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Source: Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
Posted Apr 22 2013 by dsimmons in All Stories, Blog, In The Kitchen with 0 Comments
Canopy Project – plant a tree, or donate to the Canopy Project; for each $1 you donate, they will plant a tree!
Go Paperless – online bill-pay & paperless statements are easy ways to save, save, save!
Recycle e-waste – each year tons of devices are pitched when they could have been recycled! Learn more & pledge to help.
Will you take a small step to help?
Visit the Earth Day Network
Posted Apr 15 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
As my quest for mindful eating continues, I have explored consuming foods I traditionally do not eat. As I mentioned previously, I have not been a fan of yogurt, but I was determined to give it another chance. After some trial and error, I came to the conclusion that pre-sweetened yogurts were the most undesirable for me. Not only do they contain the added sugar I am trying to limit, they produce an undesirable taste on my palate. However, I have become a fan of plain Greek yogurt and have been eating in a variety of ways. Helping me to break out of my cereal rut, I pair plain Greek yogurt with granola (homemade so I can control the sugar content), add it as a garnish on my eggs and even mix it with avocado. At night, always looking for a taste of something sweet, I pair granola with slightly sweetened popcorn or make a shake with Greek yogurt, plain almond milk, banana & cocoa powder (still a work in progress). The point being I have opened my mind (and mouth) to new flavors and textures that I probably would not have done in my previous “mindless” eating life. However, my transition to mindful eating has not been seamless and like anyone with a busy schedule I struggle day to day with making smart choices. That said, we should certainly take pride in any small changes we make in our life that lead to better health.
This chart from Appetite for Health is a great go to guide how to use Greek yogurt in ways you may not thought of.
Posted Apr 15 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
Posted Apr 11 2013 by dsimmons in All Stories, Blog, In The Kitchen with 0 Comments
Golf – golf loses about as many new players as it attracts each year, so if you are just starting, buy used, and/or begin with a half set of irons. As you improve, you can add!
Tennis – play outdoor, during daylight. Lighting a single tennis court can consume over 4,700 kilowatthours of energy per year – enough to power the average home for about 6 months!
Surfing / beach combing – stay on the appropriate paths, keep your vehicle on the road, & help protect the dunes by not climbing over them!
Source: The Green Book
Posted Apr 9 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
Source: The Green Book
Posted Apr 2 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
Posted Apr 1 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
Serves 10
4t - oliveoil
1c - shallots,minced
2t - garlic,fresh minced
8c - petite peas, fresh/shelledor frozen thawed
51⁄2c - chicken or vegetable broth
1⁄3c - fresh mint chiffonade
1t -salt
1⁄2t - pepper
Posted Apr 1 2013 by smeyer in All Stories, Blog, Eat Well, Be Well with 0 Comments
It has been about 2 weeks since my quest to turn myself back into a mindful eater. As I mentioned in my previous post, I realized I spend half my days eating haphazardly while standing in my kitchen. The first few days proved to be challenging as I realized that it takes me great effort not to grab a piece of food every time I walked by the kitchen counter or stove. I would have a piece of food in midair before realizing that 1. I was not standing up and needed to sit down before I could eat or 2. I truly was not hungry. The biggest challenge for me has been making the time to prepare meals & snacks so that I do not grab the first thing in sight (which is usually chocolate). Some of my saving graces this past 2 weeks have been:
Here is our go to recipe for Crunchy Granola, adapted from Mark Bittman.
Ingredients
Method
Posted Apr 1 2013 by dsimmons in All Stories, Blog, In The Kitchen with 0 Comments
A beautifully written piece on what it means to ‘put the love’ in the food. If you don’t receive the LocalHarvest.org updates on what’s happening in your area, do so now-it’s great information!
Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter.
A little while back I was on a road trip and stopped at a coffee shop for a snack. I picked up one of the extra large cookies on the counter to see what was in it, and there, listed at the end of the usual ingredients was ‘love.’ I am sorry to say that my initial reaction included a tiny bit of eye rolling. It felt a little gimmicky – but it got me thinking. If we can put love into food, all sorts of possibilities open up, including how we think about good food.
We who appreciate good food sometimes struggle when it comes to describing it. Does it need to be grown within a certain number of miles? Does all organic food count? What if its parent company was a multinational? It gets complicated. Maybe there is some shorthand that would help, and maybe that shorthand is this: good food is grown and prepared with love.
What does that mean, exactly? How do we add love to our food? For myself, one important piece is simply paying attention to both the ingredients and the act of cooking. It’s the easiest thing in the world to throw together a quick supper while thinking a thousand racing thoughts about everything but the vegetables in my hands. But really, it is almost as simple, and infinitely more satisfying, to close the mental door on the day, focus on the task at hand, and take note of the fact that this food – this onion, these beans, this rice – this food right here will nourish me and my family, will become the energy that sustains us. Being mentally present and open-hearted changes what happens in the kitchen. It’s noticeable. My husband appreciates food and the effort home-cooking requires, and even when I’ve just thrown dinner together he looks at it and says, “Thank you for cooking, sweetie.” But when I’ve really put my heart into it, he’ll almost always say something like, “Wow, this is beautiful.” And it is.
So love changes food and the way we perceive it. I think this is one reason so many of us are drawn to farmers markets, farm stands and CSAs. Much of this food has been loved its whole life, and some part of us knows that. While not every farmer would use the word “love” in relation to what he or she does in the fields, I think it’s a fair descriptor of what’s going on when someone works for months to raise a crop, poring over crop rotations and seed orders, scraping weeds away from seedlings, sifting soil between their fingers to test the moisture, and getting up at 4:00 every morning to care for animals and load trucks and do the million other things necessary to bring in the harvest. Such work requires sustained attention, and usually, what people attend to deeply opens their hearts. Crops raised in this way, like meals prepared with care at home, are good food.
When we give our full attention to that which sustains us, whether we are growing, preparing, serving or eating it, that attention becomes a form of blessing. And we too are blessed.
Until next time, take good care and eat well.
Erin
Erin Barnett
Director
LocalHarvest