Curveballs & Menus

You know when life throws those curve balls at you so hard that it hits you in the face!  That happened to us last week!  Totally throwing us for a loop!  It was emotional in every aspect that I can think of.  I am choosing to not share what exactly this curve ball is on my blog but just to write about our feelings on such life changing events.

When things happen in your life unexpected and throws things off a little there are two things you can do.....sit and dwell on the negative part of this circumstance or you can move forward and realize the good that is coming from the situation.   My husband and I have chosen to move forward.  Deep down we know how much of a blessing in disguise this was.  We were able to sit, reflect, and remind ourselves what our life intentions really are.   We are excited!  We revisited our major "goal list" again and we are ready!  With the world at our finger tips, we are ready to dance together in our next adventure with our boys on our backs!  For now we are remembering to celebrate....organic food, our world, and our family!!!!!

On to an important part of our life..... nourishing our soul and body!  Our weekly menu!  I made my own recipe last week!!!!!  I am SO excited to share it this week with you all!  I have played around with making my own recipes all the time but I finally made the time to write it down and be precise.  I love knowing exactly what I am putting in my families bodies.

MENU:

MONDAY: Grilled Salmon (freshly caught by my amazing brother), grilled asparagus, and grilled pineapple

TUESDAY:  Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells and a fresh green salad.  Having my brother and sister in law and their precious new baby boy over for dinner.  They just moved here for the summer!

WEDNESDAY:  Vegetable stir fry over brown rice

THURSDAY:  Dinner with some girlfriends for my birthday!!!  My boys will have tuna pasta salad and homemade bread!

FRIDAY:  Big family backyard birthday fiesta with my family!  And lots of them.  We have a lot of my husband's family in town right now.  So we chose to get them all together to celebrate!  We are have a taco bar and a salsa bar!

SATURDAY:  Spring Pizza, salad, and steamed artichokes

SUNDAY:  Mother's Day Picnic with my family!  I am bringing goat cheese & crackers, homemade hummus & veggies, and making a Lemon Pound Cake!

What are you making this week?

Peacefully,
Alyson


"Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without."  -Buddha

Menus & Always Remembering

Today we remember an inspirational peacemaker, Martin Luther King Jr.  Really everyday we should remember him and all the other peacemakers that have changed the course of our history.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for what he believed and for that we should all be grateful.  But this is bigger than being grateful, it is bigger than remembering..it is about bringing peace into our homes, our neighborhoods, our countries, and our entire beautiful world.  Everyday we should be taking steps, big or small, towards a compassionate and peaceful life and world.  This is not for us..this is for our children and our grandchildren.  The biggest and best thing we can do for them is to show our children about compassion, acceptance,  and love.  This is the first step towards a more peaceful and more accepting world.  Martin Luther King Jr. proved to us that this can happen...that this dream can come true.  Thank you Martin Luther King for standing up for peace!  

I'm going to end this post with our menu for the week.  I hope everyone is still doing what they can to know where their food is coming from and eating whole delicious foods!  

MONDAY:  Homemade whole wheat pizza, kale chips, and a green salad

TUESDAY:  Double Broccoli Quinoa Bowl

WEDNESDAY:  Out to dinner

THURSDAY:  Vegetarian Taco Salad

FRIDAY:  Ginger & Cilantro Baked Tilapia over brown rice

SATURDAY:  Attending a friend's wedding

SUNDAY:  Vegan Tofu Pot Pie 

Peacefully,

Alyson

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."-Martin Luther King Jr.

Menus, Becoming a Doula, and Remembering

I feel empowered,  I feel amazing,  I feel like I made the best and biggest step towards this amazing journey I am about to embark on.  My first class in my doula program was perfect!  I went into this not knowing what to expect.... and within 5 minutes of being in the class I knew I was in the right place.  I was following my heart!  I have some big dreams with becoming a doula.  I eventually want to see my dream become an organization that would provide prenatal, labor, and postpartum support to mamas who are low-income, poverty stricken,  non-English speaking,  incarcerated, or single mamas who don't have much support.  My motto.....Everyone deserves a doula!

I have had many people ask me what a doula is.  So for those of you who don't know, here is a definition according to the DONA website....."A doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth."  Many studies have shown that when doulas are present in birth, labors have fewer complications, babies are healthier and will breastfed easier.  Helping mamas with pregnancy and birth seems to come natural to me and I am beyond ecstatic to follow my heart with this natural dream.



As we speak of dreams, today especially, but also every single day we need to remember one of our peacemakers, Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream.  As we remember, we need to realize why it is important we bring even more peace to this world.  It is important that we can reach out to our fellow humans no matter what color, sex, religion, race, sexual orientation or economic status.  I know there is a lot to be done in this world to achieve peace, which is why I practice compassion.  In order for us to make big strides, we must start small.  If everyone did little things to practice compassion...our world will slowly become a more peaceful place.  We can do it!

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  -Martin Luther King, Jr.  

On to our menu of the week.  I am wanting to learn how to cook more global and international foods, so this week I am trying out a couple African recipes.  I am going to dedicate a whole blog post to these recipes with pictures and my experience.  Stay tuned!

MENU:

MONDAY:  Dinner out with my family.  Salvador Molly's!  YUM!

TUESDAY:  Skillet Tuna Noodle Casserole

WEDNESDAY:  Mtuzi wa Samaki (white fish in coconut curry, from Kenya.) with Yemarina Yewotet Dabo (Ethiopian honey bread). 

THURSDAY:  Veggie Fajitas

FRIDAY:  Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

SATURDAY-  Spinach and Lemon Soup with Orzo

SUNDAY-  Leftovers and a big veggie salad

For more meal planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie every Monday.

Happy cooking and peacemaking,

Alyson

"Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us, all men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood, that we are bound together
in our desire to see the world become a place in which our children can grow free and strong."
-James Taylor- 'Shed a Little Light'

Imagine

I will be starting my Song of the Week back up soon but for this week...I am posting a song in remembrance and in hopefulness.

30 years ago today, John Lennon was shot to death in the name of hate and ignorance.  John Lennon was a beautiful human with a message of peace, hope, and truthfulness.  He touched this world with his music and beautiful words of peace.  I was born the same year John left this world, but I am glad that my parents played his music for me throughout my childhood.  Listening to his music as a child, helped me open my eyes to music and peace.  I will continue to dream of peace and do everything I can to spread peace.  Spend a few minutes today remembering him and refreshing your mind on why peace is important. 

Think peace.  Act peace.  Spread peace.  Imagine peace.






Peace, love, and understanding,
Alyson

"I see the world through different eyes now. (But) I still believe in love, peace, and understanding." -John Lennon