Lentils with Cabbage

Here is the real recipe.

And here is my cheap man's version:

1-1/4 cups green lentils
5 cups water
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 onion, peeled and cut into fine slices
3 cups organic cabbage, finely shredded
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ginger

1.)  In a stock pot, add lentils and water and bring to a boil. Cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar, turn heat down to low, and simmer gently for 75 minutes.

2.)  Add sea salt, the tomato, cumin, turmeric, garlic and ginger to the pot.  Stir to combine.  Cover and cook another 10 minutes.

3.)  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat some coconut oil over medium heat.  Saute the onion and cabbage for about 10 minutes or until softened and slightly browned. 

4.)  Add the cabbage mixture to the lentils. Mix together and enjoy!

Peace's Birthday Invites

Here are Peace's birthday party invitations:

And here is the one from last year:

Here is a link to Ezra's birthday invitations, if you're so inclined to see them. I haven't uploaded Ocean's yet, so you'll have that to look forward to in 8 months if you want to mark your calendars.

Happy Birthday Peace!

Children First

Something occurred to me that I've never thought about before, in regards to my last post about First Babies:

Someday my kids are going to have their own babies.

Someday they're going to put a wedding ring on somebody else's finger.

Someday they are going to experience all those "firsts" for themselves. And how much more exciting will that be more me than watching Rory and Dean on TV?

(Disclaimer: Or, they may not experience these generalized "firsts" that I am mentioning, and that's okay. They get to choose how they want to create their lives. I don't really care one way or the other, because there will be other firsts yet to be had. Many firsts. Lots of firsts yet to come.)

First Babies

A friend of mine had her first baby the other day. I tend to feel especially sentimental when people I know have their first baby. It reminds me of a time in my life when all of this was new to me. Makes me reflective of the time when it was just beginning.

Kind of like how I like watching the relationships between high schoolers Matt and Julie on Friday Night Lights and Rory and Dean on Gilmore Girls because it reminds me of a time when Vern and I were just getting to know each other.

Oh, life is an interesting thing, dear readers. There are so many firsts that happen. It's hard not to get nostalgic at the really big ones.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

First, let's talk about how to hard-boil an egg. An important thing to note is that the LESS fresh an egg is, the easier it will be to peel after you hard-boil it. Now, to hard-boil, follow this simple technique:

Put eggs in cold water. Put on stove. Bring to boil. When they reach boiling, cover and remove from heat. Let them sit like that for 13-14 minutes (no more, no less). Dump out hot water and cover them with cold water.

Now, onto the recipe for the sandwiches:

5-6 of those fabulous hard-boiled eggs
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 scoops mayo (see recipe below)
salt and pepper to taste

Mayo Recipe:

2 egg yolks, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1-1/4 cup olive oil. SLOWLY whisk olive oil into the mixture.

Simplicity

 From a book I'm reading, The Book of Light:

When was the last time you picked a wildflower and just sat looking at it?

Just sat there, looking at a simple flower?

How long has it been since you last did this?

Instead of living in the future and fantasizing about what you are going to do and be, simply pick a flower and sit there looking at it.

Put aside thoughts of the past and future, put aside your plans, ambitions, sorrows, and resentment.

Just remain where you are, gazing at this simple flower.

Put aside all emotional burdens, dilemmas, projections, and deferments.

Put all thoughts aside.

Just stay as you are, gazing at this flower.

How long has it been?

This is the secret to life: finding things that make time stop or finding the time to make things stop, so that you may just observe them.

So that you may simply remain where you are.

So that you may simply be who you are.

Haircut

I cut my hair last night. Here is a BEFORE and AFTER picture:

You can notice the difference in the picture, but if you see me in person, you won't be able to tell that I cut my hair. Vernon always makes fun of that because he can never tell, and that's kind of true. There was a massive amount of hair on the floor though: