How I get My Purple On…

April 28, 2009 at 3:04 pm (Diet, Farmers Market, Food, Garden, health, Nutrition, RAW Food, What Is It?)
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But first! A “What Is It?” Segment 😀

Here we goooo…

Eeoow! Scales

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Ugh

Hm, a long fella…

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Ohhh…but? No. Yes. Well…the colo —

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Ah HA!

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Yes, yes!

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:D…

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Purple Asparagas! And, yes, that is the  real color! I was lucky enough to get 3 bunches of these — hands down, the most delicious asparagus I have ever tasted. I don’t know why, perhaps since it’s been so long –since I’ve had them. My first time having purple; it won’t be my last…I hope 😀   They were thicker, which is unfairly rumored, that they are inferior to thin. Not true! Flavor is all that matters. I’ve had equally delicious asparagus thick and thin. Freshness is really the key. No matter how well stored, you simply must eat them as quickly as possible. As for the above, I can only imagine they were fresh out of the ground because the flavor was fabulous.

Since I shopped with my eyes, I had 3 bunches which I could not finish at once — and who’d not want to savor these over a few days? I stored them like I usually do asparagas, with their tootsies in water, not too far up their gorgeous gams :). I put a bag over it and hoped for the best. Luckily, no loss of flavor was detectable over the next two days — Excellent :D.  I imagine it was primarily the freshness of the asparagus to begin with, then the proper storing.

purple-asparagas_cut2

I eat asparagus raw, mostly, chopped up in my salads. Cooking away that gorgeous color and (some) nutrients just makes my head hurt 🙂  And, of course freezing is out of the question, unless I wanted to add them to a dip at some point.

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Best freezing method for asparagus, by the way, is to blanch first. That is the best shot you have at keeping somewhat of a texture other than soggy — or, eooww, slimy. No. No, asparagus should be eaten fresh and raw, I declare!

Next up…

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*

The purple orbs have landed!

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Probably pretty obvious by now…

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Yep, purple kohlrabi!

I learned something new last week when I found these: Springtime kohlrabi (very fresh) has a thinner skin that’s edible! Most of the time, it’s best to peel the (very) fibrous outer skin. It’s like that very tough part of broccoli stalks; you have to cut some off to get to the soft part inside. But these fresh, thinner skinned ‘rabis are Sooo good! It is definitely fibrous, though, and oh-so filling. I don’t mind getting that extra purple in me.

Slice through a bulb and it’s light-fleshed:

kohlrabi-purple_slices-4

*

I love how there is always green somewhere in colored foods 😀 ‘Tis the source of all that is good 😀

Here is the butt end which was actually too fibrous, so I had to cut it. You can see the fibrous part still underneath..

kohlrabi-purple_slices-6

Kohlrabi should be sweet and somewhat juicy. It’s most like jicama. If it’s not sweetish, it’s not a really good kohlrabi so don’t totally give up on them! Find a good one and you’ll love them! They can be as sweet as or more than beets, but less heavy, less syrupy than beets and carrots. Beets and carrots are more like a nectar type juice (to me). Kohlrabi is more crispy, clean, and light and refreshing. So great for cool Spring and Summer meals. It goes fantastic in cooked/raw savory or sweet dishes, too. I love it in bean salads and slaws. It’s cruciferous, so you’re getting loads of goodies, plus with the purple, you’re getting those Anthocyanidins!

I like to chop into matchsticks and add to my salads

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I love being able to eat the skin!

And best of all is being able to eat the cruciferous leaves of kohlrabi!

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Mmm…blackberries. They star regularly (well, when available) in my Green Juicie Green smoothies and are featured in my cultured veggies too!

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Purple Cabbage, I eat every day. It’s so sweet and crunchy

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Even radishes come in purple…They seem to be less “hot” to me…

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I have also  been getting lots of royal goodness from cauliflower lately (an older pic)

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Blueberries seem to taste best around this time, at least here 🙂

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Purple Mustards, nice and spicy…

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**

Purple Curly Kale!

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***

Other Purpley Stuff:

So far, no purple carrots :D. Would love to try those.

Purple Bells are pretty 🙂 Geez, almost black!

Oh, and tomatoes too! Oh I must resist launching into tomato porn! Oh, how I love thee, to-mah-toes!

Oh, I did use purple potatoes back when I ate them. They didn’t taste any different…thought that was my old taste buds. Not sure how they’d taste now 🙂 Check out the gorgeous color variety of potatoes!Until recently I thought “blue” and “purple” potatoes were the same.

I do like purple corn, but haven’t been incorporating it into my diet  in any consistent way…need to look into using it more 🙂

Eggplant, of course, has a great purple color; and their are varieties with various sizes and shades of purple. Kenny explains 🙂

Plums! A great summer stone fruit. These also come in a variety of colors. I can’t say which is sweetest…I’ve had super-sweet ones of all colors. I do think maybe it just depends on how ripe it was at the time of cutting ??

Grapes! I used to grow them. Love green and red grapes, but wow, the purple concords are crazy tasty. I don’t see them often, but grab ’em when I do! The sweeter ones seem to be champagne grapes; I find the white Muscat grapes I’ve purchased at the farmers market here to be the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. I see black grapes sometimes and can’t resist that alluring silky ebony glow!

Purple Onions or Red Onions – I saw these on a list of  “purple foods” once; though I’m not sure if it belongs there or with “red foods.” I do have these often and like them especially  in my salads when not too harsh, that is 🙂

Purple Peas!

Purple Beans too. These I’ve had. They taste like regular green beans 🙂

And, probably the Food of gods…FIGS! Oh, the ecstasy … oh, the divine taste — no, the experience — of the perfect fig…Drooling doesn’t quite do it justice :D.

How remiss can I be, having no pictures of figs! Well, all I do have is an old picture of sushi for fruitarians 😉 (Yes, I was a fruitarian at one time too!)

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I’m waiting for a purple apple to make its debut; I imagine it to be very rich, but not sickeningly sweet. Maybe thick and syrupy 🙂

Not sure if this qualifies…the beautiful watermelon radish which has eluded me for too long now! It is the most delicious radish I’ve ever tasted. I hope to see it again one day…

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~ *** ~

So what other purple foods are there? I’m sure I’m forgetting some! How do you get your purple on? 😉

Pick up some fresh asparagus while they’re at their peak — and whatever other purple goodies you find — that’s now, by the way. Green is still king; but try some purple fruits and veggies and add to your rainbow!

*Click pic* for my Somethin’ Good Asparagus stream 😉 _ Photobucket discontinued this service 😦 So my stream was deleted.

 

Poxacuatl
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5 Comments

The Power Of Resignation…

April 25, 2009 at 3:22 pm (Food, health, Nutrition, Off Topic, opinion)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Richard Nixon Letter of Resignation, via WikiMedia Commons

Richard Nixon Letter of Resignation, via WikiMedia Commons

Resignation

I was reading about the aged and how, if they are resigned to negative thinking about aging, they are actually actively programming their mental and physical decline*:

WOW.

Just…wow. Wake up call! Not just for the aged, but for all of us. In many, many ways. The belief = the reality — regardless of its “truth”; regardless of its factuality; regardless of reality.
We all know the power of intent — yes, it’s powerful; But many have an intent, yet “cannot” bring it to fruition. Why?

What you say to yourself = what you believe = what you act out = your reality. If you label your challenges as “failures” — that’s what you believe, that’s what you act out, that’s what they are…that’s what you are.

Perhaps some of us have been programmed since childhood to believe certain things about ourselves — things people told us we were/are. What are those things? Are they true? Do you believe them? Do you — have you acted them out, regardless of intention? Regardless of the irrationality of them, regardless if you “know” logically they are not “true” — have you made them true?

Who are you listening to now? Do they tell you, encourage you to be your best? to do your best? to be all you can? Do they encourage you to give and be 100%? 90%? Or maybe just 70% is good for you? Do they tell you or insinuate you can’t do 100%? Why? Why do they — why would they tell you something like that? Would they say that to a — or to their — child?  Maybe that’s all you’re capable? Is that what they tell you? Is that what you tell you? Is that what you internalize? believe? resign?

Maybe the time to actively change that is now. Resign to that. Hand in your resignation to your boss, that “Mr./Mz. Negativity.” Resign to change those beliefs; untruths; those resignations…

You are what you believe — not what you parrot you believe. If you believe you can only achieve 90%, that’s all you will yourself to achieve. You will it.

Most of us know the right things to say and are supposed to subscribe to  — the pc things; the mantras; the “m hm’s” —  but are our results manifesting this?

~ * ~

“The ancestor to every action is a thought” _Emerson

~ * ~

If you give 100%, there is no need for, no room for self-disappointment and shame; no room for guilt or excuses, or reasons for giving up. Give all you can give and there is no more. Let those thoughts be positive and what you truly want, in order that the actions you truly want proceed them.

~ * ~

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

The current way to say this:

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

~ * ~

What do you believe? What are you resigned to?

If you believe you can be ALL you can be, then you can. You can. You WILL.

These are lessons my Dad taught me…Still, it’s an ongoing learning experience, this life, isn’t it? Sometimes, I’ve had to re-learn or strive to apply this to all areas of life AND remember to apply it to myself, and not just “pep up” others with it…because then it just gets…trite, cliché.

Make it happen.
DECIDE.
Believe.
Will it.
Do it.
Strive.
Act.
Are.
Am.

Hand in that resignation of negativity smile

Strix

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* The MacArthur Study (also, Successful Aging, by the authors, John Wallis Md Rowe and Robert L. Kahn)

Read more about aging and nutrition

Successful Aging

Previous post on Aging

16 Comments

Handmake Your Lotion…

April 22, 2009 at 7:56 am (Handmade Products, Recipes, Vegan)
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Orange Blossoms with Bee, by Clownfish

Orange Blossoms with Bee

Photo by Clownfish, published by attribution through CC

** ETA: If you cannot access vids, let me know in the comments!***

Okay, I won’t go on (too much 😉 ) because this is a portion of a more thorough post I have in the works on handmade lotions.

This is the bare bones basic hand and body moisturizer. It is rich and luxurious, but not cloying, too thick, or heavy-scented. It is extremely easy and cost efficient, utilizing only three ingredients, and quite deceptive in its simplicity!

Once you try this you will never want to spend the ridiculous amounts of money required for lotions! You’ll be making your own versions, hence. AND, these make fantastic gifts for men, women, and children — what Mom wouldn’t appreciate handmade lotion for Mother’s Day? I think any Mom-to-be would appreciate a handmade lotion, made especially for her and baby?!

You can add your special touch, of course to these with various additions for what you want, such as some aloe vera; glycerine, maybe; hydrosols; ptisans; herbs; and, of course, essential oils.

I modified the basic recipe slightly for Carrie, a fellow ETLer over at Dr. Fuhrman.com. She’s an orange-head (if I recall correctly!) loves ’em. So I thought immediately of one of my favorite scented waters, orange blossom water. I have used it often in my products so know it’s lovely.

To follow the recipe without the orange blossom water, simply use 1 1/4 C pure distilled water. Three ingredients, one of which is water is pretty darned good, don’t you think?! Best thing — you know what’s in it! And there’s no unnecessary junk.

~ * ~

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Carrie’s Orange Blossoms Lotion

3/4 C Orange Blossom Water,*warm-hot

1/2 C Pure Water, boiled hot

1/4 C Emulsifying Wax

1/4 C  Olive Oil,** organic

* The orange blossom water, is, again, optional; so for a basic, unscented lotion, use 1 1/4 C pure water. You can try using all Orange Blossom water. You must heat it, however so that it is at least slightly hot — it does not need to be boiling hot. I find that using boiling water with the orange blossom water works fine.

Orange Blossom water is different from Orange Blossom hydrosol. You can use whichever you wish, the hydrosol being more expensive, of course, as it is distilled professionally for cosmetic purposes. It (hydrosol) actually has less orange blossom scent than the water. You can find Orange Blossom Water at many markets in the specialty foods sections. Every Whole Foods I’ve been in has it, as well as many supermarkets. Indo European brand is the one I find most often. I have used it for years in my recipes and cooking! It smells gorgeous. As well, you may substitute Rose Flower water which will most likely be right next to the Orange Blossom water. 🙂 Whichever brand you find, it should smell really nice.

**Any plant oil will do, but good-quality olive oil is easy to find nowadays. It also makes a great buttery lotion. It’s used in a lot of effective and quality products; so don’t think it’s lesser than any fancy-sounding oil. If you want to substitute another vegetable oil you find, feel free, but take into consideration its texture may effect a different lotion texture — usually not a big deal, though; and you may want that  :). Almond is good, as well as an organic grapeseed oil. Avocado oil, I’ve seen in markets also makes a good lotion. Carrie, if you decide to buy an oil, calendula oil would be great for a baby lotion 😀 Oh, and it’s wonderful for Moms and adults too! You’ll find it is often olive oil as its base 🙂

*

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*

You can add essential oils to further fragrance or specialize your lotion, if you like. The above is a very light orange blossom scent. It comes through because there are so few ingredients. Luckily, the olive fragrance doesn’t muddle it. If you use a non-fragrance oil, such as grapeseed, it will be a stronger scent, but still not overpowering (or obnoxious!) I personally prefer light scents. Nothing worse than having to breathe in someone’s body perfume odor or cologne — especially the cheapy chemical stuff! Simple, is often the most beautiful.

If you want to intensify the orange blossom scent, then the essential oil, Neroli is what you would use.

The first demo video is using olive oil and water; and, to further demonstrate how simple this is to do —  no fancy equipment needed —  I even used just a fork to stir the lotion! You can use whisk  or anything you have, really.

~ * ~

Okay, enough! On to the instructions and pictures.

What You Need:

A Double Boiler: (Picture here)You can makeshift one as I have in the picture below — last thing I need is MORE pots and pans added to my overload of “stuffs” I no longer use! It’s just a pot placed within a pot of water. If you need more on this, see this blog entry on a makeshift double boiler — super easy, anyone can do it with what they have at home). This is to gently melt your wax in the oil. (I’ve read that some people microwave  ~cRiNgE~ so that may be an option — ack! if you must!)

A Jar: Or other suitable container (glass is best if using essential oils) with a tight-fitting lid to store your lotion. This lotion has the texture suited for a jar or a squeeze-type bottle. I save a lot of jars, especially the unique shaped ones. Even old lotion jars or squeeze bottles — save ’em! Just wash them out. The worst that can happen is the scent of the previous cream will remain on it; but it won’t really affect the lotion once you put it on you. Just wash it well, using vinegar helps a bit. Although, I do recommend glass for creams and lotions. Mason jars are excellent!

This is an old salt jar! It is a nice, thick glass.

This is an old salt jar! It is a nice, thick glass.

Utencils:, fork ;), or whisk, measuring cup, blender, optional (see “Below”)

Okay, don’t make me take a picture of a fork! 😛

Orange Blossom Water, warmed to just hot;

OR boiled, or hot Pure, distilled Water:

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Emulsifying Wax: Other waxes do not work (for this recipe); I tried. This is a vegetable-based wax.

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Olive Oil:

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**

Instructions (finally! I know, I know…:P )

  1. Combine the emulsifying wax and olive oil in a receptacle in a double boiler. Remove from heat when just melted.

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2. Pour hot water/liquid into the hot wax emulsion. You see, it immediately emulsifies on contact — not even requiring stirring! But do mix a bit.

That’s it!

Here’s a demo: First a little set up so you know where it’s starting — you see here the Pyrex which contains the wax-oil emulsion, just taken off the heat …

then just add water!


Done!!

All you do now is just let it sit to cool, stirring occasionally.

Add essential oils when cooled to warm, if using; do not add to hot mixture, it will “cook” the oils and diminish, not only its benefits, but also its fragrance.

Here is a video of the just mixed emulsion and its texture right after combining, just like above:

So don’t worry, it’s supposed to be watery 🙂 It will thicken as it sits.

Here it is after sitting a bit; it’s a more pourable texture:

Later, getting thicker…

And here it is, final texture:

Place lotion in your clean, sanitized, if desired receptacle and label with name, ingredients, if you wish, and date. Then…enjoy! 😀

*

“Below” 😉

This is totally optional:You can use a blender on the mixture and it will create a thicker, richer “cream.” It will be more voluminous as well.

Blend it after it has cooled to warm. I used my little Personal Blender; so no power blender needed:

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Here is a pic of how rich and thick it gets:

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Here is how it finishes:

As you see, it’s much thicker and it got lighter in color.

I know the vids aren’t the best, but it’s hard to hold the cam and stir at the same time 😉 Lol. It’s so incredibly easy, though, I wanted to show it: You simply heat then mix!

~ *** ~

Once you make this basic recipe, as I said, the possibilities are limitless! As well, you can adjust the texture quite simply without any additional ingredients, by using more or less liquid.
Have fun! Pick up an essential oil every now and then when you can, and let the creative juices flow 😉

Enjoy!

Strix

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13 Comments

ETL Friday! Staying Positive…

April 17, 2009 at 2:00 am (Diet, Eat to Live, ETL FRIDAYS!, Food, Nutrition)
Tags: , , , , , ,

Hi, Everyone! We’ve got another Eat To Live veteran this week! A fellow member at Dr. Fuhrman.com; she’s a long-term ETLer aka Nutritarian, and all about the positive. This one is educational too, and provides a great tool that we can actually employ to help us — something we all could use, whether for ETL’ing or not 🙂 Love it!

So a very grateful welcome to Isabel 🙂

~ * ~

Staying Positive on Eat to Live with a

Vision Board

Changing your eating can be overwhelming and can lead to your days and nights being filled with a different kind of food obsession and many questions and doubts…what will I eat? Is this enough? What will my family think? Will my mother in law be offended if I don’t eat her dessert?

Often times well meaning family and friends will call us crazy and fear that we’re anorexic or too controlling and they will freely comment. Other times we’ll slip and beat ourselves up. We have lots of opportunities to be negative and doubt ourselves in this journey. That isn’t fun. We need to stay positive and remember why we chose to eat this way and make this our new lifestyle.

I started Eat to Live in order to lose weight and get healthy but it has opened up a whole world of possibilities. Now it is my way of life and helps support me when I face life’s challenges. I have found that a good way to keep looking forward and stay positive was to look at a bigger picture rather than focusing on the numbers on the scale or the last slip. I want to be healthy and have energy so I can one day hike in Morocco or have the strength to mountain bike with my family–this is why I choose to eat this way.

I’m a visual person and I need reminders that invoke feelings and make me smile when I think of the wonderful things to come. How do I stay positive? One of several tricks I have is my vision board. When life gets me down or I wake up dreading another day, my vision board reminds me of my dreams. Eating this way isn’t a goal…it is the way to get to my goals. It supports me and keeps me strong.

What is a vision board? A vision board is a collection of pictures and affirmations that help you focus and remember what you dream of. Chances are you’ve heard of this already and have been thinking of making one. The movie or book “The Secret” mentions a vision board and how it can help you attract what you want. A vision board is a powerful tool to help you focus your attention on what you want and to use the law of attraction to get it. Too out there for you? Don’t worry…even if you find that hard to swallow keep following me. Get some cardboard or a bulletin board and get ready to have some fun with this. Or you can be a bit more technical and make an electronic board.

Let’s say you’re trying to focus on following Eat to Live because you want to be healthy, vibrant, confident and slim. Why not gather a collection of pictures of what that means to you. Try for some pictures that make you happy. How about a lovely picture of a mouth watering salad, some crisp veggies, the beach that you’ll feel confident walking on while wearing an awesome new bathing suit, someone jogging because soon that’s what you’ll have the energy to do, a new bike, a person running after some children…the list is endless.

Next you can make a list of positive affirmations or quotes you like that keep you motivated. Write these out on index cards or nice paper. Glue the pictures and the affirmations randomly to your cardboard or pin them to your bulletin board. I have a bulletin board where I keep a bunch of pictures, affirmations and even a key chain that reminds me of a vacation. I have pictures of my dream car, fit and fabulous looking women, places I want to visit and affirmations that remind me of what I want too.

I keep it in my bathroom and I suggest you place yours anywhere you spend more than 15 minutes at a time everyday. I also have a video vision board so I can see it from anywhere and I’ll often take a look at it while I’m at work. Another thing you can do is make your computer monitor into a mini vision board by placing pictures all around it. Even your fridge will work!

Now that you’ve created it, what do you have to do? Look at it and feel what you’ll feel when you get the bike or have the energy to run after your grandchildren. Imagine what you’ll feel when you’re enjoying that beach vacation in the new bathing suit. Read out your affirmations and SMILE!! Apply focused intent on these things and stay positive. That’s it! The more specific you are and the more consistent you are at focusing on your desires you will attract this into your life.

Still not sure? How about this video vision board for helping you stick to Eat to Live?

Here’s my video vision board that keeps me inspired:

A friend of mine has chosen to plaster most of his house with images rather than just creating one vision board. He has had lots of success by embracing change and even created this movie for what he calls the change series. I liked it and think you might like it too while you’re facing a major change in life….enjoy.

Have fun with this and most of all NEVER GIVE UP!

–Isabel

Awesome!  Before your video vision boards, I  hadn’t thought about how easy it could be by simply doing it on youtube! What a great way to focus, and distract oneself, when feeling pulled by food addictions. There will always be something to do, somewhere to go to; and one can be creative and expressive at the same time — oh, and not to mention re-motivate yourself and remind yourself! How satisfying and self empowering! Thank you so much, Isabel!

For more about Isabel’s amazing “Transformation” check out this video

~ *** ~

“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense…”

–Winston Churchill, Harrow School, 29 October 1941

~ *** ~


Share your vision board with us right here on ETL Friday! Send me your vision! I’ll post it for an upcoming ETL Friday! Share your goals, desires, thoughts about it, and explore what it is you really want; and get it out there! Whether you’re just starting or have one already, let us encourage and support you, while you inspire others too! It can be a video or a picture of one you made 🙂

Strix

sm row smiles

7 Comments

Kumquat Mania…

April 9, 2009 at 3:30 pm (Farmers Market, Food)
Tags: , , , ,

tea_kumquat-ice-cubes-3

Herbal Tea with Ginger and Kumquat “Ice Cubes”

A hint of Summer: An early Spring iced tea I enjoyed recently in this gorgeous Southern Cali weather contained herbal tea with a zing of ginger. The kumquats were frozen and used as ice cubes for chilling, as well as lightly flavoring with the oils from its sweet rind. Slicing them works well, just like all citrus; You can enjoy most any frozen fruit as ice cubes — I especially like to use frozen berries this way. They flavor, beautify, and some sweeten; but with the advantage of being edible instead of simply melting ;). The kumquats, by the way, are also eaten whole — yep, skin and all. The only type of citrus which offers you this benefit — Nice and chewy 😀 It is actually the skin that is sweet! Just watch out for seeds 😉

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Kumquats are one of the fruits that remind me of my childhood. But it’s different from the others in that I don’t recall eating these at all! There is something familiar, reminiscent…I don’t know, the fragrance brings back summer days in cut-off shorts and tees running around the neighborhood; fending off dragon flies; honeysuckle blossoms; sprinklers and  jumping in and out of our neighbor’s pool (with our dog, of course) :D. There’s something in the very unique flavor of kumquats, too…can’t figure it out 🙂

I used to confuse them with loquats, which are also delicious — that is, if you get a good one! If it’s from an uncared for tree, they are sour and awful; but a sweet one? Ooh, nice! There are loquat trees all over Southern Californian backyards 🙂

As I mentioned, unlike most other citrus one of the coolest things is that you eat the whole thing (the cousin of the kumquat, the calamondin can also be eaten whole). With a sweet outside and the inside, tart, you get a delightful sweet and tart — not sour or bitter — flavor unlike any other. Very interesting taste and sensation — they are sweet, unique, and citrusy. Great summer treats. Pop them into your mouth to cool off. Grapes are another fruit great for freezing like this; little pops of instant sorbet 😉

kumquats-161

If you do want to peel, it’s definitely a bit of work, but can be done. If you do not do it over a receptacle of some kind, you’ll really regret it; you’ll lose a lot of the juice. There are several pesky little seeds to be dealt with — be gentle 😉

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kumquats_peeled-2

If you slice them in half the inside actually pops out cleanly…

kumquats-35

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I’ve been having them in my Green Juicie Green Smoothies lately, and they add their unique flavor with only a few added. What a refreshing change. 🙂

*

I read about Meiwa Kumquats —

MEIWA KUMQUAT Beautiful quarter-sized, bright orange fruit cover a lush, small tree… Meiwa is a very different type kumquat… It’s larger and sweeter and has a more tender rind. It is the most preferred fresh-eating kumquat.


and tried looking for them to no avail. A friend saw some at his local farmers market and brought me some. Unfortunately, they were not Meiwa 😦 I guess the farmer wasn’t so honest; these command a higher price.

Meiwa are round and very sweet; these were the same as the above kumquats, which I assume are the Nagami Kumquats, which are 90% of the kumquats in California.

kumquat_1_closeup-3-copy

Still awful purty, though :D.

With my, now excess, amount of kumquats, I just washed them …

kumquats_bowl-copy

and stored in bags in the freezer. Lotsa kumquat yumminess this Summer 🙂 Ooh, kumquat icecream and sorbet 😀

I never tried kumquat  marmalade; though it may be something to try ETLized some day :). Should be easy enough. They contain a lot of pectin in their seeds; but I don’t think I’d cook it. Cooking fruit makes me cringe haha. A raw version should work, especially with the rind being so sweet already, it wouldn’t need to be cooked to cut the bitterness, nor sugar, for that matter. Sounds like a winner project to me ;).

Since I don’t cook and bake, I could use fresh kumquats in my salads; in dressings; relishes, and salsas (would be great for cranberry sauce); add to ptisans; my Green Juicie Green Smoothies;  and, yes, I even added them to my latest batch of cultured veggies!  Here are a couple…

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I’m excited to try these. I used a piece of orange rind in previous batches, and the hint of flavor was delicious. These, containing the whole fruits (sliced, sans the seeds) are sure to be an experience! Can hardly wait 😀

Not too shabby a nutritional profile for these “little gold gems of the citrus family.” There is even an entire festival dedicated to ‘Quats in Florida. Gee I wish I coulda been a “Mz. Kumquat” contenda 😉

I was surprised to learn there are so many varieties! I’m particularly anticipating that lemonkquat! A cross with a Meyer lemon…Mmmmmm 😀

I still hope to try the Meiwa; and I’m also curious about the Nordmann variety which is seedless! That would be even nicer 🙂 I will most likely have to order those.

And of course,yummy kumquatade too 🙂

Here is a cute little vid on how to eat a kumquat. Notice the instruction to chew-chew-chew 😀

How to Eat a Kumquat

Mmmm…
kumquats-11

Kumquats! Try some 😀

Poxacuatl

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ETL Friday!

April 3, 2009 at 2:00 am (Diet, Dr. Fuhrman, Eat to Live, ETL FRIDAYS!, Exercise, workout, weightlifting, health, Nutrition)
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ETL Friday! is back this week with one of ETL’s Lifers :). Her view of “Nutritional Excellence” gave me another way to look at Eating To Live, and that’s always a good thing!  I can think of few as knowledgeable as Claudia, and I love-love-love what she shares here; it’s truly insightful and wisdom from which we all can benefit.
But , I’ll give you Claudia and stop gibbering :D:

Hello everyone,

I’m here today on ETL Friday to talk about how I discovered the Eat to Live diet-style, and how it has transformed my life.

Most of my life, I have struggled to try and keep my weight down. I did a lot of yo-yo dieting, losing weight only to eventually gain it back again. I always experienced dieting as a form of deprivation which I could not keep up indefinitely. At some point I’d always start to feel too confined and unsatisfied, and fall back into my old habits of eating anything I wanted to, whenever I wanted it.

Before ETL, I was a food addict, and if I went too long without food I became very uncomfortable. My experience of hunger included headaches, weakness, shakiness, and stomach grumbling and discomfort. When I was dieting, I would obsess over food, and think about it all the time. It seems like I was hungry quite often, and always ready for my next meal.

One of the major things that ETL has done for me is to cure me of my food addiction, allowing me to lose all the weight I needed to once and for all, and to permanently maintain an ideal weight without it being such a struggle.

The first time I heard Dr. Fuhrman speak was in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, at a vegan conference on ‘Chinese Plant Based Nutrition and Culture’, where he gave a lecture called ‘Greens: The Super Food’. While I was impressed with his speech, I wasn’t quite ready to make any major lifestyle changes right away. I was just having too much fun enjoying all the great vegan restaurants that Philadelphia has to offer, and my waistline was showing it.

Eventually, I decided that it was time to go on a diet again, but I chose to follow the McDougall plan because eating all the starches seemed more do-able and less confining to me. It really didn’t work out though. Although I managed to lose some weight, I was not so relaxed about it. I was white-knuckling it, and always thinking about my next meal. I was still the same old food addict who was afraid to go too long without food for fear of becoming hungry. Besides the discomfort of being hungry, it tended to cause me to freak out and want to eat anything in sight that wasn’t nailed down. Back in the days that I had followed Weight Watcher’s, I remember they used to tell us that if we went for more than 4 hours without eating, then we were just setting ourselves up for failure. Besides the hunger issue, all of my starch based meals had become rather colorless, and I was also rather pale and colorless as well. Another problem was that my skin become very dry, which I believe was from the lack of any nuts or seeds in the diet.

Meanwhile, I had a health issue that had been brewing for quite some time. I had a fibroid uterus that had grown to the size of a 6 month pregnancy, and I discovered that Dr. Fuhrman was an expert on therapeutic water fasting and had helped women use fasting in order to shrink their fibroids. So, between wanting his advice on my medical issue, and wanting a better diet, I decided that I would become a member of his website in order to get his support. One thing I liked about the member center from the very beginning was the way that Dr. Fuhrman is so totally committed to everyone’s success and has absolute confidence in our ability to achieve it. To make a long story shorter, Dr. Fuhrman told me that I needed to follow his diet, and get close to my ideal weight before he could even consider whether I might be a good candidate for a fast. In the end, fasting did not turn out to be my best option, however, I did end up losing weight faster and more effortlessly than ever before, and the weight has stayed off. Instead of eating a washed out, colorless diet, and being hungry all the time, I now enjoy a delicious, colorful, and satisfying diet, and do not experience the uncomfortable hunger symptoms that I used to have.

When I was new to ETL, I had to go through a period of missing the old foods that I had always liked, and feeling deprived because I wasn’t eating what everyone around me was having. It made me feel left out. Fortunately, I got over that long ago, replacing the old with the new, and thoroughly enjoying my new diet-style. Now I actually feel sorry for those that still struggle with the food addiction brought on by a SAD diet, and who haven’t had the good fortune to be cured of it by ETL. Ironically, many people see my diet as very limited and even feel sorry for me. With regard to this, I have an analogy that is meaningful to me.

In Anusara yoga, we learn to experience greater freedom (of movement) by having structure and setting boundaries. Its a concept that isn’t intuitively obvious, and sounds paradoxical, but it perfectly describes my experience of ETL.

Instead of just letting everything go lax, we use our muscles to achieve proper alignment of the body, setting boundaries that take us places we’ve never been before. Take a look at the picture of John Friend on the cover of this DVD:

John Friend, Anusara.com

John Friend, Anusara.com

John is doing something that takes balance. Balance is something that doesn’t happen by flopping your body around and relying on flexibility alone. You have to engage your muscles and set boundaries in order to get your body to do things never before imagined. This DVD is called the Dance of Yes and No and is all about the experience of freedom through boundaries

I guess the really cool thing about this for me is that ETL is a real life, ‘off the mat’ experience of what John Friend was trying to teach. For me its kind of like an Aha! moment, but its kind of hard to convey this. Its a really profound and deep thing. From the yoga side alone its difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it, and from the food side alone, its also hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it. But it is way cool to experience it from both sides, and to realize that it is all connected.

Many SAD eaters feel sorry for me because they think that I have ‘limited’ myself, and that I’m so ‘deprived’. But, what they don’t understand, is that through this ‘limitation’ I am experiencing a freedom far beyond what they can imagine. I am free of food addictions and cravings. I am free of being ‘powerless over food’. I am not constantly controlled by food. I am more relaxed about food. I don’t need to eat as often, and It doesn’t feel like an emergency every time I get hungry. I’m not climbing the walls. I am not in a constant state of hunger, or fear of hunger in which I obsess about having food quickly available at all times. I am free to enjoy a bounty of healthy natural food with a more enhanced level of pleasure than ever before, while also experiencing the joy of having a fit, healthy body. I am not digging my grave with my knife and fork, limiting my enjoyment of life be cutting it short like the SAD eaters.

It’s all a matter of perspective, and while others may see the ‘limits’ I’ve set as self-deprivation, and feel sorry for me, they don’t realize that by doing this I’m achieving greater freedom. I’m achieving the freedom from food addiction.
It is we ETLers who have the real freedom. We have earned it, and it is wondrous.

_Claudia

claudia_1

Claudia in a handstand; Elijah, with hand creating a resistance to press against for greater extension. Photo by “Sheila-Seattle” taken at Dr. Fuhrman’s Utah Getaway

I love the freedom through boundaries analogy and I’ll never forget that description. It’s exactly how I feel.

This is one of the most poignant and relevant benefits for me because it rings so true. Just beautiful! Thank you, Claudia.

Strix

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