Comments (3)

By Lindsey, January 24, 2012

I had a recipe request for these muffins after their photo appeared in a post a few days ago. When I made them I was going off two separate recipes, but I do remember what I did, so I wrote it out and am posting it here. Normally my rule is to make a recipe at least twice before posting it here, but I’m throwing caution to the wind today. It’s a pretty basic muffin recipe and hopefully there’s not much that could go wrong! Let me know how you go with it!

Also, the above photo shows these muffins with homemade cranberry sauce on the tops, which is not in the recipe. (With the sauce, they were maybe a little too cranberry — but feel free to add it!)

Cranberry-Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar (I like rapadura)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 – 1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted

1 cup whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)

***

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in another bowl, except for the cranberries. (If you’re using coconut oil it helps to have the rest of the wet stuff at room temperature so that the melted coconut oil won’t solidify when it comes into contact with the other stuff.)

Combine dry and wet, taking care not to over-mix. Then when they’re incorporated, mix in the cranberries.

Fill muffin cups nearly all the way to the top.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes OR until a toothpick stuck into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

*****

Comments (5)

By Lindsey, January 23, 2012

My mom & I had a sweet little leisurely walk together in the sunshine and long shadows of this quiet Monday afternoon, along with a café stop afterward for hot chocolate with whipped cream! We both loved it so much. I was totally exhausted again today, but felt that I really wanted to get out of the house into the outdoors. I had to practically peel myself up off the living room carpet to do it, but I’m so glad I did.

Medicine for the soul is very important.

*****

Comments (2)

By Lindsey, January 22, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

- A lot of down time to think and process and read and ponder and write and be inspired. Physically I felt very droopy this week from the drugs, and most of my days were spent really just lying around. But mentally I felt good, and there was a lot going on in my mind (there always is, but it was all good, positive stuff this week). Strangely I didn’t feel depressed, didn’t let it get me down, didn’t read too much into it. It was simply like, ok, this is how I feel today. I’ll just hang low and do quiet stuff. And that’s that.

- That I have the flexibility of schedule to have a really droopy week; to just allow my body to do its thing. I’m definitely on the mend and feeling that I’m pulling out of this, though not there yet. This healing process is quite the process indeed; I can only describe it as “squirrelly.”

- A beautiful, warm day with all the windows in the house wide open. That was also the day I took down our sweet Christmas tree. It was sad to see it go, but I also love how the living room feels more open and spartan now. I also moved around a couple plants which created a slightly new look. I keep wanting to rearrange our living room, but how it is now is functional in such a nice way that I don’t want to wreck that. But still, it needs a bit of new energy. Trying to decide how to change it up more…

- Freshly washed windows, inside & out! I forget what a pleasure that is.

- Remembering to smudge the house with piñon incense on a regular basis.

- The library, and how you can check out books that sound good online, but then turn out not to be. I love how it’s risk free! See it, hate it, return it!

- That I share my life, and home, with such a sweet and wonderful person. I love my F! ♥

- A bad dream that contained an important reminder. I have a lot of bad dreams, and always have. But then again, bad dreams often have the most important messages.

- Ordinary days, where everyone arrives home safe and sound. After Sonja died, I never took that for granted again.

- A sweet afternoon visit to mom & dad & my cat yesterday on another gorgeous shorts-’n-t-shirt day. Visiting, puttering around, snacking, doing outside stuff. Then later after dark, soaking my feet in hot water at their kitchen table and resting, while smelling my mom’s delicious cottage cheese dill bread baking in the oven!

- Feeling happy

- Randomly picking up my half-read book from many many months ago, and finishing the whole thing today! The information in it was really pertinent, and I love the satisfaction of finishing a book. I also thought it was interesting how today was the day I suddenly felt inspired to finish it. Sometimes I put a book down and don’t pick it back up for a long while; that’s totally okay with me because often I have to evolve in myself a bit more in order to fully appreciate and digest the information contained in the rest of the book.

- Our space heater. I love how I can sit really close to it and be warm, any time that I’m chilly.

- How our kitchen looks at night, after stringing some Christmas lights in the recesses above and below the cabinets. I do love Christmas lights… perhaps they’re not super classy, but they add such a warm glow.

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

*****

Comments (6)

By Lindsey, January 20, 2012

Some scenes from our house on this bright, sunny, kinda warm, and very windy Friday:

Cranberry-Pumpkin Muffins

Sagebrush on the bedroom wall

Hanging dragonflies

The Ficus

Homemade basket

The hoosier

Heat register

Crown of Thorns - Euphorbia milii

Taken in Sydney

Peruvian Rug

Typical

In the living room

Bits o' nature

 *****

Comments (2)

By Lindsey, January 17, 2012

We love sushi at our house, though we don’t often go out for it. Actually though, I prefer to make my own — because then I know the source of the fish (which I think is important if you’re eating it raw). And of course it’s also much cheaper to make your own at home. It’s simple and fun, too!

Let’s begin!

To make one batch of sushi rolls, you’ll need the following. This can easily be multiplied. Today we’ll be making a Raw Salmon-Avocado Roll. But you can fill your sushi roll with anything! That’s part of the fun!

***

You’ll need:

1 sheet of toasted nori seaweed

1/4 cup raw sushi rice or short-grain rice + 1/3 cup water. (This will make enough rice to fill one sheet of nori. To fill about 4 sheets of nori, use 1 cup rice + 1 1/4 cups water.)

half an avocado

about 2 ounces of raw salmon from a company you trust (I always use Lars Larson Trophy Salmon — they’re a Colorado company selling wild, line-caught Alaskan salmon that they process and freeze right on their boat.)

soy sauce to serve with sushi (Nama Shoyu raw soy sauce is our hands-down favorite)

***

1. Cook your sushi rice. You do want to get the actual sushi rice/short-grain rice because you need that sticky texture for your sushi to turn out right. Combine the 1/4 cup rice with 1/3 cup water in a saucepan. Salt the water. Bring to a boil and cover the saucepan. Turn to a very low simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Don’t lift the lid at all during that time.

It’s best to cook the rice right before you plan to make the sushi. Fresh rice gives the best results.

2. While the rice is cooking, slice your avocado and salmon.

Halve the avocado, then cut into slices

Peel the slices

I like to buy the pre-toasted Nori sheets

3. Let the rice cool a little and then spread it all out onto your sheet of nori, except for 1″ at the end.

4. Arrange your salmon and avocado down the middle.

5. Wet your fingers with water, and moisten the entire 1″ strip of nori that you didn’t cover with rice. This will be your glue and will hold your roll together.

6. Beginning at the opposite end (not the moistened strip), roll your sushi up. It’s effortless; you don’t need any fancy bamboo sushi rollers or plastic wrap or any other tool. Just your hands! (I threw away my sushi roller many years ago; I found that it just got in the way.)

7. Your roll will end up seam side down, and while you slice it, the gentle pressure will help glue the seam shut.

8. Slice the roll. To get nice clean slices without squashing the roll, work with a nice sharp knife. Wetting it first also helps, as does cleaning it off under running water after every couple of slices.

9. Arrange on a plate and eat it up!

*****

Comments (2)

By Lindsey, January 15, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

- More snowfall! We woke up one morning to the scene above!

- Accomplishing projects, and beginning new ones I’ve wanted to start for a while.

- Thankful again for the good insurance I have. Saw the statement this week for my night and day at the hospital — $7,640!!!! INSANE. I’m so thankful that I received the much-needed care there, but didn’t have to fork over that crapload of cash.

- That the doctor, lab, and pharmacy are so close to our house. I’ve been over there more times than I can count this past year, and it has been such a huge advantage that they’re so close, since we don’t own a car. And I’ve become such a frequent flyer at the lab that they know me, and we catch up on what’s been goin’ on each time I go there. The people there are so nice.

- Being exhausted after a long day and wanting to just vege out in front of the TV, and then having three of my favorite shows come on in a row — Globe Trekker, Rick Steves’ Europe, and New Scandinavian Cooking! That was really fun.

- Sitting on my ‘balcony’ in a tank top one warm and sunny afternoon. (Then waking up to snow the next morning!)

- The library.

- Making snow ice cream, and its ever-so-familiar flavor from my childhood!

- Snowy, cloudy days, for the way they make me feel like hunkering down and digging into projects I’ve put aside for so long.

- A mid-day bath on a snowy day.

- A wonderful lunch out at a vegetarian restaurant with my mom and her childhood best friend who was turning 65 that very day! I had a vegetarian Reuben sandwich made with portobello mushrooms instead of meat. It tasted so close to the real thing! My stomach is still really touchy, and even though I crave Reuben sandwiches, I can’t eat them. But my stomach was good that day, and I could eat this vegetarian one!

- Being home and therefore having the private space to weep if that’s what comes up. Now and then, I will all of a sudden miss my best friend Sonja so intensely that tears well up. Other times, this illness gets the better of me and I just need a bit of a cry-n-release. I remember those things happening while I was at work, and I would wipe my eyes, stuff the feeling back down into myself, and hope a coworker wouldn’t walk into my cubicle at that moment. Now it feels good to just address the feeling as it comes, shed a few tears, and quickly and quietly release it.

- Catching some of the Red Green Show last night before going to bed. My parents and I used to watch that religiously, and I haven’t seen it for so many years. Funny!!! Especially the earlier episodes.

- Hanging low yesterday, watching some cooking shows, doing some art, just being together with F, doing separate things yet still hanging out together. A nice day.

- Seeing my folks today, and my cat!

- Going out to the garden today and discovering fresh green oregano beneath the dead leaves! I love it fresh on Greek salads — especially from this plant, which isn’t as overwhelmingly potent as other fresh oregano I’ve tried.

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

*****

Comments (1)

By Lindsey, January 14, 2012

I have to share with you this totally awesome little salad I made up the other day! So good!!! Everything is to taste; I use roughly equal quantities of quinoa and avocado (though a little heavier on the quinoa). And we use Nama Shoyu because in our opinion it’s so much better tasting than any other soy sauce or tamari out there!

***

cooked quinoa

chopped avocado

sliced scallions

Nama Shoyu raw soy sauce

red wine vinegar

***

Comments (3)

By Lindsey, January 10, 2012

Have you ever bought brown rice crackers? They’re surprisingly expensive, and often have unnecessary ingredients and are wastefully packaged.

So I’ve devised a very easy way to make my own. We love them! They’re nice and crunchy — great for dipping, or just eating plain.

1. Purchase a package of Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas from your local health food store. (The above 12 oz. package of 6 large tortillas was $2 at my local store.)

2. Cut the tortillas into triangular wedges or rectangular strips.

3. Arrange them on a cookie sheet.

4. They’re yummy just plain like this, but if you’d like to add salt (or any type of fun seasoning blend — Penzeys Spices is my favorite place to go crazy with seasonings!), just brush the top of each strip lightly with water and sprinkle with salt. (The salt will adhere surprisingly well after baking.)

5. Bake at 275°F for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden and crispy-crunchy (and no longer leathery). You’ll probably need to add another 5-10 minutes to that bake time if you brushed them with water first.

6. Let them cool, and then store in an air-tight container (at room temperature is fine). Done!

***

Three perfectly baked brown rice chips, against a raw brown rice tortilla, so you can see the color difference.

*****

Comments (3)

By Lindsey, January 8, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

- Snowfall yesterday! Oh how I love the snow. (See how pretty it made the trees look this morning?) I visited my parents yesterday, and took a nap on their bed, all warm and cozy and wrapped up in fleece blankets. And when I awoke, it was snowing! I get a deep feeling of contentment in my soul when I’m warm and cozy indoors while rain or snow falls outside.

- The feeling of practically buzzing with excitement and inspiration lately! I have no idea why it has come on, but what a wonderful and jubilant feeling that is! I love it.

- Feeling like this illness has unearthed a beautiful bubbling spring within me, full of all sorts of wonderful things and creativity. Sort of like cracking open a geode — you have to take a hammer to it in order to reveal the beautiful crystalline shapes hidden inside. It’s so nice how good and bad always go together; with the good always comes bad… but perhaps more importantly, with the bad always comes good!

- Slowly getting our house cleaned up and organized and purged. I’ve felt quite good this week with good energy (that is HUGE!), and have really felt inspired to get our house looking better. I’m tired of having so much stuff in it.

- Crossing lots off the ol’ to-do list this week.

- Being outside with my hubby one night, taking photos. It was so frigid but it was really neat to be out and about together, doing something different.

- Writing a New Years Manifesto — something I’ve never done before. A manifesto is a declaration of intentions… how you want to live & be… things you want to keep in mind throughout your days, weeks, months. I like how it reminds me of the priorities I’ve set for this moment in time.

- That I don’t have cavities, but just some tooth sensitivity. A couple months ago I started getting zinging pain in a couple of teeth when I’d eat something sweet. I thought, Great, cavities are just what I need right now. So during open enrollment for insurance, I was struggling with whether to enroll in dental insurance in case I did have cavities. I happened to mention the situation to my mom the day before the paperwork would have been due, and her advice really surprised me and made me feel so much better! She said “cavities, no, you don’t usually get cavities there… it’s probably just sensitivity from receding gums. Try getting some of that sensitive toothpaste. And dental insurance… I’ll tell you… it’s really not worth it. It’s a racket, and I cancelled mine for this coming year.” So not only did that help me make up my mind about the insurance, but it saved me a bunch of money, and she was totally correct — all I needed was a $3 tube of sensitivity toothpaste!!! It’s so nice when things turn out like that.

- And in a similar vein, I’m really grateful that I followed my intuition to keep my health insurance after I quit my job nearly a year ago. That was a *very* smart thing. I sure have been usin’ it this year, oye!

- Airing out our down comforters on a warm day. And freshly washed bedding! Love that.

- A really nice day yesterday. Went out to have a late lunch with my parents, and we ended up lingering for a long time at the restaurant, listening to the great music, talking, eating, and watching the snow falling outside. It was a sweet time.

- F. hooking up some speakers that have been lying ‘dormant’ for years. I had a sudden thought to hook them up to our TV during a wonderful Gershwin concert on PBS. We needed an adapter, so yesterday F went out to get one, and by the time I came home, the house was rockin’ with THE most incredible speakers I’ve ever heard!!! What a treasure we’ve had right under our noses! And since the landlord wasn’t home, we flipped it to the Mexican MTV channel, cranked it up to a nice obnoxious level, and danced. Ohhhhh did we dance! How great that felt! I can’t wait till the day we don’t share walls with anyone.

- Some new (thrifted) wool sweaters to keep me warm!

- Thrift stores!!!!!

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

*****

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