Defusing the "Hot Spots"

Today is Day 11 with the FlyLady in the last three days she has added a “5 minute room rescue” and “15 minutes decluttering”

I focused my “room rescue” on the desk and printer. Here’s before:

And 5 minutes later:

I also “put out my hotspot”

Before:

Two Minutes Later:

 You probably noticed the small stack of papers left in both pictures, those are my "sort and file" papers. I take care of those after the timer goes off but wanted to show a true picture of what things look like as soon as the time goes off. If nothing else, I am extremely impressed with the power of 5 minutes!

For decluttering FlyLady is referring to a quick sweep of the house, but there’s a room that needs some extra attention so I’m going to do a 15 minute room rescue instead. Due to inheriting some free clothes and staging a handful of things I’d like to sell our spare bedroom has gotten a bit out of control. I’m not going to post before pictures because it’s a bit embarrassing!

Learning to "FLY"

It's funny, when I chose the title for my blog I did not intend to join flyladFlyLady.net but now that I have it seems very fitting for this Honey Bee!

A week ago I signed up for Fly Lady and am now on baby step Number 9. I haven't been following the "flight plans" but after the first 31 days I'm confident that my house will be in good enough order to work on REALLY keeping my house clean and maintained.

Baby Step 1 is to shine your sink (you do this everyday)

I have gotten pretty good at this but yesterday I slacked a bit so there were still dishes in the sink and on the counter today

Baby Step 2 is to get dressed daily all the way down to your shoes (I do this when I get home from work b/c I wear a uniform and leave very shortly after getting up

After completing these two steps for the day I took a few pictures of my life before taking flight.

It's embarrassing to post those photos!

Then I set to work on Step 9. I chose to de-clutter the kitchen for 15 minutes.

It's amazing what 15 minutes can do when you work fast! Sure, there are still some things on the floor, they are things that I left for Sugar Bear to put in the attic....perhaps I should go organize them a bit!

Then I sat down to blog it and enjoy a refreshing cup of cucumber dandelion tea.

Freedom Loaf

A few days ago I wanted to make something delicious but didn’t want to purchase anything extra for it, so, I picked a few veggies (prematurely from the garden) defrosted some beans and voila! “Freedom Loaf”

Mixed up some lentils, blackbeans, and garbanzos

Ground up 2tblsp flaxseed and 3 tblsp sunflower seeds

Chopped up my tiny onion and young cubanelle pepper

Mixed it all up with some extra onion, 1/4c oats and spices of choice

Put it in a loaf pan, bake it at 350 for about 30min

Serve it up with some vegan mashed taters

Ingredients:

15 oz each black beans, garbanzos and lentils drained and rinsed

½ an onion chopped

1 pepper of choice chopped

2tbls flaxseed meal

3 tbls sunflower seeds (ground)

¼ c Italian dressing

Any spices the tickle your fancy

Method:

1.     Grease loaf pan and preheat oven to 350

2.     Mix all the beans in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher (you don’t want mush but enough for it all to stick together)

3.     Add the rest of the ingredients & mix it up with your hands

4.     Form it into a loaf and move it to the pan

5.     Top it with a little extra Italian dressing (or ketchup mixed with vegan Worcestershire )

6.     Bake for about 30 minutes

It came out a little dry but was still tasty. With a little extra bbq sauce you didn’t even notice. (I didn't have a full 1/4c dressing I think that would have helped...and maybe reserve a little liquid from the beans)

Why Vegan?

I am back after a week in Virginia with my best friend and Husband of one year. I am back and ready to get back to blogging.  I already did a blog about how I came to be a Christ Follower, so now it’s time for one about how I cam to be Vegan and why.

I am very new to being Vegan, in fact, I’m not 100% vegan yet but I’m working on getting there. In January I watched Food Inc. and saw how terrible the animals in most commercial farms were treated. The fact that animals used to create commercial meat were not treated well came as no surprise to me but it was something that I chose not to think about.   Problem solved…I chose to eat only “free range” chicken, beef, milk and eggs.

This lasted only a short while before the term “humanely slaughtered” came to sound like bit of an oxymoron. When used for food “humane” and “slaughter” can go hand in hand, but with regards to humans “slaughtered” always brings thoughts of brutality. I dare say that to hear someone was “slaughtered” renders a much more painful picture than even the word “murdered.” I did not want to contribute to the slaughter of any living being. I have eaten bites of meat since making the decision to become vegetarian but with each taste I became increasingly disgusted at the thought of an animal being sacrificed for the pleasure of my palate.

More time passed, and I wanted to know why some people felt that a vegan lifestyle was more kind than just vegetarian; cows produce milk anyway, right? It had never occurred to me that cows and goats do not just naturally produce milk in abundance. I had a picture in my head of a happy little cow, with her happy little family, providing milk for her young with an abundance to spare thus “giving” us milk for our cereal and cheese for my now veggie burgers. How could my vision have been so skewed?

It had never occurred to me that cows and goats do NOT naturally produce milk and when they do produce it, there is little extra from what the calf should be consuming. In reality, dairy cows are raped annually and within days of giving birth her child is taken from her loving care and sacrificed to the veal industry or given to live the life of her mother; a life of continually birthing and being separated from her young. If a cow were allowed to feed her young, where would I get milk for cheese and cereal?

Now, aware of the suffering caused by my bacon ultimate cheeseburger or chocolate truffle, I’d rather just pass. There are so many vegan alternatives these days, it’s not like I’m making a sacrifice anyway.

The beginnings of my relationship with Christ

Having been raised in the church I was raised with good morals and a faith in Christ. I think it was in 1998 that my dad and I went to Billy Graham’s Harvest Crusade for Christ. It was through that crusade that I realized while I “believed” in God and “believed” the Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world, I did not have a true relationship with Christ. It was then that I turned my life over to Him.

The next 7 years I did the best I could and stayed in close communion with Christ. Until 2005 when my faith was shaken; my wonderful, loving, patriotic grandfather died and as far as we know he did not have a relationship with Christ. Doubts swam through my head. How could the most generous man I know go to hell? He was a “good” man, surely that was enough! If God is so just then hell can’t be FOREVER. My faith was shaken.

With emotions high I tried to resolve my doubts. Do I turn away from Christ entirely? Can I continue to trust in Him? Why was it so easy for my family to just trust the “God is just” when such an amazing man had probably been given over to eternal condemnation? I didn’t know how to remedy these doubts and alcohol offered its comfort. As long as I drank there was no need to think about such things and I was able to ignore all these lurking thoughts. (More on that in “sobriety”)

In late 2008 I began an attempt to renew my relationship with Christ. I began attending church but only periodically. In 2009 it was suggested to me that I may be an alcoholic and that I should check out Alcoholics Anonymous. After a month or two of attending meetings the Coast Guard transferred me to Cape May, NJ. It was in Cape May that I finally did get sober and really turned my will and my life over to the care of God.

The first year was a struggle, I believed that God existed, that He cared for me, and that He was intimately involved in my life but I still struggled to believe in the Bible and the concept of Heaven and Hell. I was still holding on to the pain of losing my grandfather and the thought of him in Hell. In October of 2010 I reunited with Sugar Bear (we met in 2002) and he suggested we meet up at the church we first met at in ’02. Well, that is went from “seeking” to “found.”

The pastor was talking about the things we hold onto that separate us from Christ. As I was listening, I just kept thinking, “not liking the idea of Hell is what’s keeping me from Christ.” As we were praying a peace came over me. I do not need to know where each person that I love is going when they die, that is between them and God. God is just and  everyone deserves separation from God but he extends His grace to those who will receive it. I hope that my Papa received Christ’s salvation before he died and I will not know that until I stand in glory; no matter what, God is just and His mysteries are not for me to know.

The last few years have been one wild ride! Christ has been slowly stripping away the things that distract or hinder my relationship with Him. Each day I grow closer and closer to Him as He restores our relationship to the way it is supposed to be.

Taquito Night!

Yay! My first recipe blog! Today I created 2 different types of taquitos. Unfortunately, I picked up my camera to take a picture and it didn't want to turn on :( So I took a few pictures on photobooth. I apologize for the lack of photos and poor quality of the photos I do have. So, here we go!

I had some lentils in the fridge and wanted something easy but not lentil tacos (which I make OFTEN) So, I decided to make some lentil and potato taquitos. Since they are wrapped in a tortilla, they are mexican-esque if served with salsa but they could also be labeled as Indian taquitos and would be fantastic served with a masala sauce.

First I made the "taco seasoning:"

1.5 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder (which I wouldn't have used had I remembered I had onions)

Mix it all together and it looks something like this

Next I got started on the lentils:
1.5 cups cooked and drained lentils
1/4 an onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small potato (chopped into small cubes)
1 tsp canola oil (or cooking spray)

1.Heat a pan and oil until hot.
2. Add onion and garlic, sauté until just before onions are clear.
3. Toss in the potatoes and cook until lightly browned then add about 1/2 a cup of water to allow them to finish cooking
4. add lentils and seasoning and mix well

I would have a picture here but I didn't want to carry my huge cast iron skillet over to the computer

WRAP IT UP

Lay down a tortilla, put about 1/4 cup of filling in a line on one end of the tortilla

Roll it up starting on the end the filling is on and place loose end down on a baking sheet (I used my pampered chef stone)

brush some oil on them and pop them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and cook with the door slightly ajar for another minute to get taquitos extra crisp.

Voila!

I served mine with salsa b/c I had extra salsa that needed to be used. I'm sure my husband will eat his with sour cream when I take it to him. But, like I said, they'd be great indian style with some type of masala sauce

Taquito night can't be complete without some dessert taquitos! Plus, I had some extra sweet potatoes and carrots that needed to be used so I threw together some sweet potato and carrot dessert tacos.

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes

1/4 cup baby carrots or copped carrots

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp all spice

1/8 tsp cloves

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp brown sugar

1. wash and chop the potatoes  into medium chunks

2. add potatoes and carrots to a pot of boiling water

3. When potatoes are tender (a fork should stick in them quite easily) drain the potatoes

4. replace potatoes and carrots back into the pot and mash them with a potato masher until smooth (some chunks are ok)

5. add all the spices

6. mix it all up and fill tortillas like above

7. brush taquitos with melted butter and dust with cinnamon and sugar

Bake them just like the other taquitos. 

Ta-Da!

The sweet potato ones remind me of a mix between pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole. Either way, they are delicious....though some vegan whipped cream would make them even better :)

 Please let me know if you try these and what you think! :)

Following Christ:The thrill of Hope

Trying to figure out how to add pages/tabs.....I will add actual information to this once I figure that out