happy easter xxx

I hope you are having a relaxed and family filled Easter weekend, dear friends! 

Preferably filled with chocolate and other Good Things! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting. 

sunflower cheese anyone?

Have I mentioned before that I was brought up by a very health conscious mother? She grew up in a family of nine children during WW2 and they didn't have enough money for general living expenses let alone for doctors and medical treatments. If they were ill they stayed at home and rested, perhaps with some sort of herbs. People in those days were a lot more resourceful and used what they had around them, taking responsibility for themselves. Mum doesn't remember being sick often but I'm guessing that when she was, she was put to bed and given a nice herbal tea that corresponded to her symptoms because that was just what she did for us kids when we were growing up!

Tummy ache? Here sip this peppermint tea!
Headache? Have a nice calming chamomile tisane!
Cold or flu? Rosehip tea will pep you up…. its full of Vitamin C!  

I just mention this because my mothers healing ways had a big impact on myself and my sister. We have both chosen to educate ourselves about healthy healing modalities, eating a clean, plant based diet and taking care of any illnesses using natural methods. Most of my children had never seen a doctor until they needed to obtain a medical certificate for a job and those three that did need a hospital visit, needed it for accidents rather than illness (and yes, I am thankful that there is that option available)

Now, I'm not sure why I'm rambling on about this but it seemed like it might be relevant - after all, not many people make 'cheese' out of sunflowers! I don't often make it anymore either but about 10 years ago, we spent a year and a half eating a very high raw diet and this tasty recipe was not only used as a dip but also when thinned down, as a dressing for salads. This summer we have (as usual) had loads of zucchini and this was another way of munching through that glut! Sunflower seeds are quite cheap compared to nuts so this is an economical way of adding a whole bundle of vitamins and minerals into our diet.

Sunflower seed Cheese

1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 or 3 cloves of garlic 

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

I dry blend the seeds up in my blender first and then add the rest of the ingredients. You might need to add a bit of extra water to make it blend properly so just adjust the seasonings. 

If you soak the seeds in water overnight, it makes the 'cheese' creamier, is easier to blend, you won't need to add extra water and it also removes enzyme inhibitors. 

Enjoy it on crackers, as a dip with all sorts of veg or on top of sweet zucchini rounds!!  

wordless wednesday

Joining in for the first time with Kara for Wordless Wednesday. 

No words needed! 

Choose a single picture or a related group to show something in your days just now. 

slow living in march 2014

This month it's been all about food. Well, mostly about food. 

Because it's that time of year when I'm starting to think about Extra Food for the coming cold months. 

Welcome to my Slow Living March edition!!

Nourish - Food. Yes, we have been eating rather a lot of delicious food courtesy of our garden. Lots of Briam, cucumber salads, stuffed baked zucchini and pesto, pesto, pesto!!! After the late start to our summer, we have finally gotten a wonderful harvest of every good thing! I've been mostly cooking with our own garden produce and enjoying every minute of it…..well, perhaps not with all those cucumbers but certainly with the basil!

Prepare - and that leads me on to telling you about the pesto! I have made about 3 kilos of pesto, stored in small glass jars and popped into the freezer to be taken out in the cold wintery months. We are looking forward to some summer freshness on pasta and sandwiches but we haven't neglected to eat lots of it now, either! When we had the two lovely French Helpxers here, they bottled up a couple of batches of scrumped apples which we are already eating……. fortunately we are also already starting to bottle some more! 

Oh and just to make you all a bit more envious - there was another large bowl of strawberries processed and frozen for winter vitamin C needs (oh, the yummy smoothies to come)! 

  

Reduce - you know, I can't think of anything I've 'reduced' this month…. other than perhaps my waistline with this no sugar, low carb lifestyle! 

Green - and this one, again, has nothing. I'm going to spend my winter months meditating on this and hopefully come up with some way to remedy this over sight! 

Grow - ah, but this category always has a lot to offer! There have been harvests of the aforementioned basil, cucumbers and zucchini as well as carrots, potatoes, beetroot, spinach, capsicum, tomatoes and eggplants. Along with enough eggs from the lovely hens, we have homegrown feasts almost very night as well as loads to give away! 

On the growing front, I've been sowing carrots, beets, mangel-wurzel (some sort of beet) coriander, perpetual spinach and daikon. I'm running late with planting cabbage seedlings though, and hope to get it done this week. All in all, the garden is the place to be at the moment. 

Create - The biggest creation last month was The Quilt. I spent a solid week and a half, cutting, sewing and quilting before heading off to Melbourne with it for a wedding. They loved it! 

I also created a lovely party frock for my Fairy (don't you just love that word - frock - for me, it conjures up images of elegant ladies from the 50's) as well as a bunch of little zippered pouches as gifts for some lovely friends who watered the garden and fed the animals while we were gone. 

  

Discover - I managed to fit in another Open2study course last month - The Art of Drawing and Painting. I liked it but didn't get time to do any of the practical stuff which is a pity as the lecturer showed us some really novel painting ideas. Doing these classes is doubly exciting because mostly there are one or two of my children watching and learning along with me.

  

Enhance - March went by in such a blur of garden and sewing that I'm pretty sure I didn't do any enhancing! Unless you count prettying up the newly weds bedroom with a lovely quilt? I just can't remember anything else and haven't noted it down on my 'slow living list' that I keep, which helps me write this post each month!! 

Enjoy - I mentioned that we had our first Helpx helpers here in March and it was certainly an enjoyable experience - the two lovely French girls, weeded, picked up pine cones and bottled apples, among other things and we had many a good laugh trying to speak each others languages. We now have a young German bloke here which is much better language-wise! 

The other most enjoyable event was our Autumn Equinox celebration. I love a good feast with family and friends!!

March passed in a blur - so busy and full! Every month I pick a word I'd like to think on and practice for that month and interestingly enough, my March word was 'Abundance'. There was certainly an abundance of garden produce but there were also loads of other nicely abundant activities in my life in March - lots of family coming and going; a few days away with much loved but seldom seen friends; getting to know new people from overseas; lots of creative at therapy! I must admit I was hoping for an abundance of the monetary kind but am satisfied none the less! It was certainly a busy and productive month.

Now I'm ready to enjoy April. My word for April is 'Peace'!

Please stop by and visit Christine for her update on Slow Living and then have a peek at what others have been doing too. It's always inspiring to see how they are striving to live their simple and meaningful life!