earth mama – Peaceful Reader

Cooking with Love

One of my favorite things is to make food whether it be just for me or for friends here for dinner. I like both the complicated and the uncomplicated recipes. My mother and grandmother loved to cook. When I lived with my grandmother she would chide me if I didn’t offer to make visitors like my uncles a sandwich. My young brain thought “they are grown ass men; they can get their own sandwiches” and now while I still agree with that sentiment I do love to welcome people into my home with a good meal.

My husband’s job changed over the last month and we’ve been able to spend time with friends more in the evening because he’s not in rehearsal every night. I’ve made a handful of great recipes that you might like.

I made this delicious Chicken Korma recipe from Tea for Turmeric a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit. I’m technically. not a meat eater but if I can find it from a local farm then I’m okay with it. I could have substituted tofu but my husband eats many vegetarian meals for me so I decided to switch it up. He loves Indian food and he liked this dish. I served it with a side of brown rice and some roti bread.

One night in January I had some women friends over to play cards and I made this black bean soup from Cookie + Kate with fresh bread. It was delicious and easy and I’ve now made it two more times. I’ve really stepped into the Blue Zones idea of eating beans or lentils as much as I can. The first time I made this I used the 4 cans of beans it calls for but for the second time I actually cooked dried black beans in my slow cooker while I was laboring away at school. It was worth it to make my own for the recipe but the cans definitely made the recipe quicker. I served this with lots of toppings like avocado, green onions, crumbled feta cheese, blue chips, and sour cream.

Tonight I made a stir-fry that was very flavorful. I was hungry for tofu and quinoa so I Googled those two ingredients and came up with Sesame Tofu Quinoa Bowl from The Almond Eater. I swapped the broccoli for cauliflower and adding in edamame. We had broccoli last night with some homemade mac and cheese. Also because I don’t like plastic bags I used a bowl with a lid to marinate the tofu with the Tamari sauce. It worked out great and we ate with chopsticks in front of the fire while we watched Triangle of Sadness~highly recommend the movie as well!

Good food feeds your soul! Bon Appetit!

Oh, I forgot dessert! I’m attempting to step away from sugar but sometimes you just need a good dessert to share with friends. This S’more recipe is a perfect winter treat-I served it with a little cup of Bailey’s.

Thanks and Giving

Gratitude is everything. I don’t feel great about the whole holiday experience surrounding conquerors and Indigenous people. In my vivid imagination I can see what a different world we might be in if only the “pilgrims” had learned from the people already living here on this land.

Greta Thunberg would be living a different reality. We might have created a much simpler life and people wouldn’t be thinking past gratitude to Black Friday. Or planning and prepping the copious amounts of food on this holiday and others as well. We’d eat what we needed and share easily with others.

I feel passionately for the underdog and celebrating a holiday that represents a misguided look at history and what came after is wrong to me. I understand why Abraham Lincoln made it an official holiday (to bring unity to the nation during the Civil War) but when we know better we should do better.

Find ways to connect to the Wampanoag people because they welcomed and helped the first immigrants to survive. Make a donation this year to American Indian College Fund or the First Nations Development Institute. Read a book about Native life such as Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer or books by Joseph Bruchac, Kent Nerburn or Louise Erdrich. Seek out Native authors and Native films. Think about what foods the real Thanksgiving might have had and give that a try. Branch out. Make fry bread or wild rice soup. Check out The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley, the book or the restaurant in Minneapolis.

This PBS article and video are worth exploring. I would love to go one day to Cole’s Hill to be part of this National Day of Mourning. Why can’t we give more land back because in the long run this land will help to save the earth. Returning Native forest land to it’s original intent over commercial property is a win for nature. Native Americans are a thriving community and once again we could learn from them.

I’ve worked on this post on and off during November. Just having a hard time getting all the words out. I feel a turning in as the winter weather marches out and as my thoughts focus on Mother Earth it coincides with my mother’s health issues. I feel a snapping inside myself as time becomes stretched too thin.

My hope is that everyone had a lovely time with family, connecting in a positive spirit and that gratitude was a guest at your table.

We took a quick trip to Chicago to see the oldest daughter Kaylee and ate the most amazing vegan food at The Chicago Diner. Usually vegan and vegetarian people have a small selection (sometimes one choice) on a average menu but here at the diner it was almost overwhelming as Kaylee put it because everything was an option and it all sounded delicious. Even our one meat-loving papa enjoyed his vegan Radical Reuben sandwich.

What I’ve cooked: This amazing pumpkin soup from Cookie and Kate. I made it with canned pumpkin and it still tasted like all the goodness of the earth.

What I’ve read: I just finished The Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet and I highly recommend. It coincides so well with how I’m feeling right now. We, the children, are the caretakers and our children will be the radical change-makers.

What I’ve watched: Fell in love with Ted Lasso (totally late to the game here), trying to finish up Outlander because the book arrived on my doorstep the other day, and began watching the Shadow and Bone series with Groovy Girl because the Leigh Bardugo books were thrilling!

I am grateful to each and everyone of my readers. I appreciate the comments, texts, and connections I’ve made through my posts. Peace be with you this month and into the next as we avoid more over abundance. Be well in spirit and mind.

Hello April

We are happy you are here! I love all the seasons for a variety of different reasons and Spring has special qualities as the earth wakes back up sending green shoots out everywhere. It’s about coming back to life after the long winter deep sleep. And yet even though it feels like Spring today with birds chirping, warm weather mixed with a little rain ~ Groovy Girl doing homework outside at the patio table ~ we have to be ready for anything as last year we had a heavy snow fall right in the middle of April. I’ll wait until May 1st to take off my snow tires.

In my last two posts I’ve put my thoughts out there about garbage bags and the need to find one that composts everything inside of it. I want to take this idea one step farther and propose that all new plastic items be made out of plastic that already exists. I am a huge recycler of everything the recycling center says that I can recycle. My family and research shows that our recycling program is a bit broken. Landfills are overflowing and people all around the globe produce way too much trash. Too many single use items everywhere. So my proposal means that all single use items like those stupid crinkly plastic bottles should be universally created from existing plastic already out there. This would give purpose to recycling again.

People could get paid for bringing in pounds of plastic collected instead of it ending up in our waterways and eventually the ocean. This reuse idea would use far less petroleum and while factories would need to restructure to be able to reuse the plastic instead of creating new ~ it would be worth it because there would be a constant influx of old going to make new. And I still think some plastic items just need to go like plastic grocery bags. Kudos to cities that have already banned them and stores that encourage you to use what you have or what they offer like boxes. Perfect. I would decree this if I were to be elected president or Queen.

Oh, it just started to pour outside and I love that sound. That is a sound of Spring ~ hopefully not enough to cause any floods. Groovy Girl and I are on just a major rush of trying to find healthy ways to live our life without being earth destroyers. She’s interested in finding sustainable and recycled clothes. It’s just good to think about ways we can all be more earth-friendly.

I spent the weekend out of town in the major metropolis of Davenport, part of what is known as the Quad Cities. Groovy Girl had a dance competition event on Saturday. We found a good Asian place to eat and had a lot of good mama/daughter time. I had fun watching all the dancing but it also gives me a good chance to read. I am almost finished with Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Wow. This was my Book of the Month Club selection for March and if this is a sign of what’s to come I am very happy. This novel is so good and fun to read. I have about 3 friends in mind to pass it on to after my husband finishes it. It’s a lot of sex, drugs, and rock and roll so it isn’t for everyone but for me, it took me places I hadn’t thought about for years. So beautiful.

Happy peaceful week everyone!