Almond Cherry Cookies

These cookies are raw and made using a food processor. My neighbor Miranda rolled all the cookies in the ground almonds for me. She likes these cookies.

1/2 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw walnuts
dash sea salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)
1/4 cup raisins or dried cherries
1/4 cup ground almonds (coffee grinder works well)

In food processor combine almonds, walnuts and salt and process until coarsely chopped. Add dates and almond extract and process until everything begins to stick together. Do not over process. Add raisins and pulse briefly.

Form into balls and roll in ground almonds. Keep in refrigerator for one month or freeze.

This recipe is from Raw Food Made easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet

GF, CF Pizza

When making pizza I mix dried herbs into the dough. This time I used basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano and tarragon. I bake the crust for 15 minutes then remove from the oven and spread a nice layer of olive oil on the crust, add the toppings, sprinkle on more herbs and pour olive oil on top. Then return pizza to the oven for 10-12 minutes. We used cooked bacon along with sauteed chicken, onions, carrots, black olives and artichoke hearts for our toppings.
The pizza crust recipe is under the bread label.

My mom, Matt, Ellie and I really like this pizza!

For a gluten and casein pizza idea visit my friend Theresa's blog, Aunt Theresa's Adventures.

Body Butter

It takes very little time to make this body butter and it is luscious!

1/4 cup grated or chopped cocoa butter (my mom used a fork to get chunks out of our jar)
1 Tablespoon coconut or palm oil
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon avocado or sunflower oil
1 Tablespoon grated beeswax

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and warm on stove until they just begin to melt.
Remove from heat and stir til well blended.
Pour into jars or containers and let cool completely before covering.

2010 Reading

Knockout
Interviews with Doctors who are Curing Cancer and
How to Prevent Getting it in the First Place
by
Suzanne Somers

I highly recommend this book. Everyone should read it. The first chapter contains some profanity, however, apart from that it is full of important information that is not crazy, but true.
~Sarah

"This book was written to warn patients to think and look into alternatives first, before you blindly walk into 'standard of care' surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and harsh aftercare drugs. Again and again, we have seen so many suffer from horrible poisons and, unfortunately, most often live out their last months of life horribly degraded, only to die a tortured, expensive death."

"Were there to be a cure, it would put an end to all the marches and the research dollars, and most of all a big huge chemotherapy business to the tune of $200 billion a year."

from the epilogue:

"Remember what you have learned from this book: there are doctors who are healing in another way. And maybe, just maybe, if you are ever in this horrible situation, these doctors might give you the hope, comfort, and healing that I was able to garner when I thought my life depended on them."

"I learned a tremendous amount from all these conversations, and now, as a result, I am armed with the knowledge that if I were ever to find myself diagnosed again, I would know what to do; I wouldn't be afraid. I now know that I can manage cancer and that I can possibly be cured of cancer."


Miniatures and Morals
The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
by
Peter Leithart

"For Austen, the sensational or extraordinary do not provide a sound basis for moral education and experience. Hers is not a 'lifeboat ethics' focusing on the marginal extremes of ethical decisions. On the contrary, she recognizes that the greater ethical challenges come in the midst of daily life, precisely when 'nothing is happening.'"


Betsy's Winterhouse
by
Carolyn Haywood

"Betsy looked at the summerhouse, all boarded up for the winter. She thought of the fun that she and her little sister Star and all their friends had had in the long summer days."
"That evening at dinner, Betsy said, 'I wish we could have a winterhouse.'"

My Nephew

Locks of Love

"As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for all her abundant hair was cut short."

"'What made you do it?' asked Amy, who would as soon have thought of cutting off her head as her pretty hair."

Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

Locks of Love donation

Lisa at JC Penney Salon in Battle Creek cut my hair. I think she did a great job!

Flowers

"And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breaths."
~William Wordsworth















"The Poet's darling"
~William Wordsworth(To the Daisy)
















"Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity"~John Ruskin


"I'd be a butterfly born in a bower, where roses and lilies and violets meet. "
~Thomas Haynes Bayly

"Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul."
~Luther Burbank

Hand Lotion

Making your own hand lotion is simple, inexpensive and it has no chemicals or preservatives to soak into your skin. It takes three ingredients: olive oil, emulsifying wax and water. Emulsifying wax is available from mountainroseherbs.com and here is the link for the hand lotion recipe asonomagarden.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/how-to-make-handmade-handlotion-w-label-download/

Update: Vegetable Glycerin may be added for a more moisturizing lotion. Now that I have made several batches I like it best with 1/2 of the lowest recommend amount of glycerin. I use 1 Tablespoon glycerin to the 1/4 c oil, 1/4 c emulsifying wax and 1 1/4 cups water.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake
From Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet

1 1/2 cups raw walnuts, unsoaked (I used macadamia nuts)
Dash salt
10 pitted medjool dates, unsoaked
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
2 teaspoons water
1/2 cup fresh raspberries, for garnish (optional)

Place the walnuts and salt in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until finely ground. Add the dates, cocoa powder, and optional vanilla and process until the mixture begins to stick together. Add the water and process briefly.

Transfer to a serving plate and form into 5 inch round cake. Cover with plastic wrap. Cake will keep for three days in the refrigerator or two weeks in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before serving.

2010 Reading

In the Heart of the Rockies
An Adventure on the Colorado River
by G.A. Henty

"The excitement of voyages to India or China and back was as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, where there were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be encountered."


The Good Master
by Kate Seredy

"Jancsi had never had the measles- he thought it must be something wonderful to have. And she was delicate, the letter said, too, so she was coming to the country. A delicate city cousin, who had had the measles- that was something."


Publish and Perish
by Sally S. Wright

"He lay down on top of his comforter and watched the fire, while he contemplated the twistedness of the human soul."


The White Horse King
The Life of Alfred the Great
by Benjamin Merkle

"Whether it was an innate quality in the Wessex blood or perhaps a common quality that arises in men who defend their homeland, the soldiers of Wessex regularly managed to hold their ground despite being significantly outnumbered."

"They had to despise the nearsighted purchasing of today's peace with tomorrow's freedom and see it for the cowardice that it was. They had to prefer to die a gory death in a hopeless combat than to live a craven life having betrayed the king and the people of Wessex. The pagan invaders could not have conquered a nation who understood true nobility."

"The combination of military offence and defense is nicely paralleled by Alfred's work to revive learning in the Latin Language, along with a major push for literacy in the Anglo-Saxon vernacular."

"It seemed to Alfred that oath-keeping truly was the virtue that most clearly distinguished a Christian nation from a pagan nation."

"An entire generation of English leaders, men who had been trained in the courts of Alfred to understand wisdom, justice, righteousness, and the true duties of a ruler, had been raised up..."

Almond Butter Cookies

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Clean Eating Magazine

1 cup unsalted almond butter
3/4 cup sucanat (or sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (or chocolate chips)

Mix together first five ingredients until well blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.

For an egg free version I use 1 teaspoon Chia Seed soaked in 1/4 cup water. I also add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum.

Body Scrub

Coconut and Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Buff
1 1/4 cups brown or raw sugar 6-8 tablespoons coconut oil
15-20 drops vanilla essential oil (or substitute vanilla fragrance or flavoring oil. Follow package directions for proper measurements)

No refrigeration is required, but for maximum freshness and fragrance, please use within 6 months.

Recipe from Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles.

I used apricot oil rather than coconut and added cocoa powder.

My Nephew

My nephew wearing a hat I made.