Monday, March 30, 2015

Make-a-Menu Monday--March 30, 2015




In light of the 3-Week "David Avocado Wolfe Challenge" to start next week, I thought I would plan a menu for the week that avoids certain potentially common processed foods and includes plenty of veggies.  Being frustrated lately with trying to find new ideas for a week-long menu plan and finding only 5-day plans, I made sure to make this week's plan a full 7 days of meals. The plan, as usual, is dairy-free, and with some simple substitutions (gluten-free tortillas, gluten-free pasta), can be completely gluten-free, as well.


Monday: Crock pot whole chicken with baked potatoes, garden salad (think green or red leaf lettuce, cucumber chunks, chopped tomatoes, shredded carrot...), and cooked green beans.

Tuesday: chicken fajitas with homemade seasoning mix, red onions and different coloured peppers and garden salad.

Wednesday: spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce (with meat or meatballs or without) served with Caesar or garden salad

Thursday: chicken and vegetable fried rice; I've made that recipe before but substituted broccoli and cauliflower and went heavy on the veggies. It's delicious!

(Good) Friday: Since many will be going meatless today, a simple casserole made with macaroni noodles, jarred pasta sauce (check the label to find one without weird chemicals in it), and mixed frozen vegetables topped with your choice of cheese.


Saturday: lasagna (Daiya cheese for mine) with cooked carrots and homemade vegan Caesar salad dressing

Easter supper/Sunday: ham served with dairy-free mashed potatoes, roasted baby carrots, lemon-parsley green beans

Enjoy! :)

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Are You Up For a 3-Week Challenge?

They say that 3 weeks is the minimum amount of time required to establish a habit.

What habit will these particular three weeks establish? That depends on you! If someone can make all the changes to their lives, I'm sure they would feel amazing at the end of the 3 weeks.

"But which changes??"





For full details or to participate on Facebook, see the event page.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

I LOVE My New Diffuser!

My poor old diffuser got knocked down a couple of times onto cement. It still worked, but after internal plastic pieces finally broke off, the mist/vapour just isn't doing what its supposed to.

So, I finally decided to dish out the $$ for another one. They had changed the design, so I was just expecting it to look like this:






which I thought was pretty neat compared to the other model I have.

But then, I got it and saw what it could do.

I feel silly for what I'm about to say, even just let out an embarrassed little chuckle as I got ready to type this, but I'm going to say it anyhow: I fell completely in love and got so excited about it when I discovered its nighttime secret:




It looks even cooler in real life! My husband thought I was crazy, I'm sure, getting so excited over a diffuser that lights up. I even turned off the lights last night and didn't read as I had intended to because I wanted the full effect of the blue glow. lol

If you are in Canada or Singapore, you can get this diffuser. If you are in the US, sorry, you're out of luck, which is ironic since it's usually we Canadians who can't get many of the US products. Elsewhere? I'm not sure.

You'll  probably notice the price and go, "Oh my word!" But wait! If you actually sign up as a member, you can get it with the basic starter kit for cheaper and if you want to start off with a collection of oils to go with your diffuser, you can get the Premium Starter Kit which includes the diffuser, samples and the Everyday Essential Oils kit for an amazing price. (In the US, you have more starter kit selections--you just get a different diffuser.)

If you do sign up wherever you are, please do use my Young Living ID for your enroller and sponsor number: 1772120.


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



I thought I would share some dairy-free things I've been finding today for something special to make this St. Paddy's Day:

7 Healthy Green St. Patrick's Day Recipes - All of the recipes are dairy-free and gluten-free! Including the Green Tea Latte and the Creamy, Cheesy Avocado Pasta.

Go Dairy-Free: St. Patrick's Day - The Healthy Vegan Shamrock Shake looks particularly tasty.

Vegan St. Patrick's Day Recipes- Oh, if only I had the ingredients for the vegan Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake...

Oh She Glows - Angela's got all kinds of different recipes to try

Are you making anything special for St. Patrick's Day?

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The Old Man and His Horse

I'd like to share, on this day of my returning to this blog, a story I read in Mabel Katz's The Easiest Way: Solve Your Problems and Take the Road to Love, Happiness, Wealth and the Life of Your Dreams, except I'm going to share the version from here because, well, it's too much to type up from the book! I know with my on-and-off blogging, my on-and-off healthy eating, too, that I get into the judging. I "should" be blogging more and I "should" be eating this or not eating that... This story was a good one today for me to just accept that the current situation is what it is.


The Old Man and His Horse (a.k.a. Sai Weng Shi Ma)

https://kimberlycarnevale.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/employee-loyalty-an-under-valued-force-of-reckoning-in-todays-workplace-learn-how-to-attract-and-keep-these-rare-gems-in-your-employ-and-watch-your-business-grow/

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before – such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend.” The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in his stable. All the village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?”

The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse.”

The old man spoke again. “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, and old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again, the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”

The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of one phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?”

“Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is one fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.”

“Maybe the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned. With a little work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken both his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

“You were right, old man,” They wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this. Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”