winter
If you are a sinus person like me, you’ve probably had your fair share of semi-sleepless nights, slumped in the most upright position you can manage, your mouth dry and cracked from trying to suck air into your congested head.
You’ve probably been on antibiotics several billion times to get rid of the thick mucus hiding out in your skull. Probably a bacterial infection, they said.
I actually have not had a sinus infection in awhile. Changing my diet made a huge difference! It’s sorta common knowledge among holistic health folks that eliminating dairy is the trick. It might be, I don’t have scientific proof. But it worked for me, along with eliminating sugar and taking better care of myself in general. That was back in like, 2007.
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January 30th, 2012 | dairy, natural remedy, winter | 13 Comments »
Sweet tastes good. End of story. I’m reminded of this each day when Danny accepts his spinach or his beef but really lunges for his sweet potato. It’s a built-in craving.
Ok, so on that note I was in Target yesterday and decided we probably needed some cookies (oh geez, here we go Michelle). Since I wasn’t going to make it to Whole Foods, I figured I’d see what Target had. Like, a bag of good ol’ Fig Newtons must be fairly natural? Not too many weird ingredients, right?
Wrong! Fig Newtons are made with high fructose corn syrup, as are just about every other cookie on the shelf. Including the homemade-looking Archer brand I almost got fooled into buying. Only Kashi cookies were made with regular sugar.
(Which, of course, does not make them healthy by any stretch of the imagination. But I still bought them. I’m human.)
Anyway, the reason I’m talking about sugar and corn syrup is because we are all human, and we love our sweets. This is a recipe you will therefore love. All 3 of us did!
Cranberry Citrus Quinoa
For quinoa:
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
big pinch of salt
2 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1 pear, diced
5 oz. fresh cranberries, chopped (although I suppose you could use dried)
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 handful fresh mint, chopped
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
Big pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
First, rinse and drain quinoa. Then combine with OJ and water in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer until water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a big pan and add onion. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until translucent. Add squash and pear. Mix and cover until they are soft (about 5 min). Mix in quinoa, then add herbs, lemon, and more salt and pepper.
*At this point, take out a portion for baby and set aside. At least, that’s what I did. Though in retrospect I think he’d have liked the cranberries if they were chopped smaller.*
For the adults, add cranberries, walnuts and cayenne. Mix well.
Serve over cooked or raw greens.
For the record, here are other things that Danny likes to try and eat:
Deodorant, christmas tree ornaments, my leg, the couch, his coat, my nose, the cat’s tail.
You’d think natural selection would have knocked out this dangerous need to eat everything by now! Or else natural selection is what gave mothers eyes in the back of our heads. Sometimes.
January 16th, 2012 | baby, recipe, Sugar, vegan, vegetarian, winter | 5 Comments »
I’ve been reminding and reminding my clients to take time for themselves over the holidays. To not overdo it. To step away from work. To keep it simple.
There’s a saying, “We teach what we need to learn.” It’s so unbelievably true.
In honor of my own restful holidays, this post has been magically pre-programmed to shoot out to the Universe while I am hopefully relaxing with my family and eating something nourishing and simple, like this:
Sweet Potato, Beans & Apples
2 cups uncooked mung beans or lentils
2-3 sweet potatoes, washed and diced (skin left on)
2 peeled and diced carrots
1 onion
1 cup vegetable broth, divided into 2 half cups
2 apples, washed and sliced (skin left on)
1 tsp. dried thyme
approx. 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/4 tsp. pepper
Cook mung beans or lentils by bringing them to a boil with 4 cups of water. Reduce heat and simmer until tender.
Meanwhile, sauté in a pan drizzled with a couple tablespoons of oil over med-high heat: the chopped onion, diced sweet potatoes & diced carrots with salt, pepper & thyme. Cook about 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth, cover. Reduce to medium heat and cover. Cook about 5 minutes or until carrots and sweet potatoes are tender.
Add mung beans or lentils to sweet potato mixture with the remaining 1/2 cup broth and cover. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Spoon into center of a plate and place fresh cut apple slices around edge of plate.
This dish is high in protein from the beans or lentils – there is no need to add meat. You can add a green salad as a side and this is a complete, satisfying meal. This makes at least 4 generous servings.
Thank you to Joni at Healthybodypeacefulsoul.com for the recipe.
December 27th, 2011 | beans, happiness, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, winter | 2 Comments »
Last week a friend held a Christmas party for all us moms and babies. Holy moly did she put out a spread – probably 15 different hor d’oeuvres and desserts! She had 2 Christmas trees up and decorated, her baby in a holiday onesie, and Christmas stockings filled with gifts for not just the babies but for all us moms, too. Including homemade soap.
It was so sweet, and we had a lot of fun.
But I suspect my lovely friend is not the only among us who is doing, doing, doing this holiday season! (And not sleeping much.)
So, I have to ask.
Is there a way to bring some simplicity in your holidays? Are there some things you don’t have to do? Tasks you could cross off the to-do list? Ideals you can let go of? Emotions you can release? (Oooh I snuck that last one in there. But yeah, the holiday season can bring up a lot of emotions that one might try and subdue with a plate full of brie.)
A lot of people let go of eating healthy food during the holidays.
That’s not the kind of letting go I’m really encouraging. A few straight weeks of eating anything and anything does not pay off in the long run, trust me.
But what if you could eat healthy without cooking a darn thing? Because I know you’re busy. I’m talking about the snack you have before a holiday party. The dinner you grab before heading out for last minute shopping. I know we all will eat some special holiday goodies – and we should! – but you don’t have to make every meal an indulgence.
Here are some quick, no-cook ideas.
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December 21st, 2011 | quick and easy, winter | 8 Comments »
Meals like this are sometimes called “Garbage Plates” or “Garbage Salads.” It makes me cringe though – I just can’t call organic veggies and grass-fed steak “garbage.”
Maybe a Kitchen Sink Salad? Even that sounds like it should go down the disposal.
Nah, let’s just call this an un-recipe. A formula for making the most out of the food in your fridge and getting dinner on the table fast.
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December 2nd, 2011 | baby, quick and easy, winter | 9 Comments »
Pretty much everything I make these days is driven by the desire to eat some and freeze some. This way when the baby is born we’ll have a whole freezer full of meals. And really, it’s not a bad idea, even if you’re not expecting a baby any darn minute. Just get some extra plastic containers and remember to label what’s what! Unless you like Frozen Dinner Surprise.
I guess it’s all part of nesting. It’s pretty cool. So is the cleaning instinct, or whatever they call it. Man, I wish I always had a cleaning instinct. My cleaning instinct usually involves hiring a cleaning service. But lately, I’ve been scrubbing the most obscure corners of the house with white vinegar and essential oils.
And it’s not exactly un-funny to watch a 39 week pregnant lady on her hands and knees trying to scrub stuff, in case you’re wondering. There’s a good bit of humor around here lately. Including my pillow comfort arrangement techniques for bedtime, which include stacking, wrapping and stuffing. Oy.
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January 27th, 2011 | pregnancy, recipe, winter | 19 Comments »
Cupcakes are mini cakes. But muffins? I don’t get the oversized, sugar-coated versions sold at the coffee shop. Is that supposed to be breakfast?
Give me a break.
The truth is, when you stop eating so much sugar you actually give your tastebuds a chance to recalibrate and appreciate more subtle flavors. This is a good thing. Because real food tastes good!
This whole idea of cutting out sugar and appreciating food for real is a huge part of my 21 Day Detox program. Just today I got a wonderful email from a woman who completed the detox back in the fall. She had just been diagnosed with pre-diabetes and wanted to revamp her diet, pronto. I recommended the detox because it’s an immersion in clean, whole food and that’s exactly what she needed. Well guess what? It’s about 3 months later, she’s 15 lbs. lighter and her A1c test is back in normal range. How amazingly fantastic is THAT??
Man, I love my job.
Anyway. When you make these muffins, be prepared for your husband to tell you they’re missing something on first bite. That’s because he’s expecting a sugary muffin, a little cake like the ones at Starbucks. So tell him it’s more like a bread or a biscuit. Then he’ll tell you they’re delicious.
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January 24th, 2011 | baking, client stories, recipe, Sugar, vegetarian, winter | 18 Comments »
The trees are down, the baked goods are eaten, the necessary gifts have been exchanged…I’d say the holiday season is official over.
Except for one thing. One nagging little reminder.
If you’re like most people (including myself) the holidays included some sugary yumminess. And that’s ok. It’s cool. We enjoyed it. But the problem? It’s weeks later and the sugary urges are still there. The cravings. The continued permission to indulge coming through in whispered voices in our heads.
It’s that sugar-powered hamster wheel again, folks. And once you get on, man oh man it’s hard to get off! For the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that around 3pm I can’t get my hand out of the chocolate chips. If I had any other sweets in the house, they’d be calling my name too.
So. What do you do? How do you break free? Well, certainly not with guilt. And definitely not with deprivation or punishment.
“I will not eat sugar. I will not eat sugar. Ok, if I eat sugar then I’m not allowed to eat anything else the rest of the day. Blah blah blah.”
Phooey on that.
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January 10th, 2011 | detoxify, quick and easy, Sugar, try new things, winter | 14 Comments »
Ooops I did it again like Britney Spears. I ate too much of the wrong stuff over the holidays. Eh, who didn’t?
The snowstorm didn’t help. Instead of driving home on Sunday, we skidded through New Jersey until finally getting off the Turnpike and finding a lovely Days Inn to wait out the storm in. Our only option for food was chinese takeout. Lo mein, eggrolls and sesame chicken is not exactly the best way to top off a weekend of holiday eating!
Luckily we’re home safe and sound. And we have much less snow down here. By less, I mean none. Maybe the south ain’t so bad after all. It was downright warm yesterday afternoon as I ran some errands. (One of my errands included picking up a diaper bag. That’s right. Now that the holidays are wrapping up, baby prep is in full gear!)
So to give my digestive system a much needed post-holiday pick-me-up, I’m turning to greens. Of course! Over the long weekend I had carrots and green beans and tomatoes, but I sure missed my dark, leafy friends. They keep things moving smoothly, if you know what I mean. Plus they’re jam packed with nutrients and happy, light energy.
Yeah. Could use some of that.
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December 29th, 2010 | digestion, recipe, vegetarian, winter | 20 Comments »
It’s baking time! Based on survey results I’m entirely making up, half of you are in the kitchen today covered in flour. Yay! What a fun time of year.
Baking Christmas cookies is not just about the cookies for me. I only bake my grandma’s cookies, and I only do it because Christmas doesn’t feel the same without her around. Ok, ok, I also do it because I LOVE cookies. But the best part is carrying on the traditions I remember from childhood.
Of course, I make some teensy changes to the recipes. If I’m going to eat a boatload of cookies, they need to be closer to real food – meaning whole grains and natural sweeteners. But honestly, I’ve found that using whole ingredients lends a more full bodied flavor to baked goods. White sugar is a hit of sweet on your tongue like cocaine to the brain! But pure maple syrup has true flavor. Think about it.
By the request of one of my friends, here are some tips for upgrading your holiday baking. Depending on how tied you are to the outcome, you might tentatively adjust the flours and that’s it. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous you can completely recreate your holiday favorites. It’s fun!
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December 21st, 2010 | baking, Sugar, try new things, whole grains, winter | 13 Comments »
