Happy Valentine’s Day! Even on Valentine’s Day, we were able to slow down and practice slow living throughout the day. Read more below to experience slow living with Moonlight Fibers, Vlog 2, Valentine’s Day edition.
Chamomile Tea For Relaxation
My grandma was not feeling well in the morning. Her stomach was upset, and she left tired. I made her a cup of chamomile tea to help her relax for the rest of the morning. She has a lot of herbs growing in her backyard, not there is no chamomile growing there. The tea I made for her was from a teabag from a boxed set of individually wrapped teas. Chamomile is great for relaxation and indigestion issues, which is why it was the perfect tea to make for my grandma.
When I have my own garden space, I plan on having a planter dedicated to teas. There are so many health benefits to growing tea, and so I will have my own tea garden. This is for sure on my to-do list.
Delicious Chicken Sandwiches
We needed a quick protein snack before we went outside to the garden to pick the lemons we would need for later in the day.
I cooked the boneless, skinless chicken in a pan with olive oil. To that pan, I added tomatoes and cooked the tomatoes until they burst open. I also added spices like truffle salt and turmeric, and pepper. To make the whole thing a meal, I pushed the chicken aside and I toasted slices of bread in the pan next to the chicken. I scooped the chicken and tomatoes onto the bread and served it as chicken sandwiches.
Homemade Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe
After the savoriness of the chicken sandwiches, we were ready for something sweet. I make different hot chocolate mixes every couple of weeks. This particular recipe is sweet with a slight kick!
Ingredients: 1 c cocoa powder, 1 c sugar, 1 tb cinnamon, 1 tb ancho chili powder
Directions: Mix all the ingredients and store in a glass container. Heat 1 cup of milk and add 2 tb of the hot chocolate mix to it.
I usually heat up 4 cups of milk in a stovepot at once, and to that I add 8 tb of the hot chocolate mix, regardless of which version I have on hand (I also make a turmeric hot chocolate mix).
Sitting down together and sipping on hot chocolate is fun and sweet way of embracing slow living.
Peach Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients: 6 peaches, 1.5 c lemon juice, freshly squeezed, 1 c sugar, 5 c water
Directions: Cut the peaches away from the pit and place in a blender. Add the water, lemon juice, and sugar. Mix in the blender until everything is evenly blended and smooth. Chill before serving.
It took me quite a few lemons to reach 1.5 cups of lemon juice.
We had gone out to the backyard to pick the lemons from the lemon tree after we had our hot chocolate. It is wonderful that my grandma has a couple of lemon trees. Once in a while, we get a little poke from the branches, but I enjoy going outside and getting fresh lemons.
Pizza Sauce Recipe
The best thing about making pizza sauce, or any tomato-based pasta sauce for that matter, is that you can use up just about any vegetables you happen to have on hand. The general recipe is the same no matter what vegetables you have available. Just cook the diced vegetables in olive oil until they are soft, then blend. I transfer everything to a blender, but if you have an immersion blender, that would be great to use, too.
Ingredients: 3 tomatoes, diced up. 2 c baby carrots, 2 c diced celery
Directions: Drizzle olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add ingredients. Cool until the tomatoes burst open and the carrots are soft. Add spices to taste, such as salt, pepper, turmeric, and basil. Blend everything. It will have a slight thickness to it and texture.
Pizza Dough Recipe
This is a recipe I have been working on for years. I like to make it especially when my daughter’s cousins are visiting. The kids love kneading their own dough and picking out the toppings they want the most. Give it a try! I divided the dough to make 2 medium pizzas, but you can divide the dough more to make smaller individual pizzas.
Ingredients: 1 tb active yeast, 1 cup warm water, 1 tb sugar
Put in a small bowl, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom.
Ingredients: 3 c flour, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tb turmeric, 1 tb olive oil
Directions: In a medium sized bow, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, turmeric, and then the olive oil. Once the yeast is ready, add it to the flour. KNead for 5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. The dough should bounce back slightly when you press your finger into it.
Cover and rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough in half and shape your pizza. Cover and let rest for another 20-30 minutes.
Add your sauce and toppings. Rub olive oil on the crust area.
Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.
Slow Living With Moonlight Fibers
This year, we got to spend Valentine’s Day in such a beautiful way. I appreciate the time I got to spend at home with my family. I did not film everything, like the colorful construction paper shaped like hearts that I taped to my daughter’s bedroom door. On each heart, I wrote sweet little messages for her. The hearts stay on her door until they come down on their own, or until we decide to decorate her door with something else. Usually, the hearts stay on her door until the end of summer. It is a tradition that fits well into slow living with Moonlight Fibers.
Thank you for reading! The video is available below for your viewing convenience.
