Free Scoby Kombucha Babies!

I and my husband have been brewing this wonderful tea for about 6 months and in that time have grown A LOT of extra scoby babies. We realized we had too many and started to throw them away, but were too guilty to do it. They are like sweet little life giving pets and we just couldn't do it! They almost seem to have their own little personality and decided that they were too good for the trash can, SO we decided to offer them here for free. All we ask is that you pay for shipping! It wouldn' t feel right not to add that my original scoby was purchased from another wonderful etsien (kombuchick http://www.etsy.com/shop/Kombuchick ) who also offers her scoby's for free.  I believe that this is a wonderful tradition that should be passed along and it would be wonderful to see people sharing this beautiful healthy brew with as many people as possible.
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~ There is enough for all. The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if they will but cultivate her soil in justice and in peace. ~ Bourke Coekran
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~ Be generous! Give to those you love; give to those who love you; give to the fortunate; give to the unfortunate - yes, give especially to those you don't want to give. You will receive abundance for your giving. The more you give, the more you will have! ~ W. Clement Stone


click on the pick below to be taken to my shop to order!

Comes with up to 1 cup of starter liquid to start your own brew)
Shipping cost reflects proper shipping of this perishable item)
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Exerpt below from http://www.organic-kombucha.com/teakombucha2.html

Please visit this site or do your own search to find the many many many benefits of drinking this wonderful health tonic!

"Why drink Kombucha Tea?

* Drinking Kombucha promotes good health and helps millions of people with its excellent detoxifying and immune-enhancing
qualities. There are no known negative reactions from drinking kombu tea, except for improper brewing methods.

Its origins are lost in history, but in the earliest records two thousand years ago it was known as ‘the elixir of long life’.

* Kombucha is not just a health tonic; it is a complete therapy.

* Kombucha has proved itself to be a quite remarkable therapeutic drink, made from sweetened tea into which a Kombucha
culture (a symbiosis of bacteria and yeasts) is placed. It can taste similar to apple cider or a refreshing light wine, depending
on the fermentation time and type of tea used.

* There are at least six million Kombucha brewers world-wide.

* Doctors, consultants, and practitioners are now recommending Kombucha to their patients."

MOnday Munchies (a little late :) Portobella Burgers

THIS sandwich/burger is to DIE for!!!!
I am not a huge fan of cooked mushroom anything, but I thought I would try it out on myself and the family... needless to say, it was awesome! I had it on a whole wheat organic bun with tomato, mixed greens, a little ketchup, and slices of avacado) It was so good that my one year old actually took it out of her bread and ate it by itself and didnt even eat the bread...(and she LOVES bread!) I will be making this again tomorrow because I have lots of leftover ingredients, AND because I already want it again :) Thought I would share this keeper with the world! YUUUM!

½ cup ground flax seed
¼ cup hemp seeds
2 Tbsp fresh-chopped parsley
½ tsp fresh chopped thyme ( I use about a tsp of dried when I cant get fresh)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1½ Tbsp braggs aminos
2 cloves minced garlic garlic
½ tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp stone ground mustard
¼ cup chopped walnut pieces
2 medium portobello mushrooms chopped into bite size pieces


In a food processor:
Add flax, hemp, parsley, thyme, oil, braggs, garlic, black pepper, and mustard and process until well blended.  stop and add in the walnuts and mushrooms. (make sure that they are already well chopped before hand or you will end up chopping them into oblivion in the processor... the idea is to keep the nuts and mushrooms in the mix a little chunky for texture..) Pulse a few times in the processor and then mix with a spoon for good measure.   Scrape mix into a bowl.   Take about 3 tablespoons (more or less for size preference) and roll into a ball, and flatten on a heated skillet to make a patty.  Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side till lightly browned and heated all the way through.  patties will never fully solidify on the inside but the creamy texture is DELICIOUS none the less!  serve on a toasted whole wheat bun spread with mayo of your choice, tomatoes, mixed greens, and a few slices of avocado.  I also add about a teaspoon of ketchup :)

Enjoy! 

Secrets...

I feel in a sort of "purging" mood today.  I have been holding some deep feelings in for a LONG time and I think its time to be brave and let them all out.

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My secrets..oh I have so many.... but the ones I feel most compelled to share, the ones that I feel SO guilty about... are the feelings I have had for my family and my life so far...

I always thought of myself as a "good girl".  Growing up had always dreamed about the 10 children I would have.  I always thought about how perfect it would be, how I would have this big wedding with all my family around me and and how I would be such an awesome loving mom.   I was so naive...

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 I got pregnant when I was 20.   The hardest thing was telling my best friend, my mom.  She was crushed.  I wasn't married.  I was so embarrassed.   I didn't get married to my husband (the father) until I was 6 months pregnant.  It was a shotgun wedding with us in pairs of jeans at a little place aptly called The Hitching Post.  Classy right?  We didn't even tell my family until the next day.  My mom was crushed again, I hadn't invited her.  My husband (who is in fact 2 years younger than me) decided to go and join the army 3 months before I was due.  I missed him so badly.  When my daughter finally came, I was so happy, and yet so sad.  The stress of having an emergency c section and my husband gone for the whole thing (she was 5 months old before we got to see him again)  made nursing her extremely painful.  I tried for a little while, and gave up.  I loved her dearly, but I felt so disconnected from her.  I felt like I didn't get to bond with her properly when she was born, and then I didn't even get to share oxytocin with her through nursing her. 

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She started to grow, and soon I had a son.  He was so perfect, and I got to nurse him for a year, just like I had always wanted to to with my daughter.  I started to feel even MORE separate from her.  I felt strangely jealous and guilty and distant from her.  I felt even MORE guilty, as she loved to snuggle, loved to tell me how much she loved me, and it hurt to not have as strong feelings for her as she had for me.. I felt so INADEQUATE. This was not who I was supposed to be.  I was supposed to be super mom, not some guilty loveless shell.   Why couldn't I just LOVE HER??

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She and her brother grew some more, and then my beautiful third daughter came.  She was so happy, always smiling, my little sunshine.  I felt so guilty again, I felt like I loved her more than the first two.  I kept asking myself  WHY??  Why can't I just LOVE my kids all at the SAME TIME?  They are beautiful special sweet spirits that came to me, wanted to be in MY family, and I felt as if i had let them down.   How could I POSSIBLY bring another 7 kids into this world If i can't get a handle on my feelings for the three I already have??  I vowed then that I wouldn't have any more kids.  The stress was just "too much" for a mother of a newborn with two other small children.  I didn't get much sleep.  I hallucinated at night A LOT from lack of sleep.  (Not that I ever SAID anything to anyone about it...) 

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 But life moved on, as it surely does.
One time, I tried to talk about it.  My mother scolded me when I mentioned that I didn't feel like I loved my first daughter as much as the others.  She told me all the things I WASN'T doing that she had done in her own perfect way to raise ME.   I never talked about it ever again.  It just made me feel that much more inadequate and useless.  I KNEW it wasn't right.  I just didn't know how to fix it.  Oh how I wanted to fix it!

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(In retro spect, I probably had SERIOUS post-partum depression and didn't even know it.)

Fast forward  to the present.  I want another baby.  I see everyone around me having babies and OH how i miss it!  My mother gets so exited when my step sisters, my brothers wife, and anyone else is expecting.  She has never been overly THRILLED when I get pregnant.  Its always a "health" issue, about how I should wait till this or that.  How I should "take care of the kids that I already have".  I know she only wants the best for me,  but what about MY dreams? what about the 12 year old little girl inside this 27 year old body who had so many ambitious dreams about how her life would turn out?    I'm afraid.  I am SO afraid of getting pregnant and completely falling apart emotionally.  I am so afraid of telling my mother when I DO get pregnant.  (Don't get me wrong, she ADORES my kids.  She is an awesome grandmother.  She is STILL my bestest best friend and I love her dearly. )
 But what happens when things just don't work out the way you expected them to, when life takes you hurtling in the opposite direction than you wanted to head?  What happens when some of your dreams wither with age and misuse? 

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This is my secret, my ULTIMATE secret....
I would like people to think that I have everything under control, that I AM the perfect mom, that I have everything figured out, that I am SO completely confident in my life and its current direction.....but you know what? I DON'T.  I have absolutely NO idea what is going to happen next and it scares the CRAP out of me.  But you know what else? Despite all of this, despite the emotional roller coaster, the disappointments, the guilt, there is one thing I know for sure. and that is that I am NOT perfect, and really, that's OKAY.
 I will be OKAY.

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I will find my way and everything will end up beautiful and wonderful and more than I could ever have imagined...... and that makes it all worth the journey.

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