After my studies of clinical and public health nutrition, I began studies in Culture and Creation Spirituality which encourages us to teach the universe story in such a way that we can identify ourselves within it. Pregnant with my first child at the time, I meditated upon this call and had an image of being pregnant with the earth. My dear friend, Gina Halpern, even painted the earth on my big ol’ belly!  Amazingly, the human body is a microcosm of the earth, composed of the same elements in the same proportion – three quarters water and one quarter solid, organic and inorganic.  I imagined being connected to the earth by a cosmological umbilical cord that both nourishes and removes waste. Truly, when we eat foods full of hormones and pesticides, we are both polluting our own physical body as well as the planet. The image then extended such that each of us was pregnant with the earth.  Indeed, Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hahn says, “Even if you do not have a baby in your womb, the seed is already there.  Even if you are not married, even if you are a man, you should be aware that a baby is already there, the seeds of future generations are already there.”

Interestingly, the healthiest subpopulation group is pregnant women. Through compassion for their unborn children, women take better care of themselves during pregnancy than at any other time in their lives, caring more about the life growing within them, than for themselves.  I suggest that we carry this image with us as a reminder of our deep physical connection and interdependence upon the earth. After all, only by entering into a mutually supportive relationship with the earth do we have any chance of saving it from ourselves.  All of life must be sustained through the unity of its many parts.  The earth cannot survive in fragments any more than the human body can. So, perhaps by holding this vision of being pregnant with the Earth, we can be reminded that when we eat, we are doing so for something even greater than ourselves. Here’s to Mother’s Day!

What is ready, or getting ready, to die with regard to your relationship with food?

The habit of adding salt to your food before tasting it?

Rewarding your children with unhealthy snacks?

Reliance on caffeine to sustain your energy levels?

Eating meat on a daily basis?

Eating while driving, working, talking on the phone?

Eating to avoid doing other things?

Eating to fill an emotional void?

Carrying home your groceries in paper or plastic?

Something else?

What is ready, or getting ready, to be born or spring forth with regard to your relationship with food?

Tasting a new fruit or vegetable?  Try it…  you might like it

Starting to make regular visits to your local Farmer’s Market?  A great place to do the above

Planting a fruit tree in your backyard?

Using a TowerGarden to grow and harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs in an environmentally sustainable manner?  YouTube: TowerGarden: TimBlank and more…

Exploring your artistic side by learning, creating, or teaching a few new dishes?

Learning more about optimal nutrition in order to get or stay inspired to eat well for the benefit of your body and the planet?

Eating a meatless meal for the sake of the planet, if not yourself?

Taking a moment to give gratitude for your food before eating it?

Something else?

What is ready, or getting ready, to be born or spring forth with regard to your relationship with food?

I invite you to set an intention.  If you’re willing, please comment on this post with your intention.  Doing so will help ‘seal the deal’ and propel you more quickly toward manifesting your intention.  Something is fading away.  Something is sprouting forth.  What are those things for you?

Last night, I had the great pleasure of taking a few of my JuicePlus+ customers to view Forks Over Knives at the Vine Theatre in Livermore last night.  I had seen the movie once before with my husband and two children, but it is one of those movies that is so full of important education, that I continue to introduce people to it. The movie examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods and adopting, instead, a whole-foods,plant-based diet.  Therein lies the meaning of the title “Forks Over Knives” since we don’t really need knives to cut up our beans, lentils, whole grains, fruits, and veggies.

The major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell University and author of The China Study, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic. Inspired by remarkable discoveries they made, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies.  Their separate research led them to the same conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented – and, in many cases, reversed – by adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet. From a spiritual standpoint (which the film does not make, but I am…), it makes perfect sense that these two doctors would arrive at the same conclusion.  I maintain that the earth provides us with exactly what the human body requires for optimal health.  We weren’t designed to live in these bodies without being given the resources required to keep them alive. The idea of food as medicine is put to the test as cameras follow “reality patients” who learn to adopt a whole-foods, plant-based diet as the primary approach to treating their ailments. Check out the trailer!

You can watch Forks Over Knives through NetFlix, or order the DVD at ForksOverKnives.com.  I also purchased a copy for myself and would be delighted to host an evening in your home or mine, or elsewhere, so that we can spread this life-saving message to others!

Of course, having Dr. Pam (Popper) there in person to answer questions after the screening was like having icing on the proverbial plant-based cake!

Hot Peppermint Chocolate

My favorite hidden spice this season has been peppermint extract. And, naturally, I will always have a deep connection to chocolate. For a super-easy holiday drink that will please children both young and old, just add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract to heated chocolate soy or rice milk.

Cool Peppermint Chocolate

This has become my favorite morning beverage for the holiday season. Because it includes JuicePlus+ Complete Powder*, it can serve as a meal replacement and is perfect as a pre- and post- exercise drink! I’ll often make one serving and split it between my two boys as a delicious and nutritious addition to their breakfast. As for myself, I’ll enjoy the full serving for less than 200 calories!

1 cup rice milk

1 scoop JuicePlus+ Chocolate Complete Powder *

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

4 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

JuicePlus+ Complete provides a variety of plant-based protein sources including low processed soy protein, golden chlorella, chickpea powder, pea protein, tofu powder, and rice protein.The fiber sources include apple fiber, natural gums, corn fiber, pectin, soy fiber, natural plant cellulose, inulin, and rice bran.  It also includes pumpkin powder, pomegranate powder, and spirulina pacifica.

For more information about JP+ Complete Powder, contact me at juiceplus@sacredbite.com

Mock Glögg (gloog)

Here’s a spicy twist on a popular non-alcoholic Swedish drink.

48 ounces 100% grape juice

5 cinnamon sticks

1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Peel of 1 orange

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan or crock pot. Heat until simmering, but not boiling. Serve warm. Yield: 6 — 8 ounce servings.

Is a corn-cob pipe and a carrot nose enough to nourish Frosty? Apparently not! But even with a banana, apple, carrot, broccoli floret, and cucumber (or is that a zucchini sticking out of his ear?), he is actually getting more than the average American!  What’s more, he doesn’t realize that the recommended intake of 5 servings per day is old news. Because of the tremendous health benefits of consuming more fruits and vegetables – including a reduction in the risk of cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, reduced inflammatory symptoms in those diagnosed with rheumatoid disease, and a potential reduction in body weight – the new recommended intake is 7-13 servings per day. Yet, despite these health benefits and the efforts of public health campaigns, fruit and vegetable consumption remains far below recommended levels for most Americans.  In fact, only 2.2% of men and 3.5% of women meet current recommendations for daily intake of fruits and vegetables (J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111:1523-1535).

What’s it going to take to get people to consume more plants?  Given that we can’t force feed anyone, we must continue to rely upon continued education about the hugely supportive role that plants play in the human body combined with individual and communal efforts to get them into the body.

What can we learn from Frosty?

1.  When encouraging kids to try new foods, be sure to offer them in combination with old and familiar favorites.  For example, Frosty is trying out broccoli and zucchini, but alongside the familiar carrot  This takes the pressure off of that one new food.

2.  Keep portions small.  Overwhelming your child with more than they can chew can backfire.  Easy goes… one bite at a time.

3.  Like Frosty, be a good role model!  Kids will do what they see us do much more than they will do what we say!

I received this recipe from my dear friend, Sarah, years ago and have been making them every year since.  In fact, they are now a tradition in our household.  I will be gifting my kids’ teachers with a bag of them for Thanksgiving.  They are terrific eaten alone, tossed over a salad, or on baked sweet potatoes!

INGREDIENTS

1 pound pecans, halved

3 Tbsp. melted butter

1/3 cup sugar, white

1 Tbsp. karo syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. coriander

Mix together the melted butter, sugar, karo syrup, and vanilla.  Boil pecans in water for one minute.  Drain and put in a bowl.  Stir in the butter mixture and place pecans on a non-stick cookie sheet overnight at room temperature.  The following morning, bake at 300 degrees F for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  When done, put pecans into a bowl.  Sprinkle spice mixture over pecans and stir.  Lay on cookie sheet again to cool completely.  Enjoy!

The old familiar saying, “Everything in Moderation,’ just doesn’t work anymore.  I hear people saying it – usually as they are indulging in some sort of corn-syrup laden guilty pleasure – but nowadays there is too much ‘everything’ to make moderation a healthy option. In her book, Food Politics, Marion Nestle informs us that ‘All told, 116,000 packaged foods and beverages have been introduced since 1990,’ and that ‘In 1998, manufacturers introduced slightly more than 11,000 new products, more than two-thirds of which… are condiments, candy, and snacks, baked goods, soft drinks, and dairy products.’

So, you see…  to eat ‘everything in moderation’ would kill you.  Or at least make you so unhealthy that you probably wouldn’t enjoy the life you had much. So I have tried to teach my boys that while all those choices stand before them like beacons in the night, they need to make some choices.  If they choose cotton candy today, it is not as though they will never be able to find a snow cone again.  And whatever they choose, enjoy!

1. Submit recipes and set the menu;  One of the dishes that they selected is ROASTED BABY VEGETABLES.  Click here to find the recipe at epicurious.

2. Price the ingredients and make any adjustments to the menu in order to stay within budget;

3. Purchase the ingredients;

4. Gather in working groups to prepare the meal;

5.  Enjoy!

CAUTION:  Children can grow to love vegetables and try to sneak yours from you!