Just doing. Oh yeah, and some food.
Posted On July 13, 2011
I’m realizing more and more that I should probably fix to a schedule in my life. Helen and Scott Nearing had a very calculated way of doing things (I’m reading their book "The Good Life" right now.), and I can kind of see why these days. The took on so much. They grew their own food, they built all their own buildings and had a maple sugaring business, and they were all about building community. I love that kind of a life, and I love having such variety. So many things to do, so many things to learn. So often I get caught up in the multitude of things that I’m taking on, and I can’t remember what to do next or figure out how to focus. And I end up just kind of blinking and thinking… So, for the time being, I’m experimenting with a new kind of order around here. Routines a plenty, and lots of just doing and less thinking about doing.
This is perfect timing really, because we’ve got a whole lot of
people coming in a week to see our yard and garden and ask us lots of questions about it all. I’ve got conflicting emotions about it- mostly excitement, but a fair amount of
"what? It’s not done yet! There are lots of other people that have better and bigger and… don’t look at me!" The insecure thoughts are irritating to me, because I feel the opposite about other people’s gardens and activism and what not. I’m always thrilled to see what they are doing, and when they chime in with
"But it isn’t this and it isn’t that and I shoulda done…" I feel like they are not being kind to themselves and are missing out on all the good in front of them. Plus it assumes that I’m coming in there to be critical, and I don’t like that. So, I’m working to retrain myself and ignore those negative thoughts. Because an opportunity to share my life with others is a blessing and, imperfect as it is, that’s part of what makes it all so beautiful.
So, over the next week I thought I would do a mini update every night about what I’ve been up to each day, keeping me a little more accountable and hopefully a bit more focused. First entry to come later tonight!
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Anyway, a little food update, because it is Wednesday after all.
The other day I got inspired to go back to some of the more basic food prep that I used to do. Lately I’ve been a little slack, but I’m determined to pick it back up and get it all down to a once a week routine. Anyway, most of this prep is just soaking. Pictured below are the makings for "crispy nuts"- nuts/seeds that have been soaked in salt water for about a day and then dehydrated or cooked in a really low oven. They are awesome, and processing them this way gets rid of most of they phytates and increases the digestibility and helps the nutrients to be more available. Here I’ve got pecans, walnuts, and hulled pumpkin seeds.
Here is a crock pot with yogurt going. Next to it are three containers, I was soaking pinto beans, rice, and porridge (a mix of wheat berries, oats, rice, and barley).
Kombucha on its second ferment.
Here are the nuts soaking. I have a small kitchen, but it’s alright, I often find a surface nearby and stack the bowls with plates between them.
After everything soaks, I put the grains/beans in the fridge for cooking later in the week, and I put all the nuts in my dehydrator at around 135 degrees. After several hours (about a whole day went by) I had crispy nuts! These nuts are so amazing- they are crisp and have a little saltiness. And it’s good to know that I’m getting all the nutritional benefit I can from them- they are not very cheap, and the kids munch them down like crazy. So I might as well get as much bang for my buck, so-to-speak.
I also finished harvesting all the garlic scapes and turned it all into pesto. My
friend had a great idea to freeze them in ice cube trays!
My sister’s birthday was last week, and we had a little get together here. My mom brought dessert, and I just had to share a couple of pictures of it. It was awesome. Light, creamy, fruity. Just how it should be this time of year.
http://www.rlmarts.com/products/posters/index-1.html
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When you feel the urge to justify and apologize to them for the state of your garden, change the wording a little bit. Even just making it something like, “Our next step is…” or “what we’re working on now…” can allow you to get those ideas into the discussion without being so defensive.
BTW, I made curried tofu patties for the meat eaters last night. They LOVED it! I’m so excited to know that my cooking opens new doors for people, because they trust me and my cooking enough to try things they would normally look at in disgust.
Just think of all the great ideas your visitors can give you for the next steps to take with your garden/yard! What an awesome opportunity to get some insight into what others think (which is bound to be complimentary) and advice on how to get some tricky things working. 🙂
We made pesto a couple nights ago with our own basil… oh my was it delicious!
How much salt/water for how many nuts? Those sound good! And you just drain them before you dehydrate, no rinsing?
That cake looks SO delicious!
Sorry I didn’t respond to this for forever! I think it’s like 1 tablespoon for 4 cups of nuts? Yes. Yes yes. And yeah, I just drain off the water and then dry them. They are so good!
🙂
they look good, I’m going to try them sometime for sure:) thanks!
Can you compile a cookbook or host a how-to class?? Seriously…I’d pay you for it!! 🙂 I’d love to learn how to do kombucha, the cripsy nuts, and anything/everything else!
You should really check out Nourishing Traditions, if you haven’t already. Although, I feel like we have talked about it before… have we? Anyway, you can find far more stuff in there than I could ever write… But I would be happy to compile something for you, or if you’re ever around this area we could get together and have a relaxed little how-to. Also, there are some good blogs out there that are totally food focused that I recommend:
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/
http://gnowfglins.com/
http://www.nourishingdays.com/
🙂
you should write a book
sometimes i feel like the amount of information i am lacking when it comes to good nutrition (and not the more veggies less processed crap kind, i mean like, knowing what to do with nuts and why preparing them a certain way is beneficial) is really overwhelming. then, i think, if i’m overwhelmed, there are a lot of other people who are much LESS informed about food and such than i am, and they must feel totally alienated. i wish someone would write a book breaking it all down in simple terms – i’m sure this was oral, family, generational habit before we all got lost in the world of the internet. don’t know something? look it up. but…what about when you don’t know what you don’t know?
you should write a book, or teach a seminar, or something. i wish WIC did THIS kind of thing, rather than “don’t eat mcdonalds.” i’m not a WIC hater, and they support breastfeeding, but i wish they did more than “balanced nutrition.” same with EBT. there should be classes at the library. i’d come. 🙂
Re: you should write a book
There is a book that has all this stuff! It’s called Nourishing Traditions- based on Weston A. Price’s research. You may know it already. It’s pretty controversial, and it’s just starting to make waves in the medical/nutrition community. I think it’s kind of daunting to me to take any kind of active role in educating people because I just don’t have any credibility… I feel like I just trust their research and I trust my instincts, and also the way we feel. You raise a good point. I have often wanted to make this information more accessible to people, I just don’t know how. Maybe we could have a little workshop or something… It’s definitely worth mulling over.
As for the overwhelmed bit- just go step by step! I’d be happy to get together and make any number of things with you. We could let the kids play and just keep it fun. That’s all I’ve been doing, just chipping away at it. I see now how quickly it all comes together, looking back. So yeah, if you’re up for it, let’s plan something soon!