It's been kind of nice having a freezer and pantry full of home preserved goodies. I made a big pan of black beans and rice today, using a jar of black beans my aunt canned for me and corn my mom and brother froze this summer. I usually use tomato sauce or a bit of tomato paste for a tomato base, but instead took a can of diced tomatoes and ran them through the belnder for a bit. It was just long enough break down the peices more, but to leave some pieces through it. Topped with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and sliced black olives, served along side a handful of tortilla chips it was a very nice lunch. In honor of celebrating my family's canning and freezing, I even thought about pulling out a bag of frozen raspberries and using them to make some raspberry pina coladas later. (Yum yum!)



There is already a plan set for next year's canning as far as what we need to make more of. For instance, this year two batches of homemade salsa were made, and the plan is to at least double that for next year.

"It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb becuase it is dumb to his dull perceptions." - Mark Twain

Been Awhile...

In the words of 'Monty Mython,' I'm not dead yet. I just got otherwise distracted which ended up with me living for a season out of the regulalr internet zone in the middle of pretty darn near nowhere. Now that life has somewhat settled down post holiday season, I'm baaa-aaack.

Life in my world has been full of its rather typical ups and downs. Over the summer season I shared a communal kitchen with a bunch of non-vegetarians. I started seeing someone, who like most of the people I meet around here, is also not a vegetarian. He's considerate of our difference in eating habits, but also rather comfortable in his omni ways. the seven year mark of my meat-free lifestyle quietly came and went. The holidays came and went and now the new year is upon us.

There is something about the start of the new year that gives so many people inspiration and energy that can help us get through the rest of the chilled winter months yet to come. We see promise and potential, not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. For myself I am somewhat relieved for the holiday season to be over, not only does it mean a calm to things, but it also means a break from the heavy holiday foods, the regular family style feasts, and all the snacks and treats that threaten to bury us alive during this season. I am now onto a new challenge. During the summer and fall months when my family (and extended family) was in the midst of canning and freezing my aunt canned a box of assorted beans for me. Black beans, lentils, split peas, one I'm not excatly sure what it is, and a combination of all of them. I use black beans pretty regularly, but feel the need to branch out big time and take advantage of the pantry full of home-canned goodness. I've never really worked with lentils or split peas, but I intend to find a way. I'm just not sure how, yet. Inspiration will come... eventually. Wish me luck.

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. " - Alice Walker