today...

Today feels like...

... New Neil Halstead.
 

... Texts from good friends about new life. Bless.

... Homemade apple almond butter. 

Apple Nut Butter:

• 6-8 large apples, cored and sliced into big chunks. Keep the peels!
• Splash of orange or lemon juice.
• 1 tbsp vanilla.
• 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Nut butter of choice (1/2 cup or so for every 1 1/2 cup of apple butter).
• 2 tbsp maple syrup.
• Pinch of salt. 

...first, the apple butter: 

Place the apples in a slow cooker with the splash of OJ. Set to high and let it simmer for 4-6 hours. The longer you cook the apples, the more condensed the butter will be. Stir occasionally. Let it cool, then blend until smooth. It's super delicious on it's own.

...then, the nut butter:

Place 1 1/5 cups of apple butter, 1/2 cup of your favourite nut butter (I used almond), and remaining ingredients in a food processor. Blend. That's it. 

So yum.
mxo

 

baked coconut chickpeas

The response to my last post has been absolutely overwhelming. Thank you, thank you, thank you... and I plan to cover more soon. :)

But for now, it's Meatless Monday and it sure is a rainy one! 

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a recipe for jerk chickpeas on one of my favourite blogs, Oh She Glows. I wanted those badboy peas then and there, except that I didn't have most of the ingredients and I was already in comfy pants (it's a violation on a Sunday afternoon to trade comfy pants for real clothes).

Dressed in comfy pants and without ingredients, I was forced to get creative with what was in my pantry and boy oh boy, did it work out!

I made up a super easy peasy recipe for baked coconut chickpeas!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
• 2-3 tbsps freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice.
• 2 tbsp tamari (organic and gluten-free if possible).
• 1 tbsp coconut oil.
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (the thicker, full-fat version works well).
• 1 tbsp maple syrup.
• 1 tsp cinnamon.
• 1 tsp tumeric (you could also use curry if you're feeling sassy).
• 2 large garlic gloves, smashed and chopped.
• 1/2 of a red pepper, finely chopped.
• 1/2 cup red onions, finely diced.
• Few pinches of red chili flakes. 
• Pinch of salt and pepper.
• 2 tbsp parsley or cilantro and/or a big handful of arugula and/or chopped avocado and chives for garnish. 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375. 
2. Combine all ingredients in a baking dish, except the garnish. Give it a loving stir.
3. Cover and bake for 30 mins. Uncover and bake for another 15 mins if you'd like it drier.
4. Throw peas over some quinoa or brown rice, or serve as a side.
5. Garnish with your greens of choice... and enjoy!

Really, it's one of those recipes where you can throw out the recipe and just mix ingredients until it tastes yummy.

Happy rainy Monday of tumbling & stumbling!

mxo

It's just 24 hours...

So I'm cheating today. 

I am taking a few hours away from Sunday Sabbath to take care of some admin matters (like my taxes... zoinks!) which means I'm fully, 100% plugged into all technology... and I regret it already.

It seems this whole business of unplugging is very chic these days! 

Look, Leelee Sobieski is doing it!

From the May issue of O

This really stuck with me:

"When I had a daughter, Louisanna, two and a half years ago, I started recording every funny or sweet thing she said or did on my phone. But on one of our unplugged days, I realized I'd been so focused on capturing those moments that I hadn't been feeling them. I'd missed opportunities to connect with my daughter because my face was always hidden behind my cell phone... I need to let this moment exist. I don't have to capture everything. I just want to experience it."

Less capturing, more experiencing. With that, I'm signing off.

Happy tumbling & stumbling!

mxo

sunday sabbath redo...

It will be Sunday when you read this (or possibly later) but, through the magic of delayed posts, I am writing this on Saturday.

Why? I'd like to redo last week's somewhat failed Sunday Sabbath. It wasn't a completely failure, but maybe a C... or a C minus.

I did manage to significantly curb my media intake... but when Sunday evening rolled around, I was in comfy pants watching movies on my laptop while checking Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. Alt tab, alt tab.

However, one of the things I stumbled upon in my alt-tabbing, is that there is an entire community dedicated to this Sunday media-Sabbath idea!

• There's the Sabbath Manifesto
• And theUndoList which provides tips for your weekly 24-hour break from technology
• And there's even a National Day of Unplugging (though apparently we missed it)

This is great! Tips! Communities! Yay!


So my strategy for tomorrow/ today/ the next technology Sabbath is simple: rather than concentrating so much on what I have to avoid, I'm going to focus on filling my day with fun non-tech things to do!


Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• go to a yoga class
• how about a walk in the park or through your favourite neighbourhood?
• or a date with a friend?
• call your mom/ dad/ someone you should probably call more often
• go to the gym
• play an April Fools prank on someone
• iron your clothes for the week (okay, i'm running out of ideas...)

You get the point. :)
Happy tumbling & stumbling!
mxo