Eat, Pray, Love - My Journey Back to Health- Part II

Here's one of my favorite kale recipes enhanced with healing spices:

Sauteed Kale

Seasoned & Stirred with love by LBTurner

1 pound fresh curly kale (stemmed and washed)

1 cup water

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup roasted red peppers

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon extra light olive oil 

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic (raw or roasted)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 tsp black pepper

In a large pot, combine the water, kale, 1/4 cup onions, 2 tablespoons butter, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Cover with a lid and cook for about one hour on medium heat. After the greens have been cooking for about an hour, reduce the flame to low and let them continue to simmer.

Heat a large skillet on the stove over a medium heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining 1/4 cup of onions.  Saute onions over medium heat until tender, add minced garlic and roasted red peppers and continue to saute for another minute. Turn the heat up to medium-high on the skillet and with a slotted spoon, add the kale. Add the remaining soy sauce, the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper and saute for another 10-15 minutes--stirring often so the greens do not scorch/burn. I like my kale with a little bit of crunch but if you like yours softer you can lower the heat and continue to simmer until the desired tenderness is achieved.

You can never have too many leafy green vegetables in your diet so my plan is to eat these twice a day for a few days. Then, I'll switch to my next favorite vegetable--Brussels sprouts--and continue going down the list of healing foods.

Just so you know...although I could not personally visit Italy, India or Bali, I wanted to experience a little bit of the food culture of those countries so today I also made spaghetti and meatballs to pay homage to the "Italia" experience. :>)  I would also love to cook an Indian and Balinese dish and I'm currently looking for recipes. If I have the energy and strength to cook these dishes as well I will.  We'll see how this goes...

PRAY:

As I've grown older, spirituality has become a really big part of my life. I am committed to offering God my first fruits of the day--everyday. Every morning I try to spend at least one hour praying, having a conversation with God or learning more about the Word. I spend time giving him thanks and praise for his love, mercy and the many blessings he's showered me with. I also pray for others in need of prayer and occasionally, I will ask God for "things" because I believe if you ask for what you want you will receive it. One of my favorite scriptures is: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” ~ Mathew 7:7.  In numerology, I'm a life path #7.  Among other things, it is said that 7's need to learn faith. Is it a coincidence that Matthew 7:7 has become one of my favorite scriptures?--I don't think so. :>)

One morning, after I had experienced a particularly horrendous night of pain and discomfort, I prayed to God and asked that he reveal what was happening to my body. I asked him to reveal whatever this illness is and to reveal to me any thoughts I may have had to bring on this illness (many illnesses and diseases are caused by fear and negative thinking).  Then I boldly asked him to give me the strength, courage and insight that would allow me to heal myself!

About an hour after my prayer/devotional session that morning, I had a business conversation with a woman who, toward the end of the convo,  asked how I was doing. I told her I had not been well and shared with her my symptoms.  She advised me to ask my doctor for a test to detect whether or not I had contracted Lyme disease. I felt as if God had sent me a message through her. I was blown away by her suggestion and called my doctor immediately but unfortunately, my joy was short-lived as I listened to my doctor flat out reject my suggestion of the Lyme test. Ok...

The next day, I received a beautiful healing prayer from a friend in the mail. I was surprised and stunned by the powerful, poignant prayer. It literally brought tears to my eyes and again, I felt as if it were a direct message from God! I truly believe that prayer works so I recite this prayer every chance I get.  I am encouraged by the messages/signs I've received and I am surviving by standing on the "promises of God."   My unwavering faith in him and has allowed me to be confident that he will help me reverse this condition and bless me with a full, speedy recovery! I will continue to pray and be his faithful servant--long after this crisis has past--until such time I can no long draw breath from this body...and beyond.

LOVE: 

The Love part of my journey is very simple.  I vow to spend as much time as I can loving myself through this illness! This means eating nutritious healing foods, doing gentle stretching/exercises, performing loving self-massages, reciting healing affirmations, watching motivational videos, and listening to healing music. I will also spend as much time in nature as I can--taking in the abundant, miraculous beauty around me. And, of course, it goes without saying that I will continue doing my part to spread light and unconditional LOVE to all the beings I'm blessed to have cross my path.

The very act of writing this blog post is part of my self-imposed therapy and healing.  It is my effort to begin to journal my thoughts--a vital step on my journey back to wholeness and wellness!

I sincerely thank Elizabeth Gilbert for writing the inspirational book, Eat, Pray, Love. It never ceases to amaze me how human trials often result in unimaginable beauty and blessings.  I would also like to thank each of you for reading this lengthy post (I now realize I should have apologized in advance for such a lengthy post--please forgive me).  Thank you for allowing me to share part of my journey back to health with you!

Read "Eat, Pray, Love - My Journey Back to Health - Part 1"

Get the book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

Seasoned & Stirred!