very good article on the 57 benefits of veganism

While I am not 100% vegan 100% of the time, I know that when I have eaten a completely vegan diet (as opposed to a vegetarian diet which includes dairy products), I have felt my best.
It's great to see an article promoting veganism on a nursing website. Too few medical professionals promote the many healing benefits of good nutrition in general, much less the vegan diet.
As the new year rolls in, I am giving my body a break from the richness of holiday fare by cleaning up my diet with a return to vegan eating. I strongly suggest that others consider doing the same. Your body will thank you for it.

http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/

winter.solstice.home

Once again, the blanket of Yule time seems to have wrapped itself around me, insulating me, and acting as an invisible buffer to any and all things of the world. This is a time when I naturally become more reflective and family/home centered, and all of the universe becomes condensed into my humble little home and those inside of it. Nothing can get me, nothing bothers me, and a strange serenity and calm overtakes me that for the rest of the year is but a distant memory. It is the antithesis of summer time; all the things summer is not. Summer, when the whole universe seems limitless and a sense of expansion overcomes, compelling me to do, create, move mountains earth.
This year I found myself the possessor of time, a commodity I hadn't known in awhile. This time has been an enormous blessing, and I am so grateful for it. It has allowed me to be a full time student, get back into hairdressing and open a small shop, garden, take up some serious yoga, cook, cook, COOK, and to finally make this house a home.
I used to say that it took a year for a house to really become home after moving in. Well, this house has been the exception. We will have been here 4 years next month, and only recently has it began to come together. Now, I wonder if I will ever move again! Window treatments are finally up, the kitchen is all I need it to be and more. It's organized. It's comforting. I have learned it's quirks, and it has taken on the patina of "us".

Ever so slowly, we have finally began to make friends and know our neighbors. The kids know the entire city, and love living here. Good place for roots, good place to grow up. Our four legged babies keep us entertained and help make this place home, as well.


Yep, this little house is becoming a real home after all this time. Thanks to time. Time spent living here, and time afforded to me during this year. What a gift.

DVD Library Wishlist

Beowulf
American Beauty
Deliverance
The Hangover
300
The Men Who Stare at Goats
I am Legend
Zoolander
Great Expectations

PRECIOUS SILVER

"our lives are the cumulative total of all of our past decisions." me

And the sooner people recognize this simple truth, the happier they will be. All things in our lives, both good and bad, are attributable to choices that we have made previously. Along that line of thinking, I can't help but add to further it that all things that happen to us, therefore, are ultimately our own fault.
I realize that many of you are out there, shaking you heads in protest, saying, "But what about the starving children in Africa! Or the people of war torn nations, without food and things basic for survival?!". I agree....there are exceptions to everything, and I am not without empathy for all human suffering. But what I am talking about now is personal resposibilty, not starving children in Africa. Of course they didn't chose where they were born or into what kind of circumstances they were born in to. No one chooses what they are born into....but they DO chose where they go from there. My children did not choose for their father die...but they DO choose how they handle his death. Do they choose to use it to make excuses about their lives, or do they use his death as an excuse to go FURTHER in life?? Do they make it a reason to fail, or a reason to succeed? A reason to live or to die? That is what I am talking about. It is each person's personal responsibility, the decisions we each make on a daily basis, and how those decisions eventually translate into our lives as a whole. And, truly, once you think about it, it is SO EMPOWERING! How cool is it that we, we alone, are in charge of our own destinies. Even children, with no control or say over the circumstances into which they are born have the power and ability to affect change. How wonderful is that?
By accepting this truth, that the decisions we make translate into the lives we lead, we accept full responsibility for who and what we are, and have control of who we become. By fully accepting this truth, we enable ourselves to make the changes necessary to become the person who we were born to be, and to fulfil our highest potential. Making excuses, blaming others, and not accepting full responsibility for everything in and about our lives only serves to stunt our growth, and gets us nowhere.
Remember this as you go out into the world this next week. Your life is yours. You own it, and it can be whatever you decide to craft it into. If is entirely up to you. So begin crafting the life you desire. The time is RIGHT NOW!
Now go get 'em!!

pesto/tomato pasta sauce

Last night I was experimenting some in the kitchen, and I came up with what we thought was a very good pasta sauce. It used the pesto that I make, and then combined it with a tomato sauce. Here is the recipe:

Ingrediants:

Freshly made pesto (see recipe). Use all of it.
6 very ripe, large, organic tomatoes, coarsley chopped
5 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 large organic yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin, organic olive oil
1/4 cup organic Italian parsley, packed
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Saute onion and garlic until golden.
2. Add in tomatoes and cook over medium low until the begin to fall apart. About 45 min.
3. Add pesto, parsley, salt, pepper. Stir and heat through. Cover and remove from heat.

Add to you favorite pasta. I put mixed it into a large pot of penne pasta, and it was delicious.

Tomato Sauce

This is a recipe from Biba's Taste of Italy, by Biba Caggiano. It is a delicious, light, and healthy sauce, and has a myriad of uses, from pasta to pizza. I have even used in soups. This is a tradional Italian staple, originally from the Tuscan region, and I find it nice to keep it on hand. If canning isn't your thing, it freezes very well.

Homemade Tomato Sauce
Conserva di Pomodoro

Ingredients
12 lbs. very ripe organic tomatoes, preferably plum tomatoes, cut into large chunks.
2 large organic onions, cut into pieces, coarsely chopped
3 organic carrots, cut into small rounds
3 organic celery stalks, cut into small pieces
1 cup loosely packed organic, flat-leaf italian parsely leaves
1 1/2 tsp. organic sea salt, or more to taste
small bunch of basil, stemmed (20-30 leaves)
1/4 cup organic, extra virgin olive oil

Directions
1. Combine the tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, and salt in a large stockpot, over medium heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin falling apart and the other vegetables are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Puree the tomato mixture in batches in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Place a food mill with the disk with the smallest holes over a large bowl and pass the tomato puree through it to remove the seeds and skins. Return the sauce to the pot and season with salt. Cook it at a gentle boil until it has a medium-thick consistency. Stir in the basil and turn off the heat.