Glimpses of Life – Page 22

Best Quotes from Sonia Sotomayor

This past Christmas, my mother-in-law gifted me a book written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor called My Beloved World. I had a great time reading the book as she shares quite a few childhood experiences that were similar to my own. (Click here to read that post.)

What I found truly inspiring about the book though were all the bits of wisdom scattered throughout. I knew I would never remember them so every time I came upon something I thought was simple yet profound, I put a sticky note next to it. Below are a few of the bits of wisdom that Justice Sotomayor shared in her book and that have made me take notice of things in my own life.

But experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, at least move you forward. And after a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much you’ve closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you’ve done today. (In the Preface)

There are uses to adversity, and they don’t reveal themselves until tested. (Chapter 1)

I learned that day is still one too many kids never figure out: don’t be shy about making a teacher of any willing party who knows what he or she is doing. In retrospect, I can see how important that pattern would become for me; how readily I’ve sought out mentors, asking guidance from professors or colleagues, and in every friendship soaking up eagerly whatever that friend could teach me. (Chapter 8)

I was fifteen years old when I understood how it is that things break down: people can’t imagine someone else’s point of view. (Chapter 11)

But what really binds people as a family? The way they shore themselves up with stories; the way siblings can feud bitterly but still come through for each other; how an untimely death, a child gone before a parent, shakes the very foundations; how the weaker ones, the ones with invisible wounds, are sheltered; how a constant din is medicine against loneliness; and how celebrating the same occasions year after year steels us to the changes they herald. And always food at the center of it all. (Chapter 12)

The nature of many things, I might add: success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too and not to be feared. (Chapter 15)

Ken said the same thing, and the sentiment has been expressed countless times by minority students everywhere; by some accident of fate, we few among the great many had won the lottery. As the winners we stood in for all those not so lucky – some truly brilliant kids like Nelson, who slipped up, or others who’d never crossed paths with someone who could point the way, or who’d never even heard there was a way. (Chapter 17)

If you want to change someone’s mind, you must understand what need shapes his or her opinion. (Chapter 17)

When a young person, even a gifted one, grows up without proximate living examples of what she may aspire to become – whether lawyer, scientist, artist, or leader in any realm – her goal remains abstract. Such models as appear in books or on the news, however inspiring or revered, are ultimately too remote to be real, let alone influential. But a role model in the flesh provides more than an inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, “Yes, someone like me can do this.” (Chapter 19)

But as for the possibility of “having it all,” career and family, with no sacrifice to either, that is a myth we would do well to abandon, together with the pernicious notion that a woman who chooses one or the other is somehow deficient. To say that a stay-at-home mom has betrayed her potential is no less absurd than to suggest that a woman who puts career first is somehow less a woman. (Chapter 24)

I’d encourage you to read her book as it definitely gives insight into who she is as a person. Feel free to share any pearls of wisdom that you find as there are many.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor is one of the few people I wish I could meet. Perhaps on one of my trips to Puerto Rico I’ll run into her if she happens to vacation there. That would be wonderful!

How To Clean Your Oven Racks

My oven has a cleaning setting but the racks have to be removed and cleaned by hand. I have never liked cleaning the oven racks but do not like the look of dirty ones either.

So, I started cleaning the racks as I usually do — wet SOS pads and a lot of scrubbing. After cleaning the first rack, I rinsed it and determined that it was not as clean as I would like it to be but this was a LOT of work and was taking too much time.

Suddenly, a light shone from overhead (naw, just kidding, hahahahahaha) — an idea popped into my head. Why don’t I soak the racks in the bathtub? Hmmm … would it work? Well, it can’t hurt, I told myself.

So, I took the three racks upstairs to the bathroom, placed an old towel on the bottom of the tub so it wouldn’t get scratched, squeezed a bunch of Ajax Triple Action dish detergent in the tub (I hear Dawn works really well on grease also), filled the tub with hot water and put the racks inside one on top of another (making sure they were all covered with the soapy water).

Two hours later I came to check on the progress of the cleaning. I dipped my finger in the water and touched one of the racks with the tip of my finger to see if the dirt on it was soft. Boy was it ever!

I fetched a wash cloth and used it to gently remove the loosened dirt from the racks. Even the dirt in the hard to reach corners were easy to remove. Yes! Next, I drained the tub, rinsed the racks with clean water and placed them on a towel on the floor to dry.

That was it! So easy and simple! And to think how many times I had spent hours scrubbing the racks with SOS pads only to have a lot of the dirt still remain on them.

Here’s a look at how they came out:

Just like new! I hardly recognized them when I put them back inside the oven. What a simple and green way to clean oven racks.

(Oh – to avoid future spills in the oven, I placed a piece of aluminum foil on top of the bottom rack.)

Banana Bread – Paleo

Surprisingly, this paleo Banana Bread came out quite delicious. How do I know? Because my husband likes it and he doesn’t much like the coconut flour that is used in paleo baking.

So — this is a “must try” for you.

I did change the recipe a tad — but only a tad.

First — the ingredients …

But, of course, we can’t forget the main ingredient which are the bananas. What’s interesting about this recipe is that you don’t have to use ripe bananas.

I did remember that I had frozen bananas in the freezer so what I did was swap out the yellow bananas for the frozen thawed ones. (I just put them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to thaw them.)

The recipe calls for four eggs. I have a little compulsion about bringing the eggs to room temperature before using them in recipes. I believe they make a big difference in the flavor of the recipe. So, what I do is put hot water in a pot and put the eggs in them for a couple of minutes.

I also decided to use 1/3 cup of walnuts. Just because (smile).

Here’s what the batter will look like before it goes into the oven …

So … ready to check out the recipe?

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas (or yellow ones if you wish)
4Â eggs, at room temperature
1/2Â cup almond butter
4Â tablespoons butter, melted
1/2Â cup coconut flour
1Â tablespoon cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon lover)
1Â teaspoon baking soda
1Â teaspoon baking powder
1Â teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of walnut pieces
pinch of salt
Olive oil spray

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350Â°Â Fahrenheit.
Combine the bananas, eggs, almond butter and regular butter in a food processor then mix at medium speed until everything is combined.
Add the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and salt to the banana mixture and mix well.
Grease a loaf pan with olive oil spray then pour the batter into the pan.
Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. (Note: I used my convection oven and it still took 55 minutes.)
Take the loaf out of the oven when completely baked and allow it to cool for 30 minutes then remove the loaf from the pan and place onto a platter.

And here is how my banana bread turned out …

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Special thanks to Civilized Caveman Cooking for this recipe.

(For a list of recipes by categories, click here.)

Balsamic Green Bean Salad

Everything that could go wrong in trying to make this Balsamic Green Bean Salad recipe — went wrong. It wasn’t the recipe’s fault — truly.

Let me start in the beginning (okay, okay, not that far back — laughing).

I had prepared everything to start making the recipe assuming that life was not going to give me any twists and turns. I took my picture of the ingredients for ya’ll and it came out quite good, no? So few ingredients = my kind of recipe. (Salt and pepper not shown)

Things were going along well. I was going to serve this with some Fine Chicken and a baked yam so I was juggling the different recipes — nothing unusual so far.

So, now I’m ready to start the pot of water that the beans will blanch in. I added the cold water from the sink into the pot and put it on the stovetop to boil. Well, it boiled quite nicely to a very brown rusty color with sediment on the bottom. So, I put my ingredients aside and continued working on the rest of the meal. I came back to this recipe a week later as we had “water” issues.

I put the green beans in the freezer as I didn’t think they would hold up for a week until we figured out the water problem. When I finally made the recipe I was using the frozen green beans and it didn’t work too well. It tasted okay but it should have come out great.

I had allowed the green beans to thaw, blanched them in the boiling water, drained them then added them to ice water (yes, ice water to stop the cooking process).

So — the problem arose when I drained the beans from the ice water. (Yes, I know, I know, that is a LOT of ice — laughing.)

The green beans came out limp-y. Â Boohoo! Â That’s how I felt. I went ahead and put the rest of the salad together and, like I said, it came out good but it should have been great. So — let’s look at this recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1/2Â red onion, finely chopped
3Â tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons)
1/3Â cup chopped walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the green beans and blanch for 2-3 minutes.
Prepare a large bowl of ice water while the beans are cooking.
Drain the beans in a colander then promptly add them into a bowl of ice water for a minute or so.
Drain the beans again.
Add the green beans and the red onion in a bowl.
Toss the olive oil in and toss to coat everything together.
Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to the bowl with the green beans then toss to coat everything again.
Toss the bean mixture with the chopped walnuts.

And here is the final product (in spite of them coming out a bit limp-y.)

I served mine with baked drumsticks and a baked yam. Â Delicious!

Special thanks to Paleo Grubs — check out their website!

(By the way, I found out that water wells should be purged once a year or so to avoid the problem of sediment build-up. The alternative is to attach a hose to your pressure tank, open a window and drain the pressure tank for 4 hours. Uh, not likely to happen since the temperatures have been quite cold and opening a window for 4 hours and running the water outside (we’d have a skating rink) is just not feasible. Â For now, we keep draining the faucets and that seems to have worked.)

Life …

For a list of my categorized recipes, click here.

Cucumber Salad

It’s hard to think of eating something cold in February when one lives in Minnesota — we’re colder than Alaska this year for some reason. But, I wanted something refreshing to eat and thought this Cucumber Salad would fit the bill. Â Twas easy to make and much easier to eat.

The ingredients are few … (not pictured: oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper). I changed the recipe a tad by substituting the white wine with red wine vinegar, the parsley & chives with dill and the sugar with coconut sugar (it’s not as sweet).

It came out quite good and since the recipe is so simple, I’m sure I’ll make it again. Side note: if you want your dressing a little sweeter, I’d substitute the coconut sugar with a teaspoon of maple syrup.

Ready to try it?

Ingredients

2Â tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1Â tablespoon red wine vinegar
1Â tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4Â teaspoon salt
1/4Â teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8Â teaspoon coconut sugar
1/2Â cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2Â cup sliced green bell pepper
2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1Â English cucumber, sliced

Directions

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl and stir it all with a whisk.
Add the peppers along with the remaining ingredients to the liquid mixture then toss gently to coat.

See? I told you it was easy.

A keeper for sure!

For a list of my categorized recipes, clickÂ here.

Coconut Honey Chicken

Wow! Wow! and Wow! What a pleasant surprise to have this recipe, along with the cauliflower “rice,” come out so good. Juli from PaleOMG really outdid herself with this recipe. I did change it up just a tad because I don’t like overly spicy foods but feel free to add the sriracha which I didn’t add.

Let’s look at the ingredients that are used. There’s actually two different groups of ingredients (oil, salt and pepper not shown).

I like to have everything already measured and ready to go, don’t you?

First you’ll be getting your cauliflower “rice” ready. I don’t normally like this kind of “rice” but with this recipe, it tasted scrumptious. I was able to find a small cauliflower that was just enough to feed two people (strange, isn’t it, as normally cauliflowers are so large).

First you’ll prepare the cauliflower by washing it then removing the green leaves. You should have smaller pieces now.

Next you’ll be grating the cauliflower. It will look like this (I didn’t worry too much about making sure all the pieces were the same size).

Next you’ll be putting all of the cauliflower ingredients (cauliflower, chicken broth, garlic powder, salt) in a medium sized pot.

Next you’ll be turning the heat to medium and cooking the cauliflower “rice” for about 10 minutes, covered. Then you’ll be putting that aside.

While the “rice” is cooking, get a large dutch oven or pot and put it on medium heat. You’ll be adding coconut oil and then 1 inch pieces of chicken thighs.

You’ll be cooking the chicken pieces until they become white on one side then turning them over and cooking them until they are white on the other side making sure they are cooked all the way through. Then, remove the chicken pieces from the pot and set them aside. Put the heat to your pot on low now.

Next you’ll be adding the chopped onions and the garlic to the pot. Cook until the onions are clear.

After adding the rest of the ingredients, your sauce will look like this — it should be somewhat thick but pourable.

After the sauce is ready, add the chicken pieces back to the pot with the sauce in it.

Yeah, I know — it doesn’t look too scrumptious but I guarantee you, this was absolutely delicious.

Here’s what the final dish will look like …

Ready to try it?

Ingredients (for the cauliflower “rice”)

Â 1Â small head of cauliflower, grating the florets into small pieces
1/3Â cup chicken broth
1Â teaspoon garlic powder
1/4Â teaspoon salt

Ingredients (for the chicken and sauce)

4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 pounds chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes
2Â garlic cloves, minced
1/2Â small yellow onion, chopped finely
1Â (14 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk
1/4Â cup honey
1/2Â cup coconut aminos
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt, to taste
1/4Â cup tapioca flour

Directions

Grate the cauliflower florets into small pieces.
In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, add the cauliflower, chicken broth, garlic powder and salt to the pan, stir then cover to let it steam for about 10 minutes.
In a large dutch oven or pot, add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. When oil is hot, add the chicken pieces to the pan.
Once the chicken begins to turn white on one side, flip the pieces over to cook the other side. Make sure the chicken is cooked through then remove the chicken pieces and put them on a plate while you make the sauce.
Lower the heat to the pot (medium low) then add 2 more tablespoons of oil to it.
Add the onion and garlic.
When the onion becomes clear, add the coconut milk, honey, coconut aminos, red pepper flakes and salt. Whisk it all together and let it come to a low boil then reduce the heat to low.
(Don’t forget to check on your “rice” … remove it from the heat and set it aside keeping it covered.)
Next, take a whisk and, a little at a time, start adding the tapioca flour into the pot while stirring vigorously so you it doesn’t get clumpy. (Note, I did not have to use the full 1/4 cup of tapioca so keep an eye on yours.)
Once the mixture thickens, add the chicken to the pan with the sauce and stir it all together to coat the chicken.
Let this cook through for a couple minutes to make sure your chicken is warm again.
Now serve the chicken over your cauliflower “rice.”

I served the Coconut Honey Chicken with the cauliflower “rice” and Paleo Crispy Brussel Sprouts.

Yum! This will go on my “favorites” list.

For a list of recipes by category, click here.

Asparagus with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

This Asparagus with Mushrooms and Hazelnut recipe is a really nice paleo side dish. I was a little hesitant about the vinegar mixture as I was afraid that it would be too bitter but it came out great!

Here are the ingredients you’ll be needing (minus the olive oil, salt and pepper):

Next you’ll be prepping your vegetables by cleaning and trimming the asparagus and cleaning and chopping the green onions.

Then — clean your mushrooms. Â Give them a nice shower! (Note: I like to prep and wash my veggies first so they can air dry while I work on everything else.)

Next — chop the hazelnuts. (Notice the Minnesota chopping board in the background? Pretty cool, eh? Â That was a Christmas gift.)

After chopping the hazelnuts, you’ll be toasting them. Â I did this on the stovetop. Â Keep an eye out on them though as you don’t want them to burn.

Now, you’ll want to combine the red wine vinegar with some salt and pepper. It will look like this:

Combine red wine vinegar, salt and pepper

To prepare for the next few steps, you’ll need a colander, a medium pot of boiling water (enough to put your asparagus in), a large skillet and a medium sized bowl of ice water.

Once your water is boiling, put the asparagus in for about 4 minutes or so. It should be a “soft” boil not a roaring one. You want your asparagus to blanch (should be crisp when you take it out).

Okay so — things are moving quickly now. In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and when it’s heated, add the mushrooms. You want them to be semi-soft.

Next you’ll be adding the green onions to the mushrooms and tossing it all together. Ahhh, so pretty!

By now you should be checking the asparagus as it should be done. Drain the asparagus in the colander and quickly cool them off by tossing the ice water over the asparagus. A nice cold shower for them!

Make sure the asparagus is drained well then add them to the skillet with the mushrooms and green onions …

Add blanched asparagus to the skilelt — Add blanched asparagus to the skillet

Looking good! Â Toss it all together now. The mushrooms should be getting nice and soft. Next you’ll be pouring your red wine vinegar mixture into the skillet.

Combine it all together and put it in a nice bowl then toss your hazelnuts on top. Ready to try it?

Ingredients

2Â Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4Â teaspoon sea salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
1Â pound fresh asparagus, washed, ends trimmed and cut in half
Olive oil
1 pound of mushrooms, washed
1/2Â cup green onions, washed and sliced
1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Directions

Prep your veggies and lay them off to the side.
Prepare a medium sized bowl of ice water (I used a salad bowl but you can use any container) – lay this off to the side til needed.
Chop the hazelnuts and toast them on the stovetop or in the oven (they don’t take long to toast so keep an eye on them) – then lay this off to the side.
Add the vinegar, 1 tablespoon of the oil, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and lay this off to the side.
Fill a medium sized pot with water and boil it. Once boiled, add the asparagus for approximately 3-4 minutes to blanch them.
While the asparagus is blanching, put a 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet and heat on medium high.
Add the mushrooms to the skillet and saute until they are almost soft.
Add the green onions to the skillet with the mushrooms.
At this point, the asparagus should be ready. Taste one to make sure — it should be crisp but not raw.
Drain the asparagus in a colander, pour the ice water over them immediately then drain the cold water from the asparagus.
Add the asparagus to the skillet mixture, toss then cook for another 3 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft.
Turn the skillet heat off then slowly add the vinegar mixture into the skillet. Toss everything together.
Put the vegetable mixture in a bowl and sprinkle the toasted hazelnuts over the top.

Whala!!! You’re finished and it tastes absolutely delicious!

Asparagus, Mushrooms and Hazelnut Side Dish

I found this recipe at Paleo Plans which has a really neat section that includes recipes they have tried — very similar to the page I have that has a list of recipes.

Hope you enjoy this one!

Ice Fishing in Minnesota

Yesterday, amid lots of trepidation, we drove to Lake Jane to see our very first ice fishing contest that is sponsored by the local Lions Club.

There was no parking in the parking lot so we, gulp, were forced to drive onto the lake and park with hundreds of other cars. Feeling the sound of “crunch, crunch, crunch” beneath the car as we drove to find a parking spot, visions of a round circle of ice breaking off and plummeting into the water entered my mind. I quickly shook the thought away.

Getting out of the car, I noticed there were some spots of ice but mainly a coating of snow covered the ground.

We headed towards the massive amounts of cars/people that were in the middle of the lake.

People came prepared with food, bait, fishing rods and the Lions Club also had a tent that sold food as a fundraiser.

The day was perfect with blue skies hanging overhead. Although, it was a tad cold — 10Â° Fahrenheit. I came fully prepared with my Eddie Bauer coat (warm to -10Â°F), UGG boots, a ski mask, 2 leggings of thermal underwear and a warm scarf. Â Unfortunately, the gloves I purchased at Costco weren’t made for temperatures this cold so I stuck my gloved hands in my pocket.

The Lions Club prepares the lake for ice fishing by using auger’s to make holes in the ice.

One has to be careful while walking around that they don’t step into one of the fishing holes. And, of course, with my paranoia, that’s what I envisioned would happen to me (but it didn’t).

Some fishermen use a piece of equipment that they leave in the hole and when the red flag goes up it means a fish has been caught. This way they don’t have to stand/sit over their fishing hole and can walk around.

Ice Fisherman's Equipment — Ice Fisherman’s Equipment

I walked over to a board that had the largest fish that had been caught today pinned to it. If I remember correctly, there is a $1000 prize for catching the biggest fish. So far, the Northern Pike (a species of fish) is what has been caught although one youngster caught a bass but he had to throw it back (rules don’t permit him to keep it).

This young man caught a “big” one that was pinned to the board. He told me it took him 5 minutes to catch it. I then turned around and said to my husband “See, that could have been us. A little hook with bait and we could have won $1000.” Of course, I don’t know if Â this particular gentleman was the one who won the grand prize.

After the fish is weighed, if it’s not a contender for a prize, they throw it back into a fishing hole. I guess it pays to be little — the little ones get life, the large ones get death.

We had a nice time although we weren’t there very long as my hands got cold. Next year I’ll be better prepared.

It was surprising to see how many people actually came out since this was Superbowl Sunday — Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos. (By the way, in case you didn’t know, the Seahawks won! And they won big!)

So — next year, this could be me, uh, us.

Think of this wonderful winter activity you could be enjoying if you lived in Minnesota!

Chive Baked Sweet Potatoes

So, this Chive Baked Sweet Potato came out surprisingly good. Â The original recipe calls from a regular potato but I paleo-ized it (somewhat). Instead of using a regular potato I used a sweet potato. And instead of soy cheese, I used grated aged parmesan cheese.

This recipe is a keeper — it’s easy, filling and quite tasty. It also uses few ingredients.

So — here’s what you’ll be needing:

You’ll be making a sauce with the cashews and a little bit of water. I was a little skeptical as to whether or not I would like the taste but it turned out quite well.

So … let’s try this simple recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

2 Sweet Potatoes (you could also use yams)
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of raw cashews
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used freshly squeezed)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt (to taste)
Handful of Aged Parmesan Cheese, grated
Chives, chopped

Directions

In a blender, add the cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic and salt then blend it all until it’s creamy.
Poke holes on the top of the sweet potatoes.
Wet 2 paper towels and wrap your sweet potatoes in them.
Put the potatoes with the towels on a microwave safe dish and microwave them for 6-8 minutes (mine took 8 minutes but I had thick potatoes).
After removing the potatoes from the oven, poke them with a skewer or fork to make sure they are cooked all the way through (the skewer/fork should go through easily).
Put a large slit in the top of each potato and add some of the cashew sauce along with some grated parmesan cheese on top.
Put the potatoes back in the microwave (without the towel) for 2 minutes to melt the cheese.
Remove from the microwave and top with chives if you wish.

That’s pretty much it! Â Here’s the finished product:

Yum, yum, yum! Special thanks to the Vegan StonerÂ for the original recipe.

Keeping Hydrated in Minnesota

The dry winters in Minnesota create problems I’m not used to — extra dry skin and dry eyes.

Staying hydrated just with water doesn’t appear to work as I drink lots and lots of water and even then, my eyes get dry and the Systane (an eye lubricant) that I use has to be used frequently. So — how does one stay hydrated in Minnesota?

I found a product for dry feet that works really really well. Â It can be purchased at Bath and Body Works and is called True Blue Spa. It’s used mainly for cracked heels/dry feet. The container I purchase is 10 ounces and costs $20.00. A tad expensive, no?

I usually find a two-for-one coupon so it’s $10 instead of $20 on sale.

Other things I use that I find helpful are Aveeno (for general skin care) and Oil of Olay – Sensitive Skin (for my face).

A warm wet towel on my eyes at night is also helpful.

I can’t wait for this cold weather, that has been with us since the end of November, to go away. Last year winter lasted through April. Â Bleh.

On a recent trip to Seattle, I didn’t need to use any moisturizers. Hmmm … so, I either have to visit Seattle in the winter more often or … no, I won’t say it. (laughing)