Daily Rituals

What does your typical day look like?
Do your daily routines reflect what you claim to value, what you believe?
Do you live your faith intentionally each day?

These were some thought provoking questions offered by Sister Platt at a fantastic class that I attended while at Education Week.  This instructor had a personal list of twenty rituals that were important enough to her that she tried to fit them into each day.  These rituals were really just "good habits" that she had initiated to help her stay focused on her values.  They helped her to live intentionally.  As I've thought about this class and tried to glean from her ideas, I realize that we all have "habits" that we engage in each day, some good, some maybe, not so good.  But most of us are creatures of habit and if we think about it, we would realize that there are some things that we do day after day.  And it's the things we do day in and day out that add up to who we are.  If our habits are congruent with our beliefs, then we experience greater peace and clarity in our lives.  When our habits don't line up with what we know to be true, then we struggle with frustration, stress and guilt.

Since my year of fifty, when I set all those goals and worked steadily to achieve them, I find that I am happiest when I am living intentionally.  I once heard someone ask, "What is it that gets you out of the bed in the mornings?  Is it an alarm or a mission?" I like being excited about a mission for the day.   I know that I'm not completely in control of my life, who is?  But waking up each day with some kind of plan on how to spend my time, helps me to feel like I have a little control.  Slowly and surely, I can accomplish the things that are most important to me if I've had the forethought to prepare and plan a time to make them happen.  The trick to all this is learning to be flexible and not being chained to your agenda.  I'm certain there are days when the Lord's plan looks different from mine and I want to be able to switch gears as needed.  As I pray about my plans in the morning and seek his will for my day, I hope I can respond to promptings that would help me to be an instrument in his hands.  It's a lofty goal to be sure, but it's what's expected of disciples of Christ.

As I sat in this class and heard Sister Platt share her daily rituals, I realized that I had some  myself.  I hadn't called them by that name, but they were things I did each day that helped keep me on the right track.  And many of them were symbolic of deep commitments that I've made to live out my faith each day.  As I've formulated and put on paper my Daily Rituals, I've kept my list to ten things I consider important enough to deserve my attention and effort.  Being a list lover, I could have kept going and thought of more, but ten's a good number.   Here's my Daily Rituals with a brief explanation as to why they made the list.

*Stretch and pray.  As I roll out of the bed each morning, I have a little stretching routine that I do to wake things up (and to get the blood flowing so some parts hurt a little less ).   One thing I've learned as I've aged is how to make the most of my movements.  I never gave a thought to all the bending I did when I was 30, but let me tell you, I notice those things now and I try to protect my back as much as possible.  So since I'm already down on the floor, I kneel and say my morning prayers.  

*Quiet time for reading scriptures, studying and journaling.  This is the most precious part of my day and I feel out of rhythm when it doesn't happen.  It's my belief that if I want to put God first in my life, then I show him that by putting him first in my day.  This discipline has varied over the years.  When I had children at home and had to get everyone ready for school, this time was abbreviated, but I still tried to make it happen.  Now I allow myself an hour and there are days when I yearn for even more.  I've learned that nothing can take the place of spending time in God's presence.  As Elizabeth George (a Christian author) states in her book , A Woman After God's Own Heart, "time spent sitting at His feet fuels and focuses all acts of service.  We want our strength in public to be explained by what goes on in private between us and God.  I call this time with God the 'great exchange'.  Away from the world and hidden from public view, I exchange my weariness for his strength, my weakness for His power, my darkness for His light, my problems for His solutions, my burdens for His freedom, my frustrations for His peace, my turmoil for His calm, my hope for His promises, my afflictions for His balm of comfort, my questions for His answers..."  Isn't that beautiful?  That's exactly how I feel and  this ritual protects me from becoming so busy doing things for the Lord that I fail to spend time with the Lord.  I've been there before and I don't want to go back.  It leaves you dried up and burned out.

*Exercise.   I try to exercise some each day.   For me it's a health issue.  As a diabetic it's as important as taking my medication and I try not to allow myself time to think about not doing it.  Which means I am more successful if I do it in the morning, because you wouldn't believe all the excuses I can come up with as the day moves on.  

*Be outdoors.  It's good for my spirit to be outdoors each day and breathe in fresh air.  I'm a bit of a homebody and could be content piddling away at things inside.  This ritual gives me a break and usually goes nicely with my exercise goal as I walk on my mountain road.  

*Make bed, wash dishes, sweep floors and tidy.   These are my daily housekeeping chores and no matter what kind of day I have, I try to see that this much is done around the house.  Sometimes I have weeks when this is all that gets done, but on the surface there's order and that's as good as it gets.

*Drink water and cook dinner.  Have you tried a Hydro flask water bottle? They are amazing.  Fill it with cold water and it stays cold.  I mean like straight out of the refrigerator cold!   I keep them filled up and drink all day.  I try to cook dinner almost every night, because it's less expensive than eating out and theoretically it's healthier.  Unless your making Fettucine Alfredo with cream and lots of cheese!  But I don't make rich food like that every night, in fact we eat meatless two or three nights a week and try to eat local, even" grown by me" food, when possible.  I value a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and unprocessed foods.  I like to know what's in my food and where it came from.  Eating in restaurants limits your ability to have that connection with your dinner.  Now don't get me wrong, we eat out sometimes.  Just today I had a Chick-fil-a sandwich and waffle fries!!!  So I'm not a purist by any means.  

* Say my covenants.   As I get dressed in the mornings and when I say my morning prayers I remind myself of my baptismal and temple covenants.  I do this for the obvious reason that I'm serious about my faith and when I start the day reminding myself of the promises I've made it helps to guide my conversations and actions.  It helps me to keep my focus on Christ.   The day will get busy and I'll get distracted and may not always remember Him as I would like to, but at least I've started off in the right direction.

* Pray with my husband.  I don't like it when we're running behind in the mornings and Mark leaves for work without saying prayers with me.  That doesn't happen too often, but when it does I feel distanced from him throughout the day.  We both need the protection that comes from petitioning Heavenly Father before we head out in the "world".   Our marriage needs the protection.

* Read and write.  I try to write something each day-like blogging, journaling, thoughts on things I'm studying or reading, letters, etc.  I'm not a great writer, but I'm hoping to improve with practice.  Reading doesn't even take effort, it just happens.  I can't not read.  It's my obsession.  This year I'm reading children's classics and I've joined a Great Books Discussion Group at the local college.  I'm loving both of these pursuits.  So many books, so little time.  Reading and writing helps me learn something new each day.

* Try to be present and search for beauty.  "Wherever you are, be all there."  This takes work for type A's who can multi task like no other.  But I understand the value in being fully present with people and with activities.  I'm trying.  I'm also on a quest to find beauty in the every day, simple things in life.  This is also taking some retraining, but having my gratitude journal open on my desk is a reminder to look for blessings and beauty.  

"Blessed are they who see the beautiful things

in humble places where other people see nothing."

Camille Pissarro

These are my daily rituals and when I at least, attempt to do them, life is better.  How about you?  What are the things that you do each day that keep you centered?   

It's Pizza Night!

Do you have pizza night at your house?  We do and it's usually on Fridays.  I've learned to make good pizza dough and sauce, and we're happy with just about any combination of toppings.  I shared one of my favorite meatless meals, a margarita pizza here, along with a recipe for a basic sauce and dough.  When I was in Utah, I had pizza with Jeannee and picked up her recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza.  Man, oh man, is it good!!  She makes her pizza dough with a mixture of cooked grains added into the flour and I loved the texture and taste.  I came right home and tried it myself and was pleased with the way it turned out.  The pictures below were taken in Jeannee's kitchen.  While watching her make pizza, I picked up some good tips and a wish list for a few things that might make my pizza a little better.  I hope to get a pizza peel and baking stone, along with those cool parchment paper sheets that she used. Parchment paper that doesn't roll up while you're trying to use it is a brilliant idea!

Here's her recipe for pizza dough which she mixes in her Bosch bread machine.  You could mix it by hand if you didn't have a machine.  She cooks the grains in a crock pot for a few hours (cover grains with a couple inches of water), until they are tender, cooking a good amount and freezing what she doesn't use.  Then it's easy to pull the grains out of the freezer, defrost and add to your dough whenever you're ready to make pizza or hamburger buns.  What?  I didn't tell you she makes her own hamburger buns too?  Yep.  They're amazing!  That's the next baking project I'm going to undertake.

Pizza Dough

In a bread mixer:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 T. honey or sugar

1/2 T. dough enhancer (optional)

3/4 cup cooked cracked grains (any combination of kamut, oat groats,

wheat, whole millet, quinoa, etc.)

1 1/2 cup flour

1 T. yeast

Mix well.  It will be a little runny. 

 Let it sit and sponge for 10-15 minutes and then pulse to release air.

Add:

2 T. olive oil

1 cup flour

On top of flour add: 1 t. salt

Mix and knead.  Add flour a little at a time while mixer is kneading

until the dough pulls away and cleans the sides and bottom of mixing bowl.

Knead for 10-15 minutes.  Form into a ball.  Oil top of ball if you want and

let it relax for 5-10 minutes.  Place on a piece of parchment paper and roll

to desired size and thickness.  Let it rise a bit, then put toppings on.  

Bake pizza at 450- 500 degrees on oven stone for about 10 minutes.

While the dough is resting, she prepared the toppings.  She grilled a chicken breast and then diced it into pieces.  Planning ahead, you could cook extra chicken earlier in the week and save it for a pizza topping.  Using her favorite bottled BBQ sauce, she coated the chicken pieces and then thinned the sauce with pineapple juice until it was a nice consistency for spreading.

Next, she added sliced onions,

 pineapple chunks

and mozzerella cheese, with some dried herbs on top.

See how she assembled the pizza on the pizza peel.  Then it was ready to slide right onto the baking stone in a really hot oven.

The kitchen began to smell insanely delicious and in fifteen minutes we were ready to eat.  Oh. My. Gosh!  I'm telling you, this pizza rocked!  When I made this at home, the only change I made was to add some red pepper that I had in the fridge that needed to be used.  It's a winner, folks. Try it for yourself.  I think you'll love it and it beats" take out" pizza hands down.  Learning to make your own pizza is a good skill to acquire, as it can save a lot of money and you have total quality control.  Making pizza isn't just cooking dinner, it's an event, that's great fun with friends and family.  

A Special Sabbath Day (and Family Night too)

I can't believe it's been a month since my trip to Utah.  Once the vacation's over, life gets busy again and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to spend on the blog.  But before any more time passes, I have to tell you about my last few days in Salt Lake and the special people I visited while I was there.   If you followed my blog when I was in my year of fifty, you know that one of the most memorable things I did that year was travel  to the Holy Land.  That trip was life changing for many reasons, but one of the best things about it was meeting all the wonderful people who travelled with me.  I introduced some of them to you here.  The Sager family said they were "adopting" the  sisters from the south (that would be me and Sherri) and that was fine with us, 'cause we loved them too!  While I was at Education Week, I stayed with Jeannee and had a great time.  Over the weekend, I spent time with the rest of the Sagers who lived in Utah.  Richard and Lois (dad and mom) invited me to spend the sabbath with them.

We went to church and Lois even talked me into singing in the choir with her.  I sat by her side, tried to follow her alto lead and make some kind of a joyful noise.  I'm doubtful I contributed much to the choir, but it made me feel happy anyway!  After church we had a wonderful lunch.  I'm not sure how she quite pulled it off, considering she had just returned from a week long vacation, late the night before.  I know I would have been too exhausted.  But not Lois.  I think she might be happiest when she's in her kitchen, serving her family and friends.

Some people are graced with the gift of hospitality and the Sagers are definitely that kind of people. They remind me of another couple who had a great influence on our lives when we were younger.  We were living in Vermont, had our first little baby and were away from family for the first time, completely on our own.  Except we weren't really on our own, because we had a church family that took us under their wings and helped take care of us.  The Farnsworth's were good to us and had that same gift of hospitality.  I will always remember when we went back years later for a visit, we showed up at church unannounced and they were so happy to see us.  They invited us home for lunch, so we could spend more time together.  With no preplanning, she welcomed us into her home and prepared a simple and delicious meal.  Her focus was not on the food.  Her focus was on us and making us feel comfortable and welcome. I don't remember what we ate, but I do remember feeling loved.  It was a powerful lesson to me of christlike hospitality.   I had that same feeling when I was in the Sager home.  As family members surrounded the table, we talked, laughed, ate and had a wonderful time.

I also had the chance to partake of a Sager tradition of eating "cake in milk".   This is something I've never heard of before but according to this family, it is the best way to eat cake.  Richard asked me if I would try it and I said, "sure".  I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to food and I love family food traditions.  Jeannee had made a beautiful carrot cake and she and her mom served everyone a piece in a cup with milk.

Okay.  I can't say I loved it.  I can't say I even liked it.  Well to be totally honest, I thought it was pretty awful.  The Sagers said chocolate cake is the very best, but they liked carrot cake in milk too.  I think you have to inherit the "cake in milk" gene, because those who have married into the family eat their cake and drink their milk separately.   Sorry Richard, but I just can't eat "cake in milk" with you.  Can you still love me anyway?

As the afternoon wore on, family members kept coming.  It was so good to see Debi and Andy and meet their children.  Aren't they a cute family?

  We played cards

and I had the grand tour of Richard's baseball room (I should have taken a picture of that!)  and got to see all his Nauvoo artifacts.  President Sager served with his wife as the first mission president of the Nauvoo Illinois mission in 2001.  The Nauvoo temple was being rebuilt during this time and he has stones from the original temple in his back yard,

along with one of the shovels and other tools that were used during groundbreaking and construction of the new temple.  I loved this time with Richard as he shared about his mission and his experiences as mission president.  

On Monday, Richard and Lois invited me to go to a baseball game with them.  That was fun too!  Have you ever seen such a picturesque ball field?  As the sun began to go down, the mountains turned all shades of pink and purple.  It was beautiful.

We're not a big baseball family at my house, but I enjoyed the game,

and the food, (hotdogs and baseball totally go together, don't they?)

and most of all - the company.  I sure do love those Sagers!  It was a wonderful visit.  I'm hoping they will come to NC sometime soon, so I can practice a little southern hospitality on them.

Adventures in Hiking and Eating

Warning: This is going to be like a slide show of someone else's vacation pictures.   I'm one of those people who actually enjoy looking at other people's pictures, complete with narrative (ok, maybe not a thousand of them), but I do enjoy it.  If you're not- well you might want to skip my next couple of posts.

After days of sitting at Education Week, it was time to put on my hiking shoes and head outdoors.  I absolutely love hiking in Utah.  The sky is big and blue and I've yet to be rained on.  That is so nice, because here at home, I have to carry a rain poncho with me every time I hit the trail and I've had to use it often.  When I forget, well, I almost always get wet and if it's not from rain, it's from the humidity. Utah is dry and I enjoy that.

I was able to take two hikes over the weekend and I loved them both.  The first was extra special 'cause I met up with a sweet friend who lives in the area and we spent the day together.  It was Whitney's idea to hike in the American Fork Canyon to the Mt. Timpanogos Caves.  

The tours through the cave were guided and required a ticket.  We had our tickets, but were running a little behind so we had to hike fast to get to the top in order to make it in at our designated time slot.  The trail was great, but steep, and we climbed 1,092 feet in 45 minutes!   I was darn proud of myself that I could keep up with that Whitney girl.  She's a lot younger than me!

Even though we were moving right along, I did notice some interesting signs along the way.

Yikes!

 The smoke from wildfires that were burning not too far away, limited our long range views, but I still thought it was breathtakingly beautiful.

I carried a light jacket to wear in the caves, because it was supposed to be cool, but after that sprint up the mountain, the cave felt great to me!  We went through three different caves and there were places you had to crouch and bend, but mostly it was a fairly level route.  The ceilings, walls and floors are covered with stalactites, stalagmites and other interesting formations.

The calcite formations below are called helictites and are one of the hallmark features of this cave.  They twist and turn in all directions and are very delicate and fragile.  

This is called the Great Heart of Timpanogos in Timpanogos Cave and is 5 1/2 feet long and 3 feet wide,

weighing 4000 pounds.  It's made up of at least three tremendous stalactites that have grown together.

Besides the excitement of being in a really neat place, we had an incident where a little girl fell below the guard rails, down into the cave formations.  That was one of the scariest things I've seen in a long time.   Her dad dropped his camera beside me on the ground, and scrambled down after her.  Physically she was fine, emotionally I'm not so sure.  She screamed non stop until her parents could get her out of the cave.  I felt sorry for her and her mom and dad, but can you imagine the family stories that will come from that experience?

We had a great morning and after all that exercise we went straight to Cafe Rio and had lunch.  If you've never eaten at a Cafe Rio, well, I 'm sure I can't possibly describe it's awesomeness in a way that you could really understand how delicious it is, but just know it's sooooo good, I'd been thinking about eating there since I got on the plane.  And it did not disappoint.  Sorry I have no food pictures to tempt you with.  All I was thinking about was eating!  If you ever get the chance to eat there, Pork Barbacoa salad is all you need to know.  And go hungry.  Thanks Whit, for a great time.  I sure do love you!

Hike number two took me into Provo Canyon, past this beautiful river

and Bridal Veil Falls.

I was headed for Sundance, because it's one of my most favorite places ever! 

Whenever I come to Education Week, I plan time to come and do this hike.  The ride up the ski lift to the top of the mountain gives you a hint of what you will see as you hike back down.

 And this is what you see...

Love, love, love!

until you end up here.

Thirty minutes later, you're back at the resort and ready to have lunch at the Foundry Grill, which is, oh so good.  This time I did think to take a picture of my lunch.  Fish tacos with sweet potato fries.  So very yummy in my tummy! 

Utah, I love hiking your mountains and eating your food!

Warm Green Bean Salad

This has been the year for green beans on our farm.  I planted five short rows and they have been giving non stop. 

I love it!! 

I've canned countless quarts and made bean salad.  We've eaten a "mess" of beans almost every week all summer long. You know what that is right?  A big pot of beans cooked with a little piece of bacon for seasoning or maybe just a little olive oil.  You can't really go wrong with that.   But one of our favorite dishes using fresh beans and cherry tomatoes is a warm green bean salad.  I've been making it so long, I can't even remember where I got the recipe.  So unfortunately  I can't give credit where credit's due.  All I know is, we sure love it. 

 I like to use very small and tender beans for this dish.  I string the beans and just trim the ends.  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

This recipe calls for pancetta, which is an Italian bacon.  You can buy it at the deli and recently I've seen it packaged in some grocery stores.  A good thick sliced bacon can be substituted, but honestly, I think it's best with the pancetta.  Pancetta is not cheap, so I watch for it to go on sale and then I buy a couple of pounds, putting a few slices in a package, vacuum sealing it and keeping it in the freezer until I need it.  It freezes beautifully (as does bacon).   I have a number of recipes that call for pancetta - brussels sprouts with a balsamic glaze and a butternut squash soup, come instantly to mind.  I'm always happy when I get ready to make one of these if I have some pancetta that I can pull out of the freezer, instead of using my bacon.

Chop the bacon or pancetta into small pieces and cook in frying pan until crisp. Watch closely so they don't get too brown.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.

Boil the green beans in salted water until just tender.  Don't overcook.  The beans should still have a little snap to them, but not too much crunch.  This is not your southern style, "cook'em till their mushy", bean dish.  Drain in colander and dry the beans off on a paper towel.  You don't want them to have water on them, because it will dilute the dressing.

With a few tablespoons of the rendered fat from the bacon, you will make a nice warm dressing with a little olive oil, sherry vinegar and honey, which you pour over the beans and tomatoes.  Gently mix.

Grate fresh parmesan cheese over the top and add the crumbled pancetta.  Enjoy it right away while it's still warm.

We had this salad a couple of days ago with grilled chicken and whipped sweet potatoes(also from the garden!) and it was a delicious meal. I'm going to miss those fresh beans and  tomatoes, because they are almost gone now.  But yesterday I planted some fall vegetables in my raised beds- broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, beets and lettuce, so in another month or so, we'll be having different kinds of salads.  

Warm Green Bean Salad

cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed

1/4 lb. chopped pancetta or a few slices of bacon

2 1/2 T. sherry vinegar

1/2 T. honey

3 T. olive oil

grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Slice tomatoes in half and clean and trim beans. 

 In small bowl, mix vinegar and honey. 

  Cook pancetta in pan. Drain on paper towels.  

Discard most of the fat from pan, leaving a couple of tablespoons.  

Add olive oil to pan.  Set aside.

  Cook beans in boiling water until barely tender. 

Drain beans and pat dry on a paper towel. 

 Put the beans in a bowl with the tomatoes. 

 Return pan with oil to medium heat.  

When oil is warm, whisk in the vinegar-honey mixture and turn the heat to high. 

 Whisk until mixture boils and emulsifies.

  Pour over hot vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 Add pancetta and top with cheese.  Toss gently.