G-BABY

Loving you has been the joy of my life.
Smooth roads turned rocky for us quickly
And you stayed.
Our love grew stronger in the strife.

Sent from a wish I blew to the heavens, you came to me.
You came to save me before I knew I needed it.
You came to carry me through tragic times
And challenges I had yet to foresee.

You loved me when no one else would.
When my sister died it was you who stood behind me catching my fall.
You’ve done for me all and more than even you thought you could.
You came to hold me every time I called.

I am both a child and a woman in your arms.
You rock and comfort me with your strength and tenderness.
You stand against the world that means to harm.
I am your angel, your Princess, and I am clearly your mess.

You saved me, carried me, more days than I can thank you for.
I am here for you whenever you need me my sweet man.
I promise, I promise I’m yours, I’m here forever more.
I will do for you everything that I can.

Loving you has been the joy of my life.
Our love grew stronger in the strife.

GREEN GINGER BELLY SMOOTHIE

If you still have ginger on hand from the previous recipe, go out and pick up the rest of these ingredients. You want to try this
simple, nutrient dense, beautifully green and refreshing smoothie. I drink this smoothie when my belly is a little upset. I feel immediate relief and an all over sense of well-being. I highly recommend this for any indigestion, irritable bowel, reflux, or on days when you just need a revitalizing pick-me-up. I can't wait to share this with all of you. Please let me know what you think.

As with all smoothies you can adjust the ingredients, for the most part, to your palette. On days when I'm not necessarily drinking this for my belly but more for the revitalizing effect, I'll add vanilla whey protein. Whey protein has strong immune-boosting effects much needed by us folks with chronic illness.
Best to you and enjoy!


GREEN GINGER BELLY SMOOTHIE


1 Banana
Bunch of fresh, washed Dandelion Greens
1 cup Mango Juice (I use “Naked” Mango-Tango)-quantity is to your liking and adjusted to the consistency you prefer
1 cup frozen Mango chunks
1 cup plain yogurt (with live cultures)
2-3 large pieces of crystallized ginger cut into smaller pieces
1 Tablespoonful flax oil (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend til smooth. Greens will be gorgeously speckled throughout.
Even better topped with fresh organic blueberries.
This keeps fairly well in the fridge in a tightly sealed jar for about a day.

Victoria Hart

ULTIMATE GINGER COOKIE

I am a lover of crystallized ginger. I slice it and put it in a cup of hot chamomile tea with a bit of honey. Native to Asia, ginger has been highly valued around the world as a cooking spice, dating back 4,400 years, my use of it...not quite so long. Culinary uses aside, ginger’s medicinal properties are prescribed to aid digestion, alleviate nausea, diarrhea, as an anti-inflammatory for arthritis, heart conditions, cold and flu symptoms, headaches, and even painful menstrual periods. Wow! I present you with medicine disguised as a cookie, how much better can it get? Serve 'em up!

This is Ina Garten’s recipe, you may know her as the “Barefoot Contessa”. Great for a winter day, this is a chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside, very spicy cookie. For the flour component, I replaced half of the quantity with wheat flour. You can find crystallized ginger at Whole Foods in the bulk or specialty section. If for some reason you can’t get the crystallized ginger, just use fresh ginger root, sliced thinly. Don’t forget to try what you have left over in your cup of chamomile tea-great for sleepless nights! Let the tea steep for a good 5 minutes to create the full insomniac's dose.

Oh, as usual, keep on eye on the cooking time, don’t overcook them.
Enjoy and remember: the calories make a fair exchange for the health benefits!



ULTIMATE GINGER COOKIE-INA GARTEN'S

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

--Victoria
Thank you Ina!

Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie

Baking something chocolaty is really the best Valentine’s gift I can give my family. This year I’m thinking on making this wonderfully fudgie bottom, soft chocolaty pudding middle, and super creamy, whole cream, whipped topping pie. It is truly the best combination of flavors and even folks who don’t care for desert love this one.

Just a little note on this recipe: I use an organic pudding mix versus the “Jello” brand due to the added yellow #5 dye (tartrazine) in the Jello brand. I’m asthmatic and yellow #5 is a trigger for me and most folks with asthma, not to mention a toxic and unnecessary additive that blocks vitamin and nutrient absorption. As always, baker beware! take care of yourselves and your loved ones. One pie makes enough for 10 servings. Enjoy.


Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate (I like Ghiradelli)
1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup sugar
2   eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup  flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2-1/2 cups  cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
Whole cream whipped
Chocolate (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; mix until well blended. Stir in flour then nuts. Spread into greased deep dish 9-inch pie plate or round casserole.

BAKE 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool completely.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread over pie. Top with whipped topping then grated chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Victoria Hart

THIS IS THE SWEATER I WORE TO MY SISTER’S FUNERAL

I finally got around to cleaning out my closet and let me tell you it had been too long since the last time. I had no idea how long it had been. Being that I have a mild traumatic brain injury, organization is no longer my forte. It is instead my nemesis, a true torture trip. Typically, I’ll begin and in the middle of the task I loose track of where I put what and where to put what and then total freak-out confusion sets in and I simply give up defeated. So, I don’t feel very good most of the time after attempting to re-arrange or organize any room in my house these days. I also find the disarray to be a constant reminder and reflection of my disability.
Yesterday though, I was blessed with clear thinking and laughter. My daughter came home from school just about the time I was knee deep in piles of clothing, shoes, and purses. She started in with the comments about much of the clothing I was finally throwing out (read giving away), saying things like: “that seriously could have never been in style right?” referring to one particular black sheer sleeved, beaded collar, and shoulder-padded blouse as I tried it on one last time just to make sure it was no longer something I’d wear....delusional and hoardish qualities were definitely struggling to have a play. Later she squawked with laughter while standing in front of the mirror, in full on disco-move stance, while wearing a full length black leotard from the ’80’s I had somehow also managed to salvage all these years, minus the thong that was worn on the outside; believe it or not the elastic was still in good condition! We laughed and laughed, but then there was the sweater, the gray sweater. I said, while holding it up to my chest remembering all the things I didn’t want to remember, “this is the sweater I wore to my sister’s funeral” ...talk about a mood dampener! That sweater makes me feel ill all over and I’m certain I will never be able to wear again. I’m catapulted back in time and scenes of pain flood my mind. Fortunately my daughter pulled me out of it with her laughter and words about what a great blog post the sweater would make. AH....a better use for it finally.
Setting it aside as I pondered what to do about it, I continued cleaning and sorting through so many articles of clothing and purses I should have gotten rid of at a least a decade ago. My daughter decided to keep the leotard for a possible halloween costume and I filled bags with the rest of the 80’s hilarity for charity, as if anyone would want it.
Neatly arranging the things I wanted to keep and placing them back into the closet, I downheartedly folded the sweater, uncertain whether to keep it or not, and placed it back inside the closet as well. The next time I journey to clean and toss, maybe then I’ll be ready to let go of it and all it represents. Maybe then I’ll be done with the suffering. Maybe then I’ll let someone else wear the sweater; hopefully not to a funeral.

A Life Lesson From The Kitchen

This is a post from fellow admired blogger, Clarence. You can find his enlightening wisdom at: "http://www.diamondnuggets.com
I hope you enjoy this and I hope you take the time to stop by Clarence's blog site, his post are worth your time.
Thank you Clarence.



A Life Lesson From The Kitchen
Today, while reading through my regular list of emails, I came across this incredible piece written by an anonymous author. As you read this inspiring piece, my wish is two-folded. First and foremost, that it moves and motivates you (as it has me), to reflect and improve yourself, and secondly, lets you and I together give credit to whoever is the incredible person who is responsible for authoring and sharing this written blessing with all of us.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee…You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

*anonymous author

BEST BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

A better butternut squash recipe please...that was my wish for months and months. I am a food snob you see and find myself uninterested in half baked recipes, so to speak. Imagine the food critic in the movie "Ratatouille" declaring, "I don't like food, I love it! If I don't Love it, I don't swallow," and you will have a pretty good picture of moi. I have tried so many butternut squash soup recipes and find most to be more of a rendition of butternut squash flavored chicken stock OR so sugary sweet that I feel I'm eating desert. I wanted a soup that had many depths of flavor and I did not want a soup that addressed a child's sugar cravings-like I mentioned, I have a sophisticated palette, a mature, persnickety palette that's not interested in eating for the sake of eating, but rather for pleasure and nutritional principles. Tired of searching, I created my own recipe. I should tell you, I am not a fan of pork, in fact I never eat pork....being a true food snob though and realizing the necessity, I relented this one time for this soup recipe. The pork adds a depth of flavor I so desperately desired. I am very pleased with the finish product. I hope you will be too. Pork: I highly suggest using non-nitrite cured prosciutto.

Best Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and roasted in the oven til cooked through, cooled, flesh removed (this can be done the day before and stored in the fridge)
2 medium sweet onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped finely
1 bunch fresh sage, 1/3 of it chopped
1 package proscuitto, about 1/2 lb
1 pint chicken stock
2 Tablespoonfuls Olive oil
Cream or half and half
1 Tablespoonful butter

In soup pot, sear the prosciutto til crispy, remove from pot and set aside; leave the prosiutto remnants in the bottom of the pot, Add olive oil to pot and saute onion, celery, and chopped portion of the sage until celery and onion are translucent. Add butternut squash flesh and the pint of chicken stock. Stir to combine. Warm to a simmer. Crumble in a few slices of the crispy prosciutto. Cool soup down. Puree in batches in a blender or food processor. ***If soup is not cool when you blend it it will gush out of the blender and burn you. Once a creamy consistency, return to pot, heat, and add cream or half and half to thin if necessary. (It will most likely be necessary.)

In a separate skillet, heat butter and add remaining sage leaves, stems removed. Cook til crisp, flipping during process.

Serve soup with crispy prosciutto and crispy sage leaves on top as a garnish.

ENJOY!

Victoria Hart