Rhythm in Our Home :: A Time for Oats

Friday ~ Oat Porridge for Breakfast

The rhythm of life pulses around us in all of nature.

We experience it it when we look up at the sky and see the constellations of stars return to the same place they were in last year at this time, and the year before and the year before too. We're in the season of the constellation of Taurus the bull right now.

As children, we're reminded of the celestial world with this nursery rhyme:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are.

When the blazing sun is gone

When he nothing shines upon.

Then you show your little light

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are.

As humans, we are distinct from plants and animals in that we're able to reflect on rhythm and the patterns of nature and from that bring form to our lives, with rhythmic patterns of living.

With the establishment of healthy home rhythms, we bring meaningful and healthy form to our lives, on a daily, weekly, seasonal and yearly basis. We return to the rhythm of day and night, morning and evening, the rhythm of seven days, four seasons and one year.

The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, from the time of Solomon, that's around 970-930 BC, reflects on rhythm. That's from three thousand years ago. Folk singer Pete Seger made it popular this with this song from 1954, it still gives me the shivers. As a sing along here with five special extra verses he wrote for his children.

To everything, turn, turn, turn

There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time for work a time for play
A time for night a time for day
A time to sleep a time to wake
A time for candles on the cake

A time to dress a time to eat
A time to sit and rest your feet
A time to teach a time to learn
A time for all to take their turn

A time to cry and make a fuss
A time to leave and catch the bus
A time for quiet a time for talk
A time to run a time to walk

A time to get a time to give
A time to remember a time to forgive
A time to hug a time to kiss
A time to close your eyes and wish

A time for dirt a time for soap
A time for tears a time for hope
A time for fall a time for spring
A time to hear the robins sing

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time of love, a time of hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

To Everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

When my children were little, I began incorporating these rhythmic turns with seasonal food and with seven - the seven days of the week, with meals, activities and tasks of caring for the home. We have a breakfast rhythm in which the same foods appear on the breakfast table on the same day of the week, each week. A weekly rhythm. Before that I ate oats here and there, with no regularity.

"Women have to eat oats or they'll dry up."

I read those words somewhere in a childbirth book during my midwifery days, and it has stayed with me. It's easy to like oats, and I'm glad to know they are full of health benefits.

Friday is the day for oat porridge at breakfast in my home. I serve the oats with cinnamon, maple syrup and fruit. Often with nuts on the side.

This oat day is a big day for me, as I've been avoiding grains for six months now, since I became aware of my sensitivity to gluten. This week I took the plunge after finding organic certified gluten free oats. It's like visiting an old friend.

Celebrating the goodness of oat porridge today: the chewiness, the warmth, the good feeling in the tummy, the long lasting energy, all the benefits they provide! 

Snow in April

{this week}

A Friday ritual. A snapshot that reflects the mood of the week.  

A simple reflection. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your reflection in the comments below 

so we can find you.

Happy Friday!

Meal Plan Monday

April 4 - 10
 time for new themes

In my ideal world, I sketch out my meal plan on Wednesday when I give the fridge a quick clear out and wipe down. That gives me time to look in the pantry, go to the farmer’s market and have a sense of what I might like to cook for the following week.

The reality is that it’s now Monday morning, the start of a new week, and the first week of a new month. It’s not a big deal because I have a pretty strong rhythm of meal themes, a basic foundation food for each night of the week. Do we always eat those foods week after week? We don’t. Yet I have the basic ingredients, and  I know I can lean back into them if I need to, and at the same time, I have the freedom to cook something completely different if I want to.

I sit down and sketch out my meal plan for this week. Over here I talk about the Anchors of Our Day, with meals as a point in the day we can lean back into, everyday, an anchor that tethers us to a healthy home rhythm.

The changes in our diets have had me simmering over some new general theme for each days of the week. We have several different nutritional and dietary needs: gluten free, vegan and gluten and dairy free. We all began as whole food omnivores with an emphasis on S.O.L.E. food.

As this new path unfolds, it sometimes feels simple and easy to manage, other times it can feel overwhelming with planning and preparation. It does feel great from a health perspective, energizing and nourishing. To try and get a handle on our different and divergent dietary needs, I made a chart of our dietary needs to try and find more common threads, in which each of us feels nourished with one meal.

These past months have been a time of reflection for me with my meal themes. Monday’s Mexican with beans and rice as a base remains a favorite, cheese, sour cream and meat can be options to add or ignore. Tuesday Thai works well. Wednesday’s pasta is out, I’m not keen on using gluten substitutes, they are not so sound nutritionally, and then there’s the concern about rice with arsenic.

My meal themes need a change. This is what I’ve come up with:

:: Monday is Mexican

:: Tuesday is Thai or Stir fry

:: Wednesday is Slow Cooker or Children cook

:: Thursday is Indian or lentils or chickpeas

:: Friday is Salade Composé

:: Saturday is grill or baked beans in winter and or leftovers

:: Sunday is grill/roast/casserole

How do you do with meal planning?

We can inspire each other if you join me by linking below in the comments to a post with your meal plan.