Before I go to sleep and when I wake up I pretend I am my own giant guardian angel and I say “I love you, I will never leave you. You are save and secure and healthy and well wrapped in my love”
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Author Archives: Andrea
Using THE SECRET For Successful Marketing — How the Law of Attraction Can Bring You More Business
Conventional marketing tells us how we need to target our market, use specific headlines, as well as a long list of other marketing ploys. However, thanks to Abraham-Hicks and The Secret, we now know that the success of advertising, as with everything else, is not so much dependent upon the action that is taken (designing and placing the ad) as it is on the consciousness from which the action is taken. That is, what you think about your business, about your abilities, and about what you have to offer. That also means you take charge of your internal dialogue.
For someone whose attitude is, ”Hmmm, business is down, so let me put a card in, even though it’s the slow season. It couldn’t hurt and it’s only a few bucks,” then their response will reflect that. Remember that the response you receive always mirrors your real – and sometimes unconscious – core belief and attitude on the topic. In this case, that might be “I don’t feel real hopeful and motivated, so I probably won’t attract more than I am attracting already.” Realize that in “the real world,” – the metaphysical world of energy exchange – you can’t expect people to be more enthusiastic about your business than you are. Continue reading
A friend wrote to me: “I’d say my chief reason for going to church these days is out of commitment rather than hunger for God. Sure, connecting with the community is good, but it doesn’t further me. etc. I think I’ve been singing this song for several years now!” I replied: :I meant to address this when you wrote it and got caught up doing other things. I know what you mean. I go, not out of commitment but when I want camaraderie. And sometimes I want the lesson and music and don’t want fellowship, and those are the times I sneak in late and leave early to avoid interaction. I think different things “further” us in different ways. For me and probably for you, too, solo study and meditation is what most fulfills me and deepens my sense of faith and devotion and dedication. Continue reading
I woke up with the thought that the reason W repaid an outstanding loan to me early was that by going out of my box on Sunday, going to Sue’s church and to the Meta Circle, I released resistance that I unconsciously hold by being in routine here. I spent almost all of January in a funk and not doing much to get myself out of it. Pouting, aggravating those closest to me, choosing to stay inside and not venture outside, to not do any yard work, which I know is my healing grace. So of course now, like clockwork, I am motivated to work in the yard and it’s final layout week. I could have done a ton of work last month, but nooooo, I had to pout and sleep my month away. I just made myself go outside one day and pick up one dead palm frond to take to the trash pile, knowing that as soon as I put myself in motion, momentum would form. The last few days with only a few hours each day I have transformed the east woods back into a semblance of privacy and organization. I simply moved all the cut bamboo stalks and stacked them in one place standing by the tall pine. I simply moved all the potted plants to one area. I simply raked the interior floor of the surface layer of leaves and piled the leaf mulch around the plants at the perimeter of the canopy room in the squirrel park. I brought the larger of the dead palmetto fronds to the front and kept them inside the room, lining the wire fence as a shield from the street view. By the time I gathered enough big fronds, I had cleared much of the larger deadfall, since I’d been taking the larger fallen branches to the front as well. The small dead branches I will stack for firewood and take to the west firepit area. I swept off the deck area, and I may decide to move that elsewhere or maybe just move it to the north about 3 feet. That’s what I will do. Continue reading
It is still green here, however the yard is looking very sparse. That’s because the leaves are off the mulberry in the back yard and also off several of the big oak trees. I have a couple of types of oaks and one type seems to lose all its leaves and the other doesn’t. This winter I am seeing the houses behind me through my yard, and usually I only see my trees and the tall palmettos. I have been cutting thru the palmettos some each year, mostly just cleaning out the deadfall, but now I can see thru them a little bit, too, in places. I like cutting paths thru my palmettos, different paths to walk down. The woods to the east of me have been looking very sparse and ragged since the hurricanes, so I watered everything real deeply yesterday. I had a bunch of cut bamboo that had crashed down from where I had it stacked, so I moved it to a new location to act as a sort of screen from the road until the greenery starts growing back from the watering. Continue reading
Today’s Thoughts
I’ve been in a subdued mood the last couple of weeks. No heavy thoughts, just working through some inner conflicts. You know, the standard routine of personality integration *smile* I am inspired by concrete goals, and have learned how to trick myself into breaking out of my workaholic routine by using goals as the bait. If someone says to me, “you’re working too hard, want to take a break and do something?” that doesn’t give me much to look forward to to whet my appetite, except to stop working, which I may want to keep doing. But if a friend calls and says “It’s a beautiful day and I’m going to take a ride in the sun and take my camera to the beach and have an adventure. I can pick you up in an hour, and we can eat sushi on the way back home and you’ll be back at work before dark.” Now that sounds tempting! It tells me what to expect, it tells me when I can be back to work, I have to eat anyway, I’m always up for a nature trek with cameras. I feel special and honored when someone picks me up and drives. I like a pal with a plan. I like a take charge kind of pal; someone who is always in optimistic, confident motion forward with some goal in mind. Continue reading
Some favorite low fat salads
Friday, December 5, 2008
Just as I admit to being a soup freak, I also admit that I love all kinds of salads. That wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until I switched to a lowfat diet in 2004 that I cultivated my taste for fresh produce and healthy dressings. I have learned a few important things:
1. I rinse everything. I squirt it with some veggie wash spray, then rinse it in my reverse osmosis water.
2. I must eat some oil or fat with my salads and vegetables because some of the vitamins are oil soluble. That means if I eat a nonfat or lowfat salad dressing, I will not be getting enough oil from it to activate the vitamins to fuel my body.
3. The more pure, natural foods I eat, and the less processed foods I eat (processed = anything with a label), the more attuned my palate becomes to subtle taste differences.
4. Having to cook my own food and chop my own salads is a good dietary move, since it increases my prep time and lessens my ingesting time *smile*
Here are some of my favorite salads.
A SIMPLE LETTUCE, TOMATO AND BASIL SALAD
First, the most simple is sometimes the best, Fresh romaine, chopped fresh tomato right off the vine, some slivers of red onion, about 20 fresh basil leaves, a teaspoon of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, sea salt and coarse ground pepper.
HOT POTATO, ONION AND ROMAINE SALAD
Last week I made this really good salad. I didn’t want to have any meat, but I wanted substance, since the salad would be my entire dinner. So I opened a package of chopped romaine and rinsed it and chopped it even further, then I added some sliced red onion and chopped black olives, tomato and capers.
Then I chopped a giant Golden Yukon potato and cooked it in a nonstick frypan until the pieces were almost crisp. Halfway through, I added a bunch of drained, cooked garbanzo beans and kept tossing them all together.
At the same time, I sauteed a sliced onion in another pan until it carmelized and that went on top of the potatoes. If you cook the onion with the potato, the potato will steam instead of sautee, and I wanted to trick myself into thinking the potato pieces were meat, so I kept them crisp.
Then just dump the potatoes on top of the salad, then the onions on top of the potatoes, then mix with your favorite dressing. I’ve learned to like simple dressings of olive oil and vinegar or fresh lemon, and I always top with fresh basil and dried oregano.
AN AWESOME ALBACORE TUNA SALAD
This week I made a really good tuna salad. I added chopped onions, radishes, celery, carrot sticks. I first put in a glass bowl 2 tsp rice wine vinegar and threw in some raisins and craisins to hydrate in it. Then the chopped veggies, then some albacore tuna and then 2-3 giant tablespoons of lowfat mayo, some pepper, garlic powder and tarragon.
Variation: add chopped, sun dried tomatoes that have been hydrated in a tablespoon of pineapple juice.
Variation: add one chopped apple, or a half dozen chopped green olives
Variation: add a half dozen chopped Greek calamata olives and ½ cup low fat feta cheese crumbles
Variation: substitute chopped turkey or chicken for the tuna, add a chopped slice of lowfat Jarlsberg Light swiss cheese
A FAVORITE APPLE AND RAISIN CHOPPED SALAD
Chopped apples, onions, radishes, celery, carrot sticks.
I first put in a glass bowl 2 tsp wine vinegar and threw in some raisins and craisins to hydrate in it.
Then the veggies and then 2-3 giant tablespoons of lowfat mayo or Veganaise, some pepper, garlic powder and tarragon.
Things I buy at the Asian market
I’ve learned that it’s easy to keep some exotic ingredients on hand for the Asian soups I love, since most of the oriental markets carry them in the freezer section. Here’s what I typically have on hand that I buy at the Asian market:
Stalks of lemon grass. They will be in the freezer and will be wrapped like scallions. They give high lemon flavor as a soup or tea base, and you remove them before eating. I also grow lemongrass in my yard.
Kaffir lime leaves. These will be in the freezer maybe 25-50 to a bag. They give high lemon flavor as a soup or tea base, and you remove them before eating.
Gangalal. This is a form of ginger. It will be in the freezer in a small tray, probably already cut into small pieces. They give sharp ginger flavor as a soup or tea base, and you remove them before eating.
Chilies or chili peppers. These will be in the freezer in small bags. Most of them are too hot for me; you have to find your own comfort level. I sometimes pop a whole chili in a soup and then take it out and discard it. I do not cut it open. That gives enough heat for me. Remember the high heat is in the seeds, so after handling them wash your hands.
Fish sauce also called nuoc mam. I use the 3 Crabs brand. A little goes a long way. High flavor, smells hmm fishy; tastes great in a sauce or soup base.
Chili garlic sauce in a jar on the shelf. It is hotter than Sriracha sauce. They are both red.
Sriracha hot sauce has a red rooster on the bottle. It is milder than chili garlic sauce.
Nam prik pao or tom yum soup paste. In a jar on the shelf. Try different brands.
Sesame Oil. Usually not cooked, but added into hot soups and dressings.
Bunches of fresh basil or cilantro for rinsing before last minute adding to soups. I also grow my own fresh basil.
Scallions in refrigerator for rinsing before last minute adding to soups.
Rice noodles, also called rice sticks.
Tapioca sticks, another kind of noodle.
My food blog: Goddess Grub, Luscious Lowfat Meals for the Goddess on the Go
Lemon Ginger Scallion Soup Recipe
I heat 2 cups of vegetable broth in a saucepan. You can also use chicken broth or hot water into which a tablespoon of white barley miso paste has been mixed.
Grate in 3 tablespoons of fresh ginger
Squeeze in half a lemon
Rinse then chop a few scallions up and throw them in.
If it’s too lemony, you can add a little honey or even 1/2 tsp sugar.
Also good is a 1/2 tsp of Vietnamese chili garlic sauce for a kick.
Easy Thai Yom Yum Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined (save shells and heads for stock)
12 mushrooms, halved
1 (4.5 ounce) can straw mushrooms, drained
4 cups water or chicken broth
2 stalks of lemon grass (will remove before eating)
4 kaffir lime leaves (will remove before eating)
4 slices galangal (will remove before eating)
1-4 chilies as hot as you like them (I use 2)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1- 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1- 1/2 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon nam prik pao or tom yum soup paste
1 giant bunch of fresh basil or cilantro for last minute adding. Continue reading