Whenever God Closes a Door.....

Remember the scene from The Sound of Music where the reverend mother tells Maria that 'Whenever God closes a door, He opens a window."? Yes, it has become quite the cliche, but as is so often the case with cliches, it is also true.

Well, recently my favourite blog, Bonzai Aphrodite, came to an end. I know at this point you must be thinking that invoking cliches, God and The Sound of Music is a bit extreme if all I'm going to talk about is a blog....but oh what a blog it was! Is, actually, since the remarkable woman behind it has left it up as is, which is great because I constantly refer back to it. But I digress...

Anyway, when I read the farewell post I was literally in tears at my computer, I felt like I was loosing a best friend (don't judge me, good blogs can be like that!). I was bleak for days afterwards......

But now, a window has been opened (no internet related pun intended)

Enter My New Roots

Wow! what an amazing blog about whole foods, prepared in interesting, mindful ways. For the last year and half I have been really focused on diet with regards to weight loss. Now, as that phase (slowly) draws to a close, I am becoming really interested in nutrition, as opposed to just calories. What I love about the way the recipes are presented, is that Sarah (the author of the blog) introduces each of the major ingredients to you, almost like friends at a cocktail party, with interesting and complimentary details.

"Hi Natashia, have you met Amaranth? Amaranth is is often lumped into the “grains” category, but it is in fact the seed of a cereal-like herb. The Aztecs greatly valued amaranth, and used it not only as a dietary staple, but also in their worship rituals." - love it :)

Also, her recipes are INTERESTING.

White Velvet Soup - hello delicious!

Parsley Root Fries with Roasted Tomato Sauce - a revelation  

 Black bean chocolate chili cherry cookies - I cannot wait to make these 

I feel revived, refreshed and inspired when I read this blog (like I did with Bonzai), and I think that these are the true marks of a great blog. I hope that one day too, this may become a great blog, but for now, go check out My New Roots - you will be glad you did :)

Blogs make a difference, oh yes they do!

Blogs are important, they really REALLY are. I often feel like I navigate my life by the hazy glow of a computer screen, and you know what's on that screen?  a blog. As I change, so do my favourite blogs (although there are always a constant few  - kinda like best friends). I suppose blogs can certainly be a little voyeuristic, but if you use what you learn to better shape your life, then gaze away I say!

I first discovered blogs through my Rooster (who is very techno savvy) while I was pregnant with Chicken Little. What I didn't know was how important they would become to me once she was born.

Bread & Honey was the first blog I ever fell in love with. I was desperate, and man did I fall hard. The nature of the blog has changed over the last couple of years and we have grown apart, but in the early days it was a thing of beauty. Two young, tattooed, baking, stay-at-home mums. *swoon* After Chicken Little was born I had a rough time adjusting to mommyhood, as well as staying at home for the first time. Bread & Honey was like a life-line to me, saving me one recipe at a time! I know I could have managed without it, but would I want to have tried? no.

I owe a lot to those cool mommy's from Portland (my current crush is a mommy from Portland too), and someday perhaps I'll send them a link to this post and let them know they made a real difference to my life. But for now I'll just dedicate this blog to cool mommy's everywhere, who are making a difference through their blogs - whether they know it or not.