I love discovering new places in the world. This Spring I had the chance to experience a beautiful new culture. Haiti is a lush island with beautiful mountains, clear ocean and beautiful people.

I've shared about this trip in a previous post that you can read, here, Here's the gist: my cousin Amy asked if I would come and help with the gardens at their land, a place they've started to support mothers of malnourished children. Amy and Jenn are two incredible young women who are empowering Mothers in Haiti through their organization - Second Mile Ministries. They focus on helping mothers who are at a dangerous point of not being able to care for their children. Because of poverty and illness, many women end up making the painful decision of giving their babies up to orphanages - in order to save their babies lives. In fact, most of Haiti's orphans are not actually orphans at all. They are babies who have mothers - mothers who want their children - but are completely desperate and have no options when their babies get sick or become malnourished. As a mother myself, the thought of being at that point (having to decide whether to stay with my child and watch them die, or give them to someone else) is unfathomable.

The reality is, these are the decisions that many of the mothers in the world face.

Amy and Jenn watched this happen first hand (as they'd worked in the orphanage setting previously) and became impassioned to do something about it. They had a dream of creating a place to help empower these mothers.

With God's help and a LOT of hard work, they've created this place!

At Second Mile Haiti, women are being given the chance to learn how to care & provide for their children. They are being offered hope. Not only are these babies getting the nourishing food and medical care that they need, the mothers are being taught how to keep their children healthy. Amy & Jenn have hired other Haitians to teach them business skills, so that after the women go home - they will have the means to provide for their families in a new way. At Second Mile they are very committed to hiring local Haitians to run the organization. I was so amazed and inspired to see the way this is having an effect on the community. Not only are these Moms being touched - the workers hired to care for the land, the gardens, the clinic - are all being employed and are being empowered with new job skills and a livelihood.

It was an incredible gift to be able to partner with them on the garden project - such a time of inspiration and fulfillment of personal dreams for me.

I am eager to bring the whole family back to help some more!

My husband has skills which would be incredibly useful over there, and I'm excited for my girls to experience this culture also. We hope to go for 3 weeks and get a lot done for them. In a recent email to my cousin, asking if she still thinks we could be helpful, her reply was: " WE NEED YOU!!!" Some of the potential items she listed that they could use further help with was:

further work on the gardens
teaching a composting model for the mothers to use at home
new experiments in composting at the land
new rabbit hutches
landscaping
build a bread oven
building shade areas
building seating/tables/workspaces
teaching sewing to the moms

I think they have enough projects to keep us quite busy for a few weeks! We've got a savings account started, and in an attempt to continue to raise funds towards this goal...

I've decided to start some kids sewing classes in my home again.

I've taught sewing to young creatives in the past and I'm excited to do it again - this time to raise money to support a wonderful cause.

Do you know any young creative kids who would love to learn to sew, or be taught creative gift ideas that they can make this year?

Here are the details on the sewing class:

NEW KIDS CRAFTING/SEWING WORKSHOPS

: Young budding seamstresses working away! Love spending time with these ladies!

I will be holding classes at my home this fall for kids ages 10+ geared toward creating unique Christmas gifts. We will be doing basic projects (working toward intermediate level) that will incorporate:

machine sewing skills
hand-stitching
applique to personalize hand made items
using fabric to cover items & create gifts
simple silk screening
re-purposing used clothing into new gift items

Each student will need to bring their own sewing machine and thread/notions, but all other materials will be provided.

Cost: $20 per class

DAYTIME class: Fridays 10 - 11:30am Beginning Friday, Sept. 6th - for 8 weeks

WEEKEND class: Saturdays 9 - 10:30am Beginning Sat. Sept 14th - for 8 weeks

Send me an email at sarahksailer@gmail.com if your child is interested in joining and I will let you know how much space is available.

Please spread the word here, locally (Loveland, CO area) if you would - and if any of you (non-locals) would like to contribute (getting the Sailers to Haiti) - you are welcome to donate via paypal by clicking the button here:

Thanks everyone!!

My beautiful cousin (and nurse) Amy - doing what she loves.

My hubs tells me I shouldn't share this recipe. He wants it to stay 'in the family' ... It's been shared with friends and family already, though - and it's such a super-delicious and easy recipe ... what can I say - I'm feeling generous. ;)

Here's the story.

My brother in law Armando's mother Maria made a spectacular tostada spread for my sister's graduation party several years back. Being an authentic Spanish-speaking family... it was a wonderful experience (taste buds included)!

I was enthralled by the simple red sauce that his mother put on the tostadas, and asked Armando to translate - "How did you make this amazing sauce? It's SO good! " I was expecting to hear a long-drawn out process of slowly letting the tomatoes cook and simmer... adding secret spices etc...

Instead, with a smile, my brother in law translated back to me "It's called El Pato. Look for a small can in the Mexican food aisle with a duck on it!"

I was amazed!

I began to experiment from then on with the magical El Pato. You can find this product in nearly EVERY grocery store's Hispanic Foods aisle.

On it's own, its a bit spicy... but it adds the PERFECT amount of heat to a medium salsa . Here is our favorite salsa recipe that came from those beginnings:

Now, I will admit there is a compromise in this recipe.

I typically only purchase canned goods with BPA-free lining because of the health risks involved. That means I soak my beans (saves money as well as improves digestibility), use frozen corn instead of canned... so really the only canned items that I purchase are tomatoes and Coconut Milk. Muir Glen Organics has a BPA free lined can, and so does Native Forest Organics (for Coconut Milk).

But, if you're up for 'tainting' your otherwise pure & organic ingredients a bit... this would be the time to go for it.

SARAH'S SIMPLEST (not perfectly pure) SALSA

1 large can whole tomatoes
1 can El Pato spicy tomato sauce (green or yellow can)
1 onion, diced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (or a large handful)

Empty contents of both cans into food processor. Grab approx. half of the bunch (or a large handful) of cilantro and throw it into the food processor. Pulse until cilantro is blended in, but not totally pureed. You want a bit of texture.

Chop onions by hand (important step) into a small dice. Add these to food processor and pulse just a few times to incorporate the onion. If you add the onion and puree it in - the onion flavor will be too strong.

That's about it!

Of course, there are many ways to add or enhance this salsa - fresh corn, jalapeno are just two of the ways you can change it up and have fun with it.

Dig in with your favorite chips, blend it into avocado for a heavenly guac, or top these fabulous Carnitas tacos with it!

I've had friends win salsa contests with this recipe - and it's always a hit wherever I bring it. Hope you enjoy!