Anzac Day - Reflect and Bake

Up at 4.30am to go to the Anzac Day Ceremony at Cronulla - it wasn't hard to get up so early - initially I woke up at 3.30am and was looking forward to today.  I was so glad to pay tribute to the men and women who have served and serve our Country.  Walking to the Ceremony, I was upset, reflecting on my Nana's three Brothers, my Mum's Uncles, who were Prisoners of War, and when they got back from war they were never the same - I didn't know my Mum's Uncles - yet I am upset thinking about the impact on my Nana and Mum - the stories that my Mum has shared with me.

I loved some of the key words that the guest speakers said in their speeches - Honour, Admiration, Humility, Service, Light in Darkness, Community, Reflection, Hope, Courage.  It was raining, it was dark and we were surrounded by so many people with umbrellas - it was wonderful that there were so many people gathered this morning.  We could not see much - yet we heard the tributes, the words - we said 'Our Father' Prayer and sang the National Athem - I am proud to be Australian.

Once home, I enjoy watching the Anzac Day March on television - it is wonderful to just Respect and Reflect - wonderful men and women and loved ones of men and women who have passed.  And I love seeing the marching bands - I love that the youth and the schools are involved in the day.  This morning I hear my Man's stories, how he was in a marching band with school and played the trumpet - I imagine him being in the crowd - he is a good Man - I am blessed.  

I was planning on typing up some Coaching notes, yet I feel the kitchen calling me - I decide to bake!!!  One of my Goals has been to cook more vegetarian dishes and I have also been keen to bake healthy cookies, muffins and cakes.  Now that I have more time and I have created a home with my Man - I am motivated!!!  And this is one of my Projects where I am witnessing my Yin and Yang working together to create magic and bring my dreams to life.

My Yang energy looks up recipes on the net and my Yin reviews and explores, feels into the recipes to get a sense of what recipe is right - and then my Yin gets a sense of the right recipe, with a couple of minor changes that feel more right.  The main recipe I use is on a cooking Blog, straight away my Yin feels connected - http://www.mydiversekitchen.com/2009/02/anzac-biscuits.html - although I make a few changes - using half wholemeal flour, olive oil instead of butter, not using salt, and only using 1/2 cup brown sugar. 

My Yin loves the story that I find on this Blog - "ANZAC biscuits, originally known as Soldiers' biscuits, were made by the women back home to send nutritious food to their soldiers who were fighting in World War I. Made from the few ingredients available then, these slightly hard biscuits kept and shipped very well. It used to take about 2 months for the biscuits to reach the soldiers in those days!  Anzac biscuits also contain no eggs, unlike most biscuits/ cookies, as a large number of poultry farmers had joined the army and eggs were scarce."  And even though some recipes have eggs - my Yin wants them to be as authentic as possible.

So I blend and I make and bake my ANZAC biscuits - my Yang in action.  My Yin is so happy to enjoy  them with a nice pot of green tea with my Man, on my nice yellow tablecloth - sharing time and conversation - moments of Spread The Yellow.  Anzac biscuits are delicious!

And then I make a batch of love heart Anzac Biscuits - some for my Man, and tomorrow I hope to see some friends and Spread The Yellow by sharing my Cooking creations...

              

Whenever we have a recognised 'holiday' - I like to be conscious of why we have a day off work - or what this day is about - and I like to spend time in Reflection and Acknowledgement - this is important to me.  I like to Respect and Honour Traditions and I also like to Create my own rituals - Anzac Day - Reflect and Bake - a perfect day for me.


Now it's time to run a bath...

Inspired To Create

I am up at 7.15am and my Yang part of me, my doing part of me, wants to get outside and move - to go for a walk.  And yet my Yin part of me wants to meditate, to go within.  So I enjoy a Meditation, and it is a wonderful way to start my day - in my mind's eye I see visions of myself and my Man having open hearts - it is a beautiful visual - I also then enter into a peaceful state - hmm... I could stay in this place for longer...

At work I am mostly in my Yang - the thinking part of me - and I am committed to doing my best - the competitive, high achiever part of me, wanting to be the best I can be.  Of course my Yin, my feminine part of me, is happy when I chat and laugh with the ladies from work - I am starting to feel I belong to the community - feeling home in myself - that I can just be myself - it is a good feeling.  My Yin still loves the walk outside during my breaks - I love smelling Jasmine flowers and I love that my Yin noticed a beautiful small white balled flower - I'm not sure of the name - found it hard to find on Google - but I think this image is the beautiful flower I saw today during my afternoon walk.

I leave work and go straight to the fruit and vegetable shop.  Tomorrow we have a community feast at work, and I am excited and Inspired To Create.  Christie, a friend from College, has definitely Inspired me - in reading Christie's Blog (and watching the movie 'Julie and Julia') I was definitely Inspired to start my Blog - and Christie's Follow Your Bliss Blog http://christiefischer.blogspot.com/ has definitely Inspired me to cook more and experiment and Create.  SO A BIG THANKS TO CHRISTIE.

As part of my College work - I have decided that one of my Projects will be to get my Yin and Yang in their brilliance, working together, with a synergy of 1+ 1 = 11, in creating delicious, healthy meals.  My Yin part of me just wants to Create.  While my Yang wants to look at recipes and write lists.  And I don't want to write so many lists, or be too stuck on exact recipes, that the Yin part of me is excluded in the process.  I am happy that I take a cloth bag to the shop - very happy - sometimes I forget and I get to the checkout and I am disappointed in myself - yet today I fill my cloth bag with a wonderful array of coloured vegetables.  To include my Yang I put a couple of things on a list - yet my Yin loves the shopping and fills the bag based on being Inspired - the colours, the shapes, the vegetables that call me.  I get home and love all the vegetables I have bought - and I just stand back and witness the beauty - waiting for my Yin to Inspire the process - hmmm... what should I create... where should I get started - I hold the creative tension...

         

And then I am Inspired to get started - I cut up my zucchini and make zucchini rounds - Inspired To Create from Christie's recipe and tips.  I taste them - zucchini, rocket pesto (bought - brand Inspire), a small piece of fresh basil leaf, 1/4 cherry tomato.  These taste delicious - raw zucchini tastes delicious - I am used to eating zucchini cooked.  Thanks Christe for Inspiring me.  I then cut up a large bowl of raw vegetables - green beans, yellow capsicum, carrot, celery and red capsicum - to be served with homous (I buy the homous, I am not as good as Christie - but I love that it is Organic - and I love that the brand is Mum's Choice! Foods to make your belly dance!  Nice!!!!)

             

Then time to think about dinner.  I maximise the power of my Yin-Yang. My Yin feels inspired to make a dish with a lot of raw vegetables - so my Yang part follows Yin's instruction - chop up, very small in bite sizes - carrots, beans, red capsicum, yellow capsicum, celery, 2 whole tomatos.  My Yin requests that Yang boil vegetable stock and then gets the couscous ready.  My Yang can sometimes fall into the thinker, working out what to eat - yet I love when the Yin part of me shows me how to feel into my intuition, my 'gut' feel.  My Yang, looking for some direction and ideas, Googles couscous, lime, raw vegetables.  I have made a couscous dish before - yet I don't want to follow an exact recipe.  My Yin-Yang reviews a few recipes and then is Inspired To Create my own.  I combine some lime olive oil, juice from 1/2 an orange, juice from a lime (my Yin grabbed this at the fruit and vegetable shop - love limes!), a teaspoon of cumin, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon - and I shake them all together - and mix them in with the couscous.  With still half an orange left, my Yin inspires Yang to chop it up and throw it in with the other vegetables.  I then blend in the vegetables with the couscous and dressing.  It all looks great - so many colours - so many raw vegetables.  I get why Christie gets so excited and is Inspired To Create.  I love Creating and Cooking.  I divide up the mixture - vegetarian for me - and then add some Tuna for my Man.  I love home-made.  I love Vegetarian.

I just loved cooking and creating tonight... loved it... and while I am definitely Inspired by others (thank you Christie and also thank you to my other friends who are vegetarian - as well as lovely Souls who Spread The Yellow by sharing their recipes on the internet), I am also SO excited that I am learning to trust myself in the process - using my Yin and Yang so that I may SHINE...  watch this space... I am SO VERY Inspired To Create...

Joy Of Cooking

Now that I no longer work nights, and I am now making conscious choices, I am now rediscovering the Joy Of Cooking. 

While we had a wonderful holiday and it is lovely enjoying a night out at a restaurant and I also enjoy thai or vegetarian pizza takeaway, I definitely love home-cooked meals.  Home-cooked meals taste different - you can definitely taste the infusion of love.

I ventured to get groceries - it was packed at the shops - surprisingly, I happily, peacefully wandered around the store, collecting the ingredients for my recipe.  I always love testing and tasting a new recipe.  When I am not trying to rush through the store, I enjoy the process of shopping - especially love wandering around, selecting fruit and vegetables.  I was also rapt to find Appletiser - a sparkling 100% apple juice that I had tasted when we were on holidays.  Love Appletiser - it is healthy for when you feel like a fizzy drink - perfect for me.

One of my Goals is to cook more, try new recipes, increase my repertoire of Vegetarian recipes and make meals that can be shared in community (6-8).  So I come home, car full of groceries, impressed that I spent $72 and can create 5 recipes - a tofu stir-fry, pumpkin, leek and zucchini risotto, chickpea and couscous salad, a pasta dish and tonight's recipe of Moroccan Stew (vegetables and chickpeas).

I start with brown rice in the rice cooker - once this is organised - it is time to prepare all of the vegetables.  It is great to have the television turned off - one of my Norah Jones' cd plays in the background (which is relaxing and creates the right vibe) and I get busy chopping up onion, eggplant, pumpkin, sweet potato, tomatos.  I loved the opportunity to be in my own space in our kitchen - chopping, measuring spices, blending, stirring.

And best of all I loved the opportunity to serve the meal and Spread The Yellow by enjoying dinner with my Man.  I do really enjoy spending the time to create a meal to be enjoyed with someone special.  And it tasted delicious!! 

I will definitely make this dish again... plus we have leftovers that we have now frozen to make it easier during the week.  I am also feeling happy that the fridge and cupboards are full of fresh food and ingredients so that I can create more home-cooked meals this week.

It is good to be getting more organised at home.  This has been an adjustment, moving in together, combining all our kitchen wares - and now I can truly embrace the Joy Of Cooking.

Plus I love that I am setting Goals for myself and moving towards them - and that I am celebrating and honouring the small steps, the positive changes, the Wins along the way...