Chow Mein

Yum i made this except:

• sauteed everything in a big soup pot instead of a wok, substituted baby arugula for the spinach, used sweet pea sprouts where sprouts are called for, left out the sherry, substituted salt for the soy sauce, forgot to use the cornstarch, substituted agave syrup for the sugar, and threw in about 1 1/2 tsp curry powder at the end -- quite good on the third day (of course i was also very hungry on the third day)!

The veggies came out nice and crunchy :-)  I think i might make this again since i have more of most of everything still but i will make a peanut sauce using tamari, lime juice, peanut butter, and agave syrup & maybe chile and ginger and garlic although that sounds like a lot of work might leave out the ginger & garlic & chile and use cayenne pepper instead :-)

This is the book the recipe came from:

Bon Appetit!

Potato Cauliflower Curry Medley-Mash

The difference between this and a "bowl full of slop" is that the onions and cauliflower here are delineated from the cashews and the raisins

Ingredients
One large potato, cubed
One head cauliflower, roughly chopped into florets
One yellow onion, cubed
1/2 cube vegetable bouillon (enough to make one cup of broth)
a couple of handfuls of raw cashews
a couple of handfuls of raisins
3/4 tsp curry powder
Celtic sea salt to taste

Instructions
Fill a medium saucepan 2/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil.  Add the potato and boil for about 10 minutes until tender.  Throw the  cauliflower, onion, bouillon, cashews, raisins, and 1/4 teaspoon of the curry powder into a big soup pot.   Add about 2 cups water, enough so there is a little less than an inch in the bottom of the pot.  Cover, bring  to a boil, lower the heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is just tender.  Drain the potato cubes, add them and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of curry to the cauliflower mixture, and stir until everything is mixed together.  Add salt to taste.  Note:  even though most of the curry powder is added at the end and things haven't had time to blend it still tastes good -- go figure :-)

Star Cutout Cookies

Yum these are actually eggless cookies -- I can't believe how well they held together they are totally not falling apart! 

  

 These cookies were cut out partly with cookie cutters from the dollar store and partly with the ones below that i made from large index cards and scotch tape -- i thought i would never find a use for all those index cards i have had them for years! used two of them anyway :-) also the circle ones i did with a very strange bottle cap.  also the one i made with my own star cutter i ate already so it's not present in the picture oh well

Also, what i used for a rolling pin is a tall bottle of olive oil -- worked PERFECTLY, rolled out the dough in no time flat i was amazed how little time it took to roll out the dough.  

The great thing about this recipe is there's no muss or fuss since you roll everything between two sheets of parchment paper no mess to clean up!

Here is the recipe except i adapted it -- actually the organic vanilla extract i  used initially made the cookies a bit bitter but the bitterness went away after they sat for an hour or so.   The cookies were quite good i ate a whole bunch, however i am going to try to find better tasting vanilla extract

here is the website i originally got it from :-) http://www.elanaspantry.com/star-cookies/

and here is how i adapted the recipe: 

1. made a half batch since that's all the almond flour I had – this amount filled my whole very large cookie sheet with cookies so if I did do a whole batch I would separate the dough into 2 halves and then roll out one half at a time so it stays cold.
2. left out the cinnamon since I did not have any handy
3. I substituted melted butter for the melted coconut oil
4. left the dough in the freezer instead of the refrigerator for an hour
   
   Okeedoke well i made some icing from the cookies from this recipe, from http://www.sheletthemeatcake.com/2011/02/frosted-sugar-cookies/:   my adaptations are in pink :-)
   

   Refined Sugar-Free Frosting Recipe

   This frosting is awesome.  It works on cupcakes too!
   
   

   • 1 tbsp vanilla (either leave this out or find a better tasting organic vanilla extract)
   • ½ cup coconut oil, liquefied
   • 4 tbsp maple syrup (used agave syrup, start with a lot less since it's very sweet & add til it tastes good)
   • 4 tbsp full fat coconut milk (canned)
   • Pinch of sea salt
   • a teeny bit of fresh lemon juice (about 1/8 tsp)
   • 1 tsp water from a cooked beet or as desired 

   1. Use an immersion blender to combine all of the ingredients.
   -- i added about 2 1/2 teaspoons of beet water 1/2 tsp at a time and it came out a lovely pink! 
   2. Refrigerate to harden, remove after 15 minutes – you want the coconut oil to harden just a little bit, too much and you’ll have to warm it up again!
   3. Blend very well and spread approximately 1 tsp on each cookie.
   4. Refrigerate to harden.  It will set at room temperature, but it’s best to put the frosted cookies in the fridge.
   
   
   
   

Halvah

Immersion blender "Freedom Fighter Suicide" Halvah!!!

This recipe came out AMAZING maybe because i was really hungry when i got home i couldn't believe how good they were :-) :-) :-)

Only thing is i burnt out the motor on my immersion blender making this it was ok through all the making of the tahini but when i tried to plow through the dry raisins i used after the blender was already overheated i think maybe i fried it somehow, which is why i added the part about soaking the raisins first :-)

Halvah balls.  The cilantro garnish is there because it's green.

Ingredients

2 cups raw hulled sesame seeds

7 dates

1/4 cup raisins

Agave Syrup

1/8 tsp vanilla extract or to taste

dash celtic sea salt

pistachios to stick on at the end (optional)

First make the date and raisin paste:
7 dates and 1/4 cup raisins, water to cover dates, small pinch raw, unrefined sea salt (optional)
Soak dates and raisins in water for 15 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Use soaking water as needed for consistency.

I started with 2 cups of raw sesame seeds. Make sure your immersion blender is really dry before you start. If there’s any moisture the sesame seeds aren’t going to grind up so well.  I used a mason jar for this but in the future i would use a small sauce pan which leaves room for the blender to move around in the pan. Pulse them with the blender until the are ground into a fine meal (or actually i turned it into a paste because it still seemed to be quite crunchy as meal) – seems to make about 1 scant cup of homemade tahini. Add a dash of the sea salt to it, not enough to make it salty, but the salt will bring out the other flavors. Then add the date & raisin paste. Mix the sesame & salt mixture together with the date & raisin mixture and the vanilla, add more sweetener either dates or agave or even more raisins if not sweet enough for you. Roll into balls & then if you like roll the balls in the chopped pistachios (i did not do this). Sounds done to me!!!  Good right away and really really really great after it sits in the fridge for awhile. This is AMAZING halvah :-) :-) :-) Next time i make it i think i might double the raisins though and so will probably be able to leave out the agave syrup which would make it taste more interesting when you bite into it although i have to say that once you get to chewing it is pretty incredible as is :-)

Mashed Potatoes and Butternut Squash (feeds 10-20 as a side dish)

 

I just figured out how many jars of food this makes in the fridge which is about 5 quarts -- the truth is i have absolutely no idea how many people this feeds i guess it depends on if you're having it for a snack or a side dish or a meal :-)

Ingredients:
1 5 lb bag potatoes, organic, from the health food store (Sunflower)
1 giant butternut squash, organic, also from the health food store
2 sticks butter
1 bunch cilantro, chopped fine
5 medium cloves garlic, minced
A little cow, almond, soy or rice milk
About 3 tablespoons olive oil -- you can use more if you want, it's not really a big deal
Celtic sea salt

Preparation:
You will need 2 big soup pots for this because it's a fairly large amount of food.

Wash the potatoes and the squash. Using a paring knife, poke holes all over the potatoes and the squash, especially in the bowl-shaped part of the squash, so the steam can get out.
Line a metal baking pan and a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put the squash into the baking pan and the potatoes onto the cookie sheet.. Next, at 400 degrees, bake the potatoes for an hour and 15 minutes, and bake the squash for an hour and 45 minutes or until everything's done. I like the skins to be extra done so they're nice and crunchy.

While the squash and potatoes are baking, divide the butter and garlic in half and place into the 2 soup pots. When the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven and when they’re cool enough to handle, use a large knife to cut them into bite-sized pieces to prepare them for mashing. Add the pieces to the soup pots, dividing everything between the two pots. Note: the skins are left on. When the squash is done, take it out of the oven and cut it in half lengthwise, then scoop out the pulp with a large serving spoon, divide it in half and add it to the pots. Now, add the olive oil, some salt and a little milk to the pots, and start mashing. Add more salt if needed, till it tastes good. Finally, add the cilantro and mash just a little bit more, to mix it in, and serve.

To bring it somewhere, you can put it in a 10-lb aluminum roasting pan.

This stuff is delicious and it’s actually pretty good at room temperature.

Corn Chowder from the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook :-) :-) :-) thank you Janet Wooton for telling me about this cookbook :-) :-) :-)

Coconut Almond Banana Coffee Ice Cream

Coconut Almond Banana Coffee Ice Cream

Vegan and Sugar Free

My Best Ice Cream Yet!!!

This came out as creamy as a really good  high cream-content ice cream plus it tastes amazing with all that almond butter & banana and coconut milk & coffee in there. :-) :-) :-)  Just be aware the mixture tastes kind of gross until it has had time to sit for awhile before going into the ice cream maker :-)  I guess the thing about making ice cream is that you really need cream or something very creamy as a base.  This came out SO GREAT YUUUUUUUUUUUM!!!!

Ingredients

1 13.5 oz can coconut milk

1 1/2 cups unsweetened organic almond milk

3 medium bananas

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon almond butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cups water

3 tablespoons decaffeinated coffee

Agave syrup to taste

3/4 cup grain-sweeted carob chips (optional)

Instructions

In a small saucepan, boil the water. Place a 1-cup paper filter into a 1-cup manual plastic coffee maker thingy and put the coffee into the filter. Pour the water through the coffee in the filter into a mug. Into a medium saucepan place the coconut milk, almond milk, bananas, almond butter, vanilla extract, and coffee and puree with an immersion blender until it looks like a smoothie. If it's not sweet enough for you add a little agave syrup & blend some more until it tastes good but be careful a little agave syrup seems to go a long way. :-) Put a lid on the pot and refrigerate the mixture preferably overnight until it is quite cold. This is important also because it gives the flavors time to blend! My refrigerator is on a very cold setting so after it sat all night it was almost frozen in a slushy sort of way which is perfect for starting it in the ice cream maker. Place the mixture in an ice cream maker and run for 20 minutes, then add the carob chips if desired and run for another 5 to 20 minutes until done. Place finished product into jars or a bowl and freeze in the freezer for another couple of hours or overnight. Yum!

Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Red Lentil & Yam Soup

Ingredients
2 1/12 cups red lentils
1 giant + 1 medium small garnet yam, chopped coarsely into cubes
4 cubes vegetable bouillon (enough to make 8 cups of broth)
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chili powder
8 cups water
salt

Instructions
Put all ingredients into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the lentils are done. Usually a good indicator is when the lentils start sticking to the bottom to the pot. Blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add salt to taste – you might like it with up to 3 tablespoons salt or you might like it with a lot less.

Notes:
Extremely creamy & quite tasty! I would try it with less yam next time, also it seemed like it could use quite a bit more cumin and chili powder so i might do 1 1/2 times the amount next time. Also maybe adding other vegetables would probably make it very tasty. I ripped the ingredients to this this off of a pot of hot soup at Mother Earth :-)

Mushroom Barley Soup

Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
6 large cloves garlic, minced
4 large portobello mushrooms, chopped into chunks
1 1/4 cup pearled barley, uncooked
2 quarts vegetable broth (I like Pacific)
1 cup chopped parsley
1 15 oz cans black beans
Fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces – not sure how many I used but I think a little less than a pound
1 tsp Italian seasoning
up to 2 tablespoons salt


Throw all the ingredients except the salt and the vegetable broth into a large soup pot. Pour in enough of the vegetable broth to a little more than cover. If there is not enough vegetable broth, add enough water to a little more than cover everything. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 1½ hours until it tastes like soup. Do not be disturbed if it seems bland it probably just needs salt! At the end of cooking, add the salt a bit at a time until it tastes good. If it just doesn't seem to taste flavorful enough add some miso paste however I made the soup just this way and it didn't need it. :-) It takes about an hour for the barley to get done but this soup is yummy!

Note: I will make this soup next time using enough vegetable bouillon cubes to make 8 cups and use that instead of the vegetable broth because I think the soup would taste better even though it actually tasted quite good this way.

Also, it tastes much much better with pearled barley but originally I made it with unpearled barley which still has the bran.

Green Split Pea Soup with Butternut Squash

 

Green Split Pea and Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups green split peas
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large yellow onion
½ large bunch of dill or 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning which they sell in bulk at the
   local health food stores
8 medium carrots, sliced
Salt, about 2 tablespoons, to taste


Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the salt in a large soup pot with enough water to a little more than cover. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 – 2 hours, until green split peas are tender and soupy. If the split peas taste even a hint of not completely tender, they probably need more time. When done, remove from heat. Add the salt – – it seems to need about 2 tablespoons but I start with a lot less and just add salt until it tastes good & serve. Yum!!!

An alternative way of doing the butternut squash so you don't have to put nearly as much work into getting the rind off it might be to cover an oblong metal baking pan with a piece of parchment paper, use a sharp paring knife to poke holes in the squash to let the steam out, and bake the whole squash at 400 degrees for about anywhere from one to two hours and then take the squash out of the oven, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and add the pulp to the soup, adding enough water to cover everything in the pot again.  I have baked butternut squash before this way and it is absolutely delicious all on its own you don't even need to add anything to it although i always do (coconut oil and salt).  Also you can totally eat the skin it is delicious just like a baked potato!  Best to buy an organic squash to make sure the skin doesn't have anything funny on it. (?) Have never tried adding it to this soup after baking however cooked squash is cooked squash and am going to try baking it just until the squash is done enough so the pulp can be scooped or cut out easily and then add it to the soup in the last 1/2 hour of cooking -- it's really the split peas that take so long to cook anyway squash is like potatoes when you boil it it gets done pretty quickly.  Do use a metal baking pan to bake it though, my experience is that glass does not hold up well at high degrees for long times especially with something that doesn't entirely fill the pan like a squash.

from Drake's Purple Cabbage Coleslaw

from Drake's Purple Cabbage Coleslaw 
Serves 1 as a side dish

Ingredients 
1/4 of a medium large purple cabbage,
   sliced very thin and cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup pretty finely chopped raw cashews

Salt -- 
   actually Drake originally made this with tamari but i just use coarse celtic sea salt 

Instructions
Mix all ingredients except the salt in a large bowl. Add salt to taste and maybe a little more mustard.  Let sit for 5 minutes & serve.  Yum!  Even better the next day :-)

Miso Soup with Cabbage, Seaweed and Pasta shells

Miso Soup with Cabbage, Seaweed, & Pasta Shells
Serves 2

Ingredients

about 3 tablespoons miso paste

1 1/2 – 2 cups water

about 1 cup steamed cabbage

about 1 cup cooked qinoa pasta shells

1/3 15 oz can cannelini beans

2 or 3 tablespoons dried wakame flakes

1/2 of a medium-thick slice of raw onion, chopped

Instructions

In a small pot, use a wisk to stir the miso and 1 cup of the water together. Keep tasting and adding water until the broth is a bit weak – the wakame will add flavor to it later. Add the rest of the ingredients to the broth – heat on low flame until just hot enough to eat & try not to boil the miso because that kills whatever's good about it. Since it's a small pot it will be pretty full but that's ok because i think it helps to not boil the miso.

There are a lot of variations to this soup – you can do it with other beans and qinoa or any other grain you like. Also you can do it with any vegetable. The only constants are i think the miso, the wakame flakes, and the onion :-) Just note, it doesn't store that well so better on the first day -- YUM!!! :-)

Red Lentil Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Very easy to make and very tasty! :-) :-) :-) 

2 ¼ cups red lentils

9 cups water

½ cup short grain brown rice, uncooked

5 carrots, chopped

2 large stalks celery, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried ground fennel

Salt to taste

Throw everything except the salt in a big soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the lentils and rice are tender. Add salt to taste. This is a very yummy soup!

Miley Cyrus The Climb

MILEY CYRUS LYRICS

The Climb

I can almost see it.
That dream I'm dreaming, but
There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it 

• Seems like the song starts out pretty clear i guess i just imagine Martin Luther King saying he has a dream he's dreaming and it feels better to me than if i have a dream of being a rock star of something

Every step I'm takin'
Every move I make
Feels lost with no direction,
My faith is shakin' 

• OK no problem here

But I, I gotta keep tryin'
Gotta keep my head held high

• The part about trying seems to be sort of plaintive and not particularly effective -- as I understand God, all i need to do is remember to ask him what to do/say/think whenever i am feeling lost (which for me is constantly) and he always offers guidance and direction it's just a question of learning to hear

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move

• OK

Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

• My experience is that the more time i spend focusing on what the Lord would have me do, say, or think, the less everything seems like an uphill battle. 

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side

• Now THIS i agree with.

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No I'm not breaking

I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep goin',
And I, I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, 'cause

These are the lines that feel the least grounded to me out of this whole song.  I go nuts when i hear people talking about how they've had to be strong.   I feel like it sets up a victim/hero scenario inside their heads and also inside the heads of anybody who believes their story.   For me, listening for the voice of God in order to follow the movement of Spirit (aka Go With The Flow) sometimes involves doing something that feels like standing up for myself.  However, i do not necessarily associate this kind of action with being strong but rather with focusing clearly and standing my ground within my focus and my grounding is in God.  

 

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
Yeaht
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
Yeah, yeah yeah
Keep on movin'
Keep climbin'
Keep the faith baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa, whoa, oh. 

 

This is fine i mean it's great to keep faith the only thing is the whole rest of this song is so confused about what faith exactly is that trying to follow it seems like it leads to being more lost than before hearing the song.  I have a problem with a lot of pop songs like this -- the chorus or hook is good but then when i listen to the rest of the song i end up thinking "wait, is this person advocating violence as a solution to life's problems or maybe suggesting that blaming some guy for treating her like garbage is a tolerable mindstate to get stuck in or suggesting that it's ok to abuse himself now for not bringing some chick flowers last year etc etc etc"

Spicy Nachos with Goat Cheese

Spicy nachos minus the avocado

Spicy Nachos with Goat Cheese

Serves 1

Ingredients

A couple handfuls of spicy tortilla chips 
     – i like Garden of Eatin spicy Red Hot Blues tortilla chips

A 1 1/2 x 2 inch chunk of hard goat cheese, chopped into little bits – gouda is a favorite 
     but any hard cheese such as cheddar or monterey jack is good

1/3 of a can of canned beans 
     – kidney beans, black bleans, pinto beans are favorite choices

3 medium lettuce leaves, chopped

5 cherry tomatoes

1/2 an avocado, scooped out and cut into rough bite-sized chunks

A  very small handful cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 of a medium-thick onion slice, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar 
A pinch of celtic sea salt (i just use this cause it still has minerals in it)

1/2 – 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

All of these measurements are approximate i just threw it together

Instructions

Put the tortilla chips into an 8" x 8" baking dish. Spread the beans over them, then sprinkle the cheese over everything. Broil at 500 degrees for a few minutes until the cheese is melted – the edge chips might be a bit burnt but that's ok. Keep on eye on this, don't want anything to get too burnt! When the cheese is melted, take the baking dish out of the broiler.

To make the salad:

Put the lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and onion in a medium bowl. Add the oil, vinegar, salt, and nutritional yeast. Mix until the salad is coated.

Now put the whole thing together:

Use a spatula to transfer all the cheesy beansy tortilla chips to a dinner plate. Pour the whole salad over it, serve, and enjoy YUM

Blue Cookie Bar Blob

Blue Cookie Bar-Blob

Grape juice concentrate is what makes these delicious vegan and refined-sugar-free cookes blue!  Also, mashed banana is what holds them together it works pretty good.

The reason this is a bar-blob is because the finished product really has to set but it is really yummy so i didn't worry about it :-)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1 cup oats (you can substitute 1 more cup almond flour instead of oats

                  to make this recipe entirely gluten free)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 very large banana or 1 1/2 medium bananas

1/2 cup coconut oil

2 tablespoons ground decaf coffee

1/2 cup water

6 tablespoons grape juice concentrate

1/2 cup grain sweetened carob chips

1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

Boil the 1/2 cup of water and then dump the coffee into it and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then either pour it all into a coffee filter in a single-cup plastic coffee thingy over a mug or else just use use a teeny little strainer over a mug like i did to make the finished cofee. Whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a big bowl. In another bowl, mash the banana using a potato masher or if you don't have one then a fork. Add the mashed bananas, coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of the finished coffee, and the grape juice concentrate to the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Add the carob chips and the raisins and mix until blended. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Smush the mixture on to the cookie sheet, make a big blob about the thickness of a cookie. Bake for 13-15 minutes – they probably will still be quite gooey on top but as long as they get brown underneath that's fine, don't leave them in more than 16 minutes MAX. Take the out and let them cool. Actually the finished product seems to be best when refrigerated but if you don't mind if they tend to fall apart at room temperature, have them that way. :-) Cut into bars and serve. Yum!!!! :-) :-) :-)

God and Racism

http://overbear.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-killed-trayvon-martin/

This is very interesting to me because the guy is saying that although he does not wanting to be a racist he still is, meaning that when he sees a black guy in a dark alley he still has all the same emotions he has always had except now he stifles them and forces himself to smile.
 

The thing about fear and negative emotions is that i have never been able to just wish them away through the force of my own will.  (Similarly have never been able to lose weight using that method).  The only way that my fear or any negative emotion has ever been removed is by me saying, "Dear Lord, this person/situation looks just horrible to me and i want to see it how you see it" and then instead of simply substituting what I think is a "better" thought or emotion for the one i abhorred in myself, to be COMPLETELY OPEN to the Lord's way of looking at the person or situation.  This means not blaming myself for how i see it AND not blaming the other person for how they appear to me, which i have acknowledged to myself is is not the truth of who they are.  That is because the body's eyes see in duality ("it's either him or me") while the eyes of Spirit see only unity :-)

With this kind of practice, for me the only way to proceed has always been to start with the person in front of me.  If i have an obnoxious teenage girl standing in front of me and my buttons are being pushed, after years of practice i can see how ultimately working on this will at some point lead to being able to pass by a figure in a dark alley in a space of love. Do not know if i can do it today, but definitely see how the practice of focusing on love does not hurt!!! Anger is anger and fear is fear.  The more you practice seeing all things as not separate and equal in the eyes of the Lord, the more you will be able to relate to whoever is in front of you whether it is a just a dangerous-looking guy in the dark or a really dangerous-looking guy wearing a uniform with a gun.  Don't know if i would be at perfect peace with any of these situations today, but i do know i am more at peace with everybody i meet or know than i was 5, 10 or 20 years ago and that is enough motivation for me to keep going with the practice of seeing only love :-) :-) :-)

nuff said thanks for reading. :-)

Holistic Medicine

here is my stream of thought about this today
if you are going to try to step into the middle of a harrowing situation such as fleas and try to heal it holistically, forget it because as i heard secondhand from this holistic doctor who was associated with Kripalu, if you have hurt yourself using aleopathic means then you need to heal yourself using an aleopathic method.  Hence the neutron bomb. It seems to me that the best use of holistic methods is to strengthen health, not to try to defend against disease or pestilence or parasites.  Therefore it is infinitely preferable to build up a healthy system through nutrition taking into account maybe that certain things protect against fleas such as nutritional yeast and maybe garlic, without attempting to begin such a program in the middle of an onslaught of fleas or whatever else.

the other thing about the holistic approach is that in its mildest form it is not about killing fleas,  but simply about making it unpleasant for them to hang around.

one more el flako thing
another thing is that if my cat was a spiritual master and a flea went anywhere near her it would be blessed and probably leave immediately, or kill her and then she would resurrect herself.  Unfortunately she is not a master today however at some point she may well be.