Boho Girl

A lot of time and energy goes into what we put into our bodies in this house. Each of us have sensitivities that are crucial to our health and well being. I was born with Celiac, unable to digest gluten and my tummy is intolerant to most fish except shell fish. Boho Boy has an intolerance to gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, safflower oil and citric acid (those last two ingredients are in everything!). Cedar seems to feel more calm and clear on a grain free/gluten free, corn free, peanut free, high protein, low carb diet.

Because of our various needs, not one “diet” out there works for our family, which is okay with us because we are used to not fitting into a box. We love to eat and we love eating for pleasure too. So you can imagine the creativity that needs to go into our meals. Oh my!

With much trial and error, we have learned we all feel better juicing our own fruit and veggie juices, eating more raw, mostly vegetarian, meat/fish just a few times a week and light on brown rice breads/pastas. It has taken us years to fully grasp what works for each of our very individual bodies and create a food lifestyle that is in harmony for all of us. Because we all know that making three different meals is just not super fun, no matter how much you love cooking! I just now feel like I have a grasp on this and am more aware of what to look for as far as recipes and substitutes.

Today I found this recipe over at The Detoxinista, a blog I discovered while doing a search for grain free goodies. She’s brilliant and has some really lovely recipes on her site. I wanted to share this one with you because they truly do taste like pancakes and I am looking forward to trying different flavors with them.

My pumpkin-lovin’ boys were in heaven and wanted seconds and thirds. I had to substitute almond butter for Boho Boy’s homemade cashew butter because of his allergy to almonds but they turned out perfect.

Boho Boy’s Cashew Butter

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon oil (we use grapeseed or walnut)
• Dash of vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Blend it like mad. Add some water/oil or maple syrup to achieve desired creaminess…and to help the blender along as it stops.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup almond or cashew butter
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2 whole eggs
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon honey

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 350F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
• Use a ¼ cup to scoop the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the pancakes are fluffy and golden.
• Serve warm, with pure maple syrup or whatever you desire

Yum Yummity Yum Yum.

{a slice of heaven, taken last week}

I wanted to share with all of you one of our favorite dishes to eat around here. Since Cedar has become an increasingly picky eater when it comes to vegetables, I am always trying to find ways to sneak them in. One of those ways is in this roasted veggie Crustless Quiche I found online. Although we call it a frittata. ; )

When we are trying to not eat that much dairy, we use Daiya cheddar cheese in place of real cheese. It still tastes so wonderful.

The veggie combo I have found to be the favorite around here are roasted onions, broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. If we are eating meat or needing more protein, I sometimes put in bits of real bacon or sausage.

For an extra special treat, sometimes I will layer the bottom with already cooked hash brown potatoes that we whip up. Mmmmm…

My boys devour this. Its mouth watering yum.

If any of you have some other fun ideas on sneaking in veggies besides smoothies and making baked potatoes out of steamed cauliflower, it would be a delight to hear for us and probably many that come to this space.

Enjoy!

Deerskin & Antler Ring:

This ring was made with ultra soft deerskin and a ~naturally shed~ deer antler button. It was sewn with natural fiber sinew. It is not adjustable but it will stretch a little.

Forest Sprite Pouch:

Keep your treasured finds, sacred herbs, crystals, or other talismans inside this pouch to carry the medicine with you. This pouch is made with deerskin and sewn with natural fiber. It measures 2 x 2 3/4 inches.

The artist, my deer/dear friend Lauren handmade these beautiful treasures. I cherish the ones she made for me (that is my hand in the photo above and I have a pouch as well) .  I feel their gentle deer medicine when I have them close. Lauren has been so very mindful about my connection to deer since I wrote this post and shared with her their impeccable timing of showing up on certain days in my life. So, we thought it would be appropriate to share some of their gentleness with you as many of you have written so touched about deer and how healing they are.

Edited to add:  Note from Lauren in response to a few questions and concerns…

These buttons were made from naturally shed antlers. I do not support deer farming and I will never buy any hides from any mass produced company that kills deer for their skins. I have been given many hides to work with and I honor the animal by giving thanks for its hide, and by putting it to good use as it does carry the energy of the animal not the energy of the person who skinned it. Most of the hides I use I was given by other medicine people, that were blessed in ceremony… a couple of hides I exchanged for from a local Native American woman who owns a trade post. When I run out of hides I will not be making more products unless I am given more because like you I do not want to contribute to any animal’s suffering. When I am given something that use to belong to an animal I do not feel bad using it to share the good energy from it… I feel honored to work with it and keep it’s energy flowing in my works. It would otherwise go to waste because I use 90% scrap pieces, which is why there are no large items in my shop.

{Lauren has graciously offered all of my readers a 15% discount in her shop.  Please just enter BOHO15 when checking out.  Thank you, Lauren!}

GIVEaway Rules:

• Winner receives one Deerskin & Antler Ring and Deerskin Pouch
• To enter, please leave a comment
• One comment per person, please
• Comments will close Thursday, April 12th at 10am
• Winner will be announced by evening on Thursday and will be contacted by both Lauren and me.

spending time with nicole and alex

I am noticing that when I have time away from Cedar, whether it is when he is napping (which is very rare these days) or when he is in his woodland preschool 3 days a week, I carry this unnecessary guilt around that unless I fill this time with housework or house projects, that I am being too indulgent. I am not sure where that pressure comes from. Its not coming from my husband, although given a hormonal day, I will think it is. My husband has his own business and he works from home in an office downstairs, so we are fully aware how hard he works from morning until evening with mini breaks in between to play with Cedar or practice archery out back. It is important to me that my husband knows we honor and appreciate his efforts to support our family so well and it is important to me that he views my nurturing Cedar and our home and our bellies as an equal effort of contribution to our family’s well being. I lived on my own for so long supporting myself, as well as had my own business after we were married, so getting used to not contributing financially to my family can play a bit of a mind trip on me and my self worth as a woman.  I know it won’t always be like this  because I have some projects on the horizon but at this stage in our journey of wellness and of nurturing Cedar, it needs to be for the time being.

It is good for me to remember that the moments I take for myself are not only for myself but are for my boys too. Meaning, if I want to sit for an hour to browse online for wisdom that interests and fulfills me, then I will be a more present mother and wife. What I am learning about myself as an Introvert, is how crucial alone time is for me and being a mother of a toddler and a wife of a stay at home working husband, alone time is more precious to me than it has ever been in my life. I cannot always fill my alone time with cleaning and picking up the house or grocery shopping or errands. This can feel so very draining for me. So I am trying to rethink and balance my new-found alone time while Cedar is in school three days a week for a few hours. I am most recently wanting to give myself permission to allow some of this time to go towards activities that fill my soul. And this is perfectly okay and good, so good for Cedar and my husband to witness. Part of why I am sharing these feelings in this space is to shoo the guilt away and to grow deeper into an awareness of my needs.

Today I chose to spend some time online, which I don’t do often these days and when I do, it needs to be with an intention or I get overstimulated or spiral down with comparison gremlins. I was on the couch and my dear husband suggested I sit in our mud room-turned dining area. He said there was sun shining in there. He even pulled the table and chair out for me just right. My heart warmed at this gesture because he could easily resent this time of hush for me but rather, he supported and encouraged it. So, I snuggled under the sun and spent time on my friend Nicole’s website: Whole Food Meal Plans (see photo above). I joined her and her husband’s program (they are new sponsors) and I am thrilled to begin with their recipes and natural health ideas next week. So far this past hour browsing their program, I have already learned so much from them and have been led to other blogs/sites with food and natural product recipes that feel so doable to me. I am a newbie at making my own salves and tinctures and mists from what surrounds me in nature. I am a huge supporter of purchasing my friend’s and sponsor’s natural products but seem to notice I have not been confident enough to make my own. Well, that is going to change and I feel so supported by the blog community in regards to this shift in my life living here in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by nature’s medicine.

Heal-All (Prunella Vulgaris) around our home

My friend was over the other day and pointed at all the Prunella Vulgaris growing around my house. I had no idea their healing properties! Remember I shared that this is my year of the Deer…of gentleness and healing for me and my family? Well its so fitting that these precious Prunellas are surrounding us in a purple cocoon of wellness. They are also referred to as Heal-All or Self-Heal.  Of course they are.

{important correction!  just found out from an herbalist friend of mine that this plant is actually called Lamium Purpureum (aka Purple Nettle)!  see?  we are all learning together in this space.  and this is a beautiful lesson for all of us how important it is to check with experienced herbalists when harvesting our own plant medicine.  Lamium has its own healing properties that our family needs.  so truly, its perfect}

A warm hello to all the Boho fans. My name is Latisha, herbmama. A giant thank you to my sweet friend Denise for giving me a chance to talk about what I love in her beautiful space.

After my daughter was born, I went in search of natural alternatives for health and healing for her. Something about the conventional ways just didn’t feel, well, natural for us. And I struggled to know what to do when she was sick. So, I poured myself into learning as much as I could about natural remedies and my understanding and trust in earth medicine grew. The plant people came to greet me and show me their gentle ways and I found myself whole and home again. Now that my girl is older and she is joined by a little sister, I can look back at this time with more understanding. I remember how frustrated and small I felt among the massive amount of information out there. I made it my mission to help mamas feel comfortable and joyful and safe about using natural medicines. What was born out of that frustration was the HerbCraft Camps.

A multi-sensory experience using herbs as medicine the HerbMother way. This isn’t necessarily a class for folks interested in setting up shop as an herbalist, though it could be a great staring point if you are just beginning. The herbmother way is written for the home herbalist. People who want to begin caring for their family and embracing plant medicine as a way of life in the home. Part herbal medicine making. Part crafting. Part re-wilding. Part re-childing. A whole lot of fun.

HerbCraft eCamps are a virtual nature camp for anyone interested in learning about fun, easy, mamafolk methods of herbal craft making. If you’ve ever wanted to start using herbal medicine, but just weren’t sure where to begin. The plants communicate with us through our senses, at camp you will be invited to awaken your childlike expression in the world as we greet our own HomeDirt with fresh young eyes.  It is my hope to pique your curiosity about the greenstuff growing right in your backyard and encourage you to begin using natural remedies in the home with ease and a feeling of security.

HerbCraft Camp is a gentle entry into the world of plant medicine, with a loving guide who wants nothing more than to help you feel success with treating you and your family in a natural way.

I’d love to have you along. I am giving away one free spot in the upcoming Spring Session camp starting Monday, March 19th!

GIVEaway rules:

• To enter, please leave a comment
• One comment per person, please
• Comments will be closed this Friday at 10pm PST
• Winner will be contacted on Sunday to begin eCourse this coming Monday!

WINNER: Congrats to Jennifer Blevins! HerbCraft eCamp starts this Monday…so excited for you. You will be contacted very shortly about details. xoxo

{images of latisha by the lovely georgia cranston of gypsy rae photography}

taproot magazine

I received a copy of Taproot from my friend Amanda (editor of magazine) in the mail the other day and it couldn’t have arrived at a more perfect time. I cherish those serendipitous moments when a loved one in your life connects to you in a cosmic way without conscious intention. Like this morning when I was looking out my upstairs bedroom window, watching the ripples of the water in the bay and imagining they were reaching my friend Jessamyn whom I miss achy so. And in that moment I heard my phone buzz with the words “Just have you on my mind…” and it was her.  Sweet Synchronicity.

Taproot magazine embodies the intention I am putting towards my life right now: “Living Fully, Digging Deeper”.  Let me share an excerpt from the publisher Jason Miller that says so much of what I am wanting to cultivate in my life:

“People are taking stock of what’s really important in life.  They’re reviving skills of their grandparents like gardening and canning, sewing and knitting.  They’re meeting neighbors and creating community.  These are real skills, both personal and interpersonal and they happen offline, in the tangible world.  They happen in a place.  People are saying the time for rootlessness is over; I’m ready to plant myself here, come what may.”

Oh yes, that is it.  “Tangible World”.  That is where I have been.  Reconnecting with a tangible world or moreso, retraining my brain and heart to pour my focus into what surrounds me with less time online.  I have no idea how to garden or can or knit but I am opening up space and time in my life to begin learning.  And when I put that intention out there, I was blessed with the possibility.  My dear friend Julia, who was my next door neighbor when we first moved here, is a farmer and I have asked her if she could come over and teach me how to plant vegetables this Spring.  My other friend Annie, who also used to be my next door neighbor, has asked me to come and knit with her on Wednesdays.  I have only picked up knitting needles once in my life 15 years ago and I gave up after a few tries.  I am more patient in my life now.  And I have more of a yearning.  And I am creating time to be more still.  I am ready.

I am drinking in this magazine like a thirsty woman needing to hydrate.  It feels like every page, every article, photo, quote, recipe…just the whole of it speaks to what I am wanting to create in my life.

Kale has been a huge part of our diet lately and I love it raw but I know not everyone does.  There is an article by Cynthia Lair about massaging kale with sea salt to help take the bitterness out.  I had not yet heard of this trick!  So for 2 minutes I massaged my freshly chopped curly kale with some sea salt and it worked.  My kale salad was AMAZING.

{chopped and massaged kale, diced honey crisp apples, diced red cabbage, roasted pumpkin & sunflower seeds, dried cranberries tossed with a small dollop of poppy seed dressing}

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to participate in this amazing ecourse with a tribe of SOUL~full, POWER~full women.  It was going to be a big commitment and I knew it was going to require much of my energy and time.  It spoke to so many parts of me.  Especially the need to share my gifts with the world and to touch people’s lives in a healing way.  It spoke to the Creatrix in me.  It spoke to the power I know I have within me to launch something extraordinary and life altering.  But there was this deep resistance that had nothing to do whether or not I believed I was capable of this.  I knew I  was.  We all are.  But it was more about timing and the simplicity I have been craving.  It was about my family that needed me to be more present.  It was about me knowing I am changing and still in the process of relearning who I am and what I am passionate about now.

Most importantly it was about my health and the health of my boys.  Since living with toxicity in our walls in Southern California, our immune systems have been a bit off.  This winter we have been sick with flu’s and colds non-stop as one person gets it, heals and gives it to another and the cycle continues.  At first it was disheartening because I feel I feed my family well and we live in a seaside village with fresh air to fill our lungs.  I had a week or so of feeling depressed about it.  We had come from a home that contributed to illness and I wondered if we had entered into another one.  I really took it on and felt I wasn’t doing enough.  When the opportunity to do this ecourse came into my life and I needed to decide where my energy would go, it was then that it became clear to me.  If I have the power to create a legacy with my passions and creativity, then I have the power to help heal my family and in order to fully dive into all the parts of me that make me ME, I need to be well and so do my boys.  The shift from feeling dis-empowered to empowered felt invigorating!

So, I dedicated this year to the year of WELLNESS for my family.  Sort of a continuation of the path I have already set before me but just more of a confirmation that I am going in the right direction.  Just the idea that I am able to focus on nothing else but wellness, released a weight on my shoulders of trying to be ALL things.  I can fill my days with self care and care for my boys and that is enough right now.  And when my body feels healed and my energy returns ten fold, I know opportunities will open up for me, as so will more energy.

Self care to me right now is being really mindful while preparing and eating nourishing foods.  Making time to move my body more (yoga, long walks, dancing).  Creating a beautiful, simple and stress free environment in my home.  Learning to garden both veggies and flowers.  Meditation and prayer.  Setting aside time to connect with souls that see me and nourish my spirit.  Being present for my boys and my family.  Opening myself up to my tangible community.  My energy needs to be nowhere else for now and the permission I gave myself to do this allowed me to feel UNSTUCK from any pressure to do more.  My ecourse, my book and all else that is on the horizon for me is not going away and doing those things, while feeling WELLNESS in my bones will help me to stay more in an authentic space surrounding it all.

Its not easy to go back to the ways of living more simply and quietly when most of the people in my life are rocking their creative passions and building inspiring businesses online (and offline).  The urge to compare can at times bring on not enoughness or loneliness or even a sense of being forgotten.  But those are the moments I have to breathe and remember what is in front of me, what is tangible and what is in alignment with what I am needing right now in my life.  I can honor, celebrate and support my friends but I don’t have to be doing what they are doing to be fulfilled.  I have always needed and wanted to follow my own heart and stay authentic to who I am and what I need.

And I am hoping this guy will learn from all of this the importance of listening to your heart and carving out your own path regardless of what is going on around you…