Glimpses of Life – Page 21

Want to Help Locate the Malaysian Airline Flight MH370?

Outside of praying and hoping that the Malaysian Airlines plane that has gone missing is found, I felt quite helpless in what else I could do.

Then, my husband told me that there is a site called Tomnod “that is run by commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe, which soon after the planeâ€™s disappearance repositioned two of its five satellites over its last known location in the Gulf of Thailand, and have since moved them as the search headed west.”

As of March 14th, approximately 2.3 million people are assisting in the satellite search by using the internet in their free time to look at satellite pictures to see if they can spot anything unusual such as a plane, wreckage, etc.

“Tomnod users are provided with a randomly chosen map from the search area and are told to drop a pin if they see signs of airplane wreckage, life rafts, oil slicks or anything that looks â€œsuspiciousâ€.Â

An algorithm then finds where there is overlap in tags from people who tagged the same location, and the most notable areas are shared with authorities. A Tomnod spokesperson said that as of Thursday every pixel had been looked at by human eyes at least 30 times.

So — I’ve decided to devote some of my time in searching through the random satellite pictures to see if I can spot anything unusual. Â So far, I’ve spent a couple of hours looking at satellite pictures and having “pinned” 11 “suspicious” items. Â About 4 of them look like small boats, one looks like an oil rig and the others look like something other than large waves.

Want to “do” something besides praying and hoping? Â If you have time, no matter how little, click on the link below to start looking at satellite pictures. Â Yes, it may be like looking for a needle in a haystack but sometimes that needle is found.

Tomnod

(Note: sometimes tomnod is “down” so you may have to wait a little for it to come back up.)

And I encourage you to continue praying!

Baked Sole with Mango Salsa

I’ve been wanting to eat more fish recently so I searched for a new recipe and found one that is for Spicy Grilled Halibut with Fresh Mango Salsa. Â Then I tweaked the recipe a little bit to use more of what I liked although I used the mango salsa just as it was.

And how did it come out? Very good. I had tried tilapia for the first time about a month or so ago and really liked it but I was hoping to find fish that was wild caught in the U.S. Unfortunately, the tilapia I had used before was from Costco, frozen and farm raised in Thailand.

Eventually, I found some dover sole fillets at Trader Joe’s that are U.S. farm raised (close enough).

I didn’t realize that when the fish is cooked, it actually shrinks along with the fact that sole is a delicate fish unlike a beefy salmon. So — this package was enough for two even though initially I thought it was going to make a lot.

I made the mango salsa first. Here’s what you’ll be needing and it makes a LOT of mango salsa but I refrigerated it and used it over omelettes the next day.

The sole will have an herb seasoning that you’ll be making.

After taking the sole out of the package,I defrosted it in a bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes. Then I patted it dry, put it in a bowl, added the lime juice and seasoning then stirred it carefully so as not to break the sole up (remember, it needs a gentle touch).

Add Seasoning to Sole — Add Lime Juice and Seasoning to Sole

I then lined a cookie sheet with olive oil and put the sole on it making sure both sides were covered with the olive oil. Next time, I won’t line the baking sheet with olive oil but will brush the olive oil on both sides of the sole (uses less oil).

After baking the sole on one side, I turned it over. Do you see where it came apart? I didn’t realize how “sensitive” they were until I turned one over.

Alright then — let’s try this recipe.

Ingredients (for the mango salsa)

1 cup finely chopped tomato
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped mango
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 lime (juiced)
Salt (to your taste)
1 fresh avocado, roughly chopped

Ingredients (for the halibut)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (the original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt (to your taste)
1 lime (juiced)
1 pack of frozen sole fillets (or more if you want)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 Â° fahrenheit.
Start by preparing the mango salsa.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss together the tomato, red bell pepper, mango, red onion, cilantro, garlic clove, lime juice, and salt (if using).
Add the chopped avocado then cover and place the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
In a small bowl, mix together the cayenne pepper, paprika, onion powder, ground thyme, black pepper, and salt (if using). Set this aside.
Put the sole into a bowl and squeeze the lime juice on top then gently stir.
Toss the seasoning mixture on top of the sole and stir gently until all is combined.
On a cookie sheet, add a small bit of olive oil — enough so that you can coat both sides of each sole on it.
Bake the sole for 10 minutes then remove from the oven, flip the sole over and bake for an additional 10 minutes. (Make sure you keep an eye out on the sole as ovens differ in how they heat).
When the sole is cooked, remove from the oven and serve the salsa over it along with your favorite vegetable or salad.

So — here’s what the mango salsa looked like.

And here was our dinner — simple, paleo and tasty.

Bon Appetit!

Special thanks to dairyfreecooking.about.com for the inspiration of this meal.

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)

The St Paul Marjorie McNeeley Conservatory

Spring is not quite here but we went some place where you could say spring had arrived — Â the St Paul Marjorie McNeeley Observatory which has free admission. Yes, I said free. They do have a box when you enter where you can give a donation, but other than that, you can just enter and enjoy yourself.

My husband and I went later in the afternoon so did not have a chance to stop at the zoo which is nearby.

On a cold dreary day earlier in the season, the local news aired a story about the St Paul Conservatory and I was determined to visit. It is truly a respite when the weather is dreary outside or for that matter — any time!

Today was another story though. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 40’s and the snow was melting. Â Yippee! It has already felt like a very long winter because of the many days of below zero that we’ve had.

There is parking at the zoo and lots of it. I was surprised how many people were there even though it was close to closing time (we arrived at 2 p.m. and it closed at 4 p.m. — winter hours).

St Paul, MN Como Conservatory — St Paul, MN Marjorie McNeeley Conservatory

Inside, there’s a lot of glass overhead and sometimes soft mists of water come down from spigots as you’re walking down the path. Everything looks lush and beautiful — and more importantly, warm.

One of our first encounters was a fern called horsetails that reminded me of when we lived in Seattle as there was many a summer I would pull them out of the ground as they were considered weeds. They look so beautiful here.

There were many ferns — lots and lots of them. There are also plenty of benches for one to sit and enjoy the freshness in the air and the lushness here.

There was a section called the Sunken Garden that had walkways lined with cyclamen, amaryllis and other beautiful plants that were blooming. This was a real treat to my winter weary eyes. Here are some pictures for you to look at.

Amaryllis - Minnesota — Amaryllis – Minnesota

Red Amaryllis - Minnesota — Red Amaryllis – Minnesota

Pink & White Amaryllis - Minnesota — Pink & White Amaryllis – Minnesota

St Paul Como Conservatory — St Paul Marjorie McNeeley Conservatory

Pink Amaryllis - Minnesota — Pink Amaryllis – Minnesota

Once we left the Sunken Gardens there were some very interesting trees — take a look.

Here’s a larger view of the Red Latan Palm which is found in the Mascarene Islands.

Look at the texture on this Bottle Palm – quite interesting and has a beauty all its own.

I wish I had orchids that looked like this, don’t you?

I was really surprised to see Annatto Leaves. The sign says that the leaves can be soaked in water and used to treat diarrhea, rash and swellings. (I’ve never used them in this manner so can’t vouch for that.) In Puerto Rico, we use annatto seeds to give color to our rice. We put a pot on the stovetop, add a little bit of oil and a few of the red seeds then we cook them through, strain them and use the colored oil for cooking.

Look at this tree that’s called the Silk Floss Tree and grows in South America. The prickles on it are used to store water.

This next tree, called the Chicle Tree, is also from South & Central America and I remember seeing it on a recent trip to Costa Maya, Mexico.

And here is Allspice — it doesn’t look like this in the bottle I have at home.

I was surprised to see a koi pond. Â There is a Japanese Garden here but it was closed for the winter although they did have a small exhibit of bonsai trees (the lighting was not that great for pictures though). I’m looking forward to seeing the Japanese Garden when it reopens.

Now — this is interesting, no? Â I didn’t see a tag that told me what it was though. Thoughts?

Stepping outside, I was reminded that winter is not quite over. The snow is melting and small drips of water fall from wherever there are icicles. The trees are still bald showing all their deficiencies in all their beauty and ugliness.

But — I especially like trees in winter. They remind me of how we as humans should be — transparent. If we were to see each other with all our weaknesses I believe we would be a little bit more kind to each other. Don’t you?

Tree - Minnesota Winter — Tree – Minnesota Winter

But instead — we sometimes hide behind the “leaves” of our loneliness, anger, sadness, selfishness — holding on to our vulnerabilities so that we can’t be hurt.

To know true love we have to take the risk of getting hurt. But there is no greater joy than in finding it.

Evergreen - Minnesota — Evergreen – Minnesota

Peace to your hearts my fellow humans!

Chicken Coconut Soup

This homemade recipe can be called Chicken Coconut Stew or Chicken Coconut Soup (if you like chunky soup) and it is totally paleo.

I simply took ingredients that I already had and came up with this tasty soup and even surprised myself (laughing).

I started out with this group items.

And we can’t forget the main ingredient — three chicken breasts.

I cut each chicken breast in three pieces to make it easier to grill on the stovetop in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Once the chicken was cooked, I allowed it to cool on the counter and then cut it into bite size pieces.

I like to have everything chopped and ready to go before I start cooking.

In a large soup pot (I have a Le Creuset Cast Iron Pot that I used), I added two tablespoons of olive oil and put it on medium heat. When the oil was hot, I added the onions, carrots and celery then allowed that to cook through.

Next, I added the mushrooms. Â (I am not a mushroom fan but my husband loves them so I cook with them on occasion.)

Then I added spinach and stirred it up. Doesn’t it look pretty?

Lastly I added the basil, chicken broth, cooked chicken and the coconut milk.

Add basil, chicken broth and coconut milk — Add basil, chicken broth, chicken and coconut milk

Then I waited for the soup to boil. Â Since the meat is already cooked, you just need the vegetables to cook through and make sure all the flavors are blended.

I added the coconut milk in slowly — 1/4 cup at a time — until I found the consistency and flavor that was to my liking. At the end, I added a total of 1 cup of coconut milk.

So — here’s the recipe so you can try it.

Ingredients

3 carrots, thin slices or chopped
4Â stalks celery, chopped
1/2Â large onion, chopped
1Â cup mushrooms
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup light coconut milk
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2Â tsp salt
3 chicken breasts, grilled in olive oil and cut up into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Prepare all vegetables ahead of time (see above).
In a skillet, grill the chicken breasts in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once it’s cooked through, allow to cool on the counter and once cooled slice into bite size pieces.
In a large soup pot on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil.
When the oil is hot, add the carrots, celery and onions then stir until the onions are clear in color.
Add the mushrooms to the pot and stir with the rest of the vegetables.
Add the spinach to the pot and stir to combine with the rest of the vegetables.
Add the basil, salt, chicken and the chicken broth to the pot and stir.
Add the coconut milk a little at a time and stir to combine with the rest of the soup until you get the consistency and taste you want.
Allow the soup to boil then bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

That’s it! This is an easy peasy recipe and you can add whatever vegetables you like.

I served this with paleo Cranberry Orange Muffins.

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)

Cranberry Orange Paleo Muffins

I am always doubtful of how baked goods will taste on the paleo diet. However, this Cranberry Orange Muffin recipe came out very good. One thing I should have done though is allow the muffin to cool completely before sinking my teeth into it. Â Well, can you really blame me?

The ingredients were simple enough.

I used frozen cranberries that I allowed to thaw for an hour or so.

You’ll be mixing the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ones in another bowl then combining them into one large bowl. (I have bowls that have a non slip base on the bottom that work really great.)

I decided to use baking muffin (cupcake) liners as it makes clean up a lot easier.

And the muffins will come out looking like this …

Okay so … let’s look at the recipe.

Ingredients

1Â cup almond flour
1/4Â cup coconut flour
1Â teaspoon baking soda
1/2Â teaspoon salt
4Â eggs (at room temperature)
1Â teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4Â cup raw honey
1/4Â cup coconut milk
1Â teaspoon vanilla
Juice of 1/2 an orange
Zest of one orange
1/2Â cup frozen, thawed cranberries (or you could use fresh)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350Â° Fahrenheit.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the almond and coconut flours, baking soda, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps.
In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs then add the apple cider vinegar, honey, coconut milk, vanilla, orange juice, and the orange zest.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and make sure everything is combined.
Add the cranberries and fold them in carefully.
In a lined muffin tin (or one sprayed with olive oil) fill each space making sure your mixture is evenly distributed (so they’ll cook evenly).
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Mine took 20 minutes on the convection setting.)

And there you have it! I was doubtful whether I would enjoy this recipe because I don’t normally enjoy cranberries and I haven’t had much luck with baking muffins. These would taste great for breakfast or with a nice bowl of Chicken Coconut Soup.

Special thanks to Liz at If Cave Mom Baked Cookies for a muffin recipe that actually tasted good!

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)

Beef Stew

Here’s a paleo Beef Stew recipe that is truly a keeper. The flavors melded so well together and my palette was truly satisfied.

So … let’s look at the ingredients that are needed, shall we? (I did not include a picture of the salt and pepper.)

After making sure your beef stew meat is cut into bite size pieces, you’ll be drying the meat to make sure it will brown properly. Â I laid the meat on a paper towel to let it absorb any excess water.

Then I put another paper towel over the meat to remove the excess water from the top of the meat.

You’ll be using a large pot to brown the meat on one side — make sure not to add two many pieces in the pot so the meat can brown properly.

Next turn the meat over and brown the other side.

Once the meat is browned, place it in a bowl while you prepare the rest of the stew. Let’s grate the onion now …

I grated as far as I could but still had some large pieces left over so I simply chopped the rest of the pieces finely (that way pieces of finger won’t be in our stew — yuck!).

Next you’ll be putting everything in the pot little by little to allow the flavors to meld together.

Prepare the stew — Add ingredients little by little to meld the flavors

Once that is complete add the browned stew meat.

This will be simmering and simmering and simmering. Don’t rush this process — really, nice and slow is best.

Okay … so let’s try this wonderfully delicious recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

1 pound boneless beef stew, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2Â cup olive oil
1 large onion, grated or diced finely
2Â large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (14.5Â ounces) stewed tomatoes
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/8Â teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup blended apple/grape juice
1 cup hot water (must be hot)
2Â teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

Place your cut up meat pieces on paper towels and pat them dry.
In a large Dutch oven or pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.
When the oil is hot, add enough meat pieces to cover the bottom of the pan (do not overcrowd the pan because the meat will boil rather than brown).
When one side of the meat is browned, turn and brown the other side.
Remove the browned pieces from the pan, place them in a bowl and set aside.
Add the onions and garlic to the pan and sautÃ© on medium heat for about 4 minutes, stirring continuously.
Add the ground allspice and cumin then stir continuously for a couple minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste and stir continuously for a couple more minutes.
Now, add the browned meat pieces, stir well and add some freshly ground black pepper.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the grape-apple juice along with the hot water then stir well.
Let everything come to a boil then turn the heat down to the lowest setting, put the lid on and let the meat stew for 1 1/2 hours or until it is tender. (I checked and stirred the meat every 15 minutes.)
Lastly, season with salt.

And there you have it! It is delicious and well worth the wait.

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)

Maple Walnut Sweet Potato Mash

This Maple Pecan Sweet Potato Mash was really really good. I’d serve it any day and it would also be a nice side for Thanksgiving.

The original recipe is very sweet and even though I like sweet tasting food it was a tad too much for me. I was glad that I had decided to pour the syrup on slowly and taste it before pouring the whole thing over it. You can use your own judgment …

Here are the ingredients you’ll be using (I used walnuts instead of pecans).

Ready to try it?

Ingredients

1/4Â cup chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice), toasted
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup (original recipe calls for 6)
1/4Â teaspoon orange zest
1Â cinnamon stick
1/4Â teaspoon ground cloves
2Â large sweet potatoes, baked (375Â° Fahrenheit for about 45-60 minutes or until soft in the middle all the way through – use a wooden stick to test)

Directions

Bake your sweet potatoes (see above) and set aside to cool.
Bring the oven heat down to 300Â° Fahrenheit.
Place the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes (convection oven). Â When toasted, set them aside in a small bowl.
In a small saucepan on the stovetop, combine the maple syrup, orange zest, cinnamon stick, and the ground cloves and gentle simmer for a couple of minutes.
Remove the syrup from the stovetop and set it aside.
After the potatoes have cooled, gently scoop out the insides, discard the peel, put the insides in a large bowl and mash them thoroughly.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the warmed syrup and discard it then pour the syrup over the mashed sweet potatoes.
Top the mashed potatoes with the toasted walnuts and serve warm.

Pretty simple recipe … yet delicious.

This recipe was very slightly adapted and the changes are already included above.

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)

Sonia Sotomayor and I

The title sounds kind’ve like the movie The King and I, doesn’t it? No — Sonia Sotomayor and I were not and are not going to be in a movie together (wouldn’t that be something though?). However, I recently read her autobiography in the book titled “My Beloved World” which is a #1 New York Times Best Seller. I really enjoyed reading her book which was gifted to me by my mother-in-law for Christmas.

Justice Sotomayor and I are both Puerto Ricans and a lot of her family history is similar to mine. Actually, most Puerto Ricans I know who live on the mainland have pretty similar backgrounds.

In this post, I thought I’d share some of our similarities. Some are comical — some more serious. In an earlier post, I’ve shared some of what I consider to be her best quotes – wisdom from maturity. She had great insight into life.

So — here are some snippets (in bold) from her book. I’ve followed it up with my personal comments:

Mami and my aunts would often be at Abuelita’s when we got back, crowded into the kitchen for coffee and gossip. Â (Ch. 2) Â How true this was in my family also. I can hardly walk into someone’s house (even today) without them offering me a cup of coffee. When I was little, our breakfast consisted of a cup of coffee with buttered toast. It was a “poor” family’s breakfast but tasted so delicious. Â My cousins used to put mayonnaise on their toast instead of butter (yuck!).
The dominoes never stopped for dinner. The game was serious. (Ch. 2) Although I was born in Chicago, every time I go back to Puerto Rico, dominoes are the game of choice and it is indeed a serious game. The first time I played dominoes it was a “doubles” game and my partner was my cousin’s husband (known as a brother-in-law to me as cousins are treated like sisters). He couldn’t believe we were losing and every time I put a tile down he said “No no, you shouldn’t have played that because …” To me it was just a game, but to him — well, you would have thought we were playing for money instead of fun.
When I woke up in the morning, I would have Abuelita all to myself. She would stand at the stove in the housecoat she always wore for an apron …Â This took me back to when I would go to my abuelita’s (grandmother’s) house and she would make me scrambled eggs with diced spam ham — wearing a housecoat for an apron … just like my mother still does.
It just wasn’t in my mother’s nature at that time to show affection, give you a hug, or get down on the floor to engage with a kid. Â She had been deprived of the formative security that nurtures such impulses.Â Growing up, my mother was the same way — she seemed distant. And, just like Sotomayor, it took me many years to understand that you can’t give what you have never experienced — at least not until something in your life changes or someone comes into your life and you see a different way.
The truth, as I explained, was that I’d never once got an answer wrong on the practice tests; points had been deducted only because I hadn’t followed the steps she had prescribed. Â I had reasoned out my own steps, which made sense to me, and she never explained what was wrong with them. Oh, how I remember this happening to me on so many occasions. The way I reason in my head is so illogical to other people. I remember taking a correspondence course to learn Fortran (a programming language). I was able to get to the right answer but in 10 steps instead of the 3. Needless to say, I did not pass the course. Recently I’ve encountered challenges learning how to quilt — but I’m hanging in there!
And yet, Nancy Drew had a powerful hold on my imagination. Before moving to Minnesota, I gave away sets of Nancy Drew books. She was one of my fictional heroes and one of the few women who was in a field that was mostly men.
They were an odd couple, those two sisters. Neither of them showed affection, and Titi especially could be austere and forbidding, but it was also clear that they were bound to each other in a way that I didn’t entirely understand. Â They were like two trees with buried roots so tangled that they inevitably leaned on each other, and also strangled each other a bit. Sotomayor’sÂ family dynamics is so similar to my mother and aunts. Their relationships are like water and oil — and yet, one can tell that they love each other so much. How do these relationships work?
“Sonia, I don’t care if you have to cut off your hands, get that gesture out of your goddamn repertoire!” That was Kenny’s ringside. Tell a Puerto Rican not to talk with her hands? Ask a bird not to fly.Â This is so true of all the Puerto Ricans I know who, not only talk with their hands but talk LOUD. As a young girl, I can also remember being in a room filled with 20-30 family members and knowing almost every conversation that was going on. That “gift” has left me though since I’m hard of hearing now — but the expectation seems to still be there.
To be honest, I had probably never seen a couch that wasn’t covered in plastic. Â Hmmm … was it only Puerto Rican families that had plastic covered couches? Ours was red and was always a tad sticky to sit on in the summer.
Re her relationship with her mother: Â Beyond that I knew practically nothing about her childhood. Her most telling stories would trickle out slowly, in dribs and drabs, but it was only when I had the strength and purpose to talk about the cold expanse between us that she confessed her emotional limitations in a way that called me to forgiveness. Â “How should I know these things, Sonia? Who ever showed me how to be warm when I was young? I was lonely; I was angry at Mayo. What else did I see?” Â My mother said these words to me a few years ago. She told me that she was not hugged and that the way people loved in her day was simply taking care of each other. There were no “I love you’s” said out loud. To a lesser degree, I raised my boys the same way. Yes, there were hugs but not as many as there should have been. Only later, when a friend of mine had a baby and I saw how she loved her baby did I realize there was another way.
As I learned, I practiced on my mother — a real hug, a sincere compliment, an extra effort to let down my guard — and miraculously she softened in turn, out of instinct long dormant, even if she didn’t quite know what was going on. Opening up, I came to realize the value of vulnerability and to honor it, and soon I found that I wasn’t alone even on this journey. My mother was taking every step alongside me, becoming more affectionate and demonstrative herself, the person who, given a chance, she might have been.Â Her mother, and mine, both have been able to open up and experience a new and better way of being. But, how sad for those people who don’t have the opportunity to see or taste a different way.

This book re-enforced the belief I have about people — we’re all basically the same. We have the same basic needs of wanting to be loved and accepted. We want to be forgiven for mistakes that have been made and we want to be able to start again without people getting in our face and reminding us of everything we have ever done wrong.

We’re all growing. Some people can see (like Sotomayor) how much we need to respect people where they are — others can’t see the journey that’s being traveled and just assume that people are idiots or stupid.

A little love and patience sure goes a long way though.

I gained a lot of insight from this book about personal relationships. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to read it again and again as each time you read a book you gain another perspective of what the writer is trying to convey. Glimpses into life.

Thank you Justice Sonia Sotomayor for sharing your “growing up” stories. Your humanness definitely makes me look at you in a different light.

Minnesota Blizzard

It’s February in Minnesota. I know it’s supposed to be cold and yes, I expect snow. But this winter seems to be lingering so long already (last year we had a major snowstorm in April). We’ve had 30 days where our high temperature was less than zero. Â That’s ZERO. Blah.

Yesterday afternoon our blizzard started with 2 inches of very wet snow. I headed out early enough and shoveled the very heavy snow. I’ve learned that when a lot of snow is predicted, it’s best to get out and shovel a little at a time rather than when the snow is too thick — it saves on back pain, trust me.

Later in the evening I headed out a second time and shoveled again. Our snow plow guy had not arrived yet and he wouldn’t arrive until it stopped snowing — what would be the point?

Looking out the window this morning, our driveway was plowed. We have a very dependable snowplow man. But, as winter would have it, it snowed after the plowing.

So, with shovel in hand, and bundled up for the 10Â° temperature, I shoveled and shoveled and shoveled some more. (We do have an electric snow blower but I find it hard to push it — much easier with the shovel.) Â Later in the morning, the sun came out and getting motivated again, I headed over to my 89 year old neighbor’s house and shoveled his walkway. Unfortunately, I hadn’t gone over yesterday and shoveled his 2 inches of sleet/snow so he had quite a bit of snow and ice. Fortunately, he always leaves his shovel outside his front door so I didn’t have to haul mine with me.

The sun continues to shine through the snow laden branches. It’s dangerous out there though. Empty trucks are stranded on the highways. Filled trucks have to be extremely careful or they won’t be able to stop when cars skid into snow banks. There’s a lot of ice under the snow that won’t be melting any time soon because of the next round of “polar vortex” that is heading our way.

Our mailman attempted but was not able to deliver the mail (I can tell by the truck tracks) as the city plowed the snow against the side of the road and left a huge snow bank. I had to climb onto the bank to get our newspaper.

Minnesota snow is beautiful but this beauty is not worth it to me. What am I saying? I don’t want to retire here. I’d like to be able to go out in winter — take a nice walk (even with a coat) or at least be able to drive around without having to worry about winding up in a ditch.

Minnesota Sun February — Minnesota Sun in February

So — with six (or so) years left to retirement, we have a few years to research other places to live.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Paleo Herb Crackers

While shopping at one of the local health food stores called Tailor Made, I saw a box of crackers that I thought would complement a soup I was going to make. I picked up the box and the picture of the crackers looked delicious. Then I looked at the price — ugh! $9 and change. Then it dawned on me — why not make crackers myself?

So, I searched the world wide web and found this recipe for Paleo Herb Crackers that has good reviews.

The ingredients are simple enough (I normally don’t include pictures of the oil, water, salt and pepper as I figure most people have those items in their cupboard already) To help facilitate this recipe you should use parchment paper, a rolling pin and a pizza cutter.

You’ll be combining all your ingredients to make a dough. I used my KitchenAid mixer for this.

Next, you’ll need 2 pieces of parchment paper (same size and cut large). Place one of the pieces on your counter or cutting board and plop your dough on it.

Then you’ll be putting another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and then giving the dough one large palm squish.

Cover dough with parchment paper and squish

Then you’ll use a rolling pin (or you could use a large drinking glass) to flatten out the dough.

Next, remove the top piece of parchment paper and transfer the dough (with the bottom piece of parchment paper) to a large cookie sheet.

Transfer flattened dough to cookie sheet

Now, using your pizza cutter, slice the dough into small cracker pieces.

(With me so far? It’s actually a very fun recipe to make.)

Now you’ll be plopping this in the oven to bake. Make sure you pay attention (I didn’t) to how you flatten the dough. If possible, you want the dough to be the same thickness all the way through so it will cook evenly otherwise you’ll have your edges crispier than the rest of the dough.

Ready to try this easy recipe?

Ingredients

2Â cups almond flour
1/2Â teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon rosemary
2Â tablespoons water
1Â egg white
1Â tablespoon olive oil
1/4Â teaspoon coconut oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350Â° Fahrenheit.
Combine the almond flour, salt, and rosemary in a mixer and mix on low until everything is combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together the water, egg white, olive oil, and melted coconut oil.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry one and mix until you get a fairly stiff dough.
When the dough is ready, put a large piece of parchment paper on the counter and plop the dough on it.
Then place another same sized piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and give it one good squish with your palm. (No need to get your hands dirty if you don’t have to.)
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/8 of an inch making sure as far as possible that your dough is the same thickness throughout.
Remove the top piece of parchment paper then transfer the bottom piece of parchment paper with the dough on it to a cookie sheet (no need to grease the cookie sheet).
Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into cracker sized pieces — round, square, triangle — whatever you desire.
Plop the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes (at the 7 minute mark my edges were starting to get quite crispy but that’s because I didn’t make sure my dough was rolled evenly).
Turn the oven off and let the crackers sit inside the oven for another 10 minutes (but keep your eye on them to make sure they don’t turn too crispy).

Whala! Â That’s it! They came out very good. I will use this recipe again. It did remind me of the time I use to make communion wafers at church. Â Ready to see the final product? Â Drum roll please!

Served with paleo Chicken Soup, these Paleo Herb Crackers were delicious.

Special thanks to Heather at Multiply Delicious. Â Head on over to her website to see what else she’s got cooking.

(ClickÂ hereÂ for a list of other paleo friendly recipes.)