Something Old, Something New...

There you are! (There you are?  No, there YOU are!)  Yes, it's been too long from the time of last post to this one.  I apologize for that.  It's been busy!  (What, you, too??)

This post is dedicated to the art of being resourceful and getting your hands "dirtied" in a little bit of homesteading.  Dirty, or, floured, perhaps.  "Something old" refers to the old-fashioned domestic past-time of making bread, and more abstractly, making one's own food.  "Something new" refers to the manner in which it is done: bread machine.  Is a bread machine a sign of cheating?  Well, maybe.  CuisineArt would say no, right?

Here's the deal.  Making your own food, but in an industrious and time-efficient way, can save you money and boost your confidence.  If you have a grain grinder like a Vita-Mix grain blender or even a non-electric hand grinder, you can extract your own high-quality, high-fiber, highly-nutritious flour from your grain du jour.  Or, you can invest in good pre-milled flours (King Arthur is one that is both readily available and pretty good quality).  Then, use technology to help you out and get yourself a bread maker.  This will save you time, while allowing you to bake bread that is more filled with substantive goodness and none of the preservatives.  Plus, best of all, you really can save money.  That is, unless you're purchasing white bread for $1.29 a loaf, in which case, it is necessary to look at the long-term detrimental health effects of food which has sold its soul to extended shelf life and that mush-able quality of biodegradable packing peanuts.

There is truly an art to eating well while at the same time eating cost-effectively.  For so many busy individuals or families, one of these elements ends up sacrificed upon the altar of convenience.  But the challenge to you today is: how can you realistically claim that which was lost?

Choose one thing in your life that you can make at home, using wisdom and the help of technology or a more simplified processing method.  For example, if you don't have time to make bread (even through the labors of a machine!), experiment with making easy stovetop "pancakes".  Put a "pat" of cold-processed, good quality coconut oil in a pan (or try no fat, just water for a baked effect), and cook upon it this mixture:  1 1/2 cups water, 1 cup or so of nutritious flour of your choice, one egg (or none), a pinch of sea salt, and maybe two tablespoons of honey, if you like.  It's like instant bread, a filling starch, and simply made.  You'll feel almost primitively satisfied as you take your first bite!  Don't worry if it's a little bland - it's nothing that some agave, honey, or even flavored applesauce won't mend.

LIVE FRESH: If you can't make food exactly like great grandma Mabel did in her Iowan farmhouse kitchen, at least try to meet the goal modern-style.  Do what you can - use technology to speed up the time factor of cooking, baking, stewing, fermenting, creating good, healthy, vitality-breeding foods.  Just tell yourself that it's a step closer to being more self-sufficient and getting more out of life and land, like so many of our ancestors did.

Milking Today for All It's Worth

Today was quite the day.  Met with God in the morning through good fellowship.  For that, I was grateful.  We must have regular time to feed our spirits, souls, minds, and bodies.  Today was a day of weighing decisions carefully, and living up "rest."  I believe in rest. I believe in being productive within rest.  Rest is not just a snapshot of a daily schedule, a quick nap in the hammock (but I don't have a hammock, sadly).  Rest is one of the inheritances we get as prized children of God.  If you are familiar with the book of Hebrews, chapter 4 will give you a lot of insight into the particular nature of this rest.  A rested lifestyle.  A rest entered into supernaturally.

Part of this rest means taking a sabbath.  A sabbath is time not spent on anything business-related, or anything of entrepreneurial pursuit - in all abstract connotations, flavors, and angles of that word.  It's taking a break to recharge and regear.  It's also time to reflect on life and to enter into that hidden place with Jesus.  It's a good place.  It feeds me.  It allows me to bless Him with spending time with Him.  He loves that.  I love it, too.  A sabbath is so life-giving!

Too many of us don't respect or observe sabbath.  We've been cultured not to.  We've told ourselves that total productivity and striving will afford us more success and gain.  Yet, is that really true?  Freeze frame here.  Slow everything down.  We need sabbath.  We need to recharge.  You've heard of self-care?  Well, this is it.

Part of my rest today included a quick note to those I love.  Yes, I did go through social media avenues for this, though I much prefer old-fashioned snail mail, in-person chats, and eye-to-eye, voice-to-voice connections. Nevertheless, the outreach accomplished its purpose and I felt more filled for having kept in touch.  Did you take time to reach out to someone you love today?  In the evening I also took a walk with my dear husband in the salty-sea breezes of coastal New England.   For dinner, a delicious freshly-farmed spinach salad was tossed, enjoyed with savory red potatoes steamed and quickly encrusted with Mrs. Dash salt-free spice.  More reading ensued, along with blogging, and several episodes of Man Vs. Wild which features a personally well-respected survivalist, Bear Grylls.  That guy subsists on snake 'sushi' and the harshest conditions - but at least he has his cameraman and crew to stave off the real chills!

LIVE FRESH: Take a sabbath.  Don't fall into the quicksand of daily schedules and no break.  Honor the fact that you need to recharge and drink deeply of good nutrition, fresh air, soul care, and time with the One who created you.  This is your ticket to vibrance.