Ok, I admit I've been off of here for what seems like forever! Luckily, sticking to a do-only-what-you-need-to-do basis has finally pushed me on track school, fitness, and sort of nutrition wise, but, can you blame me? It's almost halloween! The candy's EVERYWHERE! I have to defend myself you know.
Last night I went for my first official jog, and at first I was despising my self for ever setting that alarm. (Will explain later.) After I pressed the play button on my ipod though and actually started to jog I remembered just why I had been so into jogging for about a year and a half in high school. I can't remember what stopped eventually stopped me but, goodness gracious, I am hella glad I started again. I covered a distance of about 1.5 miles walking and jogging, because, well, I'm not all bad-ass, just mostly bad-ass. Luckily just as I made it a few yards from the door I saw my dad who was walking our youngest dog Huck. We seamlessly traded off his leash just as I passed him, catching Huck by complete surprise! Poor guy, he kept looking back the whole way for Dad! When we got home he was so good and patiently sat while I got his pinch collar off but the second he was out of it he sprinted for the sliding glass door to make sure Dad was there. So cute. He's such an adorable little punk. <3 <3
Anyways, what finally got me on track is what gets me on track almost every semester except this semester I had to take it one step further. Normally I make a study and exercise schedule for everyday of the week and am pretty good at sticking to it, but this semester because of a larger work load I set an alarm to remind me of the beginning time for each activity. I felt kind of embarrassed about it at first and I admit that my id is still fighting with the idea of doing anything but sleep, eat, and be entertained, but my super-ego really gets an extra kick out of these alarms! :D If I don't meet an alarm or if I ignore an alarm I end up feeling entirely guilty, woo manipulation! As a result my exercise schedule has changed to better fit my actual schedule and budget.
To make my schedule work I have to wake up at 5 which I've succeeded at! A MAJOR feat for me. I had to kick myself in the ass to get there though. For some reason, despite that I know this about myself, I've been refusing to set the three alarms I know I need. You see, for me to actually develop a waking habit different from my normal one I need to set three alarms. For 5 o' clock I had to set my first alarm at 4 o' clock, because the first one is always the one I hate the most and is always the one I choose to ignore; my second alarm is set at 4:30 so that I don't get a chance to actually fall back asleep, after that alarm goes off I know I won't be able to fall asleep but I know I'm going to try anyways or I'm gonna lay in bed with the excuse that "my cat will get cold!" and accidentally doze off; the third alarm at 5 is my no-turning-back alarm, because there are no more alarms after that and I know if I accidentally fall asleep I'll be in BIG trouble.
At five I get out of bed and do pilates/ core strengthening exercises and sometimes I throw some upper body work outs and yoga in there as well. Every other evening I'm planning to jog what use to be my regular route, which I'm proud to say started yesterday. :)
For my foodie portion of this blog I'm gonna tell you about all the foods I've made this week! On saturday, or maybe it was friday... or sunday?? I think it was Sunday, I made spaghetti with ground turkey meat sauce and it was DELICIOUS! I normally don't like anything made with ground turkey but I suppose the up-side of cooking your own food is that you can make what you don't like taste the way you like. I'll get around to posting that recipe. I'm also hoping that my blogs will soon contain pictures! I just have to master food photography and we'll be in da' business. :) I started to make cinnamon sugar beignets on Saturday only to finish Sunday morning because of a wedding I went to that evening so maybe I'll share that recipe with you as well. Even more exciting than all of this is what I have going on tomorrow though! Halloween Party! Meaning Halloween themed food! I found a recipe for marbled bundt cake that employs all my favorite colours of Halloween, and am planning to make moist honey cupcakes or maybe sugar cookies as well because I really really really want to use my sprinkle stencils! >.< I'm also in charge of making spaghetti sauce for cheese and portobello mushrooms. Yummmm. Oh, and I almost forgot my most exciting inventions for tomorrow. I bought a very cheap drink dispenser from World Market which I'm planning to fill with cranberry juice and (drum roll please!) dry ice! <3 I'm so excited about how this will make the buffet table look! I was also thinking of buying some of their pop-top coloured glass bottles for the soda or whatever else but I thought it might have been a little over the top if I did so, reluctantly, I left them there.
On a completely separate note from any of this, just as I almost reached home this afternoon the most beautiful feather I'd ever seen floated down right in front of my car! I quickly got home and parked just so I could run back to pick it up. :) I feel so blessed to have found this feather! I feel completely unblessed to have this fly invading my space the way it is though. It's been in here bothering me for two whole days! If it were like any normal fly I wouldn't be annoyed but it's running into my face and landing all over me! Why can't it just leave me alone!? Not only that, but it's silent-flyer up until it runs into me. Jerk fly, I'll meditate on you later but I'm letting the world know that I think you're a jerk anyways because no matter what lesson I learn from you you still annoy the hell out of me.
Showing posts with label kitchen witch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitchen witch. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Yummy Veggie Pot Pie!
I thought this pot pie would be bland, boring, and a general disaster but oh. my. gosh. I don't think I've ever eaten a pot pie more yummy or healthier! My family and I added up all the calories and if you cut the pie into eight slices each slice is around 240 calories! Awesome right? Well it gets better. This pot pie is full of healthy good stuff and here comes the really astounding part, it's filling! Really filling!
Ingredients for filling:
2 Yukon Gold Potatoes, Diced
1/4 Red Onion
6 cups of Fresh Spinach
2 SMALL Crook Neck Yellow Squash, sliced
2 Ears of Grilled Corn
2 Tsp Dried Thyme
1/4 tsp Dry Rosemary
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 tsp Corn Starch or Flour as needed to thicken it
Extra Virgin Olive Oil! or whatever oil you prefer.
Directions for filling:
Place corn on the grill for about ten minutes till it has those hash marks on it. Dice and boil potatoes. Drain and set them aside. Dice red onion. Add about 1/2 Tbsp of some type of healthy oil to a skillet. Add onions and saute till tender. Once the onions are tender add the spinach. Yup, all of it, I hope you have a big skillet! Add the onions and spinach to the potatoes once you're done. Slice the squash and saute with the same amount of healthful oil as before and thyme. Once they're tender add them to the rest of the filling w/ the potatoes. Toss the rosemary in with the rest of the filling too. Put 2 cups of chicken broth in a pot and bring it to heat. Slowly add the cornstarch. Let cook for 1-2 minutes and take off heat. Add some flour to make that creamy colour if you want! Now add it to the rest of the filling! Let it sit and thicken while you make the crust.
Ingredients for Crust: (Altered Galette Crust from Cooking With Julia)
1/3 cup Corn Meal
1 1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour
7 Tbsp unsweetened butter
1 Tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sour cream
1/3-1/4 cup Ice water.
Directions for Crust:
Preheat the over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Cube butter and cut into dry mixture with either a pastry cutter or food processor. In another bowl mix sour cream and ice water. Once it looks crumbly the dry mixture slowly, very slowly add it to the wet mixture. Keep it cold! Once finished split dough in two and roll out dough to fit an eight inch pie pan. Add the filling and roll out the second ball of dough to make the top. Cut the vents into the crust and bake for 30-45 minutes. Let it cool for 20-30 minutes, serve, and enjoy. : )
Magickal Reference Stuff:
Pot pie is just one of those foods that kind of ends up like a garbage can. You get to use up what you need to get rid of while learning how to make what you have work. You can use this aspect of pot pie for a lot of things, it's up to you to think them up! I'm not doing all the work here! It's also a great way to bring balance, unity, and "flow" into your life. For instance, I always think of single ingredients as words or ideas but by bringing them together you make something more detailed like a sentence or a paragraph! Yeah! :D When I think of pot pie compared to stew though, which is another kind of garbage can food, pot pie always seems like a warm hug, stew feels more like an old man in constant thought, like Aristotle.
Yukon Gold Potato: Earth, simplicity, generosity, abundance,
Onion: Masculine, earth, protection, healing, purification
Spinach: Truthfulness, bright beginnings, open heart
Crook neck yellow Squash: Sun, lightening a load, aloofness
Corn: Steadfastness, strength, courage, sun, a sweet demeanor, cycles
Thyme: Cleansing, courage, memories, healing
Rosemary: Memory, concentration, healing, protection, longevity
Chicken Broth: Health, sunrise, mothering, making what you have last
Corn Starch: Creating uniformity, an embrace, bringing yourself to focus when your mind's all over the place.
Flour: Control, revealing hidden matters, consistency
Cornmeal: Earth, fire, maintaining stability and protection, steadfastness
Salt: Ocean, earth, purification, protection, moon energy
Pepper: Fire, cleansing, banishing
Sugar: Sweetens EVERYTHING, childlike joy, friendship, courage
Unsalted butter: Smoothing out relationships, removing harsh feelings, acceptance, forgiveness
Sour Cream: Cleansing, patience, respectability
Ice Water: Calming over abundant emotions, respecting the emotions of others, cooling firey souls
Ingredients for filling:
2 Yukon Gold Potatoes, Diced
1/4 Red Onion
6 cups of Fresh Spinach
2 SMALL Crook Neck Yellow Squash, sliced
2 Ears of Grilled Corn
2 Tsp Dried Thyme
1/4 tsp Dry Rosemary
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 tsp Corn Starch or Flour as needed to thicken it
Extra Virgin Olive Oil! or whatever oil you prefer.
Directions for filling:
Place corn on the grill for about ten minutes till it has those hash marks on it. Dice and boil potatoes. Drain and set them aside. Dice red onion. Add about 1/2 Tbsp of some type of healthy oil to a skillet. Add onions and saute till tender. Once the onions are tender add the spinach. Yup, all of it, I hope you have a big skillet! Add the onions and spinach to the potatoes once you're done. Slice the squash and saute with the same amount of healthful oil as before and thyme. Once they're tender add them to the rest of the filling w/ the potatoes. Toss the rosemary in with the rest of the filling too. Put 2 cups of chicken broth in a pot and bring it to heat. Slowly add the cornstarch. Let cook for 1-2 minutes and take off heat. Add some flour to make that creamy colour if you want! Now add it to the rest of the filling! Let it sit and thicken while you make the crust.
Ingredients for Crust: (Altered Galette Crust from Cooking With Julia)
1/3 cup Corn Meal
1 1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour
7 Tbsp unsweetened butter
1 Tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sour cream
1/3-1/4 cup Ice water.
Directions for Crust:
Preheat the over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Cube butter and cut into dry mixture with either a pastry cutter or food processor. In another bowl mix sour cream and ice water. Once it looks crumbly the dry mixture slowly, very slowly add it to the wet mixture. Keep it cold! Once finished split dough in two and roll out dough to fit an eight inch pie pan. Add the filling and roll out the second ball of dough to make the top. Cut the vents into the crust and bake for 30-45 minutes. Let it cool for 20-30 minutes, serve, and enjoy. : )
Magickal Reference Stuff:
Pot pie is just one of those foods that kind of ends up like a garbage can. You get to use up what you need to get rid of while learning how to make what you have work. You can use this aspect of pot pie for a lot of things, it's up to you to think them up! I'm not doing all the work here! It's also a great way to bring balance, unity, and "flow" into your life. For instance, I always think of single ingredients as words or ideas but by bringing them together you make something more detailed like a sentence or a paragraph! Yeah! :D When I think of pot pie compared to stew though, which is another kind of garbage can food, pot pie always seems like a warm hug, stew feels more like an old man in constant thought, like Aristotle.
Yukon Gold Potato: Earth, simplicity, generosity, abundance,
Onion: Masculine, earth, protection, healing, purification
Spinach: Truthfulness, bright beginnings, open heart
Crook neck yellow Squash: Sun, lightening a load, aloofness
Corn: Steadfastness, strength, courage, sun, a sweet demeanor, cycles
Thyme: Cleansing, courage, memories, healing
Rosemary: Memory, concentration, healing, protection, longevity
Chicken Broth: Health, sunrise, mothering, making what you have last
Corn Starch: Creating uniformity, an embrace, bringing yourself to focus when your mind's all over the place.
Flour: Control, revealing hidden matters, consistency
Cornmeal: Earth, fire, maintaining stability and protection, steadfastness
Salt: Ocean, earth, purification, protection, moon energy
Pepper: Fire, cleansing, banishing
Sugar: Sweetens EVERYTHING, childlike joy, friendship, courage
Unsalted butter: Smoothing out relationships, removing harsh feelings, acceptance, forgiveness
Sour Cream: Cleansing, patience, respectability
Ice Water: Calming over abundant emotions, respecting the emotions of others, cooling firey souls
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Punkin Pie from a real pumpkin
It's finally fall. The days are getting colder and shorter. The moon is looking oranger, and to celebrate it all a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin! What better way to thank the earth for all it's given than to make something sweet straight from the earth, unlike the unidentifiable moosh in a can.
Let me start off by talking a bit about fall, since it is my favorite season. :) When fall rolls around a lot of things start happening. Leaves start to change colours and fall off of trees, summer fruits and vegetables begin refusing to grow, and last but not least what to carve into a pumpkin starts taking over a little witch's mind. Fall is well known for these things but a lot of the time we focus on feasting and not what's being asked of us by the earth. Any gardener knows that fall is a time to start clearing away what's not needed and cutting back plants for winter, hint hint hint! Are you getting the idea? Trees drop their leaves? Plants conserve energy? Gardeners clean out their garden? It's time to cut back things you don't need. Clean up and clean out clutter in both the emotional, spiritual and physical realms. Hm, maybe I should make a post about cleansing. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with feasting and celebrating, it's a great way to show thanks for everything that's been given to you, but remember every time you take you have to get rid of something to make room for it. The idea's a lot like working out to make room for pie or just to maintain your health.
This recipe makes 2 pies!
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 Sugar Pumpkin (You can find these at Trader Joe's)
1 cup of Sugar
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 cups of whipping cream, concentrated milk, or unsweetened original flavor almond milk
Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 oz) cold unsalted buter or 4 oz cold lard cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
This crust is from Baking with Julia and is called Pasta Frolla. I use this pie crust for every pie I make because it's always easy to work with a consistently good. :)
For the filling! :D I do the filling first cause it's easier to clean out of the food processor. Get a trash bowl to get rid of all the extra stuff you're gonna have while steaming the pumpkin, a cutting board to work on, and a bowl to put your finished pumpkin in.
Get a strong serrated knife or a screwdriver, or something flat and skinny cause you're about to do the funnest part. Slide the flat skinny object under the base of the stem. Yell "Four!" and pry it off! Now chase after it! See? I told you it was fun. :) Cut your pumpkin with a serrated knife straight down the middle now that the stem is out of the way. Scoop out the insides and put them in your trash bowl or clean your seeds off and make toasted pumpkin seeds if you like that kind of stuff. :P Now, cut your pumpkin halves in half, now do it again. Do you have six pumpkin pieces? Goooooood. I like the number six.
Now you have to make a decision. There are three ways to soften the flesh, steaming by stove top, steaming by microwave, and baking wrapped in foil. I've tried all three and I steaming by stove top always comes out better for me so if you want to do it one of the other ways look it up on line but at least here me when I say baking takes the longest. :/ So set up your steamer basket on your pot and get a lid. Fill your pot up with water but don't let it touch your steaming basket or you'll be boiling part of your pumpkin. Set your pumpkin in there, turn on the heat, and place the lid on top. This is gonna take 30 minutes almost to the T so don't try to rush it. When you check your pumpkin you'll notice two colours, a lighter orange in the center and darker orange around the edges. Even if you can fork your pumpkin and it's soft just wait till it's all a dark orange.
Let the pumpkins cool for... well until they're not gonna burn you lol. Use a spoon to separate the skin from the flesh, oh wow, I never realized just how creepy that sounds. You can use a potato masher/ fork, or a food processor and while a potato masher would probably be easier if you have the time I don't so I use to food processor. Place the pumpkin pieces in the food processor until they form chunks that refuse to move anymore. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Slowly add the sugar to the pumpkin while the food processor is running. You see if you add one of the liquids air will form and you'll get something more like pumpkin moose pie instead of old fashioned pumpkin pie. All you need is something that moves more easily in the food processor. Sugar works well cause the sugar is fine enough to be flung around and draw the liquid out of the pumpkin. As you add the sugar you'll see what I mean, it's pretty fun to watch. :) Add the pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt.
Transfer the pumpkin moosh to a bowl and add 4 beaten eggs making sure to mix well. Add milk slowly, I usually do it 1 cup at a time. The filling should be thick so don't add enough milk to make it runny.
Pie shell:
Clean and thoroughly dry the food processor. Add all dry ingredients and blend till well incorporated. Next add either your cold butter or cold shortening. I suggest adding 4 Tbsp of butter and 4 Tbsp shortening/lard. Blend until it looks like superfine bread crumbs. Add the eggs and blend until a ball of dough forms. If no ball of dough forms add cold water 1/2 a Tbsp at a time.
Flour your surface and roll half of the dough out super thin, like crepe thin or tortilla thin and save the other half. Roll the crust onto your rolling pin and unroll it into your pie pan. Do the same thing with the second pie crust into a new pie dish!
The whole shabam:
If your oven has reached 400 degrees pour your batter into your pie shells. Carefully cover the edges of your crust with foil because the crust will cook faster than your filling. It should take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it stops jiggling and the filling looks firm.
Enjoy your pie!
For Magickal Purposes:
Pumpkin pie, in my experience, brings people together. It opens and warms hearts while reminding us of the approaching cold weather when others will need us. Pumpkins are like the epitome of making the most of what you have. They provide so much and can be used in so many ways. Pumpkins remind me of the old days when people were thankful for who and what they had in their lives and pumpkin pie, with all it's sweetness, encourages gratefulness straight from the heart. Give thanks for everything that's come your way and help others see the fortune of their circumstance.
Pumpkins: Earth, fire, hard work, family, change, belives, strong bonds
Eggs: Sun, hidden agendas/ secrets, hardiness, family
Almond Milk: Springtime, water, simple joy, friends
Whipping/ Heavy Cream: euphoria, simple joys, neediness
Butter: Smoothing, whether it be smoothing over uncertainties, plans, or arguments butter'll do it. Bringing together, tolerance.
Shortening: Combining, uneasiness, opposition
Let me start off by talking a bit about fall, since it is my favorite season. :) When fall rolls around a lot of things start happening. Leaves start to change colours and fall off of trees, summer fruits and vegetables begin refusing to grow, and last but not least what to carve into a pumpkin starts taking over a little witch's mind. Fall is well known for these things but a lot of the time we focus on feasting and not what's being asked of us by the earth. Any gardener knows that fall is a time to start clearing away what's not needed and cutting back plants for winter, hint hint hint! Are you getting the idea? Trees drop their leaves? Plants conserve energy? Gardeners clean out their garden? It's time to cut back things you don't need. Clean up and clean out clutter in both the emotional, spiritual and physical realms. Hm, maybe I should make a post about cleansing. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with feasting and celebrating, it's a great way to show thanks for everything that's been given to you, but remember every time you take you have to get rid of something to make room for it. The idea's a lot like working out to make room for pie or just to maintain your health.
This recipe makes 2 pies!
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 Sugar Pumpkin (You can find these at Trader Joe's)
1 cup of Sugar
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 cups of whipping cream, concentrated milk, or unsweetened original flavor almond milk
Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 oz) cold unsalted buter or 4 oz cold lard cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
This crust is from Baking with Julia and is called Pasta Frolla. I use this pie crust for every pie I make because it's always easy to work with a consistently good. :)
For the filling! :D I do the filling first cause it's easier to clean out of the food processor. Get a trash bowl to get rid of all the extra stuff you're gonna have while steaming the pumpkin, a cutting board to work on, and a bowl to put your finished pumpkin in.
Get a strong serrated knife or a screwdriver, or something flat and skinny cause you're about to do the funnest part. Slide the flat skinny object under the base of the stem. Yell "Four!" and pry it off! Now chase after it! See? I told you it was fun. :) Cut your pumpkin with a serrated knife straight down the middle now that the stem is out of the way. Scoop out the insides and put them in your trash bowl or clean your seeds off and make toasted pumpkin seeds if you like that kind of stuff. :P Now, cut your pumpkin halves in half, now do it again. Do you have six pumpkin pieces? Goooooood. I like the number six.
Now you have to make a decision. There are three ways to soften the flesh, steaming by stove top, steaming by microwave, and baking wrapped in foil. I've tried all three and I steaming by stove top always comes out better for me so if you want to do it one of the other ways look it up on line but at least here me when I say baking takes the longest. :/ So set up your steamer basket on your pot and get a lid. Fill your pot up with water but don't let it touch your steaming basket or you'll be boiling part of your pumpkin. Set your pumpkin in there, turn on the heat, and place the lid on top. This is gonna take 30 minutes almost to the T so don't try to rush it. When you check your pumpkin you'll notice two colours, a lighter orange in the center and darker orange around the edges. Even if you can fork your pumpkin and it's soft just wait till it's all a dark orange.
Let the pumpkins cool for... well until they're not gonna burn you lol. Use a spoon to separate the skin from the flesh, oh wow, I never realized just how creepy that sounds. You can use a potato masher/ fork, or a food processor and while a potato masher would probably be easier if you have the time I don't so I use to food processor. Place the pumpkin pieces in the food processor until they form chunks that refuse to move anymore. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Slowly add the sugar to the pumpkin while the food processor is running. You see if you add one of the liquids air will form and you'll get something more like pumpkin moose pie instead of old fashioned pumpkin pie. All you need is something that moves more easily in the food processor. Sugar works well cause the sugar is fine enough to be flung around and draw the liquid out of the pumpkin. As you add the sugar you'll see what I mean, it's pretty fun to watch. :) Add the pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt.
Transfer the pumpkin moosh to a bowl and add 4 beaten eggs making sure to mix well. Add milk slowly, I usually do it 1 cup at a time. The filling should be thick so don't add enough milk to make it runny.
Pie shell:
Clean and thoroughly dry the food processor. Add all dry ingredients and blend till well incorporated. Next add either your cold butter or cold shortening. I suggest adding 4 Tbsp of butter and 4 Tbsp shortening/lard. Blend until it looks like superfine bread crumbs. Add the eggs and blend until a ball of dough forms. If no ball of dough forms add cold water 1/2 a Tbsp at a time.
Flour your surface and roll half of the dough out super thin, like crepe thin or tortilla thin and save the other half. Roll the crust onto your rolling pin and unroll it into your pie pan. Do the same thing with the second pie crust into a new pie dish!
The whole shabam:
If your oven has reached 400 degrees pour your batter into your pie shells. Carefully cover the edges of your crust with foil because the crust will cook faster than your filling. It should take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it stops jiggling and the filling looks firm.
Enjoy your pie!
For Magickal Purposes:
Pumpkin pie, in my experience, brings people together. It opens and warms hearts while reminding us of the approaching cold weather when others will need us. Pumpkins are like the epitome of making the most of what you have. They provide so much and can be used in so many ways. Pumpkins remind me of the old days when people were thankful for who and what they had in their lives and pumpkin pie, with all it's sweetness, encourages gratefulness straight from the heart. Give thanks for everything that's come your way and help others see the fortune of their circumstance.
Pumpkins: Earth, fire, hard work, family, change, belives, strong bonds
Eggs: Sun, hidden agendas/ secrets, hardiness, family
Almond Milk: Springtime, water, simple joy, friends
Whipping/ Heavy Cream: euphoria, simple joys, neediness
Butter: Smoothing, whether it be smoothing over uncertainties, plans, or arguments butter'll do it. Bringing together, tolerance.
Shortening: Combining, uneasiness, opposition
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Cleansing
There are many methods of cleansing and I suggest you do a lot of research and small scale experimentation before you give up and choose to not cleanse at all. A general trend in cleansing is to ground yourself, which I find really important. I use a tree grounding technique where I imagine myself with roots pulling energy up from the earth as well as leaves that send energy back down. Another trend that I've noticed is the use of four elements, however I prefer to use five. Five?! That's right, not a lot of people think about the fifth element and it has many names that it goes by: akasha, essence, soul, life energy, etc. I prefer to call the fifth element either akasha or essence. :) It's pretty easy to work with essence since it's what makes everything up. For me the point of grounding is to allow myself to work from my essence with my environment instead of getting carried away by the other elements or my environment, which happens a lot in cooking. >_< I'll go ahead and explain how I ground and cleanse as long as you remember that this is something that I came up with through trial and error for myself. Don't feel like you have to do it my way, figure out what's best for you!
To ground I stand in a quiet place with natural lighting in comfortable clothes. I place my feet shoulder width apart, move my arms a few inches away from my body and face my palms forward. The tricky part for me is to slow my breathing and to keep it slow, as well as breathing deeply but not deep enough for me to get all dizzy and pass out! Relax your shoulders and focus on your spine. Imagine it as the core of your trunk, and imagine your trunk being your abdomen and legs. Move your awareness down until you reach your roots, which I assume are at different places for everybody. My roots start somewhere around my knees and when I reach them I push the air in my chest out as I push my energy down through my roots. I imagine the cool earth around my roots, the soil, water and rocks that make it up becoming aware of me. Push your energy only as far as is comfortable for you, I say this because when I push my energy too far I become the opposite of grounded and have trouble keeping my balance. If you could imagine what a plant feels when it's uprooted then you could imagine exactly what it feels like to push your energy to far. Once you've reached your comfort level going down breath in bringing your awareness back up through your roots, trunk, and up through your shoulders into your branches. The energy following your awareness back up trough your body will feel different than the energy you send down which may seem a little sketchy but once you experience it you'll understand that it's not. Then I send the energy taken from my leaves down into the earth.
The energy I draw up from the earth helps me expand my awareness through my branches growing while staying firmly in place through my roots and remembering who I am opposed to the world around me through my trunk. I usually stop when I feel, well for a lack of better words grounded and purified. grounding like this everyday helps remove spiritual baggage.
Some people use meditation to remove emotional baggage, but what I do is write. Mostly I write poetry but I write a lot of journal entries too! Free writing is how I reflect and sometimes when I'm really mad at someone or about something I write a letter to it/them. Then I just sit that letter out where I can see it everyday and let my emotions slowly settle. When I've settled down I draw a red X at the top of the paper and write a new letter apologizing and explaining that I'm sending those emotions away from me to the light. I love free writing. ^^ It's awesome! Other forms of cleansing include bathing, and meditation.
To cleanse and to clean a room are two different things, but I can't have one without the other. Unclean places always feel frustrated and absent minded to me. :/ So, before I even start cleansing I spend time decluttering. When I cleanse I light my sandalwood-rose incense because that's just a scent that I can really relate to. For me, incense is both fire and air, but from a lot of what I've read incense is usually considered strictly air, but whatever, magick is about doing what feels right to you. :) After that I take my salt water and spray salt water everywhere! I think that's my most favorite part, haha. Oh, I also try to have only two opening's in the room. For instance if I was cleansing my room I'd have a door and a window or two windows open because then you can start at one end of the room, and kind of shuffle uneeded stuff through the window. Don't be rude about it though! Remember your manners when handling energy and stuff 'cause it remembers and can come back to bite you in the ass. :P I'll let you guys figure out how to be nice though.
I think that's about it, grounding, emotional, spiritual, and physical cleansing. Sounds about right. Now ya'll come back now you here? Haha, couldn't help myself, my country side needs to romp sometimes. Bye bye now! :)
To ground I stand in a quiet place with natural lighting in comfortable clothes. I place my feet shoulder width apart, move my arms a few inches away from my body and face my palms forward. The tricky part for me is to slow my breathing and to keep it slow, as well as breathing deeply but not deep enough for me to get all dizzy and pass out! Relax your shoulders and focus on your spine. Imagine it as the core of your trunk, and imagine your trunk being your abdomen and legs. Move your awareness down until you reach your roots, which I assume are at different places for everybody. My roots start somewhere around my knees and when I reach them I push the air in my chest out as I push my energy down through my roots. I imagine the cool earth around my roots, the soil, water and rocks that make it up becoming aware of me. Push your energy only as far as is comfortable for you, I say this because when I push my energy too far I become the opposite of grounded and have trouble keeping my balance. If you could imagine what a plant feels when it's uprooted then you could imagine exactly what it feels like to push your energy to far. Once you've reached your comfort level going down breath in bringing your awareness back up through your roots, trunk, and up through your shoulders into your branches. The energy following your awareness back up trough your body will feel different than the energy you send down which may seem a little sketchy but once you experience it you'll understand that it's not. Then I send the energy taken from my leaves down into the earth.
The energy I draw up from the earth helps me expand my awareness through my branches growing while staying firmly in place through my roots and remembering who I am opposed to the world around me through my trunk. I usually stop when I feel, well for a lack of better words grounded and purified. grounding like this everyday helps remove spiritual baggage.
Some people use meditation to remove emotional baggage, but what I do is write. Mostly I write poetry but I write a lot of journal entries too! Free writing is how I reflect and sometimes when I'm really mad at someone or about something I write a letter to it/them. Then I just sit that letter out where I can see it everyday and let my emotions slowly settle. When I've settled down I draw a red X at the top of the paper and write a new letter apologizing and explaining that I'm sending those emotions away from me to the light. I love free writing. ^^ It's awesome! Other forms of cleansing include bathing, and meditation.
To cleanse and to clean a room are two different things, but I can't have one without the other. Unclean places always feel frustrated and absent minded to me. :/ So, before I even start cleansing I spend time decluttering. When I cleanse I light my sandalwood-rose incense because that's just a scent that I can really relate to. For me, incense is both fire and air, but from a lot of what I've read incense is usually considered strictly air, but whatever, magick is about doing what feels right to you. :) After that I take my salt water and spray salt water everywhere! I think that's my most favorite part, haha. Oh, I also try to have only two opening's in the room. For instance if I was cleansing my room I'd have a door and a window or two windows open because then you can start at one end of the room, and kind of shuffle uneeded stuff through the window. Don't be rude about it though! Remember your manners when handling energy and stuff 'cause it remembers and can come back to bite you in the ass. :P I'll let you guys figure out how to be nice though.
I think that's about it, grounding, emotional, spiritual, and physical cleansing. Sounds about right. Now ya'll come back now you here? Haha, couldn't help myself, my country side needs to romp sometimes. Bye bye now! :)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
From the Rooster's Mouth: Pico de Gallo
Just so you know I don't actually use measurements unless I'm baking. If this isn't a pastry item please take that into consideration and don't hate me for ruining your dinner party.
I. Love. Pico de Gallo. I eat about 1 liter of Pico de Gallo per week. It's safe to say I have an addiction to this lemony, spicy, tomato relish. I figure I was destined to love this stuff since I've always hated salsa, but to fit the South American stereotype it was necessary that I like some kind of spicy tomato thing! It was such a predicament. I would've been the shame of my family if it weren't for Chipotle. Thank Goddess for the McDonald's industry, right? I went to Chipotle almost weekly just to get my Pico de Gallo fix, because the last thing I want to deal with is withdraw symptoms. It's comparable to the horrors of a meth addict going cold turkey. I could've died!
Ok, in all seriousness, I just love Pico de Gallo. Yeah, I do eat 1 liter of it a week but don't worry, I don't suffer withdraw symptoms if I chose to abstain for a day. On another serious note, don't do drugs! I hear they're bad for you, but I wouldn't really know since I don't want to experiment with them to find out. Just a friendly suggestion from your friendly internet kitchen witch.
I'm wondering how I'm gonna present my recipe on here... oh whatever, I'll just wing it.
Pico de Gallo (Pee-Ko Day Gai-Yo) aka Yummzers (Yummzers):
Makes about 1 liter
2 Lemons, maybe more
3/4 Medium Yellow Onion
2 1/2 Cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro, maybe more
6 Almost Ripe or Ripe Small- Medium Tomatoes
1 Seeded Red Bell Pepper
1/3 of a Small Seeded Jalapeno Pepper, depends on how spicy you like things, if you don't like spicy things at all add 1/4 of a Small Seeded Jalapeno Pepper because it really does change the flavor to have none at all.
Salt Not Too Much, Not Too Little
Directions: Pico de Gallo gets spicier the longer that it sits, so keep that in mind as you're deciding how much you want to make as well as how much jalapeno to add. If you want your Pico de Gallo to be spicy from the very moment it's made juice your lemons first then carefully cut off the the amount of jalapeno desired and remove the seeds. I cut my jalapeno into tiny pieces so that it doesn't get concentrated in any one place, but if you like to get unexpectedly slapped in the face by jalapeno flesh, be my guest and cut it exactly the way you like it. :) Don't lick your finger or rub your eyes after you make this stuff! Bad ,bad idea.Even if you wash your hands don't consider yourself safe. O_O If you don't want your Pico de Gallo spicy right away add the lemon juice after this next step without the jalapenoes then wait till the end to add the jalapenoes.
Next you'll want to move on to the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion and cilantro. Chop up all these ingredients and add them to a large bowl, or if you're as lazy as me add it to a tupper wear container that can hold as much as you plan to make.
Sooo, did you cut your onion up yet? What about the cilantro? Yes? Oh, you're getting to it. Just make sure to peel the onion before you cut it up. x_x When you're done with that add it to your tomatoes and bell peppers and combine please! It's pretty huh? :) Just be sure to not bruise those tomatoes! I may not be a grammar nazi but I sure am a texture nazi.
Pour your lemon juice over the rest of your ingredients and mix. If you have jalapeno in your lemon juice use a silicon mixing paddle to stir your ingredients, if not go ahead and use your hand or a spoon if you want but once you add those jalapenoes you want something that's not gonna soak up the capsaicin, as well as something that isn't gonna burn like hell afterwards (I'm talking about you're hands :P).
Wala! You have now made Pico de Gallo, and you can now expect me over within the hour, tortilla chips in hand. ^^
Magickal Significance:
Lemons: feminine, sun, summer, happiness, clarity, reflection, water, purification
Yellow Onions: earth, insecurities, love, patience, protection, understanding, clarity, the universe, the moon, masculine
Cilantro: masculine, awareness, passion, keeping secrets
Tomatoes: love, feminine, home, intention, prosperity
Bell Peppers:
Jalapenoes: lust, reaction, forethought, masculine, fire, without remorse
Pico de Gallo: Clarity, awareness, cleansing, water, fire, interactivity
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