Check out the humanitarian arm of Barbara Scoville LCSW by reading the most recent blog post on our Pioneers of Peace website.
2015 Love Bundles is a Success!
25 Sunday Oct 2015
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in25 Sunday Oct 2015
Posted Uncategorized
inCheck out the humanitarian arm of Barbara Scoville LCSW by reading the most recent blog post on our Pioneers of Peace website.
11 Friday Sep 2015
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Hello Friends,
If you haven’t checked out the humanitarian arm of Barbara Scoville LCSW, take a peek at the website www. pioneersofpeace.org. This site, created by myself is designed to cultivate compassion and provide opportunities to give back to your community and the world. There is a wonderful synergy that takes place in the space between giver and receiver. I hope you are making room for it in your life because it is the energy that gives rise to resilience and wisdom.
Currently we are hosting a project called “Operation Love Bundles.” If you have been following this blog, you may recall we did the same thing last February for Valentine’s Day.
Essentially we are collecting needed items for our homeless youth to brave the impending cold weather. In Salt Lake City alone, there are over 500 homeless youth, many who are sleeping on the streets and in the canyons.
Our goal is to assemble 200 “Love Bundles” and donate them to VOA Homeless Youth Resource Center by Oct 22.
Each bundle consists of
We are asking for donations of hand warmers, new socks, protein bars and handmade fleece scarfs.
While you are out shopping this weekend please remember our homeless youth and throw a package of one of these items in your cart.
Contact me at barbarascoville@pioneersofpeace. org for drop off locations.
Hugs,
Barbara
30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted Uncategorized
inHomemade Refried Beans
You’ll never want to buy a can of beans again after tasting these and seeing how easy and cheap they are to make.
Beans, beans, the musical fruit… the more you eat the more you toot… the more you toot the better you are… so eat some beans and toot some more.
On a more serious note (no pun intended) beans are one of my favorite comfort foods. They are easy on the budget, taste delicious, and are very good for you. This time of year they are particularly delicious because of all the fresh produce that’s available.
Ingredients: 2 cups dry pinto beans (rinsed), 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 green chile or jalapeño, fresh garlic clove, salt, 2 splashes of olive oil.
Place rinsed beans in a heavy pot and cover with 1 1/2 inches of water. Add salt and 1 splash of olive oil.
Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, Put lid on pot. Rest for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and strain beans. Rinse beans thoroughly (this is what removes the toot)
Put beans in slow cooker, add vegetables coarsely chopped, 2 tsp salt and another splash of olive oil.
Cook on high and set timer for 8 hours. Be prepared for heavenly aromas.
After 8 hours your beans should look like this
To make sure your beans are done, take a couple out and smash them. If they are sill hard return them to the cooker
Ladle the excess liquid from the beans. Save the liquid.
Using an immersion blender, puree the beans, adding liquid back as needed to form your desired consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a blender or food processor.
Salt to taste.
Voila!
Your beans are now ready to eat. Garnish them with salsa, cheese, chopped onions, chopped peppers, cilantro…the sky’s the limit. Or ladle them onto a tortilla, add some cheese and salsa and roll them up into a burrito.
If you want to be adventurous try a little bowl of hot beans with cottage cheese in them. They look like vomit but taste delicious! It’s a perfect low fat high protein dinner. A fresh apple eaten along with the beans is a delicacy. I know it sounds crazy but it’s really good.
I hope you enjoy this simple staple recipe. Stay tuned for my fresh salsa recipe in the near future.
Barbara
20 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted Fear, Imagination, Inspiration, Life Mastery Skills, Resilience, The Optimism Corner
inTags
Allow a 6 year old to teach you about risk and personal growth. Enjoy
02 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted Mindfulness, Recipes, Resilience
inMany summers ago a dear friend taught me the art of baking Italian bread. Stir the little yeasties gently in one direction so as to not upset them. Give them a little sugar to help them grow… After several risings, and shaping into long beautiful loaves, the bread would finally be done. We’d carefully saw slices from the delicate warm loaves and eat them, sometimes with butter and some times with chunks of cheddar cheese. That summer we made omelettes using fresh vegetables from the garden, and though my memory is fuzzy, I think we ate off of hand made plates. Little did I know way back then, the seeds of the slow food movement were being planted in my soul.
I think one of the most meditative things we can do is to slow down and prepare the food we put in our bodies. The miracle of life is in everything we eat: it nourishes us, comforts us, and sustains us. When we become mindless about essentials, we lose ourselves in the mad dash of a face paced existence.
ALICE WATERS, Chef: “When you eat fast food, you not only eat the food that is unhealthy for you, but you digest the values that comes with that food. And they’re really about fast, cheap and easy…Probably the greatest lesson I have learned from the Edible Schoolyard project is that, when children grow food and they cook it, they all want to eat it.Alice Waters teaches slow food values in a fast food world.”
July 23, 2015 at 6:20 PM EDT PBS News Hour.
I haven’t lost my love for baking bread and recently I have learned how to bake artisan loaves. My gift to you is this tutorial. Slow down and bake a loaf for yourself.
For one loaf you will need:
Cast Iron enameled bakeware such as Le Creuset, 2 cups water, 2 Tablespoons of yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 5-6 cups flour, 2 Tablespoons of butter (optional)
Start by putting your ungreased bakeware into a 450 degree oven. This preheats the bakeware which is the secret to baking crusty artisan bread. Leave the bakeware in the oven until you are ready to put the bread dough in it.
This recipe is made in a Bosch or Kitchen Aid mixer. You can make it by hand also.
Pour 2 Cups warm water into mixing bowl. Add yeast, sugar, salt, and melted butter (optional).
Wait until the yeast is activated…
Turn mixer on and begin adding flour 1 cup at a time. You will know when you have added enough flour as soon as the dough cleans the side of the mixing bowl.
The second the dough cleans the side of the bowl, set the time for 5 minutes and let the mixer continue to knead. After 5 minutes turn the mixer off and put a clean towel over the bowl allowing the dough to rise for 20 minutes or until doubled.
After the dough is doubled in size turn it out onto a floured counter or bread board and gently knead into a ball.
Place the ball of dough into the bakeware. You can cut deep slits in the crust for extra beauty if you’d like.
Put the lids on the bakeware and return to oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
Take the bakeware out of the oven and remove lid.
Return bakeware to oven for another 15 minutes.
Remove bread from oven and bakeware. Cool on wire racks.
Bon appétit!
18 Saturday Jul 2015
Posted Uncategorized
in I see you Mara…Sit down and have a cup of tea with me
…Oh Crap!!! I thought. The hair on my arms stood up, and I immediately knew that shutting the door was a big mistake. Everything inside me was screaming danger, danger…
It was in the spring of the year 2000. I was doing an internship at the University of Utah’s bone marrow transplant unit, and on this particular day I was screening prospective transplant candidates, by giving them psychological assessments.
Bone marrow transplantation is a difficult and lengthy procedure which has the potential of causing a person to regress emotionally under the strain. It’s important to know in advance potential problems that could arise.
I had just said goodbye to a lovely 15 year-old girl with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, when I walked into the waiting room to get my next patient. “Mr. So in So, I’m ready for you,”…
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30 Tuesday Jun 2015
Posted Emotion School, Inspiration, Life Mastery Skills, Motivation, Quotes, Resilience, The Power to Do, Wellness
in17 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted Life Mastery Skills, Mindfulness, Resilience
inA friend of mine had two hummingbirds fly into her house the other day. She said they had to wear themselves out before she could scoop them up and set them free. There’s a message in that isn’t there. Imagine how much more energy we could have, how much more creative we could be, how much more love we could offer…
Sending love from the beautiful Southwest 🙂
Barbara
12 Friday Jun 2015
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inHow do you spell stress?
K-I-D-S
W-O-R-K
M-O-N-E-Y
S-C-H-O-O-L
M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E
D-E-C-I-S-I-O-N-S
L-I-F-E.
Barbara’s definition of stress:
The physical reaction one has when he/she feels like there is more to do, learn, or simply be, than is physically or mentally possible. It is the reaction one experiences when having thoughts like, “I can’t handle this,” or “I can do this, but it will deplete my energy and resources,” accompanied by feelings of helplessness and or fear and resentment.
To paraphrase one of the dictionary definitions I read: Stress is pressure applied to something. Ha! I’m visualizing a cartoon elephant sitting on a balloon, stretching it as far as it will go until it eventually pops. How many times have you felt like that?
High Stress has become more common than the common cold and even though we hate it, we accept it as a necessary evil in our daily lives. I…
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29 Friday May 2015
Posted Emotion School, Mindfulness, Resilience
inI declared today a “vacation day” and drove to one of my sacred spaces in the mountains. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to see a bald eagle perched atop a tree. It was a beautiful sight to behold; especially when it lifted off and flew away with fluffy white legs blowing in the wind.
Today I longed to see the majestic bird again. I kept my eyes up, searching the treetops as I drove. It wasn’t meant to be.
How many other birds and wildlife did I miss searching for what I thought to be the prize?
How often in life do we search for what we believe to be the answer, when there are miracles right before our eyes…eyes that do not see because they are looking for something different.
Therein lies the gift of mindfulness; to be present for what life is offering up. Tara Brach asks us to clear a path in the forest of our mind. What might we find if we sit and wait for what appears?
Look what I found when I came home.
Sending love,
Barbara