Smoothies

Yes.  This post is actually about smoothies, it is not just a clever title meant to evoke thoughts and feelings that hint at some deeper point that I will somehow relate to smoothies.  :P Remember, I did warn that this blog will be about anything and everything!  

Indeed, I've been on a serious smoothie binge lately and I can't help myself, I must talk about it.  Briefly, I considered posting about my latest obsession on FB but I thought, "Who on earth cares?" so naturally, I have decided to write about it here.   :)

I have been finding, since I am in need of a few extra calories due to a nursing infant and constant cravings for  quick snacks, that smoothies are just the ticket.  Not only are they quick and easy, they are delicious, and through much experimentation I am finding that they are an extremely effective means of sneaking in TONS of nutrients into our diet.  While we are a very healthy-eating family, it is hard to get as many veggies and fruits as I would like without eating six plus meals, and frankly, I don't have time for that!   I already feel as though all I do is cook, eat, and clean, with only three meals a day and a snack here or there, and admittedly, carrots and celery are not what I tend to reach for when craving a snack...

A friend of mine had tried to convince me to try making "green smoothies" a while ago, but I believed she was full of bologna when she told me that they tasted good.  So...I began by throwing a handful of spinach into our traditional yogurt/fruit smoothies.   Finding that the spinach was tasteless, the next time I braved up and filled the blender with spinach.  It was still delicious! albeit a little "pukey" looking, according to my kids.  It initially reminded me of something else...    :-|

The next step I took on this snack adventure was to incorporate carrots.   Do I steam them?  or add them raw?  I wondered.  Naturally, I tried them raw first, who wants to dirty a dish if they don't really have to?  And it worked!  Of course, I had to blend it for a ridiculous amount of time to truly liquify them, but after taking that necessary step I found that the carrots added a wonderful sweetness.  For years, I have been adding carrots to my homemade spaghetti sauce to add a hint of sweetness, but hadn't thought about how delicious they could be in any other, truly sweet, application.  A hidden treasure they are.  

A while back I had experimented with a variety of milks in an effort to avoid dairy to see if my baby boy's tummy trouble were a result of a dairy sensitivity.  While I couldn't stand any of them for making cappuccino (which is really all that I use milk for), I found that they all make excellent additions to smoothies as well.  The almond milk and coconut milk are my favorite, adding a luxurious flavor and texture to any smoothie, and more nutritive than yogurt.  

Almond milk is said to be one of the most nutritionally valuable milk substitutes available. It is high in many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, iron, fiber, zinc and calcium. Almond milk is low in calories, at only 40 calories per eight ounce serving, and low in fat. It contains only three grams of fat per eight ounce serving.  Almond milk also contains high levels of antioxidants, so it may help prevent many types of cancer and slow the signs of aging.   
Coconut milk is similarly lower in calories and boasts of healthy fatty acids that are not found in dairy milk. Fifty percent of the fatty acids in coconut milk is lauric acid, which turns into monolaurin in your body. Monolaurin has antiviral, antibacterial and antiprotozoal activity against strains of staphylococcus and listeria, according to a study by Dr. Mary G. Enig entitled, "Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century."

Still trying to consider new ways to add more veg without going too far (like adding broccoli  or arugla, yuck), and also trying to figure out how to make smoothies with spinach and red berries look a little more appetizing, I decided to try beets.  As much as I love healthy produce, I have never been able to enjoy beets...the flavor and texture just don't do it for me; but perhaps, I mused, they would be just the solution I needed.

And by jove!  I learned after the first attempt that I would need to be a little heavier handed with the citrus and berries if I were to truly enjoy it, but once I found the right ratio, I found it delightful.  Not only were the smoothies nutrient rich, sweet (with no added sugar or honey), and delicious, they were gorgeous!  The color, even with a pound of spinach, was beautiful.  Beyond appetizing, photographable, even   ;)

Needless to say (so why am I saying it?) I'm enamored with fruit and veggie smoothies.  And I HIGHLY recommend that everyone hops on this bandwagon.  In an effort to convince anyone who happens to read this to try, here are some of my favorite blends that I have tried thus far.   I may just add more and more as time goes on. I feel a bit of the "mad scientist" within coming out!

note: all of these recipes make a blender FULL, enough for six servings.  So make adjustments accordingly.

Ruby Red 

3 handfuls of baby spinach
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1beet, peeled and chopped
2oranges, peeled
1cup frozen strawberries, raspberries, or both!
1banana
1-2 C. coconut or almond milk

BLEND BLEND BLEND

Verdant

4 handfuls of spinach
1 celery stem, chopped
2 oranges peeled
1 banana
1-2 cups almond milk 

BLEND BLEND BLEND 

Cucumberita  ;)
(Inspired by a summer fav: cucumber margaritas)

1 large cucumber, sliced
4 oranges, peeled
1/2 lime peeled
1 handful of spinach
1 cup almond or coconut milk (almond is best)
1-2 cups ice
drizzle of honey (if sweeter flavor is desired)     

Orange sherbet

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 oranges, peeled
8 slices of frozen peach
1-2 cups coconut milk

BLEND BLEND BLEND

(this tasted exactly like orange sherbet!)



 
Blueberry

1 large orange
1 carrot
2 handfuls of spinach
1 c. frozen blueberries (organic or wild, of course!)
1 c. coconut milk

BLEND BLEND BLEND!




Zucchini 'bread' 
(This recipe was born of necessity.  I went to make a cucumberita smoothie and realized that the hubz bought zucchini instead of cucumbers...so I experimented and it turned out great!  The kids said that it smelled like cookies and didn't hesitate to drink it all up!)

1 handful of spinach
1 orange
1/2 medium sized zucchini
1 tsp. cinnamon
drizzle of honey
1/2 c. almond milk

BLEND BLEND BLEND
 



 




 

Word of Encouragement to Homeschoolers (and wannabes)

After having a baby and spending most of my time feeding and cuddling him, I found that I was putting "school" on a back burner...way back--Ok, well maybe it wasn't even on the stove for a while--and I had been feeling guilty about how little time I've been spending on the three R's with my youngest student. We had gotten way behind on the curriculum and I was getting worried that she would be "behind" her peers (which means nothing really, but I tend to forget that sometimes). But then we sat down with a book and she blew me away with what she could read! a little later, she decided to write a letter to her cousin and she did great, only needing help with special sounds we've not yet introduced...and the little booger printed it, which I've NEVER taught (we only practice cursive)!

It has taken me a while to figure it out, but we adults seriously underestimate what our children can learn on their own when they want to. For the most part we get in the way of their 'education' by making them learn things when, where, and how WE want them to learn! The juxtaposition of this child now and my first at her age, when I structured our school time much like public school, is remarkable. There's been no stress, frustration (for either of us), no fighting, or coercing into doing "seat work"... and very little time spent on instruction, and here she is reading and writing like a little pro :)

Our kids learn to walk and talk without guided instruction from us, why? because they want to! Why do we doubt their ability to learn everything else without being spoon fed?  


I have found that the biggest cause of frustration (for both me and the kids) is my own expectation. They really are capable of learning so much in their own timing and when they have the FREEDOM to learn at their pace and in their own way. I have struggled a lot before understanding this (and I still have to remind myself constantly)!         Putting kids in a box and expecting them to learn a certain way at a certain time will only frustrate everyone involved and discourage them. 

There is a huge difference between trying to force learning on children and letting them learn. There's nothing more exciting for them than when that light bulb goes off in their little minds because they've figured something out!!! and nothing quite as discouraging as disappointing themselves and others when they don't quite get something when they are told they should. 

A Diagnosis

As soon as I learned that I was expecting a child I knew that I would home school. 

There were many reasons for making this decision.  At the time, the foremost reason was essentially that God had made me a mother, so there was no doubt that He wanted ME to raise my children.  As I saw it, there was no way that I could do that if I willingly sent my children away for six to eight hours a day, five days a week.  

My own experience with public school was the secondary reason, at that time, for making this choice.  As an intelligent young girl, I found myself quite bored with school, except for when I was playing and talking with other children who didn’t exactly share my parents’ moral values, or flirting with all the boys (yes, I was that girl).  By the time I was in high school, I had read all the required literature for my high school English classes on my own time outside of school, which essentially negated those classes for me and I was allowed to spend those hours in the library after completing all of the tests related to the reading material prior to class.  By the time I was a Jr. I had earned the credits required for graduating, so my Jr. year of school, with the exception of a science and English composition class, were spent in study hall or independent online advanced placement and college credit courses, which, in case you have trouble with the math, were only two real high school classes for the entire year.   Yet, when I requested early graduation, I was met with fierce opposition because they “didn’t want to set a precedent”.  Wow.  In fact, they refused me completely, but through meetings with the school board and asides with the Superintendent, I finally managed to convince them to let me go to college for my senior year as a “special student”.   Still enrolled in my high school, I attended college two states away, only returning to my school for graduation the following spring.  Naively, I had assumed that in college I would actually learn something instead of being "taught" a bunch of useless information and directed towards a preset thoughtline.

Admittedly, I was a geek.  I loved learning and deeply yearned to learn more about the things I was interested in knowing, I wanted to learn more about things I wanted to do and accomplish in life…but school gave me no time to learn!  In fact, the only thing that I clearly remember from my 11 years of public education is arguing with my teachers about why I had to learn things that I would never use, like imaginary numbers, and why our “social studies” classes were so ridiculously bent on bashing our Nation’s history and government (my teacher actually suggested that I read the book, “Lies My Teacher Told Me” because he thought I would appreciate it—at least he was honest.  I remember arguing with my science teachers about why they shouldn’t be teaching evolution as fact and that the best answer I ever got was “because the curriculum says so”.  How telling.  I was fortunate to have two distinct experiences with science teachers, one who sent me to the principal’s office for making her look like an idiot on multiple occasions, and the other who only graded my tests based on the questions that I answered, as I refused to answer questions to which the “correct” answer conceded to evolutionary theory.  I also remember being told more than once to put away books that I was reading in class because they weren’t part of the course content (I was reading Hemingway or Steinbeck and finished with my work for the day every time this happened…).  In fact, most of the learning I did that stuck with me was what I learned outside of school, from reading things like the college textbooks that I would purchase at garage sales or used book stores here and there, or simply by observing life, or having real conversations with adults about life.

 

I did NOT want for my kids to experience any of that.  I wanted them to love learning as I did without the constant discouragement from the school system.  I didn’t want my kids to be spoon fed information their whole lives and never learn how to learn or think for themselves.  I didn’t want my kids to be taught lies that directly contradict my own firmly held beliefs.  I didn’t want for them to be influenced by kids who have been influenced by things that I would recommend all people avoid, regardless of their age…

As my children grew closer to school age, my priorities began to change and “sheltering” them became much higher on the list.  In the years since I was in school, our culture has become so much more degraded.  Values and philosophies that were once radical have become so pervasive  that they are now the common thought.  Homosexuality, feminism, broken families are all accepted and taught as “normal”, even glorified in books and on television and in the schools.  We don’t want to make Sally feel bad about her parents’ divorce, so let’s tell everyone that divorce is not only normal, but good.  Let’s have them read books about how happy mixed families can be, just never mind all that emotional pain and baggage that will potentially destroy Sally’s spirit and future.  I could go on forever about homosexuality and sex ed…but I won’t.  Back on point, kids today are just not the kind of kids I want influencing my children…as a result of their schooling, family life, the entertainment industry, little parental control and involvement, etc.  The world has become a scary place for children.

I also began to place more importance on the spiritual influences that I wanted my kids subjected to.  Their souls, I recognized, are so much more important than academics, and time spent on developing their relationships with God and others would never be time wasted, regardless of what their futures hold. 

But somehow, with all of the issues that I had with public schools and everything that I knew from my own experience, you’d think that when I began teaching my own children I would have created a “home school” that looked dramatically different than public school.  You’d think.  Yet the day my son turned five, I started ramping up for school, ordering a boxed curriculum that covered all the bases, complete with hours and hours worth of seat work, a great set of instructions for what and how to teach, when, where, and why…and when we began, my little boy was so excited! months later, he was miserable and I was stressed.  He began to dread “school” just like I did.  His energy level frustrated me, he was distracted on every side, in fact, I could see what looked like a little circus going on in his mind as he stared blankly at me while I lectured him on phonics and arithmetic, and I became the mean teacher hovering over him with threats of skipping recess if he didn’t complete his 90 problem speed drill in the next two minutes…all the while, missing the fact that while not in school, that little boy was reading books and absorbing every bit of information in them like a sponge.  Missing also the fact that he understood what he was taught the first time I taught it and didn’t NEED to do the same things over and over and over and over again!

I began to realize that I was giving my kid exactly what I wanted to avoid.  Somehow I had been infused with this philosophy of education that I hated!  How could this be?  Slowly, I began to experiment with new ideas, but the thought of doing something different was terrifying!  I’m not kidding…the anxiety that came with the idea of freedom from that boxed curriculum, and hours of seatwork, was ridiculous. 

I knew that I didn’t want that kind of bondage for my kids; I knew I wanted them to learn independently and to learn what they wanted to learn how they wanted to learn it…but something about that freedom was so difficult and scary for me.  

Now, almost five years later, and with three students instead of one, I still find myself drifting back to that box every once in a while, looking at it longingly as though there is comfort there—even though my memory and common sense tells me that it’s nothing but trouble!  I’m just like a kidnapped child, raised by her captor, who goes on to find freedom as an adult…the years of captivity were horrible, the kidnappers stripped me of what I should have experienced during my childhood, crippling my growth and potential, but now that’s all I know and somehow there is comfort in that!  

This is me shaking my head. 

Because I have what is known by psychologists as Stockholm syndrome.

Evolution?

Evolution suggests that “we” or “life” is evolving, that we are getting better as we so evolve…

In more ways than one blog post can contain, I protest this notion; but the reason that I bring it up at the moment is the thought, and with it many fears that I cannot seem to shake, that we are, in fact, ‘devolving’.  Laws of nature themselves reveal that everything tends towards chaos, not magical coordination or accidental design that develops intrinsically.  

Why has this been on my mind lately and why does it make me feel fear of all things?  Well for one thing, I see this self-evident truth in our nation, just as it has been with all great nations of the past, the governing thereof and the systems of education with which the majority of Americans are happy, or at least satisfied.  But the paramount aspect of this that has been looming o’er me is in the seeming genius of technology-- indubitably the manifestations of someone’s genius-- I suggest that the way in which we have taken hold of technology and applied it with such solidarity to everything imaginable is anything but genius.  Technology itself has now not only dumbed us down, but has crippled and disabled us.  Because of technology, very important, even necessary, knowledge and skills are being ignored, and worse, forgotten.  And that includes the ability to learn.

For instance, I was thinking the other day just how ridiculous it is that in public schools today it is necessary to teach “natural sciences” to our youth.  100 years ago it wouldn’t have even been considered, as young people actually experienced ‘natural sciences’.  They had no need to be shown how seeds sprout in a glass jar because they were part of the planting of gardens and crops that helped to sustain their families!  They understood cross pollination, not because they were taught in school, but because this information was passed down, or learned from experience out of necessity.

Kids didn’t need to be taught where milk comes from or that chocolate milk does not come from brow cows  ;)  If they themselves did not have the responsibility of milking cows (or goats or sheep), they knew and interacted with a number of people who did.  They knew full well where meat comes from and likely participated in the slaughtering of the animals which fed them year round.  Unlike a woman (most likely a liberal) from California who beseeched her fellow man, in a letter to the editor, to "stop the cruel practice of hunting for meat and start getting your meat at the market, like everyone else, where they make the meat"!

How is this “evolution” of technology responsible for this?  It is responsible because They have chosen to industrialize the food industry just as soon as the technology enabled them to.  I could go on forever about the “they” here and how “they” have impacted our nation with ill intent towards the masses, but that’s another post.  

With the invent of modern farming equipment, farming became big business, some might suggest a monopoly, and now when asked, “Where does food come from?” most children (young and old) will answer, “From the grocery store.” I’m not even sure what’s in much of the food found on grocery store shelves these days!  The knowledge recent generations have of actually growing food has become less and less, becoming merely textbook knowledge that will serve no good purpose if the time every came that these people need to use it.  

There was a day when the majority (at least in rural areas) had a good idea of what kind of plants in their area could be used as food or for medicinal purposes.  Now, the average Boy Scout can’t identify a blueberry or raspberry plant!   

I’m only going to touch on this lightly for the time being, but it dumbfounds me to see people jump aboard the supplement bandwagon, hoping to derive much needed nutrients from magical pills and powders, all because they have no real knowledge of the foods they could and should be eating, or because of the fact that what were once a nutrient rich crops have now become depleted and (not accurately, but rhetorically) anemic.  

I won’t go into the junk food industry, their marketing strategies, or the disintegration of family life that has resulted in a ‘need’ for quick, easy meals and the forgotten art of cooking.  

It is startling, to say the least, that the majority of people in our country would starve in the early months following a catastrophe that would bring the food industry as we know it to an end.  (I will assume that anyone reading this understands the impact of technology on this industry--electricity, transport, etc.  It is a fragile system, indeed).

I was proven to be just as frustrated as the average Joe by a lack of technology when, after a big storm a few years back, we were without electricity for a week.  We had a grill, so cooking was a cinch…but keeping the food we had stored in two chest freezers and a fridge/freezer was another story.  Without the use of a generator, we would have lost hundreds of dollars in meat and vegetables.  That experience made me well aware of the fact that I simply didn’t know what I could do without the use of some sort of electricity.  It didn’t take me long to realize that I desperately needed to learn the art of canning meat and vegetables, something that the generation before me, in my family, never passed down.  Realistically, where was the time to learn it if they had the knowledge?  I was too busy in school for eight hours every day and doing homework after…ehem.

That’s enough of the food topic for now. 

How about other basic necessities?  

Let’s take a look at hygiene.  I like to think that I’m slightly above the curve because I know how to make my own soaps for personal use, laundry, and other cleaning purposes, but during that storm I learned that not only was I dangerously dependent on modern refrigeration, I was also terribly dependent on technology for laundry.  Naturally, the night the electricity went out two of my children got sick and threw up all over their bed clothes.  Thankfully, we live in close proximity to a river because our only water source is a 100 foot well that can only be used with an electric pump…let me tell you, hauling buckets of water from the river is not a great deal of fun, though two little girls bathing in the river actually was.  I now plan to pound a well that can be equipped with a hand pump on any future property we own. 

I had often wondered how people managed laundry before washers and dryers…it was during that week that I understood that it’s our excess that makes laundry a nightmare.  Washing hundreds of clothing items by hand is ridiculous.  Having hundreds of clothing items is MORE ridiculous.  Less, in this case, really is more.  My grandma remembers as a child having only a couple outfits to choose from, a church dress, a school dress, and a play dress.  My kids have more than two outfits for every day of the week!  okay...way more...You know why?  because it’s so easy and relatively inexpensive to buy them.  I’m sure if I had to make them things would be different. Even though I’m somewhat “crafty”, I'm not so confident that I would know where to begin making clothes for everyone in my family!

That scenario assumes there is a good supply of fabric in the area…I have to wonder what the heck we would do if we didn’t have access to that…in days long past there were more local textile companies, nowadays most of our textiles are manufactured overseas and shipped here!  We take so much for granted.  I don’t know how to spin wool or weave…maybe I should learn.  I’ll youtube it this evening   ;) oh and I must remember to find a good plan for building a loom…

Another obvious problem with technology and this highly evolved life as we know it is the fact that we are reliant on it for shelter and pretty much everything imaginable that we would use in sustaining and maintaining even a menial quality of life.  Vehicles are used to get people many miles to and from the jobs that they spend their days doing for other people--ehem--so that they can make a modest amount of money with which to purchase all their necessities.  What if we were all without means of travel and had to somehow earn a living locally?  How many of us have skills that could be used to serve a purpose locally, personally?  I doubt, if the time ever came where that was necessary, a bachelors in business management or psychology will do you much good.

What about the houses in which we live?  I won’t say the houses we own, because in reality, most of us don’t own our homes, the bank does.  But what about the basic need for shelter?   We designed and built our own house, something the majority aren’t capable of doing, mostly only because they have no reason or motivation to even care how that might be accomplished.  The skills that they learned in high school geometry and shop might have come in handy, but they’ve had no reason to remember them!  Even with the knowledge and motivation to build, we relied entirely on companies from which we purchased the materials used to build.  Lumber was bought from a local lumber yard, but that lumber was not sawn locally, trusses were engineered and built out of state and shipped to us, hardware such as nails were also purchased from stores that are supplied by some central manufacturer, power tools were used…

I think we might be able to build a house without power tools or machinery, with lumber from our own woods, etc., but it would take a great deal more time and knowledge of basic mechanics!   And what if we didn’t have access common hand tools and hardware? Throughout history, people have managed to accomplish such things with the natural resources at their disposal!  “Neanderthal tools”, Indian arrow heads chiseled from rock…That’s ingenuity and resourcefulness that we just don’t see in the average person today, sadly.  

Can you imagine life without all of these conveniences that we take for granted, without all of these pre-made, easily acquired products that enable the hustle and bustle of our frenzied, fast paced existence?  The saddest realization of all is that our school systems have disabled the self-motivated learning drive in generation after generation, and I fear that without Google or DIY network, most people wouldn’t know how to learn to do any of these things!  Our need for ingenuity and resourcefulness has withered and dried with the growth of technology.  While America was once the source of more than 90% of the worlds’ patents and many of the modern day conveniences enjoyed world-wide, we are now down to 20% of the worlds’ patents and most of the new ideas are merely different versions of past inventions…There is, indeed, nothing new under the heavens...

While I could go on and on for pages and rant about language and literature among the many examples society offers us, I will end now with a question. 

Are you still convinced that we are evolving?

By Way of Introduction...

If you are reading this, chances are good that you've visited my blog "Joyful DORK".  That blog is all about things above--not to sound like I have multiple personality disorder or anything--this blog is about the things here below.

While my spiritual journey impacts every aspect of physical life, I wanted a place to write about the  every day, the thoughts and experiences that impact and are impacted by the things that God is accomplishing in my spirit.  We have a very full and exciting life, and much to share.  We live in a world, a country, a culture in which there are many messages proclaimed loudly, many philosophies and lifestyles, and too many choices to be made with too little reliable information...

I tend to be a very passionate person, I have strong beliefs because I tend not to opine about things that I don't know enough about, which admittedly is a lot!  When I come to a conclusion though, it's usually after much research and prayer, and more often than not it's prompted by the Spirit of God.  That's why, I'm sure you'll find, I have very strong opinions and convictions.  I make no decisions, whether to act or believe, on whims or trends, or even on cultural norms and commonly accepted beliefs and practices, whether they be held nationally or ecumenically. Much to my parents' and teachers' dismay, I rarely, if ever, took anyone's word for it. My beliefs have always had to be developed personally, never blindly accepted as hand-me-downs from past generations or acquired via pressures to conform to my peers (which means that I have never really "fit in" anywhere!   oh well.)  

This blog will act as a number of things to be sure, above all an outlet; it will be a journal in which to remember the day to day joys which are easily forgotten as a busy mother, and maybe the occasional frustration and problem which are, let's be honest, part of the package! it will be a place where I can document ideas and thoughts that I have that are also far too easily forgotten, but mostly, I'm guessing it will become something of a soap box on which I can share what I'm passionate about!
 
The beauty of a blog, as opposed to other social media, is that my words here are not directed at anyone and it is not easily assumed that they are, they are merely cast out into the vast cyber-space to be read by the occasional passers-by.  The thoughts here are my own, the words I say are the words I mean to say, I do not imply or infer, or expect a reader to read between the lines.  I don't beat around bushes or sugar coat my words in an effort to avoid controversy or argument, yet my opinions, my choices, and my firmest beliefs do not reflect the way that I feel about individuals who disagree with me or make alternative choices.  Everyone has their own journey, each man is responsible for the building of his own life.  These are the bricks I've chosen to use, this is the path I've chosen to follow, and this is why...


All for His glory