Why write a recipe book?

Why write a recipe book? Simply put, it was the repeated nudges 2-3 years ago from the Holy Spirit to write one!  (I catch on eventually.)  My response when I realized this idea was not coming from me: 'Lord, aren't there enough recipe books already?!'  A couple more nudges the next few days.  'Ok, I'll get started.'  It wasn't a matter of starting from scratch though.  After more than 30 years of experimenting, tweaking, and more tweaking, it was more a matter of choosing which ones to add, tacking down the exact amount of the ingredients, and taking pictures.  (That sounds alot quicker and easier than it was!)  Of course after a couple of years there were also new ones that deserved a spot in the book, such as coconut bars and nutty seed brittle.  All the steps involved in putting the book together have been good practice for me to remember to pray for wisdom and guidance in all aspects of each day; the big things and the small things.  Because the  truth is - in the long run, I don't know which things will end up being the most important.

The recipe ingredients are vegan, nutrient dense, whole foods. Over 60 are also gluten free.  As I recall, there are only three that aren't all whole foods: the spicy veggie pocket shell is made with unbleached flour, a small amount of unbleached flour is used in the burrito shells, and the filo dough for the baklava is not whole grain.  The other 102 recipes are made up of all whole foods.  The sweeteners used have very little refinement.  These are: honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, and/or unsulphured molasses.  If you have any questions or comments on the book or the recipes, you are welcome to email me at:  stonehillbakerycooking@gmail.com  If you are just getting started on making delicious, whole, satisfying food; there are easy to follow, detailed instructions included, with the ingredients in the order needed.  May you experience the joy of making, as well as eating the food from the recipes you find in the pages of  'Comfort Food'!

A Little About Me

The important and fun things in my life (in no order).

Being outdoors is my favorite place to be.  Fresh air, taking the time to observe all that is around.  I'm just starting to learn about all the wild foods around us that are not just edible but very tasty.  For example, the pigweed that grew up in our poorly weeded garden this year was delicious!  More on forage foods another time.

Getting regular exercise (including stretching).  30-60 minutes a day is ideal.  The mental and physical benefits far outweigh the time put in; with more energy, tasks getting done more efficiently, and when doing tasks outside I am working my muscles not straining them, reducing the chance of getting hurt.  When this falls out of the schedule occasionally, there's no sense moaning about it- plug it back in and move on! 

I like rocks.  The ones with the soil on them, of course!  Since as far back as I can remember I have been picking up and dragging home everything from tiny tiny fossils smaller than 1/4", to huge rocks over 100 pounds. Ok, the 100 pounders with my daughter's help, or my son just picking it up on his own.  Bless their hearts, they don't mind going rock hunting with me occasionally!

Organically growing as much of our food as possible is important to me.  So far we have a veggie garden, berry bushes, fruit trees, an asparagus patch, and there are a couple walnut tree saplings planted in pots in the herb garden awaiting their new home in the lawn next spring.  Bartering or gleaning in other peoples yards for nuts, fruit, or berries we don't grow is another way to acquire organic food.  With permission of course! 

Sharing the food we grow and make with others.  There is something about sharing with others that just warms the heart and brightens up any day.  Sharing baked goods probably happens the most, which I'm sure contributed to my children calling our kitchen the 'stone hill bakery.'  Sharing other people's over abundance is fun too;  my dear friend Terri lets me pick bushels of apples each year which then are given away to alot of different families and local homeless shelters.

I love my family.  My husband and I  are blessed with two beautiful children, inside and out, who make it all worthwhile!

First and foremost, I love God.  All three co-equal parts of God.  I am thankful a part of Him stepped out of eternity and into our 3 dimensional world for 33 years to walk with us, teach us, and provide us with a path back to Him if we choose to.  I am thankful Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to help us, and be with us with every breath we take, when we choose to accept God's gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus.  God has also provided us with Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  (B.I.B.L.E.) Reading some of the word of God each day has enriched my life.  One of my favorites is Esther: among other good things she prayed to know when to open her mouth and when to close it.  Always a good thing to know.  Another is Matthew: which reminds us how God comes along side people with some pretty heavy baggage and turns their life around for the better.  He still loves doing that today too, when asked!

Thanks for Visiting!

Hi!  Thanks for visiting!  In sharing with you on this blog, my hope and prayer is you will find helpful information and be encouraged in your own path of learning as I pass on what I have learned over the years creating recipes, gardening, and other things related to the outside.  (The local fauna and flora as it is called.  Fauna being the local animal life, flora the plant life.) 

A little history on why I have been experimenting with recipes the last 30 plus years.  The first ten years of life included some rather annoying digestion problems; the next ten years added chronic, severe constipation with serious allergies beginning at 18.  At around 21, two friends of mine over the course of a couple weeks  both suggested I should try a varied vegan diet, as it was working really well for them.  To say the least!  These guys were both very healthy looking and so muscular they would've been body builders.  Lets get something straight right now.  I don't believe in 'going on a diet'.  The connotation behind that is, it is something temporary and then you go back to eating the junk you used to eat.  Not a good plan.  Your diet is what you eat, which may be nutritious, body strengthening food, or it may be food that weakens the body.  Now changing ones diet to include healthier, nutrient dense food is a good thing.  Back to the story.  I didn't go straight to all vegan, but after three months of cutting out meat and reducing the amount of dairy products  and refined sugar, the intestinal problems improved considerably but no changes in the allergies.  When I told my mom (the dietitian) of my diet changes, she suggested I do some research to find a variety of foods  containing the nutrients one needs, and she gave me the book 'The New Laurel's Kitchen' which was a great resource for new recipes to try, charts on cooking beans and grains, and charts showing the amounts of vitamins and minerals in a lot of foods. Since then, it has been a gradual switch to all  vegan, including raw vegetable juices. This is an on going process.  I feel the best when I stick to all vegan, am juicing at least a couple times a week and practice proper food combining-(the intestinal and allergy problems virtually disappear).  In all honesty that doesn't happen 100% of the time. Some times I'll be out somewhere and I'll say to myself:  You can eat this and it may or may not still taste good  for the 5 minutes you eat it, but then you are going to feel crummy for the next 12-24 hours after.  Is it worth it?  Some days it is, some days it isn't.  The days it is have been less and less through the years.  That brings us back to the reason for creating recipes that are satisfying and tasty.  With delicious choices with food value, the why waste my time and resources on stuff loaded with refined sugar, refined salt, and refined flours?   Simply put:  Eat well, feel well!