From the category archives:

seasonal eating

3 simple ways to slow it all down

“The earth is what we all have in common.”

- Wendell Berry Author, farmer, cultural critic.  

It doesn’t get more plain than that, does it?  As our lives become busier, more complex, and more stressful, it’s more critical than ever to remember that there is a way to slow things down. You can start with food. Slow food. I have seen incredible things happen, first hand,  time and again when people change what they eat, how they eat and why they eat.

It’s nothing short of miraculous, beautiful and remarkably simple.

The best way to start is to find and identify a clean source of food. What do I mean by clean? 

Clean Food: Fresh, bright, delicious foods raised in healthy soil, free from pesticides and chemical treatments. With heirloom and/or organic standard seeds (that -gasp!- get saved and replanted year after year). With animals that roam free and eat grasses and bugs and get plenty of sunshine – I might call this frolicking if I were feeling it –which I am – so frolicking animals, living in as close to a natural habitat as possible. Raised by happy, devoted – free from tyranny -farmers.

Dirty Food: Laden with a toxic and unknowable cocktail of chemicals, pesticides, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, weed killers, and genetically engineered seeds. Unfortunately, this is what you will find in conventional supermarkets, grocery stores, pit stops and gas stations.

Or

Franken Food: Most food that comes in a package or from a fast food restaurant (chick- fil-a counts) containing pink slime, wood pulp, chemical food colorants (affecting ADD and ADHD) plastics and other bizarre additives.

These last two categories are part of the SAD diet — Standard American Diet. Yes, it is sad. If you are suffering from ANY health challenges (I mean ANY), then your food source is the first place you can affect enormous amounts of change. 

In this multi-part blog post, I’m going to help define all the new labels and code words so you can better understand what the heck is going on. Because as the organic food industry has grown, so have the greedy industrialists noticed and have put their hand in for a big piece of pie – affecting the “standards, ” creating loopholes, and blurring lines all over the place.

STEP 1. CSA

The first, most powerful step you can make that will change your health, stress, finances and the health and stress of your family and the planet (yes there is an enormous amount of stress on the planet form conventional agriculture) is to join a CSA.

CSA – Community Supported Agriculture

This is literally taking back your health and supporting small local farms that can provide you with fresh, clean, delicious food throughout the growing season. Individuals and families pay an upfront fee which supports the farm, and then receive a box or boxes of fresh harvest weekly or bi monthly (lots of choices here). If you don’t know what you would make with some of these “new” and strange foods from the ground, have no fear – you have a trusty holistic health coach right here (just email me with  your questions).

Here are a few benefits:

  • The closer you are to your food source (i.e. the soil it is pulled from) the more nutrient dense it because of less travel time.
  • You are supporting farmers who are repairing the earth for us (yes) by using sustainable methods and caring for the health of the soil.
  • You are taking back the right to clean, fresh food and water for our planet and her people – starting with you -  great benefit! (Water will take longer but reducing pesticides, chemicals, animal excrement and anti-biotic runoff into our water is a good start in the right direction)
  • Many CSAs offer fresh eggs, and some offer butchered meats or animal shares.
  • You are taking a stand against big corporate behemoths who only see profit and feed each others pockets (and that’s always fun to do). Here’s a thought for you: Big Ag keeps plants and animals sickly, which keeps us sickly, which gets us to take more pharmaceuticals from Big Pharma, which based on our excretions, puts these chemicals, anti-biotics (which literally translates to “against life”), hormones, and all else into the waste stream, making our sea life sickly, we’re too tired, not feeling well, drugged out, so we don’t want to be bothered with riding a bicycle or recycling because who has time? So we stay hooked on oil and of course Big Oil loves that… hmm.. so if you’re still reading – join a CSA, feel better and rejoice!

Find a local CSA near you – it’s this easy: localharvest.org/csa/

Step 2: Find a Food Cooperative near you.

This is a great money saver. We used to belong to the Park Slope Food Coop (my grandparents belonged since the early 70′s) and by my estimates we saved about $3000 per year in groceries and sundries.

Not all food coop’s are alike (the Park slope Food Coop is infamous with over 14,000 members and lots of politics, it gets in the papers often). We have a food coop here in Asheville called the French Broad Food Coop, where working is optional, the discounts are a bit less but way more than a Whole Foods (also known as Whole Paycheck). And by the way the holistic, organic food community is now officially snubbing them as they have joined Big AG in support of Genetically Modified foods (I’ll get to GMOs in the next installment).

Find a Food Coop near you: Food Co-op’s often get food in bulk and for much better prices localharvest.org/food-coops/

Step 3: Shop the Farmer’s Market

You may do this already, so you’ll know the benefits of obtaining your food this way. Besides, using a cute bag or basket and bopping around feeling romantic what with your fresh Artisnal bread poking out and your bright greens and fresh cut flowers… farmer’s markets allow you to:

  • Speak directly to farmers
  • Buy Local
  • Practice asking questions, that feel pushy or nosey like, “What are your spraying methods” – the solid answer would be low or no spray, the ones to walk away from are ”I don’t know” or  “Conventional Spray, duh.”
  • Take time and enjoy shopping for your food instead of rushing through the aisles with yapping kids – let them run around the farmers market and smell stuff.

Farmers’ markets are on the rise (yay!) and depending on your area may have some fiddle music, grape crushing when in season, herbs for sale, and even food to eat – yummy brunch at the Sunday Farmer’s Market anyone?

Find a Farmer’s Market near you: http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/

You may have noticed that Local Harvest has been doing a terrific job of helping us all find access to clean, fresh food and giving us a tangible and powerful way to help heal the earth. Cause she’s all we got.

Stay tuned for my next installment where I will help define the meanings of green-washing, local, seasonal, organic, and other terms that are out there in the cultural flow.

Have a beautiful Earth Day. I’ll be at our local farmer’s market celebrating. Where will you be?

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The Most Powerful Spring Foods… are on the way

EARLY SPRING is an opportune time to take advantage of some of the most cleansing, beautifying and healing foods around. Here’s a detailed list from my Spring Cleanse that you can review now so you a can be on the lookout in your local farmer’s market and health food stores. Consider how you might make use of their unique cleansing and healing properties. (Pay special attention to Stinging Nettles!) 

Note: Some of my workshop and VIP clients might find this list familiar… use it as a review and a reminder of the powerful beautifying properties of these special foods.

Asparagus

  • High in Folic acid
  • Diuretic cleanser = flushes out the kidneys
  • Reduces blood pressure 
  • Reduces Water retention

Dark Leafy Greens

Green is associated with spring, the time of renewal, refreshment and vital energy. In Asian medicine, green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity. 

  • Very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc and vitamins A, C, E and K. 
  • High in fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phyto-chemicals.
  • Blood purification
  • Cancer prevention
  • Improved circulation
  • Strengthened immune system
  • Promotion of healthy intestinal flora
  • Promotion of subtle, light and flexible energy
  • Lifted spirit and elimination of depression
  • Improved liver, gall bladder and kidney function
  • Cleared congestion, especially in lungs, by reducing mucus

Broccoli, bok choy, Napa cabbage, kale, collards, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dandelion, green cabbage, arugula, endive, chicory, lettuce, mesclun, wild greens.

Stinging Nettles

Nettles are one of the most nutritious greens on the planet. Cooked, blanched or dried they lose their sting.

The entire plant can be used. 

  • Highest levels of beauty producing silicon in any food.
  • Vitamins A, C, beta-carotene
  • Chlorophyll
  • Immune system builder.
  • High Iron content 
  • They’re unusually high in protein (40%) for a plant
  • Nutrient-dense, they make a good overall tonic for strengthening the body. 
  • Useful in treating anemia, high vitamin C content ensures that the iron is properly absorbed by the body.

Uses:

The juice of roots and leaves, mixed with honey or sugar, relieves both bronchitis and asthma. 

Weight Loss:

  • Increase the function of the thyroid gland: 
  • Increase metabolism—helps burn away fat while increasing energy.
  • Relieves mucus in the colon allowing for the release of excess waste. 
  • Mineral rich, which helps satisfy hunger. Overeating often is a search for minerals.

 Blood Purification:

  • High caliber blood purifier.
  • Diuretic properties help flush the blood and cleanse thru the action of the kidneys. 

 Other known uses:

  • Combat and relieve allergy symptoms (especially hay fever)
  • Anti-arthritis or anti-rheumatic agent,
  • Used as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory,
  • Used as a lung tonic for ex-smokers
  • Helps skin heal from eczema, or hives
  • Bursitis,
  • Tendonitis,
  • Laryngitis,
  • Kidney stones,
  • Lowers blood sugar naturally
  • Relieves the symptoms of sciatica and PMS

EXCELLENT FOR:  toxicity, poor skin quality, weak nails loss of overall luster. 

Use Nettles Greens, as a juice, tea, or in powder forms

I love to make Nettles into a pesto, which I freeze for use the whole year. Here’s my recipe (scroll down you’ll see I post about Nettles every year – yes, I’m a nettles super-fan).

Beets and Beet Greens

(while detoxifying limit beets but use the greens- as they have a high sugar content)

  • Loaded with nutrients 
  • Blood purifier
  • Used for centuries as folk remedies for Anemia, Menstrual problems/imbalances, Kidney disorders
  • Antioxidant
  • Detoxify the liver
  • Protect against cancers of  skin, lung, colon
  • Evens the ratio of HDL: LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
  • Beet greens are loaded with iron and beta-carotene

Fennel

Fennel is great all year round and full of beneficial nutrients including

  • Vitamin C – helps protect your body from free radical damage
  • Fiber – helps to reduce cholesterol levels and remove cancer-causing toxins from your colon
  • Antimicrobial and helps immune system function
  • Potassium
  • Folate
  • Niacin
  • Calcium, magnesium, iron, and copper.

It also provides these other good-for-you benefits:

  • Reduces inflammation
  • Helps prevent cancer
  • Protects liver from damage caused by chemicals
  • Folate: Fennel is also a good source of folate, a B vitamin that helps convert the dangerous homocysteine molecule (which can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke) into a harmless compound.

Ramps

Ramps are an early spring wild onion/wild leek. They possess a powerfully pungent, spicy aroma and flavor very similar to that of garlic or shallots. Many chefs consider ramps to be the best-tasting member of the entire onion family

  • The foliage, stems, and bulbs can be used raw or cooked 
  • Member of leeks, garlic and chive family:
  • High in Vitamin C, helpful for Hypertension, and high cholesterol

Radishes

  • One of the highest veggie sources of Vitamin C 
  • Play a role in connective tissue formation. 
  • The mineral silicon and sulfur work with vitamin C to create glowing skin 
  • Also High in Folic Acid.
  • They cut and dissolve mucus in the digestive tract formed from eating starchy carbs.
  • Stimulate the liver
  • Expel and prevent gallstones
  • Increase digestive fires. 
  • Used in Russia for both hyper and hypothyroidism. 
  • Great kidney cleansers
  • Decrease water retention

Beans

A very nourishing vegetable food. 

  • High fiber= blood sugar levels don’t rise rapidly – keeps insulin from shooting up.
  • Low-fat, low-cal, dense source of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals
  • They resonate with the paired organs of the body: brain and heart, lungs, kidneys, ovaries and testicles.

 Reduce wind by soaking them overnight before cooking.

Strawberries

(usually late spring/early summer)

  • Just 5 Strawberries can give you half the RDA of Vitamin C
  • Vitamin K rich – for healthy bones and blood clotting
  • Antioxidant
  • Curbs inflammation in eczema-asthma-arthritis
  • Helps protect the brain form age-related decline

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Rawkos! A travel food.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It’s time to celebrate all the toil and sweat you’ve put into you’re year. 

Here’s a fantastic recipe that will keep you in the summer mode. This is a popular favorite from my Seasonal Cleanses (Join me in September for a healthy kick-start)–It’s great food to travel with and requires NO COOKING. Rejoice the Rawko!  It’s like a taco but it’s raw – not raw meat – raw foods (means no cooking, more enzymes, more energy). 

Wraps

  • Bunch of collard greens*, rinsed and de-stemmed – leaving 2 halves (depends on how many people are eating– figure 2-3 wraps per person)
  • Pat those dry
Sweet Cucumber Salsa
  • 1 apple – peeled, cored, diced
  • 1 cucumber – peeled, seeded, diced
  • 1 medium sweet yellow onion – diced
  • parsley and/or cilantro – washed and diced
  • a few pinches of Celtic sea salt (this is a high mineral salt- very good for you)
  • Fresh squeezed lemon
  • Add all ingredients together, then add in salt and lemon – make sure it really gets on that onion! Toss, let sit. 
Rawko “meat”
First, let me say, I am not anti-meat, I am pro sustainably-raised, grass-pastured meat*. I am pro health for our bodies, and health for the planet. So why the non-meat tacos – er- rawkos? Because they are delicious. Because raw foods pack an amazing amount of energy and vitality, and because everyone loves new and exciting foods that make them feel good with no negative repercussions.  So here you go:
  • 1 -2 cups of raw organic walnuts (again, depending on how many people you are feeding)
  • 2-6 TBS of gluten free tamari (go easy on this — it can get real salty quick)
  • Add to a high speed blender or food processor and blend it up
Making Rawkos
  • Lay  your collard wrap on a flat surface
  • Spread 1-2 tsp of the rawko “meat” onto the wrap length-wise
  • Add some salsa (this offsets the heavy flavor of the walnuts nicely)
  • Here, I added some sunflower sprouts for some more green and texture
  • Roll up and enjoy. 
You can pre-roll these and eat them on a car ride — or pack the ingredients separately and take to work, beach, or party. 
*When I travel I also make  an organic turkey and goat cheese wrap that you can eat in the car. Just add shaved onions and apple. Divine. 
Let me know what you think. Happy Labor Day Weekend. 

 

 

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Best picnic salad ever.

With all the picnics and outdoor bar-b-ques and joyful summer happenings abound, I thought I’d share this quick and tasty salad.

I made up the other day when meeting a friend for a picnic in Prospect Park (Brooklyn).

On a side note about BBQs and parties and keeping your summer figure, I employ a method I like to call:

“I’ma bring what I’m gonna eat. I’ll gladly share it with you.”

This way, I know if I show up and my only options are pulled pork, pig candy (please don’t ask), garlic bread, and a paltry salad, I’ve got myself covered with something that I know I want to eat, I know I enjoy, and I can share it with others. (You may recall my super bowl Sexy Pie post).

So here’s a refreshing summer salad for you to share with friends!

Oh! I almost forgot — the best part of this salad is that it is s u p e r quick to pull together. To recap, it’s the best becasue, it’s tasty, it’s easy to make, it appeals to many, and it’s good for your looks. I’m open to names for this one. Post below.

Best picnic salad. Ever.

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 beet

1 cucumber

1/3 white onion (or bunch of scallions)

1 apple

1/2 -1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar (raw)

1-2 tsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Celtic sea salt (most mineralizing salt) to tatse

Optional Fancy Stuff:

Chopped up fresh mint

Chopped up spinach

 

Directions:

1. Wash and peel all vegetables .

2. Grate all vegetables with cheese grater – use the larger holes

3. Also grate the onion. Don;t grate the green onions if that’s your onion source. Chop those.

4. Mix together.

5. Add vinegar, olive oil, and salt to taste.

6. Putt on a snazzy sun hat and waltz out the door.

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Asparagus. What the Cool Kids Know About Spring Seasonal Eating

Over here in the northeast, you wouldn’t know it was spring, what with all the rain and jacket weather we’ve been having, except… All the early spring foods are making their appearance. Big time.

The Mighty Asparagus

The Mighty Asparagus!

Taken from a food-grown-in-the-ground perspective, this is the time of year all of the fresh foods come “springing” forth. I’m going to let you in on some inside secrets. What all the seasonal eaters know, is that this is the season of some seriously good eats!

Right now, asparagus is fresh, sweet and delicious. This is very different from the asparagus sent around the country year-round from California. This is the asparagus local to your area, grown from soil rich with microbes, that inhabit the same places as you do. (Umm, okay – nerd alert – pumping the breaks.)

The bottom line is that this food is not only super-fresh but packed with the vitamins and minerals that your body needs this time of year, the food that mother nature intended us to eat right NOW.

Years ago, a friend of mine who worked at the Union Square Green Market in New York, started celebrating “ramps and fiddleheads!” I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about – but I was intrigued. Then a few years later I came across nettles, and my seasonal life changed. People! These foods are incredible for so many reasons.

  1. They are seasonal and they make their appearance relatively short — giving them the status of precious gem of the plant world
  2. Many of them grow wild, making them entirely more nutrient abundant
  3. They help us clear the gunk out from the winter and they hint to us which direction to take our consumption in (hint: green)

Today, I will focus only on Asparagus (so you might go out and consume it with gusto).

Portrait of Asparagus on Rainy Spring Day

Asparagus is a highly alkalizing vegetable. In fact, it is one of the most powerful alkalizers known in the vegetable world. Asparagus is believed to help with fertility and is used around the world in some form for this purpose. In each region it bursts forth from the ground and is up for about two weeks. Barbara Kingsolver writes a beautiful story around foraging for asparagus with her father in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

The “unique” smell that accompanies your urine is the quick flushing of acid waste from your blood and kidneys. This is a great alkalizing cleanse for your bladder and kidneys.

Here are a few quick ways to prepare fresh, seasonal asparagus.

To prepare, rinse and slice off the woody ends of the stems on the bias (they may be 1-2 inches only).

Simple Roasted Asparagus:

  • Slice asparagus in to bite size pieces
  • Put in a cooking dish
  • Add 1 TBS Ghee (clarified butter) or Olive Oil
  • Heat tosater oven 300˚ if using ghee, 200˚ if using olive oil
  • Add pinch of celtic sea salt to taste
  • Roast it for 10-20 minutes (this means walk away and do other things while checking back occasionally) the asparagus would be bright green.

This was so delicious, I don’t even have a photo becasue I ate it right out of the baking dish.

Simple Stir Fried Asparagus:

  • Try a stir fry with ginger, garlic and sea salt

Have either of these by themselves (I eat a whole bunch at one sitting), over millet or quinoa, or with some brown rice pasta.

You can also check this fresh, easy Asparagus Salad recipe I posted last year (it’s below the roasted asparagus recipe). Yes, I realize keep posting about Asparagus. Maybe there’s a reason.

Enjoy!

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Amazing 4 week cleanse will launch soon!

Hey there, just a quick note about the 4 week cleanse I’m busy putting the finishing touches on. This is a fantastic and proven way to shed weight, release toxins, clear up skin, eliminate bloating, calm digestion and improve metabolism. This is a food based cleanse and it works really well. Early  bird clients have lost weight (10-18lbs), reduced their cholesterol, revamped their relationship to food and eating habits. If this is resonating with you and you’d like to get on the cleanse *hot-list*, send me an email and you will be entered into  a drawing for an incredible gift (that’s all I can say for now).

Here’s a quick overview of what’s in store:

Week 1:

Release Cravings, habits, common allergens

Coffee- sugar- caffeine – wheat – dairy – nuts

Week 2:

Deepening the Cleanse

Adding in deep cleansing foods, teas

Week 3:

In the groove

Raw foods balancing basics

Week 4:

Super Fierce

Super foods

How to transition off

Tips for  maintaining your new metabolism and figure

Extra goodies include:

  • recipes
  • action worksheets
  • How-to tips and tricks
  • Exercise tips
  • Cutting edge stress-bursting techniques

Sign up early by getting on the hot-list and enter the drawing for an incredible gift!

 

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5 Simple Tools to Beat the Winter Blues

Many people are feeling the winter blues. We’ve had a cold and precipitous winter, but take heart! In 2 months it will be April. The flowers will be blooming, the spring shoots will be coming up.

NOW is the perfect time to start readying yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually for spring. The days are getting longer, it’s all very exciting. So let’s get our bodies into shape for the burst of energy and joy that happens when spring finally breaks!

Here are 5 tools you can use to beat the Winter Blues, enjoy the last of winter, and prepare your body for spring.

1. Eat dark, leafy greens.

And if you’re doing that already? Eat more. Dark leafy greens promote light, flexible energy. They are nutritionally dense powerhouses and packed with chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll is created by soaking up the sun’s bright energy.

Chlorophyll is to a plant as  blood is to a human. When you eat greens in abundance during the cold, bleak winter months, you are summoning the essence of spring and summer.

Just look at all the pictures in this post. Which does the Bok Choy Recipe picture (below) remind you more of?

Flushing your body with greens is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

2. Make at least 51% of your food raw.

Many of us gravitate to cooked foods during the winter months, but if you eat a little over half of your diet in raw veggies, you can start to release weight, reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol (to a name a few things). Raw foods contain incredible enzymes and nutrients that get lost once we cook our food past 108º. The way I like to eat raw veggies in the winter is to take them out of the fridge well before I consume them – this way they are room temp, and not cold! Use raw foods to start the slimdown down, reduce inflammation, and get ready for spring.

3. Capture more time.

Consider winter a retreat. Winter is the perfect time to go inward and s l o w down. It’s a good time to do a gentle food cleanse (winter cleanse coming soon).  Use this time to connect with your spiritual side, start new habits, reflect, stretch, create new projects. If you’ve got kids that are going bonkers – start a project like building a birdhouse and readying it for spring.

4. Take a liquid Vitamin D supplement.

I’m not too big on supplements but there a few I reccomend. Vitamin D3 is one of them. Almost everybody is low in this hormone (it is not a vitamin) and recent studies suggest that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to infertility, cancer and other diseases. Simply put, I find when I up my Vit D, I’m just happier.

5. Eat seasonally.

As you match nature’s rhythms, you sync up with them. Winter doesn’t feel so miserable and spring feels much closer.  Focus on soups, beans, winter greens, squashes, sweet potatoes, and warming teas. And don’t forget to eat 51% raw.

Here’s a surprisingly delicious recipe for baby bok choy and mushrooms. It tastes like it’s cooked, but it is raw, fresh and full of enzymes and nutrients that will give you a lift.

Bok Choy and Mushroom Salad

Serves 1

This is easy and quick — experiment with other vegetables

Ingredients:

1 head of baby bok choy – keep leaves intact, chop stems

1 handful of shitake, cremini, or oyster mushrooms – clean and slice to desired thickness

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup wheat free tamari

2 cloves of garlic

Directions:

1. Wash, drain and prep bok choy and mushrooms

2. Add oil, tamari and garlic  to food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth

3. marinate salad with half of the dressing (save the other half) and let sit for 15 minutes to a few hours. The longer the salad sits, the more wilted and cooked tasting it will become.

Let me know what you think!

How do you beat the winter blues?

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