Spring is in the air | Back to Basics

I love Spring!

I love the way the warm sun and the cool breeze feels on my skin as I sit outside, close my eyes and lift my face to the sky with content and gratitude. I love the way the flowers fill the air with their sweet fragrance. I love the way the cold green grass feels on my feet when I am outside playing in the yard with my kids.

 

I love to watch as nature literally changes before my eyes and takes on new vibrant shades of greens, blues, pinks and purples. Every color of the rainbow can be found in nature. Every time, every year, it takes my breath away. Nature amazes me. I could sit outside for hours just watching life happen. I watch these two little birds that live under my carport live their lives. They are so content to do the same things over and over again everyday with great purpose and peace. They sing along as they collect twigs and random tidbits lingering about to build their nests. They hangout in a small tree that grows on the side of our house and chase each other back and forth. It is simply humbling to watch these simple and small, yet extremely important creatures

living for the moment and loving every second. It is a beautiful thing.

I have not been blessed with a natural green thumb and it shows when I have tried to do vegetable gardens in the past. However, with each year I try, I learn more and more and nature is my teacher. This year looks promising so far. I started with seeds and planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, bell pepper, onions and jalapenos,  

My seedling got a little overtaken by mold when we had a week of rain and straight humidity.

In my search to remedy this situation as naturally as possible, I came about a post that insisted that sprinkling cinnamon on the plant's soil would help to kill any mold since cinnamon has natural

anti-fungal properties.

 As you can see it certainly didn't hurt them and also seemed to remedy my mold problem.

These little seedlings are loving the sunshine.

No matter how many times I see a plant grow from a seed into something edible, it amazes and humbles me. It is the coolest thing to see something grow right before your eyes. It is kind of like watching your children grow, but a lot less intense and emotional. These living things are just doing what comes naturally to them. JUST BEING! They have no agenda but to Grow and thrive. So humbling!

I never knew I would ever love to garden as much as I do. I love to take care of these plants, flowers and vegetables. I love to watch them grow and just marvel in the beauty that is life. It kind of puts life in perspective in a strange sort of way. It brings me peace.

Growing herbs is something else that I am trying to get good at. I cook daily and I cook okay, but I am learning to cook with a broader pallet and trying to incorporate more fresh herbs as well as unfamiliar ingredients in my food. I figured one of the best ways to do that was to start growing my own herbs and unfamiliar foods so that I am forced to experiment. I hope it works! 

 I have tried to grow food from scraps in the past, like pineapples and avocado pits, but they never worked out. So I decided to try something more simple and it just so happens that this red onion was more than happy to regrow for me. This guy has gotten like a foot and a half now. It is huge in my garden. I think it might be doing even better than all of my other plants.  

You can regrow scraps from garlic, lettuce, celery and a few other items too. Nature is so crazy.

I love it!

Getting this garden started. My love finally got one of my raised beds put together. My little plants have been holding on until they could get transplanted.

I feel very fulfilled now. It is so rewarding growing your own food. Planting a seed and watching it grow from a tiny little green sprout popping out of the dirt for the first time is really awesome. And then watching it grow and flourish into something you can feed your family and consume for a healthy body is even more awesome. I love it and I love nature. I think everyone should have the opportunity to grow their own food. It takes me back to being at my great grandmothers on her ranch in Llano, Tx and picking the beans and snapping them, picking the berries off her vines for some of her homemade jellies and jams. She made the best berry jelly. She also had the best garden that was almost as big as half my house. Those memories will last a lifetime and the older I get, the more I appreciate that simple kind of life. Here's to good memories, gardening and a simpler time. 

 The most fragrant roses! I still have this bowl sitting on my kitchen counter as the petals wilt and let off this sweet, soft and rosy fragrance that fills the house.

 Get the kids involved! Inspire! Teach! Create!

 We bought our first lemon tree this year and I was concerned that something was wrong with it. It has been growing but has not produced any flowers or blooms in the couple of months that we have had it. Then I saw this little lovely poking out of the side. Our first lemon tree blossom.

This long leafed plant was planted in my yard well before I ever moved in over 8 years ago. I never knew what it was. I just knew this big green plant won't go away. I have to admit that I have mowed over her a few times over the years. Well the day after Easter I came outside to find this. She is absolutely fabulous and gorgeous. Even when I didn't manage to mow over her, she had never bloomed. This was an awesome surprise to wake up to and find out that this strange green plant was actually a beautiful Lily all along.

 

It is a great gift to stop and watch life happen right in front of you and take notice of the simplicity and yet extreme intricacy of everything in nature.

Life is beautiful . . .When you get back to the basics.

 

Blessings to all

 

Nature's Bounty | Fresh, Healthy, Colorful, Vibrant Ingredients

 If I would have seen all of this fresh and delicious food when I was younger, I would have been like, Nooo!!!

I never knew I could be so in love with real food.

My horizons are expanding and I learn to cook and utilize new and different vegetables every week and I love it. Some people probably think, "why would you take pictures of your food or plain fruits and veggies", and probably think it's weird. I feel like, how can I not? Look at all of the color, and on top of their simple beauty, I know how they taste and how wonderful they are for me.

Look how different and vibrant their colors are. Shiny red tomatoes, Vibrant greens, sunny yellows, deep purples and bright oranges. You can't get any better or more beautiful than that. I got the green apples to make a few small apple pies or crisps in the next couple of days. I got jalepenos and cilantro to make some fresh salsa fresca. One of my favorites. I save a lot of money by making my own in a big batch and storing it in the fridge to snack on or add to our favorite fresh dishes, like salmon and rice. Mmm mmm good!

See those little heirloom cherry tomatoes in purple, yellow, orange and red?

Heaven! They taste like heaven.

I made a small layered dip with beans, sour cream, avocados, cheese and topped it off with those superb little tomatoes and they made the dish. The purple ones are my favorite, with a robust tart and lingering sweet flavor.

How can I not get excited about real food that is so amazing for my health? This is beautiful and it makes me happy and most importantly, it makes me want to cook well and eat well.

So grateful for this food!!! Get you some!!!

 

Blessings to all

 

 

Check out my previous post on

The Benefits of Himalayan Salt

 

The benefits of living next to a produce store

I happen to live very close to a produce store, "Straight From the Crate", and I am very grateful.

I love fresh produce. Fresh fruits, veggies and sometimes some fresh baked bread.

It was a beautiful sun-shining Valentines day and I packed up the boys and we walked to the

store and grabbed a few items.

Lemons, strawberries, cantaloupe, onions, avocados, spinach, oranges, potatoes and a loaf of fresh baked bread. Just writing those words makes my mouth water. It is truly a blessing to have access to all these fresh yummy all-natural foods, especially when you don't have a garden of your own.

Another benefit of all this fresh produce is coming home and making a delicious batch of

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I used frozen corn, black beans, shredded chicken, diced tomatoes, cilantro, topped

with avocados, cheddar cheese and crispy tortilla chips. I know I didn't get most of the ingredients from the produce store but sometimes it's just those one or two fresh items like avocados that inspire a meal like this. This is the kind of meal that reminds me of my home!

 

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces

– just good food from fresh ingredients 

- Julia Child

 

One of the biggest and best lessons that I have learned from eating well is the effects that it has on your body. Eating well isn't just a way of life, but it is a preventative from disease and bad health. Not only does eating all natural foods right from the earth make us feel good but it helps heal the body. Natural foods are full of healing properties. I whole-heartedly believe that. The Lord has provided us with all we need to live a healthy and satisfying life, all while preventing the many diseases that plague us.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

- Hippocrates, father of medicine,

If you don't consume a lot of fresh foods right now, I highly suggest trying out some knew recipes that involve lots of them. When I was younger I didn't eat nearly enough veggies and now I can't imagine not eating these foods on a daily basis. I feel so much better when I consume more foods that don't have a t.v. commercial and grow naturally. I feel great!

 

I've included some famous quotes that I really enjoy about eating healthy and caring for out body

 

Eat Food. Not Too much. Mostly Plants. - Michael Pollan, renowned food expert and journalist

 

Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.  Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce. - Michael Pollan

 

When we learn to eat properly we begin to rebuild our bodies and to fulfill our purpose on this planet to grow in health, creativity, wisdom, and compassion - Dr. Ann Wigmore

 

Check out my previous post on making homemade fresh Blueberry Muffins from Scratch!

Use your frozen blueberries



Eat & Drink

 

I love to cook. I have ever since I was a little girl. I was raised on real good southern food like buttery biscuits and creamy sausage gravy, chicken fried steak, enchiladas and all of the other fattening southern dishes you can think of. The older I got the more I loved cooking and the better I got at it. I can make some mean fried chicken and a delicious apple pie from scratch. I've always loved those southern favorites, and I still do. The older I get though, the healthier I want to eat. I do a lot of research and read a lot of articles on health and nutrition and once I became educated, I just couldn't go back to the way things were. The more I ate healthy, the better I felt. Foods that may have tasted disgusting to me before, soon became delicious and highly enjoyable. I feel great after I eat healthy food. I have become addicted to eating healthy over the past couple of years.

 

I am a baker at heart and I love sweets, so I still enjoy indulging occasionally and I still make less then healthy meals sometimes. However, the important thing to remember is always "moderation." Have some cake, but don't eat three slices. Have some bread, but not the whole loaf. It is okay to enjoy and indulge in moderation. Don't starve or deprive yourself. You will only pay for it in the end. There is some satisfaction and pride that comes from having a few bites and allowing yourself to enjoy something but then having enough self control to stop when you feel satisfied instead of gorging. Eating smaller meals throughout the day has proven to be the best way to keep the body's metabolism up and to maintain a healthy weight. It makes sense. 

 

"we all have a love affair with food"

 

You can check out my full collection of photos on my Food & Drink page. I am working on putting recipes to all of the photos. My 5 month old isn't interested in my recipes right now. So it'll take time. In the meantime, use them as inspiration to create your own healthy dish. Remember to have fun cooking! Experiment and play. Cooking is art and the expression of your soul through food. Whether you like to create or simply take part in the delicious creation someone else has made, we all have a love affair with food. We all associate memories and experiences with different events that revolved around food. Get the kids involved! It is a beautiful thing when a child is helping in the kitchen. I let my son help me cook and bake all the time and he really really loves it. Letting little ones help in the kitchen allows them to be creative and understand the process of making something with your own hands and then enjoying the fruit of their labor. It's teaching our little girls to be confident in their skills and they will take that with them to being a wonderful wife. I love cooking for my husband. I know he loves it. We are teaching our boys to be confident cooks as well, but also independent and a great husband. It's nice to know if I had a long day and don't feel like cooking every now and then that he can hold his own in the kitchen. So get cooking and enjoy the journey in the kitchen!

 

 

 

Tequila & Lime marinated Shrimp Tacos

 

 

My attempt at Chuy's Salsa Fresca

It came out REAL good! I think I may have liked mine better!!!

 

 

Giant Lump Crab Cakes

 

 

Shrimp Salad

I love making bowls. Rice, beans, cheese, veggies and sometimes a protein like shrimp or chicken. This shrimp salad bowl is so yummy. I use whole grain rice, black beans, pico de gallo, avocados, shrimp and sprinkle with a little cheese. Squeeze a little lime juice over the top. Enjoy!  I use very little fats and they are good fats. I sautee' my shrimp in extra virgin olive oil (coconut oil is a great alternative.) This reminds me of an Island dish. I love Island foods. I could probably survive off of fruits, veggies and fish.

 

 

Texas Teas at Chuy's

I love Chuy's. You may have never been there before. But let me tell you.... One, they make one of then best Texas teas that I have ever had and Two, they make some amazing salsa fresca and this delicious little concoction they came up with call "creamy jalapeno." Mmm, so good!

If you ever find yourself in San Antonio, you should stop by a Chuy's and enjoy some of their out of this world Tex-Mex dishes and taste bud tantalizing Texas Teas. You won't regret it. Spicy!!! 

 

 

A good hostess provides a collection of mixers and liquors!

Getting ready for the New Years Eve Party. I like to get at least a small to medium sized bottle of 4 to 5 liquors and at least 4 to 5 mixers as well. It is also a good idea to get a few citrus' together. Some lemons, limes and maybe oranges or pineapples for garnish too. It's always nice to have options.

 

 

This is what 21 well spent dollars at the produce market looks like. I love that I live in walking distance of the market. I put the baby in the stroller and we take a little walk. I will say that it makes it much easier to eat healthy and eat veggies when there is a convenient way to get them. A good reason to start a garden.

 

 

Banana Blueberry & Strawberry smoothies to start off the day. I love making smoothies. It is a great way to get a lot of fruits in at once if you have a hard time eating fruits. Use some sugar free natural apple juice or orange juice instead of milk. Other healthy options for smoothies include any other fruits, yogurt, honey, flax seed and kale. Their are smoothie combinations than I could even name. Have fun playing and experimenting until you find your favorite. Who knows you could come up with some amazing flavors.  

 

 

"Enjoy the Journey in the kitchen"