Refreshed

WOW. It’s been several years since touching this. All of a sudden, the title of this blog came back to me….”I have a story to tell,” has been picking at my brain for a couple weeks now…perhaps soon I can share my story and put to rest almost 9 years of discontent.

Sunday.

Still your heart and let it speak to those lost on September 11th.

 

God bless.

 

 

 

 

Welcome back

Hooray for September and all promise it brings of a beautiful transition into Autumn. I can’t wait.

Okay, I admit that this is one of the main reasons I'm excited for Fall.

Honey crisp apples, piping hot oatmeal + coffee, pumpkins, aromatic spices permeating the house.

Heady candles burning down to nothing, warmth from a fire, brisk air that cuts through your lungs on a morning walk, chickadees coming out of hiding.

Finally getting to pick the HUMONGOUS pumpkin that mysteriously grew in our yard?? Going to my brothers’ soccer games and feeling like a proud mom watching them play their hearts out, fall harvest festivals with my best friend.

 

It doesn’t get much better.

 

Life

is a beautiful monster.

Time is of the essence

Be grateful for the time you have with your loved ones.

 

And a poem:

 

First Light,

an owl flies home.

Restoration.

 

-Amy, June 2011

Pride

Don’t feel embarassed about having greens stuck between your teeth. It just means you’ve been eating your veggies!

“American Robin,”

is a curious fellow.

Watching your every move

(hoping you won’t notice).

I turn to look

at his red breast;

beady eyes catch mine–

embarrassed,

he runs away.

 

 

 

-Amy K., May 2011

Current Obsessions

Seasonal eating is awesome. As the heat waves come in, I find myself craving cold foods.

Tomato paste on just about every vegetable/grain/egg I can lay my greedy paws on.

Cereal topped with a cold banana and ice cold almond milk.

Baked sweet potatoes, cooled in the fridge and eaten in cold chunks.

❤

Muesli 101

I actually sent this to my sister earlier this morning and thought this would make a great blog post! Enjoy 🙂

 

MUESLI

Pronounced “moose-lee,” it is a European breakfast cereal that normally comes pre-packaged and is high in calories and sugar. It’s basically composed of oats, dried fruits and nuts.

Making homemade muesli guarantees healthy, clean food going into your body at the most important meal of the day–breakfast!

Start with a base of basic rolled oats. I usually use 1/3 cup or more. Then start adding your extras, usually no more than 2 Tablespoons each. Here are some suggestions that I use. . . never tried the veggies before but is sounds legit, haha. Mix and match, making sure you have at least one nut (for fat) and dried fruit (for energy):

NUTS
almonds
walnuts
pecans
almond butter
peanut butter

DRIED FRUIT
raisins
prunes
dates

FRESH FRUITS
banana slices on top
apple chunks
orange chunks

berries of any kind–mmm

pineapple

SEEDS
sesame
sunflower
sunflower seed butter
pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
chia
flax

EXTRAS
unsweetened shredded coconut
spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.)
cereal (puffed rice lends to a fun texture)
baked sweet potato chunks
grated carrot/zucchini (mild veggies)
chocolate chips :3

There you go! Top it off with some icy cold milk of any kind and enjoy. It’s sooo good and you don’t even need to add any sugar to it!

Summer Lentil Salad

I have a problem.  For the longest time–since winter actually–I avoided any type of “basic” foods like beans, kale, collards, etc.  Said foods were avoided because I just didn’t like the plain taste of them.  Seriously? Amy doesn’t like healthy food? Now that’s not true, but indeed I hit a major clean food rut until my most recent (and obvious) discovery: SAUCE.

Ohhh sauces. They dress up the simplest foods and change them into something worth talking about.  Like this lentil salad, for example:

 

“Summer Lentil Salad”

Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side dish

4 cups cooked lentils (I used green)

4 medium carrots, diced

4 spring onions OR 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (more or less depending on your preference)

1/4 cup Nayonaise or Veganaise

Salt & pepper, to taste

Cook lentils if not done already. Let cool.  Meanwhile, dice the carrots, slice the onion and chop the dill. Mix all of the ingredients together and let chill for at least 1 hour. Serve warm or cold.

Optional: You could add some sliced celery to the mix for a veggie boost. Also, this could be serve atop a bed of (un)cooked greens. Go crazy!

 

 

So simple, it hurts.