Building Relationships

A dear friend of mine gave me a pair of boots in college after he had been teased that they were girl boots. I love this friend, and I am even more thankful that he chose me to be the recipient. I have worn them well; I love them, I live in them. Time had taken it's toll. Get a new pair you might say? No way. These boots have too many memories.

This week I set out to find a cobbler who could repair my beloved boots. I didn't have to look far. Two blocks from Fresh Abundance, I stumbled upon Ressa's Shoe Service. On Monday, I was ready to let go of my boots long enough to get them repaired. In the afternoon I dropped them off and was told they could be ready by Wednesday. This was great news to me.

Tuesday at about 5:30pm as I was pulling up to Fresh Abundance after my daily evening errands, I received a call that my boots were ready. Yippee! I went straight there. About two minutes later I was walking into the lovely shop. I didn't even have a chance to pull out my receipt when the kind gentleman grabbed my boots, smiled and said, "I matched your boots to your face." I smiled, and said "Thank you." They were more lovely than I remembered, sewn and polished. In my awestruck, I failed to get the gentleman's name. I now have a cobbler to call on when in need of repair, and I will gladly recommend Ressa's Shoe Service. Quick repair, good work, and happy people who clearly love what they do. I am all about supporting people who do what they love and do it well. I believe that living our passion is what builds vibrant communities, and what makes our world a more joyful place.

Happy boots, Happy girl.

Brain Food

For nearly the past 24 hours I have been editing/writing a huge federal grant proposal for p.e.a.c.h. (people for environmental action & community health 501c3 nonprofit) that has to be completed by 8am Thursday. Wow. I love this type of work, and I gained superb technical writing skills in college, but wow. My brain hurts in a good way. Grant funding is really important for supporting the great work that p.e.a.c.h. is doing in our community in 2010 and beyond, and I am the final editor/writer. No pressure, right?

On any given day I will gladly take this sort of a challenge as I find joy in capturing the essence of what is trying to be communicated, and in finessing an argument so that it exists in it's most powerful and concise form. This week, however, in addition to packing, moving, long runs, and all the other things I seem to fit into a normal days work, I have found myself to be incredibly hungry and in need of some serious brain food.

Here's what I came up with today. This is really out of the norm for me, but I listen to my body and this is what it was telling me it wanted to eat. So simple and so easy to prepare. I haven't eaten hot cereal since I was a child. I've never really liked it, but this was so dang good. Although this was super tasty in itself, I think that next time I will add some cardamom or cinnamon.

Ingredients (all organic except the oats as I haven't found organic gluten free oats):
GF Steel cut oats
GF Rolled Oats
Dried Blueberries
Dried Cranberries
Dried LOCAL Cherries
Raw Almonds (not roasted rather, all almonds are pasteurized to some extent unless you get them direct from a farmer who is bucking the system)
Raw Pecans
Raw Walnuts
Raw Pumpkin Seeds
Golden Flax Seeds
Chia Seeds
Redmond RealSalt
Raw Blue Agave

Mix all ingredients except chia seeds and agave in a bowl. Pour boiling water just to the top. Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes, mix in chia seeds, add agave (or honey) to taste, and enjoy. This can be made the night ahead and consumed cold.. it would still be delicious and a great resource for someone biking many miles needing to replenish.

Although these are the ingredients I chose, you can really use any combination of grains, nuts, seeds, and fruits to suit your taste. Go easy on the flax seed as too much can become gooey and create the wrong mouth feel. For non-celiacs, I would recommend substituting rolled oats with some rolled emmer or rolled spelt flakes.

Chia seeds are something new I am trying. They can be added to casseroles and baked goods, sprinkled on cereal, yogurt and salads, or stirred into beverages, soups and sauces. Chia seeds are a nutrient-dense super seed with high fiber, 3x the antioxidants of blueberries, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, a great source of protein, and the richest known vegetable source of Omega-3 fatty acids.

After this lovely meal, I think I can get this grant finished by tomorrow. Thank you, delicious and nutritious food.

Routine

What do you do for yourself daily to be well?

For me, it's drinking green smoothies and running. Well, almost daily on the running as too much of a good thing isn't good at all.

There's one thing I've learned thus far on my journey of eating well to be well: Don't choose anything that is "healthful" just because it is healthful. If I don't enjoy it I will never sustain it, and I will torture myself in the process. Thoughts and feelings are powerful, as well as the chemicals released in the body associated with them. If I'm putting something "healthful" in my body, thinking it will do me good but dreading and resenting it in the same moment, I have to ask myself, doesn't the power of those negative feelings negate any good it could possibly do for me? It seems to me that there are a multitude of foods that can accomplish the desired benefit I am seeking, so if one option doesn't suit me, I keep searching until I find one that I enjoy. Win, win.

Green smoothies have been part of my daily routine for about eight months now. I love them and they make me feel great. I start each morning with one, and I drink it first, before choosing coffee. Often, I find that I only choose coffee for the taste and not for the wake me up effect as green smoothies wake me up plenty. The truth is that I have always loved the taste of coffee, and we serve delicious Maya Earth Organic Coffee at Fresh Abundance. So good! I could go on about Maya Earth but I'll save that for another post.

So, what the heck is a green smoothie and why is it so healthful you may be asking?

Victoria Boutenko is the author of the concept of the Green Smoothie and she has written many books. You can check out her website at http://www.rawfamily.com/

Green smoothies are comprised of leafy greens, ripe fruit to sweeten, filtered water, and a cup of ice. Different than other smoothies, green smoothies don't include any starchy vegetables (i.e. carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, eggplant, squash, okra, peas, corn, or green beans) because starchy vegetables combine poorly with fruit in terms of the digestive process. You can use any green such as lettuce, chard, kale, collards, spinach, or beet greens to name a few. Green smoothies taste like fruit, but my body gets all the healing power of chlorophyll from the greens. (Chlorophyll's healthful properties are too extensive to go into here as it really requires an entire post *see Victoria Boutenko's book Green For Life to gain an extensive knowledge). Because I've been drinking green smoothies for awhile, my taste buds like them to be very green and not so sweet. As a runner, I also like to add young organic coconut water to my smoothies. Young coconut water contains potassium, magnesium and many trace minerals. It is a lovely balance of electrolytes that helps my body replenish after a good run.

I haven't been sick with a cold or the flu in longer than I can remember. I have definitely felt my body fighting sickness and I have found that increasing my green smoothie consumption to at least a half gallon has helped my body fight sickness off. In addition to green smoothies I should mention that sleep is also a key component for me when my body is fighting to be well. So far, so good. Sickness averted.

Although I intend to eat a balanced, healthful diet each day, I am often a woman on the run and getting a safe meal for a celiac can be a challenge. With green smoothies I can smile knowing that I've fed my body a base nutrition that it needs to be nourished and to rebuild.

What is Food?

Food is sustenance, food is pleasure. Food feeds our bodies and souls, and brings us together in a moment with the people in our lives to just stop, relax, appreciate, rejuvenate, and enjoy.

I have always been a lover of good food. My mother taught my brothers and I to cook at a young age and as a family, we always ate together. Mother taught us basic techniques in the kitchen, and she taught us to let ourselves be free to create and to learn from our experiences. In the kitchen there are no failures, only opportunities to learn and insight to be gained about how to try something differently next time.

I love to cook. I mean, I really love to cook. I especially love to share food that I have prepared with people who I care about. It is how I show love. Love that I have dreamed, created, and prepared just for the moment that we will share.

Most of the greatest memories I have all include good food. Birthdays growing up when we'd go to Alexis, our family favorite Greek Restaurant in Portland. Traveling through seven European countries with my mother, eating our way from town to town. Studying abroad in Italy and preparing the freshest ingredients I could find daily at the local produce shop, bakery, or meat shop that were right near my flat. I could go on and on.

Five years ago, I thought for a moment that my love affair with truly good food was ending when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. After the brain fog cleared a few short days after eliminating gluten from my diet, I started feeling like myself again and was able to see being gluten free as an adventure I would willingly embrace. I have never looked back. Although my love for food has changed markedly throughout my life I do not see being gluten free as a barrier to enjoyment. Instead, I see a world of food options that prior to my diagnosis I didn't even know existed.

My mother is lovingly nicknamed the "cook without a conscience" as her food ALWAYS feeds the mouth and soul, but sometimes neglects what is best for the body. As someone who lived in a chronically ill body for many years (while consuming gluten), I choose to feed my body first. Thanks to mother and years of cooking and experimenting, my taste buds don't mind this choice one bit. Eating for life can taste good. Join me as I continue to learn to eat to live.