We are in charge of our own universe.  We are residents in our minds.  We invite others into our mind but we LIVE there.  We are responsible for our own thoughts.

Think about not what is IN the universe but what IS the universe?  There are planets and solar systems and clouds IN the universe.  The universe IS spaciousness, with no limits and no time.  It is a state of mind.  When we remember, we re-member and unify again.  This universal space also represents potential.  Empty the space through forgiveness and you have new potential, a blank canvas.  There is no more space to paint on a painted picture.  I am the empty canvas when I am freed of all grievances.

Everything is connected.

“We have not realized what damage we are doing to our own minds by holding grievances. This is why the Course teaches that forgiveness is not something we do for the sake of others; we do it for our own well-being.” – The Circle of Atonement describing The Course in MiraclesBacked up by rocks and sprouting strongly upward amid fallen dead pine needles these daffodils/jonquils smile fiercely and boldly knowing their time is short but well worth the effort.

   With gratitude and awe, I take snippets of nature into my camera lens and click.

After making hubby (poor baby has a cold) homemade meatballs in Italian tomato sauce yesterday for a duo of mozzarella covered heroes, I used the leftover sauce and meatballs, serving it over spaghetti with garlic bread as a side.  I decided I would love a quick Sunday  Italian feast as well and proceeded to make it vegan.

At Trader Jo’s I bought Organic Polenta sold in a round, sausage like tube.  Always buy corn or corn products organic because this starch is highly gmo’d and sprayed.  Everything but the bread was organic.  Try to purchase your tomato products in glass or vacuum packed cartons.  The cans leach BPA chemicals unless you purchase cans free of this purposely so check your label.

For this one person meal you will need:

non-stick pan or foil

200 grams or 7 ounces of Polenta Tube cut into 1/4″ rounds.  Approximately 6-7 circles

olive oil spray

garlic powder

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup veggie broth

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

salt and sugar to taste

1-2 Tbsp. vegan parmesan (use 1/2 cup nutritional yeast plus 2 Tbsp. raw walnuts and whir in a blender or bullet)

For Salad:

one bag of Romaine lettuce

2 Tbsp. Bitchin Sauce found at Mother’s Market or online

5 tsps. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 500 and spray olive oil onto pan or foil.  Place thin rounds of polenta on pan and spray tops lightly then dust (just barely) with garlic powder.  Place in oven and bake for 5 –  10 minutes, then turn over and bake another 5- 10 minutes.  Ovens vary so much and have such idiosyncrasic personalities that they are all different and you have to know yours well so timing is crucial according to yours.  Don’t always go by a recipe. Check and then re-check.

Meanwhile, heat a bottom heavy or non-stick saucepan with broth over medium heat and add onions.  Stir and cover till onions are translucent.  Using the red onions gives the sauce a sweeter flavor but you can always substitute regular brown or yellow onions as long as you keep it organic.  Add paste, sauce, oregano and salt (or veggie Better Than Boullion paste).  Stir and lower heat to a simmer.  Taste for sugar content and add 1/4 tsp to as much as 2 tsps. according to the acid index of your tomatoes and savoriness acquired by cooking down the sauce – it must taste balanced to you.

For salad:

Place Romaine or any lettuce of choice in a medium bowl.  Whisk Bitchin Sauce with lemon juice and toss to coat.  It will taste like a Caesar Salad.

Remove rounds (they should be crispy on the outside or just about) from oven and place on plate in a decorative manner.  Spoon sauce over rounds and sprinkle vegan parm over sauce.  Serve with salad and a heated up roll.Happy Sunday!

I like me and embrace me today with all my character and physical flaws.  I work on improving both and then let it go.

For too long, people walk through self-doubt and listen to people willing to support that self-doubt.

As a woman approaching her mid-fifties, I am finally realizing I can resurrect the true me without shame, guilt or a false sense of responsibility.

Be who you are and say what you feel

Because those who mind don’t matter

And those who matter don’t mind.

Dr. Seuss

Mean what you say, say what you mean and don’t say it meanly. Don’t use ‘honesty’  or the ‘truth’ to get your way, gouge someone’s heart out or to manipulate.  If growing up, you observed that other’s approval or happiness was more important than your own, then know – this well can never be filled by an outside source.  It’s an inside job.

Role models for rigorous, emotional honesty are not always exemplary or even existent.  Information is used as power and withheld to make you feel less than or not important.

I am inherently honest, I don’t have a devious bone in my body and I am not a cynic.  I crave truth and authenticity, in myself and others.  I trust me.  I embrace me.  It is my problem if I am not in acceptance of a person, place or situation.  I get to be who I am.  Go out there today and be who you are and just keep your side of the street clean.  Let’s rock!

On March 12, I felt it was good to review a list of 12 ways to recognize if you are on a spiritual path that I found on the internet called The 12 Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening: 

1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Frequent attacks of smiling.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7. A loss of ability to worry.
8. A loss of interest in conflict.
9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10. A loss of interest in judging others.
11. A loss of interest in judging self.
12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.

I seem to have much to work on but this is a great measuring stick of my spiritual fitness.  Some of these traits are seldom in my repertoire of behavior or thought system and some are second nature now.  It is progress.  I need to remember it is a process.

What can you relate to and/or need to work on?

Sometimes it takes someone else’s drama to make you realize how good your life is.

Some days, I feel useful and sometimes, I feel used.

It’s my choices and my priorities that give my day meaning.  Therefore, at the end of the day, I think about what I learned today.  I am doomed to repeat what I fail to remember so it is a smart thing for me to write it down and allow my lesson to be fully swallowed and digested.

It is a relief to know I am loved and it is a blessing to be grateful.  For when I forget these things, I have no room for compassion or forgiveness.

I thank my lucky stars every day and sometimes several times a day for I am living a life beyond my wildest dreams because I am free.

Loving Detachment is just another word for Class and Dignity.

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give happiness when they speak or act. Happiness follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.

-Buddha

Good quote to contemplate but even better to live it.

Dogs…do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value they have to bequeath except their love and their faith.

Eugene O’Neill, from his Dalmatian, Blemie’s, last will and testamentMy friend J the dog rescuer’s dogs:  From left to right – Beau (a huge, lovable Old English Mastiff ), Lilah ( a gorgeous Corso/Italiano or Italian Mastiff whom she rescued recently ) and Rocky ( a Boxer ).  The picture of these completely pampered and well loved dogs was used with permission from their owner.

Do these calm, leisurely companion animals look like they have anything pressing on their agenda?  Granted, they are kept well with no responsibilities except to delight and are comfortably secure because they are in the great hands of a wonderful owner.  Don’t they look like they get along too?  My response to witnessing pure bliss and contentment is a smile and a happy feeling.

I have officially become a dog lover.  In fact, I am infused with LOVE for all sentient beings.

Cutie Night Light (a Tuxedo cat)

Want to invite a non vegan over for a quick lunch that takes about 20 minutes to prep?

Give them some fresh organic greens in a salad bowl and serve additions separately so they can customize.  Use whatever you have already prepared, chop up some produce (even fruit), open a can of beans or a jar of artichokes, whip up a fresh vegan salad dressing and you are in business.

We had mixed baby spring greens (my favorite) as our foundation.  From the far left bottom around clockwise: chopped Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts with a quick toss in a pan with garlic and onions, chopped cilantro, diced avocado, avocado dressing (1/4 avocado whipped up with lemon juice and salt- no oil), raw pistachios, chopped celery, chopped red cabbage, Parma brand vegan parmesan (garlicky green) and a vegan potato salad made with chopped peppers, capers, vegan mayo and white sweet potatoes.

You could add a soup or homemade bread and you are ready for a lunch date.

Usually, we just toss all this into a bowl but placing the ingredients into various small bowls and plates makes it more inviting for guests or a loved one.

Easy Dinner for one vegan – Cauliflower with ‘Cheez” sauce and Grilled Seitan

Using a non-stick wide heavy pan, I ‘sautéed’ @ 1/4 cup of diced onions in @ 1/2 cup veggie broth and after about one minute, added chopped cauliflower (one whole small head) and another 1/2 cup of broth.

I covered the pan and allowed it to steam, stirring and checking, adding broth as needed to keep it from sticking.

Meanwhile, I used a food processor but you could also use a blender to whir the meat of 4-5 roasted garlic cloves (always a good thing to have on hand in a glass reusable jar in the fridge), 3/4 cup of raw cashews, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp. (I used pink Himalayan) salt and 4 Tbsp. nutritional yeast ( I was up in the mountains and only had Brewer’s yeast but that worked).

Once blended, add as much water as you desire to make it more or less thick – anywhere from another 1/4 cup and as much as 1 more cup.

When the cauliflower was tender (prick the largest piece with a fork), I added half the sauce and stirred and heated it through. I used a grinder to sprinkle fresh pepper over my entire portion. I saved the other half of the sauce in the fridge for a future dish that may call for a creamy, cheesy taste with no dairy.

You may think that cashews are rich in fat but actually this recipe calls for no butter, no cream, no flour, no milk and especially -no cheese – so you are actually consuming ‘good’ fats found in nuts, in a sensible, non-harming way.

The seitan was prepared and purchased from Mother’s Market.  I just had to heat it up and add a few drops of lemon and a dash of salt.  With over 32 grams of protein, 225 calories and only 2.5 grams of fat, this portion more than satisfied.  Knowing no animals were harmed was just a bonus to this easy, one pot, 20-30 minute meal.