I really liked Lori Goodwin’s video and her positive upbeat personality (along with her knowledge about a variety of topics that interest me) had me watching more on enemas that she uses at home and her clinic. She also talks about other natural healing topics.
I liked the name of her site I Keep Smiling, what a positive statement, right? I could identify with this message, since I always smile too. It sure beats frowning. The positive message reminds me of my own sites name, Celebrate Life.
4 qt. enema bag
But back to garlic enemas…
I remember specifically searching for information about garlic enemas since I know the amazing benefits it has; antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal… knowing the positive effects I’ve had consuming it raw, I was curious to see what people’s experiences with garlic enemas. I use a 4qt. enema bag, it looks a lot like the one featured above, except mine is blue and it also has a metal hook (instead of plastic) to hang the bag.
I get a bit graphic about the effects of the enema after the break, so only click on Get the Whole Story, if you want to read about that.
The first time I heard Cat’s in the Cradle, I was in my late teens or early twenties, and although it would be many years before I had a child of my own I made a mental note to pay attention to the message within the lyrics.
It’s important to make time for those you care about… Now as a mom, I can proudly say that I do make time for my daughter but if you think about it, this isn’t just a message for parents. This message can be applied to everyone who has loved ones. Quit taking them for granted. Tell them how important they are, and quit putting off spending time with them. Make the effort and just make that time!
It wasn’t until years later that I learned that Harry Chapin died in a car accident on July 16, 1981. I must say that I hoped that his song was purely a reminder of what would happen if he didn’t spend time with his own children. I do find it interesting that most of the musicians that I would love to see in concert; Harry Chapin, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Eubie Blake, etc., are no longer with us.
This weekend, my daughter wants to go to the mall. Can I just say I dislike malls… but since it’s something she likes I’ll take her and enjoy the time that we spend… together. 🙂
Early this morning I made a spicy broccoli dish. As with many of my dishes, they start out as one thing but turn into something else.
This was a dish that was just going to be stir fry broccoli, but as I was adding the ingredients together, I thought it might be nice to add a roux. The broccoli didn’t come from our garden, it was fairly fresh since I purchased them from our local produce store.
After the roux was thoroughly blended I added it to the skillet. It smelled lovely and tasted even better. I had a small portion. But, even though I liked it, I thought it would be much better if I introduced something sweet. Perhaps I’ll add a bit of sweet potato and some pineapple juice to the sauce to pair with the spiciness?
I had no time to do that this morning, but it’s an easy fix that I”ll take care of sometime this afternoon.
This meal is perfect served alone, or perhaps with a side order of brown rice or served over zucchini pasta!
Bonding with Oreo, our sweet Netherland dwarf rabbit…
Holding Oreo, our Netherland dwarf rabbit.
Yesterday, my daughter took a picture of me holding Oreo, our Netherland dwarf rabbit. I was a bit chilly, so I put on some warm flannels pajamas. They’re so comfortable! After Oreo had finished hopping around for a bit I picked her up for some cuddle time.
Oreo really loves to snuggle now, but she wasn’t always that way. Since adopting her from the Humane Society of Harford County, Oreo is gradually coming out of her shell. After Oreo’s tired of playing, she let’s my daughter and me hold her for long periods without trying to break free.
I don’t think she received a lot of attention at her old home, but she’s getting plenty of attention now! She still calmly sits in her home when we can’t watch her, but she quietly comes to greet us when we open her cage for play time.
Tok, tok, tok, was the steady rhythmic sound you could hear as stone clashed against stone…
Grinding garlic and ginger in my granite mortar and pestle
The mortar and pestle did an excellent job of turning the trapped cubes of garlic and ginger into a smooth aromatic paste.
It didn’t stop there, I scooped out the fragrant paste, rinsed and dried the heavy granite mortar bowl and filled it with dry ingredients. Once again, I vigorously pounded everything within my granite mortar and pestle. Our kitchen was filled with the heady aroma of spices and herbs as their oils were slowly released…
Preparing the dough for our samosa’s
I find preparing meals to be quite therapeutic, which might explain why we rarely go out to eat. I’ve been to many fine restaurants, but I find that I can replicate (and in many cases surpass) what I’ve had in those ritzy eating establishments.
The beauty of preparing meals at home, I control what goes into the food. Additionally I keep a clean kitchen, wash properly, so am not thinking, I hope this place is clean. Also making my own food gives me a chance to do something I truly enjoy, getting creative in the kitchen.
On the menu was samosa’s, during the day (while going about my a work activities) I spent some time thinking about what types of samosas I wanted to prepare. I finally settled on two versions; spicy potato samosa and beef samosa; vegan and non-vegan.
Samosa dough ready to be flattened
The dough was made with flour, water, oil and freshly ground cumin & sea salt.
Flattening the samosa’s with my favorite rolling pin
These were quickly and efficiently flattened out with my trusty rolling pin. This rolling pin is older than myself and was actually my aunts rolling pin. She’s the one that passed away from a brain tumor. I’ve had this pin for years and it’s my all time favorite.
Stuffed samosa ready to be covered then put into the oven for baking
The time flew by while preparing these samosas and it usually does since I have awesome company, my daughter.
I could have fried these samosas, but I didn’t since I’m not a fan of fried food. These were baked in the oven. Their aroma filled the room and much before they were ready, my daughter was clamoring for a samosa to sample. Soon, soon… I told her. Was it worth the wait? I’d like to think so, my daughter demolished two.. she ate the spicy potato samosa first and then moved onto the beef samosa. She said they both were good!
I can’t speak for the beef samosa’s but I do know my potato samosa was extremely flavorful. Because of the flour content, I rarely eat flour based products, but sometimes, I make an exception. 😉
I finally honored my daughter’s request and let Gracie hang out with Angel, our teddy bear guinea pig. I couldn’t let them do this immediately after the surgery since Angel was trying to ‘groom Gracie’s stitches’.
Angel and Gracie get along so well together and were very happy to be reunited today. Upon seeing one another, the first few moments were spent grooming each other. In this picture, Gracie is grooming Angel’s ear.
This past weekend my ten year old daughter and I had a lot of fun creating delicious meals within our kitchen.
A few days before, I’d told her stories about how my mother (her grandmother) had my brother and me help her make sausage and stuff the sausage casings. Initially it was fun, but after a few hours of stuffing sausage we had enough. 😉
My daughter was so fascinated with my sausage making stories, that I told her we could make some so she could sample. I’ve made it before, but I didn’t tell her it was homemade. Saturday morning, we didn’t have too much planned so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce her to the awesomeness of homemade sausage.
My daughter loves helping in the kitchen and it’s yet another way we spend hanging out together. We truly enjoy each others company.
I gave her the task of grinding up herbs and spices; sage fresh from the garden, sea salt, peppercorns and habanero pepper. These were all added to our granite mortar and she dutifully ground everything into a fine powder using the pestle.
Tok, tok tok… is the sound the pestle makes as it grinds the ingredients within the mortar. We like that sound.
My daughter cooking the homemade sausage
Once everything had been ground… I had her mix the freshly ground spices/herbs with ground pork. To truly make everything homemade, we’d have ground the pork too. But that would mean I’d have to pull out the manual meat grinder and I’d have had to purchase regular pork. We used pre-ground pork but perhaps next time I’ll show her how to manually grind pork?
Now that the sausage prep was complete, the only thing left was to cook the sausage! I had her prepare them, while I made pesto.
My daughter loved the homemade sausage and declared that she doesn’t want to eat store purchased sausage again. She said, “Mommy, the store bought sausage doesn’t taste as great as what we make at home!”
I have made homemade sausage before and it’s never lasted long! Perhaps the next time we prepare sausage, I’ll purchase sausage casings so we can stuff the sausage.
Freshly made pesto
I’m guessing my photo of pesto should have had it’s own post. There were so many herbs/spices that went into this dish. The aroma filled the room while I crushed the dry herbs and spices together. Once all the dry ingredients were ground into a fine powder. I added the ‘wet ingredients’ to the mortar, and my pestle went to work again. The pesto was used as a topping for zucchini pasta and it was delicious!
