Respecting Time Part 1

Don't be Late.

The departure sign in Nice, France summer 2009

Ask me what my mood was, after running to the train station because Husband told me I needed to...

When you'e late, you're saying one of two things.
1. "My time is more important than your time." 
2. "I'm irresponsible."

Neither of these are good, and neither one makes anyone feel good or happy.

I understand that your house is a mess and you need to switch the laundry before you walk out the door, but guess what? I need to do those things too.  If I can't be somewhere when I said I would, because I'm too busy doing something else, I'm being disrespectful to you, and vice versa.  Everyone has too much to get done, the difference between someone being late and on time, is a person's ability to accept that those things can and will wait for them,  I on the other hand will not.

I have experienced this disrespect more than I can count.  It's something that haunts me from my childhood.  My mom was always the last one to dance class, so much so that I would be waiting 15-30 minutes after class, while the owner stayed, because the studio was closed for the night.  I love my mom and she's the nicest person, except when it comes to respecting your time.  She's always 45 minutes late to family gatherings.  And hours late leaving for road trips.  One of my biggest pet peeves is {one that word! and} when someone is late or makes me wait for them.  I know I'm not the most patient person in the world and you might think that since I'm used to waiting, I'd be over it.  But I'm not.  And if you want to upset me without really trying, all you have to do is be late.

The second issue with being late is poor time management.  After 26 years on this earth I know it will take me 20 minutes to get from here to there, and about an hour to get ready.  If you haven't figured this out for yourself and your own situations by now, you're irresponsible.

Do the math!  Make sure you can fit in everything, that you scheduled and if you can't, politely inform the other party when you can reschedule. I know that recently this inability to manage time has been classified as a disorder, but I think that's bull shit.  We all have clocks and we all run off internal timing.  We know that the sun rises and sets and we know things need to be done before or during that time.  We know when we need to eat and we know when we need to sleep.  Why is it so hard for some people to know when they need to leave or arrive?

Think about this the next time you're running late, and how much you're inconveniencing others, do you want them to think you're disrespectful? or irresponsible?  If you're late, they probably do.

So, be on time!

Anti Candida Diet {week 3}

I'm starting week three now, and I feel okay.  Still some symptoms and checking in with the Naturopath this week and hopefully she'll let me know how much longer I need to do this diet.

My skin looks good, but I'm missing some of my favorite foods.  Mostly Breads.  I had a really terrible Saturday and I was so upset I decided that I should have pizza, it might have been a bad food choice but it was delicious and I don't regret it at all.  I didn't notice any difference symptom wise and I'm back on the diet full force now, even though my favorite coffee shop had vanilla Macarons {one of the reasons we're going to paris in 2013 is because of my cravings for perfect macarons!} I didn't get one, but I hope they make them again in a few weeks!

Anyway here's what I've been eating lately...

Salad with olive oil, lemon and garlic for dressing

Rice pasta with spinach ALMOST tastes like normal pasta

It looks like this with soft mozzarella on top

We went out to eat for my father in laws birthday at California Pizza Kitchen, their hummus was the closest thing to the diet {it has a small amount of soy in it} but I made buckwheat pancakes to use as pita and brought them with me.

I've adjusted well to Stevia and this vanilla creme  flavor works really well in yogurt,

I will be using honey in my coffee once I'm back to normal though.

I made myself some gluten free, vegan, buckwheat and quinoa flour crackers.

recipe here.

Baked eggplant with fresh mozzarella balls {approved by my Dr. for MY diet}

with rice noodles and home made tomato sauce.

The only snack I'm enjoying.

2 green apples a day max, and you can bet I'm maxing out everyday.

Normally, no fruit is allowed on this diet, I'm not sure why she's allowing me 2 of these a day, but I'm not about to loose the privilege so I'm just accepting it!

And the meal plan for this week is:
Last night; 4 oz lamb roast with veggies
Monday; Asian Stir Fry NO SAUCE, ginger and lime for flavor
Tuesday; Spinach rice spaghetti with tomato sauce and salad
Wednesday; Quinoa Casserole, modified to be Anti-Candida friendly {mine will be tortilla and cheese free}
Thursday; Baked eggplant and fettuccine style rice noodles with a butter garlic sauce
Friday; Butternut Squash Pizza, mine will be baked on my quinoa crust.

Now, if everything is going well according to my dr. I will only have one more week,  which I'm seriously hoping for.  I really want some Fran's Chocolate Caramels on Valentine's day. hint hint.

Happy Monday, and wish me luck!

Manic Mrs. Stone!

I have been extremely busy these last few days but I wanted to check in and let you know how great Mrs. Stone is! She posted one of my D.I.Y. tutorials and is also giving away something sweet I made. Go check her blog out at elisabethstone.blogspot.com!

Spring 2012 Garden Update no. 2

 

Clockwise from upper left; carrot, lettuce and kale.

We have sproutlings!  So far only my lettuce really seems to really be coming in, but the kale is coming in almost as good; I just didn't plant as much of it.   And, only one seed of the carrots, so far seems to have made it's way to the surface.  I think more will pop up, I just hate waiting.  Unfortunately, not much else is showing signs of life, even though it's been about 10 days, which was the maximum days to emergence on the seed packets. So, we'll see if anything else shows up in the next week or so.

Happy Spring Planting!

Buckwheat and Quinoa Flour Crackers {Gluten free, vegan, anti-candida}

I'm still on my anti-candida diet and have been searching for edible crackers.  I found a recipe that allowed me to create these:

1 cup quinoa flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water 

pinches {or teaspoons} salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, basil and any other herbs you love.

preheat oven to 360* F 

mix ingredients until well combined, knead with hand, roll into ball

place on well quinoa floured surface and roll out into 1/8 of an inch thick

cut into desired shapes and sizes bake for 10-12 minutes, flip over and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

I baked mine for about a total of 25 minutes because I wanted them crunchy, and I may have had more water or oil than listed, so make sure to check your crackers and bake to your desired texture. 

good luck!

Anti Candida Diet {week 2}

This week is number 2! and I'm still trying to figure out how I got through last week... It was rough.

lets reflect:
day 1 9am Energized, empowered!  I ate eggs with little cheese on corn tortilla {neither the cheese or corn were allowed as I later found out} I drank coffee with almond milk and no sugar.
day 1 11am Gardening!  I started feeling light headed but from working so hard, I drank water with apple cider vinegar and some lemon.
day 1 2pm Starving! I needed my carbs and sugar at this point. I had some rage.  I ate some quinoa and some home made tomato sauce.
day 1 4 pm Stomach ache.  I reminded myself that the candida was what wanted the carbs and sugar not me.  IT wants to be fed, IT's making me angry, IT's losing.  I will get rid of this!
day 1 7pm Tired. Sick to stomach, feeling bits of "highness"

day 2 Dizzy, light headed, finally ate some agave and quinoa flour muffins {no agave on the diet though! opps} and felt better.  Continued on with the proper diet for the rest of the day.

day 3 Had an appointment with our naturopathic doctor and received my anti candida shot and confirmed some foods, she allowed green granny smith apples, organic mozzarella cheese, beans {except black, they have gluten} that night I got a really bad headache which could be because the candida was dying!  yay.

day 4 Woke up shaking and NEEDED to drink some coconut water after attempting to settle my stomach with yogurt.  I called the Dr. and she said in that situation, get my body what it needs but prevent the issue by eating every 2 hours.

day 5 Felt normal!  I actually didn't crave too much sugar or bread.  I felt like I was actually adjusting to this new diet!

day 6 Another normal day, I went to yoga and felt a little head rush once and a while from certain poses mostly.  I felt fine in terms of hunger, energy and focus!  I felt really good after yoga, like my body is strong and I can do this diet to improve me life!  I'm really excited to be rid of this invader, without the use of prescription medication, I know it will be worth it by the end of the month!

day 7 I actually felt fine.  Better really, like my body and the candida was not showing any symptoms.  Besides craving sugar and chocolate and pizza I'm doing great.

So how about week 2?  here's the meal plan...
1. Left overs from last week
2. Lamb roast, the Hubs is loving the meat eating, I am not, but I know my body will benefit...
3. Spinach and rice spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce
4. Quinoa crust pizza with tomato sauce and organic mozzarella (my Dr. approved some soft cheeses!)
5. 4 oz Lamb with brussel sprouts and salad {no dressing only olive oil and lemon for me}
6. Eggplant parmesan {sort of, no bread, baked and mine will only have mozzarella} and brown rice linguine with butter sauce, garlic and maybe lemon?
7. True Food.  I hope they have sometime for me to eat.

Why only the lamb for meat?  we get our meat from a local ranch and we talk to the ranchers every week.  They raise cattle but lately they have had lamb, which is, taste wise, better than I remember beef and steak tasting. I know they have happy healthy animals and that makes me feel better about the meat, if you're a meat eater in the phoenix area check them out! here.  And I will be happy to return to my meat free lifestyle after this diet, until then I'm happy to support such nice people!

So week 2 here we go! Wish me luck!

Learning "Disabilities" and my thoughts, rants and outrage...

image.

This past week my school hosted a professional development lecture regarding learning disabilities.

I had a lot of questions by the end and actually a lot of frustration.

There are sooo many "disorders" I can't believe what they classify as a disorder these days.  I mean, each child is different so how is that when one child is too different they're classified with a disorder?

I treat each of my students with respect and I allow them to take their times and use their ideas to create art, and while I realize many children are comfortable and happy creating art, some are not.  I don't consider that a disorder, I think it's something I need to address as a teacher and work through but I don't think just because a child is failing, disengaged, resistant to homework fidgeting, frustrated or showing off in my class means they have a disorder.  I think it means there is a poor fit.  I don't understand why if those same things happen in math, reading, science or other class they are red flagged.

I think we need to look at the way we teach.  I think we take ourselves and our society too seriously, maybe the reason these kids are having a hard time in certain areas is because of something called evolution.  Maybe these children are MEANT to be hunters and gathers, maybe they aren't meant to be housed in these four walled hardly windowed rooms... Maybe they should be outside learning with their eyes, ears and hearts.  I think when someone forces a child into a situation they aren't comfortable in many issues arise and I don't think those issues are disorders.  I think those issues are instincts.  I think those instincts should be addressed.

Why does every child need a formal educaiton?  will they not get a good enough job? will they not make enough money? will they not be happy?  I think only the first two are true.  The education system is designed to sustain our society, to create new members who function as the current society needs.  BUT, what if the reason so many children have "disorders" is because a change is in order?  What if these kids are rebelling against this system, this culture?  What if this is a GOOD thing??

I asked the presenter, "About how many kids or people have a learning disability?" She responded, "A Lot."  She mentioned how it could be as much as 50% if you added up all the disabilities or maybe more like 30%.  None of those answers are good enough.  If 50% or more members of a society have a disability is it a disability? or disorder?  or is the norm?  If so many people and children are having such a hard time "learning" maybe we should reconsider what we're teaching.

Maybe we should not be focusing on textbooks and structure, but life.  I watched my daughter stare at the birds yesterday for about an hour.  Observing, comprehending, visualizing, learning all without much guidance.  Kids want to learn, they really do.  But they want to learn on their own terms with their own ideas and thoughts.  Yeah, it takes a hell of a lot more work to guide a child like this, but if we want to embrace self awareness, environmental awareness and any form of spirituality we need to make that effort, both as parents and as educators.

I guess my biggest problem with these disabilities is the need of parents and educators to medicate such children, with with stimulants or depressants.  If a child is defiant {classified as Oppositional Defiant Disorder} they are treated chemically, ie. meds.  This is a new classification within maybe the last 10 or 15 years if not less.  If you or your child rebels against anything, you or your child may be ODD.  And once you have that diagnoses, chemical treatment is the best option.  I just can't accept that.  I can't.  {maybe I'm ODD?}  but really if a child is rebelling against anything for the sake of rebelling, we NEED to figure out why.  What is wrong with us, that would cause a child to react so aggressively?  maybe our culture is breading this aggression, maybe it's the way we're living.  I wish that people would take the time to fix problems or at least attempt problem solving before popping pill or shoving them down their children's throats.

I often wonder in formal education situations like this, what was the rate of Native American learning disabilities?  in a society that was functioning happily and sustainably did the invaders take the time to ask? I think we all know the answer.  But what if that is the answer, what if living a natural, sustainable life and teaching THAT to our children is the answer.  What if that's what could make all the "disabilities" go away?  I wish I could live like that and teach my daughter how to, but I was never educated that way, and now I don't know how.  So, I live this life with this system while searching for alternatives so that she might be able to live happily without this culture and without this toxic society.  It's my goal and life's work.

Will you join me?



Please excuse grammatical errors, I don't edit my rants.

Quinoa Flour Pie Crust (gluten free and anti candida)

1/3 cup avocado or organic olive oil (frozen)
1/3 cup ice water (freeze water 5-10 minutes before mixing)
3 cups quinoa flour
pinch or two of salt

mix with a fork until well combined.  roll out on {quinoa} floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. place crust into ceramic pie dish.  the pieces will break apart, just reassemble them in the dish and smooth out as best as possible.  I pre-baked for 10-15 minutes then filled with egg for a quiche like recipe, could be used for anything though, bake as directed for that recipe.

*will update with a pretty picture next time I make it. 

**UPDATE. I recently made this again and realized my previous measurements are slightly low. I added a few extra splashed of oil and maybe another 1/4-1/2 cup water to get the texture I wanted, I also mixed in some brown rice flour and coconut flour and reduced the quinoa flour keeping the same amount of total flour. Here's the result:

Link Love No. 9

A lovely day at the farm to go with some lovely links below!

I love the photographer my friend's chose to document their special day.

I can't wait to make some of these pies in jars!

Can you do all 50 of these?!  I'm working on them!

I love that this little girl eats like my daughter!  going to incorporate some of these yummy HEALTHY meals into our routine.

Would love to make this! or someone can buy it for me :)

I Love this filing cabinet makeover!

15 reasons why I love vinegar, there are more reasons but this list only has 15 of them :)

Have you seen this duvet cover?!  I love it!

Really helpful ideas for designing a bedroom and home in a way that fosters learning.

Just found this blog and I like it!

Also, I was going to wait a while to share this with you all, but I finally gave in to pinterest, I'm working on filling up my boards right now, so don't judge my half filled ideas yet!

Happy Monday!

Spring Garden 2012 update no. 1

I just spent the last 2 hours out back {Husband spent more yesterday roto tilling the yard} and finally the Spring Garden is in full effect!  

Watering "before"

I have a few containers, I bought the soon to be discarded wine crates from Total Wine and More for $4.99 each and saved a few more for our soon to be chickens!  I planted sage, lemon balm, onions, cherry tomatoes and kale in the containers....

I labeled old paint sticks {a few survived from last season} and laid down more seeds in the ground.

Had to buy some soils since our compost isn't done. Going to makes something with the bags though, don't worry, that's way too much not recyclable plastic to toss! 

I gave it a nice watering and hopefully it will rain tonight, the clouds are looking mighty full today.

I'll let you know in a few weeks when the sprouting seedlings start popping up!  

Happy Sunday.

Artist of the Week No. 8

African Art and El Anatsui 

Some basic facts about Africa:
Africa is south of Europe.
In between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
More than 1,000 Languages have been identified.
The major religion that influenced Africa was Islam (done peacefully).
1914 under colonial rule
1945-1970s colonies gained independence one after another.
During the 20th century, the art of tradition African societies played a pivotal role in revitalizing the Western art tradition.

African Artifacts
African Art influenced furniture in the Art Deco time period. In some African cultures, elaborate stools or chairs were created not only to indicate their owners’ status but also to serve as alters for their souls after death. The example of the chair is from the Ngombe people who live along the Congo River. When France began to colonize Africa in the late 19th century and African objects were brought by French soldiers, administrators and adventurers.

Pierre Legrain. Tabouret, 1923

Homes and Dwellings
Nankani People create living spaces or dwellings in a cooperative but gender specific project.
Men build the structures and women decorate the surfaces. The dwellings are also gender specific the round dwellings are for women the square are for the men. (page 879 of Art History, Stokstad, second edition, volume 2) The dwellings or homes are a painted adobe architecture.

Children and Fertility Figures

Children are important in many cultures because they are what keeps that culture going; many children still die before age 5. Many women can not have children and are blamed for this, it’s rarely the man’s fault, the women carry fertility figures. Fertility figures are considered art.

Twin figures are important because if one twin dies the other twin is at risk.

source.

These are Ibeji statues from the Yoruba people in Nigeria. They believe that twins share one soul. If one twin dies and goes to the spirit world, then the living twin is in danger. Mom has to go to a diviner and commission an Ibeji for her dead child. For the rest of her life, she must feed, take care of, make sacrifices to, and love the statue like her child. This keeps her dead child in the spirit world happy. This way, the living child’s soul remains intact.

Mom with her figures 1974

The Yoruba are an important ethnic group mainly occupying Southwestern Nigeria. Mainly for genetic reasons, this very large tribe happens to present the highest dizygotic twinning rate in the world (4.4 % of all maternities), more than any other ethnic group in the world. They even have special names for twins: Taiwo and Kehinde.

For babies that are born as multiple births (triples and such) Taiwo is the twin that sees the world first while Kehinde follows. Idowu is the child born after Kehinde, Alaba is born after Idowu and Igogbe is born after Alaba.

Spirits and Masks
Among the most potent images of power in African Art are the nkisi, or spirit, figures made by the Kongo and Songye people of the Congo.

Example of a Bwami Mask. source.

Kente {textile} Cloth

source.

El Anatsui is a contemporary artist using this style with found/trash materials:

source.

Anatsui was born in 1944.  He is a Ghanaian sculptor active for much of his career in Nigeria. Anatsui was born in Anyako, and trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, in central Ghana. He began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975, and has become affiliated with the Nsukka group. Some of his recent works resemble woven cloths such as kente cloth. Anatsui also incorporates uli and nsibidi into his works alongside Ghanaian motifs.

source.

source.

And that's my Artist of the week

Download my student's handout by clicking here.

More Sources:
http://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_Customs_and_Beliefs_Pertaining_to_Twins.html
http://arthistory.wisc.edu/ah241/10.html
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/CT001177/nankani-woman-painting-a-hut
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4005624
http://representingplace.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/el-anatsui-in-chelsea/

Anti Candida Diet {week 1}

Can you believe this is what's ruining my life?!

After much thought, I decided to share this diet with you all.

I was hesitant for several reason, the main one being that for the next month I will not be vegetarian.  As much as I don't want to eat meat, my body NEEDS it.  Yes, needs it.  I know that might be hard for some of my vegan and vegetarian readers to understand but I'm fighting off this toxic candida invader and I've been battling it for months {and probably years!}.  I can't take anymore headaches, ache, tiredness or anything else inhibiting my parenting ability nor my quality of life {list of symptoms here}.  The amount of meat I will be eating is less than that of one large dead animal.  No pigs and no cows for me, lamb and fish only.  But! those are still hard for me to handle.

The reason for the meat is this, Candida lives off carbohydrates, sugar, dairy, alcohol, grains, fruits and more.  When figuring out how to maintain enough calories to feed my daughter with breast milk, I had to add something in or I would literally starve.

I can only eat a select few food items and if you know my usual diet you'll know how difficult this is for me.

I'm also working with a Naturopathic Doctor and I will shortly be able to cut the meats out, once my body is back to normal.  Along with the diet there are a shot and inserts involved, that changes the life cycle of the candida.

My current meal plan is this:
Sunday: 4oz Lamb with brussel sprouts
Monday: Quinoa Crust cheeseless quiche.
Tuesday: Pinto and White beans, quinoa with avocado and tomatoes (everyone else will be enjoying tortillas)
Wednesday: Quinoa with homemade tomato sauce, tiny amount of mozzarella cheese.
Thursday: Bean (no black beans!) and carrot soup with eggs in kale baskets.
Friday: 4oz Lamb with kale and brussel spout salad (lemon and olive oil dressing).


I'll let you all know how it goes in a few weeks.  Wish me luck!

D.I.Y. Orange Extract

You may have seen my numerous posts on extract recently.  And many people have been asking how I make them... So, I thought I should share my recipes here, even though google has shown me tons of recipes! 

I made some orange extract recently for my favorite cookie recipe but you could make anything with it; cupcakes, pancakes, crepes, dessert breads, anything your bake!

What you'll need:

thin peel of one or more orange {carefully peeled no pith (the white part)}

1/2 cup 80 proof vodka {per orange}

This image contains the peel of 2 oranges so there's twice as much vodka.

I tried the recipe I link below {sort of} and decided that my peel in vodka for about a week was a better recipe, it smelled more like oranges and was exactly what I wanted.  You can dilute the extract after a week with a 1/4 cup water if you desire, but I think I'll leave mine alone.

After you've allowed the orange peel and vodka to sit for about a week {or longer if you want} pour into smaller dark amber Boston round viles, mine are 2oz purchased in bulk from here.

There's a more involved recipe here, but I modified it to the one I describe. 

 Experiment!  That's how YOU make it D.I.Y{ourself}

Happy Extracting

Plasticless Smoothie

So, I will eventually explain my plan for a year without buying plastic, but that year will be 2013 and this year I'm working on all the kinks of the plan.  Today I conquered the question of "How will I still be able to make smoothies without plastic packaged frozen berries?!"

The Answer? 

These paper, biodegradable bagged blackberries {and more berry options} from Whole Foods.

They're made with renewable engergy {whatever that means}

and NonGMO, they didn't say organic but I know that US grown blackberries are not part of the dirty dozen so I'm not too worried about their pesticide exposure.

The full recipe?

1/2 Organic mango, 2 bananas, 1/2 bag of frozen blackberries, splash of organic rice milk.

blend.

top with bee pollen {left} or mix it in.

drink.

Copal Incense and a Thank You.

The supplies.

No, these are not drugs.

It's a roll of charcoal and a bag of copal.

You light the charcoal and place the copal on top.

The smoke fills the space with lovely earthy holy scent.

I'm very thankful Katie brought it back for me from Mexico.  

Read her post on Incense and Stuff here.

Please forgive my terrible cell phone pictures of the process, I needed to document and share the images but couldn't find my camera quick enough.

Banango Blackberry Smoothie

Banana + Mango = Banango!

What you'll need:

1/2 Organic mango, skinned and chunked

 2 bananas

1/2 bag of frozen blackberries, 

splash of organic rice milk.

What you'll do with it:

blend.

top with bee pollen {left} or mix it in.

drink.

Make 1 big smoothie or 2 small/medium sized ones {as pictured below}

Enjoy.

Salvage Chalkboard Emily's Bedroom & Future Classroom

My friend Jessica works at her church in the youth ministries department and when she mentioned some unused chalk boards I practically screamed!  I wanted one and she and Hubs picked it up for me!  After a few weeks months stored outside we finally installed it in Emily's room, which will eventually function as a proper guest room and classroom.   My dad, Husband and I hung it up and here a few images and tips in case you find and buy one at your local thrift store...

Use blue painter's tape to mark where the studs are in the wall, they're easier to spot than pencil marks and they allow for you to see the thickness of the studs and make sure your screws are centered.

Don't worry about scratches from hanging and aligning the board, it's an easy fix with a little paint!

Choosing the right bit for your drill might be time consuming and annoying but it's important to find a bit that has maximum surface contact, you don't want to strip out the x, otherwise you'll never get the screw out {then again why would you ever take down this beauty?!}

Use a level. duh.

Happy Chalk Board Installing!

Giveaway No. 7 WINNER!

I'm happy to announce the winner of My Memories Suites Digital Scrapbooking program

It was so great of them to offer this product for me to review and giveaway.  I know the winner will love using it!

I love that Random dot org selects a winner for me!  I would hate to have to put all the names in a hat or something cliche like that....

And the winner is...Sweet Mannered!  

Congratulations!

I promise to host another giveaway soon! something local and handmade I promise.

Happy Wednesday!