Author: Lindsey (Page 12 of 88)

Japanese Squash and Soba Soup

January 27, 2013 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

This soup is incredible; I could hardly stop eating it. It’s light and different and so flavorful, and it’s quick to make.

It’s based upon this recipe from Martha Stewart Living magazine, except I leave out the tofu — and even the soba noodles could easily be optional, as they add more in the way of texture and filler, rather than flavor. The real flavor is from the broth, squash, mushrooms, and scallions. Just like that it is absolutely delicious, and would be a good Paleo dish to add to your repertoire.

Japanese Squash & Mushroom Soup

5 cups water (for out of this world soup, use bone broth — either beef or chicken bones simmered for many hours in water)

3/4 oz dried kombu seaweed (kelp)

1/3 cup dried bonito flakes, lightly packed

2 Tbsp soy sauce, plus more for seasoning (I highly recommend Ohsawa Organic Nama Shoyu!)

1 lb kabocha, buttercup, or butternut winter squash, peeled and cut into 1/2″ dice

3 1/2 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced if large

8 oz soba noodles, preferably 100% buckwheat (feel free to cut down to 4 oz, or even leave these out altogether)

Scallions, thinly sliced for garnish

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Boil water and kombu together in a large saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in bonito flakes, and let sit 5 minutes.

Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl, and return liquid (it’s now called “dashi”) to pan. Discard solids, or save only the kombu to reuse.

Add the soy sauce, squash, and mushrooms to the dashi. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the squash is tender. Stir it now and then if you think of it.

While the soup is cooking, cook the soba noodles separately. This is important since 100% buckwheat soba, especially, will turn its cooking water murky and starchy-slimy. So, bring water to a boil (salted or not, your choice) and cook the soba according to the package, about 7 or 8 minutes. Don’t overcook it. When it’s done, drain and rinse in cold water — to stop the cooking and rinse away the starch.

Ladle the soup into bowls, add the soba noodles, and top with scallions. Serve with soy sauce at the table in case anyone would like to add more.

Eat!! Yum!!

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Free Shipping at Tropical Traditions! (thru Monday Jan 28th)

January 26, 2013 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

It’s Free Shipping at one of my very favorite companies, Tropical Traditions, so it’s a good time to stock up, or try them out if you haven’t before. I really love this company’s products, and use them daily. Now through Midnight EST on Monday January 28th, they’re offering free ground-only shipping when you order a minimum of $16, and enter coupon code 28113 at checkout.

I’m going to restock my supply of powdered laundry detergent this time around…

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(See below for my favorite items.)

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And if you’re a new customer and have never bought from them before, you can also get this Virgin Coconut Oil book, with information & recipes, for free (any time, not just today) by entering my User ID, which is 6032410. When you’re going through the checkout process and you’ve added your shipping address and phone number, you will see the question “How did you hear of us?” Just choose “Referred by a friend” and then a new “User ID” field will appear below that where you can enter my User ID. (See screen shot below.)

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Here are my favorite items:

Moisturizing lotion – I use this every day on my face and hands. It’s the most luxurious stuff, and very gentle since it has only a few wholesome ingredients. Definitely my all-time favorite lotion.

Moisturizing cream – Much thicker than the lotion, this is another favorite. Also great for use on face and hands.

Virgin organic coconut oil – Great for cooking, eating, and also for skin! Has a much better taste than other unrefined coconut oils I’ve tried. I just love this stuff.

Organic raw honey – This is the best-tasting honey I’ve ever had. I like to buy and taste lots of different honeys, and this one always wins, hands down. When I first tried it, my eyes got big and my mouth dropped open; it just has the most amazing taste! Quintessential, flowery honey taste. This honey is a staple in our house!

Coconut cream concentrate – I love this stuff. LOVE it. The “format” is a little strange, because when you receive it, it will have settled out into a hardened layer of coconut oil and a layer of dried/finely ground coconut meat. You’ll wonder what to do with it at first; what I do is put the jar into a pan of simmering water and let it sit there until the contents have softened and liquefied, and then I can easily stir it up. Then, I put it in the fridge until it’s hardened again. Once hardened, you can then store it in the fridge or at room temperature (it won’t separate again unless it gets really hot in your house). I usually just eat this stuff plain, it’s so good; I break it into chunks with a knife, and eat it as a snack. Sometimes I’ll eat it dipped in the raw honey, which is a very decadent and extremely delicious snack!!!

Organic Maple Syrup — Delicious, and it’s the Grade B type, which I prefer since it has deeper flavor and more nutrients than Grade A.

Laundry Detergent – This detergent is all we use, now that I’ve discovered it. It works very well, gets the stains out, and lasts a long time, making this a very economical purchase.

Oxygen Bleach – Like OxyClean. If you need a tough stain-fighter/deodorizer for laundry and everywhere else around the house.

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Now, I’ve also tried their organic bar soap, and though it was really nice soap, Hubby and I have never seen a bar of soap get used up so fast! It was weird. It just seemed like it was gone in record time. So I wouldn’t get it again. (Though my mom has the liquid soap and really loves it.) I haven’t tried every single product that they sell…but the ones I listed above, I make sure to never run out of!

Also, I bought the Atchara once out of curiosity, and it was extremely strong (even for this vinegar lover!), and a little weird. Not quite a favorite.

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Nope, slower than that~

January 24, 2013 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

In figuring out what works the best for each of us in our own lives, I think it’s helpful to sample the extremes through personal experience; we figure out what we do want, and what we don’t want.

I fractured a bone in my hand (my dominant hand, naturally), so I’m sampling the extreme of being-rather-than-doing. No art. No sewing. No major projects. Very minimal writing (I miss that especially). Minimal typing.

More reading…more sitting…more thinking and pondering. More time spent working around my hand to do things I want to, and have to, do — like preparing food. While it is an extreme — and I very much look forward to having my hand back — being forcibly disallowed to do much of what I’d normally be doing allows me to see, more and more, that I’m happiest when living a very simple life, conducted at a pleasant pace. I feel like I’ve said a variation of this so many times here before, I think I’m starting to sound like a broken record.

I’ve certainly sampled the other extreme — of living frenzied and stressed, always with one eye on the clock. And I sure didn’t like that. I’m learning, now, how to live a new pace of life that’s much more viable for me, and far less likely to result in general life burnout. My inclination has always been busyness and activity, with minimal lounge-around time, so pacing myself feels very strange sometimes. But when I downshift my whole pace, I arrive at the end of each day feeling more balanced and not so drained.

As I lay on the acupuncture table yesterday, words drifted into my head… I wish I could remember exactly what they were… something about “Learn to live comfortably in the slow, quiet moments. That’s when life’s the most enjoyable.”

And later as I mentioned to my acupuncturist that I often feel ill-at-ease during days of lower energy and minimal activity or accomplishment, worried that I’m not doing something concrete toward my future… she replied “There’ll be plenty of time for all that. And really, all we have is time.” All we have is time! I’d never had that thought before. It’s true. A long time, a short time, that’s not for us to know… But all we do have is time.

Let us make sure we are enjoying the time we have. Because otherwise, what’s the point!

(And let us try not to be worrying why this is the second bone that has broken, under only moderate impact, in under a year’s time…)

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The first glimmers of Spring

January 20, 2013 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

The Christmas decorations have been slowly disappearing back into their boxes, and the birdsong around our place sounds distinctly spring-like. The near-60° weather lures us outside while the sun keeps us warm as we play Scrabble on the porch in shorts, t-shirts, and bare feet. While there’s undoubtedly plenty of cold still ahead, there are certainly whiffs of spring.

On a sunny afternoon just the other day, I clipped some aspen branches for the table and made a few wreaths from virginia creeper vine.

My favorite home decor is that which is taken straight from nature. Simple and classy.

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Are you feeling spring getting nearer?

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Philosophy Friday: Bare feet on the earth

January 18, 2013 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

For many thousands and thousands of years, human beings had contact with the earth for the better part of each day. Walking barefoot or with shoes made from natural plant or animal materials; sleeping on the earth; touching plants, animals, trees, lakes, soil, oceans.

Wild animals have this connection, still.

I’ve noticed that children try to hang on to this connection as long as possible — preferring bare feet above shoes, and a trickling stream to splash in above even the most enticing indoor activity.

It tickled me to see children in New Zealand walking to school barefooted.

I’ve watched children throwing tantrums and have noticed that they will often throw themselves onto the ground during the tantrum. It does feel better to lie on the earth when you are hurting. I remember times of deep grief soon after losing my soul sister Sonja, where the only place I wanted to be was flat on my stomach on the grass in the back yard — and so there I stayed until the earth had absorbed all my tears.

Once, I was nearly hit by a car while crossing a busy intersection on foot; it was as if I had been invisible and the car simply didn’t even see me. The close call really spooked me. Once I was safely across the street I was so shaken that the only thing I could do was make a primal beeline for the nearest tree and lean my whole body against its trunk. It wasn’t something my conscious mind even thought about — I had never actually hugged a tree before. I couldn’t believe how good it felt.

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If your winter weather allows you to be outside barefooted on the grass or the dirt or the beach (or barefoot in the snow as I remember doing as a kid!), then take advantage.

Put yourself directly onto the earth.

If it’s too cold for bare feet, or too snowy to sit on the grass…have you tried hugging a tree? Wrapping your arms around it and pressing your cheek against its bark? Mmmmmm.

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After some serious single-digit cold weather, we’re having a string of 50°+ days. So my cat and I go outside, each of us barefooted, to connect ourselves to the earth. And one of us particularly enjoys rolling in dirt.