Chocolate minty nut bars

Here's a wonderful and joyously healthy bar.

  chocolate and mint, living in harmony!

can you believe this taste infusion?

Chocolate Minty Nut Bars

1 cup Nut butter of your choice

1 cup syrup, brown rice, barley, maple...

5 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate (can use carob chips)

1-2 tsp MINT extract (or about 5 drops of peppermint essential oil)

4 cups flaked cereal such as Nature's path millet rice cereal or raisin bran

1 cup chopped nuts

1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ

1/4 cup hemp hearts (optional)

Heat nut butter and syrup over medium-low heat (or with double boiler). Stir in chocolate until melted. Mix in cereal, nuts and bran.  Press into a lightly oiled pan and refrigerate until firm.  Cut into bars. enjoy!

for more Great and healthy recipes, 

go to Diet, Desserts and Dogs - Wellness Weekend!

30 Days of Yoga!

I stumbled upon Lindsay's 30 days of yoga challenge  at her blog cook.vegan.lover. and I am SO ready!!  It can be from 10 minutes to 2 hours a day...

Starts November 1st. 

whos in?!

shanti  shanti  shanti

peace peace peace

did the dream come true?

This is a hopeful dream journal entry from about 7 years ago...

6 years later, we finally had our home, with a big back yard, but no land yet! Its still in the goal book. 

however, the second arrow, learning tricks thru wwoofing? 

yes. I have. and for that, my garden and soul are thankful!

 

I was single then, and starting to really want a partner in this world, and kiddos.

This was ripped out of somewhere and given to my by my friend, Hope.  

what a lovely verse! 

I am really happy with what I have today.  

... but soon, that happiness will be realized by a hot woodstove in this room where I type, and a solar panel on the roof...

is my next hope!

5 healthy meals I am SO glad my kid will eat!

 on the minds of mothers everywhere:

how can I stuff healthy food stuffs into my kid?

I am grateful that my girl will eat all these super healthy dishes... 

in some the health is hidden and some not so much.

1.  Chili.   

What an excellent way to pack so much protein into a delicious meal!

my secret chili ingredients include:  sweet potato,  agave nectar, and a little bit of dark chocolate!!  yes sir. try it. 
can easily be vegan with a little tweaking.

 
This kid LOves it!

2.  Chocolate pudding made from: 

1 avocado,  

1 ripe banana,  

2 tbsp cocoa powder,  

1 tbsp maple syrup, 

a little milk (of any kind) or cream or yogurt 

3. Juiced Juice!

take the nutrition out of all these wonderful fresh veggies and fruit, place in one cup and...

YOU GET a Vampire out of the deal!!

 

 

lookit the wonderful rainbow of goodness

4.  Root Soups

cooked carrots, squash, or sweet potato. Sauteed onion and garlic. Blended up with Soup stock.  optional add cream.  sooo so good!

5.  Macaroni/Noodles with cheese sauce 

This sauce consists of cooked, blended Giant white Beans, cream cheese, nutritional yeast, almond milk.  

I try to pack the goodness into her mac 'n cheese sauce!

Often I put pureed squash, butternut is the best... 
quinoa, brown rice, or whole wheat pasta.  Attie only likes elbows for some reason! 

This kid is a Bean liker!

so, beans is number 6.  

Chick peas, black beans, Giant Whites... 

she eats em outta the pot/can! 

What are You glad your kid or partner will eat?

Three good stumps on a fall time trek.

 

The colors are just glorious.

stopped to smell the flowers

Heya Rio

one good Stump...


two good stumps!

neat crib board in a tree stump downtown

THREE good stumps.

a working sundial!  he had to change the lines quite often throughout the summer.

almost 5 o'clock!

time to go home and make Zuchinni Fritters for supper! 


Crispy fall time. I love it!

how to make a DOLL'S shirt from adult t-shirt

 Attie has found a new best friend... Murial Moss "went on a vacation" (who knows where)                 

                so , Here's Bubbles!

 

problem is, Bubbles had no shirt. 

so I made a quick shirt for her out of old t-shirts.  Tee shirt material is good because it is stretchy.

Most of Attie's dolls have huge heads and bodies to fit the shirt over, 

so stretchy is better than bustin' stitches when putting on and taking off!

Here's how:  

Find the part of the shirt that you like the most for the main body of the shirt.

Cut out two identical pieces this shape. 

Estimate the size, or cut big at first and use the doll to correct the size.

 I sewed a little patch on the back of the shirt (right)

 Right sides together, sew the sides of the shirt.

cut out sleeves from another part of the shirt.  

Use a part where there is a fold, like the top of the sleeve or the side of the shirt

Sew the bottom of the sleeve, right sides together.

 Sew sleeves on starting from the arm pit up... and back around

 Sew the other one on.

Here's what you might have now, inside out.

I re-inforced the top of the sleeves with some back n forth sewing action.

 et, Voila.

Now try it on the doll and HOPe it fits!! 

wahooo!

 

then take her for a walk... says Attie.

Forgiveness boot

refrigerator pickles

 This recipe is from my great auntie Bernie.  She loves to create things.  from the kitchen to the knitting needles to the rug hoop! (her husband tells her to stop making rugs, they have too many, but she refuses!)  I wish I could just know all she knows.  These days, she is loosing control of her body to Parkinsons, but I still find her at her sewing machine when I go to visit! She also makes sure I leave with a huge box of yarn, half finished quilts, kitchen utensils... whatever she has ready to give me!  Sweet folks. They live on my great grandfather's original homestead!

They're really yummy pickles. You don't have to worry about sterilizing jars and having them seal properly, instead you need to worry about having room in your fridge!  
This year, I put them in quart mason jars cuz an ice cream pail just takes up too much space!

pumpkin pie pie

 

just a rollin'

here's a good way someone taught me to get the floppy flat dough onto the pie plate

Use the rollin' pin.

 can ya taste it?

 Smell it?

from scratch.

puree: 1 cup of roasted pumpkin (or any other squash!)

   add:  2 eggs,  2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg)

           2/3 cup evaporated milk, 1 tsp vanilla 

mix well. pour into pie crust. preheat oven to 425F. bake for 10 mins, then turn oven down to 375 for another 30 mins. 

I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow morn!!