Take the Food Stamp Challenge!

The Food Stamp Challenge, sponsored by Maryland Hunger Solutions, gives participants insight into the struggle of hunger and food insecurity that many of our fellow Marylanders experience every day.  

Challenge participants will use the average federal Food Supplement benefit -- $30 per person for the week - as their budget for food for one week. They are forced to make difficult food shopping choices, and often realize how hard it is to avoid hunger, afford nutritious foods, and stay healthy.

Could you live on $4.30 a day for food? Join Maryland Hunger Solutions and Take the Food Stamp Challenge -- September 19-25, 2011.

Did you know: 8.8 million seniors face the threat of hunger? Visit AARP's "Drive to End Hunger" website and get involved. 

It's Wednesday...Eat Orange Foods!

Wednesday is ruled by Mercury and Virgo and is associated with the color Orange. The color orange is linked to our emotions and is widely known for it's ability to inspire happiness and joy! 

Orange influences healing in a variety of physical and emotional areas of our bodies (stimulates the appetite, improves digestion, is associated with the assimilation of food; helps the stomach, lower back, pelvic and kidney health; sexuality, personal power and more). 

Orange foods are, in my opinion, some of the yummiest foods available--not to mention the fact that they contain high amounts of vital antioxidants--carotenoids, beta-carotene, Vitamin C--which help destroy toxic cells and repairs some cellular damage.

So, in honor of Wednesday, and because you may now have a little more information about why you should eat plenty of orange foods, I thought it would be fun to list some of my favorite orange foods, drinks, spices, etc. and link the foods to any recipes I've posted on the blog if applicable.

My Favorite Orange Foods

• Apricots
• Butternut squash 
• Cinnamon   Matcha Green Tea Latte
• Cantaloupe
• Carrots
• Ginger   Detox Chicken Salad
• Mangoes
• Oranges   Citrus Remoulade Sauce  
• Orange Juice
• Orange Peppers
• Papayas
• Paprika   Lemon Pepper Wings   Skillet Fried Potatoes
• Pumpkin  Pumpkin Ravioli/Chicken/Matcha Cream Sauce 
• Peaches   Detox-Tini
• Saffron
• Sweet Potatoes   Orange-Beets/Sw Potatoes   Three Potato Salad   Whole Wheat Sw Potato Pancake
• Tangerines 
• Turmeric   Black Bean & Corn Salad   Sauteed Kale

 Join in on the fun! Tell me about your favorite orange foods, any orange foods you've eaten lately or link to orange foods on your website/blogs.

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!

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

Life is beautiful and so fragile. Never take it for granted...

A couple of weeks ago, out of the blue, I started experiencing extreme muscle and joint pain. In a matter of a few hours I went from a healthy, very active individual to someone who could not walk or lift my head off my pillow. I had to rely on my husband for help--to pull me out of bed, help me go to the bathroom--everything (luckily, he was on vacation that week and I'm eternally grateful that he was!).  Anyway, after two days of excruciating pain, I called an ambulance and went to the ER of a nearby hospital.

My doctor said my symptoms are indicative of some type of rheumatism so he referred me to a rheumatologist.  I haven't seen the specialist yet, though.  They have to review my medical records to see if I'm a worthy candidate for treatment and if I am they might be able to give me an appointment sometime in September.  Here I sit almost three weeks later, having been subjected to a plethora of tests and prescription drugs, and still have no idea what is going on with my body. 

Meanwhile, my real life is waiting for me to get back to it so based on my symptoms and the feedback from my doctor so far, I have decided to take matters into my own hands! With the inspiration of Elizabeth Gilbert's story (and all the media momentum of the book and upcoming movie) I got the idea to try to Eat, Pray & Love myself back to health!  Unfortunately, one of the best parts of Elizabeth's journey included travel to Italy, India and Bali but that's not an option for me right now so I'll just have to use my amazing visualization abilities and visit those fabulous places in my mind.

Here's my plan to heal my body, mind and soul with food, prayer and love...

EAT:

There have been many scientific studies that show certain foods, fruits and herbs have healing properties and can help to restore health and vitality. So, I'm ramping up my diet with healing foods containing magnesium, calcium and potassium. Dark, leafy greens are a great source of these vital nutrients and it just so happens I love all types of greens--some of my favorites are kale, turnip, dandelion and Swiss chard. 

Other foods/spices rich in nutrients essential to healing/building muscles include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, okra, artichokes, peas, sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, blackberries, turmeric, ginger, lots of nuts, meats, fish and cheeses and for the next few weeks, I'll be incorporating many of these foods into my daily diet--starting with kale.

Please stop by tomorrow to read "Eat, Pray, Love - My Journey Back to Health" - Part II

Spring Allergies? Eat Your Way to Better Health

Spring allergies getting you down?  If you could use a little relief from the sneezing, itchy throat, itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, headaches and other unpleasant symptoms of springtime allergies, load up on foods high in antioxidants and flavonoids as they help battle inflammation in your body and helps control symptoms of allergies.

Some examples of foods/drinks that help to control allergy symptoms include:

~ Hot tea - hot tea contains natural antihistamines (any hot tea is good but green tea is even better as it has higher levels of antioxidants)
~ Frozen fruits & vegetables - fresh fruits & vegetables may have small amounts of pesticides that may aggravate allergy symptoms
~ Fish - fish with high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids like salmon, mackerel and sardines help to lower airway inflammation
~ Organic berries, grapes, citrus, yellow onions, kale, black beans,  - contain high amounts of flavonoids and produce natural antihistamines

If you are sensitive to tree and grass pollen you may want to avoid apples, peaches, cherries, potatoes and carrots as they may contain cross-allergens that will cause your immune system to work overtime.  It may also be a good idea to limit sugar and foods containing stimulants like coffee and alcohol. Avoid spicy foods and foods with high salt content, avoid stress, drink plenty of water and get lots of rest.

Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies & Toddlers

On May 11, 2010, Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies and Toddlersby Anni Daulter will be released.  "Organically Raised" is a cookbook that will help conscious parents get updated eco-friendly information, great recipes and more. The book is geared toward nutrition and recipes for children but conscious cooking is something that will benefit the entire family.  Elena Rego, author of "Food Practice" blog has interviewed Anni about her highly anticipated cookbook.  Read the entire interview at Food Practice.

Plug In, Eat Less

Are you present during your meals? You may be thinking, "what a silly question, of course I'm present during meals."

The truth is many of us are usually not aware of what we are eating. We have a tendency to fill our plates to the brim and then sit in front of the television, computer, read a book or converse with family and friends while we eat. We are so engrossed in other activity that we do not realize we are full after the first 3 or 4 forkfuls!

Shocking isn't it? It's true. The body has an uncanny ability to know when it's received sufficient nutrients it requires to maintain optimal health and vitality and it will send a signal to the brain when it is full.

Think about it...have you ever noticed that while you're eating you will get the urge to inhale and you start to slow down after the first few bites or forkfuls? This is your brain telling you that you're full. But, if you're not paying attention, you'll miss this vital sign and you'll start to overeat.

Challenge yourself to see if you can gradually begin to eat less and still feel satisfied. Here are a few tips that will help...

~ Reduce your food portion sizes and eat several small meals throughout the day.  Eating smaller portions of food more often (perhaps 4-5 small meals or a combination of meals and snacks) helps to boost your metabolism and promotes quicker digestion.

~ Bring your mind to the task at hand and savor the array of fragrances and flavors each meal has to offer.  Take this opportunity to think about all of the sacrifices that were made so you could have the meal and think thoughts of gratitude.

~ Chew your food slowly and completely, taking only small sips of liquid between swallows if necessary.

~ You don't have to eat until you feel full to the brim--stop eating the moment you feel satisfied.

Remember, the human stomach is approximately the size of a fist so love your body and take care not to over feed it.