Hello again....

Hello my friends. Is anyone still out there? It has been 7 months since we parted ways and I have missed the blog world. When I create a new recipe or find a great article or just have an idea to share, I miss being able to tell my friends about it. Because I feel compelled to share my thoughts and need a place to keep my recipes safe, I will at times post as the Enlightened Homemaker once again. I hope you will stop by now and then. Soon I will catch you up on my inner most thoughts but today I will just share what I made in my kitchen with the help of Tate. (Tate has decided to become a chef) 

My summer garden is almost done but today I came in with some tomatillos, a couple peppers and an onion. I hate to waste so I decided to make some Tomatillo salsa. I wanted the not-so-sweet version that would be great as an enchilada sauce. I perused the internet and tweaked a few things to come up with this tasty and simple recipe that will be great with a variety of mediums. I love to simmer pintos beans with tomatillo salsa or smother chicken with it in the pressure cooker. This would also make mighty fine enchilada sauce. It is cheap and easy. Try it out!

Salsa Verde

1lb husked tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 jalapeño, seeded
3 T chopped cilantro
1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup water

Bring all to a boil then simmer 10-15 minutes or until tomatillos are soft. Blend till smooth! I added some lime at the end. Use as salsa, in the crockpot with shredded chicken, on pinto beans for burritos or for enchiladas! This made almost one quart. You can freeze for later or keep in the fridge for a good week or so. 

Over and Out.

It's hard to believe that I began this blog in 2008. I thought it would be fun to share a few recipes and share a few tips I have learned over my mothering years but it turned into so much more. 

I gained friendships and shared trials. I was uplifted and motivated. I was inspired by warrior mothers and urged to learn more. I became better because of my readers and am so very thankful for all of you who tuned in and shared the last four years with me.

I type tonight to say my goodbyes and for some silly reason, it makes me sad. I feel like I am saying goodbye's to my friends. It's just time. In my 711 posts on this blog, I think I have said what I have to say. If you have missed it, I am going to sum up all my words of wisdom for a healthy and happy life according to the Enlightened Homemaker right here and now:

Take care of yourself. 

Eat Naked Food. 

Don't drink soda. ( OK, I do have a DP once in a while)

Listen to your body. Don't wait until it's too late.

Family is number 1.

Plant a garden.

Have a year supply of food.

Get out of debt.

The Lord has given us on this Earth what we need to heal ourselves. You just need to search it out and ask for direction.

Serve, serve, serve. It is the key to happiness.

Moderation in ALL things. 

Let go of hurt feelings.

Paint your toenails.

Clean out the yeast in your body.

Take some D3 and vitamin C.

Autism can be treated. It takes HARD work but oh so worth it.

If you want something bad enough, you can achieve it.

You can do hard things.

Stop whining. 

Time flies. Make the moments matter.

Cut down on sugar.

The only way to loose weight is to cut out the junk. 

Don't eat fast food.

Don't try to be like someone else.

Love your neighbor.

Always be learning something new.

Be happy.



Have a wonderful 2013. It is going to be a great year. It's up to us. I am going to drink it all in. There is not a minute to waste. 

I am still an email away and will be on facebook to share little tid bits I find. I will still order supplements so email me your orders. 

Thank you all. Keep in touch.

Signing out from the desk of The Enlightened Homemaker at 12:14 am, January 1st, 2013, in my jammies,

Shari Goodman

I still reserve the right to come back at some point if I ever think I have something else to say. You will be the first to know. I promise. 

The New Backyard Farmer

Just in case you haven't tried the Backyard Farmer and want to give it a try, there is now a new and easier way to order. Just click on their website below and do the ordering and paying right there! Food will be delivered the next week on Wednesday or Thursday depending where you live. No delivery charge!

I love knowing that my food is grown locally, picked only a day or two before it is delivered and is pesticide free! They have all sorts of neat things to buy: eggs, honey, meat, soap, grains, storage containers, animal feed, etc. I always tell him if he just sold toilet paper I wouldn't need to go anywhere else. 

Check them out. You will be happy you did. I get excited each week when my box arrives. The apples are sooooo good!


The Backyard Farmer

P.S. You have to order by Sunday night to have it delivered that week. You still have time.

Fresh greens, flatbreads and a little catch up.

I have had a few technical difficulties over here lately in blog world. Thanks to my helpful Facebook friends, I am back in the game. 

First off, I am ordering supplements Monday so let me know what you need. I won't order again until after Christmas. 

Now, a little catch up. 

Politics: Frustrated. The election sparked a trip to Costco to top off some supplies. Not that a Republican could have totally changed where this world is going but seriously folks, we are messed up. Prepare yourselves. Physically, Spiritually, Financially. This year is a year to gear up. Get out of debt. Stock up your supplies. Strengthen your faith. Become educated. Don't just look on Facebook for your news. Read all you can so you can be prepared. I have to admit, I do tend to overdo it on the information overload and get totally overwhelmed. I have to remember that the Lord is in charge and that if I have faith in him, it will be OK. It is just so frustrating when you see so much corruption.

Surgery: Thanks for all your well wishes. It is over. I healed well and quickly. I have to say, if any of you are facing that surgery in the near future, load up on B complex and iron. Everyone told me that I would be exhausted for a good 6 weeks after the surgery. I actually had amazing energy which made it hard for me to slow down and heal. I had more energy after the surgery than before. Any surgery can be greatly helped with those supplements. I also used Arnica cream on my wounds for healing. If I didn't have such issues with the gas that they inject me with, it would have been not too bad. It did take the full three weeks to feel good but that isn't bad compared to lots of the stories I have heard. It took me years to decide to do the surgery and I can't tell you how happy I am to have done it. I am pain free. I am super happy about that.

I found this photo snapped from my iphone just post surgery. I have no recollection taking it. Drugs are a funny thing. That smile was quickly gone when the drugs wore off. Thanks to my sister in law for giving me fake lashes since I couldn't wear make up. 

Garden:  It is growing just lovely. I went back to the simple stupid method that has always worked for me. If I get fancy with fertilizers, I ruin it. I just use a little manure and mulch when I plant and just water after that. Everything is happy. I planted at the beginning of October and I am harvesting daily.


I planted some sweet potatoes in May. I have planted these once before and after 6 months, I had a couple little tiny sweet potatoes. I decided to have one more go round in my new garden. I had a beautiful vine that grew all over the place but was very curious what was going on under ground. Finally, the purple flowers appeared and the vines were dying which tells you that the sweet potatoes were ready.

It was like digging up a treasure. You didn't know how many you had or how big or even where they were. I just planted two little sprouts and here was my bounty:

I wish I planted a whole garden full. They were bigger than my hand and super orange inside. They loved the sandy soil in the new garden. Next year I will make a new garden just for sweet potatoes. 

The brocolli is looking promising. Last year they were so small and barely worth harvesting. I am hoping for some good heads this year. I won't know for a little longer. 

Last year, kid you not, it took me almost 8 months to get carrots big enough to pull. I was still harvesting them after a year. I used fertilizer that should have sped things a long but I think it really just messed up the soil PH. This year, I am already pulling some after only 8 weeks. I am sure this warm weather is helping that along as well.

I planted lots of cabbage this year. They are looking happy. The cabbage in the new garden are about double the size of the ones in the new garden. They like the extra sun. This will help me to stagger the harvesting. Who wants 20 heads of cabbage at once?

Here is what I have growing right now:

carrots; red, orange, yellow and purple
cabbage
broccoli
snap peas
onions
spinach
lettuce varieties
bush beans; purple and green
kohlrabi
basil
cilantro
celery
peppers
chilis
kale
collards
radishes

Just a funny little garden story for you. I took my cute little preschool class outside today to enjoy the nice weather. I asked them if they wanted peas in the garden. They all raised their hand and followed me. As we gathered to pick peas, I noticed one little boy who dropped his pants and started to pee in the garden. Guess I needed to clarify that I meant "peas" in the garden, not "pee" in the garden. Just a little misunderstanding but it made me giggle. 

Speaking of preschool, I may have a pm slot open starting in January if you are interested. I have a few slots left for next school year. 3/4 year olds and pre k. PM me for info.

Flatbreads:  Seeing as we have the most amazing weather here in AZ, I have wanted to use the grill and eat outside more often. Grilling flatbreads is just soooo good! Since we don't do cheese on our pizza's, I have found that flatbread is the way to go. You cut them into little squares so you can hold them better without the toppings falling off. 

This one below is a carmelized onion and white bean flat bread. I put about 1/4 cup of parmesan on this one but the other one I made without it tasted the same. Totally not necessary. Parmesan is aged over 60 days so it is digested much easier than most other cheeses. Still, it is very rare that we use it at our house. I found this recipe at Eating Well. com. You can find it here. I didn't add the cheese or the pepitas. The bean mixture was very yummy!  

The iphone picture below doesn't do justice to Sunday's flatbreads and pinwheels but they were super delicious! I did a prosciutto and spinach pinwheel and a BBQ chicken flatbread. They are both easy as pie.
Make your dough. For the pinwheels, just roll out a rectangle. Brush with olive oil. Lay on thin layer of prosciutto and top with a generous amount of spinach. Roll up and seal up seams. Place seam side down on pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes. 

For the flatbread, roll out a thin rectangle on some parchment sprayed with a fine mist of oil. Brush the top with olive oil. Place on a hot BBQ grill top side down so the parchement is now on top. Pull of parchment while cooking and brush the top side with oil. When it gets all bubbly and golden on the bottom, flip over. Watch your heat so it doesn't burn. When both sides are golden, bring them inside to finish them off. You can put the toppings on and put them back on the grill but I just put them under the broiler in the kitchen so I can monitor the heat a little better and also to free up the grill for more flatbread. I sauteed some chicken, peppers, onions and spices. I sprinkled the flatbread with the chicken mixture and drizzled some BBQ sauce on it. I just broiled it until the toppings were hot. Super yummy! I have gotten so used to no cheese pizza's that the idea of cheese sounds horrible on pizza. You can't taste the toppings this way. Try it. So much less guilt as well.

The pizza dough was half white, half wheat. I don't do all white pizza dough. It is my indulgence. It  just isn't the same. It won't crisp up as much. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. Utah was lovely and it was fun to be surrounded by family. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas! Take care of yourselves and don't get sick! We are taking extra vitamin C, garlic and D3 around here. Almost all our extended family in Utah caught the flu or some other bug. We came home healthy. Hopefully we will keep that good streak going. Just a little nose drizzle here and there but nothing sticks. 

Shopping on Amazon?

If you are an Amazon shopper, like myself, just click on the link to the right or below and I get a tiny bit of credit back from you. Isn't that nice? You bet it is. 


Just click here:

Shop Amazon - Black Friday Deals Week

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I will. It is my favorite holiday of the year! 

Finding Answers

My friend shared this video on Facebook today about Autism and Biomedical healing. 

It was hard to watch. What makes it so hard is that there are thousands and thousands of kids like these that aren't getting the help they need. They label them with Autism and then put them in this pile of "I don't know what to do with you" kids. Just give them therapy and forget that they are living in this completely miserable isolated world. It makes me crazy sad that there are solutions and treatments out there that parents are not being told about. It makes me crazy that pediatricians are not educated in this field. I mean, up to 1 in 25 kids are diagnosed with Autism. Is there any other epidemic worse than that! Seriously. 

I want every mother out there who has a child with Autism, ADD, ADHD or anything else on this spectrum that there is help. Maybe not always a cure but there is a reason your child is feeling this way. It doesn't just happen without a reason. They aren't born with it. It happens to them because of what the world is doing to them. 

Watch the clip. Follow the series. There is a way to change lives. You may not cure them completely. They may not get married or have college degrees but they can be happy. They can feel good and enjoy life. Search for answers and never give up!

I had a great call from a mom I met a year or so ago. I was teaching a class on nutrition and I talked with her afterwards. I don't remember all the details but she had told me about her son who had severe bi-polar disorder and was heavily medicated and hospitalized. She was at her whits end. I remember telling her that there were solutions. I believe whole heartedly that we can change lives through nutrition. I believe that through food we heal and paired with biomedical help, lives can be completely changed. 

I left her with my biomedicals Dr.'s name and wasn't sure if anything would come of it. She was totally overwhelmed, justifiably so. 

Last week she called me. She was bubbly and excited. She went to the Dr. She researched, she went to seminars. She did the work. She told me that last year, her son was practically institutionalized, this year, he is on student council. That is beyond amazing. Can you imagine what this child's life is like now? She told me how her regular Dr. who was treating him with all sorts of drugs (of which he was maxed out on) was so amazed with his healing and progress that he is now pursuing education into this biomedical field. 

I hung up the phone so very excited for her and her family and beyond proud at what she did by trusting there were options. She was told by her Dr.'s that this was the only option. Drugs. More drugs. She didn't know that he could be healed. The crazy thing is that what helped him most is about the cheapest supplement you can buy. Vitamin C. It cost under $ 10 a bottle. I can't imagine how much she was paying for the drugs that didn't work.

There are solutions out there. Don't give up. I am absolutely convinced that Autism and other auto-immune disorders will never go away and will only get worse. Why? Because we are poisoning everything in this world. Our rice has arsenic in it along with our apple juice. Our orange juice has mercury. Our crops are genetically modified and filled with pesticides. Even if you are growing your own food, they spray with mosquito poisons at night in neighborhoods killing the bees and contaminating our gardens. You can't win. I don't see anything changing but we can change our own little worlds. Not 100% but to the best of our abilities. 

There are lots of resources out there and I would be happy to pass names on to any of you and lists of great books to read. Unfortunately, most of the time biomedical help costs big bucks and insurance usually doesn't pay. But, man alive is it worth it. If you can't do that, there are plenty of things you can do to change things at home. I have seen so many miracles in little lives. I have a little miracle in my home. I can't imagine what life would be like if I didn't learn early on that there were ways to get him out of the hell he was living in. He will probably never be like typical kids, whatever that means but he has a full and happy life. That's all I need. 

Overdoing it.

Over the past several years of blogging, my emails have been overloaded with women's health issues. I get many, many emails from women who have all sorts of "things" going on. The interesting thing is that many of these emails are from women who appear to be in great shape. Many of them work out, eat well and look great but on the inside, they are feeling like an 80 year old. Why? Could it possibly be that we are overdoing it a little? Are our bodies meant to be pushed to the limit? 

There has been a huge correlation between hypothyroidism and other thyroid disorders and too much cardio. I didn't understand why. I had a big group of friends with this issue after they had trained for marathons or started a rigorous training regimen. It has perplexed me and I chalked lots of it up to protein powders many were taking but many weren't. Anyhow, I saw this article posted by my friend on Facebook and was immediately intrigued. 

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/women-running-into-trouble/


Now, don't think I am here bashing running or training or anything like that. Heaven knows we need to work out and keep our bodies moving. However, as with anything, moderation is key. Some of us can handle more than others but not to the breaking point. We need to stop , listen, reevaluate and do what is best for us long term. There is a time in our lives where we will not look like a twenty year old. We can still be thin but we won't always have that tight body. It is just meant to be that way. 

I have done a little reevaluation about my thoughts on life lately as I hit my middle agedness. I had a period in my life where I was working out a good 6 days a week and felt great in my clothes. However, looking back, those couple years were probably my worst years of my life. I constantly thought about working out because if I missed a session, I might loose my shape. I also had horrible back spasms and neck issues. It was not worth it at all. 

My resolve now is to feel good for a long time. I don't want to ruin my joints. I don't want health problems. I don't want to be consumed with my image and obsessed with working out to fit into a size 2. Our purpose here is to help others in this life and we can't do that when we are sick or self absorbed.

Moderation. Always moderation. Work out without killing yourself. Eat right. Think good thoughts. Enjoy life. Don't overdo it. Don't stress out if you can't do all you want right now. Relax. Women are meant to be a little soft and to have some curves. Being overweight will never be healthy but stressing about being super thin isn't either. Find your happy medium and just do your best. Just take care of yourself so you can lead a long and happy life. Isn't that the main goal? It sure is for me. 

Waste.

My sweet friend, Rachel brought me a little treat and a copy of Whole Living magazine to read while recuperating. I hadn't heard of it yet but just seeing that it was a Martha Stewart publication, I knew I would love it. Martha just gets it and I have loved every one of her cookbooks. This magazine was one of those that you read from cover to cover and it actually had articles to read instead of just ads! I LOVED it and instantly sent in the little card for a subscription. You even get two for one right now so you can send one to a friend for free.

There were a couple articles in there that really sparked my interest. One in particular was about waste. It began with the quote:

     "As a nation, we throw 40 percent of our food, most of it perfectly edible, into the trash."

That is A LOT of food. The article states that the average family of four throws about $1600 per year of food in the garbage. I am sure we could all use a few of those dollars here and there. The article not only touches on the waste that could feed others, it also talks about the waste that fills our landfills and creates methane gas.

I know I have blogged about this before but I will do it again. For me, food is sacred. We need it to sustain life. It heals us. It nourishes us. I hate having to throw away food that was grown just for me, especially food that I grew. I do think about the fact that others are hungry when I am throwing excess away. I do my very best to use up the little scraps in the fridge. There is so much you can do with the little pieces but you have to take regular inventory of what is hiding behind the eggs and milk so you don't end up with containers of "green" stuff that is now inedible. Produce is a huge source of waste. It is real easy to forget about the last carrot or apple in the fridge. Even if it is a little bruised, it is still edible. I cleaned out my fridge the other morning and had a little pile of "odds and ends" in the vegetable drawer.

The carrots were a little on the ugly side but still firm up top. I had a little piece of potato, onion and zucchini. I could easily throw this in a soup stock with a few more ingredients and have a soup or grate it up and put it in a taco or omelet mixture. Or, I could let it go a couple more days and  have to throw it in the compost bin. There is part of a dinner there that would save me money if I just took the time to check the fridge and use the odds and ends. I paid for those. I surely wouldn't go around throwing dollars in my compost bin. I hadn't checked my fridge in a couple weeks and was sad that I had to throw away black beans, kefir, raw goats milk, old applesauce and a few other things. I needed this article to remind me to be a little more diligent. 

Go check your fridge, ladies. Look behind the yogurt and leftover dishes. What did you find? Can you use it in your dinner tonight? Get creative. You may have one tablespoon of jam left that could go into a dressing or  1/4 cup of plain yogurt that could be in a marinade. One bruised apple could go in a muffin recipe. Celery tops are great in soups. Almost anything can go in a smoothie! Freeze the leftovers that you aren't going to eat the next day and blend up the kale that is about to go bad and freeze it in ice cup trays for smoothies. 

Waste not, want not. 

The end of the 30 days. Almost.

The 30 day project almost finished up. It was the best   I could do. I was a couple days short since I was in the hospital. All I ate for those two days was a cup of sherbet so there went the sugar. It was all I could keep down so I justified it. Anyways, 30 days is over. When I checked into the hospital, I was 10 pounds down. I felt great and pleased with the progress. Like I said, it was never about the weight but I have to admit, I sure liked how it felt and looked. I was a bit sad after the surgery from the swelling that my waistline was expanded again after all my hard work but it will go down again, I am sure of it. Thanks to everyone for their kind words, flowers, emails and meals. I feel loved. I really underestimated how I would feel and needed the help. Thanks.

As far as the 30 days, I am so glad I did it and think it would be a great idea to do it at least once a year. The sugar tastes way too sweet now although the chocolate my sister in law gave me was heavenly! I did stop at two squares though so there's progress. I don't crave it and that was the point. I did eat the heck out of some chips and tomatillo salsa my friend Kerri brought by. My stomach felt fine and my mouth was elated. I will continue to eat in moderation so that all all progress is not lost. I was sad that I had to have antibiotics in the hospital. Yeast loves that. I hope that my hard work didn't get destroyed after those three IV's. 

I have lots of recipes I am still sifting through that many of you sent. I can't wait to try them when I am up and going again. I am doing my best to take it easy right now so that healing will be quicker. I am not so good at holding still so this is the greatest challenge of it all but the payoff will be great! 

How are you all feeling? Did any of you stick with it? Did you see the results? Fill me in.

I have one gallon of Gold Label Coconut oil for $60 if you want it. I had a no show. 

Day 21,22,23.

There's not a whole lot to tell here. It is really rather boring. I didn't try any new recipes. I didn't make anything spectacular. We had ball games. Family gatherings. Debates to watch. Poison control to call (Tate helped him self to his iron supplement). Carpools. You know, all the regular stuff. I have so many things I want to make and try but who really has the time. I still make great dinners for my family but I just usually eat the sides. 

I have a new cow ready to be slaughtered so I have to use the last of my meat up in the freezer. I had a big prime rib hogging up the room so I cooked it up this week. It was a lot of meat. We had prime rib one day with herb roasted veggies, potatoes and salad. I used the left over meat the next day for stew. The biscuits were sorely missed. I didn't have time to try the gluten free variety and the big kids wouldn't have wanted them anyways. What did we eat the other day? I don't even remember.  I had lots of green smoothies, pancakes, eggs, crepes with applesauce (breakfasts are always easy) and a little bit of potato chips. I am such a foodie and I am sort of disenchanted with food right now. I really couldn't tell you want I want but I don't really care about food right now. It sort of bugs me to have that attitude. I am sure with a little more time under my belt my desire for great food will return. I want to go out to a crazy new restaurant, one of my favorite pastimes, but I don't trust what they put it in. I get inspired by new restaurant dishes but I am left with little to no creativity right now since I haven't been to one. 

Anyhow, it will all return, I am sure. The good side is that this diet is pretty easy since I don't really care about what I am eating right now. I am down about 8 pounds and I need to go buy some new pants. I will hold off in case this doesn't stick! My tummy feels very happy. My allergies have greatly diminished. My arm isn't itchy. My eyes aren't puffy. My objectives have been met. It has been worth it. It really is a very little sacrifice. If we fix our little issues before they become big illnesses, it is so much easier! If you wait until you have full blown diseases, you won't get over that in a 30 day cleanse! 

My son brought home some amazing looking pumpkin donuts and I smelled them. Oh my. I wait all year for pumpkin goodness and I had to pass it by. That was a little challenging but it passed and I made it. I am almost done. That doesn't mean I am just going to go out and buy a dozen donuts. It means that I will let myself have a little now and then. I don't really want the sugar at all but maybe just a little treat to usher in the pumpkin season! I do still want a good mango chicken taco! That will happen!

Monday is my surgery. I have a huge list of all I need to get done so that mom can check out for a little while. The clock is ticking and not much has been crossed off. The garden needs to be finished, showers cleaned, bills paid, kitchen stocked, toes painted and on and on. Tate has a Bday tomorrow and family is in town. I suppose life will go on if everything isn't done but I would feel better. I feel as healthy as I can be for surgery right now. I think my body is ready to take it. I did the work. I hope it is enough. With that said, this will probably be my last post for a week or so. I will finish off this diet. I will do my very best while in the hospital. I will report to you in a week to give you the final low down. I hope some of you are still on board and are feeling the benefits of eating clean. I wish I had more recipes to post. I will continue to post more allergy free recipes when I recover a bit. Just bear with me. 

Talk to you soon! Wish me luck!