Broom!! Vroooom!

 I love this picture, it is so cute, and it has meaning for me!

While building my first trike, my trike builder one day called me a witch. He was just joking around, teasing me.  That is the day I named my trike BROOM!! I so LOVEd riding Broom, until we were hit by a car and my Broom was bent and broken, as was I. 

Once I was healed, another trike was created using a new bike and many parts from Broom.... Phoenix was born!! The mythical bird arose from the ashes of it's former self. I have so loved riding Phoenix!! I've had two very wonderful summers full of adventures while riding Phoenix, and I will miss him since I plan to sell him once my new trike is built and ready to ride.

I will soon start work on my new, much larger trike who received his name last night in a group meditation at a dear friend's home, The Ashram. He will be called MoJo.... My "high energy" MoJo will be running throughout the land!! I almost called this new trike Broom 2... but now know he's my MoJo.... my energy.... my passion!!!  I can't start work on MoJo's transformation from bike to trike yet as it is winter and I don't have a heated shop to work in.  I must wait until it is warm enough outside to do the work. Meanwhile, I have work to do in finding parts and pieces to do the job with once the weather is where I need it to be.  When all is done and MoJo is ready to hit the road, there will be an official "Naming Ceremony" for him.

I will always remember and love my first trike, my Broom, and the 2nd one, Phoenix, yet it's time to "Go Big or stay home"!! and I have no intention of staying home!!

Chris's Guitars

My dear friend Chris is a professional musician.  He writes his own music all the time, plays guitar and signs the songs he's written.  I truly love listening to him playing his guitars.  Yes, plural, more than one, several in fact. I've noticed that every one of Chris's guitars are the same, though I suspect they are all tuned differently for different songs he plays.  I don't know what kind of guitars they are, though am sure if Allen and Heath at Guitar Center were to see them, they would know right away what kind they are.  I know enough about guitars to be able to say they are acoustic, though not enough to tell you what brand they are. Whatever they are, I can tell you that they make extremely nice music when Chris Madsen plucks or strums those strings.  It is truly a blessing to sit quietly and listen.

My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.
~Joan Jett~
 

An uncle of mine emigrated to Canada and couldn't take his guitar with him. 

When I found it in the attic, I'd found a friend for life.
~Sting~

Creamy Broccoli Soup - Vegan

Creamy Broccoli Soup

This soup gives the texture and taste of a rich creamy soup without the added dairy and high saturated fat content. Enjoy it with whole wheat or rice crackers.

Makes about 8 1-cup servings

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
2 medium celery stalks, sliced
6 cups broccoli florets
2 cups water
3 cups plain rice milk, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 - 4 tablespoons Sesame Seasoning

 

Place potatoes, celery, broccoli, and water in a large pot. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until potato chunks are tender when pierced with a sharp knife (do not overcook).

Transfer about 3 cups of the vegetables to a blender. Add 2 cups rice milk, basil, tarragon, salt, and black pepper. Blend for about 60 seconds, or until completely smooth. Pour blended mixture into a clean pot.

Place remaining vegetables in blender along with the cooking liquid and remaining 1 cup rice milk. Blend vegetables until they are completely smooth or leave them slightly chunky, depending on your taste. Combine blended mixtures, then stir in Sesame Seasoning. Heat gently, stirring frequently, until steamy.

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Per serving (1 cup): 126 calories; 2.8 g fat; 0.4 g saturated fat; 19.7% calories from fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 3.4 g protein; 23.8 g carbohydrates; 6.1 g sugar; 3.8 g fiber; 343 mg sodium; 187 mg calcium; 2.1 mg iron; 41.2 mg vitamin C; 532 mcg beta-carotene; 1.8 mg vitamin E

Recipe from Foods That Fight Pain by Neal Barnard, M.D.; recipe by Jennifer Raymond, M.S., R.D.

I usually include a link to where I get the recipe.  However, this time it came to me in an email that had no link I could see to take me to any web site where it is posted.  So, sadly I can not give credit where credit is due.  I will try to next time.

Inspirational

Only Stevia for Me

As I diabetic, and a person working at weight loss and better health, I rarely use sugar and I have totally quit using any form of artificial sweeteners.  What I choose to use now for sweetening my tea or any other thing I want to sweeten, is Stevia. Not the white Stevia Powder, but the natural, unaltered, Green Stevia Powder!

I find it very odd as well as sad that Health Food Stores and Health Food sections of Grocery Stores sell the white powder and in most cases I've seen, no green Stevia.  We do have one store that sells both kinds, several choices of the white and only 1 choice of the green... imported from India!!! I don't mind things being imported from other countries if we don't have the product here in Canada, but when it's not only in our own country but our own province too!  The organic farm I get my Green Stevia from is 160.9 kilometers away.... this is 99.978625 miles, so fits perfectly in the '100 Mile Diet'!!

Yesterday I ordered another 215gr bag of Organic Green Stevia from this wonderful Organic Farm where it is grown. I also ordered a 215gr bag for my friend Joyce as she wants to start using it now too.  This is great!! They send it out right away, by mail, and if you order $150 minimum or if you recommend their products to a friend, they give you free shipping... and they always include some little extra something in the package.  Oh, I'm not saying they are the best selection of promotional products in fact, it's not really promotional products they send, they include samples of other products they have available.

In this order, I also included for myself a one month supply of Happy Caps, a mineral mixture from organic products, including Stevia.
"Your body requires minerals to escort acid out, thus increasing the alkalinity of your body. GET ALKALINE = GET WELL. Get your pH up quickly and stay healthy with Happy Caps!"

There is some controversy regarding the safety of Stevia Powder for use in humans.  I believe the naturally grown herb, the Green Stevia is not only safe, but also has many good health properties.  The white powder they are calling Stevia may not be so safe for us and I am not sure they should allow the sale or use of that product.  It is called Stevia because it is made using Stevioside which has been extracted from the herb then mixed with fillers to create the sweet white powder.  With health food stores selling this product, many people think they are doing something healthy by using it, and they are being lied to. It is a processed product, not a natural, whole food product.  I used the white powder for awhile, not knowing better, though now that I know better I use better.  


The Stevia I get comes in a zip-lock bag.  I took an old, empty spice jar I had here and filled it with some of that Green Stevia Powder so I could use it without opening the bag every time.  I also filled one for carrying with me wherever I go.

A teaspoon is too large to fit into the spice jar, and you only need such a tiny bit of the powder to sweeten a cup of tea, so I use a souvenir spoon for this purpose. The one I take with me I made into a necklace so I can wear it around my neck and always know where it is, the one I use at home sits in the cupboard beside the jar of Stevia.  This system works very well for me.
 

Sweet Potato And Beet Soup Recipe

Since starting to eat Vegan (plant based diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains... no animal products such as meat, eggs, milk, cheese) about 15 months ago, I have become much more interested in reading recipes and cooking myself proper meals. I love sweet potatoes (or as many people incorrectly call them, yams), and have always liked beets though never really ate many other than pickled beets.  I came across a recipe the other day that uses both sweet potatoes and beets in a vegan soup. 

Sweet Potato And Beet Soup Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Time from start to eating: 50 minutes
Makes 5-6 bowls.

Ingredients

• 1 cup onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 Tbsp thyme (fresh or dried)
• 1-2 tsp paprika
• 2 cups beets, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups rutabaga, peeled and chopped (you can replace this with potato or more beet or sweet potato)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt or Herbamare
• 1/2 avocado or 2 Tbsp nut/seed butter (optional)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

Directions

1. Cut up the onion and garlic and cook them in a large soup pot with a bit of oil, water or veggie broth until they soften.
2. Add the thyme, paprika, beet, sweet potato and rutabaga, along with 4-5 cups of boiling water or vegetable broth and leave to gently boil, covered, for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add the parsley (save a bit for a garnish) and puree the soup. Add any extra seasonings, and the avocado or nut/seed butter if you're using it, and puree again. Serve topped with fresh parsley and pumpkin seeds - and maybe the other half of the avocado if you used it.

 

Visit Heather to read more or to see her cooking this soup in a video!

My New Computer.... errrr, PHONE

For awhile now I've wanted and even needed a new cell phone.  23 months ago I took out a 36 month contract with Telus Mobility, and I got a nice new phone for free by signing that contract. Just a few months later, I accidentally ruined my phone by forgetting to take it out of a jacket pocket before washing the jacket.  It was only in the sink of water for a couple minutes before I realized what I had done and grabbed it out, but that was enough, too much even, as it was beyond saving already.  My friend Dan loaned me his old phone for around a year, then my friend Joyce's daughter Melissa gave me an old phone she no longer wanted or needed.  She couldn't find the charger for it, but it was Samsung which is what I had ruined, so I still had the charger and it worked.  After about a year or so with this phone, I was really wanting a new one.  This phone liked to unlock itself and pocket/purse dial, so made too many calls without my knowledge.  Also, even with it on top volume, I often could not hear it ringing and was beginning to have trouble hearing the person on the other end of the call talking.  No, there is nothing wrong with my ears, but the phone was on that slippery slope to 'done'.

Yesterday, I found out that it would cost me $58.31 for my 'equipment buy out' since I needed the new phone with 13 months remaining of the 3 year contract.  I was told this when I phoned the Client Care at Telus Mobility,  yet when I was at the phone store, I not only had to pay that charge, but also an 'in store' non-wavable charge on $30.  For this they show me the phone and talk me into buying it.  Oh, okay, so they also put in SIM card, or since my old phone didn't have one, she put one in, and changed my 101 Contacts over to the new phone as well as switched the memory card from old to new phone.   She tried to sell me a 'care package' for $70 instead of the $30 thing, but I said NO.  So, $91.70 (12% tax on the $30) later I have a phone worth $650.00 plus the 12% tax.  So that is, when you think of it, pretty good I guess.

Given the choice of blue or white, I chose the blue phone.

The plan I had was $46 plus taxes per month and included: 200 anytime air minutes, unlimited incoming local calls (not sure if it included long distance incoming calls), free unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 5pm, caller ID and Voice Mail.  I now have a different plan for $50 plus taxes per month: 200 anytime air minutes, 10 Favorites so I can call them or they can call me free of charge and I can change who is on my Faves List whenever I want to, evenings and weekends starting at 6pm, caller ID and Voice Mail.  I think that covers everything. The gal at Telus, who I talked to over the phone before going to the store, told me the 3 numbers I talk to most... and she figured I would get better use of this plan than I did of the other one.  I'm going to have to check and see if those are just local calls or include long distance ones too, I think it includes all within Canada.

Now.... I need to buy a screen protector and a case, 

though most cases seem to come with the screen protector..... and the big thing.....

I have to learn how to use this newfangled computer they call a phone!!

I am very grateful to have this great new phone as I need my one and only phone to be dependable.
I am grateful I had the money with which to buy this fancy new phone.
I am grateful I get to go back to the store to get 45 minutes of one on one instruction, provided by Telus Mobility to purchasers of the Iphones and Samsung Galaxy S3.