Voicing the Gift

This is such a beautiful article I had to pass it on.

Voicing the Gift

Baby update

Our sweet little grandson is 3 lbs. 5 oz. today. He continues to do amazingly well for one so tiny. He's now getting one feeding a day via bottle (it wears him out a bit, but he's taking a little more via bottle every day.) I will finally get to see him in the flesh in April.




Patti

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon, with a little help from Instragram

On my recent trip, I got to go to the Grand Canyon for the first time in my life. After the Simply Music Symposium I flew to Phoenix to visit my brother and his wife. We drove to the Grand Canyon one morning, the early afternoon checking out overlooks and having lunch, then drove back to Phoenix. It was a full day, but well worth the trip.

It was interesting to me because of course the scale is so huge it's hard to fathom, especially just from looking at photographs.  It is just amazing to think how wide the river must have been once upon a time, and the sheer power to create such an amazing place.

But in terms of sheer beauty, I think Hawaii's Waimea Canyon on Kauai has it beat. It is much smaller, of course, but the colors are more intense throughout the day. Sorry, I don't have any photos in my library - my son has taken some gorgeous photos there so I'll have to ask him if I can share when he's recovered from this nasty illness that has him in its grip.

We were hoping to be able to stop at Montezuma's Castle on the way back to Phoenix, but we were in the area about 30 minutes past closing. Oh well! It's one more thing to do on my next trip to AZ.

Patti

Coconut Ginger Salmon

From nuttykitchen.com

Ingredients:

4 thick Salmon filets or steaks
2 in. fresh ginger peeled & thinly sliced
4 medium cloves of garlic thinly sliced
13 oz. tomatoes sliced
1 tsp. cayenne (or to taste)
1 small bell pepper chopped
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 can organic coconut milk (14 oz.), full fat
1 pinch sea salt (to taste)
1 large lime, juice only (1/8 C.)
10 leaves fresh basil roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Place the fish in a somewhat shallow ovenproof pan. Pick a pan that will not leave much room in between the salmon. You want them close together.
Top the salmon with the garlic, ginger, tomatoes, bell pepper, coriander seeds and about 8 chopped basil leaves.
Squeeze the lime juice evenly over the dish and sprinkle with the salt and cayenne.
When the fish is covered with all the ingredients, slowly pour all the coconut milk over the fish.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. 30 minutes will give you a pink tender center, 40 minutes will be completely cooked through.
Top with the remaining 2 leaves of fresh basil before serving.

Coconut Curry Chicken

From www.food-strong.com

Ingredients:
1 T. extra virgin coconut oil
2 frozen chicken breasts
1 can whole-fat coconut milk
1/2 sweet onion
1 yellow, green, or red pepper
1 zucchini squash
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch basil
4 sprigs thyme
2 tsp. freshly ground ginger root
2 tsp cayenne
1 T. curry
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat up a skillet and add coconut oil when the pan is hot.
Add frozen chicken brests.
Slice onions, pepper, and zucchini squash and add to the pan in a separate corner. Stir the veggies.
Grate your ginger root & add to the veggies.
Cook the chicken about 5 minutes per side.
When chicken is done, remove from the pan and dice.
Add the can of coconut milk to the veggies and stir in.
Add cayenne pepper and chicken. Stir together and enjoy.

Coconut-milk Braised Greens

This one is from wholefoodsmarket.com

Ingredients:
Salt to taste
2 lb. bunches collard greens, kale or mustard greens, stemmed and roughly chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
3/4 C coconut milk
1 T lemon juice
Black pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add greens and cook for 2 minutes, drain well and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
Add reserved greens, coconut milk and lemon juice, sitr well and simmer until tender, 5-7 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Coconut Curry Sauce

Here's a recipe I found on glutenfreesleuth.blogspot.com slightly adapted. In it's original version it is dairy free, gluten free, and added sugar free if you get unsweetened coconut milk.

Coconut Curry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 C. Pacific Organic Free-Range Chicken Broth
1/2 tsp. yellow curry
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder


Directions:
Place coconut milk and chicken broth in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Blend in seasonings to taste

I like to warm this in a pot and take plenty of time to do it. This will allow the sauce to reduce and taste richer.

Yummy with salmon.

I have also made it substituting cream for the coconut milk when I didn't have any coconut milk on hand.

Our little miracle

This is our first photo (other than the ultrasound) of our lovely little miracle grandson.

His parents waited almost eight years before they were able to get pregnant, and the pregnancy proceeded with no signs of trouble until last Sunday. Increased cramping and spotting sent them to ER Sunday, where it was discovered that mama had developed pretty severe pre-eclampsia. She was immediately hospitalized and treatment was begun.

Two days later she was transferred to a nearby hospital with a NICU, and the doctors did more tests. They concluded that our little guy had stopped growing and delivery was required as soon as possible.

Mama was induced, labor proceeded entirely normally, and little Ryan was born Wed. morning weighing 2 lbs. 9 oz. While the doctors feel he was at 31-32 weeks, they think the development actually stopped at about week 28, which was right after her last regular doctor visit.

She didn't really have any alarming signs of preeclampsia, so we are very thankful for the increasing contractions and spotting that sent her to the doctor!

Ryan is now 3 days old, breathing on his own, and he has begun to be fed mother's milk.

Of course he has quite a stay in the NICU ahead of him, but we are so thankful for his strength and the miracle of his little life.

His mother is recovering, and her blood pressure may be low enough to go home today.

So thankful for the blessings of this week!

Patti

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

iPhoneography

Check out this video of some very cool free textures and an editing program for iPhones (I have no idea if this is available for other makes).

When I buy my new, large capacity iPad next week, this is going to be installed for sure.


http://www.iphoneography.com/journal/2013/1/29/mextures-free-textures-for-your-iphoneography.html

Patti

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad