Posted in Uplifting

To Weep

The picture was taken by my daughter a while ago, I didn’t even realize she took it until later, it is about the last picture that was taken of the two of us before my dog passed.

It will be a year soon and I still miss her so, because when the sorrow you feel is too deep to be touched by words. All that you can do is sit in the time of great pain and let tears fall and sometimes even with it being so many months those tears still fall.

You may have lost a pet who was more than an animal to you, they were a loved one. Maybe you have another heart break but as you say goodbye to someone whom you have had by your side, when your marriage fell apart and your kids grew and then stretched their wings, it was always my sweet baby girl, laying her head on me to comfort and listen as I talked about life. It was her comfort that was given without hesitation. It was her just being with me that gave more support than any words. In her quiet way she spoke volumes.

I think of this and wonder why we as humans fill the need to speak to fill the space of the hurt with words instead of just being present in the pain. Is it that pain scares us so much we don’t know how to react? So, we think that some profound thought that may be well meaning needs to be said to fill the space instead of our presence, so we are kept at arm’s length in hopes that the pain doesn’t somehow infect us

I think that sometimes all that is needed is just to have someone sit and weep with you as you are in that pain.

I love the fact the shortest sentence in the Bible is John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” He didn’t come in with great words (although he could have) to his friends’ sisters that were crying over the loss of their brother/his friend. He didn’t make light of it either, he just came to them in the moment and noticed their sadness and wept.

Today if someone is hurting just sit with them when they grieve don’t try and push your agenda to make yourself feel better but instead do what Jesus did and just weep with them.
Sometimes filling a void with words only fall flat but sitting and honoring their feels goes a long way.

Side note:

You will be with me always my sweet girl, thank you for the joy you have brought to me. I feel so blessed to hurt so exceedingly because that only means I was able to love so much!

Posted in Recipes

Vegetarian Tofu Salad

vegetarian tofu salad

I have been blogging a lot of recipes that are either a frozen treat or no cooking is involved because if you are like me in these dog days of summer the last thing you want is something that heats you up more than you already are.

I went out to breakfast with my daughter recently and noticed chicken salad was a new item on the menu, we both are vegetarians but talked about how much we missed having this old classic sandwich or a scoop on a chef salad. I have made a chickpea salad and it is good, but their great picture of the chicken salad got me wanting a new way to eat an old classic but without the meat.

This is a great alternative to the classic dish, and it has some great health benefits, plus you can swap out ingredients or add ones you like in your chicken salad.

To drain the tofu, place tofu in bowl on top of a towel then crumble it
pull towel around crumbled tofu twist and squeeze until all liquid is removed

when tofu is drained remove from towel, add remaining ingredients

Vegetarian Tofu Salad:


Serves: 3 (approx. 1 cup each)
Total Time: 15 min. Prep Time: 15 min. Cooking Time: None


1 lb. firm tofu, drained, patted dry
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced green onion
3 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill (or 1½ tsp. dry dill)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pink Himalayan salt and ground black pepper per taste

Transfer tofu from towel to a large mixing bowl. Add celery, bell pepper, red onion, green onion, mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, dill, lemon juice, salt, and
pepper to tofu; toss to combine. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
(Any plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt will work here too like coconut, almond, or soy.)

Posted in Recipes

Cool Summer Treats

Lemon Italian Ice

I think it is safe to say that during summer we are all looking for some taste treats to cool us down. I made these ones with my grandson, so you know not only are they easy to do but less sugar than some that you can buy. Plus, the freezer does most the work.

This first recipe is lemon Italian ice, it’s refreshing without a lot of sugar, and this is a great option if you don’t eat ice-cream. Not a fan of lemon but want to still try this recipe try lime, grapefruit or watermelon. just replace the lemon juice with desired juice of any fresh fruit that you prefer.

Lemon Italian Ice:

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of raw sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup of lemon juice

In a medium saucepan on medium to high heat add water and sugar. Stirring until sugar is melted, add lemon zest then let infuse for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes pour mixture over cheese cloth or very small strainer to remove the lemon zest from water and sugar mixture, if you don’t mind the zest skip this and just add lemon juice after the 20-minute cool down mix together then pour in 11×9 pan. (If you don’t have this size then just one that you have is fine but remember this is going in the freezer and the bigger the pan the faster it freezes) Place pan in freezer for about an hour then remove, place pan on counter and using a fork rake the mixture, then place back into the freezer. You will want to do this raking step every half hour after until mixture looks like an “ICE”/ Italian ice. Then serve in small bowls and enjoy.

Now this next teat may even temp those that don’t like bananas, I am not a big fan of frozen bananas, but this tasty treat not only is sweet but a nice healthy treat I found on Pinterest, and this is defiantly not a fail thanks to Avocodo_skillet. (If you want to check them out, they have some really great video recipes to watch and even try.

Banana Twix:

First:

Vegan caramel:

1/4 cup almond butter

2 tablespoons warm melted coconut oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla

In a bowl mix all the above ingredients until smooth.

Rest of ingredients:

Dark Chocolate (melted)

Pink Himalayan salt

Ripe Bananas cut length ways in half then then you’ll need to cut those in half, so you end up with four pieces from one banana. (You may use as many bananas as you want)

Melt dark or milk chocolate in a small pan on medium heat or may use microwave. When I melted my dark chocolate, I also put a few drops of cinnamon essential oils in for a twist, plus for those in my family that haven’t jumped on the whole dark chocolate bandwagon I did some with milk chocolate.

With the cut-up bananas spread the vegan caramel on the 1/4 pieces of banana, drizzle (or if you like it heavier pour a light coat of melted chocolate, sprinkle with salt. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.

Eat and enjoy!

Posted in essential oils, Recipes

Peach Mango Smoothie

The summer is in full swing and maybe you are looking for ways to nourish your body but still have a nice cool treat. This recipe is great for that plus it’s quick to make, only about 5 minutes, not bad for a cool healthy filling treat.

Some might like to have it on a warm summer morning for a quick breakfast, but I have found this is great for the midafternoon when you are hot, sleepy, hungry and in desperate need of a pick me up.

You may use any protein powder, but I used a vegan base that has plant protein with other vitamins and supper foods in it but if you don’t have a good protein powder or like it try using unsweetened Greek Yogurt. This calls for frozen peaches and mangos but if you have fresh on hand that is even better, just make sure you add some ice.

Also, this recipe has Tangerine essential oils, so make sure you use only pure essential oils. Tangerine helps with calming, clearing and connecting when diffused or inhaled and when ingested can be great for immune boost and cell protection. Not only do you get great protein when using good protein powder and then the benefits of the peach and mango, but the oils help in ways maybe you never realized.

I had problems uploading pictures, so I used this refreshing picture of a peach.

air bubbles bubbly clean close up
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Ingredients:
½ Cup frozen peaches
½ Cup frozen mangos
2 scoops protein powder
12 oz cold water
3 drops Tangerine pure essential oils
Instructions
Put all ingredients into blender.
Blend on highest setting for thirty seconds.
Serve immediately.