Nurtured Mother

Balti Beef Stew

Every so often I have the luck of throwing together a meal from what we have available and the family ends up loving it so much, it leaves me scrambling for a pen to jot down what I did and I inadvertently create a recipe.

I called this balti beef stew because it had beef ends from an eye of the round roast I had left over and a bottle of curry sauce called balti that was given to me by a friend when he moved away…and, well, I made it stewy.

Ingenious how I come up with the names, right? I know! ;p

Upon investigation Balti is a certain mix of spices and its origin is Pakistanin. I’m sure my recipe is not unique..but this is my take on a balti stew.

The spices used in Pakistani balti dishes are typically Garlic, Brown Mustard, Cinnamon, Cumin, Cardamom, Cloves, Fennel, Fenugreek, Star Anise, Cilantro, Anise Seed, Bay Leaves, Coriander, Red Pepper, Ajwain Seed and Charnushka.

It’s ok. I don’t know what they all are either…just do what you can.

It’s taste and aroma is spicy, complex and can be very powerful.But, they are blended well and making a very tasty

Seven Sunday – July 7th

These are 7 things I did this week to nurture myself.

Hung out with friends on Canada Day

Enjoyed fireworks with hubby and the kids

Got the first rewards from the garden and all my months of hard work.

Worked on a painting for an art show

Played the guitar almost every day this week

Went for a swim in the pond at dusk last night with a friend…a refreshing way to cool off after a lot of hard work in the garden

Enjoyed a cup of tea with a elderly neighbor who I took out for errands.

What did you do this week to take a break and enjoy life?

Tip Tuesday – Always expect failure & don’t count your chickens before they hatch

So, 2 weeks ago, our black & decker bread maker kacked out on us. After 6 years and a loaf of bread almost daily and pizza dough every friday night…I think it serviced us well. It’s sitting by the door awaiting it’s trip to the dump, if we cannot figure out another purpose for it before Saturday.

But that’s not the failure I’m speaking of.

When you live on a very little income ( and I mean VERY low….well below the national average for the poverty line for a family of four), affording a new breadmaker a $70-100 dollars is not easy to squeeze into the monthly budget.

So, when I saw an advertisement come last week for a sale on a breadmaker, we could not believe the good timing! What luck! We find a breadmaker on sale as a refurbished unit for only $25 at a clearance warehouse type place….IT’S KARMA right!?

Neh Neh! Curb your Enthusiasm Right There Mama!

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is….remember that.

So, we go off to the city for our monthly supply trip, and purchase this refurbished bread maker. Prior to this, as with every purchase we lamented

Sunday Seven

1. Spent a fun morning volunteering in the community for some social/me time where i’m not being a mom or wife.

2. Indulged in trying on some shoes while shopping. That may seem weird, but I never stop and look at clothes and shoes, because we simply cannot afford them. most of my wardrobe is second hand. They are $15 at walmart…I can’t afford them this week, but hubby says we can fit it into the budget next week, and before the art show I’m attending. Also. it’s pretty cool how feet lose weight too…i’m back in a size 7!!!!

3.went for a visit to our friends, they are like grandparents to the kids, and enjoyed watching my son lunch with them, while we chatted.

4.have been making some watercolour notecards, while we watch our favourite tv shows in the evening with my husband.

5. took the kids for the first dip in the pond for the summer on Saturday

6. Enjoyed the scenery of our “backyard” and soaked up some sun.

7.went for a swim too and realized that i am falling out of my size 16 bathing suit from last year and need to buy a new one!!!

Seven Sunday June 9th, 2023

Seven things I did this week to nurture my heart and soul

1. Had coffee with a friend on Monday

2.

Enjoyed a nice dinner with framily. Homemade lasagna and red wine. Yummy

(Framily are good friends that are like family)

3. Enjoyed the poppies in the back yard.

4. Started a painting that I’m finishing for my daughter. A 2011 bday gift to me

5. Enjoyed family fun night playing video games with the kids and hubby

6. Drew a doodle contemporary folkart portrait of a redneck gardener.

7. Played the guitar in the back yard for the joy of music.

What did you do last week to take a break, have me time and nurture your soul?

How Motivation Monday Started – part 2 of Life Evaluation

If you have not read the first part of this series of posts you can do so here.

It is not necessary to read it first to gain the information from this post, but it does explain the year long process I went through with grief depression after losing 2 people close to me with cancer, and watching 3 others my age in my community also die of cancer..all in one year. Those deaths and personal losses made me evaluate my life and decide to get back in the game of life…which lead to me making the new habits and starting Motivational Monday that I discuss in this post.

New Habits and a Gradual Shift

When you make the shift from feeling defeated, to deciding to go on and live well…it is not a sudden shift. It is gradual, and you don’t even see it until you are well into the new stage. If you do not make new habits to keep yourself on track, it IS so gradual, you can and will slip backwards,forget why you were doing it all in the first place, and get depressed again.

It is a process that requires you picking yourself back up

My Life Evaluation-What Death Taught Me

Over the last year I have taken some time to seriously evaluate my life.

Like, I mean…really deeply, “the meaning of life” type evaluation, not “do I like the colour of my kitchen” evaluation.

It was not really a choice to do this evaluation. It was a grieving period and a personal growth period that my subconscious decided my more conscious self needed to go through to solicit change to be really happy.

Life Changing Evaluations

The loss of my brother made me really look what I wanted in life and allowed me to seek a life that made me genuinely happy.That evaluation at 23 years old was life changing. It lead me to divorce someone I married too young for all the wrong reasons, where we lead the typical married life that looked good on the outside but had no substance.

After that, and over the last 15 years, I met and fell in love with my best friend and soulmate. Had his two children and moved to the country to live rurally…. all things that were on my life’s “to do to be happy” list back then at 23.

Life Itself can Often Get in the way of