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October 16, 2009

Cooking with Carrie from the Garden

 Come for a stroll thru a garden, filled with food for thought.  Being frugal and the simplicities of life in a time when everyone needs to take a hard look at their waste and over consumerism.   

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Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying.

The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.
-   Elise Boulding

 

Simple Mornings

Simple wholesome weekend and weekday breakfasts. 

Omelette's stuff with what ever you want to chop up and sauté from fresh or leftovers.   I use 2 eggs for a 2 person omelette.  Also add a bit of some kind of cheese and garnish with parsley and a flower.  Nice sausage or bacon and whole grain toast with a fruit, here I have an avocado, but often have a papaya, ending with a rich coffee.

For a  solid weekday breakfast  either have hot oatmeal with fruit or some mix of cold cereals with fruit and top with cinnamon.   A couple slices whole grain bread with a slice cheese or homemade jam and herb tea.

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The day, water, sun, moon, night --
I do not have to purchase these things with money.
-   Plautus

To know you have enough is to be rich.
-  Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching

 

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Take 1 whole spaghetti squash and cook whole in 1 inch water in baking pan in oven or on stove top with lid.  I do it on my wood stove top.   Cook till tender.  Just over an hour or more.  When ready drain well and slice in half.  It up to you if you want to remove the seeds I sometimes leave them.  Now you can mix remaining ingredients right in shell of spaghetti squash with squash or scoop out into oiled casserole dish.  Add cubed mozzarella cheese, chopped fresh thyme, basil, garlic, 1/4 tsp. Monterrey steak seasoning or just sea salt and chopped tomatoes.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese and bake 400F for 20 mins or golden on top.

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Eat right out of shell as a main dish or served in a casserole dish  as a side dish.  Kale and red onions with oil, garlic and apple cider vinegar dressing salad and a nice whole wheat garlic bread on the side. 

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A person who undertakes to grow a garden at home, by practices that will preserve rather than exploit the economy of the soil, has his mind precisely against what is wrong with us....

What I am saying is that if we apply our minds directly and competently to the needs of the earth, then we will have begun to make fundamental and necessary changes in
our minds.

We will begin to understand and to mistrust and to change our wasteful economy, which markets not just the produce of the earth, but also the earth's ability to produce.
-   Wendell Berry, 1970

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That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
-   Henry David Thoreau, 1856
 
CASADIAS

On Flour tortilla of choice sprinkle any number of these or whatever you want to chop up and put on. Examples: cheese, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, cabbage, kale, Swiss chard.   Fold in half and lay side by side in microwave and nuke for 1 to 2 minutes.

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Slice into wedges and lay on plate with cilantro or parsley leafs in middle .

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It is the sweet, simple things of life
which are the real ones after all.
-   Laura IngallsWilder

Garden Pizza

1 pizza dough or I use a Britl-Crunch which is a big round rye crisp bread with a small whole in the middle.  Spread a bit of pizza sauce on.  Here again chopped up  whatever to add on it.  I have onion tops, zucchini, kale, tomatoes and of course cheese, I sometimes use cottage or other types cheese also.  Bake for about 15 minutes or more till done at 425F.  My rye crisp goes a bit soft like a pizza dough.  Topped here with nasturtium flowers.  What a color full simple delight.

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Yes, in the poor man's garden grow
Far more than herbs and flowers -
Kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind,
And joy for weary hours. –author unknown

 

Teach us delight in the simple things,
And mirth that has no bitter springs;
Forgiveness free of evil done,
And love to all men beneath the sun.
-  Rudyard Kipling,  1865 - 1936

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!
  Live the life you've imagined.
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler;
solitude will n
ot be solitude,
poverty will not be poverty,
nor weakness weakness.
-   Henry David Thoreau

 

Simple foods and a simple life….

Good Morning… Good Afternoon…  Good Night…

Whatever it is to you…..

Photos & Recipes

by

Here I Am/Carrie

October 1, 2009

Summers End with Camping

The colors and beauty of a perfect late summer get away.  Time was finally found at the end of September to get away for a few days camping and fishing.  We were blessed with the most amazing weather.  Everyone on the trip kept saying no day could have been more perfect and then the next was even better.  So I share a small glimpse of our perfect days camping at a Summers end..

The fall colors were just starting to come out.

Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

The sparkles on the lake were glittering most of the time. 

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Relaxing was the mode of the day except when chasing this dragon fly.

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Our friends came back empty handed from fishing.

Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

My hubby managed to be luckier.

Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

One could easily sit on the dock and stare out at this view all day.  One could feel the energy being drawn into the V of the valley and spreading across the surface of the water.

Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

We went one day with ATV's and explored nearby lakes and trails.  Always hungry at the end of the day a hearty meal was prepared.

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We were all camped on the waters edge at this forestry campsite  that is free and no one was there most days.

 Missezula Lake Sept. 2009 

My mind was an Island forever surround by water I could just sit and gaze feeling the liquid emotions brushing up against me.  Isolated from the worries of the rest of the world, but never forgotten as I could not float or drift while anchored to this earth by Gods will.

 Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

Leaving  our oasis of water we were blessed with a vision of the open country side on our way home.

 Missezula Lake Sept. 2009

Well that certainly brings an end to Summer here as the weather made a complete change after a few days of returning from our perfect weather campout.  We have already had snow sputters mixed in some rain and a hard killer frost, which is causing me to panic as I always do this time of the year trying to get work done in the garden and everything put away outside before the ground freezes.

My friends here are all very special people who have created  a wonderful feeling of support and belonging.  I am touched by many of you very deeply.   It has just been over  1 year since I arrived here and have felt nothing but love and support flow through here.  So I just wanted to say Thank you all for being the wonderful people you are.

 

So to Everyone changing Seasons

Good Morning…    Good Afternoon…      Good Night…

Whatever it is to you…..

Photos & Words

by

Here I Am/Carrie

Missezula Lake Sept. 2009