Winter Thought

It is almost the end of January and we are covered in a beautiful, stillness of snow in Toronto. It is amazing how my brain works. I can see mounds of white snow outside and love it. But my thoughts got to that green, vegetable garden, where we grow our organic vegetables.

So, what do I want to happen in my life this year ?.

Out of the blue, my husband decided to build a cold cellar under our front porch. I have been asking him for that for years and finally it happened !.

So, now that the cold cellar is almost finished, I have started visualizing how I am going to utilize it. That takes me back to my childhood and remembering how my parents preserved their food using only natural, simple methods. We hardly ever had to buy any food from a grocery store.

It is amazing how many things you can do to preserve your food without using chemicals, artificial sweeteners and colouring. I could never understand why we have so much artificial colouring added to jams. Try to find a jello at a Canadian grocery store without artificial colours and you will see what I mean.

My resolution for this year is to experiment with different preserving techniques using dehydrators, glass jars for pickling and storing, cold cellar storage and freezing. I have used unpasturized honey, maple syrup, garlic, mustard seeds, sea salt and herbs to preserve food in the past, but this year I am planning on perfecting it. This is the only way I know how to protect my family from the frightening amount of toxic chemicals in our food.

After watching the movie “Eating” by Mike Anderson in October of 2008, I made a decision to stop eating meat. It has been almost four months and I have not touched any meat. I thought something like that was only possible for other people. How could I go from eating sausages and meat almost every day to not eating it at all and not even craving it?

I am experimenting with food and loving it. Every morning I have a delicious shake with seeds, nuts, organic whey protein, fruits and greens. I don’t have to eat red meat to have energy and feel satisfied. For some shake recipes check out the RECIPES section.

Mother Nature gives us such an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables loaded with all the nourishment we need, but we need to learn how to make it work for us. I know it is sometimes easier to pick up a hamburger or order a delivery pizza but is that better for us in a long run ?.
It seems that it is a luxury to have a homemade meal made from scratch nowadays. We often don’t have time or energy to prepare it, but ou children learn by example and they will do what we do. I feel blessed I can change that for my family, especially our son.

Health statistics in North America are scary. In the last two weeks I found out three of my friends’ family members were diagnosed with cancer and they became part of this statistic. We don’t know exactly what is going to help us prevent cancer and other diseases but I know one thing, I am going to do whatever I can to protect my family. Simple, natural lifestyle seems like a sensible solution to me.

My healthy resolutions for 2009 include:
1. Growing more organic fruits and vegetables
2. Using natural methods to preserve my organic fruits and vegetables,
      using low heat while cooking.
3. Eating more raw fruits and vegetables.
4. Eating organic eggs and wild fish only.
5. Sprouting more seeds and incorporating the fresh sprouts in my daily
     diet.
6. Spending more time outdoors and not using sunscreen lotion.
7. Organizing myself better to have more time on the important things in
      my life. Spending more time with my family and friends, on reading,
      and meditating.