Throwback Travel Tuesday: Canyon de Chelly

Overlooking the canyon where farms operate alongside centuries-old ruins.

  We went to Chinle, AZ last Spring in mid-April on our way home. I didn't blog about it then, but I plan to catch up on some of the spectacular and fun places we visited. This is in the NE corner of Arizona on Navajo land. We enjoyed it more than the Grand Canyon. The people there are so ready to share their culture and we were able to talk to several and learn different aspects of their life. In the Visitor's Center when I asked how the name was pronounced, I got a very interesting lesson in semantics and history. It's pronounced Canyon de-SHAY and is derived from the Navajo word "tsegi" which means "rock canyon". So it means "Canyon of the rock canyon". An amusing redundancy. Also, the Navajo people call themselves the Dine (di-NEH) which means "The People". They claim that 'Navajo' is a Spaniard word for 'horse thief'. You can easily see why they would prefer their own name for themselves! However, I think they're stuck with 'Navajo' at least to outsiders.

   We stayed in the Cottonwood Campground near the Visitor's Center since there really isn't anywhere to boondock nearby. It's a beautiful place and we appreciated the services. Within walking distance is a nice little motel and gift shop and we enjoyed browsing and then talking to one of the Navajo weavers and she explained how the beautiful rugs were woven. It was fun to get that first hand. They are quite expensive, but worth every bit, I'm sure. Just not in my budget!

It was an impressive site, and well worth the hike.

Proof I made it to the "White House' ruins.

   It's free to enter the park and drive the rim drives both north and south. You're able to see quite a bit, but from a distance.There are tours with local guides which is the only way to get into the lower canyon with the exception of White House trail. We opted not to do a tour, but perhaps we will next visit. There are many families that still farm in the valley and it was amazing to us to look down and see the farms, the fences, the animals, houses, etc so near the ancient ruins of the Anasazi. We did do the White House hike, 2-1/2 miles round trip with a drop of about 800+ft. It was a great trail and they did a good job of making it reasonably gradual. We took our time and did fine. It was well worth it to get closer to the ruins. On our return and near the top we chatted with a Navajo who had some artwork he was selling. It was beautiful work and I was sorely tempted, but I contented myself with learning about his childhood living in the canyon and his grandmother who still lives and farms there.

Spider Rock, a rock climbers challenge! 

Farther up the Canyon stands Spider Rock, a spire that is a lofty 1000ft high. I asked why it's called "Spider Rock" and was told by our Navajo friend that the story is passed from the elder women to the younger women in the Hogans where the women gather. I got the sense that it would be a privilege to be allowed to know this story, so I let it go. He was so gracious and fun to talk to, and we learned many other things. He now lives 'up top' where cell phone reception is better and life is not quite so hard as it is for his grandmother. There are many enterprising and artistic Navajo who sell their wares in the parking lots or wherever tourists are likely to be stopped. Some of their work is whimsical, some quite exquisite. As much as I wanted to help support them, the question of 'where to put it' or 'how much does it weigh' keeps me from getting carried away. The rock formations are spectacular and we enjoyed our visit there very much. Even after seeing some of the more famous parks, it still remains our favorite.

Looking down at the floor of the canyon and trail near the White House Ruins.

Foodie Fridays: Thanksgiving Feast

From up on the hill, our rig is on the left next to the darker one.

We are camped at Anza-Borrego State Park near Borrego Springs with our Boondocker friends. Last year we had 90 degree weather for our Thanksgiving Potluck. This year it was more comfortable, but we had to move our potluck to Friday since Thursday had clouds and ferocious winds. Not something we want to contend with while eating outside in a large group. Today the weather was great and the meal was wonderful.

In order to do a potluck, I bring food that I can eat (and that I want to eat). Usually I'll just do a simple all-in-one dish and fill up on that. But today was special and I just wanted to make several different things and be able to share them.
I fixed:
⦁ Raw veggie tray with *cultured cream dip
⦁ green salad with honey-mustard dressing (on the side)
⦁ turkey thighs baked with turnips, carrots, onions and celery
⦁ turkey ham sliced and fried
⦁ *mashed cauliflower with flaxseed oil
⦁ *dried apple pie
⦁ *Avocado Grasshoppers
⦁ *Lemon/Orange Kombucha-Water kefir drink

It was yummy and I love all the left overs! I cooked the turkey thighs in my Sun Oven. Another reason to be thankful for a calm and sunny day! I placed the thighs on chopped carrots, turnips, celery and onions, topped it with rosemary, sage, basil, marjoram, salt and pepper. They cooked beautifully and were ready in plenty of time for the 2:00 meal. I got started around 9 am and they were done by 1:15 pm. I love using my Sun Oven here in the Southwest where I have plenty of sun and no electrical hookups. Cooking with a Sun Oven means planning ahead and taking advantage of the angle of the sun at different times of day. But well worth it to not heat up the rig or have to turn on the generator to run the convection oven. These could easily be cooked in a crock pot or Instant Pot.

*Recipes:

Cultured cream dip is very easy if you make your own milk kefir. Just put the grains into whipping cream for a day. When it's ready, take a 1/2 cup and mix in 2 tsp dried onion, 1/4 tsp dried dill weed, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and let sit for 30 min or more. Keeps well.

Mashed Cauliflower is perhaps the easiest. I took a head of cauliflower, cut it into chunks and steamed it. When it was soft, I used my Bamix stick blender to puree it, adding a bit of the cooking water as needed, then flaxseed oil, salt and pepper. I usually use butter, but I was making it so that someone sensitive to dairy could enjoy it.

Dried apple pie: Since we have an apple tree on our lot in Olympia, I was busy drying apple slices this Fall in order to have plenty for making pies this winter. Last year I made the pie with blueberries, but I wasn't happy with the color of it. The taste was great, but I decided to just do apple this time. I didn't account for having less fruit, so it was a bit flatter than I would have liked. I'm not happy with the crust/crumble recipe I used, so I won't share that.

For the apple filling:
2-1/2 cups of dried apple slices OR 3-1/2 cups if not using blueberries
2-1/4 c water OR 3 cups if not using blueberries
1 cup blueberries (frozen are fine) OR leave out increase apple amount
1 TBSP cinnamon
small squeeze of lemon juice
1-2 TBSP honey (not sure how much, just a big glob!),
2 droppers of English Toffee Stevia
1 tsp plain gelatin (optional)

Simmer apples in water for about 30 min or until apples begin to soften, then add the other ingredients. The gelatin is to make sure it isn't runny (optional depending on how much water gets absorbed by the apples) I drained some of the extra water into a small container and mixed up the gelatin thoroughly before adding it to the mix. When everything is blended and apples are fairly soft. Pour into a crust or a pie pan and top with a crumble or crisp topping and bake. I wish I had used my favorite crisp recipe today! I used a new recipe and it was not as good. I'll have to do that recipe another time. The link to where I found it is broken.

Avocado Grasshoppers

Avocado Grasshoppers This seems to be a favorite at potlucks. I try to keep it cold and only serve it at the end as it keeps well in the freezer, but doesn't do so well when it gets warm. There are a few changes I make to this recipe, but not many.  I double the chocolate layer on top, and I use stevia for at least half of the honey called for. So for 1/4 c of honey, I use 2 TBSP honey and add 2 - 3 droppers of liquid stevia, either plain or flavored. In the chocolate, I love to use English Toffee Stevia. It gives it a lovely flavor. CLICK HERE for the original recipe.

Lemon/Orange Kombucha-Kefir. The is a lovely probiotic rich drink. I do the kombucha as well as the water kefir in my motorhome. I love to mix them together since they really enhance each other. I mix roughly half kombucha and half water kefir, with just a bit of water to tone it down (optional), add a few slices of lemon and some orange flavored stevia and you have a refreshing and delicious drink.

I hope you enjoy these recipes. Let me know if you try any of them.

Sanctified Saturdays: Musings on Fall

Musings on Fall

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Linda Heath

Colors. Change. Rain.

I love the colors of Fall. The dark green of the fir trees contrasting with the changing colors of the maples, alders, and other deciduous trees. It’s a feast for the eyes. Especially on a sunny day; the sun turning the leaves a brilliant gold or a fiery orange to contrast with the blue of the sky. Spectacular!

I love the changes that come with Fall. I like that some things stay the same, but I also love that there are changes to spice things up. Changes in weather, changes in colors, changes in daylight hours. We often don’t welcome change, but we need it! What new season is God going to take us into?

And then...

Click here to read the rest of it.....

(Note: because of our travel schedule this is being published a day early)

Travel Tuesday "On The Road Again"

Departure Day!

My Featherweight set up in the rig.

    To most people it's known as Halloween. Yeah, clearly we're not 'most people'! Pulling out of Olympia was a bit harder this year since we've made so many good friends here. In Canby, OR, we parked at our friend's place.  Last year while parked there, there were no trick-or-treaters all night, but this year they ran out of candy! Fortunately, they ran out of kids at the same time. Or maybe turning off the lights helped....!
     We went on to Albany the next day to park in front of my sister Sue's house where she taught me all the steps to oiling my Featherweight Singer Sewing Machine. I haven't used it a whole lot, but it did need the oil and I was glad to get that done and learn of all the places the oil goes. Modern machines make this unnecessary, but I love the dependability of the vintage machine! Plus they're cute.

Hobbit House designed and built by my nephew-in-law.

    My other sister, Judy,  came on Saturday morning and we had a gab-fest catching up on everything. I played my songs for them and we sang them together which was a huge treat for me! Love those harmonies, love singing with my sisters. Blessing on blessing.

    There are only a couple of places we can park a rig this size, but my niece's driveway is a pretty nice landing pad and we moved there on Saturday. From there we were able to visit my other niece next door, and drive up to Salem to visit other members of the family. On Sunday morning we had a mini family reunion at Gateway Foursquare Church in South Salem. It was a great service and fun to share with a good dozen family members, 3 of which were littles previously not seen in the flesh. Love Facebook for helping me keep up!
     We got to see my Dad on Monday. As soon as he saw us he said "You've just made my day!", a very fun start to the visit. Having my brother Dave join us made it even better. He had some questions for Dad and pictures of his 'project house' and the ladder firetruck he bought off Craigslist. He got it for dealing with 4th story siding, also helpful for trimming trees. It was good to see that my brother is doing well and staying stable and that Dad is better than the last time I saw him. At 92, he's doing pretty good!

Jerry wearing one of Dad's "Hooton Electric" hats from when he had that business.

    Wednesday we said our goodbyes and headed out. We did a fairly short hop to Canyonville, OR  where we stayed at the Rest Area overnight. We got up early to head over the Siskyous. It was such a beautiful drive and by 10am we were seeing blue sky after the fog had lifted. No snow, yet, but there was plenty of frost in the passes. We arrived in the early afternoon in Redding, CA where we plan to spend the next 4 days attending different services at Bethel Church. More about that adventure later. We were glad to be north of the big fires with a north wind keeping the air fresh. But our hearts went out to those who lost everything and to the whole town of Paradise that is now anything but. The town of Redding knows very well what they are going through and plans for help were under way.

Foodie Friday: Favorite Morning Tea

My morning drink. Ah!

       Recently I was in a group setting with my morning tea along. Someone asked what it was. I explained that it was my morning tea; not actually a tea but an infusion of herbs I consider my herbal multivitamin. She wanted to know what I put it in and I thought this would be a good blog post. I like being able to get my nutrients from foods whenever possible. Herbs are more nutrient dense than many foods and an infusion is a great way to get those nutrients. Different herbs do different things, so it's nice to have a mix.
      I first started doing just nettle and peppermint first thing in the morning. A very nurturing and friendly start to the day. Then I read in a herbal Facebook group what some others were drinking and decided I wanted to up my game a bit! I had started with just tea bags, one each of nettle and peppermint. Then I started to do loose leaf, which is more economical. Then I added chopped stevia leaf, which is much better for you than the extract. Whenever you can get something in its whole form, you are getting a superior version as far as how your body uses it.

Pouring in 1/4 cup of herbs.

      By doing this recipe in units instead of cups, it's easier to make whatever quantity you prefer. I usually use a 1/2 cup measure, so I measure out 2 of nettle, 1 or peppermint, and so on. When it comes to the 3/4 of stevia, I just make my best estimate. My herbs are all dried and I either get them locally when I'm in the Olympia area, or I order them from Mountain Rose Herbs. Those marked "optional" I use sometimes. Those marked "driver" are important to include since they help the body assimilate the other herbs.

2 nettle
1 peppermint   (driver)
1 red raspberry leaf
1 dandelion leaf
1 horsetail
1 oatstraw
1 alfalfa
1 lemon grass
3/4 stevia leaf (not ground)
1/2 habiscus (optional)
1/2 orange peel (optional, driver)

Soaking overnight. 

Straining the herbs in the a.m.

       I mix this all up in a big bowl, then once it's stirred really well I put in into a container. I scoop out 1/4 cup into a jar before I go to bed and pour hot, but not boiling, water in the jar. I put a lid on it and in the morning I use a small strainer to strain out the leaves. Sometimes I top off my drinking jar with hot water to warm it up. This is so yummy and body friendly. I love to start my day with this.
      If you want to know how each herb is used, what its benefits are, you can look them up pretty easily. Here is one of many resources:  Herbie's Herbs. If you click on the individual herb, it takes you to a page that explains the herb and allows you to purchase it as well. I actually like to buy mine from Mountain Rose Herbs and they also have explanations, although perhaps not as much detail. It's always good to check more than one resource to get a more rounded view.