Holiday inspirations

Do you relax by looking at Nature, beautiful gardens and interior design? Then probably you will have great time on this blog site.

Even without translation to English, I had a magical time going through the photography. A sense of quiet slowly seeped from every image.  We all need a little of relaxation during the holidays.

If you need a super-treat for the Holidays, try this raw vegan fudge from Jenny Mustard. The video itself is a feast for the senses.

And if you have more energy, start prepping for Thanksgiving. Below is a great recipe for cornbread. I might have taken it years ago from a magazine, but made a few healthy substitutions that worked out well.

Cornbread
 
Ingredients:
4 oz apple sauce
1 ¼ flour (1:1 white and whole wheat)
2 ¼ cornmeal
2 tsp salt and some black pepper
1 ½ baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
3 large eggs
2 ¼ cups water
1 cup corn kernels (I use canned)
2 jalapeno peppers, no seeds, minced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil two muffin pans (the recipe makes 24 muffins). Mix together the eggs, water and apple sauce. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, baking soda and baking powder. Make a well in the middle and the pour egg mixture. Stir in the corn, peppers and cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!  I am freezing a few muffins for the days after Thanksgiving.

Does misery love company

The last flowers of 2018 from my soggy garden

I finally decided to open up about my misery. I hate people who whine. And yet, this post is more or less exactly this, a public whining.

Recently, I read a post by Tawcan, one of my favorite FI bloggers. He revealed some of his own dark moments.  Going through his narrative felt so familiar to me.

Tawcan also posted this Steve Cutts Happiness animation. Look at the final scene of this short film. One of the million rats on their desks is me. Caught in the money trap. I need money; therefore, I need to continue working no matter how unpleasant the work conditions are.

from Steve Cutts Happiness animation

I have been in a sort of funk since July. A series of small and medium level disasters and bitterness have flooded my days for four months now. The relentless bombardment of blow after blow has left me tired and defeated. None of the "blows" are problems of life or death; however, all are beyond my control. I have to deal with the consequences, not the causes.

What calms me down? Cleaning up my house and throwing things that I can live without, watching Jenny Mustard's YouTube channel.  Sometimes, cooking also feels good. Walking could be a time for reflection (or brooding). What works for you?

Coincidentally, many of my students and colleagues have been stopping by my office to tell me how unhappy they are. Do they sense a fellow in misery? I try to help by asking them about their source of dissatisfaction and anxiety. The most frequent culprits? The lack of "me time", the lack of control over many things in life, the anxiety about the future.

We are all bulldozed by obligations, assignments, tasks. Many of these activities are absolutely unnecessary inventions by people, who have nothing to do all day and therefore, come up with absurd new ways to justify their own salaries and existence. 

But if I want to receive my salary, I have no resort. I need to comply and obey. I need to do all the bizarre things my superiors impose on me every day.  The yoke has become an integral part of my body.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yoke_(PSF).png

I think that the only source of happiness for me would be plenty of unstructured and unrestrained time on my own. "Unrestrained" suggests free of financial concerns. "Unstructured" means that I can do whatever my imagination wants. Enough time for creativity.

                      happiness = creativity

This is why probably sometimes even cooking is happiness - it is creative time. For example, I cannot wait for try this chocolate granola recipe by Jenny Mustard.  First, I need to get a blender...

Freedom from the everyday annoying red-tape tasks spurs imagination. I remember that in one of her videos, Jenny Mustard shared that she had too many ideas. I believe that this might be the natural state of any person unburdened from imposed unnecessary tasks.

So, anyway, why don't you try to bake something new today?




 

Below is my weekend recipe of creativity.

Peanut butter cookies 
(Disclaimer: I am not sure whether these are cookies, but they are edible)

Ingredients
1.5 cup wheat flour
1.0 cup white flour
2 cups oats
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 cup (6 oz) applesauce (unsweetened)
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 ½ cups crunchy peanut butter
optional: cinnamon sugar powder

Directions
Combine the flour, baking soda, and oats. In another bowl, mix the bananas, apple sauce, eggs and peanut butter. Mix the egg mixture with the dry ingredients and with wet hands form 1.5-inch balls. Distribute on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and press down each ball to a circular shape of a cookie. Bake at 350°F for approximately 18-20 minutes. Optional: sprinkle with cinnamon sugar until warm.  The recipe makes approximately 40 cookies.

My advice is to not try this recipe if you love sweets. Maybe these cookies would taste sweet only accompanied by a cup of black coffee. Of course, you could cheat and add a bit of sugar either in the dough or on top of the baked cookies.

The very last minute Christmas gift

This Holiday season, I am a big fan of the Christmas videos put together by Jenny Mustard. 

The videos awakened my Christmas spirit. I admit - in the days before the Holidays, my Christmas spirit is somewhat muffled by the work, the worries about the future and the overall media noise.

I learned a few neat ideas from Jenny, such as this one of gifting a list of “dreams come true”.

You can watch Jenny's video THE MOST ROMANTIC CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER, a very mustard xmas #19. In brief, the idea is that you and your closest person/partner write down what your dreams are (e.g., dreams about hobbies, health, travel, etc.), and exchange these lists on Christmas. Your buddy then helps you achieve one of your goals/dreams in the next year.

This gift is great for many reasons, but the best in my view are these two benefits:

• First, by writing your list of goals/dreams, you develop a better understanding of yourself: who you are, what you want to achieve, what you want from life, at what stage of your life you are.

• Second, your closest person gets to know you better and this makes life so much easier and clearer. We frequently co-exist with our partners without even knowing each others innermost desires and wishes.
  

This type of gifting is also great for a birthday of a teenager or an adult - it is a nice way to encourage self-reflection and sifting through our values.