Happy Easter, Earthlings, Chocolate Berry Smoothie, Granola, vegetarian lions and another Nye poem, things to think about

Happy Easter!

My mom sent me this pic. : )

I was thinking about how animals are so related to Easter.. the bunny, chicks, eggs..
and about Earthlings – the movie we have been trying to show @ work & which twice was postponed. It will be shown there soon.

It is also online:
http://veg-tv.info/Earthlings

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.

I was listening to Moby earlier this morning while painting.. Play.. very loud.. it’s really good get-out-of-yourself music. : )

With an in-depth study into pet stores, puppy mills and animals shelters, as well as factory farms, the leather and fur trades, sports and entertainment industries, and finally the medical and scientific profession, EARTHLINGS uses hidden cameras and never before seen footage to chronicle the day-to-day practices of some of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit. Powerful, informative and thought-provoking, EARTHLINGS is by far the most comprehensive documentary ever produced on the correlation between nature, animals, and human economic interests. There are many worthy animal rights films available, but this one transcends the setting. EARTHLINGS cries to be seen. Highly recommended!

I was going to just come here & post a granola recipe & my chocolate berry smoothie that I had for breakfast. Mmm.. chocolate

ok,ok.. before I go & get heavy again

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

1 heaping T almond butter
2 c water
2 bananas
lots of berries (I used org blueberries & strawberries)
handful goji berries
1t maca powder
lots of raw chcolate (I used a few squares of Chocosols chocolate – any flavor is good

Buckwheat Granola

2 c buckwheat – sprouted 24 hours
2 c almonds – soaked 12 hours
1 c walnuts - soaked
1 c pumpkin seeds - soaked
1 c sunflower seeds – soaked
1 c dried cranberries
1 c raisins
2 c org strawberries
1 orange – peeled

these things were all chopped up in a food processor & mixed with a liquidy syrup-paste made from blending together:

1 apple
2 c date paste
½ c maple syrup
1 T vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 T salt

these are all really approximate amounts. When it is all mixed well together spread out on Teflex and dehydrate for approx 24 hours, flipping onto a mesh screen ½ way through drying.

I want to post one more thing – while on the animal topic – something Mom shared with me, a revelation she had around Christmas at a reading in church. It was from Isaiah 11: 1-9 . The reading was showing what the peace of Christ will bring.

Starting from 6: ‘The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ..’

Interesting.. it is saying that eventually even the lions will be vegetarian!
Cool!

Another Nye poem:

Making a Fist
by Naomi Shihab Nye

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,

I felt the life sliding out of me,

a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.

I was seven, I lay in the car

watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.

My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

"How do you know if you are going to die?"

I begged my mother.

We had been traveling for days.

With strange confidence she answered,

"When you can no longer make a fist."

Years later I smile to think of that journey,

the borders we must cross separately,

stamped with our unanswerable woes.

I who did not die, who am still living,

still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,

clenching and opening one small hand.

Power smoothie, Slow movement, White Easter, celebrations and 50$ day

My green smoothie has grown up!

A basic green smoothie may go something like this:
40% spinach and sunflower sprouts &
60% banana, pineapple, mango, pear

& that would be delicious.

But my super powerhouse green smoothie (inspired by a video I posted yesterday) goes something like this:
40% spinach and sunflower sprouts &
60% banana, pineapple, mango, pear
then add:
a handful of goji berries
1-2T flax seeds
1T black sesame seeds
1T powdered maca
1 cap (opened & poured out into blender) Host Defense, mycomedicinals – a blend of 17 mushrooms
3 caps of herbs:
1- Fo-Ti
2- Ginkgo biloba, Ginseng, Schizandra, Ginger, Rosemary, Peppermint and Yerba mate
3- Dandelion, Sarsaparilla, Burdock, Licorice, Yellow dock, Kelp, Cayenne, Echinacea, Plantain


I was thinking about something that I have been talking about with a few people lately. We were talking about Slow Food. I bought a book about 2 years ago, which I haven’t read yet, even though I like the concept of it, it’s called ‘In Praise of Slow’ A Canadian journalist, Carl Honore, wrote it & incidentally I discovered it was edited by my neighbour.. only after I had bought it. cool.

Honoré shows the benefits of slowness, with chapters related to food, transportation, meditation- exercise, medicine, sex, work, and parenting. It’s become a cult movement challenging the fast paced society we live in, and creating a more comfortable, sustainable life where we are more connected to each other and the land.

What I find, what we were talking about, is that the faster you go the more you don’t have time to do all the things you want to do., the more you do, the more it seems you need to do. .. it works this way on a material level also. Have you ever noticed that the more you have the more you need. When you get rid of things it almost seems like you have more. I’ve had times when I have gotten into zen-mode and seriously cleaned up, tossing lots of stuff.. You end up keeping all the good stuff and appreciate it more. You notice these things more without all the less meaningful things surrounding them. Slow can be directly related to this.. you appreciate the things you are doing. You are more mindful.. the most important things still get done.. and in a more conscious way.


Its snowing out – my brother told me there is a saying something like: If you have a green Christmas You’ll get a white Easter.

I like these sayings. I also like the idea if having a celebration every day. One day I am going to get a calendar and find something to celebrate every day. & not just Valentines and Christmas kind of days. I remember a few great days I have posted in the past, like:

Aug 8 - Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors' Porch Day &
July 25 – Give love and thanks to Water day. (from http://www.thank-water.net/english/index.htm )

any further submissions-ideas are welcome (comment or e-mail me: robin@rawketscience.com)

My husband & I were talking about 50$ day last night. We haven’t celebrated it in awhile. We made up this holiday about 18 years ago.. it was just before we were married, before Dylan was born. How it started was one night I went to the store and then discovered I had lost 50$. I was sad & felt bad about it. Then Jim suggested we should make a holiday out of it instead and every year on that day we go out and spend 50$. It’s as if we lost it but we use it to buy ourselves a present. and we did that for a few years.. it’s a great celebration. (not that I really need a day to spend 50$) ..but it’s a good excuse to do so. We had in the meantime forgotten the date and last night the day has been set:

July 5th is now officially 50$ day!

We have shiatsu treatments booked for this afternoon at 2:30. Yay! : )

Have a powerful, supremely conscious, celebratory, relaxing and very good Friday!

pic from http://criss.site.voila.fr/