My grandfather passed away on Thursday so I am off to California this week for his funeral. Grandma passed away in February, and so both of them are gone within four months. In the picture is them at their 90th birthday party seven years ago.
Yes, both my grandparents were born in 1913, before sliced bread was invented and out in 1924, pretty amazing!
Besides my grandparents passing, there is a great deal of other things going on behind the scenes and I am just pooped and drained. So, I need a time out to refresh and recharge. Besides, it's a perfect time to rest being that it is summer and all!
I will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. In the meantime, feel free to drool over this fabulous gluten-free Apple Pie with scoops of dairy-free orange ice cream at Nourish. Oh it was so delicious!
Update 6/23/10: I'm still on the road now in Boulder,CO and then heading up to Park City, UT tomorrow for the EVO 2010 Conference where I'm doing my first keynote. It's very exciting! I'm going to take a little bit more time to recharge. I'll be back Wed next week 6/30. I'll be active on Twitter so you can follow me @skinnyjeans and @nosthopia. Enjoy!
The fastest way to get a wallop of nutrients is to fresh juice veggies and fruit. With juicing you don't get the fiber as if you were eating the vegetables and fruit raw, but if you just want nutrients and want to enjoy a combination of veggies and fruits together, then I highly recommend fresh juices.
The other day, I made this juice combo of kale, hot house cucumber, carrot, and Gala apple.
I've been doing this going sugar little journey since February to cut down my daily sugar consumption from 80g of sugar per day down to around 25g/day. One of the biggest changes I have noticed is that my body craves greens more than ever especially kale and arugula for some reason. In fact, I'm eating salad for breakfast now.
One of the things I started doing again which I used to do years ago when I was marathon training is fresh juicing. I enjoy being able to create all kinds of interesting combos of vegetables and fruits.
What I also really like about the fresh juices is how it makes my body feel. There is a big difference between how bottled juices and fresh juices makes your body feel.
I believe that difference is the fact that fresh juice is packed with way more enzymatic goodness. You see, juices start to lose their enzymatic oopmh once it hits oxygen. You can make extra juice and bottle it for later and the juice will still taste good. However, the enzyme power degenerates over time.
Admittedly, although I love fresh juicing, the one thing I do not look forward to is the clean up. Juicers can get really messy with all the roughage from the veggies and fruit. You have to clean up the juicer right away especially the filters because stuff gets crusted like carrot, and then it can take forever to clean up. Who knew carrots could be so messy.
Getting started
If you want to start juicing or have a juicer at home that is collecting dust, here is a really cool book that I use to help inspire me with juice combos, Squeezed: 250 Juices, Smoothies, and Spritzers by Jane Lawson.
What's cool about this book is that not only do you get juice ideas but ideas also for smoothies and spritzers. The book also has beautiful glossy pictures which is always thumbs up in my book! Since we're into summer time now, spritzers made with fresh juice is really awesome like one of my favorites raspberry with white peach.
So, what is one of your favorite combos for fresh juice?
Sometimes I like to take boxed stuff and customize it ala Sandra Lee. This risotto recipe uses Lundberg Butternut Squash Risotto and makes for a nice side dish or it can be eaten by itself as a main meal with a side of green salad which I did last night.
The dish also takes less than 30 minutes to make, and as another bonus the dish is gluten-free. There is some kosher cow milk in the risotto mix, but it's way down on the ingredients list which means there is very little so I partook anyway.
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 box Lundberg Butternut Squash Risotto
1/4 chicken cut into square chunks
1/2 portobello mushroom chopped into square chunks. You can use a whole if you like more mushroom.
1/4 yellow or white onion chopped into small chunks
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup rice milk or cow milk
1/4 cup shaved manchego cheese
salt & pepper
olive oil
Let's get cooking:
Pour 1 tbsp olive oil into 2-qt sauce pan over medium heat. Toss the chicken chunks into the saucepan and season the chicken with some salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the chicken is golden brown.
Toss the onions and portobello chunks into the pan. Saute with the chicken. Cook for about a minute until onion looks soft. Stir occasionally.
Add in another 1/2 tbsp of olive oil.
Add in the rice from the Risotto mix, and saute with the chicken, onion, and portobello for about a minute to brown the rice a bit.
Add in the water and milk. Stir. Then add in and stir the seasoning packet from the risotto mix. I only mix in about 3/4 of the packet to help cut down on sodium.
Heat to boil. When the mix starts to boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer. Do not cover the saucepan. Cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
Take the pan off the hot burner and stir in the manchego cheese.
Voila! Dish is done. Serve on beautiful serving dish, and enjoy!
How about a little life chat about perspective over a cup of oat milk mochas? There's something very soothing about chocolatey caffeine.
I find it really amazing how simply changing how you look at something can literally shift your feelings in moments. The data and facts will stay the same but how the situation looks can dramatically change simply by changing your perspective.
I always loved this scene from Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams' character showed his students how the world could look different by simply standing on your desk.
I remember a time when I would be stuck in a depressive state for days mainly because my thoughts were stuck on the negative or downside of whatever was pressing me at the time.
For example, whenever I'd go through a breakup, I would lament for months about why the guy left me, why I wasn't good enough, or what is it I could have done to be prettier, sexier, or nicer. Thinking about those things constantly just made me feel more unworthiness and "not-enoughness."
One day, a new healer I went to see asked me a simple question, "Is it possible that your Ex did you a favor by leaving?" Instantly, I was captivated because that thought never even occurred to me.
She went on and said, "Perhaps, if you had stayed with him your life might have gotten worse instead of better. By ending the relationship, you are now free to go be with someone else who adores you and appreciates you. Maybe you are actually saving time by being cut free from a relationship that wasn't joyful or helping you grow....Is that a possibility?"
I remember sitting in my chair, staring at her with my mouth hanging open...but now feeling calm and even a sense of relief versus the sadness and melancholy I was feeling when I first got to my appointment.
My brain started to analyze her question because the healer was correct in that my Ex breaking up with me was a benefit for me as it is feasible on the grid of possibilities. I was so focused on the negatives that it never occurred to me that there were advantages to this breakup.
There are always advantages to what seems like loss
She and I started to list the advantages to the breakup, and it was amazing to me that in a matter of mere minutes, I was now feeling hopeful, excited, and yes even joyful. I was feeling joyful about the possibilities of the future and of the next relationship. I was feeling joyful that I could be with someone who was a better fit for me, who connected with me, and who shared more of my values.
Nothing changed on the outside. The guy and I were still broken up, and he was with someone new. But, on the inside, everything had changed because I changed my perspective. I stopped focusing on what I had lost and started to focus on what I had gained.
I also came to realize that my ego was more hurt about this breakup than my higher self. The ego wanted control, and it didn't get control so it created a drama...the constant depressive state.... to simulate some sense of control. We can never control other people, only ourselves. But, we also have a choice in how we control ourselves. I'd much rather put myself in a state of feeling abundance versus lack.
Changing perspective on what problems are can also shift your feelings dramatically. Before, I used to see problems as annoyances or even punishments, but now I can see them as big homework assignments from life and ask, "What is the lesson I am to learn from this situation? How can I grow from this challenge"
When put like that, problems don't seem as daunting. In fact, when put like that, problems are of benefit to us because we can come out being a better human being which is always a huge win in my book.
I will be one of the keynote speakers at this year's EVO 2010 Conference on June 24-26 up in Park City, Utah...the same city the Sundance Movie festival takes place. In a nutshell, EVO 2010 is:
A social media conference for bloggers, businesses, and social media junkies of all levels where experts will take you, step-by-step, through their processes as you
follow along on your own projects. Get ready to explore blogging,
photography, PR, marketing, writing and more.
The keynote topic I will be speaking about will be, "Evolution Defined: Where Are You Going?" I will be on stage with Heather Spohr of the blog The Spohrs are Mutilplying, and Nirasha Jaganath of MommyNiri.
You could win a pass
Indeed it will be an exciting time, and I'm doing a gvieaway! One of my lucky readers is eligible to win a Full Conference Pass valued at $350. Here's the line up of speakers, and the agenda for the weekend.
Admittedly, the Oprah fan girl in me is really looking forward to seeing the keynote with Andrea Wishom a Supervising Producer with the Oprah Winfrey Show and Jon Sinclair, VP of
Development and Creative Services for HARPO Studios. It's like being one step closer to the O :)
Enter to win
To enter the giveaway, down below in comments, leave a comment about where you'd like to see yourself in 2012, two years from now. It doesn't have to be anything long and complicated, simple is fine like, "I see myself making a full-time living with my blog" or "I see myself having a positive relationship with food."
The giveaway will be open until tomorrow Friday June 4 at noon 12pm. (Phoenix, AZ time which right now is the same as PST as we don't observe daylight savings here.) I'll announce the winner Friday night.
This giveaway is for the conference pass only. Travel, hotel, and food is your part. One entry per person.
Discount on EVO 2010 pass
If you don’t win, and you still want to go, there is a special discount
for my readers: enter
FRIENDSOFEVO for $100 off your ticket!
One thing I love about summer is fresh raspberries. The other day, I put some on top of coconut milk based Pina Colada yogurt with walnuts for a refreshing afternoon snack.
For some inspiration from other food bloggers around the noshosphere, here are 5 things you can eat with raspberries (pictures included):
This one is like a dessert sandwich: Almond Butter & Raspberry Panini on
Chocolate Bread [Panini Happy]
I've started doing some blogging time at my local Whole Foods because they have free WiFi, an awesome coffee bar where I can get a coconut or rice milk latte, and well food...lots of it.
My usual habit when I blog is coffee and something sweet like a cookie, biscotti, or a vegan chocolate donut like the Chocolate Marble Swirl from Nutrilicious I have pictured above. I've been doing the coffee/dessert combo for so many years that it's like one of those ingrained habits, so trying to break this habit is going to be a toughie.
Well, I am happy to report for my going sugar little efforts, that last week, I did a two-fer. I "tried something new" and got a single pack of Edamame Quinoa salad to go with my coconut milk latte. I know it sounds like an odd combination but it really was good together.
And more importantly, I felt really good. The Quinoa salad is a far more beneficial snack than a cookie. Granted, it's not as tasty fun as the vegan donut, but it's far less sugar and I get protein plus some fiber. Geez, I'm kind of sounding like an old fart now, but whatevs!
What matters is that we celebrate the tiny victories which will add up over time, and weaning from sugar down from 80g/day to 25g/day is our goal in a way that feels calm and long lasting.
So, how's your sugar weaning been going? What new thing did you try this week?
that I use to help inspire me with juice combos, 
by Jane Lawson. 
