Author: Aynaria

Vegan: Chili and eggrolls

Aynaria 2 Comments

Yesterday, I made a big pot of vegan chili and some egg rolls.

The chili was about eight quarts. I made that amount purposely so there would be plenty of leftovers to freeze.

I made about 16 egg rolls and my daughter demolished at her mealtime. I’d say they were a hit. My 14-year-old daughter has been doing a lot of meal prep and cooking with me. I must say as much as I enjoy doing my own thing in the kitchen, I’m more than happy to share that role with my daughter. It’s another way to bond, and she’s learning a life-enhancing skill. Granted, she’s helped me in the kitchen for several years, but recently, she’s played a much more active role and I’m enjoying seeing her culinary skills shine.

Used cars: I always purchase used (reliable) cars

Aynaria 2 Comments

I must say that I was thrilled when I saw this used car commercial towards the end of last year.

The woman in the commercial and I have had two things in common. We both drive used cars and we listen to classical music while driving. Classical music is about all I listen to when I’m on the road. The station might change if my daughter (or her friends) are riding with me. If it’s just my daughter, she rarely switches the station since she loves classical music also. And despite the occasional videos I post (that are definitely not classical) I mainly listen to classical music. When I was a child, I played the piano from the age of eight up until I graduated high school (I still play). For several of those years, my piano teacher, Mrs. Townsley, would only allow me to play classical music.

By the way that used car sold for $20,000. 😉

Two week challenge for my daughter: Consuming whole foods only

Aynaria 2 Comments

I must say that I’m excited because my daughter is joining me on a tasty journey of only eating whole foods. I challenged her to two weeks. Granted, our daily eating habits do a good job reflecting this, however, for the next two weeks, it’s only going to be whole foods (straight from the natural source) so that means I will be eliminating any bread or pasta. Those two are something I don’t eat too much (perhaps once or twice monthly) but my daughter does eat them a bit more than myself (about five times weekly) but I know the amount she consumes is minimal compared to most.

Yesterday we made hummus and made a fruit pudding, that also included avocado (yes avocado is a fruit). Today, we’re making a vegetable stir-fry, smoothies and later it’ll be cabbage rolls stuffed with hummus. Yum. Last evening, I asked my daughter how she was feeling and her response was… happier. She went on to say that she typically feels fine, but she’s a bit more subdued. I asked her did she think her mood was related simply just eating whole foods but she was unsure. I’ll be curious to see if she notices any more differences later this week. What we drink hasn’t changed at all. We’re still consuming plenty of water, however, I have started making more tea. I purchase tea in bulk and to my last brew, I added cloves, allspice, and ginger.

I’m looking forward to hearing more of what she has to say about the experience. She’s keeping a journal and at the end of the two weeks, she’ll be writing a research paper about whole foods and processed foods.

Homeschool review and a long term (knitting) project

Aynaria 2 Comments

The first week in this month, my daughter had her homeschool review with our local public school system. For those that homeschool, they are reviewed by either their local jurisdiction or you can pay for use am umbrella program and get the review that way. For myself, it really made no sense going through an umbrella organization since I’m perfectly capable of going directly to the source. Also, it meant I could chat with my reviewer. My daughter accompanied me on the trip, and our review really enjoyed asking her questions. As well as she did in her local private school, I must say that she’s soaring even higher now. The reviewer loved how organized I was in displaying her work and she really loved seeing all the examples of her artwork, and how she logged her exercise and music (like a journal).

Here’s my long-term knitting project. I’m knitting a king-sized blanket. It’s made in Paton’s and Fishermans wool.

I can’t wait until this is complete. It will be extremely warm. Of course, it’s going to take a while to complete because of my arm/wrist issues, however, I’m fine with that.

Painting, vegan Indian food, dog treats and cold processed beer soap

Aynaria 3 Comments

Although we don’t really get into celebrating Christmas in our house, I must say we do enjoy spending quality time together. Yesterday was no different. My daughter and I enjoyed our time together.

She gave me a lovely picture that she’d created, which she’d titled, “Talking to the Moon,” and she spent most of the day hanging around me sketching and assisting with our luncheon meal.

She’d requested “some type of Indian dish,” and I made her… three! I haven’t made chapati (Indian flatbread) in a long time, and that’s the third dish I prepared. She loved everything and it was nice having her assist me with cooking. She normally does. To drink, we had hibiscus tea made from some of my hibiscus petals (which I purchase in bulk.)

Additionally, I made more homemade dog treats.

It’s the only type of treats that our two dogs eat and guess what, there are no fillers so each treat each chock full of muscle meat, bone, fish, greens and flax seeds. Our dogs love them and those I’ve given them to have told me that their dogs like them too.

I also made beer cold processed soap. The above is a picture of the soap after I poured it into its soap mold. Why beer? Adding beer to the ingredients supposedly produces a rich lather, and while I already achieve that from the various ingredients I use in the soap that I make, I’m always willing to experiment with “new to me” ingredients.

 

I’m hoping everyone is enjoying their day. I have one inspection scheduled for today and then it’s another day of creating. Today, my daughter wants to make an outfit for Bella. Uh oh! 😉

What’s in a name?

Aynaria 3 Comments

I’m still trying to narrow down a name for my new business. A few months ago, ok several months ago, I was going in a completely different direction than where I am now.

 


Yesterday, I received this book, in the mail. It’s a newly released book and is written by Benjamin D. Aaron., I follow him and his wife on Facebook. Obviously, they have skin care business and more importantly, they do a lot of outreach in third world countries. So they’re more than talk, they put their thoughts (for helping others) into action.

 

I believe that this evening, I’ll finally have a chance to start reading the book and while I typically start from the beginning and move to the end, I do believe I’ll jump around a bit. This isn’t a book about the soap making process, this is a book that tells you how to make wise business decisions. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot when I actively had a skin care business and even afterwards, but I’m always willing to learn more. I’ll be sure to write a review (most likely on Amazon) when I’m finished reading the book. Of course, I’ll write about it here, but I’ll be writing most of it on my soapmaking website. I’m hesitant to post the website here, since all signs point to the URL changing, so perhaps I’ll just wait until I narrow down the websites final name?

 

Our first Chanukah celebration

Aynaria 4 Comments

Next Monday, my daughter and I will be visiting an acquaintance house for their Chanukah celebration. I must say that this is a first time that my daughter has received such an invite. We met the family through my daughter’s local homeschool co-op. We had also been invited to the girls Bat Mitzvah (which happened earlier this month) however, we had already had plans for that day. I’ve always wanted to attend a bat mitzvah also.  According to Jennifer, the mom of my daughter’s classmate, the 18th is the best night (according to her) and so I’m thrilled that they’ve invited us to join them in their celebration. Looking over the Chanukah celebration, I find that each day one is supposed to read passages from the book of Numbers. I read my Holy Bible daily,  from cover to cover and additional readings on my own. In my cover to cover reading, I’m now in Numbers.

One of the many things that have always fascinated me about Jewish traditions, is the many different celebrations they have and how it’s tied to the Torah. In the “modernized version of Christianity” or I should say the ‘politically correct’ version (which I don’t ascribe too) the Holy Bible warns us about that and choosing man’s beliefs over him. I fear God more than anyone else and will not place anyone before him. But in our modern day Christianity it’s clear, many of the religious holidays aren’t even recognized. If you do want to learn about them, be prepared to do some research which I have done and we do recognize various Christian holidays (not the mainstream) in our home.