Pfunksfoolosophy

Hope you enjoy it. It’s mine, so if you want to use it, you sure as heck better talk to me about it.

My Soul is a Witness 

My soul is a witness

The biographer

The cartographer

Mapping out

The slings and arrows

Of a race’s outrageous misfortune

Of tenacious survivors

(that’s deep)  My soul is a witness

To the turmoil

Sweating fear

Lingering near When the blue lightsShine in my rearview mirror  My soul is a witness

To the crime and the grime

People just trying to survive

Living one moment at a time To the stinging tearsOf mothers waiting in rooms For boys just out of the womb

Trying to be men

Rooms with cold eyes

And colder hearts

Men talking down to them

Because they wear a badge

And carry a stick 

My soul is a witness

To the irony  of striving just to stay in one place

‘Cause we don’t want it gettin’ any worse.  My soul is a witness To the love and the longingThe joy of belonging

To this tribe of many nationsAll my relationsMaking love In chocolate brown

In sepia, mahogany

High yella, caramel

Ebony, redbone

Light bright-And sometimes white‘cause my soul can witness

In Technicolor

And black and white 

My soul is a witness

To profilin’

Devastatin’ Dozens playin’ laughter

And the ease of just being

‘Cause sometimes that’s all we have

When your soul is a witness

To a violent history

To a shattered past

When your soul is a witness

to misunderstandings written in your ancestors’ blood

Let my soul witness something new

Let my soul witness hope

Looks like my kid (the laddie boy) is turning a corner. After struggling with his ‘friends’ and their unseemly influence on him, it looks like he’s getting his arse out of his head.

Just spoke with him and he sounds like his old self. Funny, inspired and optimistic. It’s a rollercoaster ride when your kids are a certain age and I don’t envy anyone with toddlers or school age children. Still, once your kids have passed the adolescent craziness, you’ve got young adulthood,which is no walk in the park. Remember when you thought you knew everything? Yeah, the twenties. No one knows more than you. You’re ‘grown’ as they like to tell you. Hell to the NO, Bobby Brown! You don’t know jack doodly squat. You’re still finding out that life does not go your way sometimes, no matter how hard you work and no matter how positive you are…sometimes you’ve got to just slog through with your head held high. This is what I’ve imparted to my kids. We’re all gonna screw up, but it’s how we grow from those challenges.
You can raise your children the same way, with the same values and one of ‘em’s gonna think they know it all and they’re gonna screw it up. It’s their experience to experience.

Being a parent is tough because you’ve got to be mentally and spiritually strong enough to let go. This past month has been a real trial for me due to that fact. I’ve finally let go of the reins. The inclination to pick ‘em back up is powerful, believe me. Very powerful.

With so much happening in my life I can’t stand still. My feet need to keep moving me forward. My soul craves growth, so I can’t deny it. The lad understands that and he’s doing his best to learn to respect himself and others in a different way. He’s growing. I just need to keep adding water.

I know that a lot of my readers are looking for healthy recipes and trying to shed some unwanted pounds.

Personally, I like being a fat chick. I feel powerful and sexy, but that’s just me. I want to get back in shape, mind you. Once an athlete, alwa…yeah, maybe not so these days. That’s another blog entry all together. THIS entry is all about healthy, quick recipes that make ya happy and go a long way.

This one is my favorite for the summer months because you can add just about anything you want to extend the life of the salad. I give you:

ORZO SALAD

1 box of orzo pasta (nearly any brand will do, but I use Barilla pasta)

3-4 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced OR

3 English cucumbers, diced (English cukes are ’seedless’ and not waxed)

2 large red onions, diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 8 oz package Feta cheese (you can use flavored Feta, like garlic and herb)

1 cup good quality olives, like Kalamata- I use a combo of Sicilian and Kalamata

juice of 3 lemons ( more or less depending on the size of the lemons)

2 T fresh mint, chopped

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (good quality…not pomace. Got it?)

2 medium cloves of garlic, minced (fresh, not that stuff in the jars. if you have that, throw it away NOW. I’ll wait)

Cook orzo according to package instructions. While it’s cooking, prepare the dressing. Combine the lemon juice, mint, garlic and olive oil and whisk until incorporated. It should be tangy and bright tasting, but if you feel it needs some more oil or juice, add it. Remember that the feta cheese has its own tang to it, so I wouldn’t add salt. The olives will impart a saltiness to balance out the cukes.

Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Keep rinsing until you can run your fingers through it comfortably.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients,crumbling the feta cheese into the mix with your hands.  If the olives need pitting, do that prior to salad assembly. Add freshly ground black pepper if that floats your boat. Refrigerate for an hour and serve with grilled fish or chicken.

That’s it. Easy, right?

Let me know how it turns out. Remember, this is just a base. You can add just about any fresh veggies that you like. I’ve also added hearts of palm to it.

Try blanching some green beans or asparagus and adding them to it as well.

***I’m not a huge fan of mint, so you might want to add a little more if you enjoy the flavor.***