Many specific diets have come and gone in popularity over the years. We have had the Atkins, Nutrisystem, Bernstein, Zone, Weight Watchers, Mediterranean, South Beach, Raw Foods diets and more. Some are long gone, others still around. The Paleo diet, short for Paleolithic, (think cave man era) is based on what our ancestors supposedly foraged for and lived on centuries ago. I say supposedly because which one of us was around to confirm the info?
It is not that difficult to realize that all the additives, preservatives and other highly processed and or hydrogenated ingredients were not around back then. The Paleo diet urges people to eliminate such items from their meal plans. That includes salt sugar and artificial sweeteners, iodized (table) salt, omega sixoils (unrefined, organic coconut, olive, flaxseed, and avocado are allowed because they are omega 3s), dairy (except butter and ghee which are allowed.)
Beans and legumes (with the exception of green beans and snow peas) are not allowed on a Paleo diet either because they are (for most people) hard to digest. The same applies to starchy vegetables like white potatoes (sweet ones are allowed in moderation) corn and squash, as well as all (even gluten-free) grains. Grains are taboo because of the lectins they contain that trigger allergic and autoimmune responses as well as leaky gut syndrome.
Meats allowed on the Paleo diet are grass fed, pasture raised and organic. Fish choices should be wild or farmed under responsible conditions. Eggs should be free range. Most nuts (except peanuts because they are legumes not nuts) and seeds are allowed too.
This diet is supposed to prevent and eliminate immune responses and many disease states, including cancer. I must admit, other than eliminating dairy (cheese is a personal weakness) beans and gluten free grains like brown rice and quinoa (actually not a grain, but included in that category) my current choice of diet follows these Paleo choices very closely. These choices came from figuring out (over many years) what works (and doesn’t work) for my body. Go figure, here I thought I was unique!
I would love to share my recipes for home made soup. If I had any. I used to make soup for my mother in law years ago. Her only complaint was that I could never produce a recipe for the different varieties. I was just reminded of this dilemma when my daughter in law asked for the recipe for my last batch of home made soup.
Since I was diagnosed with a sensitivity to wheat, I put much more emphasis on ensuring the ingredients I use for my soups (and any other cooking and baking) are completely natural and healthy. No preservatives or artificial ingredients are allowed in these recipes. This is also particularly important if you are sharing your soup with friends or family undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
Most of my soups are meat based, but you could make them to your specific dietary needs or preferences. Here are a few tips.
store large bones from chicken and turkey dinners in ziplock bag in your freezer
also store pan drippings and liquid from vegetables in the freezer. I use a plastic bucket for this purpose and just keep adding to the contents. Don’t be afraid to mix the different meats and vegetables , the mixture adds unique flavor to your soups. As soon as your contributions cool off, the fat will rise to the top and create a layer. You should scrape of this layer (it comes off easily) before you add another one.
On soup making day, place the bones in a large pot, fill the pot with water and simmer for several hours.
Add garlic cloves, a chuck of ginger root and or turmeric (the stuff curry powder comes from), bay leaves or any other seasonings large enough to remove easily. You can use powdered forms at a later stage if you don’t have the fresh stuff handy. I have also added broccoli stalks (frozen, stored in freezer like the broths) at this stage.
After a few hours, remove the bones and seasonings, set aside to cool.
Next add frozen chunks of broth you have stored in the freezer. You now have your base.
When your bones have cooled, pick off any meat from them and add them to the pot. Crush any softened garlic, ginger, adding to the pot. Discard bay leaves if used. Puree or chop broccoli stalks if used. If you are using powdered spices like ginger, garlic, curry powder etc, add it now.
This is the time to add rice, quinoa or barley for added nutrients and chunkiness.
Add vegetables and or legumes. Cherry or grape tomatoes, beans, frozen corn are my favourites. When using beans, I do use canned, but the “no salt added” kind. I rinse them really well before adding to the soup.
If you prefer creamy as opposed to chunky soups, you could puree everything at this stage.
Add salt (I use pink Himalayan) and or pepper to taste.
Add milk (I use almond milk) if your soup is too chunky or thick.
Don’t be afraid to mix up your variations. I prefer the hearty, chunky varieties with lots of ingredients, but others prefer simple broths. I also like lots of garlic and ginger, but reduced these ingredients in my last batch so I could share some with my breastfeeding daughter in law.
If you like to record your recipes (and you might if you share your concoctions) write down what you have added. For some reason, I never think to do so.
The tragedy in Saskatchewan involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team has rocked Canadians this week. Regardless of whether you are a fan of hockey, this story cannot help but move you. The accident between a bus loaded with young hockey players and a truck loaded with peat moss was a hockey parent’s worst nightmare. The parents, families and friends of the 15 victims of the accident are all currently living that nightmare. The rest of us can only shudder in horror imagining how unbelievably awful this past week must have (and continues to be) been for them.
Whether you live in a large city or a small town in Canada, hockey cannot help but touch your life. After all, hockey is Canada’s sport. Whether you play, watch, or coach hockey, serve as team trainer or manager, your involvement in hockey means you love the sport and cannot help but get emotionally involved with your team.
The hockey community is very tight across Canada. Whether we know them personally or not, we all cheer for and keep track of our hometown kids as they grow up and follow their dream to play in the big league. We celebrate and share their victories and achievements. This week we mourn the loss of these talented, hard working, ambitious, young athletes and the adults with them as the Humboldt Broncos team travelled together on their final hockey road trip.
As the country watches, listens and mourns, Canadians and others around the world have stepped up to show their support for the Humboldt Broncos team. A Go Fund Me account has raised over 9 million dollars to date to help the families of the victims. Professional hockey teams and players have offered their condolences. Families are leaving hockey sticks and lights on at their front doors. Students and parents alike are wearing jerseys to school and work.
Nokia Kanata on Jersey Day
As difficult as this tragedy has been to watch unfold, the heartfelt response has made me (even more) proud to be Canadian!
Although National Siblings Day is purported to be an American thing, I am taking it international today, making it a Canadian tradition as well. It seems that large families are a thing of the past. However, when I was young it was much more common. Most of my friends and relatives were members of a large family. This was mine..
In keeping with the times, (but not with the Jones’, that was something different) my poor mother had six children within eight years, as many other mothers did then. My siblings were my first friends, teachers, co-conspirators, adversaries and sometimes even (so we thought at the time) enemies. I cannot imagine being raised in a different dynamic. I am convinced that being raised in such a tight environment turned us all into hard working, ambitious, successful adults. The fact that money was tight and very frugally spent also had a huge impact on the adults we have become.
This picture was taken (almost) 24 years ago, the summer our mother was diagnosed with and died of lung cancer. Living far away from each other, this was the last time all six of us siblings have been together. We came the closest last summer when five of six of us got together to celebrate my eldest son’s wedding. This next picture is of our extended families (minus one sister and hers) at the wedding.
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
That was the chorus of a song my mother used to sing all the time back in the 60s and 70s. I was reminded of it recently when observing my grandson’s attention to detail. I started wondering what he might do for a career, way down the road. He did just turn one. I am fascinated that he has always been fascinated with textures and gadgets like door pulls, door stops, light switches, openings or holes.
The next part of the song went like this…
“I asked my mother, what will I be?”
“Will I be handsome?” (Of course you will)
“Will I be rich?” (Who knows)
“Here’s what she said to me…”
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
As mentioned in a previous post I have been writing articles for a site called Baby Gaga. Unfortunately, that means all my time allotted for writing has been swallowed up by this new adventure so my posts on this blog have been limited.
Here are my first four articles, let me know what you think, the comment button is on the left, at the bottom of the list of social media icons (the one that looks like a comic book conversation bubble) As my articles get approved, I will add their links, so please check back often!
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
During the winter months we drive up to the cottage to check on it and the property at least once a month. The deep snow allows us to keep track (pun intended) of all visitors.
We have the two legged variety (us)
and the four legged visitors…
I wonder if the four legged variety are longing for spring as much as we two legged creatures are. Regardless, spring still looks like a long way off!
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u
You could say I am gaga about babies, especially my beautiful grandchildren, but this is not about them. BabyGaga is my newest writing endeavour. I will be writing a few posts a week on this site that is geared towards, you guessed it, babies. Oh, and their moms and dads, and anyone else interested in babies.
This is a paying job, some of my writing jobs are not, but that’s ok. I love to write and have lots of time to do so in the winter months when my gardens are covered in snow.
Unfortunately there are (very) limited choices of things I can write about, with strict rules on how posts must be written. Check out the Baby Gaga site and if you see my name,(LorieB) be sure to like it and comment!
Here are my first three articles, let me know what you think, the comment button is on the left, at the bottom of the list of social media icons (the one that looks like a comic book conversation bubble)
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
Well this rag quilt has taken me almost a year to finish, but finish it I did, finally. Although I would not recommend this particular DIY project for a beginner sewer, you could start with a small sized one. Crib sized would be much more manageable.
The process is simple, start with squares cut from assorted fabric. Preferred fabrics include flannels and quilting cottons, because they fray well. Others fabrics, such as denim, could be used but they are not as soft. As my grandson’s room will be dinosaur themed, I chose a white flannel with blue, green and red dinosaurs on it as the main fabric. I complemented that with solid blue, green and red fabrics and a red polka dot fabric.
Wash all fabric first, then iron it smooth before you start cutting. Calculate how many squares you need of each fabric, keeping in mind that each finished square on the quilt requires three cut fabric squares. Because my quilt was so large, I actually used a spreadsheet to calculate how many of each I needed. Lots. Use a quilter’s template (a big plastic square that has dimensions marked on it for easy measurement) to measure and cut your squares. A rotary cutter works best. I did this step last spring when watching the Ottawa Senators in the NHL playoffs.
6 inch squares
fabric sandwiches laid out in rows
fabric sandwich, overlapped to show color combination
fabric sandwich
When you have all your squares cut, you then make the “sandwiches” using three squares in each. The lesson I learned here is not to use the solid red or polka dot red as a middle square (the few that I did bled through the white main fabric on top when washed) The last three pictures above show the sandwiches I used, with the last two overlapped to show the possible color combinations.
When your sandwiches are assembled, sew an X through each one to hold all three layers in place. Then sew squares together to make rows. It helps to have a pattern (that’s why I used a spreadsheet) to consult with to keep the squares in the right order within the rows. Sew using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, paying close attention as to which sides should be together. You must keep all the seams on one side of the quilt. This is trickier than it sounds because as a sewer you are trained to put the “good sides” together, leaving the seams on the “bad side” On this rag quilt there is no good and bad side.
squares sewed together in rows
When the rows are complete, you then sew them together to form the quilt. I laid my rows out on a bed (a floor or table would work if your quilt is smaller) to keep the rows in order. Be sure to sew around the perimeter of the quilt too, also using a half inch allowance.
rows laid out on bed to ensure correct order
Next, using very sharp sewing scissors or a rag quilt cutter (below) snip into all (including outer edge) seam allowances, being very careful not to snip the actual seam. The next step is to wash the quilt (on a very low, setting equivalent to a hand washing) to encourage the seam allowances to fray. It’s called a rag quilt for this reason.
seam clippers
snipped seam allowances
snipped seam allowances
The final result is quite satisfyingly striking, even though I had a few discouraging setbacks. I learned these lessons the hard way:
use heavy duty sewing machine needles, the first few I used kept snapping because of the thickness of the fabric layers
wash all of the fabrics well first, before you start cutting the squares to cut down on “bleeding” (that’s where the color of one fabric soaks into another) The worst bleeders are red fabrics.
use a plastic template and rotary cutter to cut your squares to ensure precise cutting. Any errors will show up glaringly when you join the squares and rows!
do not use cotton thread, it breaks much more than polyester thread
be very careful when snipping into seam allowances. If you mistakenly cut into a seam, your quilt will be full of holes after the first wash. I had to reinforce a few seams that my clippers got too close to by hand sewing them.
Here is the final result, on my grandson’s double “big boy” bed! The C is for Carter…
flat side
rag (seam) side
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
The worst part about pending elections is the inevitable mudslinging and grandstanding that goes on. Don’t we teach our children that bullies are insecure when they pick on others? The same thing applies to politicians.
Your mudslinging does not make you look intelligent or clever, instead it makes you look insecure and weak. It is not attractive, in fact it is a real turn off. Can you not run your campaign outlining your own values, plans, goals and credentials or experience instead of smearing your opponents?
The other tactic I cannot stand in politicians is grandstanding. If you are good at something you do not have to tell everyone how good you are. This is another lesson we try to teach our children; tooting your own horn is not attractive.
Sadly it will only get worse as elections to choose a leader for the Conservative party (to replace ousted Patrick Brown and then a premier here in Ontario are fast approaching.
Anyone else feel this way?
Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca
