Sunday SELF - C. 🐟 A. 🧸 R. 👩‍🍼 E.🪞

Happy Easter from me and my three new chicks 🐣🌼🌷

Sunday SELF - C. 🐟 A. 🧸 R. 👩‍🍼 E.🪞

Below are last months faves for Cooking, Art, Reading, and Enthusiasm (what’s bringing me joy lately)

Cooking: 🐟 Sardine Pasta

It’s taken me awhile to get on the sardine ban wagon, but here I am now. On it.

Since being on this holistic health journey, I’ve found sourcing seafood the most challenging. Therefore, I pretty much fully avoided it.

Now I’m in a season where I feel like my body wants to bring it back so I took the time to really look into what sources of fish I feel comfortable consuming.

Along with the contaminated oceans contaminating the fish problem, sardines freaked me out because I saw people eating the ones with the full on head and tail and the thought of eating eyeballs was just too much.

I didn’t like the idea of eating all the bones either, no matter how nutritious.

But I found a brand with the heads and tails cut off and the bones are truly so soft, it’s mostly unnoticeable.

And more importantly, I believe the quality is good enough to bring into my diet at least occasionally and paired with a lot of sunshine on my skin to help release heavy metals (so sardines during gloomy weather or if you’re staying indoors is probably not a good idea, I think.)

Fishwife sardines in lemon and olive oil are what I’ve been getting!

Usually I’d never buy fish in oil because quality oil is rare, but in Spain, they tend to do olive oil right more often.

If it starts to feel sketch in my body, I’ll switch to the ones packed in water and then just add extra of my own olive oil and lemon juice when making this recipe.

After not having anything like this in years, this meal is hitting so hard lately!

My parents used to make me tuna and pasta as a kid and it reminds me a lot of that.

My husband would never touch this meal because of its mushy texture, but I’m the exact opposite of him where I find this kind of food so cozy and satisfying!

(Where do you stand on this food debate? Mushy food fans where you’re mixing all the things into the perfect bite or texture freaks who have to keep everything separate?…)

I’ve been making this for lunches or for dinners when Levi is not home or we’re doing our own things.

🧸 Art: Homeschool Kids Are Superior

For my baby shower my cousins made these stuffed animals out of organic cotton yarn!

The octopus she made into a super cute teether.

The duck I stuffed with wool from my own sheep!

These homemade gifts are so special and the quality is far superior to anything we can buy at a store now that plastic and chemicals have taken over the world.

Seeing how insanely cool it is to be able to make things like this has me inspired to keep going with knitting and eventually learn to crochet as well.

It’s about time for my sheep to be sheared which was my deadline for learning this new skill. I’ve successfully knitted one and a half baby leg warmers, but I haven’t sewn the finished one together yet.

This also has me thinking about the way homeschooled people, like my cousins, usually end up with way more skill in these type of real-life tasks like sewing, cooking, writing, creation, etc.

Public school leaves no time for, places no importance on, and fully stunts creativity in these areas. Now I have to catch up and push myself to continue learning as an adult, which I’m willing to do, but definitely has me thinking about school for my own child.

👩‍🍼 Reading: The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care

I was already familiar with the Weston A. Price approach to diet and child rearing so I honestly just thought I’d skim the beginning part of this book to make sure my postpartum meals were covering all my basis…

But I became hooked and read the whole thing cover to cover.

It’s not that it’s all new information that’s blowing my mind… but I’m obsessed with how it seems to have put all this valuable information on childhood illness and development that I deeply align with in one place and in such a clear and digestible manner. 

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People will come to me, somewhat often, with questions like, “I know you’re natural minded so what’s a natural remedy for the cold and flu?” 

Although I’m interested in herbalism, homeopathy, and especially philosophies linking specific emotions to certain ailments and areas of the body (Louise Hay’s work, Traditional Chinese Medicine, German New Medicine, etc.), I have not studied any of these specific pathways in depth.

I believe in a more zoomed out view, where all of these can play a role in healing but also, that there is no reason to “treat” symptoms at all. 

Whether with an herb, supplement, or drug, I think suppressing symptoms is only setting you up for later issues down the road. This book shares that same sentiment while also giving some physical, natural remedies to help relieve discomfort as you work through the root cause.

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Then the stages of development according to Rudolf Steiner is a big focus in this book, which I love.

It explains how unnatural it is for children under age 7, with the developmental stage they’re in, to be in public schools.

Also how each 7 year cycle of a child’s life offers a specific illness that is meant for the child to overcome and gain resilience from for the rest of that stage in life. When we take medication to suppress the symptoms of that illness we are bypassing the necessary process of healing, which causes more illnesses and weakness for the rest of that cycle.

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I’m obsessed with this quote about childhood play.

It’s never been my style to play with children the way they love to so I guess I just love to feel validated in my stance on not being the “fun” parent, but instead allowing them freedom to explore and play in ways that feel authentic to them. 

There’s so much in this book, I think everyone who is natural-minded and raising children/ wanting to raise children one day should read it.

🪞 Enthusiasm: The Plastic-Free Micro Details of a Luxury Home

Using more elevated products and tools for everyday essentials completely changes the energy of your home.

Because being cluttered with cheap, junk stuffed inside all your drawers is affecting you in ways you may not realize, until you experience the opposite.

I love a more minimalist approach. So anything you’ve had in a drawer but haven’t touched in years should be in the trash, then choose more conscious, long-lifespan purchases next time something comes up that you think you need.

These are the types of home essentials that I’ve swapped from flimsy, low vibration materials to luxurious, high-frequency alternatives.

- glass nail file

Instead of those nasty sandpaper and foam things that crack and feel like children’s play tools.

- jade hair comb

Instead of plastic because scalp stimulation with a jade stone is a game changer for lymph flow and hair health.

This one doubles as a gua sha which I love because it so seamlessly encourages me to habit stack facial manipulation right after I brush my hair.

The small size of this comb also forces me to slow down and make this a moment of intention instead of just ripping a brush through my hair quickly and mindlessly.

- metal single blade razor

Doesn’t have that toxic goo strip, doesn’t create a ton of plastic waste, and it lasts way longer before needing to change the blade. Plus it looks and feels way better in your shower than the plastic.

- ceramic egg holder

Handmade gifts are the best. Especially ones like this that’ll last a lifetime. Seeing the eggs sitting in here every time I open the fridge is such a mood booster over the covered up ugly containers.

Probably this is unnecessary if you don’t have chickens because then you still are buying the containers and just throwing them away… but might be worth it for the added joy of seeing this every time you open your fridge.

- linen bread bags

Instead of plastic ziplock bags. Those should be cancelled.

- beeswax wraps

Instead of plastic wrap, which should be cancelled too.

I hope you’re feeling the rejuvenation of this Spring energy! If so, reply and share with me your favorite thing about this time of year 🐣🌷🫶

🤍 Jaclyn