Cranberry Almond Stuffed Squash

Cranberry Almond Stuffed Squash

Today is Meatless Monday! YES! Back by popular demand is my link to the great recipes offered at the Meatless Monday website.

I just bought squash so am going to try this mouth-watering recipe tout de suite! It's a year and a half, actually a bit more than that, since I've eaten any hamburger, weiners, sausages, bacon or processed meat of any kind. I will confess to the occasional steak seared on the BBQ and pork loin roast (it's the OTHER white meat)!

Since watching "Fast Food Nation" which made me more than a little queasy with documented evidence of fecal matter getting into the hamburger AND the Maple Leaf listeriosis fiasco in Canada wherein 22 people died from eating tainted lunch meat AND trying to reduce my carbon footprint by eating less meat I have turned to a more vegetarian diet with the occasional inclusion of chicken, turkey and fish.

The Meatless Monday website is a goldmine of delicious meatless meals and snacks (like the Apple Walnut Corn Muffins mmmmmmmmmmm!!!) that will make you wonder why you ever ate meat in the first place! They certainly make it easier to give meat up at least once a week.

Try it - you'll find its not such a hardship after all.

Kiva.org Promo

So far I have made two loans on kiva.org - I hope to make many more. The sum of $25.00 represents a few trips to Starbucks for me but for entrepeneurs in developing countries it can make the difference from being a beggar to being a provider.

WWW.KIVA.ORG

Two weeks ago I accidentally came across the website http://www.kiva.org/. I was researching various charity websites where you can "click" on a button to make a donation. I found several of those and also found "kiva".



Kiva.org is even better than the "clickable" websites (several clickable buttons on my sidepanel) because you get to choose who you are loaning your money to and can watch their progress in paying it back. Before you dismiss Kiva.org as some sort of scam they have been written up in many major newspapers and magazines and interviewed on various television shows and have an amazing success rate. Repayment of loans is in the high 90% range. Very, very few loans go unpaid and usually the only money loss is due to rates of inflation diminishing 3rd world countries' currency values.



I have chosen to loan to women who are attempting to support themselves and their families and have made two loans so far. My intent is to make one new loan to a woman or group of women each month and you can follow the progress of the loans in the sidepanel of my blog. The loan amount can be as low as $25.00 and you will eventually get it back. It's much better than just a donation to charity because you're helping someone become independent. I have loaned money to a group of women who sell clothing and cosmetics in Uganda and to a woman in Nigeria who manufactures and sells blocks of ice.



Consider this option for yourself if you would like to make a positive difference in the world. Check out their website at http://www.kiva.org/ and consider joining a group and making a loan. It's a very exciting way to help someone get onto their feet and become a contributing member of their community. Gift certificates are also available and what an excellent Christmas gift for that person who has everything.

Be Kind to Yourself

The last sunset photos I took in Bayfield in October were the best of a long season of sunsets. I look at them and am in awe, not of my skill ha ha, but of their beauty, and am so profoundly happy that I get to witness those few fleeting moments.



I can also look at these photos and recognize how huge and limitless the sky is as I try to imagine the infinity of galaxies and solar systems that exist beyond what I can see. When I try to wrap my mind around infinity I can put my own puny little problems into perspective: in the grand scheme of things I am a mere speck, a dust mote floating around in the atmosphere subject to forces of nature beyond my control. I need to let go and let God.



Sometimes I beat myself up over the stupid things that I do and then my partner (who is a life coach among other things) reminds me of my humanness. Part of being human is making mistakes and hopefully learning from them. I have much to learn. Only God is perfect.



So today I am going to be kind to myself. I have made my apologies and have accepted that I made a mistake. Now it is time to move on and make a fresh start.

Going Back in Time = Instant Stress Reliever

Yesterday after my partner and I arrived home after busy work days we decided to go for a walk - the sun was shining, it was 19C, our camera batteries were recharged and so off we went.



After walking a few blocks through neighbourhoods lined with red and yellow trees we followed a trail which led us to the banks of the Thames river. Gone was the sound of traffic, gone was the stress of the work day and present was the sound of the breeze rustling dry leaves, the sound of the river cascading over rocks and partially submerged logs and the sound of mallard ducks as they took off, landed and bobbed for...well.....whatever it is that they eat:)

The sky was HUGE!! and populated with odd rippling clouds.

The palette of muted pastels - peach, soft mossy green and wheat-coloured grasses were very soothing reflected in pools of slow moving water.

Here the slight ripples created a canvas worthy of Monet.

A prima ballerina couldn't arch her body as gracefully as this tree branch.

As I hopped from rock to rock and followed the trail along the riverbank I was taken back to a childhood spent playing on the banks of the Otter Creek. There was just no end to the wonders of Otter Creek: I spent endless long hours pretending I was Tom Sawyer as I pushed a rickety raft down the creek with a long pole (is that my mother turning in her grave?); collecting pollywogs in pop bottles that would later make my mother shriek; wading through the muddy water and then pulling off the stubborn blood suckers; and playing make believe games with my brother that would involve crossing and recrossing the creekbed by jumping rock to rock and up and down the pathways through the ravine (someone was always chasing us)!!

It is a blessing to be able to relive the best moments of my childhood and I am so very grateful that a beautiful river is only a few minutes walk from my home.

The Thames River area is full of treasure and it photographs so amazingly well. During the upcoming winter months I can look back on these photos and appreciate all the river has to offer. (Stayed tuned for shots of a frozen river and riverbanks heaped with snow!)

Got these ducks as they were coming in for a landing - it ain't always pretty!

Milkpod fluffies, escaping everywhere. Kudos to my partner for the first photo showing one little fluffy suspended between two leaves - that one wins photo of the day in my book, or should I say, blog!

Do You!

Chris Rock is hilarious. He has a funny way of cutting through peoples' crap to get at the truth - however ugly or ridiculous or personal it might be. You can either be offended or you can laugh at yourself as a member of the human race complete with its idiotic pretensions.

I saw Chris Rock recently on Oprah drumming up support for his latest project - a documentary called "Good Hair." (Click for the trailer) I hadn't heard about the movie before and was quite taken aback when a black woman stood up and accused Chris of dissing black women and revealing their hair secrets - she was mortified and outraged. She doesn't want white women knowing to what lengths black women go in order to have "good hair", in other words, white women's hair.

Apparently within the black community you are deemed "prettier" if your hair is straight and long. Wavy is OK, but not the natural look. Black women are spending thousands of dollars each year for defrizzing straighteners, relaxers and weaves. I really had no idea. They also feel the straight or wavy look is more professional and helps them to advance in their careers and that if they wore their hair in its natural form they wouldn't be taken seriously and wouldn't get promotions at work. They feel that white women look down on them if they don't have "good hair." AND they want white women to think that "good hair" just happens - that they're NOT spending half of their salaries and half of their life sitting in beauty salons. AND due to the expense and weaves in their hair black women have a "hands off the hair" policy with the men in their lives.

WOW. I have a friend from Trinidad and a friend from Antigua and have never given a moment's thought to their hair other than to admire it. Is it really true that white women think less of a black woman if her hair is natural?? Or is this in the minds of black women due to them wanting to look like white women so that they don't feel inferior? Given the last few centuries of "black history" I can understand that but find it apalling to think black women feel the need to emulate white women in order to feel better about themselves.

I, for one, have not spent one moment of my life thinking about black womens' hair. However I also don't live in an area where there are equal numbers of black/white women so perhaps I am not well enough informed to have an opinion. However, as a white woman I spent a lot of time and money on my hair - dyeing it different colours, getting perms etc until I reached the age of 40 when I decided to let it go its natural colour (salt and pepper) and keep it cut very short (I cut it myself with the same kind of electric clippers that my mother used on my brothers).

All I can say is that I reiterate Chris Rock's message when at the end of the Oprah Show he said to all women: "do you!" Don't try to be somebody you're not, be true to yourself. If you do different things to you hair do it for yourself, not because you think others will think poorly of you if you don't. The message "do you" can apply to every area of a person's life. Be authentic, be who you really are and live that way. Sometimes I think that we see and listen to so many media messages each and every day of our lives that we're not sure who we really are because we're trying to measure up to society's version of the perfect woman or perfect man.

It takes courage and a lot of self-reflection to live an authentic life. We are not a reflection of the stuff we own and we are not a better person if we live in a bigger house. Getting rid of my stuff is a way of peeling off the outer layers of my life so that I can live in a more honest way.

Stay with me as I try to "do me"!

It's Easy to GIVE!

Last Christmas my sister, brother-in-law and I decided to change the way we "do" Christmas. It wasn't that we weren't grateful for all that we had and all that we were given but we don't need any more STUFF! I am on a mission to decrease the amount of STUFF I have around the house and have been making good progress. There are actually empty shelves in my home now but I still have much more STUFF to get rid of.



(My goal is to have my possessions down to two suitcases full by the time I retire! Goodbye silverware, goodbye books, goodbye useless clutter!)



I told Lannie and Jim about the money my class raised to purchase 6 baby goats for people in Sudan and how good that made us all feel. So the three of us decided that instead of giving each other gifts this year we would donate to a charity instead and let family members know that instead of giving us gifts they could make a donation on our behalf. The charity we chose is the World Food Programme - a part of United Nations and the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. A mere 25 cents will feed a child for one day. (http://wall.wfp.org/ ) The donation my family and I made will feed 4 children for a year. That sure beats the stuff I got last year for Christmas - I'd tell you what I got but I honestly can't remember - that's how unnecessary it was.



You can't imagine how freeing it is to get rid of stuff along with the desire to accumulate stuff until you actually do it. It clears out a lot of space in your BRAIN too so that you can actually spend time thinking about what is important in life, such as helping others less fortunate than ourselves, and there are SO many that need our help.



I encourage everyone to take part or all of their Christmas shopping money and donate to a worthy cause this year. It feels so good to give and you'll be so glad you did. Let's spread out the wealth in the world a little bit more evenly so that everyone can at least eat on Christmas Day.



Get UNSTUFFED!