Some of you may remember that I experienced a bit of a garden setback this year, but I’m happy to report that I have been picking and enjoying tomatoes, peppers, squash, green beans, and field peas over the past several weeks. The satisfaction of producing your own food can’t be beat, even if there are challenges and setbacks along the way. The challenges make the beneficial rewards sweeter, especially since the taste of fresh, home grown produce just can’t be bought in a grocery store.
I could not see out very far in the storm, but I could see the torrential down pour, hail covering our deck, and wind that looked like it was swirling everything around outside. It left a mess; I’ll spare you the pictures of my broken garden and the tree leaves that it plastered on just about everything. I spent most of the day Friday, outside, working in my garden and enjoying it. In a matter of minutes on Saturday morning, the satisfaction of my hard work, and the beauty of it, was gone, and sadness filled my broken heart. But I woke up Sunday morning to find that we had been blessed with 11 chicks in our new chicken adventure- a new thing born out of the windy ash heap of stormy chaos, 11 unplanned chicks born in our back yard, born with no effort made on our part, other than giving their parents some of our woods to call home.
Chicken Babies - by Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) (substack.com)
I’m happy to report that the little chicks who made their appearance on garden D-day last spring have since been weened, are almost as big as their mama, and are now enjoying my garden space as much as I do. The reduction in insect pressure due to their presence this time of year is an added bonus to the fertilization they are also providing. Plus, the little rooster in the bunch has a thing for me and follows me around like a puppy, but I haven’t had the heart to tell him that I’m already taken.
The garden is always full of surprises! This week a flower spoke to me as it said, “let’s take this bloom where you are planted thing to a whole new level.”
Now that I’ve got you all caught up on garden and chicken things, here’s the dog days of summer recipe list I’m sure you’ve been anxiously anticipating:
Quinoa Chickpea Salad - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
17 Ways to Add Protein to a Salad - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
Salmon Quinoa Bowl Recipe - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
Chicken Meatball Soup - Stephanie Kay Nutrition
Preserved Tomatoes in Olive Oil - Shaye Elliott (theelliotthomestead.com)
Lemon Cream Pots Recipe (Grain-Free, Egg-Free) (deliciouslyorganic.net)
Since we have added quite a few new subscribers, I thought this may also be a good time to share our first recipe post with you which my mom shared with us shortly after this newsletter was launched. The recipe link can be found after the quote from that newsletter i.e. Recipes aka Nourishment.
Living a fast-paced, busy life can sometimes cause us to forget that food is more than something to fill our bellies with, it is nourishment that is used to support every bit of us, especially our mitochondria. I’ve heard that Julia Child thought that America’s overeating problems were rooted in being vaguely hungry after eating packaged, nutritionally bankrupt, processed, and fast foods. When we learned that diet could be used to help dad fight his cancer, mom hit the interwebs looking for new recipes to help dad heal his body, and he has absolutely loved what she has been feeding him. He has been on a Mediterranean style diet (no alcohol), and every time I talked with him over the past 4 months of chemo cancer hell, he raved about whatever she had made for him to eat and told me all about how good the food was. Once your taste buds get acclimated to eating this way, you won’t want to go back to blah tasting fast, sugary, food.
Recipes aka Nourishment - by Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) (substack.com)
bon appétit!
Best Wishes!
My name is Stephanie, and I can do hard things.
*Leaving Death in the Dust is a newsletter and is not a replacement for professional, regulated, medical, healthcare. This is informational and educational. Some of us in this community may have worked in the healthcare system, but we are not your medical provider and whatever you find here is not the establishment of a professional medical relationship or medical advice. **That is an MT behind my name not an MD.