasn't that bad!


How it ends: About 15 minutes later I was caught sleeping!  It actually provided enough relief to get me through the night!  My cough did end up waking me up once through the night, so I just took another dose of my homemade medicine and I was back into dreamland in no time.  Yay for at home remedies!

The Daily Routine

A daily walk is something that I've been getting into the habit of doing.  Last fall I got into walking quite a bit but over the Winter it seems I went into hibernation mode.  The trail didn't seem all that appealing.  We use to live downtown Toronto but we were majorly feeling the need to connect with nature on a daily basis.  Parks are nice but there is only so much manicured lawn I can take.  We now live in a place where there is lots of land and trails all over the property.  I absolutely love it.

Now that spring is here I'm getting my mojo back for nature walks!  I should have never stopped over the Winter!  Once I started nature walking again I realized how much I missed it.  My favorite part is finding animal tracks (I've seen turkey, deer, raccoon, rabbit and rat tracks) and hearing all the birds!  We are going through a cold snap right now so they are not so cheery but last week when the weather was warmer it sounded like every bird in the forest was singing.  Yesterday I had fun on my walk identifying intervals the birds sing.  The most prominent sound was a bird singing the interval "ray do" on repeat.  Does anyone know what bird sings that melody?  I will have to do some research.

Anyway, I'm back on the daily walk train.  It's good for my head and body.  Julia Cameron, a well known teacher of creativity, recommends a daily walk of at least 20 min with one longer walk of about an hour once a week.  Walking is part of her creative routine.  I need to walk.

The other thing I started this morning is mediating.  I had dibbled and dabbled with it in the past but never managed to get into a daily routine.  I've become re-awakened to the importance of it so I'm making it a part of my daily practice.  I think part of the reason why I didn't get into the routine before was that it felt self-indulgent.  I think I felt guilty about taking "me time".  What nonsense!  We should never feel guilty about trying to better ourselves, and taking "me time".  I am really looking forward to being able to still my mind on command.  Definitely not there yet; I need practice.  In the spirit of practice, Blair and I got up an extra 20 minutes earlier this morning and meditated!  Yay, us.

Eat Like No One Is Watching! - Nori Rolls with Brown Rice

As per usual I was having a sushi craving.   I crave to go out for sushi at least once a week.  I was seriously considering  going out and treating myself to a lunch but   I came to the conclusion that it's time I start making my  own quick version of very healthy and vegetable filled rolls.  I was starving and seriously craving that salty seaweed and soy sauce flavor.  I grabbed a container of brown rice out of the fridge, thinly sliced up some avocado, carrots and cucumber, laid  it all out on a  piece of nori, rolled it  up into a cone, dipped it in soy sauce and ate it like no one was watching!  I had 4 of them and this meal totally satisfied my sushi craving.  They were a little crude as the brown rice was not sticky at all and had a tendency to fall out.  This time around I didn't care if  the rice  got a little unruly.  However, in the future, when I make this for my friends I'll probably try to incorporate some traditional sticky rice into the mix.  I think half regular brown rice and half sticky rice would work.  I'll have to test my theory another time!  Sigh of relief.  Sushi craving satisfied and I can now continue on with my day with a happy belly.