• Use fresh, seasonal produce from local farmers’ markets for maximum flavor and nutrition.
• Store small batches in BPA-free containers or ice cube trays for easy portioning.
• Avoid adding salt, sugar, or honey (for babies under 1) to keep it pure and natural.

The post Make Your Own Organic Baby Food appeared first on Zoe Weston.

My goal is to bring more happiness to alI families and help them step into sacred living. This means honoring self, family and community, celebrating rites of passage and encouraging a life filled with beauty.   I take enormous amounts of information and condense it into easy digestible healing systems. I take healing modalities from across the globe and present them, ready made for a wide audience. What I teach are Human Truths – concepts and techniques that work regardless of your belief systems or cultural heritage. 

My work offers information and guidance for individuals who aim to create a sacred family life. 

Birth & Postpartum Health – Starting with the motherhood journey, my classes, workshops and consultations give women tools for relieving discomfort, healing, bonding with their babies, and creating a sense of wellness and calm. I teach women how to celebrate motherhood and create a sacred experience every step of the way. 

Sanctuary Design – My work as a professional organizer goes way above and beyond an ordinary organizer. I offer therapy level organizing and help people design a sanctuary to live in, a space that HEALS in every sense of that word. I make sure all of your senses feel balanced and at peace in your space. I want you to have a home where your family can thrive, you feel comfortable, safe, it’s beautiful, clean, efficient and has that special cozy vibe that makes a house a home – Ha (sacred breath) – Om (sacred sound), because the space you live and work in will affect your emotions, functionality, production, efficiency and overall wellbeing. 

Illustrated Heirloom Memoirs – Documenting the highlights of your life is also a form of therapy. It’s like journaling 2.0. I take students through very specific writing exercises and we play with different illustration techniques to create something special. The Illustrated Heirloom Memoir concept emerged after the passing of my mother. I realized there was so much I didn’t know about her. When you document your life and pass it on, it takes you on a journey of recollection. I’m helping you bring out your moments of joy, your lessons, your family heritage. This is something your family members will cherish. 

All of my classes and services are now available online. Sign up for a class, workshop or consultation that fits your schedule. I look forward to meeting you. Blessings, Zoe  

The post Stepping Into Sacred Living appeared first on Zoe Weston.

I love cooking, whether it be winter or not. It doesn’t feel like a chore to me unless I am very tired. Cooking is the only art form that uses all five senses. I’ve always loved trying new recipes, learning how to make my favorite meals, and mastering the art of creating healing foods – broths, soups, stews, teas, juices. One of the only times of the year that I bake is at Christmas. This is when our family makes Christmas cookies, Swiss style. We  turn on the Christmas music and get out our fancy cookie cutters called springerle to make beautiful Christmas art. 

I’ve explored a variety of cookies over the years. We’ve done simple sugar cookies, butter cookies, chocolate chip, gingerbread, and chocolate shortbread. Then one year I decided to learn the art of springerle. Springerle are Swiss cookie cutter molds. The originals were made with wood and nowadays many are made with a strong resin. There are thousands of designs, all intricately carved scenes that you stamp onto your cookie dough creating a cookie scene vs. a cookie shape. Because my son is half Swiss this has become part of our family tradition. There are many different doughs that are considered traditional springerle dough, all of them are spiced, similar to gingerbread, but much lighter, no molasses is added to the mix. 

Other Swiss traditions we keep in our family include following an advent calendar – it’s mostly for the children. They get to open a little window, which usually hides a small piece of chocolate inside. On December 6th, my son gets to put a boot outside the door to see if St. Nicholas is going to bring him some treats or Krampus will bring him coal. He has lucked out so far. Swiss Christmas celebration is practiced on December 24th, our Christmas eve. That is when presents are opened and a big family dinner is held. It is very likely that on December 24th or 25th a meal of raclette might be served with a variety of accoutrement. This is a meal of melted raclette cheese served with boiled potatoes, cut up vegetables and sometimes meat, often bacon. The Swiss will enjoy winter sports during the day such as skiing, snowboarding, iceskating, and sledding. Hiking is popular too. The most magical part of a Swiss Christmas is the tree. Instead of putting a string of lights on the tree, the Swiss have actual candles that are clipped to the tree and lit, as in real fire. It is so beautiful and slightly scary too. Every shop is decorated with beautiful romantic Christmas scenes. Switzerland in December becomes a real life fairy tale. 

Wishing everyone wherever you are a wonderful, magical, cozy winter season. Aloha from Maui! 

The post Family Traditions, Swiss Christmas and The Art of Cooking appeared first on Zoe Weston.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk – by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Simplicity Parenting – by Kim John Payne, M.ED., with Lisa M. Ross

On Children
by Kahlil Gibran, excerpt from The Prophet 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

The post Raising Children When You Have No Village appeared first on Zoe Weston.