Under the Williamsburg bridge..

...there is a great little store called Brook Farm General Store. When you happen to be under the Williamsburg bridge, located in Brooklyn, NY, stop in! It's a fun place to shop.

But I'm guessing most of you won't be in this location anytime soon, so here's a glimpse of what they sell. And the good news is you can visit their website and buy just about everything online. Brook Farm General Store

In my never ending quest for organization and simplicity in my home, the styling and quality of their product selection is very inspiring to me. Take a look!

Tourne Wool Blanket

Glass Tumblers made from recycled Franciscan wine bottles

Fog Linen Table Cloths

Woven hamper/basket

Whiskey Rocks. Substitute for ice cubes but for hot and cold beverages - love these!!

Savon Rose DeMarseille/Soap

Simple Home, book by Mark and Sally Bailey

Homeade bees wax candles

Cutting Board

Large market backpack - great idea!

Made by Joel

Joel Henriques is an artist and he also makes toys for his kids.  The toys are brilliant, and they are designed to be simple enough to make yourself (or to have a handy husband make) with basic items like wood, paper, glue, paint.  Everything he does is clever and also modern in a cool, earthy way.

His book is coming out this year and it will showcase 35 how-to toy and craft projects. In the meantime, check out his site www.madebyjoel.com for details and instructions on all his crafts. 

I'm telling you, this guy may be the next Melissa and Doug!

 A few great examples of his toys and crafts. 

See what I mean? How lucky are his kids!

Hip Chick Macrobotics

I thought I'd share what I'm reading these days. I have a huge stack of books I want to get through this winter, and this one has kept my attention for days: The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter. It's an easy read and very funny. Jessica starts out the book talking about taking a class on Macrobiotics in NYC and wanting to run for the hills because everyone was a weirdo (but ultimately ended up fully embracing the diet and writing this book obviously).

Personally, I've never paid any attention to macrobiotics because it's a grain focused diet and I've always had trouble with gluten grains. That said, it's similar to a vegan diet but more flexible in a way so I wanted to look a little deeper. The diet and philosophy center around the yin and yang energies of food and how they effect our bodies. It's really fascinating.  People who follow this diet, unlike other diets, claim to be healthier (as all diets do) but also seem calm, balanced and frankly,  just plain happy.  Now I'm not ready to dive in head first, but I'm intrigued. I like the idea of sticking to whole grains, fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables (this one is tricky), beans, soups, and sometimes animal products.

 

Here's a great excerpt for all of us living in the Northeast:

"WINTER:    Imagine your winter coat. Gloves. Seeing your breath. Cold air on your cheeks. Our part of the planet has pulled away from the sun so it becomes extremely cold, which creates contraction. Everything is dark, and all the living things go inward. Trees have pulled their sap in and down. Bears hibernate. People go to indoor parties, huddling together for a type of warmth they don't even know they are seeking. The weather outside is extremely yin (cold/dark) and that produces a yang response in us; our bodies fight to stay warm, active, and gathered. We are literally floating in an in-between that eventually becomes the strong expansion of spring."

"In winter we need to stay warm. More oil, hearty soups, animal food, and rice bean dishes are necessary in a five season climate. Baking feels comforting. Even deep frying is appropriate for sealing warmth into the body. Buckwheat, beans, sea vegetables, and good quality salt are all the very nourishing to the kidneys, bladder and reproductive organs - the most strongly charged by winter's inward, floating energy"

Isn't this fascinating and doesn't it make so much sense? I'm only a quarter of the way through the book but my rice cooker is on the way.  She suggests trying this diet out by just changing one meal a day to an all grain meal. I love brown rice, so this is easy for me.  We'll see if I take it any further.  I'll let you all know how it goes....

Btw, if you want to learn more quickly without getting the book, Jessica has a great website - www.hipchicksmacrobiotics.com.

It's official. Winter is here.

I realized today that the weather we've experienced so far up here in the corners of Massachusetts has not really been winter. Winter is what we had today and yesterday. It's not the throw on a coat and hat and a pair of flats type weather we've been lucky enough to have the past few weeks. 

Winter up here is a wear all your layers, slushy-muck on the streets, dry skin,  windshield scraping, cold catching time of the year. There are positives too of course, but since I don't ski, I don't count them.

That said, I'm trying to get into the spirit.  Which basically means getting out the slow cooker, UGGS and NorthFace gear and putting away all my pretty shoes and hats.

Luckily I love the slow cooker in the winter so I spent some time today researching some new recipes to try. The recipe I posted below happens to be from a great Gluten Free Blog. Doesn't it look delicious? I love the combo of garlic, tomatoes and pomegranate (I know what you're thinking, pomegranate and beef???). I'm going to try this one as soon as I can locate a large chunk of grass-fed beef. Karina also references the slow cooker book, Make it Fast, Cook it Slow in her blog.  I think this book was written specifically for me to help me through these tough winter months. Fast, easy, fresh, natural, and slow to cook in the slow-cooker. Perfect.

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce Recipe

1 1/2 to 2 pounds grass fed beef or buffalo roast or steak, fat trimmed if necessary
Sea salt
Light olive oil, as needed
1 onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 14-oz can Muir Glen fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar- omit for yeast-free
1/8 cup pure maple syrup- or use agave to keep it lower glycemic
1/2 cup fresh cranberries or golden raisins
1 teaspoon dried French herb mix or Bouquet Garni
A small pinch of cinnamon

Salt the beef on all sides. Wait a few minutes. Get your slow cooker situated and turned on to High.
Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides to sear in the flavor, using long tongs to turn the pieces. This doesn't take but maybe five minutes, or so. Remove the beef and set aside.
Add a small dash of olive oil to the crock. Add in sliced onion and garlic. Stir to coat with the olive oil. Place the beef on top. Pour in the pomegranate juice, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Add the cranberries or raisins, dried herbs, a pinch of cinnamon, sea salt and ground pepper. Stir a little bit to co-mingle ingredients. Cover and let the magic happen- about 4 to 5 hours.
 

By the way, you may be wondering - why am I posting recipes about beef when I started off this blog talking about veganism? I'm not alienating the vegan diet. I do hope to evolve more towards a vegan diet in the summer months, but in the winter time when it's cold, I decided that I need warming foods. My acupuncturist talks alot about this.  There are people who have warm body types (Chinese medicine talk) that can handle lighter fare and colder foods all year round, and then there are bodies that are cooler and need the strength of warmer, cooked food. Meat is very grounding  and warm in nature and really helps add bulk to a meal. So although my mind embraces the philosophy of veganism, my body really needs heartier food, especially in the winter. That said, when I do eat meat, I am very careful now about the quality, cleanliness and humane farming practice used to produce it. I refuse to support anything factory farmed.

Veganism: Can a busy mom really do it?

So the foodie news: I've decided to try a gluten vegan diet. I've been bouncing around between diets for a long time, some work well, but are hard to stick too, some work for a few weeks and then stop working. I don't mean weight loss by the way, I mean health improvement, better energy etc. So maybe this is my diet of the month, but after reading Eating Animals this past week I can't turn back.  Brutal book. A good friend of mine said no one is the same after reading this book. She's right. If I eat meat now it will be from the farm down the road, where I can see the animals and their happy existence before their time comes. That said, I've had a hard time digesting meat anyway since I had my daughter, so I thought why not really try the vegan thing? Here's why -  the hurdle is very simple - it means thinking about menus, planning ahead and cooking more. For a busy mom who doesn't like to overdo the time I spend in the kitchen, this is my challenge. The other hard part is getting the protein in, and feeling full. Which is why I'm not making any promises here. I feel very inspired but then again, I know it's going to be hard, and I may crack. Wish me luck.

The first great blog I came across, by Gluten Free Hippie, I found a beautiful picture of hummus and a good recipe I will try this week. Maybe tomorrow. Check it out..doesn't this look delicious...blogs and books and recipe and photos like this one will inspire me....I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's the recipe from GFHippie's blog:


3 cups chickpeas, cooked and deskinned (yes she really means it, I think she's onto something, maybe they're easier to digest this way!)
4 Tb. very thick tahini
1/4 water
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (add less oil and more water if you're cutting fat)
3 Tb. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt, to taste
1/2 tsp. Hungarian paprika
2 cloves roasted garlic
pinch of white pepper

In the food processor, add everything but the olive oil. Blend until mostly smooth, and then drizzle the oil in an even stream until everything is creamy. Garnish with olive oil, paprika, and some salted, dried olives.

A Grateful Heart

The title reads: This book is full of daily blessings for the evening meal from Buddha to the Beatles. 

I bring this book out every Thanksgiving and choose a new blessing every year. Below is the blessing I chose today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Now every living thing, young or old, 

weak or strong, living near or far, 

known or unknown, living or 

departed or yet unborn, 

may every living thing be full of bliss.

Buddha Blessing

Book Review: Everyday blessings. The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting

This is an amazing book. Period.

Someone gave me this book when my son was first born, and I have to say this book has been monumental for me in offering insight and just basic common sense in how to parent. To me, it's been like a very wise relative you can call when you just don't know what your going to do and you feel like your kids are going to literally going to crack you. It's saved me. It shifts me immediately into my better self, a calm, rational, wiser self that can see a situation for what it is and the possible underlying causes, instead of always being in "reacting" mode, or "stressed mom" mode. Here's a quote:

"Becoming a parent may happen on purpose or by accident, but how it comes about, parenting itself is a calling. It calls us to recreate our world every day, to meet it freshly in every moment. Such a calling is in actuality nothing less than a rigorous spiritual discipline - a quest to realize our truest, deepest nature as a human being. The very fact that we are a parent is continually asking us to find and express what is most nourishing, most loving, most wise and caring in ourselves, to be, as much as we can, our best selves."

It's a great gift to yourself or a new mom. This will be by my bedside for sure this holiday season.