the Grow Show: building community and parading love

After months of growth and love, The Grow Show is on it's way to Portland to be on display at Bijou Cafe, whereafter it will accumulate carts growing love as it progresses to Tacoma, Olympia, and finally back to it's beginning in Spokane. For the past few weeks I've been lucky to watch the Spokane carts and plants grow in the sunny storefront windows at Fresh Abundance. As all growth is, it has been magical. The Grow Show is a project of Black Rabbit Magic and can be read about in greater detail here.

Last Friday a group of lovelies gathered at Fresh Abundance to parade our carts of love into downtown Spokane arriving at the Kolva Sullivan Gallery where they were on display for First Friday. Guests who viewed the Grow Show were given vegetable starts to take home. I could go on and on about how amazing this was to be a part of, but I think the pictures can tell the story well enough.

If you are in Portland, I highly recommend checking out this show by Black Rabbit Magic.

Love.

Wellness Begins Here

The past few weeks have been like a roller coaster; I have been hanging on and enjoying the ride. I am so thankful for where I have unexpectedly landed. After a good month camping in the woods I have moved into a little apartment on the p.e.a.c.h. farm.

Of the many reasons this is an exciting move, I am most enamored by the fact that I have an oven and stove. A full size oven and stove people!! You see, I haven't had the pleasure of cooking with these lovely appliances for the past three years. How did I manage? I have no idea, but I made it work...with a hot plate and a small toaster oven. Because I am a severe celiac, I make 98% of the food I consume so this was no small feat.

My new love

My first night in the apartment I boiled water to make tea. I couldn't even believe how quickly the whole process occurred. Seriously, I was in complete awe at how fast it all happened. Quick boiling water and an oven big enough to hold a baking pan have given me the itch to cook. I have a feeling this is going to be a very delicious summer; living on a farm, cooking what's ripe and fresh, and sharing many meals with friends.

Wellness begins in the kitchen, and there are surely good things to come.

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.