for real?

Great article on small-scale farming.

Fall Pumpkin Salad

1 sugar pumpkin
2 pears
2 cups quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
5 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon
apple cider vinegar
olive oil
salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp honey
6 ounces feta

1. Peel and cube pumpkin. Clean and roast seeds.
2. Toss pumpkin in 1 T olive oil and 1 tsp. cinnamon and put on baking sheet.
3. Separate 5 medium garlic cloves, do not peel. Toss in olive oil and place in one corner of baking sheet.
4. Roast at 375 about 20 minutes for garlic and 30 for pumpkin.
5. Cut up pears into bite-sized pieces.
6. In nice serving bowl stir together quinoa, pear, pumpkin and walnuts.
7. In small mixing bowl squeeze out garlic.
8. Juice half lemon.
9. Add honey, whisk together.
10. Drizzle in about 3 T vinegar, whisk.
11. While whisking pour in about 1/3 cup olive oil.
12. Season with pinch of salt and taste.
13. If too vinegary add a touch more olive oil, balance for desired flavor.
14. Pour over quinoa and mix to combine.
15. Crumble feta on top.
16. Serve warm or cold.

So up to now I have pretty much ignored my writing life with this blog. It's a shame, really, because writing is what I spend most of my time thinking about. As of now this space will be for my writing experiences as I try to finish my first YA novel. Today I am in a resting place with the story. I've been taking a break for the last several days to let it all sort of relax. I'm currently a bit over half way done with the very first draft (and let me tell you it's rough). It's only about half the number of words it will eventually be, but I'm ok with that. I'm a big picture kind of girl. I need to see it all out on the page before I can go back and add description and setting and sub-plots. I am an outliner and that's ok.
Over the next few days I will post some of my favorite go-to blogs about writing and children's books. As well as write about my favorite new software. So, get ready!

A sobering look at mental illness in juvenile detention centers. What about the grandmother afraid to be identified because of stigma? The same situation is happening in adult prisons too. And these kids will reach 18 and most likely end up in the adult prisons.

As an introvert I find this amazing. I claim my rights.

THE SVP OFFICIAL INTROVERT'S

I recently tasted my Aunt's version of my Great Grandmother Jesse's banana muffins. It was a revolution. Never had I tasted such a delicate, moist and flavorful muffin. (I'm not exaggerating.) I promptly got the recipe and the next day made my own version. I substituted for the sugar and switched out flours. I also changed up the extra fruit and added nuts. They lost sweetness and a bit of moistness, but still are wonderful. Here's my new and healthier version:

GG Jesse's Banana Muffins

4 TBSP soft butter or Earth Balance
2 c flour (I used WW pastry)
1/2 c jaggery (can use sugar or try other sweeteners)
2 mashed ripe bananas
1 egg
6 TBSP buttermilk (what's the vegan replacement?)
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c oats
1/2 peach
1/4 c blueberries
1/4 c slivered almonds, toasted

- Using an old wooden spoon (makes it taste better) mash up the butter and sugar.
- Sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add in the egg and vanilla.
- Alternate between adding the flour, mixing lightly and the buttermilk until incorporated (should do in three turns)
- Fold in the oats, fruit and nuts.
- Spoon into 12 muffin cups
- Bake at 350 for 12 or so minutes.

Last night I grilled for the first time. I'm bro-in-law took care of the delicious mint-lamb burgers while I handled the veggies. We also grilled lovely corn on the cob. Here are the super easy recipes:
(Both compliments of Gardeners' Community Cookbook, with my changes of course)

Corn without the husks:
4 ears of corn, remove husks and silks
butter (I used a compound basil butter I kept in the fridge)
s & p
garlic powder
tinfoil

- Break the corn in half. Place 2 longwise inside a piece of tinfoil. (wastes less foil)
- Break up about 1 TBSP of butter for each packet and place around corn.
- Sprinkle on s & p and garlic powder.
- Roll up tight. Place on grill over med-hot coals and turn frequently. Should take about 12-15 minutes.

Grilled Veggies

marinade:
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger (I keep mine in freezer.) peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup bragg's aminos or soy sauce
2 TBSP sesame oil

- Mix all together in big ziploc.

veggies:
1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced in 1/4" rounds (could go up to 1/2")
2 medium zuchinni, sliced longwise 1/4"
2 bell peppers, sliced in big pieces

- Place all in ziploc and shake to coat.
- Place on grill one at a time and turn once grill marks are on.
- The eggplant will cook the quickest.
- Don't fret about the charring on the peppers as it easily comes off at the table.

And tonight I'll be chopping up the leftovers and making couscous. Yum!

Of all the food philosophies I've heard this one makes the absolute most sense.

This is a really interesting post about vitamin d and mental health. It is not totally out of the blue. Look at SAD or seasonal affective disorder. I experienced this significantly when living in Olympia, WA. I finally realized that I had to move back to sunnier climates or I would continue to be miserable.
Enjoy.

I know it's Sunday, but I've noticed other blogs that post five good things for the week on Fridays. I like that idea quite a lot.

1. Saw Star Trek last night. It is amazing and no I'm not a Star Trek fan, well I guess I am now. The best character is the Scottish actor who plays Scotty. Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead.

2. My niece turned two. Watching that child grow is one of the highlights of my life.

3. I went to BookPeople and managed to walk away with only a book for my niece. Her first cookbook. Next weekend we're going to make the pizza recipe. That brings me to #4:

4. Baking scones with my niece. Two year olds can help in the kitchen. Scones were perfect because the little hands can squish the butter into the flour, stir int he milk and even brush the milk onto the scones. She did some rolling with her kid-size rolling pin and sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar. They were the most delicious scones I've ever made.

5. And finally I'm reading a great book about zen. It's called Hardcore Zen, written by Brad Warner, an ex-punk rocker turned monk. If you grew up in the 70'8 and/or 80's it's the perfect book to being learning about zen buddhism. Easy to read with great music references.

Whew, that was easy. And, this practice may very well help me pay better attention to little joyful things in my life.

I finished Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher a few days ago. I haven't written yet about it because I can't figure out how I feel. Here's the synopsis from amazon:
When Clay Jenson plays the casette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide. Clay spends the rest of the day and long into the night listening to Hannah's voice and going to the locations she wants him to visit. The text alternates, sometimes quickly, between Hannah's voice (italicized) and Clay's thoughts as he listens to her words, which illuminate betrayals and secrets that demonstrate the consequences of even small actions. Hannah, herself, is not free from guilt, her own inaction having played a part in an accidental auto death and a rape. The message about how we treat one another, although sometimes heavy, makes for compelling reading. Give this to fans of Gail Giles psychological thrillers.

Well written: yes
Creative: yes
She is clearly a very depressed girl with few coping skills or anyone she trusts to really listen. Number 13 on the list should be shot. If he existed in real life and the tapes became public I would hope that he would lose his job and any credibility. To me, this book belongs up there with Speak (one of the most important young adult books of the last 10 years). This book should be taught in schools if only as a way to begin real discussion. If you are a suicide survivor it will probably be painful to read. Read it anyway.

I would like to interview the author. I want to know why he wrote this book.

It's thundering! Oh! There it goes again. How I wish these days stuck around more.

This is insane. 70 years? How is it possible that such an invasive and serious "treatment" was administered for 70 years with no clinical trials?

Smoothies are one of my favorite pick me ups. People out there love to extol the benefits of greasy food after an evening of drinks, but seriously smoothies are way better. When you pee while you drink you are actually losing more nutrients than you normally do because alcohol flushes you out. Losing all those nutrients like potassium makes headaches and nausea among other ickiness. A nice fruit and protein powder smoothie gives it all back to your system quickly and yummily.

And where have I been?
I have been:
having successful surgery
applying to two great grad schools for mfa in children's writing programs
giving into temptation way too much at work
spending as much time as possible with my niece

Where have you been lately?

Check out this article about this link between creativity and mental illness.

1. My mini food processor is not powerful enough to turn tapioca pearls into flour.
2. When substituting liquid sweeteners for granulated ones reduce other liquid in recipe.
3. Tapioca pearls partly ground do not act like flour.
4. Adding flour that you just discovered you had after all after brownie-like substance has already been cooking for 20 minutes doesn't help.
5. Carob brownie sludge likes to stick to the pan.
6. I should buy ener-g egg replacer and stop wasting my delicious organic Central Market brand applesauce.
7. Why didn't my $30k patisserie education prepare me for alternative baking?
8. Number seven was not a lesson, but I like this numbering thing.
9. These mistakes are expensive.
10. I'm still craving carob brownies. No I'm still craving gooey, chocolatey brownies, but I can't have those so I'll crave carob ones instead.
11. Sigh.

Why is date sugar so hard to find int his town? With four seemingly good all-natural grocery stores you'd think one of them would sell it, but no. They've had 'a ton' of requests, but for some stupid reason this doesn't mean anything to them. Ugh! I suppose I'll add that to my list of food stuffs ordered over the internet. Anybody have a favorite website to buy natural food items like date sugar and coconut oil?

Sounds disgusting right? They are actually quite chewy and yummy. It's not my original recipe, but I did adapt it to get rid of brown sugar. Here's a link to the original recipe by Karina, the gluten free goddess, and below is my version. Enjoy!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy:

2/3 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 + 1/6 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave

In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients:

1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup vanilla rice protein powder
1 teaspoon xanthan/guar gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, beating to combine.

When the dough is smooth, add in the following, by hand, and mix well:

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup carob chips (raisins might be better. Ooh or even dried cranberries.)

Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to measure out the dough. They will spread so give them plenty of space.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for about 9 to 13 minutes, until they are golden. They will be quite soft until they cool.

I have a new love. Her name is Rebecca Wood. I found her sight when I was looking for almond butter recipes. The recipe list is small, but looks so yummy. I can't wait to make the honey fried pears.

I didn't cheat today. I thought about it, but I held off. I need help. I need recipes for baked goods that are gluten-free, vegan and sugar-free. It is a tall order, but I know good recipes are floating around out there. Please pass them along if you have any. I'm desperate.
I have noticed what difference protein makes. For lunch I had a salad and soup from last night. The only protein came from a 1/4 cup of kidney beans on my salad. After two hours I was starving and grumpy. All I could think about was chicken. I didn't realize how much my body relies on the protein from the dairy I normally eat with each meal.
I went shopping and bought some chicken thighs and organic turkey breast. I am also going to experiment with making almond butter. Buying it already pureed was twice as expensive as buying bulk almonds. I just put it in a blender and whir, right?
Oh, dear.

I've decided to just take the plunge. If I don't do it now when will I, right?
My day began with my smoothie. One scoop of this powder, a small banana, 1/4 cup of frozen pineapple, 6 oz. apple juice and a tsp. olive oil. The olive oil adds much needed fat I guess. It's pretty tasty. Really. To finish off breakfast I'll have one serving of Bare Naked granola with hemp milk.
I tried hemp milk yesterday for the first time. I was nervous, but it is delicious and now I'm convinced. I'm not a fan of soy milk. I don't like the taste and it makes me bloated, plus all that info about mimicking estrogen spooks me. Rice milk doesn't have enough nutritional value for me so (and this was before my acupuncture appointment) I decided to give hemp milk a chance. It's loaded with omega 3's, very helpful for mental health.

Snack: cinnamon Lara bar

Lunch: mixed greens salad with kidney beans, roasted red pepper, carrot & avocado

Dinner: Potato, carrot & pea soup with millet. Millet is quite easy and pretty good too, bland and fluffy.

For dessert I'm having almond sunset tea.
Not bad so far. Tomorrow I must go grocery shopping.

My acupuncturist talked about how it isn't easy to correct blood sugar when you are vegetarian. She talked about how our bodies need animal fat and protein to function properly. Lately I've been seeing articles about an ancestral diet. This is a diet mimicking what we as a species ate before industrialized agriculture. We mostly subsisted on what we could gather and hunt. It certainly correlates with eating locally and seasonally, but not with being a vegetarian.
I remember when I was in college the first time around. I was a vegetarian who was sick all the time. I know other factors were involved, but I remember quite well going home and eating meat that my Mother cooked. I always felt better. I felt stronger and healthier. I would return to school and go back to being a sickly vegetarian. As part of my elimination diet I will be eating meat, mostly chicken, but I'd like to try some locally raised lamb and even bison. If you've got good recipes for lamb or bison please pass them along.

My big sister, author of Yarn Unravelled, gave me a Kreative Blogger award. Here I go to try to pick my favorite blogs.

The rules are

1. copy the Kreativ Blogger award to your blog

2. put a link to the person from whom you received the award

3. nominate 8 other blogs

4. and link to them

5. then leave a message on the blogs you nominated

It's going to be hard to pick just 8 but I'm going to try. And if I've left you out it doesn't mean I don't love your blog too!

1. On Fiction
2. Writing Companion
3. Cabinet of Wonders
4. Mind Freedom
5. The Trouble With Spikol
6. Wellness Writer
7. Beyond Meds
8. This Mama's Dharma

I found this article today about a couple of disturbing bills in the Texas legislature. At the end of the article there are links of who to contact in case you want to help.