Donna's Pilgrimage - on the road to beautiful

donna — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:03:55 +0000

It seems that as humans we are always in a rush to acquire “more”. For many people that is more everyday stuff. But spiritual seekers take craving in a different direction. We’re like spiritual Oliver Twists. We too are asking, “Please, sir, may I have more?”
Don’t seek more in a broader sense. Strive for it in a narrower sense. Instead of trying to pick up all the stones you see and lugging them around with you, pick up one and keep polishing it until it shines with clarity and reflects perfectly.
Exclusive pursuit…pick one practice and perfect it! …Connie (Dirty Footprint blog)
This really spoke to me. Me, with a desk full of books telling me what to do and how to do it. Me, wanting to do so many things but not taking the time to do any one thing well. Me, lugging those rocks around with me instead of spending my time choosing one and polishing it till it shines.
I’m on a quest to simplify and live a slower, fuller, more connected life.

more raw

donna — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:07:03 +0000

Hope you got to read dh’s post about how raw eating has lowered his cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose level along with his blood pressure. Pretty amazing…
Also pretty amazing, we made our own manna bread last week. I haven’t heard comments from the other eaters/receivers of the bread, but we thought it was delicious, even better than the store bought. I will definitely be making more of that. It does take some time,(but not attentive time….it does most of it’s work by itself) to sprout the grain, then pulverize it in the cuisinart, then bake it, but it’s worth it. Loaded with raw almond or cashew butter, or walnut pate, it’s filling and tasty!
My other new discovery is green drinks. I’m addicted! They are so refreshing and invigorating, I just know they are making good things happen inside and out. Each morning I’ve been loading my vita-mix with the green for the day, (so far I’ve used romaine, spinach and parsley.), added 2 cups of water, some fruit (pears and a banana one day, citrus and a banana with the spinach) and blended away. When I see it is liquid, I pour it into a jar with 2 more cups of water, and drink through out the day. Really yummy, and so easy!

so nice and warm…

donna — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:33:43 +0000

Yes, even though it is very cold outside, I am warm bc I finally made myself a pair of fleece pajama pants. They are the warmest, comfiest, coziest things I have ever made. I have made fleece pants for my sons, husband, and father, but never liked the bulkiness…aka I didn’t want to look fat in pants.
But I hate being cold, so, I took a pair of my fave sweat capris and folded them to use as a pattern. I added 10 1/2 inches to the length, used some green fleece from my stash and viola! I am warm and cozy!
Maybe I’m on a creative roll finally???? I decided to change up my downstairs bathroom by painting all the oak wood black. What a difference,,,mirror, vanity, toilet paper holder all now semi gloss black. I like it! It was a quick fix that made a big difference. Now to get rid of that wall paper….

ruckus #2

donna — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:30:32 +0000

What fun we had AGAIN!
Mrs. Farrells’ #2 ruckus took us to Haymarket, Va. where we caught up at Starbuck’s, visited La Grange Vineyard for a wine tasting and so much more, then a portabella asparagus sandwich at Guiseppe’s before heading home. I have the most fun, creative, thoughtful, and adventuresome daughters-in-law and adopted dil in the world, and I have some very cute pictures to prove it!!!
This is absolutely the greatest New Years’ resolution I have ever made.
Can’t wait to see what adventure March brings!

it’s been a week

donna — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:11:59 +0000

It’s been a week since I blogged, and I thought I was on a roll…blogging almost daily. We are still raw, although we have been relying on some old favorites, and haven’t tried anything new in awhile. It seems if we have a fruit salad, a green salad, some corn salad, and some trail mix, we are good to go. We have started eating just 2 meals a day. That seems to be all there is time for, and it’s good to feel hungry before a meal, and to drink water instead of eating. I sometimes get those urges confused.
Yesterday we took my father to get hearing aids. It was like a new world opened to him when he put them on and set the volume. He was surprised by the sounds around him. He could hear ppl talking down the hall, the microwave beeping, and the soda machine working. Last night he could actually hear the tv program he was watching without turning the volume up to 25. Almost immediately he changed the volume of his own voice. He no longer had to talk loudly to hear himself.
I read this Thai proverb last week, and can’t stop thinking about it….
Life is short. Move very slowly.
I think that will be my new motto.

piano practice

donna — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:07:47 +0000

My fingers and hands hurt…yes, it’s been that long since I’ve played my beautiful piano. I was practicing everyday, but then life took and turn, and I haven’t played in months. Hopefully this was the first of many daily piano encounters.
Also came across some raw recipes I had downloaded years ago when I first “went raw”. These are really interesting bc they say…if you’re hungry for ______ ,try this. Everything from tabouli to sushi to pizza. We tried the tabouli for lunch, and it was really good. Instead of bulghur, they used raw almonds chopped really fine. Here’s the recipe…
one bunch of cilantro (I chopped a bunch of mesclun)
one bunch parsley (I used a big handful of dried)
1 bunch green onions
2 tomatoes
1 avocado
1/2 c. raw almonds
1 T. olive oil
1T. honey
juice of a lemon
1 t. salt
Chop the greens, onions, avocados, and tomatoes and put in a bowl. Blend almonds to a fine flour.
Add to the bowl. Mix the oil, lemon juice, honey and salt for the dressing and pour over everything and stir in. Change it up by adding a different vegetable or herb…corn, broccoli, basil, or Italian or Mexican seasonings.

We finished our walnut pate tonight. We covered it with raw tomato sauce as Alicia suggested. That is so very good! I’m putting both those dishes on our Bed and Breakfast/restaurant menu when we open our B&B or restaurant.

cereal

donna — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:07:27 +0000

We have a winner! I made a granola type cereal by soaking, sprouting, then dehydrating buckwheat. After taking it out of the dryer, I mixed it with some almonds and dried cranberries that I chopped in the blender till they were about the size of the buckwheat. Mixed then all together, and poured on the milk..soymilk today, but almond milk would be a good raw alternative.
Now for that APPLE PIE recipe…
Crust:
2 cups soaked almonds
1 cup walnuts
10-15 dates
2T orange juice
Put all ingredients in the food processor and process till well blended and thick.
Press into a pie pan to form the crust.
Set aside in the freezer.

Filling:
3 cups shredded apples
1 cup soaked raisins
1 1/2 cups soaked cashews
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup of the raisin soak water
2 T maple syrup or honey

Shred apples and set aside in a bowl. Mix in the raisins and 1/2 cup of the raisin soak water.
In the blender, make a sauce out of the other ingredients.
Pour the sauce in the bowl and mix with the apples and raisins.
Fill the pie with the mixture.
Decorate with slices of fruit.

I’m finding all kinds of raw recipes as I go through drawers and bookcases. I might have to put them together in some sort of file to share as I try them. Let me think about how to do that…

hard to be raw in Pa. Dutch country

donna — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:27:10 +0000

But not impossible. Well not always impossible. I think we were able to stay raw for breakfasts and lunches, until we went out to to eat out with friends. Then came the point in our weekend in Pa. that we had to make some adjustments…like…if we can’t eat raw, we’ll eat vegan, and at one point…if we can’t eat vegan, we’ll eat vegetarian. It didn’t take us long to re-enter, though. We were back raw as soon as we hit our own kitchen.
Tonight we’re finally having that raw chili. Using up the sprouted lentils, wild rice, and sunflower seeds. I’m getting pretty good at winging a red sauce. As long as I have tomatoes, dried tomatoes, and a bit of dried fruit, I’m good to go. Tonight I added some raw salsa and some chili powder with the other ingredients, and out came a spicy chili sauce. It will be over the sprouts tonight, and probably get a second run over some noodle-ized sweet potatoes. I found almost any veggie tastes good spiralized.
Now to look for that raw apple pie recipe that Alicia remembers. I have been craving something deserty myself, so I’ll post it as soon as I find it.
With Spring right around the corner, it’s time to think about expanding my veggie garden. Hearing about Lynne’s pledge to eat local, really got me thinking. I read B. Kingsolver’s book about their family’s year of local eating, and enjoyed it. Eating raw should make that easier, I think…especially if I had some kind of green house….Hmmmmmmm.

snow

donna — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:28:34 +0000

We had a surprise snow overnight, and woke to everything covered in an inch of pure dazzle. The sun made short work of it, but it was beautiful none the less, especially with those little birdy footprints at the strangest places. What were they doing while I slept? and why?
Our raw journey continues. Finally we seem to be settled in some kind of routine. It no longer seems impossible to get a good meal on the table without starting right after breakfast. Of course, there are things in my frig that must be used soon…like those lentils I sprouted, and the rice I soaked days ago before I discovered how easy it is to make a yummy walnut pate, or a raw soup. Thankfully my ddils are also eating raw, and have spurred me to new heights by their creations. Sarah sends me pictures along with her recipes, and Alicia lets me know what she’s tried and likes. That’s such a big help!
I’ve learned to heat raw soup in the blender by letting it blend for awhile, and by using hot water in the first place. Why did I never think of that before? Raw and warm on these cold nights makes it extra special and comforting.
I would like to make some deserts soon. I seem to crave sweets after dinner lately. Dates or clementines sometimes take care of it, but I remember that raw apple pie we made so long ago…it could be my whole dinner. Desert for dinner…we used to do that with decadent brownies in the summer, so I think I can do it again.

salads

donna — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:26:13 +0000

We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s yesterday, so we easily ate raw, although we came home starving. Don’t know what was up with that. And what I was starving for was that piece of uneaten homemade mushroom pizza laying on my counter. Yes, I succumbed…actually took a few bites before it hit the compost, but those bites were yummy!
The plan was to try a new raw spaghetti recipe for dinner tonight along with some walnut pate meatballs that got rave reviews from Alicia. But, Mike and Sarah are watching the Super Bowl with friends, and it’s just the two of us, and I’m lazy, so it may not happen.
Right now, it’s so warm and beautiful outside, that’s where I want to be…
Later…