Whole Living on a Budget
Resources for a more natural, balanced, and sustainable life.Archive for April, 2007
From "Aroused Passion" by Rumi
Seasonal Recipe: Sauteed Kale
I will be featuring some of my favorite healthy and seasonal recipes each week. Eating in season from locally produced ingredients is one of the best things you can do for yourself and the Earth. If you buy from a farmer’s market or CSA (more to come on these options!), not only will you be getting the freshest food with higher nutritional value at it’s peak of ripeness, your purchases will be supporting local family farms and using less resources. Of course, the best (and cheapest) bet is to grow your own in your backyard!
Here is this week’s recipe:
12 oz of kale, cut or torn into smaller pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1/8 tsp pepper
Rinse the kale under cold running water and drain well. Minced the garlic cloves. Set aside.
In a small skillet heat 2 tsp of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add bread crumbs and cook an additional 1-2 minutes or until browned. Season with pepper. Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the kale, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Cook an additonal minute uncovered, stirring, until just wilted. Immediately transfer the kale to a serving dish and sprinkle with vinegar or lemon juice, bread crumbs and garlic. Makes 4 servings.
Change Your World
“The thoughts and emotions that you cultivate now will determine what you experience and how you’ll feel in the future. Each moment in which you take control of your own mind and develop it in positive directions has incredible power. By changing your own thoughts and emotions, you literally can change your world.”
-Lorne Ladner, The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology
Don’t Forget Your Daily Dose of OMMMMM
Spring has completely arrived, and I’m actually getting movitivated again to do everything that I put aside during the depressing months of Winter. And it appears that my plate is really full. I have a baby due for a homebirth in 38 days, a full time job to maintain until the end of May, a Massage Therapy internship to complete, and several part-time income ventures to fully develop. Not to mention a home to continually maintain and an extremely small budget to stick to. My to do-list is so long I really have no idea where to start most days. So I usually just float around it on whims, doing whatever seems interesting or easily do-able at the time. This may work for a while, but eventually I’m going to find myself with many important things undone. My problem (and the problem of many other people) is lack of vision and priorities. What is most important? In six months, what will I be regretting? Isn’t a messy house for a while better than not being fully prepared to breastfeed my newborn?
How do I really find the clarity and wisdom to make the best decisions when looking at my to-do list? Meditation. Of course! Emptying the mind of worldiness and quieting the soul so it can really lead me to the best actions. But I’ve known this for years. But somehow, the single item that should be at the very top of my to-do list everyday is the one that doesn’t even have a spot as of now. It’s funny how our subconsious helps us avoid the things we need most in our life. But the truth is, if I’m ever going to find real peace with how I live (and with my to-do list), I have to meditate in some way on a regular basis. Until I’m doing that, everything else I spend my life energy on is going to be less productive, less efficient, and maybe even the totally wrong thing to do at all.
