Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Diva Left the Barn... The Barn Hasn't Left the Diva

I've had precious little reason to mention my passion for yoga in this blog. Writing has been a key component to my personal journey of self-exploration, once the kids took off on their personal adventures in elementary school, yoga has been the other. I worship on the altar of body-with-breath, and in that mental space, my mind quiets and the spirit comes to me. I have faith in things I cannot see and before this phase of my life, barely could bring myself to believe in. Faith has been a really rocky road for me, though so many of my friends and family are so unshakable in theirs... the tragedies of life pulled me far, far away from mine.

Yoga has brought me many good things. A refined focus on life, a clearer mind and, though it has been another rocky road, a much happier home for my spirit to reside - in both structural senses.

Recently, yoga brought me an incredible job offer.

I now work from home for Namaste TV I get to do yoga and write about it for a living! When the whole thing was in progress, I was in this land of 'Wow! I can't believe they even thought of me for this! How nice! What an honor!' My position had not yet been created. If you know anything about the ever-intricate land of Corporate-ville, creating a position can be a longer process than the life cycle of a tortoise.

You can imagine my mental status when, just about a week after the idea was entertained, I had a job offer... I nearly required a loader tractor to lift my jaw off the floor!

We're in an adjustment phase now; but really, I am living a dream! The kids go to school and I am in yoga land... doing it, breathing it, learning more, writing about it. What a thrill!

To make room for this thrill, I had to let go of my post at the farm though. I thought I'd miss the cows more. I do miss the hours of mingling and moving with and through the cows (except when the movement is kicking), I miss the air (isn't that hard to believe? It's true!) I miss the people I milked with. But I LOVE this work! It's working out for the family as well, as I am home, showered and ready to tackle homework (and often dinner is already in progress!) by the time the kids get off the bus.

I mentioned we're in an adjustment phase... oh, yes, we are.

Farm income was weekly. Freelance income is monthly. Therefore, we have a few weeks of unavailable income to get through. So I am revisiting something I rather enjoyed before I returned to the barn... being a "Frugal Gourmet".

The kitchen may as well be a science lab as I use the most basic ingredients to make things you wouldn't think could be made at home. Laundry detergent, anyone? Yup, you can (and many thanks to some great gal-pals who shared that little tidbit!) Homemade granola and caramel corn, like my grandmother used to make and I LOVED! Today (and the reason for the blog entry) it's homemade coffee creamer.

This is so easy it is sad. I had to share. I can't tell you how many times in the last few years I have run to the store SOLELY for coffee creamer. Not doing that again! The first recipe I ever used came from Frugalvillage

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 Cups Skim Milk

You can flavor with these:
Chocolate Almond: 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder, 1 tsp almond extract
Vanilla: 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Cappuccino: 1 tsp. almond extract, 1/2 tsp. orange extract (GOOD Stuff!)
Strudel: 1 TBSP cinnamon, 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. almond extract
Chocolate Raspberry: 2 tsp. cocoa powder, 2 Tbsp. Raspberry syrup

Measure all into a 32. oz. container (with cover) seal and shake. You can store in the 'fridge for up to two weeks.

Today, I got adventurous and made my own recipe. I mixed 24 oz. Fat-free half & half with 1 Tbsp cocoa powder and 3 Tbsp. Hazelnut syrup. The powder didn't mix into the cold half & half so great, so next time I will probably add some homemade chocolate syrup (my next project for the day) It stirred into my coffee just fine though.

So there you go. I haven't posted in months; but the Barn Diva is still around. Out of the barn and onto the mat... but never out of the dairy! Make sure you show the gals in the barn (and your body!) some love and get your proper servings too!
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