Author: Aynaria

Yesterday, I made oatmeal for breakfast. It was simple, delicious and of course… nutritious.

In our house, we use oat groats or extra thick rolled oats. Yesterday, we used the extra thick oats. We love the chewy texture and the natural sweetness of the added strawberries and blueberries just heightened the experience. In addition to the fruit, I also added cinnamon, crushed walnuts, and cashews.

This year, this book turns 30 years old. (It still smells faintly of Nag Champa incense.) I met the author, in 1997, at a local New Age store, which is also where I purchased the book. That year also began my journey into aromatherapy, becoming a certified aromatherapist (a course taken at the same store) and creating many essential oils blends/formulas.

Herbs (seemingly) has always been part of my life. My mom would plant herbs in her garden and ‘wild harvest’ them also. Planetary Herbology is a book I still flip through. I consider it my herb bible. Because of this book, I was able to answer many of the “whys” I had about various herbs. I’ve never been one to take someone’s word. Even if I respect you, I’ll research. This book helped answer a lot of questions. Several herb books (and numerous herb-related classes later) and I’m still learning and blown away by all the natural remedies God has given us.

Of course, I’ve been able to incorporate numerous herbs into my daily lifestyle. Many are used in meal preparations and teas. I’m not trying to eliminate a health-related issue. I’m just being proactive, but if the need arises… I (usually) have an herb/spice that effectively eliminates the ailment.

I make my own teas, tinctures, salves, and toothpaste using herbs, spices, and essential oils. Also, I’m teaching my daughter what to use. Just as with my mom, a lot comes naturally since she’s observed it effectively used to combat various ailments (cold, flu, headaches, nausea, earaches, cramps) over the years, but… we’re taking it to the next level. I must say that it is fun sharing my experiences with her. It’s something that’s been part of my daily life for such a long time.

I flipped open my book and it landed on… Mandrake!

I remember the name from one of the Harry Potter movies. When I saw the movie, I had to chuckle since I was thinking of Mandrake root. It’s great for the liver and colon an has been used (effectively) with some types of liver disease. No… that wasn’t the same herb mentioned in the movie.

Last evening, I finally got around to making a salad.

The beauty of this quick meal is that it can be eaten plain or you can create a sandwich, see! My daughter and I opted for a sandwich.

What’s in it? Cucumbers, kale, yellow onion, red bell peppers, and hummus. The hummus was made by me a few days ago and it’s the creamiest one I’ve made… yet. The hummus had black beans, red beans, sweet potato, garlic, turmeric, and lime.

I don’t eat too much bread (neither does my daughter) but when I do, I typically reach for a sprouted grain bread. Yesterday, was the first time I tried this type of bread and I must say that I’m really enjoying the chewy texture.

I purchased the bread from MOM’s organic market. This is a store that I’ve been wanting to check out since my VeganMomma (website) days, so that’s was well over nine years ago. That store was over an hour away. I never got around to visiting that location. Well, a few years ago, they opened up a store that is about 15 minutes away from our home., which is close to where my daughter has her homeschool co-op, so I figured… why not? After her class was over, we finally stopped by and we both loved it a lot. I purchased a few items, like their rice, extra thick rolled oats, ginger beer, coconut sugar and two tomatoes. Perhaps I should write a post about what I bought or even better when I go back to the store… take pictures. The employees at MOM’s organic located in Nottingham, MD,  are super friendly and I’ll definitely be going back there.

Currently, I’m sipping on rooibos tea. I purchase my spices/herbs in bulk (typically whole) to my rooibos, I’ve added milk thistle and black cumin seeds.

Isn’t my silicone tea infuser adorable? I purchased it from Amazon. Yes, that’s an affiliate link.

Here’s a picture of one of my cabinets. The other cabinets look a lot like this. We mainly eat whole foods, so processed food is almost non-existant.

Earlier today, I made Teff for my daughter and myself.

Teff originated in Ethiopia and is a tiny seed that you can cook and eat like a porridge. I’ve seen it made in numerous other ways such as cookies, crackers and also in combination with meats and vegetables. To this dish, I added a chopped banana, blueberries, and I crushed up some walnuts. In addition, I ground cardamom, fennel seeds (from our garden), and cinnamon.  The results? My daughter really enjoyed this dish. The sweetness was provided by the fruits that were added to the dish and of course the freshly ground spices.

Teff is loaded with health benefits a few of them is that it is a great source of iron, calcium and it can help keep our bowels regular.

Two days ago, my daughter prepared a delightful Mexican meal. What did she make?

Butternut squash & garbanzo bean enchiladas. She made the majority of leftovers. Tuesday, I’d made a butternut squash curry and so my daughter used that as her base. Monday, she used the garbanzo bean chili I made to add to the dish. With that covered, the only thing left for her to prepare was the sauce. Into her sauce, she had tomatoes, freshly crushed garlic, ground sage, freshly ground cumin and a variety of other spices, herbs, and vegetables. She let that simmer for a few hours and then she used pita whole wheat wrappers to create her enchiladas. Since she added cheese, these aren’t vegan, but you can easily nix the cheese to make them vegan.

What was the outcome of her vegetarian enchiladas? She really loved how they turned out and she made enough to put the bulk in our deep freezer. Later today, I believe we’re making black-eyed pea vegan burgers. Yum! 🙂