You Are What You Eat

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris, and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

Walnuts look like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums, and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb, and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? ... it takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

From these examples, it is easy to understand just how foods aid our bodies. One thing to remember, however, is the importance of eating organic food whenever possible. Non-organic produce contains chemicals which are harmful to humans and frequently have been genetically modified. Scientists can create an orange that looks like an orange, smells like an orange, and may even taste like an orange. The problem for us is that such produce no longer contains the nutrients we require.

Remember you are what you eat and keep in mind what the Grandmothers say, "Eat your colors."

Autumn Colors

The last two months have simply flown by for us. In mid-July we attended a family picnic in Seattle and reconnected with relatives we'd not seen for some time. Tina and Matt organized a smaller gathering in Portland recently which was also a lot of fun. Phil and Greg finished the new roof on the back porch after Matt had helped with the start of the project. Kira's tree house is almost finished, my jam cupboard is filling up, and I've shared dozens of jars with relatives and friends.

Our garden didn't do as well as we hoped this year due to cold summer nights. Two of our dogs, Roxie and Carley, normally sleep outside during the summer but wanted indoors this year. Because they were not in the yard, the deer discovered our garden. The broccoli plants are now just stubs and the strawberries got a severe haircut. Next year I think we'll have to enclose the garden with a 7-foot fence to protect our food source. Such is life when humans move into animal habitat.

The trees here in the mountains are turning gold, red, orange, and other fall colors. Oak trees are losing their leaves, readying for the winter ahead. Our apples are almost ready for harvest and we have an abundant crop. I'll have enough to make applesauce, apple butter, and freeze some for winter pies.

During the next few weeks, as autumn arrives around the country, take time for a walk or drive in your area. The view of our changing world can be a relaxing break from daily routines and your spirit will find renewal in our ever-changing seasons.

If you've not stored items for winter use, it isn't too late. When the snow piles up and the roads are covered with ice, it is wonderful to open a cupboard or freezer and select something to cook for dinner. No need to head to the grocery store during inclement weather if you have resources at your fingertips.

One item I keep on hand is quinoa (keen wah). It is the most nutritious grain in the world. You can use it just as you would rice in any recipe. I purchase it in the bulk section of the health food store and store it in a glass quart jar. Here is a hearty fall or winter main dish using quinoa that is filling and delicious as well as being good for you.

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
2/3 cup quinoa
1 1/3 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 apple, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 dash crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place the squash halves, cut-side up into a small baking dish, and bake until tender, about 45 minutes.
Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. When done, stir in the butter until melted, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, green pepper, and celery; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the apple, and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes more. Add the garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes more, then stir in the vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes; season to taste with salt and pepper.
When the squash is tender, scoop out some of the flesh, leaving the halves 1/2 inch thick. Roughly chop the acorn squash, and combine with the quinoa and apple mixture. Spoon the mixture back into the squash shells, and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven, and bake until the cheese has melted and is bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy the coming season. Take time to relax with loved ones and appreciate the slower pace of autumn.

From the Yard to the Table

For over a week we've been eating fresh greens from our garden. The various lettuces give us a wonderful array of greens. Carrots, still as tiny as a baby's finger, are packed with flavor and vitamins. I almost have to slap my hand so I don't pick and eat them all while I'm in that magical place, our garden. Early this morning I harvested the first tiny broccoli crowns. When we stopped our morning chores to sit on the front porch with a cup of fresh brewed coffee, we munched on delicate broccoli crowns and baby carrots.
We finished off our morning snack with a slice of toasted Apricot Cardamom bread. I'd baked three loaves earlier in the week and put two in the freezer for future eating. I took one out to give our friends from Arizona to take with them on their trip to Alaska. They drove their RV up last week and arrived just before the holiday weekend. They wanted to get on the road early before most people were awake while there was little or no traffic.

It was a relaxing few days, taking them to the Farmer's Market in The Dalles, a first for them, and then out to lunch at one of the organic restaurants there. I hope that the experience they enjoyed at the market will encourage them to seek out organic growers and producers when they arrive back in Tucson. Like a lot of us, they said they had heard of Farmer's Markets and of organic food but hadn't yet tried them. If we can encourage others to eat local organic food, we can shift the path society is on and do much to save our planet. At the very least, we will be helping others to eat healthier and have less need for medications. Who knows? Some may even decide to do a little gardening on their own.

Each week another dozen or so jars of preserves go into our pantry and a few more packages into the freezer. Next week I start picking up the first in our scheduled meat packs from our CSA. If they snow piles us this winter as it has in the past, we'll have enough on hand to last us on those days I'm not able to get to the market in town. And now, with my sprouting jar, we don't have to worry about fresh greens because we can always have a dish of sprouts or throw some on a sandwich.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Independence Day weekend and that everyone made it home safely. Remember those suffering in war-torn countries, those who are homeless, without food or medicine, and count your blessings every day. When you think life is hard and the struggle more than you can bear, find a haven where nature still sends up growth and new life. For me, that haven is my garden.

Remember what Gandhi said, 'Live simply so that others may simply live.' In a nutshell, that's what simple abundance is.

Berry season has arrived so I've been making jams and jellies for gifts and next winter eating. Each time I bring home a flat of berries I try to make a small pie for us to enjoy. Pie tins come in three sizes; 8-inch, 9-inch, and 10-inch. Now that there are only two of us, most of the pies I bake are in 8-inch pans. When guests come, of course, I usually bake 10-inch of the favorites. So often we prepare more than we need and end up throwing good food away. I have found that preparing items in smaller amounts, perhaps enough for two meals means less waste. If the item is something that can be frozen, such as spaghetti sauce, I might make enough for four or five meals, freezing much of it in containers to use over the next month or two. Utilizing our resources and reducing waste does take a bit of thought, but when we consider the alternative is well worth the effort.

The Northwest has not had much of a spring this year and summer does not look like it will be much better. That is bad news for some of our garden. The tomatoes are really struggling to ripen enough to pick. On the other hand, the lettuce and broccoli absolutely love the cooler, wetter weather. What I found surprising is how well the apples and plums are doing. Life seems to have trade-offs no matter what we may think should happen. If our weather was excellent for tomatoes the lettuce and broccoli might need more shade and water to grow.

Rather than get upset about our cooler spring, I am enjoying eating fresh lettuce from the garden and carefully watching the broccoli so I can pick some as soon as it is ready. While I am waiting for that, I have time to visit the neighbor and bring home some beautiful rhubarb to freeze for winter pies. The folks down the road who have a large patch of rhubarb do not eat it because, they said, they do not have time to prepare it. I have to think about that one a bit as I learned long ago that putting aside thirty minutes or so every day gave me all the time I needed. The only time I need two or more hours is when I am making jams, jellies, or other preserved jars of food.

Enjoy your spring and look for the bounty around you. Breathing in the scent of of newly picked produce, tasting something right from the garden, or sharing extra with someone are all activities that lift my spirit and bring me joy. Abundance is all around us if we just open our eyes and really look. Life is as simple or complicated as we choose to make it and I choose each morning which it will be.

Take Time to Say Thanks

Unexpected blessings sometimes come from strange circumstances. A few weeks ago I went to the doctor to hear the results from my annual bone density test. Again this year, the natural products I'm using brought a bit more bone growth; good news but not a surprise. During that visit the doctor discovered something on my liver that concerned him. The CT Scan a few days later did show a small cyst on the liver and an abnormality on the adrenal gland. What concerned him was the nodules in both lungs. That meant a trip to a special lab in Portland, not a great day for me. Prepared for the worst, I was elated when the doctor called the next morning to let me know the chances of cancer were so small as to be insignificant. What a blessing and from a circumstance I never would have expected. There is some infection and the possibility of TB which will have to be checked but knowing I don't have to have a serious talk with loved ones lifted a weight I didn't know I was carrying.

This recent situation reminded me, once again, that an important part of taking care of myself is being thankful for what I have. When things are moving at a steady pace with few or no snags in the way, being thankful and finding joy in the now can become habit with little meaning. Perhaps events like this are a wake up call and serve to pull me back to this second of this day instead of thinking about tomorrow or yesterday. Now, if I were a four footed animal, a dog or cat perhaps, living completely in the moment would not be a problem. That's what they do whether it is joyfully or sadly. Our dogs can go from sadness to happiness in less than a second. All it takes is some attention from their humans, a chew stick, a walk, or laying in front of the fire on a cold winter day. I need to live more like a dog or cat, sleeping when tired, eating when hungry, and jumping with joy when I see someone I love. What a great attitude!

Can You Say Enough?

We recently watched the film 'Regarding Henry' again. After being shot in a robbery, surgery and rehabilitation, Henry goes back to work at his law firm. On the first morning, Henry's secretary brings him a cup and pot of coffee. She pours coffee into the pot until it spills over the sides because Henry forgot to say 'enough.' Not saying enough is common in modern society. No matter how big the house, how fancy the car, how large the income, we seem to have difficulty saying that simple word. However, if we take a look at the types and amount of food people in other countries have stocked on their shelves, then compare that to our own cupboards, perhaps saying 'enough' might be a bit easier. The family pictured lives in the country of Chad in Africa.

If you look at what this family lives on for an entire week, then compare it to your family's consumption, it might help you understand what a society of consumers we have become. I'm not advocating for Americans to attempt living on such scant foods but it sure wouldn't hurt us to eat a bit less on a regular basis. We might also think a bit more about being less wasteful. In our country, the average family throws out more food per week than families elsewhere in the world consume.

There really is enough food in the world to feed every man, woman, and child. The problem is one of distribution and how food is produced. It takes approximately 9 calories of fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef, a product consumed by the pound in America. If everyone in the world was put on the average American diet, it would take four planets to support our appetites.

Water, another commodity fast become scarce, is another consideration in food consumption. For example, you can grow a pound of potatoes with 60 gallons of water. If you grow a pound of wheat you will need 110 gallons of water. Beef, a favorite in American, requires 12,500 gallons of water to grow one pound. It may surprise you to learn that President Eisenhower warned against yielding to public pressure for wasteful public funding of agriculture. He saw, long before most of us, that such funding would lead to the loss of small farms and a takeover by huge corporations that care only about the bottom line.

Some of my friends and family members have told me my insistence on a healthy, organic diet is silly. I learned the hard way 50 years ago that food additives were not good for me after eating a salad dressing containing MSG. I've been beating the organic drum ever since. Organic food has more flavor and nutrients. It takes less to satisfy my body's needs. In my opinion it makes sense to eat healthy food prepared at home. It costs less, tastes better, and supports local farms. That is a win-win situation and one I hope will be replicated across the country as more families take a taste test for themselves.

We recently joined a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to assure a supply of organic meats and produce for our needs. With an organic garden in the yard as a supplement, we will have all we need for ourselves and visits from friends and family. On delivery day, if our produce box has more of an item than we can use, it is easy to donate the excess to a neighbor, family in town, or the local food bank.

I hope you are one of those who joins the healthy eating parade. It is never too late to begin for each day is brand new, a gift from the universe to live in the way you choose. Remember, there really is an abundance of everything we need on our planet, we simply need to learn how to share.

Simple Joys

Mother's Day could not have been better this year. My youngest daughter and her family came over to spend the day. Son-in-law, Matt, worked with Phil on Kira's tree house and it is now almost complete. Daughter Tina, hauled dirt, compost, and potting soil to the raised beds, filled them, and transplanted the strawberries. Later in the day we got the tomatoes and worms in so all we have left to do is fill the two remaining raised beds and we're set for the summer growing season. The organic beef we barbecued came from our local CSA and was absolutely wonderful. I suppose some would think Mother's Day requires a fancy brunch or dinner in a nice restaurant with some shopping thrown in. My simple day with family might have left them feeling let down. However, for me the simple things are what bring the most joy. What do you think Mother's Day should be?

Earlier in the day I baked a sour cream coffee cake for snacks and on Saturday I prepared Potato Vinaigrette Salad, a warm weather favorite of mine as it does not contain mayonnaise. We took frequent short breaks, yet by the time Phil fired up the barbecue we were all getting rather hungry. Needless to say, we had a wonderful, relaxing meal and finished it off with ripe watermelon and strawberries. Days like that one and simple yet delicious meals with loved ones are joys that create lasting memories.

With all the hooplah in the media these days, the arguments about politics, right wing, left wing, and wars around the world, a bit of simple joy is just what I need to put things in perspective. I cannot change how others behave or what they believe. I can speak when an opportunity arrives and that is a responsibility we all have. However, when we think we can change what someone else believes, it is important to recognize that the closed door to a person's mind opens only from the inside. Speaking out is a bit like scattering seeds along side the roadway. Some will find fallow ground and sprout. Many will be eaten by birds and small rodents. Still others will land on rocky soil where there is no place to put down roots. It would be silly to expect all the scattered seeds to grow and even sillier to try forcing them to sprout. No, scattering, whether it be seeds or wisdom is all we can do. While we wait to learn which grows and which dies, we have time to sit back, relax, and find joy in the simple things of life.