Food is not a religion
"Are you a veg*n?"
Seems like I get that question a lot. It's interesting that when you talk about eating healthy, many people assume you don't eat meat. The funny thing is I want to say that I am a vegetarian. But I'm not. In fact, I'd love to say I'm a vegan or a raw foodie. Although I eat a mainly raw and vegan diet, I'm not fully committed to either of those either.
Yet, for so many reasons, the aspiration to be meat-free is there. Honestly. Certainly my mind is willing but ... well you know the rest. The thing is, transitioning to vegan eating isn't even a new thing for me. Back in 1977, I was living in Los Angeles when a childhood friend came to visit during college summer break. I was so impressed by her new vegan lifestyle that I adopted it overnight, literally, for 6 years. Thinking back, that summer was full of many firsts ...
First trip to a health food market
First time eating eggplant sandwiches
First time seeing and using a VitaMix
First time realizing that my body thrived without meat
First time making a commitment to eat a plant, nut, seed, and grain-based diet
So why am I wavering now? Perhaps my ancestral meat-eater blood type is holding me hostage? Maybe it's a winter thing? Or am I just feeling insecure about change? Hmm. Even though I set a goal to be 100% vegan in 2010, I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions, so I've already succumbed once (today!) to broiled olive chicken. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious (thanks Shafia!). Yet as soon as I ate it, I knew I could have skipped it and been satisfied with the very tasty offerings of raw kale salad, brown rice, eggplant, pineapples and dates.
It's alright though. The beauty of living is that each day is another opportunity to step back onto your path. Since I've decided that being a vegan is an important goal for me, I'm committed to empower myself through radical self care, including daily self-directed coaching, positive affirmations, Reiki, yoga, walking, focused breathing, drinking water, essential oils, and the support of a holistic health counselor.
In the meantime, what do I say to the 'vegetarian' question? Usually, "No. I'm a vegan who eats meat on rare occasions". LOL!
Hey, as one of my teachers, Joshua Rosenthal, says, "food is not a religion". Thank God!
Kitchen art
Beyond food and utilitarian devices, color, movement and visual cues tease out our creative talents. So, after realizing that my kitchen is rather bland, and inspired by a recent desire to repurpose treasured items, I may have stumbled upon a fun solution.
Have you seen The Organic Kitchen Garden calendars by Ann Lovejoy (author and Seattle columnist)? Each calendar in the series is a gorgeous work of food and garden art: bold, brilliant, energizing ... perfect for getting through those dreary gray winter days, urging the onset of spring and the return of blossoming life. A small investment (less than $20) yields twelve full color spectacularly arranged professional photographs of fruits, vegetables, edible flowers, dried flowers and garden beds. The mouth-watering monthly recipes and cooking tips are an unexpected bonus!
A pristine 2007 issue (photography by Robin Bachtler Cushman) was recently unearth from beneath a random stack of stuff here at home. So, it's off to seek out creative, sustainable options to display these vibrant beauties in ways that will delight the senses, stimulate the palate, heal the winter blues, and beckon the green thumb.
For more fun kitchen ideas, check out Spice Up the Kitchen!
Bon Appetit!
What do juicing and breastfeeding on-the-go have in common
The other day, I was coaching a postpartum mom who is currently weaning her one-year-old off of breastmilk and is considering doing a juice & raw food cleanse to get back to her pre-pregnancy diet.
Her challenge: With a demanding job as a corporate attorney, how to juice during the day?
Ironically, this was the same question she had asked after returning to work as a breastfeeding mama ("how do I breastfeed and work full time?"). Her question created an AHA moment for both of us!
Me: How did you solve the problem of nursing your baby during work hours?
Her: I pumped and bottled my milk so it could go with her to daycare.
........................................... Silence ..........................................
Her: Ooh, maybe I could do the same thing ... juice in the morning, bottle it and take it with me?
Me: That sounds like an idea!
Her: But I've heard that fruits and veggies lose vitamins and minerals once juiced and so you should drink them right away rather than refrigerate for later use. Is that true?
Me: Hmm, does that happen with pumped and bottled breastmilk? What do you think?
Her: Well, pumped and bottled milk probably loses some value nutritionally, but the real value lost in not nursing directly from the breast is the soul connection ... lovingly holding your baby, looking her in the eye, that close skin-to-skin bonding time. It just can't be replaced.
Me: Does that mean that pumped and bottled breastmilk is not valuable? Or that you don't get to make that connection with your baby at other times?
Her: NO! It's still considered the next best thing to actually feeding AT the breast. I mean, even doctors will verify that it's still better than formula in most cases. And I still nurse her on the breast at night time plus as she gets older we are creating new ways of connecting.
Me: Indeed. And when you pump your milk, is it with the same love and caring for your baby that you have when feeding at the breast directly?
Her: Oh yes!
Me: So, how does this all translate to produce and juicing?
Her: I guess once you cut into veggies they do begin to lose some of their nutritional value. That happens when we cook too, but we still eat cooked foods, right?
Me: Yes. How can you put that same caring and love into juicing?
Her: Hmm, maybe by choosing, washing, handling, storing, and preparing my fruits and veggies with a mindfulness for its connection to wellness and healing my body?
Me: Sounds like you are saying that your mindset and the interaction with your food is important to the energy of your food, and what value it has for your body.
Her: Yes! Exactly!
Me: So what can you conclude from this discussion?
Her: Well, I have to work. And I want to be healthy. So just like I pump my milk and send it with my baby, I can juice my fruits and veggies and carry them to work with me. It's not ideal, but it is the best in our given situation. Plus I get to choose the quality and determine the care that goes into the preparation ... something I have no control of outside my kitchen.
Me: Wow. Sounds like you've made a decision and feel good about it!
Her: YES! I have. Now all I have to do is find a fabulous portable container to store and carry my juices in. Thank you for helping work through this!
Me: You are an amazing advocate for your own health.
How I came to love chia seeds
In the midst of an experiment to see how certain foods effect my health, I decided to eliminate gluten-rich foods (that's wheat, including durum, graham, kamut, semolina, and spelt, plus rye, barley and triticale) for 90 days. Today is day 52.
Living without gluten breads, pastas, and baked goods hasn't been difficult, in fact, it's much easier than I expected. Being more conscious of where gluten might show up unexpectedly requires a little more thought but not enough to be bothersome. Mainly, i've just steered clear of anything that might be breaded, dusted or mixed with flour, and decided not to indulge any of the numerous gluten-free breads on the market.
There's something about elimination that begs of new discoveries, and so this month began my exploration of a food I've noticed from afar for quite a while - chia seeds. Other than adding them to an occasional smoothie, I hadn't really thought much, in the past, about what else could be done with these teeny tiny seeds.
Chia seeds come in two varieties - dark & light
My research led to a week-long chia seed obsession. I experimented with adding chia seeds to smoothies and soups and stir-fry and oatmeal, making fruity chia seed puddings, sprinkling over salads, and even mixing the seeds with water to see if they worked as a vegan egg substitute in baking (they do!). What I discovered is that I LOVE CHIA SEEDS. With barely a flavor of their own, they hide/mix well in just about everything. It's a bonus that they are easy, delicious, and each little seed is loaded with amazing stuff (vitamins, minerals, omega-3s, soluble and insoluble fiber, complete protein, calcium, magnesium, antioxidants, ...) that's good for you. So chia seed has become a staple in the Qi To Wellness kitchen!
Chia seed pudding topped with maple syrup & berries
Up next on the gluten-free (GF) journey:
- My adventures with Polenta!
In the meantime, I'm enjoying life without gluten and it feels great! Do you have a gluten-free story or recipe to share? Please do so in the comments section below or email me. I love learning from YOU!
Stretching out with polenta
For years now, I've been meaning to try polenta. I kept hearing about it. Seeing it in the store. Wondering what one does with it. And of course, asking myself "how does it taste?". The idea of polenta wasn't foreign to me, after all ...
For years now, I've been meaning to try polenta. I kept hearing about it. Seeing it in the store. Wondering what one does with it. And of course, asking myself "how does it taste?". The idea of polenta wasn't foreign to me, after all, I'd grown up with it's cultural 'cousin', grits (ground hominy). But for several reasons (mainly the unappealing look of it), I just never put it in my grocery cart.
Until now.
Committing to going gluten-free for 90 days has spawned me to try new things again. Plus it's spring ... well almost. So what better time to take on new things, to blossom and grow in experiences?!
On day 5 of the GF lifestyle, I decided to buy, and promised myself to make, polenta. Sorry but I didn't want to experiment with making it from scratch just yet. Instead, I wanted to test drive it first, see if I even like it, and then venture into making my own, perhaps.
At home, polenta in hand, I surveying the contents of my fridge and pantry, then googled 'vegan polenta recipes' and even tweeted an online friend (@glutenfreeninja) for assistance on a gluten-free vegan substitute for tamari or shoyu sauce. Turns out she's not vegan though so ... anyway, when I happened across a Polenta Lasagna with Portabellas and Kale recipe that just felt like THE ONE.
As usual, I adapted it to my own liking and needs. Instead of using kale, I chopped up collards. Since I wasn't sure about the polenta, I opted not to layer it in-between the veggies, as directed. And with no tofu for the 'cheez' sauce, I skipped it and topped the dish with nutritional yeast instead. All the while, Hubs is looking on skeptically. He knows that many of my new dishes and mistakes turn out to be the best tasting creations in our home. But I could tell he wasn't sold, just yet.
Twenty minutes in the convection oven and we'd know if polenta was a keeper.
Here's how my polenta dish turned out ...
Well, it was clear from the first bite that I should have doubled the recipe. It was good. The Man called it 'delicious'! What I learned: Polenta looks funny but cooks up nicely. Baked, it can easily replace pasta, especially lasagna noodles. Its flavor is mild, yet not bland. The texture massages the tongue and enlivens the taste bids! We cleaned the small panful quickly, dismayed that it was all gone.
Today is round two. We'll be having polenta for dinner. Same recipe, this time with the 'cheez' sauce.
So, looks like polenta has officially found a welcome home in our kitchen!
Lead with your heart and the food will follow
"Excuse me, I'm curious ... how you cook that?"
The question, from another random shopper at my local produce market, was referring to the plantains (pronounced plan-tins) I was picking over. It's become quite commonplace now that nearly every time I am out scouting for just-the-right plantains, someone inquires about how to cook and/or eat them. So I was actually anticipating her next question ...
"Do the plan-tains taste like bananas?"
The questions began after relocating from New York to the Pacific Northwest, a beautiful part of the country whose people have a genuine passion for food and a natural sense of curiosity. I was buying plantains at a local grocery chain when the cashier asked about the 'funny bananas' as she rang them up from my basket. A few weeks later, a produce stocker began an inquiry citing a need to know what to tell shoppers who asked him about the 'exotic bananas' he hasn't tried yet. While I can recall my favorite plantain-encounters-of-the-first-kind, I've lost count of the number of times I've actually been approached by strangers wanting to know more.
After all these years, I'm still quite fond of the patacones (twice fried plantains) eaten at childhood family gatherings, as well as the fried platanos consumed daily with black beans and rice in my young adult years. So it's interesting that this big, thick banana is still such a mystery to so many.
Like the many conversations before it, today's particular encounter ended with a brief explanation of the various types of bananas, methods of cooking in different cultures, tips on how to pick them, followed by a quick recipe, the encouragement to enjoy them, and my card to call with questions.
This afternoon, she called saying ...
"I spoke to a few friends, and we're wondering if you would do a class on buying and preparing foods we're unfamiliar with?"
Ahhh ... the plantain experience epitomizes my love affair with food. For me, eating it and sharing it are one in the same. Both satisfy from the inside.
What's your heart connection with food?