A lot to be grateful for

I know that I have a lot to be grateful for. I haven't updated my blog in about a week. It's been a crazy week and I have a lot to talk about. Last week after I did my kitchen blessing, I sat down on the living room couch, grabbed my laptop and blogged about it. I put my laptop on the coffee table, and went upstairs to feed my cats and get ready for bed. Just a few minutes after going upstairs I thought I heard a door open downstairs. I had just turned the TV on and there were a lot of noises going on in my bedroom. My husband was out of town for business, so I was alone with my two kids that night. I must admit I was scared. I paused the TV and listened very intently. I watched my dog to see if there was any reaction. I didn't hear anything at all. The dog never moved. I convinced myself that I had imagined what I heard and I went to sleep. The next morning the first thing that I noticed was that I couldn't find one of my cats. I wasn't alarmed yet because this particular cat does get out sometimes when we let the dog in and out. And he never stays outside long, he's an indoor cat at heart. I sat down on the couch with my coffee and reached to the table to grab my laptop.......and it wasn't there. That's when I knew that someone had been in my house. He took my laptop, my purse with all of my identification, bank cards, and check book, my daughter's book bag, and although I don't know if he actually took my cat he never did turn up.
At first all I could think was how I had just finished my kitchen blessing that had included so much protection. I have to admit my faith was shaken. I have never done a spell of any kind that didn't work. I have complete belief in my magick, just like I believe that we live on earth. There are a lot of what ifs. What if I had gone downstairs and seen the guy, would I have been hurt? Who knows what more would have happened. Maybe that's where the protection magick did its work. What is really interesting is that by Friday, the guy had been caught. A seventeen year old boy traveled from a town 45 minutes away from my own to break into my house and many others that night. From what I hear it's rare for the burglar to be caught. Maybe that's my magick doing it's thing.
It's a huge violation when someone breaks into your home. I didn't sleep for days afterwards. I am constantly checking and rechecking my locks. Every little noise makes me jump. I wonder if I am being watched. Still, everyday it gets better. Every night it's easier to sleep. So much more could have happened and that is not lost on me. I am grateful that the Lord and Lady were shining their protective light on me and my babies that night.

Kitchen Blessing

Things rarely happen the way we plan them, and for me last night was no exception. I tripped down the stairs and twisted my knee. That lead me to postpone my plans for a kitchen blessing. No worries though, I have recovered quickly with a day of rest and was able to do the kitchen blessing tonight.
First thing, clean the kitchen! Most importantly the floor since I had planned to sit on the floor. Once the kitchen was sparkly and ready to go I gathered everything I needed for my kitchen blessing ritual. I decided to open the oven door and use it as my altar. It worked out well for me. I opened my circle and lit two white candles. I light one for the Lord and one for the Lady. I then worked on meditation and visualization filling my body with the white light of the Lord and the Lady. I always make something in my rituals to keep around and help the magick do it's thing. Tonight I grabbed a spice jar for filling. I started with a layer of salt for its consecration properties. I added a layer of freshly cracked pepper for protection. Then I added a layer of fennel seeds for their protection energies. I added a garlic clove for protection followed by a layer of cinnamon for its love energy. I topped that off with a layer of salt. As I added each layer I visualized the magick working. I asked the Lord and Lady to protect my kitchen visualizing the white light filling my kitchen. I then asked that the energy be expanded to all corners of my property to protect my home, meditating and visualizing with each step. As always I thanked the Lord and Lady for their energies and protection. I placed the lid on my spice jar and carved a pentagram on top while I gave the final incantation of As I will it, so mote it be. At this point I placed my palms on the ground and grounded my energy. I would highly recommend always doing that to avoid eerie feelings or attracting anything looking for spare energy. I closed the circle but decided to let the candles burn until they burn out and leave the altar up until morning, to give the magick time to do its thing. The spice jar I will keep on top of the oven.
I feel good about the blessing. It really needed to be done. I think there will be more energy behind all that I do in the kitchen now.

Blessed Be!

Busy Weekend!

It's been a really busy weekend at my house. And really it got busy starting Thursday. My original idea was to have a different magickal focus each week. Now that I have one week under my belt I have realized that it's just not enough time! First off being the kind of mother that has kids in some very time consuming activities, I just can't get into the kitchen every night. And frankly who wants to. So I'm gonna tweak that and go with moon cycles. I think this will work much better.
So back to where I was, Thursday and Friday were very busy for me. On Saturday I was able to spend some time at Mom's house and together we made Julia Child's classic French Onion Soup. I won't post the recipe because it's super easy to search out. Although onions are on my list of ingredients with weight loss energies, to be honest this meal was really more about bonding time with Mom than anything else. I really enjoyed making it, and it was super delicious.
Sunday is such a great day. This is really a chance to relax, gather my energies and do the things that I want to do. Today my plan is a kitchen blessing. It's high time that I get my kitchen at it's best for all of the magick that I do in there. I'll update before bed tonight on what kitchen blessing I came up with!

Dijon Chicken Salad

Monday marked the first official day of my week of magickal focus. I had a busy weekend though and I was left with ground beef in the fridge that was in a do or die phase. So I decided to make tacos and work in the magickal ingredients that I could. I chose Onions and fresh from the garden chives (Thanks Mom!) as the weight loss ingredients that I would add into my tacos. According to Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Kitchen Wicca they are perfect for the job. The tacos were delish even if the mix did come out of a box. The fresh additions made the meal.
Tuesday came and went in a flash between soccer camp and an evening practice. We didn't even have dinner at home. Next time I will have to prepare for that better.
Tonight however was a triumph. And that brings us to the Dijon Chicken Salad. First let me say that I didn't come up with this recipe and I firmly believe in giving credit where credit is due. This was submitted by Susan C. to allrecipes.com. Thank you Susan! This was just what I needed tonight. I chose this recipe because it includes so many of the weight loss ingredients that are on my list including celery, honey, and chives.


Dijon Chicken Salad
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
Susan C

* 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken
* 1 cup sliced celery
* 1 cup halved seedless green grapes
* 1 cup halved seedless red grapes
* 1/4 cup dried cranberries
* 2 teaspoons dried chives
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 3/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper


DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together the chicken, celery, green grapes, red grapes,
cranberries, and chives in a bowl. Whisk together the honey,
mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl.
Add the mustard mixture to the chicken mixture, stir to coat.

Serve on Pita Bread


The first obvious point here is that not everything in the chicken salad is healthy. 3/4 of a cup of mayo......yeah I know what you're thinking. I felt bad about it too but luckily I have reduced calorie mayo in the fridge. Reduced enough that I didn't feel guilty about it anymore. Also I chose pita bread that is whole grain and stone ground. That I felt really good about. As I did the chopping, and those grapes give you plenty of time, I did my visualizing. Visualizing is the key to magick. It's the catalyst that makes it work. The chicken salad is delish! And with very little cooking involved.....well none really, it was a quick and easy mid week feast.

Lughnasadh

I spent Friday planning and working out the recipes that I'll be using this week and the area that the magick I will be working will focus on. Since the idea here is essentially eating with a conscious I felt like the best way to start would be magickally geared weight loss. After all I could stand to lose a few pounds. I have been using Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen as my main source of information. Cunningham provides a great list of ingredients that have weight loss energies including chives, onions, seaweed, chickweed, chevril, dill, fennel, honey, and pickles. There are a few things on this list that I couldn't find in my area but with plenty to choose from that's not a problem. I've got 5 great recipes to get me started.
August 1st is the Wiccan holiday Lughnasadh. This day marks the celebration of the first harvest. I already had plans to spend the evening at my parents house. The plan was to have a great meal and watch home movies of a show my daughter recently did at theater camp. Lucky for me my mother has a garden and we were able to harvest chives for our meal. Together we charged the chives with bright golden energy while visualizing weight loss. Afterwards we tossed salt onto the chives, then tossed it on some potatoes for roasting. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday and get started on my year of kitchen magick.

The Idea

I am about to turn 30. I had my two beautiful babies at 18 and 20. Since then I have rightfully so dedicated my life to doing for my family. I have stayed home with the kids most of their lives in the hopes of avoiding the pitfalls of my own childhood with a single mother who worked constantly to provide for me. Today I asked myself, what am I passionate about? Two things came to mind.

1. The Craft
I began learning about the craft around the age of 18. My mother owned a store in Sterling Virginia that sold occult items and promoted holistic healing. The store was our life and took every resource available for us. As a result I often received inventory for my birthday or other holidays. Since I loved what the store was all about I considered myself lucky to have that. For my 18th birthday I received Buckland's Complete book of Witchcraft. That was a great moment for me. I already had religious beliefs, I just hadn't found the religion that matched my beliefs. Until I studied the craft that is. It was exactly what I needed at the time. I was about to get married and have a baby. And I had no business doing either one. So in a time when I felt out of control Wicca reminded me that things don't happen to us, we make them happen. And while that means that I am responisble for everything that has transpired in my life, it also means that I can control my future. That was a huge relief for me. The craft fit me like a glove. I believed in it with all the vigor of a young girl and consequintly I never failed magically. Tweleve years later I still feel passionatly about the craft and it's way of life.

2. The Art of Cooking
When I was growing up my grandmother was the great cook of our family. (She still is, although she's got competition now) We raved about her food when we would visit her in Texas from Washington DC. We would rant about how there just wasn't food like this up north. My grandmother is very modest, but no matter what she says, she's an amazing cook among other things. Growing up my mother worked so hard, there wasn't time for a lot of cooking. We did a lot of hamburger helper and chili dogs. After I moved out somewhere in there my mother started really exploring the art of cooking and she found a true talent. She is today an amazing cook. She is creative and has an instinct for what works. I was so jealous. She would tell me that in our family the ability to cook shows up later in life and that it would come for me. Eventually it did, in the form of Rachel Ray shows. I give Rachel credit for anything I can do in the kitchen. And almost every night I create something that Rachel conceieved. There is a true joy in making something amazing, sitting down at the dinner table and watching the eyes of my family as they taste what I've been working on.

My idea is to combine the two passions, and document the results until my 31st birthday. Every week I will infuse my meals with magic and focus on a specific goal. The possibilities are endless!