My tiny project that has kept me away... And a cavegirl goes colonial. (Butter)

Hey guys!! It's been a while =)

Many of you already know why.. but I'll get to that.

For starters, I delivered all of the donations to the Open Door Mission a while back and just wanted to update you on that... after about 2 dozen trips around Omaha picking up your clothes, food, and toys you were ready to part with (And a couple of group pick ups at the gym I teach at) and 3 trips in my little tiny Mazda to get them delivered, 1200 pounds were donated to the people who need it the most.

I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends and loved ones.. and perfect strangers!!!

So with that, the LockeYoga food and clothing drive is closed and has left me incredibly satisfied with the beautiful people in my life. Thank you <3

This project filled me with joy and energy and determination.. so I decided to use that momentum to start a weekend project: Free Will Donation Yoga in the Park!

Simple idea.. coffee can at one end of my yoga mat. Throw in some pocket change or a couple of dollars and flow with your friends. Many people can't afford studio prices and still others just find the whole scene too pretentious.. this gives them the opportunity to pay only what they want to!

Plus, the atmosphere is amazing.. Zorinsky Lake is so beautiful! And the park nearby gives any children attending a place to play while their parents practice their asana!

I maintain this was an amazing idea.. but the weather didn't cooperate right away..

That's ok. Spring is fickle.. it'll work out!!!

Then.. I started feeling tired. 

So incredibly tired... that the back of my mind started telling me something was wrong.

Sometimes, everything would be just fine.. til suddenly I'd just become ill.

I didn't want to tell The Caveman how worried I was, so I just tried to sleep a lot.. 

I finally decided I would visit a doctor.

Not knowing how worried I was, Abrabacon handed me a pregnancy test.

Just to humor him.... just to make him stop teasing me.... Knowing it would be negative, I sulked into the bathroom.

Sooooooo.

Guess what guys????

=)

That's our tiny little cavebaby, BamBam <3 <3 <3 I love him/her so much!!!

So the theme of this blog might be changing ever so slightly... to that of a Paleo Pregnancy =)

As I sit here with my morning sickness bucket on my left, my Paleo Banana Bread on my right, and my Caveman fawning over my as-yet-not evident baby belly, I am so excited to take you all with me on this journey!

So I'll see you all Saturday morning at 10 or Sunday night at 6 for yoga in the park.. and until then, just a small recipe (since food sounds like an awful idea just now!)

Alright, so butter...

If you've been Paleo for a while, you know how important grass-fed butter is... and you probably know how hard it is to locate at your local grocery store.

However!!!

You can probably find grass-fed cream!

Turns out, butter is ridiculously easy to make. 

Ready?

Ingredients: Grass fed Cream.

Yup. That's it.

But here's where you can learn from my mistakes ;)

I poured my cream into this glass bottle and shook it like a polaroid picture... but didn't really think ahead to how I would get the butter out...

So my NEW recommendation is that you put your cream into a food processor or blender and just overwhip it.

When it's coagulated and begun to form chunks, you're there! Now spill this all out into a sieve or colander and rinse with very cold water (the liquid dripping out is buttermilk, so you can save this if you want to use it in other recipes later!) and press out with a rubber spatula.

And that's it! You've got butter =)

If it tickles your fancy, you can salt your cream before you begin whipping or shaking or stirring the living daylights out of it.. or you can add roasted garlic or pepper... whatever you want to season your butter with =)

The Multi-Purpose Blog; The Reasons my Friends are Better Than Your Friends; Mindful Eating or Dieting?; And, A Recipe For Disaster.

I know I haven't posted as regularly as usual.. but it's been for some pretty good reasons, I assure!


But let's start this out right, eh?


Hi guys =) Missed you lately.. how've you been? How's your dog? And your Mom??
Tell me about that argument with your mailman...


I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it! You're a good person. I'm sure he was just lashing out because he was having a bad day =)


Frewf! I think we're all caught up =)


So here's the thing..
I need to tell you about my friends.


They're.... so wonderful. Just... I can't even begin!


I had a really terrible year last year. REALLY terrible.. Every bad thing that could happen did. 
And before you ask.. yes. That too.
And I got to a point where all I could think about was what was going to go wrong that day, too.
And like clockwork, something went wrong. Every. Day.


But not just for me.. for just about everyone I know. 
That's when you find out who people really are. When you need them the most and they need you the most and you have to decide who's going to be there for whom.
And I love the things I found out <3


So this year, I decided that I would try to help keep others from having another 2011. 
I decided that the people in our community who are in the most need were deserving of a little extra help..


So at around 9:30 one night, I posted on my Facebook Wall 'Thinking about doing a food and clothing drive... anyone wanna help?'
I then shut down my computer and read a book until bedtime.. half thinking about what organization I could send clothes to. What kind of goal I should set.. I decided 300lbs of clothing was a pretty lofty goal.. but that I would keep collecting until I'd reached it.
I woke up the next morning to 39 messages in my inbox.

Formula donated by a Facebook friends <3

!!!

I was asked by friends and strangers for an address to send donated sundries and food. I've filled my gas tank twice in the last 10 days.. just from picking up donations.. I've found links to my page on the facebook pages of people I've never even spoken with.. just so they can help with the cause.


300 lbs.. seems so silly now.
I've recruited friends to keep things in their garages and apologized in advance to The Caveman for the piles in our entryway.


I'm so proud of the people I know.. I'm so proud that my friends can pull together for others.. to help make 2012 a more beautiful, joyful year.




Thank you, my beautiful friends. Thank you for turning your misfortunes and aggravations into hope for people who just need SOMETHING to hope for. Thank you for putting aside your pain and regrets from the last year and putting others first. Thank you for being there for others who are just starting their year of hardship. Thank you.


And I'll keep you all posted on the final tally for donations <3 I'm overwhelmed right now.. just. So thankful!






Part 2 of today's post is to address a pretty common concern.. and really, it's the reason I started this blog to begin with! The silly idea that because I eat a certain way, I am depriving myself of joy.
I assure you, this is not the case.
That's why I post all of the pictures of the delicious foods we eat.. to show that there is no deprivation or hunger. Ever. I am so content with our diet.. yes, I will occasionally eat something that's not Paleo Approved, but that's just life. That's not cheating, it's making a decision that in that moment, I'd rather have a slice of birthday cake than skip it.
The point of eating ANY way is to be mindful.
Vegans don't eat vegan because it's the easiest way to eat or because it's fun. They don't eat that way because it's the home of the most delicious food.. and every now and then, even a vegan will eat a piece of cheese or some shellfish. Is it cheating? No. It's making a decision that in that moment, their body wants something it doesn't usually have. But 90% of the time, a vegan is THINKING about what they put in their mouth. 
A vegetarian will always ask if their barley lentil soup was cooked in chicken broth or veggie stock. 
Because they think about what they're eating.
And someone with a peanut allergy will always ask what kind of oil their food is fried in.


It's not a diet.
It's not deprivation..
It's just rolling things around in your mind for a while before you put it in your body.


And last but not least, my sweet friends and followers..


A Recipe For Disaster 

A friend of ours recently suggested Kelp noodles to take the place of some of our pasta dishes... 
They're kind of crunchy and a little salty.. but otherwise, pretty flavorless.
You rinse them and boil them and they take on the flavor of whatever they're served with. They're also a really good source of Iodine.. and most people only get their iodine from salt that has had it added, so this was a pretty big bonus for us =)


However... sommmmeone (me) kinda messed it up. Otherwise, I'd have a really pretty picture of chicken stir fry with kelp noodles.. instead, all I can tell you is...
Check the batteries on your smoke detector.
Sigh.


And now, my sweet ninja friends.. I'm off to teach yoga at Bob's. 
You'll hear from me again soon! Meanwhile, chin up =) And keep donating <3 <3 


Love <3
S