Meatless Monday #3 Vegetarian Lasagna

Hi! Welcome to my blog and thanks for joining me for my third Meatless Monday meal. This week, I thought I would make an Italian classic, but when I did some research, I discovered that Ancient Greeks were responsible for making this pasta out of long strips of dough they called, "laganon. Fast forward, several more centuries and Italy claims they perfected the delicious layers of meat, vegetables with these long pasta strips. To complicate the origin of this dish further  however, the first cookbook with a lasagna recipe was found in Britain in 1390.

So wherever this recipe originated, I'm sure over the centuries each country contributed their own flair to the dish and while I used to stick to a classic meat lasagna recipe, in the last 10 years my family has enjoyed my vegetarian twist. Maybe that is how in this day and age, we are re-shaping the classic lasagna. As we contemplate eating less meat for many reasons, health, environment, ethical treatment of animals, I personally find this recipe more delicious than my old meat version, as the vast array of vegetables contributes to a layer of delectable flavours.

This is also a meal that can be prepared in advance and frozen if you wish for a small gathering or a large. Or better yet, make one to eat now and one to freeze.

Join me out in my garden where I have to dash to pick some tomatoes, some carrots and basil and oregano.

While this isn't my large Roma (Viva Italia) tomatoes, which are perfect for this dish, it's a picture of my cute Juliets...definitely needed in any tomato garden

This year, I planted carrots all over my garden, wherever I had a spot 'cause you can never have too many carrots. They get even sweeter with the crisp fall days and are delicious fresh from the garden

Go outside and our girls are ALWAYS wanting to get in a photo shot...here's Cocoa cruising in the kale

Are you ready to cook with me today? Okay, let's go inside.

 Find your cutting board and a sharp knife because the biggest part of making this dish is in chopping of vegetables. Here we go.....

Homemade Hearty Vegetarian Lasagna

 Ingredients

Lasagna Dry Noodles (I prefer whole wheat for the higher fiber content) I'm using a large Lasagna pan and I cook 14 noodles (I use 12 for the dish, 6 on each layer, but always cook a few extra...great for dipping in the sauce, yum)
1/2 tsp salt  
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion chopped finely
3 garlic cloves
1 small green pepper
1-1/2 cups of  sliced carrots
1 cups of sliced mushrooms
1-1/2 cups of sliced zucchini
5-6 large tomatoes cut into quarters (if you don't use fresh tomatoes, you can add another jar of sauce)
1 large jar of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil and oregano or 1-2 tbsp of dried herbs
4 cups of lightly packed fresh spinach or 2 packages of frozen spinach
454 grams of  partly skimmed Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 -3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (add more if you want a really cheesy top

Directions

1. Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of salted, boiling water for 7 to 9 minutes. Drain water and rinse with cold water, drain again and set aside.

2. In a large pot, saute onions, garlic and green peppers in olive oil. Cook several minutes. Add carrots, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Cook several minutes allowing vegetables to soften. vegetables are soft. 

 


3. Add fresh chopped herbs to the vegetables, then add the jar of sauce stirring and cooking for several more minutes. If you are wanting a rich taste, you can also add some dried oregano and basil. When I cook this in the summer when I have fresh herbs, I use fresh AND dried herbs. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, the eggs and the spinach.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

6. Now layer 1/2 of the tomato/vegetable sauce in the bottom of your pan...most people use a 
13x9...but mine is a bit larger

7. Lay 1/2 of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.

You need two eggs for the ricotta/spinach layer...here is Victoria with our new egg basket, which we had to start using since the girls like to collect the eggs and bring them in IN their hands...but earlier today we had a slip up and lost two eggs, ooops! hence our new egg basket

8. Lay the ricotta cheese/spinach/egg/Parmesan mixture on top of the lasagna noodles

9. Lay the other half of the lasagna noodles on top of the ricotta cheese/spinach mixture

10. Now spread the 2nd half of the tomato/vegetable sauce on top and finally layer this with all the mozzarella cheese.....if you want a lot of cheese use 3 cups but I found 2 full cups enough and then I sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top

11. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. I place some tin foil on top to keep it hot.....and allowing it to sit helps it to firm up when you are serving the pieces.

Note: If you want  the sauce to be hearty...you can use even more vegetables than the above....I know when we have served this to some of my children's friends, they have not appreciated the mushrooms but they really do help to make the sauce thicker and heartier. 

Sorry for the glare...the rear of our house faces south and on a nice day, at 6ish the sun shines right into the back of our house...lovely but not great for pics

The little kids love lasagna

We are missing Alyssa and Harrison tonight. Alyssa has agreed to do some childcare/house sitting for our neighbours who are gone for a week, and Harry is at his part time job....Lasagna warms up really well and is better on day 2

And you know what seems to go really well with lasagna?...Carrot Cake. Have you tried my recipe?...well it's actually my sister C's recipe, which is awesome and we have tweaked over the years. Try it and see what you think.

And I think our cat Ryuuki must have known it was Meatless Monday, 'cause as soon as our son Clark got up to go and get something from the kitchen, our sweet little guy jumped up into his seat and settled in, soaking in the rays from the sun. When Clark came back, he let him hang and he pulled up another chair. Our pets remind us to go where there is love and FOOD.

Are you still on the fence regarding choosing a vegetarian lifestyle? If so, check out Graham Hill's TED talk video, "Why I'm a weekday vegetarian." Any steps we can take in the direction of choosing meatless meals, helps our planet earth. (if you are unable to see the link below, click on the hyper-link above)

Well, thanks for joining me and my family today and I hope this lasagna recipe inspires you to choose it as another vegetarian meal for your repertoire.

 Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful

Blessings from Hope



 

Meatless Monday #2- Smoked Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry

 
Welcome back to my second Meatless Monday. It's a gorgeous day in the Okanagan and what I want more than anything is to get outside and harvest some more tomatoes. I have been doing that almost daily and after the kids are in bed at night, I'm either cutting them up and putting them in the freezer, or I'm making salsa and canning it. It's been a GREAT tomato gardening season! We eat a lot of tomatoes in the winter, as I add them to so many meals. Stay tuned for my Salsa making/canning experience later this week and let's get cooking with an Asian inspired dish, for our Monday Meatless dinner. Do you have places to go too?

Stay tuned....and join me in making some salsa later this week

You know what I love about "Smoked Tofu and Vegetables?" They aren't just a healthy, MEATLESS, combination, but they are SUPER EASY TO PREPARE. Perfect, if your Monday is like mine and kids are flying in and out of the house, off to after school activities. I like them to have something filling either coming or going.

The little girls are off to ballet after school which makes dinner time more hectic

For years, my kids, especially my older ones, would protest when we had a meal with tofu. As soon as they arrived home after school the question, "What's for dinner Mom?"  would be asked, with hopeful anticipation and I would reply with dread, "tofu," knowing a groan would be their response. What about tofu makes kids groan? And why did I always reply to their, "what's for dinner question," with the protein choice of the meal? Why didn't I say instead, "we are having, Squash, Carrots, or Broccoli?" You know why, because in many parts of the world, meat and potatoes is still the way people want to eat, choose to eat, like to eat. They probably don't know any better. We used to not know better. It was the way I was raised to a degree, and also many comfort foods were associated with meat centered meals. Meals like; meatloaf, chicken pot pie, and pork chops with orange slices.

"Sigh,"......that's me.

I know 20 some years ago, when I started cooking with tofu now and then, my kids felt TOFU was synonymous with vegetarianism ,and anything with the word "vegetables" in the title, was not good in their books. KIDS!

Thankfully~

Times change~

Palates Evolve~

And I have grown up too~

I have a more discerning desire to feed my family healthier choices and as a side benefit, it helps the earth. (Although if I was really smart, that would be my number one reason to become a vegetarian, since, if I help the earth, I help ALL the children in the world)

Whatever my children's perception was, the bottom line is that tofu is a good source of protein when choosing a meatless meal and maybe it didn't hurt that I found a yummy smoked tofu that everyone likes. It's meaty, savory, and of course, it has a great smokey taste. It just adds another flavour dimension to our meals.

If you have a busy Monday, or any day of the week, the biggest part of making a stir fry is cutting up the vegetables but make it easier on yourself, and do it the night before, placing the veggies into a large container and store them in the fridge until you are ready to WOK with them. Okay, poor pun, but speaking of woks, you don't need one to make this meal, just a large frying pan will wok, I mean work. (sorry, I couldn't resist)

Having said that, once you have used a wok and experienced how fast it cooks, while maintaining the texture of your food, you will want to purchase one for your kitchen. I have an electric wok, but I have always wanted to do the hanging wok from the ceiling thing, which says to me....

dinner in a sec.

and good cooks live here!

Okay, ready to start chopping? by the way, you don't have to limit the vegetables to what I have chosen. You can add anything you have in your fridge, the more the better, the brighter the colour, the healthier. I have chosen kale as my main green vegetable, as that's whats in the garden right now but broccoli works great and would be my other number 1 choice.

Meatless Monday #2 - Smoked Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients

Rice, thin egg noodles or Spaghetti Squash (we chose the later for this dinner as it's in season)

Marinade:
 2 cups of vegetable broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 Tbsp of low sodium Soy Sauce....my number one choice is the Bragg's variety when I have it
1 Tbsp  honey (or sugar)...this is optional
3 teaspoons of cornstarch
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp powered ginger
Opt: 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Now for the rest of the ingredients -  vegetables, etc: Note: If you cut the veggies in strips, more of the vegetable can absorb the spices and it will improve the flavour of the dish

2 tbsp of sesame oil
3- 4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of grated ginger
1 chopped white onion
1 stalk of celery sliced
1 red hot pepper cut finely (optional...even our kids are starting to like things SPICY and even though I also have red pepper flakes in the marinade, I like layering my spices)
1 orange, red, or green sweet pepper, sliced
2 to 3 carrots sliced
2 cups of  red cabbage..sliced
2 cups of kale or broccoli, cut up
1 sliced small zucchini
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 package of smoked tofu cut up in cubes
Garnish of green onions, sesame seeds or almonds

Directions:

Cook the rice, noodles or spaghetti squash, as we have done, before you start your stir fry, as that part of the meal takes the longest to cook. Once you start cooking with the wok, dinner moves fast!

I had this cooked in the afternoon and Harrison just scooped the spaghetti squash and put it in a casserole while I stir fried...I also had rice cooking on the back burner..I use brown rice which takes 40 minutes

1. Heat  oil in wok, then add, onions, garlic, ginger, celery and red hot pepper

2. Add tofu and mix well with the above spices and vegetables, Cook for several minutes
3. Add the vegetables that will take the longest to cook, saving the softer veggies for last 

Cook these for a bit, stirring well, then add the last of the vegetables, in this case the mushrooms and zucchini....leave the more tender veggies until the end to avoid mushy veggies

4. Add the marinade to the vegetables and mix well with vegetables. If the heat is too high, turn down to medium low, and cook with cover on, stirring occasionally, checking often to see if the vegetables are cooked through, don't let them get too soft, not a nice texture in my opinion.

 When the kids start circling the island, (that's what they do in my house when they are hungry) then serve on a bed of rice, noodles, or like we did today with rice AND spaghetti squash. I topped it with green onions but you can garnish it with sesame seeds or do what we do often, a handful of almonds

Wished I had cut up my green onions a bit smaller, but hey, you should see them in my garden..they are HUGE...also, this dish is for William and he likes his food separate...so it's not plated for an adult...but he eats like one in amount!

 

 For my blog sake, and because Will has to head off to swimming right after dinner, I dished him up first.
 

He told me to tell my blog friends that the spaghetti squash was a nice touch

 Well it's that easy.

Sometimes we make things so hard in life but choosing to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle is quick and really perfect if you are a busy mom too. I'd like to think that when my grandchildren ask their parents, "What's for dinner?" someday, and my kids tell them, " Grandma's Tofu with Vegetable Stir fry, they will say, "Hooray!" I'm holding the vision for someday having grandchildren AND a world where everyone has food on their dinner plate. and peace in their heart.

Join me as I end this blog post with one of my son William's fav songs. In the evenings, after bath time, teeth have been brushed, stories are read, after I have said goodnight, sleep tight to his twin sisters, Will often asks, "can you come and lie with me for awhile Mom?" When I shut out the evening work of making lunches and cutting up and processing more tomatoes, and accept his offer, it's the BEST time of my day. "It's a choice to make a better day..."

Will starts singing the first song on the CD with his sweet, clear little boy voice. Sometimes he talks about his day with me and sometimes he asks me about my day....he's very mindful that way. He asks about children all over the world. As his body relaxes and his breathing slows, we both drift on the wings of the music. 

I remember a time, being little like him. A 7 year old in the 60's. My Dad had died in a truck accident 2 years before and I can recall feeling so small, so insignificant in the world, and yet, there was this tiny part of me that was BIG. I didn't know it then, but I believe it was my shining soul energy. Even though times were often tough, I held onto that golden cord connected to this loving part of me, and I knew, if I had the opportunity to grow up, I would try to make a difference. 

I'd like to think with my writing I make a dent on this earth, and by raising children who are conscious of their own golden cord, that we will all weave a thread of love and peace around the world. IT'S MY HOPE. Here's the song that Will sings from his, "KIDS FOR PEACE, "  CD, called, "We are the World." It's a good song to sing on Meatless Monday!

If you can't see the youtube video below, click on this hyper-link, We are the World.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Clam Chowder and Transformation

I love the beach, the ocean beach to be precise. The waves, rolling in and out, with the clock-like tide, the screech of sea gulls overhead, and the endless sand all beckon me to come and sit in peace.

My family used to go to Rathstrevor beach in Parksville, Vancouver Island, B.C. every summer for years, when our older children were younger. We would rent a cabin at "Tigh Na Mara," with 2 bedrooms and a large open family area with a cozy wood burning fireplace. The cabin was in the woods, well back from the beach, which created a deep and quiet refuge in the evenings, but was only a short walk until one could hear the rhythmic, rumbling of the waves, crashing onto the shore.

Vancouver Island, is also home to some of the oldest trees still standing on the planet. Each summer, our holiday was not complete, without a visit to the old growth forest called, "Cathedral Grove," or our long and winding trip across to the most western side of the Island where Tofino and Long Beach are situated. It was there, when standing on the edge of the ocean, with toes digging deep into the sand, that my whole being would exhale releasing pent up energy, and inhale all the beaches negative ions, restoring me with the grace of nature. I would be transformed into a relaxed, peaceful woman, if not until the next yearly trip, at least for many months after our holiday.

We would end our day trip with a delicious dinner at the Sea Shanty in Tofino, which has been run by the same, First Nations couple since 1994. The view of Clayoquot Sound from the patio (perfect for kids!) is intoxicating. At the end of the day, I would drink in the ocean, like the landlocked woman I was and know my soul was being restored. There is something poignantly special, about sitting amongst your family and knowing, life doesn't get any better life than this. The fact that the food was AMAZING didn't hurt either.

I'll never forget our first trip, our oldest son Clark was around 5 years old. A precocious 5 year old, I might add, who was already reading with a larger than life personality. "Mom, there is nothing on the kid's menu that looks good. Can I see your menu?" Passing it over, he carefully read all the dishes and then declared, "I'd like the Seafood Platter please." Of course he would I thought, it's the most expensive dish on the menu. "But Clark," I said, "that dish is for adults, do you think you can eat it all? "I'd like to try, besides I want to taste every kind of seafood on one plate." His Dad and I exchanged looks over the table and finally we both nodded in agreement.  He was so happy to dig out meat from the crab legs and dip his lobster in the butter, relished over the grilled salmon and enjoyed the scallops with a "mmmmmm, this is so good." He even shared as I recall. He STILL remembers that experience to this day. (Mind you, he usually remembers every adventures in relation to what we ate along the way)

There is also something so pristine about that part of the world, that propels me to promise to care for the earth and do EVERYTHING I can to honour it, by keeping it clean and healthy.

This summer we took our younger children back to Vancouver Island for an end of the summer holiday. Part of the reason was to get our son Mitchell, who was starting his 3rd year at the University of Victoria, stocked up with food before the semester started. Personally, I really needed an ocean fix. Every pore of my being was dehydrated and needed to be refreshed, BEFORE we started a new, endlessly busy school year. It was delightful watching our younger children experience the ferry ride with all the ocean sights for the first time. I was reminded yet again, we are always creating pathways for our children, teaching them to walk the earth more gently and be TRANSFORMED with grateful hearts.

Recently, I wrote a blog post about choosing a vegetarian lifestyle, and if you are unable to do it full time, then starting with one dinner a week is a great first step. After writing that post, a friend of mine asked me how I have gotten my family converted to eating mainly vegetarian meals. I thought about how we have been moving in that direction for a long time and what the process was and realized, we are STILL not where I would like to be, fully vegetarians, but we are in the process. In order to achieve your goal, taking steps in the direction of that goal is sometimes what's most important and also appreciating how far you have come and being okay with it. I tend to be too hard on myself, so looking back on what used to be on our dinner plates was an awesome realization for me.

Each day that we consciously choose to buy food that is not just healthy for us, but good for the environment too, has to be enough right now. At least we are moving in the direction of change and many days I can say we are there. (One of these days, we will totally stop eating bananas too, since it takes a lot of fossil fuel energy to bring them to my part of the world) That reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver's book, called, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," where she and her family chose to eat local, LONG before it was cool. In that book, she chronicled their experience. If you are wanting to be inspired, I recommend reading this beautifully written book.

Anyway, back to my friend's question.

 "How does one move in the direction of becoming a vegetarian?"

 Well, first, you start making one vegetarian meal, then two meals and then three meals and before you know it, you have a complete repertoire of food your family loves, or will grow to love. Something we have done for years now is reduce our consumption of meat in the meat meals we eat. For instance, when the recipe calls for 1 lb of meat, you cut that in half. For more inspiration, here is what another blogger wrote about how to become a vegetarian.

Just like when we are trying to sneak more vegetables into our family's meals, (you know hiding carrots, broccoli and zucchini into everything), you do the reverse with meat and slowly, you have cut out the amount of meat you add to your meals, until you replace it with an alternate source of protein; tofu, quinoa, beans/rice, almonds, etc.

Another way to move in that direction is to give a vegetarian alternative for the family members that do choose to eat solely vegetarian. It's that old, try a bite of everything and before you know it, your meat eating family members have acquired the taste buds for a fresher, more alive, healthier choice. Their bodies will tell them what feels better after they have eaten a vegetarian choice.

I'd like to share a delicious soup I made recently for my family last week, when we had another cold and rainy day. It's a long time favourite of my oldest son's who was the one who ordered that Seafood Platter years ago. It's my Clam Chowder Soup but instead of adding three cans of clams, like the original recipe calls for, I only use two. It tastes great, and no one notices the lack of clams. Actually, my "totally vegetarian" daughter asked if I would be offended if she picked the little clams out of the soup...and her brother gladly said, "I'll take them."

Okay, so it's a life time process, especially if you raised your children to be meat eaters. I try also to not talk too much about food in general, no sermons about how eating meatless is better for our world. I call everyone to dinner and part of the enjoyment of the food is knowing we are only together for a short time. I know better than most moms since I have grown children and still little ones, how fast childhood flies and before we know it, our children are out in the world and making their own food choices. I hope they will have some favourite, comfort foods that will continue to nurture them with fond memories of home and holidays, long after I'm gone.

If you are cooking with me today, join me in listening to this great song, full of flowing harmony and easy beachy rhythm, "Tofino," by Old Man's Beard. 
(If you can't see the link below, check on the hyper-link above to hear this cool song)

And as we are groovin, here's my Clam Chowder recipe

Hope's Clam Chowder

Ingredients

2 cans of baby clams ....(the recipe originally called for 3 cans of clams)
4 strips of bacon    (this recipe also originally called for more...you can use vegan bacon)
1 minced white onion
1 minced celery stalk
3 minced cloves of garlic 
8 medium cubed chunks of potatoes
2 medium sliced carrots
1 cup of frozen corn kernels
3 tbsp of whole wheat flour
6 cups of vegetable stock 
2 cups of whole milk 
2 tbsp of dill (if you have fresh, chopped and add.....the more the better)
Salt and pepper to taste
garnish with parsley

(Note; adjust the stock and milk based on how much liquid you like in your soup and also how creamy you would like it)

Directions

Cook bacon in large soup pot, drain off the fat, add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add the chunks of potatoes, sliced carrots, flour, salt and pepper and mix really well.

I  am always amazed when I grow potatoes, beneath that dirt, it's always a bit of a miracle to see food appear.

Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender. 

Drain the clams and put the reserved juice in the potato mixture, bring back to boil, and add the corn, the clams, and milk. Season with dill. Heat well and then serve with parsley and a nice big bun. (link to my homemade bun recipe) 

(Tip.....We often have a bit of left over Salmon or other fish in the fridge. It's not enough to feed my family so when this happens I will add it to this soup, making another whole meal...if doing this, you can reduce the clams to just one can...and call it a Seafood Medley)

  
It's ALL good!

Thank you for visiting today. I try to give my blog content to share with my readers some of the things I stumble upon in my day to day life moving in the direction of living on this earth more consciously and of course being mindful to care for our home. If you want to listen to an awesome Youtube video on caring for our oceans, which when you think about it, is really the earth....since land is actually on top of the ocean....and most of our planet is water...anyway, check out Sylvia Earle's prize winning, Tedtalk video called, "My Wish." Click the hyper link if you can't connect to the video below.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

International Peace Day

Yesterday was "International Peace Day." Ever since I was a little girl, peace has always been important to me. Maybe, being a young child in the 60's, when passionate peace marches were happening, or opening my school lunch box everyday with a psychedelic peace sign stamped on the lid, all had the effect of etching the importance of peace into my being.

 Or maybe the knowledge that peace is a truth that just resonates with my soul. Now that I'm older, I understand  how truly important peace is in the world. It's so simple and yet so hard for us to achieve. Why do we humans take the harder path in life? Because we want to be right and we want to win. But really, if the world is in a state of peace, then we all WIN. What can be better than that?

It starts with basics like, respect, kindness, compassion, non-judgement.

Here's a link to an article by Andrew Martin who wrote, "The 6 Traits of People who live Peaceful Lives."

Here are the highlights and the 6 things you can do to live more peacefully;

1. Let go of Ego and just be yourself.

2. Learn From the Masters

3. Bring Awareness to your Life

4. Realize we all Experience Conditioning of Some Kind

5. Understand you Create your Own Experience

6. How do you live your life, through fear or love? 

Often when my young children aren't sharing, or they are bickering, I will ask them to stop and face each other, asking themselves if the thing they are wanting so badly, or the point they are wanting to make, is more important than the love and relationship they are wanting to experience and create with each other.

Inevitably, they drop the treasured toy, or stop shouting and simply reach for each other, sometimes telling each other they love each other. You can feel the energy shift and the anger dissipate if you are an observer. It's quite remarkable. Teaching our children when they are young, is a good start towards peace.

Being aware and asking, "what is my intention?" is a HUGE step towards peace.

A little over a year ago, a little 3 year old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi lay drowned on a beach. He, his mother and older brother died trying to find a more peaceful place to live in the world. Yesterday, I was thinking of him. I was thinking about all the Canadians and others in the world, who want to close off the borders, for fear of terrorism entering their country. And almost like synchronicity, last night before I went to bed I watched a bit of the CBS 11 o'clock news. They did a story on another Syrian refuge family, who has recently come to Canada, and were hitting the ground running after arriving in the country last year. They are growing a successful business making what they know best, chocolate, (who doesn't LOVE CHOCOLATE!!!) and they are already starting to give back to the country who welcomed them.

This makes me cry with happiness but also with dismay. How many of us are already living in a beautiful part of the world, in a peaceful country, and we take it for granted. We take clean water, food and shelter, ALL for granted. For most of us, there are opportunities for us to become successful and give back to our communities. There are opportunities for us to extend our hand and say, "Welcome, come in peace." This family inspired me today, and has me thinking about "what I can do in my community RIGHT now?" to make the world a more peaceful place.

Eat chocolate of COURSE!!! but.....

maybe I can do little things, like writing this blog post and the few people who read it, may be inspired, sending ripples of peace out into their part of the world. I can assess some of my other strengths; I love to read and I love children. Maybe I can go in and be a parent helper in my younger children's classrooms, maybe reading with children, or at least helping out the teacher so she can offer the best education possible for all of our children.


I do believe education is one of the foremost steps we can take to live peacefully.

Hey and don't you think if someone handed you a piece of chocolate, AND a book, you would feel happier and more peaceful? Works for me.

AnYway, this was just a quick blog post as I wanted to give you the link to the news report about the Hadhad family in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. (click on the hyper-link if you can't see it below)


I hope it inspires you too.

Thank you for coming. 

Until we meet again, "peace out!"

Blessings from Hope