A Momma's Love

Who do you draw strength from in your time of need?  Just like this cucumber reached out to anchor itself to the tomato cage near it as it grows, we need to anchor ourselves as well.  Psalm 25:5 says "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Hebrews 6:19 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. " God is my anchor when I feel weak.  HE is who I reach out to for comfort, peace, hope and more.  Hr is who I call out to, and who I sing to in my joy.  Who do you call out to? Who or what are you anchored to?  Take some time to reflect on this today and see if you need a new anchor in your life.

Last year we started a dream at work.  To plant a garden and teach the kids about healthy food and where it comes from.  It was a intense but fun project.  We learned a lot. One of the things we learned was that we needed more room.  So this year we pretty much tripled our school garden if not more.  We divided it into two categories: edibles for humans and butterfly friendly.  Today was planting day.  My class was in charge of tomatos, green peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and watermelon.  Each class has their own section to plant.  We will all take turns watering and helping with taking care of the garden.  The kids were thrilled to help.  Anything to play in the dirt!  I am thankful for their help, but man did they just want to dig.  Now to keep them out of the dirt so they don't dig up the plants.  I think once they see plants growing the fascination may wane a little bit.  I know they will love to help w...

Well, it's Monday again.  What did your weekend bring?  Good choices or not so good choices?  I tried to make good choices.  I followed my workout schedule.  I didn't drink alcohol.  I had limited soda and lots of water.  I even tried making a new recipe!  However, some choices were not so good....I finished off the bag of m&ms by myself even though it said shareable size.  I also ate a few more pieces of cake than I should have.  Am I gonna look back and say it was a bad weekend?  No!  I am going to choose to look at the positives.  I got to enjoy time with my grandson and my family.  I enjoyed a time of worship and a powerful message on spiritual warfare.  I visited with my 94 year old grandmother.  I worked in the garden.  God watered myflowers, trees and veggie plants. Today's verse is from Proverbs 17:22..." A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." How is ...

I have today off from school!  So what am I going to do with this free time?  Make soup!  One of the best things about eating a vegetarian plant based lifestyle is experiencing new foods!  I have noticed food tastes, smells and looks so much better since making the change over.  Hard to believe it's been almost a year! Today I am making what I call my clean out the fridge soup.  For my base I will use tomato juice.  Then I add whatever fresh veggies I have on hand...this time it was califlower, carrots and cucumber.  Next up protein...I had frozen black beans and a can of garbanzo beans.  Top off with a handful of rinsed quinoa and set on low.  I normally make this before going to work and leave on low all day, then I can just scoop and serve when I get home.  However today, I will be able to enjoy the smells of a homemade dinner while it simmers!!!

Sunday so soon?  Wow where did the time go? This week was a busy one for me.  Three snow storms, a pedicure, school closures and my daughters baby shower.  Today is for me.  So what did I do?  First I napped.  Then, I got to work in the kitchen! First up,  juice.  Broke out the juicer and cleaned out the fridge.  Cucumber, celery, spinach, carrot, pear and green apple.  Should be a great pick me up for one morning this week! Next, I prepped fruit for the week.  Had some mangos and pineapple to cut up.  Hubby is bringing home strawberries later tonite.  All cut up and into single serve, easy to grab containers.  Love fresh fruit for snack.  It has quickly become my mindless eating go to.  Not being a raw veggie fan, it's better for me than junk food. Last up....dinner.  Tonite I chose a new recipe.  BBQ sweet potato  sandwhich!  Not something I would have come up with on my own.  ...

Anyone else miss the crunch of a potato chip?  I love potato chips but don't like the unhealthy version. So I am on a quest to replace my chips with a healthier version.  Tonite I tried to make some out of sweet potatos.  No oil, baked not fried.  It's gonna take some tweaking if I am making them for more than just me.  Ok, I burned most of them.  However, some survived and I had them for a snack.  Here is the recipe: 1 scrubbed and washed sweet potato. Salt Pepper Water Slice the sweet potato thin (I used a mandolin ) Put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with water Salt and pepper to taste Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes After 20 minutes, check them and flip them Bake 20 more minutes.  Watch them! Cool and store in air tight container If you have any leftover.

When I was growing up, potato soup was one of my favorite soups my mom would make.  So naturally it is one of the soups I make for my own family.  Ok so I try.  I never mastered her way of making soup. Her recipe had too many steps for me and my busy lifestyle. So over the years I have made a couple of different recipes for potato soup. Some my family enjoyed, some they tolerated, some they refused.  I finally discovered one that I could make that fit all the needs : like moms, easy and family approved.  Here is the recipe I use: 5 pounds of russet potatos cut into chunks (unpeeled) 1 medium yellow or white onion 10 cloves of minced garlic 64 ounces of veggie broth 16 ounces of cream cheese softened Place all but cream cheese into crockpot and cook til potatos are tender.  Approx 8 to 10 hours on low Then add cream cheese and use immersion blender to incorporate the cheese and make the soup creamy.  You can leave some chunks.  I normally...