Showing posts with label whole foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whole foods. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2014
Re-Inspired
It's been a few months since I've posted here. I seem to always start trying to post more of my creative things on another, separate blog but I always seem to come back to here I have recently become re-inspired to start posting here again and following through with why I created this blog in the first place. When I started this blog about five and a half years ago, it was to start living a more healthy and natural life while creating handcrafted things. Through the craziness of life, my follow through waxes and wanes.
I have started creating mandalas and "zentangling". I have finally learned what zentangling is and love that I can be creative and do meditation at the same time. I have been posting my creations at my other blog, http://pixiewindow.blogspot.com. My latest creations are below:
I am also re-inspired to change my eating. I have been working on changing what and how I eat, and it's been a challenge. With the new year starting, I am joining up the with the 100 days of real food challenge. I am also trying to work more on how to add why I write about in this blog into my professional life. I love who I work for, but I don't love working in the nursing home arena any more. I want to do something more with nutrition and creativity and now that I have my LICSW, I feel like I have more options. I feel like I need to make more changes in my personal life so that I can be more credible in my professional life.
I would love to have a place where I can have a creative arts studio and a kitchen and garden where I can teach about nutrition and where food comes from. I would love to have a place where people, especially children, can come and learn how to eat healthy and learn where food comes from and what different types of foods there are and how to create healthy delicious food that they will enjoy. I also want to teach ways of being creative and how to use creativity for relaxation and meditation.
Someday, if I keep trying to figure it out, I will find a way to have my passions be part of both my personal and my professional life. I'll, hopefully be writing more about my plans and what I learn. I'm sure I'll continue posting on pixiewindow.blogspot.com, but I will be sure to continue to be active here and post about my mandala, zentangle, gardening, and cooking and eating healthy.
Best Wishes on living a balanced, handmade and natural life<
Amy
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
"Unprocessed October"
I'm taking some inspiration from my Facebook friend and fellow twin mom over at http://bonusrounds.blogspot.com and challenging myself to follow through with my reasons for starting this blog. For the most part, I shop the perimeter of the store. I tend to try to make my own foods, but lately have become lazier than I would like. I have also become lazy with my dairy free, gluten free diet. With this being October 1st and the start of the fall season, I am challenging myself to really be focused on what we eat and how much of it is processed versus how much I make myself.
One thing I have started making from scratch is yogurt. I used the "recipe" over at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html and have loved how it comes out. It is definitely thinner than store bought yogurt, but guess what? All you have to do is strain it and then you have greek yogurt and it is delicious, thick and Creamy!
I plan to make my own gluten free bread today after I get home from a play date. Unfortunately it is from a mix, but I had already bought it and don't want to waste it. I plan on making up my own gluten free pancake mix, my own granola and granola bars, maybe even my own nut milk. I am hoping to get back in the habit of cooking healthy foods for my family.
Along with cooking, I am also planning on continuing to research more about art therapy and how I can make it a career. Being creative is something that is very important to me, including being creative in the kitchen. Being as natural as possible is very important to me. I am hoping to get back on track with following my beliefs and living a handmade and natural life as much as possible. As the title of my blog states, there is definitely a balance, but my goal is to be more natural than processed!
Amy
One thing I have started making from scratch is yogurt. I used the "recipe" over at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html and have loved how it comes out. It is definitely thinner than store bought yogurt, but guess what? All you have to do is strain it and then you have greek yogurt and it is delicious, thick and Creamy!
I plan to make my own gluten free bread today after I get home from a play date. Unfortunately it is from a mix, but I had already bought it and don't want to waste it. I plan on making up my own gluten free pancake mix, my own granola and granola bars, maybe even my own nut milk. I am hoping to get back in the habit of cooking healthy foods for my family.
Along with cooking, I am also planning on continuing to research more about art therapy and how I can make it a career. Being creative is something that is very important to me, including being creative in the kitchen. Being as natural as possible is very important to me. I am hoping to get back on track with following my beliefs and living a handmade and natural life as much as possible. As the title of my blog states, there is definitely a balance, but my goal is to be more natural than processed!
Amy
Monday, June 4, 2012
Being Creative
I have been trying to make a point to be creative often, almost every day if not every day. With the weather getting nicer, I am spending more time outside with the kids. I have been able to bring some projects outside with me, which has allowed me to create as well as allow my kids to be outside which they love.
Recently, I have been making dolls, or at least attempting to make dolls. I remember loving dolls as a child, especially the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that my grandmother made for us. I remember having life-size Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls as well as small ones. I was lucky enough to have a Raggedy Ann doll for my daughter and a Raggedy Andy doll for each of my sons, made by my grandmother. I actually have to make a Raggedy Andy outfit for my twin son's Raggedy Andy. I am hoping to create some dolls for charity, as well as for fun.
The more I create, the more I realize that I love doing it. I know that I need to make time to have this as part of my life. I am hoping to make being creative a major part of my life, and not just something that I do when I find the time. I know that I need to start spending time actually getting good at a craft before I move on to something else. There are many times that I think that I have ADD, seriously, and the creative arena is o different. I flit from one project to another, never committing to fully learning and fully succeeding at the one I am working on. I want to stop being average at the things I create and start being proficient at it.
I also want to start getting more creative in my cooking. The farmer's market in town is starting in a couple of weeks and I hope to start buying more local foods and start being more creative with it. Between my BRCA2 gene mutation (I think I have decided against surgery, at least for now) and my son recently being diagnosed with PDD NOS, I really need to watch what we are eating. My goal is again to eat more local and to eat way more fruits and veggies (little to no animal protein for me due to the BRCA2 mutation), and decrease, maybe even totally eliminate gluten and dairy (we again have greatly reduced it, but not totally eliminated it, both my oldest and I are sensitive to it). Part of my problem with cooking lately, is that I am bored and not feeling very creative with my cooking. I am hoping to get inspired by going to local farmer's markets and even just walking around. I am hoping to find some good cookbooks and some good online sites that can help to inspire me.
I am hoping to find a job at the end of the summer that will be able to take into account my love of creating. I am under no illusion that there may not be anything out there like that, but I would love to try to find something. I still have a few more years before I go back to work full time. I hope by then, I can figure out how I can do work that I love instead of just working for a paycheck. I do like being a social worker, but I don't love it. My husband thinks that it is just because of fear of doing 1:1 counseling, but that is not it. I don't know that I want to do 1:1 counseling! I'm not really sure I know what I want to do, but I really want to wake up and want to go to work. Hopefully I can figure out a way for that to happen.
Amy
Recently, I have been making dolls, or at least attempting to make dolls. I remember loving dolls as a child, especially the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that my grandmother made for us. I remember having life-size Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls as well as small ones. I was lucky enough to have a Raggedy Ann doll for my daughter and a Raggedy Andy doll for each of my sons, made by my grandmother. I actually have to make a Raggedy Andy outfit for my twin son's Raggedy Andy. I am hoping to create some dolls for charity, as well as for fun.
My attempt at a Waldorf doll
Baby Bows Doll in the outfits that my twins came home from the hospital in. I still need to make one for my oldest!
A sleepytime doll that I made for my niece for her Christening
The more I create, the more I realize that I love doing it. I know that I need to make time to have this as part of my life. I am hoping to make being creative a major part of my life, and not just something that I do when I find the time. I know that I need to start spending time actually getting good at a craft before I move on to something else. There are many times that I think that I have ADD, seriously, and the creative arena is o different. I flit from one project to another, never committing to fully learning and fully succeeding at the one I am working on. I want to stop being average at the things I create and start being proficient at it.
I also want to start getting more creative in my cooking. The farmer's market in town is starting in a couple of weeks and I hope to start buying more local foods and start being more creative with it. Between my BRCA2 gene mutation (I think I have decided against surgery, at least for now) and my son recently being diagnosed with PDD NOS, I really need to watch what we are eating. My goal is again to eat more local and to eat way more fruits and veggies (little to no animal protein for me due to the BRCA2 mutation), and decrease, maybe even totally eliminate gluten and dairy (we again have greatly reduced it, but not totally eliminated it, both my oldest and I are sensitive to it). Part of my problem with cooking lately, is that I am bored and not feeling very creative with my cooking. I am hoping to get inspired by going to local farmer's markets and even just walking around. I am hoping to find some good cookbooks and some good online sites that can help to inspire me.
I am hoping to find a job at the end of the summer that will be able to take into account my love of creating. I am under no illusion that there may not be anything out there like that, but I would love to try to find something. I still have a few more years before I go back to work full time. I hope by then, I can figure out how I can do work that I love instead of just working for a paycheck. I do like being a social worker, but I don't love it. My husband thinks that it is just because of fear of doing 1:1 counseling, but that is not it. I don't know that I want to do 1:1 counseling! I'm not really sure I know what I want to do, but I really want to wake up and want to go to work. Hopefully I can figure out a way for that to happen.
Amy
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Making the Switch
Yes, I have decided to wrote about my diet changes on this blog. At one point, I had started another blog just to talk about my diet changes, but I just don't have enough time to write on too many blogs. I've finally decided that I am going to fully commit to changing my diet, which means that I am going to have to eliminate a lot of foods, and a lot of foods that I really enjoy eating. I am hoping that I see some positive results from changing my diet so that I will be motivated to continue.
The more research I do, and the more critical thinking I do about diet, the more I realize just how much your diet plays in your overall health. There are so many different food/diet philosophies out there, and I'm not really sure that there is one right diet for everyone. The one thing that I do believe is that whole food cooking is the only way to really be healthy. Although I have to admit that I do not eat this way all the time, my newest goal is to always, or at least as often as possible, eat whole foods. By this I mean, I am going to cook my food from whole ingredients, not buy pre-made or processed foods. This has been my goal all along, especially when I started this blog. Some where along the way, this goal got lost and I stopped writing about it and I stopped really even thinking about it.
I've written before that I think I may have issues with Candida. This stems from issues I've had dating back to at least 2000 (whish is when I first saw a doctor for my digestive issues), and probably a number of years prior to that. The Candida issue makes the results of my blood test seem even more likely to be true. One of my sensitivities is to yeast as well as gluten, wheat, and other gluten containing foods. I have definitely had issues with long term anti-biotic use. When I was in high school, and I am having my 20th reunion this year, I had chronic urinary tract infections, for which I was placed on anti-biotics prophylacticly. I was even doing test for infections at home so that I didn't have to actually go to the doctor's office for a test. Then I was also on medication for acne as a teen. What I really should be doing is following an anti-candida diet and see if that clears up some of my issues.
This is going to be a long road. I've written often about my struggles with giving up certain foods. I've also written a little about how I feel that I have an addcition to these foods. There is some thought that once you clear up Candida and you heal your gut, you will be able to tolerate at least some of these foods once in a while. My concern is that if I go back to eating these foods once I heal, will I just be setting myself up to fail, just like a drug addict or an alcoholic who thinks that they can have just one? I probably shouldn't be looking this far ahead, but I am thinking that I also need to plan for the future. I believe that it will take some time to heal my gut and get rid of the issues that I am dealing with, but I think that I am finally at a point where not only do I want to do this, but I am really interested in making it fun and not looking at it as if I am losing something, but as a way to gain new receipes and try new foods!
Amy
The more research I do, and the more critical thinking I do about diet, the more I realize just how much your diet plays in your overall health. There are so many different food/diet philosophies out there, and I'm not really sure that there is one right diet for everyone. The one thing that I do believe is that whole food cooking is the only way to really be healthy. Although I have to admit that I do not eat this way all the time, my newest goal is to always, or at least as often as possible, eat whole foods. By this I mean, I am going to cook my food from whole ingredients, not buy pre-made or processed foods. This has been my goal all along, especially when I started this blog. Some where along the way, this goal got lost and I stopped writing about it and I stopped really even thinking about it.
I've written before that I think I may have issues with Candida. This stems from issues I've had dating back to at least 2000 (whish is when I first saw a doctor for my digestive issues), and probably a number of years prior to that. The Candida issue makes the results of my blood test seem even more likely to be true. One of my sensitivities is to yeast as well as gluten, wheat, and other gluten containing foods. I have definitely had issues with long term anti-biotic use. When I was in high school, and I am having my 20th reunion this year, I had chronic urinary tract infections, for which I was placed on anti-biotics prophylacticly. I was even doing test for infections at home so that I didn't have to actually go to the doctor's office for a test. Then I was also on medication for acne as a teen. What I really should be doing is following an anti-candida diet and see if that clears up some of my issues.
This is going to be a long road. I've written often about my struggles with giving up certain foods. I've also written a little about how I feel that I have an addcition to these foods. There is some thought that once you clear up Candida and you heal your gut, you will be able to tolerate at least some of these foods once in a while. My concern is that if I go back to eating these foods once I heal, will I just be setting myself up to fail, just like a drug addict or an alcoholic who thinks that they can have just one? I probably shouldn't be looking this far ahead, but I am thinking that I also need to plan for the future. I believe that it will take some time to heal my gut and get rid of the issues that I am dealing with, but I think that I am finally at a point where not only do I want to do this, but I am really interested in making it fun and not looking at it as if I am losing something, but as a way to gain new receipes and try new foods!
Amy
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