Homemade Soda

                         

Let me start by saying, there are few things in life that get me as excited as anything kitchen related - especially kitchen gadgets. I've been contemplating purchasing the Sodastream for a couple of years now. After a necessary(?) trip to Costco today, I bit the bullet and came home with one. Yay! Merry late Christmas to me? Sure.

We are lucky to get our water from an artesian well and let me tell you, it's the best tasting water I've ever had. I never buy bottled water anymore, but I do love sparkling water (and the occasional soda) and up until now I've had to buy it from the store. I'm thrilled to create my own fizzy water at home! 

Here is what I'm not so thrilled about - the syrups that come with the Sodastream. All of them contain sucralose, also known as Splenda. And a plethora of other cancer causing chemicals. Is it really that hard to create a healthy soda? 

So off to Google I go, to search for a healthy syrup recipe. Let me just say, there are a lot of bloggers out there creating some great recipes and a lot of bloggers that don't have a clue what 'healthy' really means. Sigh. Someone actually created a syrup from Kool-Aid powder and tried to call it healthier than the Sodastream syrups. Um...no. 

Then I cam across a great recipe using just fruits, herbs and honey. Simple, delish, and good for you. Provided that you are using organic fruits/herbs and raw, local honey. I had organic strawberries on hand and fresh mint that is somehow surviving in my severely neglected winter garden. Strawberry Mint syrup it is! I can't claim this recipe, so here is a link to the original creator:  

http://www.theyummylife.com/Fruit_Herb_Honey_Syrups

If you like to add a little flavor to your fizzy water, try out the honey based syrup. I may even use the syrup to flavor an herbal or green tea. It's worth the little bit of effort to feel good about what goes into your body. Homemade, organic syrup for your Sodastream! No more nasty chemicals and a soda you can feel good about drinking!

The best thing about Christmas...

....is having children to create the magic of the season for. This year my son is four years old and could not be more excited about all things Christmas than if I took him to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus himself. The greatest thing about my little guy is how much he believes. It is with every fiber of his being that he truly embodies the Christmas spirit. That makes it all the more fun to bake cookies, build gingerbread houses, compose letters to Santa, and indulge in the hilarity of the Elf on the Shelf. Our little elf is the first thing on my son's mind when he wakes up each morning. He is so eager to know what kind of mischief the elf has gotten himself into overnight. Here are a few pictures of our elf, Faccu and his adventures around our home. (Yes, Faccu. Don't ask). 

If you are interested to know how I made our elf able to be posed, the trick is 16 gauge jewelry wire, piped into his arms and legs. Using a stitch ripper, I removed one stitch from both the arms and legs, bent the end of the jewelry wire with needle-nose pliers (so it won't poke through the little elf) piped the wire up the inside of the arms/legs, trimmed the wire to fit and again bent the end of the wire. Then tucked the wire into the ends of the hands/feet and sewed the stitch back into place with a simple needle and thread. I then cut small pieces of Velcro to fit the size of his mittens and hand sewed the Velcro to the bottom of each hand. If you want to make him stand up, to walk the little dog perhaps, simply create a doll stand out of the same jewelry wire used to create his bendy arms and legs. Easy peasy!

Think you're covered? Think again. Obamacare could bite you in the ass too.

The day I found out I was pregnant with my first son, I was in shock. He wasn't planned or expected, but he is certainly the greatest joy in my life. When my husband and I decided to expand our family with another child, I assumed I would have the same easy experience in conceiving a baby as I did with my first. Not so, and I spent a year of our lives on an emotional roller coaster waiting for those two little pink lines to appear, month after month. Finally, this last spring, it happened. We were overjoyed. It had been a long year. 

All the while, a storm was brewing. A political storm in far away Washington DC, that I couldn't do anything to stop. Decisions were made, deceptions sold, and now we are dealing with the fallout. Earlier this month, I received a letter from our health insurance company letting me know that my current plan was being canceled, but I was being rolled over into an equivalent plan beginning January 1, 2014. I was surprised, but had already seen changes to our insurance over the previous two years due to Obamacare. I was most surprised and disappointed to learn that we would be paying much more money for a plan with less coverage. I only wish this was where my surprises and disappointments would end. 

I am due to give birth to our second son on January 7, 2014. After hearing a report that many doctors are not accepting certain insurance plans, I decided to look up my own new plan to see where we would be covered. I just assumed that because my doctor currently accepts my insurance company, that wouldn't change. But, like a slap in the face, I was wrong. In fact, not only does my doctor not accept my insurance company, neither does the hospital I am scheduled to deliver my baby, nor does my older son's pediatrician. Come January 2014, we may as well not be insured. Was it easy to find this information? The answer is...sort of. I really had to do some digging to find out where we would be covered as well as what insurance companies are accepted with our current doctors and hospitals. I wonder, how many people will seek out this information on their own? Or will they too assume they are covered with their current insurance company?

I don't want to turn this post into a liberal vs. conservative political debate, so I'll refrain from expressing too much disgust. I simply want to encourage everyone to start asking their doctors, hospitals, urgent care centers and specialists what insurance companies they accept. You may be surprised to learn it is not yours. 

For my family, we will be changing insurance companies beginning January 1, 2014. Which means we begin all new deductibles and cross our fingers the transition goes as planned. It's not a great way to enjoy bringing a new life into the world, but baby, get used to it.

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

In my attempt to eat as 'clean' as possible throughout my pregnancy, I cannot seem to escape the cravings. Why I can't crave kale, I'll never know. Instead, I want salty, sweet and fatty. I'm sure it is all part of a master plan that the universe has to get me to gain as much weight as possible by January. Or perhaps it is just my subconscious telling me to go ahead and enjoy life rather than stress about it. Either way, I want chocolate. 

So here is a raw, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, all natural peanut butter cup. Just the right snack to help me stick with my clean eating plan and satisfy my cravings. 

                         

Peanut Butter Cups!

Base

3/4 C raw almonds

1/4 C rolled oats

2 T natural peanut butter

1.5 T warmed coconut oil

1.5 T grade B maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

Topping

3 T melted coconut oil 

3 T grade B maple syrup 

2 T cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

Combine almonds and oats in a high speed blender and blend until a flour forms. Dump flour into a bowl and using your fingers break up any clumps. 

Add peanut butter, oil, syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Stir until combined and mixture resembles a sticky cookie dough. 

Portion the dough into mini-muffin tins, about half full. Press down until firmly compacted. 

For the chocolate sauce: whisk melted coconut oil, syrup, cocoa powder and salt until a smooth sauce forms. Spoon sauce over the top of each cup, distributing evenly. 

Let set in freezer for 45 minutes. Use a butter knife to pop out the cups and enjoy! (Best when eaten right out if the freezer). 

* adapted from ohsheglows.com

The Hungry Ass

Yesterday, I had a precious sixty minutes to myself while my son spent some quality time with his grandmother. He probably snacked on cookies, ice cream and straight sugar, but she could probably give him crack and I would look the other way just to get my much needed alone time. So while my son was playing junkie at grandma's, I decided to head to one of my favorite sandwich shops for lunch.

I walked into the empty cafe with its narrow walkway near the deli counter, savoring the quiet. After placing my to-go order, I sat down at a small table to wait. A few minutes of peaceful meditation and the door swings open as four ladies enter the cafe. While viewing the chalkboard menu, one of the women stands within inches of my table with her back side toward my face. She then backs up the mere few inches and sits on my table. Yes, puts her actual butt cheeks on the table. Now, I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that butts are one of, if not the most, unsanitary parts of a human body. Also, not sure if you know, but a long time ago someone invented the chair. I'm talking ancient Greece, 600 B.C. the chair was invented. I think you get my point - asses belong in chairs.

At one point the table wobbles, the woman stands up and turns to face me. I made a disgusted face and looked her straight in the eye, assuming she would understand the feelings of abhorrence radiating from my eyes. Instead, she mutters, "oh sorry" and shifts her weight to be more centered on the table and promptly sits back down. I finally stood up and moved to the empty counter to wait for my sandwich away from the lunching ladies and let her have the table. But not before snapping this picture to post here and on Facebook.

Don't read this blog! It's about you...

Any time I need to amp up my writing skills, I try to use writing prompts to get my creative juices flowing. One of my favorite websites for prompts is plinky.com. With the upcoming anthology, I really need to work on my writing skills. And Facebook status updates don't count. So after a too long hiatus of quality writing, I have committed myself to daily literary exercises. The Plinky prompt I received in my email inbox recently was this: Who is the one person you do not want to read your blog? Why?

This is an interesting question for me. I often times find myself censoring my blog posts or writing cryptically about a situation as to avoid someone connecting the dots on a story being about them. I have no idea if I am successful in this effort. I also have plenty of saved drafts that never made it to publication because there was simply no way to spin the story into a generic blog post. Or sometimes I am simply too annoyed to write with any decorum.

To me, writing is a symbol of freedom. A freedom of expression that can either be private or public depending on how transparent you want to be. Would I share the same feelings in my blog that I do with my best friend? Well, I haven't so far. If it were that easy to be honest about my feelings, I would either have much stronger relationships or none at all. So, who is the one person that I would not want to read my blog? No one. But, I do believe this is a challenge for me to be more expressive in my relationships. After all, I would much rather hear from a good friend, face-to-face, how she is feeling about me than read it in a public blog.

Call for Submissions

I am so excited, thrilled and pleased to announce a call for submissions for the commercial fishing anthology that has been in the works for several years. Along with my fellow commercial fishing wife/mother and author, Jen Karuza Schile, we are moving forward in producing this new literary project. 

This anthology will feature stories from the perspective of modern fishing families and life 'off the boat'. We have all seen or at least heard of Deadliest Catch, the popular crab-fishing reality television show on the Discovery Channel. We watch them battle each other, wicked weather and rough seas, but who are these men at home? Who are their wives, children, mothers and fathers? What would life be like without your husband for months at a time? Could you do it? Well, these families do and if you are part of one of these unique commercial fishing families, then we want to hear your story. If you know someone who would be interested in telling their story, please direct them our way. 

For more detailed information regarding this project and submission guidelines, please follow the link below.

http://jenkaruzaschile.com/submit-your-story