Where have you been?

It's a good question, really.

Honestly, I let it get out of hand this past Christmas and I said "Yes"; I helped, hand-made, and hosted; I cleaned, visited, baked, cooked, and did many other things I do not specifically remember. It was a wonderful holiday full of loved family and friends and I wouldn't change it.

Monday and Motivation

I have been reminded many times recently to be grateful.

Gratitude has been this month's theme in Sunday school for the kids. Reading about the hard times friends of mine experience with health and loss of a loved one remind me of the many blessings I take for granted.

This Christmas will be all about spending time with family, like Joanne, Kim, Stina, and many others - making memories, eating cookies, drinking coffee, and working our way through puzzles.

Eat Somethin' Good

Today's entry is essentially a guest post by my friend Phil.  To see his original posting, go here.

Grub's up

This is the problem...

This past month - getting into the groove of school, the busyness of life, and all the rest - I have often found myself in this place:

Having realized, "Oh, I intended to take photos of that and share with my friends... but now my plate is empty and all the food is put away into containers for lunches tomorrow.

The rhythm of life has returned to somewhat of a balance. I have recipes and photos at the ready to share. We will begin the foodie entries anew for November.

Fasten your taste buds, my friends... I have some excellent food to share with you.

Inspiration From The Food Network

My boys LOVE food. They have always enjoyed watching cooking shows and pretending in their kitchens. One day years ago, I found them playing in their kitchen "cooking" stuffed animals.

Peanut Butter Cookies & Learning From Mistakes

I made them on the weekend when we were having company over. I decided to use a recipe I am in process with - tweaking and changing.

The goal was crumbly, soft cookies that were ultra peanut buttery and tender like good shortbread. Like the ones Grandma used to make. The result was... somewhat unlike the goal. Oh they were peanutty. They were crumbly.

And regretfully, they were ultra dry. The first bite and every single person (all the company included) had to get a new FULL glass of water. In fact, several of the kids didn't even finish their cookies and most of the others declined the offer of seconds. You KNOW it is bad when that happens.

I am making a multitude of deserts this week - some for a dinner with family and friends (21 people total, if my math is close) and for a birthday boy who will be six this week. Hopefully they will all be raging successes. Hopefully the birthday boy will like his cake. And HOPEFULLY I will not make anything nearly that dry again this week!

The peanut butter cookie recipe will be fixed (hopefully) and I will post it then. For now, if you need dry peanut butter crumb, I have a great recipe.

Culinary Inspiration

It can come from almost anywhere... inspiration to create a new flavour experience. Lately, we have been watching a lot of Food Network TV. Plenty of inspiration there!

That got me wondering... what kind of a "food kick" are you on these days? Are you experimenting with an ingredient? Style? Cooking method? Ethnicity? Spice? Vegetable?

This mushroom cap seemed like such a great idea at the time, and it was, but my execution turned it into a super spicy fail.

I stuffed the mushroom cap with a medley of fresh garlic, ginger, and italian parsley. I failed to gently sauté this medley first. Unfortunately, that left all components of the stuffing fresh and spicy and my children crying as they ran to the water cooler. Live, cook, eat, learn.

Next time, I will gently tone down the spice and enhance the sweetness of the stuffing in a skillet BEFORE roasting it to perfection. And next time, I think some cheese will find its way into those caps as well.

That got me wondering... what is your culinary inspiration these days?

Camping & Cooking

Whenever we go camping, we take all the camping essentials and one of those is our camp stove. Okay, it's actually a "Camp Chef" two burner bbq, like this one:

We have a grill box that sits over one of the burners and that is where the grilling of meat and veg occurs.

Finally... Spring?

I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. I think the cold is FINALLY gone, after six long weeks. The weather looks like it is turning for the better, and spring *might* finally be here. I can only hope.

A Dog's Breakfast

It's looks like this that remind me - it's all about perspective. My dog eats the same food every morning and every morning she is grateful, delighted, and the breakfast was delicious. It's looks like this that remind me to be content - elated even - with whatever the current circumstances are, even if it's been the same green bag of Costco brand dog food every day for the past 7 years.

Waiting for Spring

Last week was cold and dreary and I started to feel the wear of winter on my enthusiasm. But things brightened on the weekend with the animals of spring all present on Saturday - robins, bald eagles, and prairie dogs. There is hope for warmer weather!

I have picked up speed on my new found hobby - knitting. I went to the local thrift store on Friday and rummaged through four baskets of yarn, jamming my re-useable shopping bag full for only $12. And because I dug through the treasures in those baskets, I only bought actual wool from sheep and alpaca as well as cotton yarn.

Company's Coming!

We stayed home all weekend (it was snowy outside) and lazed around, not doing much of anything. It was 10:04 am on Monday and I realized that friends of ours were coming for dinner. I had not cleaned and there was no plan for dinner. There was a whole turkey in the freezer... if I turn on the oven right now...

Farm Fresh Eggs

<<Ring>>  
<<Ring>>


"Hello?"

"Hi Jess, it's me. I have two dozen eggs in my truck for you. Are you going to be home in 5 minutes?"

"Yep, I'm here now, come on over!!"

I am so SO excited!! We will finally be eating fresh farm eggs each week instead of buying eggs from the store.

My friend's two little boys go out and collect the eggs and then get to earn some of the money from the egg sales. What a great way to teach the connection between effort and earning.

Knowing where these eggs come from, that the hens that lay them are happy and well cared for, fed good food, and not forced into eating anti-biotics every day, makes a big difference to me.

I'm not sure what I will make for dinner on this lazy Friday night, but I am fairly certain it will involve these eggs. Likely, I'll try a new bread recipe and simply fry or poach the eggs on the side... vegetables will make an appearance, I'm sure, but these golden beauties will be the star.

This will be amazing.

Simple Pleasures

I love rocks. 

When I was little, we went to the beach every day of the summer. It was quite hot outside and we did not have air conditioning. So, into the shade on a grassy patch beside the sand we would set up every morning around 10 and we would leave after fire-grilling dinner and eating it there on the beach, somewhere around 7pm. 

I clearly remember laying on my belly on my towel and scooping away the dry sand in front of my nose. I looked intently at all the beautiful rocks in front of me, moving each one carefully with a stem of grass. These tiny rocks were, in fact, sand. 

Adventure in the Produce Aisle

When we go to the grocery store, there is one rule about vegetables and fruit: if we have not yet tried it, we buy it and eat it. 

Never had it before? No idea what it’s called? No problem, just look it up online and then slice, dice, sauté, and eat it! 

We try to buy any fruit or vegetables the boys ask for, because it builds a sense of adventure and ownership into eating that fruit or vegetable. It's also somewhat exciting to try something new.

Next time you go to the grocery store, instead of just cruising through the produce section getting all of "the usual", add in one thing that you have not had before and tell me all about it!

This is Suey Choy (or Napa Cabbage) and is our FAVOURITE salad base; no more lettuce for us!

Winter Blah...

Ever have one of those days where you just want to curl up with a good book, a coffee, and a hand made blanket? Today is one of those days.

Instead, I'm going to go make another coffee, clean up the kitchen, and HOPEFULLY I will also make granola AND coleslaw. There are treasures in the freezer, and I plan to find one and conquer it, making it magnificent. Then, I'll return here and tell you all about the success. It will be awesome. Likely not epic, but definitely awesome. Yum.

And maybe one of these days I'll also tell you how Chris and I made these butcher block countertops!

New Year's Resolution

Here is an article I MUST share! I took the time to go through the journal writing tool and wrote then answered the questions in my personal journal. It was the best thing I could possibly have done. 


Instead of making a New Year's Resolution, why not follow Christine's advice and pick a word of the year? Take the time to do this - it is ABSOLUTELY worth every minute!

HOW TO MAKE 2011 YOUR BEST YEAR YET

by Christine Kane

The regulars at the gym were joking about it early in December.

"Have a good workout now," they said. "Cuz you know what it's gonna be like in about three weeks!"

That's because all the folks who have made their New Year's Resolutions will show up. They'll stick around for a while. Then, around Valentine's Day, the regulars get to have their old gym back.

The hosts of a satellite radio talk show were discussing the most common New Year's Resolutions and the average success rate. Among the most common were Get Organized, Be More Spiritual, Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, and Spend More time with Family.

I don't know about you, but this kind of To-Do List approach to life-transformation does NOT inspire me. And it doesn't surprise me that the success rates were low.

Why Resolutions Don't Work 

The reason most resolutions don't work is that they address only one level of your life.

The DO level.

It's the DO-HAVE-BE model.

It goes like this: "I will DO this thing." (i.e., Lose weight) "So I can HAVE this other thing" (Self-Esteem) and I can BE this thing. (Confident.)

The average New Year's Resolution doesn't address the core of the issue:

The "BE" level.

The best order for creating positive change in your life is the BE-DO-HAVE model. This means you start from the BE level. When you begin changing on the BE level of your life, then the DO level and the HAVE level follow more easily.

When you start only on the DO level, then the blocks on the BE level will often become the obstacles you can't overcome.

How to Tap into the True Power of your Intention

Several years ago, my friend Kathy and I decided that, instead of making resolutions, we would pick a word that would guide us throughout the year. It would be our touchstone. It would remind us of living our lives at the BE level.

This didn't mean that we didn't take action. It meant that our actions were inspired from the BE level. In fact, I took more action than ever with this new approach!

For several years now, I've blogged about this inspiring way to begin the year. The response has been huge. So have the success rates! I regularly hear from people who have created big changes in their lives because they focused on one word.

How to Choose A Word 

Look through the list below. Get quiet and listen to your Wise Self. Pick a word.

Then, hold that word in your mind throughout the year, and let your word guide you to take action.

Here's an example:

Let's say you're one of the many people who would normally choose "Get Organized." You're tired of chaos and clutter. So, you think, "I need to get organized. That'll be my Resolution."

But then you read this article. You decide to try this new approach.

You sit with your clutter. You spend a few days pondering words. You realize in an "Ah-Ha!" moment that you hold on to lots of things. You're scared to let go.

So you choose the word "Release" because it inspires you in a bigger way than "Get organized."

So, every time you approach your clutter you remind yourself of that word. "Release," you say softly. You start to let the clutter go.

Eventually, you realize that you're still holding on to lots more than just physical clutter. You realize that you hold onto resentment at old relationships. "Release," you remind yourself.

You realize that holding on is affecting your diet and health. "Release" applies to some of the extra weight you've gained as well. Throughout the year, you can see clearly how much you hold on. "Release" is your touchstone. It grows you throughout the year. It becomes your guiding force, not your harsh standard.

Your clutter became your teacher simply because you shifted your intent towards it. This wouldn't have happened if you'd opted only to "Get Organized."

What word to choose? 

Many people know immediately which word resonates with them. For others, a little contemplation is required.

As you read through the list of words, see if one stands out. It's tempting to choose four or five, believing that you can do it all! (Or that you're so messed up, you can't possibly narrow the mess down to one!) I recommend that if you can't choose just one, choose no more than two.

One is ideal. It gives you focus. If you master that one word, you can choose another one in June.

Compassion

Delight

Generosity

Effortlessness

Wealth

Gratitude

Abundance

Creativity

Willingness

Change

Growth

Freedom

Mastery

Kindness

Health

Presence

Acceptance

Courage

Confidence

Self-Love

Action

Forgiveness

Forgive

Release

Trust

Knowing

Patience

Friendship

Fun

Grace

Laughter

Love

Expansion

Exploration

Adventure

Openness

Discipline

Awe

Awareness

Risk

Gentleness

Choice

Spirit

Prayerfulness

Power

Allow

Artfulness

Attention

Beauty

Joy

Focus

Ritual

Heal

Order

Clarity

Pioneer

Peace

Laziness

No

Yes

Deliberateness

Commitment

Savor

Integrity

Listen

Note: Click here to download a powerful journal writing tool that I created. It's called The Word-of-the-Year Discovery Tool. Give yourself the gift of connecting your hand to your heart and write about what you want to create in the coming year. This tool works! I promise!

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Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://christinekane.com.