The In-Between by Jeff Goins

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Jeff Goins is my mentor AND he happens to have a new book out with the great title “The In-between”.  

As a student of Jeff’s I wanted to share a little bit about my version of “The In-Between”.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  I believe that.  I believe that each moment is getting you ready, preparing you for a next bigger moment.

When we embrace the NOW of our lives, when we honor each moment–we are honoring the divine that dwells within each of us.  If we can awaken ourselves to each moment, each person, every event with love, compassion, authenticity, transparency–then we will be walking in our own truth.

Has anyone ever said something random, a kind of nothing comment–yet it stuck in your mind?  Why is that?  Have you ever gone back and used that random comment?  Did it solve a problem or help someone else out?  Everything we need is already within us–we just need to slow down and listen to those moments in our lives that offer us the truth that we need.

Disclaimer:  I strive to live in the NOW.  To see the beauty in my piles of laundry or the 500th time someone has said “MOM” and forgotten why they needed me . . . some days are better than others but I know that this is my goal:

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Be Blessed and if you have a moment, go be encouraged by Jeff!

What is a GMO?

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The Joyful Mom blog is taking a decidedly different turn.

I love food!

Not just eating food but growing it, picking it (out of my own garden and u-pick fields), the history of food “The Golden Bough” was my first book that made me think about food!  That book has lead me to read more over the years.  Frances Moore Lappe’s book Diet for a Small Planet (20th Anniversary Edition) was a book I read but had a hard time making my own–I wanted to follow her ideas and make them my own–but it wasn’t my time.  Then along came Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet and with that book I finally got it!  I understood the issues with food but I didn’t have a plan to implement it–I had 4 very young kids and was overwhelmed.  I kept wanting to care and make a difference but it wasn’t “my own” yet.  Finally last summer it hit me as listened to Michael Pollan’s “The Ominvores Dilemma” on 13 CD’s and then read the The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Young Readers Edition!  (My son also read the kid version and he now makes very different food choices vs before reading the book.)

So now here I am–a Mom of 4 energetic, hungry kids, cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner for 6 and wanting to make a difference in feeding my family.  I want to eat real food–not food created in a lab.  I want to eat food from seeds that have learned to grow in the wind . . . not plants that are dumped with chemicals to make them grow taller, faster and bigger–with less nutritional value.

Here I am–a Mom researching, blogging, reading and cooking.  I’m sharing it all with you.

The first question I had was:  What is a GMO?

Not only was is a GMO–but why do I care?  Will it hurt me?  Make my kids grow super tall or have them develop before their bodies would be ready? (This article is amazing with a little bit of the history!)

I went online and found THE NON GMO PROJECT, a awesome website that explains not only what GMO’s are but also gives a list of what foods are non-gmo.  They also have an app!  I love my apps!  I have used the app quite a bit–my phone in one hand and looking through the pantry with the other.

I sort of like Jillian Michael’s–I’m sure now that she has kids she has cleaned up her language a bit–but a few foul words have never stopped me from listening to what she has to say about food!  Her no-nonsense approach to “not eating poison” has really made me stop and listen/read.  In this short article she gives some great information about the food choices we make.

Stay tuned for more articles like this

AND

some great recipes using non-GMO foods!

Be Blessed.

I’m linking up with these wonderful blogs!

Blessed by Breakfast: Blessings

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I have cooked all my life.

prepping for soup

prepping for soup

I know–you are thinking that I’m exaggerating but it is true.  I was the smallest and youngest kid in our Polish community–which made me the BEST at washing out the small mouth canning jars!  I would scrub out blackish green gunk that was stuck to the bottom and sides of the Mason and Kerr jars.  It was not the most romantic job on the farm but those big, round, women loved a clean jar and I felt like I was making a huge difference by the way they smiled as they inspected, then complimented my work.

measuring the apples for crockpot apple sauce

measuring the apples for crockpot apple sauce

So when I say I have cooked all my life, maybe I could amend that to; I have been around food preparation until it was my time to do the cooking which for me, turned into a creative outlet.  I still love how the texture of the inside of a pepper is so different than the inside or planting 8 different kinds of basil in my garden.

I enjoy cooking for my family meals and I especially enjoy eating together–the time after dinner when we are all talking and laughing about the days events or planning new memories.  I try to look at it as an opportunity to offer my family the gift of health.  I feel blessed to be able to have food and a place to cook it.  I don’t have the fanciest pots, pans and bakeware but I make due with what I have.  I will admit thanks to Sandy S. who when we were looking for a house said “I hope you get the kitchen your cooking deserves.” her words set the intention for my kitchen.  When we moved we found an awesome house–with a great kitchen!  I wish now that I could cook for Sandy again in this kitchen :-).

crockpot meatloaf--my most viewed recipe!

crockpot meatloaf–my most viewed recipe!

I feel blessed when my fridge is full.  I feel blessed when my pantry is full.  I feel blessed when I make a new, healthy breakfast–that tastes good.  I feel blessed that my kids have enough food to eat.  I am blessed to have clean water.

my favorite summer salad with basil, spinich, feta and fruit

my favorite summer salad with basil, spinich, feta and fruit

I know–again with the hyperbole and the gratitude about food . . . but I feel so strongly about my body being blessed by the food that I put into it . . . the first chapter of my book is:  Blessings.

My family went crazy over these muffins!

My family went crazy over these muffins!

We say grace in our house before each meal and I see the kids crossing themselves before snack.  We give thanks.  We have our traditional prayer of “Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, through Christ our Lord.  Amen”   We also take time to pray for those in our lives–now we are praying for my friend Karen.  We lift them up as a blessing to us and give thanks for the gift of having them in our life.  This attitude towards breakfast, lunch and dinner becomes a vehicle for gratitude, grace, and blessings.  It feeds our soul not just our bodies.

the cabin kitchen--where the magic happens--this is the ENTIRE kitchen

the cabin kitchen–where the magic happens–this is the ENTIRE kitchen and yes that is MORE basil!

This is how it is now–we have evolved to this over many, many years of defining for ourselves what our family “looks like”.  I’m sure it will continue to evolve in joyful thanksgiving.

cookbook coming soon

The first chapter of my book:  Blessed by Breakfast will be about blessings, grace, and thanksgiving.  If you have a prayer that you would like to share–I would LOVE to hear it!  Please just put it in the comments below, so that we can learn from each other new ways to begin our meals with a blessing.

Be Blessed in your journey of breakfast, lunch and dinner–may your food nourish your body and spirit.