Yummy Quote

"Just as little as seed forces teach the plant how to grow, but rather appear as living beings within it, so our ideas don't teach: they pour themselves, igniting life -giving life- into our being. Everything that makes life seem meaningful to me I owe to the thoughts that have become available to me. I owe to them not only the courage but the insight and the strength that let me hope to make my children into people who are not only industrious and fit for outward life in the usual sense but who will carry inner peace and satisfaction in their souls."

The Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker

By Manfred Schmidt-Brabant, Carol Brousseau

Quoting Rudolf Steiner, The Portal of Initiation

Raw Food Classes

A big hello to all the amazing raw foodies that went to Melissa's class!
Isn't she awesome?! I hope you enjoy the cookies! (I'll have that recipe in my upcoming cookbook). For those of you who missed that class, check out rawmelissa.com for some more rawsome goodness coming up! Speaking of great raw food classes... I will be teaching again soon. I'm finishing up my raw foods cookbook this spring and will have that for sale online hopefully by May/June.
My son and I were talking about raw foods and dealing with being a vegan with well meaning friends who wonder why he doesn't eat meat, and he decided that he would like to teach a kids/teens class with me this summer! I'm SO excited. And so proud of him. He's making some really amazing choices at a young age.

The next class I will be teaching is with a longtime friend, Amy Jones. http://thebirthsource.org/
on May 2. To sign up for this or any of Amy's classes, visit http://woweducation.homestead.com/testimonials.html
I'll have a few copies of my cookbook for sale there as well!

Natural Remedies for Pregnancy & Postpartum Safe, Effective, Time Tested Strategies

Pregnancy and having a baby....what a magical time in a woman's life! But when you are plagued with discomforts or your baby isn't feeling well, 1 month can feel like 1 year. This class will address all your questions regarding curbing everything from morning sickness and anemia to recovery strategies to colic and postpartum depression and everything in between. Come learn the tips and tricks of midwives around the world. Herbs, essential oils, homeopathy, nutrition and more will be discussed. Taught by Julia Holt, mother of 7 and Amy Jones, mother of 5. Both are doulas, childbirth educators, apprenticing herbalists and midwives with a combined total of over 22 years of professional experience and knowledge. Where & When Paradigm High School Sat., May 2 11 AM- 1 PM

You Are What You Love

My kids.
My music.
My bedsheets.
My food.
My oils.
My herbs.
Rainy days.
Talking with a friend.
My bird.
My daughter's crazy cat.
A good book.
A hot cup of tea.
A hot bath.
Good lovin'.
Snuggling.
A funny movie.
Crazy hair.
Chocolate.
My family.
My garden.
Spring.

What do you love?

Prepare

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing;
and establish a house, even a house of prayer,
a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning,
a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

That your incoming may be in the name of the Lord;
that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord;
that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord,
with uplifted hands unto the Most High.

So... every New Year's I pick a word that will shape my focus for the year. It totally works.
Last year I picked "Gratitude", and had many wonderful experiences that taught me the depth of being thankful. There is something about asking for and creating focus on what I want in my life!
This year I chose "Be Prepared". Wow. I believe the minute I picked that, I have been haunted by the dusty shelves in my food storage, the state of my garden, and whether or not I have enough water saved up. Oh! And how are my 72 hour kits?? Do we have an emergency plan in case of a fire? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, but have taken the counsel to take it on a little at a time.

Now I have fun picking out just one or two extra items when I grocery shop. I scheme over what meals my family would like to eat in case of an emergency. I have fun dreaming of roughing it with my family... hanging out fresh laundry out in the sun to dry, fresh bread made from freshly ground wheat flour baking in my adobe wood fired oven that I lovingly crafted in my back yard... and then I snap out of my romantic day dreams and am thankful for my washer and dryer, not to mention my computer... and Google... and eMail!! *kisses keyboard*

A funny thing has happened since January 1. I find that not only am I looking at how I can tighten up the ship, I have begun preparing myself spiritually. I gave up some intense pastimes that I thought I couldn't live without, but were taking time out of my family and me time. I have begun reading books again... by the boat-loads!! I love reading and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.
I suppose what I have learned so far, is preparing is more about a state of mind and heart than it is about how much foodstuff I have tucked under the stairs. Not that that's not important, but that mindset has helped me not freak out that I don't have two years of food storage nestled away right this second. It will happen a little at a time. I'll get there.



For a little food storage fun:
http://www.shelfreliance.com/
http://mormonmommyblogs.blogspot.com/2009/04/righteous-giveaway.html

Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum (A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants)

I love words. Especially ones that are fun to say.
Sometimes words hit me strange and wonder where we got such a funny word.
I love how they are put together and sometimes even feel like music.
Ever read Jane Austin and wish you could talk like that? I do. Often.
In a brave new world of texting, IM-ing, psting, twittering, even blogging... I often wonder at the flexibility of words. The English language IS a toy.
Oh, how I love playtime!

For a lil' daily fun:
www.wordsmith.org

Language is the archives of history. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

What happens in Vegas...

I just got back from Las Vegas. It's not what you think.
There were no slot machines, strip clubs or buffets. Vegas has a different meaning to me. Its where I learned to bloom in the desert.
My beautiful friends are there. You know... those friends who make you want to be something greater than you are?
Yes. I learned a great deal about myself and who I want to be, in the desert.
My family is there. How I miss them. My brother and his family. My son.
Now when things get a bit too hot, I remember my roots that are firmly planted in hard packed soil.

What's In That?

About the time I had my 4th child, I noticed that not only was my backside not bouncing back into shape as easily as it used to, but my body was freaking out over what I ate. I craved sugar and treats like mad! I found out that I was suffering from food allergies caused by a systemic candida infection. I tried lots of different pills and powders, but nothing truly changed for me until I started looking at what I was eating.

Fast forward to my 7th kid, and I found raw foods. What a miracle. It seemed too simple to me after all the $$ and time spent trying to figure out how to beat my illness. The first day I made a soup of veggies in my blender and over the next 6 months proceeded to heal and loose 50 lbs on a diet of Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts and Seeds. Nice.

The hardest part of eating a diet made up of vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, was learning how to cook again. I mean really. The women in my family are born KNOWING how to make a nice roast and a peanut butter pie. Blindfolded. How the heck am I supposed to prepare a main dish out of JUST veggies? No pasta? No dairy? NO GODIVA CHOCOLATES?! Not that Godiva had any place in a main dish, well… at least not in front of company, but you can see where my mind is going with this.

I tackled this by getting loads of new cookbooks and dove in. I then started teaching my friends, and then the community. I love this way of life! My kids love it too. We have had to learn how to balance out and not be freaky about it. (Such as, “OH NO! I consumed a french fry! My whole diet is blown and I need to juice fast for three days!) I have learned that my body does well on a 80% 20% raw to cooked food diet, and in the summer I can hold a 95% raw food diet comfortably. I even get Godiva once in a while.

Bonus? My kids are so much more aware of what they put in their bodies than I ever was at their age. They are healthy and strong. I have loads of energy, and find that I function better on so many levels.

Two years ago, I met a lovely woman and we opened a raw kitchen together. She makes the most WONDERFUL deserts, and I made entrees. I have since moved on to just teaching raw food classes locally and she makes both. www.rawmelissa.com

I think the thing I love the most about making raw foods, is how I feel when I am touching the food. Its alive. It holds it’s energy as it transforms into edible art. Its pure edible love.

I’m now in the process of putting together a raw foods cookbook with my kids and am learning more about essential oils and how to use them in my cooking.

Mmmm… essential oils. Now there’s a whole nutha’ subject that I could go off on.
They are amazing. And then put them in food?? Wowzers. I even make my own chocolate with them.

Mint Chocolate Cups for example… holy smokes. Or fruit dipped in Raw Chocolate Sauce. Yummy. I love being raw. I still eat a few cooked things. I just love food too much. Just admitting that feels almost sinful! Then I laugh at myself for feeling that way, and just feel the love.

Mint Chocolate Cups

1/4 cup nut butter

1/2 cup agave (or to taste)

1/2 cup melted coconut butter

1/2 cup raw ch0colate powder

1-2 drops DoTerra Peppermint essential oil

Blend until smooth and freeze in little paper cups. Eat. Melt into a chocolate bliss goo.

Chocolate Sauce with Fresh Fruit

½ C agave
½ C cocoa powder

Whisk together until smooth and use as a dip for fresh fruits. The best fruits for this are strawberries, pineapples, grapes, kiwi and especially bananas.

Animaniacs-Be Careful What You Eat

www.rawfoods.com for more information, support, and recipes