First Time for Everything

Hey Ya'll,

I have been without my computer for days now, but I didn't want anyone to think I forgot about writing more regularly. So I figured I would try this blog via text feature that blogspot offers.
Here goes, my daughter and I went to the Farmer's Market this past Saturday and we found some lovely green tomatoes (amongst other tasty treats) but I realized that my kiddo up to now has never had fried green tomatoes. The classic Southern side that can be eaten as a meal sometimes. So we took a pint full of firm round light green little lovelies and today I sliced them up, soaked them in buttermilk, seasoned and coated them in cornmeal and pan fries them. Like a good Southern-girl she was instantly in love. The crusty crunchy exterior mingled with the softened slightly tart interior perfectly. At first she questioned the difference between a red tomato and a green tomato. Once she had a taste she understood immediately, that's my girl! I'll have to make sure she gets to experience these more often. After all, I am obligated to develop her young impressionable palate to its fullest capacity. Alright ya'll I hope this post takes, let's see.
Namaste Ya'll

Edited posted: Apparently my picture made my text too large to post on my blog. But posting from my email on my phone worked brilliantly. Namaste Ya'll

The Ultimate Local

This post is part of the Food Day posts for the #FoodDayBlogAlong! organized by Mary Makes Dinner and Notes from Maggie's Farm

 

Hey Ya'll,
So, there were many directions that are available for the Blog Along but I chose to write about eating locally. Now when eating locally is mentioned I immediately think of farmer's markets and hipster cafes that serve seasonal fruit salads and whole grain pancakes with farm fresh eggs. This of course is lovely all on it's own. But I decided to take my eating local experience to the next level, beyond my Go Local Austin card. I decided to bring local eating as close to my table as eating. I decided to start my own vegetable garden. Well, miniature container herb/veggie garden anyway. I made a promise to my daughter that we could try our hand at raising some of our own food, plus I kind of wanted to see if I had what it takes to be a small time farmer. I have actually always kind of dreamed about growing a huge garden (small farm really) and raising a few small animals. Well I figure this is the first step in determining if I have what it takes to live the life of a woman of the land.
I imagine that if everyone, no matter how limited their space, took the time to grow at least a few vegetables of their own they could save money, reduce waste, increase their nutrient options and provide some time in the sunshine taking care of not only the plants but ultimately themselves.When you live in even the poorest of the poor neighborhoods and you have even just a container of soil that can grow a small bunch of carrots to call your own, a ray of light shines down on each day that you get to breath in the pure oxygen produce by your very own personal garden.
Let's talk container gardening and keep in mind this is my first time with anything larger than a Kindergarten bean sprouting project. But, it really felt kind of natural getting my hands in the dirt and transplanting my plants.

My first Box of Herbs and veggies

 So the nice young man at the Nursery was really pushing the Spinach today so I took that as a sign that I needed to eat more leafy greens thus my first plants of Spinach and Kale. I also picked up some Sweet Peas because the nice young man showed me how to place bamboo stakes in my container to run the peas upwards and allow for more bushy plants that sit low in the pot.

 YAY for Herbs!! I chose Parsley Cilantro and Thyme mostly because they are my favorites and also because apparently they grow really well during this time of year in my neck of the woods. The thyme automatically smelled of my favorite recipe of roasted chicken and rosemary potatoes to me. I was so excited. As we planted the cilantro my daughter asked "May I eat some of the cilantro? It's my favorite."  Being from Texas we love our TexMex food and since she had teeth in her mouth my daughter has loved a fresh Filipino-style cucumber tomato salad with cilantro. Needless to say there will be plenty of that this Summer.

Calliope Carrots and Buttercrunch Lettuce to pull together my Fall salads. Now if only I had a Pecan Tree....Hmmm, maybe when we purchase our first home. The niffty thing about the carrots is they are going to amaze my daughter when it's time to harvest. They grow into like 4 or 5 different colors. She is going to absolutely lose her cute little mind. I'll have to take video and share that here when the time comes.

 So I actually only managed to get one of my 2 containers filled, turns out I needed way more soil than I anticipated. The sweet peas, spinach, kale, and some of the lettuce went into the first container. I will be purchasing more high quality potting soil from the nursery and finishing my second container with my herbs, carrots and remaining lettuce seeds this weekend. But I wanted to share my local eating adventure in time for Food Day.

Last but certainly not least I would like to thank Jeremy who was so much help and had pity on me once he saw me wandering around the nursery lost and unsure of myself. Jeremy helped me understand where to place which plants and how to give them the space they needed to grow. Thank you Jeremy.

Happy Food Day all know where what you eat comes from and try to get it as short a distance from farm to table as possible whenever you can.
Namaste Ya'll

Unfinished Business

Hey Ya'll,
We are currently in a testing bye-week so to speak in classes right now. So at the moment there is no homework and there are no lessons to speak about, just time being given to us to take our first test and get caught up on any work that may have been neglected. Since I last shared about how school was going I have gotten myself all caught up and am feeling accomplished. With not much occurring on the academic front for me for now I will venture into other topics today.

I am fully aware of the fact that there are many, and boy do I mean many, projects in that I have started but never finished. Yoga challenges, Juice cleanses, workout regimens, knitting projects, sewing projects. Heck even my degree is a hodge-podge of courses that originally belonged to the ideas of 4 separate degree plans I once thought I wanted to pursue. Fortunately, the college I went to basically had a generic health degree that I fit into and was able to graduate with rather than run out of financial aid while I tried to find myself. The honeymoon phase of any new job wears-off quickly for me because I have yet to place myself in a role that feeds my soul. My passions are very specific but for some reason I have convinced myself that I could never make a decent living fulfilling them. Well, now I realize the only way I will be successful is to do work that I love and am willing to be part of every single day that I wake up. With anyone who takes the time to read this as my witness I will live my dreams:
I will make food the center of my profession
I will service pregnant women and their babies (maybe I will doula or lactation consult)
I will write again...and enjoy it again
I will live in my dream home on the outskirts of town with my small livestock and my large garden.
I will see the world and speak its languages

And I will share all of these experiences with you all right here. Of course I have started with my IIN journey and will continue the whole way through. Earlier I was a little down on myself for failing to make this blog what I originally set out for it to be; sharing my love for food and my walk into yoga. But then I thought, this blog was never meant to be so one dimensional. This blog was meant to expose my overall journey into peace and into truly loving my life and who I am in this life. I have finally begun to do that. Now is the time to open up and share my food adventures with those of you who choose to stop by and read. My first real food post will be an Eat Out Loud post for Food Day, which is officially October 24, 2012  It will be complete with pictures and descriptive words, the whole nine yards. Thank you all for baring with me as I gain my footing in this sometimes frighteningly open world and learn to love who I am enough to honestly share myself with anyone willing to listen (or read). I look forward to evolving this blog into what it was always meant to be and doing it with love rather than my own impatience for perfection.
To anyone who may actually read this thank you for doing so, until my next exposure.
Namaste Ya'll

Catching up on Homework

Hey Ya'll,
So, I promised to keep you posted as I progressed through the IIN program and I intend to keep my promise. As I stated in my last post I allowed myself to slack a bit and fell behind in my lectures and homework. Well things have slowed down at work a bit this week and I am using the lighter workload as an opportunity to multi-task. So as I complete mundane duties at work I am plugged into my lectures to get caught up on the Modules. So in the few modules that I'm floating through I believe I have learned way more about raw food smoothies than I ever thought possible. Also, I think if I hear the exact same"marketing your business" tips again I might scream. I feel as though the exact same information is being beaten into my head every few weeks. I fully understand that these tips are thoroughly important for success in our businesses. But dear goodness! I would really prefer more information about how to get what you want out of life. How to actually BE the person that you want to be in order to feel competent enough to assist others in their journey. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through the program and already I feel as though I could launch a business from the ground up, but I'm not feeling up to par on the plethora of food or lifestyle information that is out there. I am thinking though that all of the business information is so heavily laced into the lessons early on in the program because there is such a big push to begin seeing clients about halfway through the program so that you have an established practice by the time you graduate. I imagine that further into the program the fine tuning of the food information comes more regularly. Don't get me wrong there is PLENTY of information to shuffle through in the supplemental work. It's just not what is being consistently focused on at the moment in the lessons/lectures; I am a bit frustrated with this.

On the upside the daily journal that I am keeping for homework really helps me understand myself a little more with each day. I am more aware of cravings and where I slack in motivation. I am much more aware of why I feel in such a rut with my life and why I seem to always feel lonely. I understand what drives me a bit better and how to successfully reward myself. My life has always been a swirling ball of indecision and the few things I made definitive choices on took me down paths that were difficult to navigate through and drained a lot of life from me. But I am glad that I chose to take part in this program, because I truly believe that if nothing else comes of this I will have a much better understanding of who I am, who I want to be, and then have the courge to actually be everything I want. So, maybe it's not about knowing more about food...maybe it's really all about just knowing yourself better. Now there's food for thought
Namaste Ya'll

Falling Behind

So, it's been a few weeks since my last update on my endeavors at IIN and I must say that it is simply because I have fallen behind in my school work. The work that pays our bills has been more demanding of my time lately and I find myself having to re-balance. I have been taking the time lately to really thinking about what I would like to do with all the information that I am gaining. Everyday I am encouraged to take a little time to really visualize my future. To form in my mind's eye what I want my life to look like and how my career fits into it. I know with no uncertainty that my passions lay with food. The ultimate goal here at the end of this program is to have a clear, defined plan for my career. To identify my truest passion and how to make a living with it without ruining my love with work. I will find that place where so many have said "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." And when that revelation hits I will truly be Zen Tasting.
Namaste Ya'll

Circles of Minds

Do you even feel like you are supposed to be doing something, but you don't quite fit in yet? Okay, so I had my first "classroom" call today and I feel as though most of the people in my graduating class are already in an active place in their health journey rather than seeking the way to apply the knowledge to their own lives. So many of the lovely people are simply looking to learn how to teach others what they are already doing for themselves. I am beginning to feel as though my story is unique in that I'm using IIN to heal myself way more than I am using it to heal others. Though I do fully intend to share what I learn here with anyone willing to allow me. I know for sure this is for ME not anyone else all others reaping the benefits are a plus. I fear that may sound selfish, but I think I am in this predicament with my body because I have not focused on myself enough throughout the years. Everything has been to please others at the expense of my own needs, not even just my desires. So my very first client will be Me and I get the special 12 month program rather than just the regular 6 month program I will be designing. Grateful for my mission.
Namaste Ya'll

The Journey Begins

Hey Ya'll,
So "classes" have officially begun for my Integrative Nutrition program and I am excited, a bit over-whelmed, and ready to get into the meat of it. Right now we are merely getting acclimated with the foundation of the organization. You know, what the mission of the program is, how to get organized, some best practices in setting yourself up for the best experience possible, and most of all for me wrapping your head around how to really put yourself "out there" to gain exposure everywhere you go. This week for me I have tasked myself with getting 2 of my homework assignments completed. I foresee the most difficult part of this style of program for me being the fact that there are very few hard deadlines, it is very "at your own pace". This is both good and bad for me, but I am determined to stay on the positive side.
On another note, I now will have the majority of my weekends to myself and my family once again!! Yay!! No more regular Saturday working for me (of course that's not to say that I won't work any Saturdays again) I plan to become a regular at my local farmer's market gain. Even though most of the good eats stop around October, I'm going to ride this train till the wheels fall off. :-) Also, I think once the heat breaks, which  tends to be late September around here, I plan to start organizing our backyard for gardening. I am not certain what I want to plant just yet so I am going to take my time prepping the yard and thinking about what would work best for my tastes as well as lifestyle.
I so look forward to this shift in my life and nurturing the person inside of me that I have suppressed for so long in order to handle business and just do what needed to be done for  the family. No more deadened spirit; no more depression; no more dissatisfaction with myself or my life. I am still so very sure that I will become the woman/mother/wife that I always imagined I would be. Only I can turn me into Her and that's what I am doing from here on out. Glory to The Most High!!
Peace and Namaste Ya'll