What Does Your Farmer Feed Their Cows, Chickens, Pigs, Goats, Vegetables, Fruits...?
I am certain you have heard this before: You are what you eat!
Let's take a closer look at the meaning of the words.
What we take in for food is what directly feeds our body cells to be healthy or not. Eat real food and you create, regenerate, healthy cells. Eat junk (junk should not be called food) and you create un-healthy cells... degenerative cells.
Animals are the same. If they are being fed the dregs; the left-over, crap food from the cafeteria waste bins that is the fuel their bodies use to create new body cells.
Farmers have been known to gather up waste food from restaurant and cafeteria's left-overs to feed to their chickens and pigs. If there is refined junk "food" in that waste bag, well, guess what is fueling the regeneration of the animal's cells. That's correct, junk! An animal's meat, eggs, and dairy will only be as healthy as the animal, as healthy as that animal's body cells. Feed the animals junk, you get junk cell regeneration and therefor junk food products from that animal. (This means that the animal's meat, eggs, and dairy products are less than vibrantly healthy. These products will only be as healthy as the animal that makes them.) Eating that meat, eggs, and dairy that is less than healthy? Guess what, it is junk to your body cells. What goes around comes around and you are what you eat! The animals are what they eat as well.
My humble garden spot where things literally grow outside the box!
Vegetarian or vegan? The plants you are eating are not immune to this equation of:
Whole foods eaten = whole body cells regenerated
VS.
Junk food eaten = junk body cells degenerated
Do you know what your farmer is feeding the vegetable, fruit, grain, nut, and seed plants you are eating or eating from?
Feed those plants (i.e. this includes feeding the soil around the plants as well) good compost, cover crops, organic fertilizers, etc. and the plant's cells are being fed well. Plant cell regeneration will be healthy. Feed the plants and soil synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc. and your plant cells will suffer, degenerate.
Healthy plant cells feed your body for positive cell regeneration.
Unhealthy plant cells feed your body for degenerative cell replacement.
By the way, your compost pile is also in need of good food. Feed your compost well as it is what will feed your garden. If you do not eat refined, processed food "products," do not dump them into your compost pile. What goes in the compost goes into the garden, goes into your produce, and goes into your body.
Be conscious of the food you feed yourself. Get to know your farmers and be conscious of the food being fed to your produce, your "eggs," your meat and dairy. It all truly matters!
You are what you eat!
Life Force Energy, Healing The Collective Soul
Photo and inspiring words compliments of Ali Hotmer of www.Twin Tree Healing.com, West Chester, PA
Life force energy flows through us. Life force energy flows through all living things.
When we expose our self to life force energy (it is all around us, we breathe in life force energy) our mind, body, and spirit (spirit is life force energy) become more vibrant.
As I was walking through my wood I had thoughts; thoughts I felt compelled to write about and share. A few weeks ago I wrote about the healing powers of the great white pine. This healing power of being in the woods, surrounded by trees and plants, I will expand upon.
I really do hug trees!
The woods are alive and vibrant with life force energy. This energy radiates from every living thing. When we walk in a forest, the emanating energy of one plant or tree overlaps the emanating energy of all the other plants and trees around it.
When you walk in the woods, you are literally bathing your mind, body, and spirit in the life force energy of the woodland plants and trees. This is powerful medicine, powerful healing energy.
This healing energy has the strength to bring peace and serenity to you, the strength to heal from deep inside your being.
To your natural, healing medicine bag I recommend you add a daily walk in the woods (even 5 minutes) and bathe yourself in the life force energy, the collective soul of the world.
Poster available through United Plant Savers
Suggestions to enhance the flow of your life force energy:
- walk in the woods,
- just get outside and walk,
- acupuncture,
- reiki,
- massage, (a new massage therapist in town, Adrea Elizabeth, is looking to grow her clientele)
- yoga, (more yoga in the Canton - Potsdam, NY area),
- any energy healing!
- AND, how about trying this: (You will be glad you did!).
Naturally Simple Ways to Weigh LESS...
Naturally Simple Ways to Weigh Less
and Live More Every Day of your life!
This is all about re-balancing your body, mind, and spirit to create a vibrantly healthy you... inside and out. So much more than the number on the "scales!"
- Feed your soul with primary food. Friends and family, physical activity, spirituality and a satisfying career feed us. Lack of primary food creates over-reliance on secondary, edible food.
- Drink water. Most people are chronically dehydrated. We often mistake thirst for hunger. If you feel hungry between meals, drink a glass of water before giving into cravings. Limit liquid calories from soda, juice, sports drinks and “enhanced” waters. Stick with nature made!
- Eat a plant-rich diet. Plant foods are typically lower in calories and higher in fiber than meat, dairy and processed foods, while providing loads of essential nutrients. Purchase your animal products from farmers who raise the food in a natural manner; healthy and naturally balanced foods make for a healthy, naturally balanced human. Make certain you do get enough fat and protein in your daily diet to satisfy hunger, appetite, and nutritional needs for YOU. Each of our needs is different!
- Chew your food well. Digestion begins in the mouth. By thoroughly chewing your food, your body will better assimilate nutrients; you will also slow down your eating. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that it is full. By slowing your eating, you’ll feel full, satisfied, and better nourished on less food. More nutrients in each cell mean a healthier body!
- Eat real food; avoid processed, packaged foods. Avoid products with high-fructose corn syrup or a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. (Reduce or eliminate refined sugars from your diet; glucose, fructose, any “oses”.) Packaged and convenience foods tend to be highly processed, lacking the nutrients your body needs, and are often loaded with empty calories. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Avoid refined sweeteners, even stevia products.
If you have attended my workshops or been supported by me as a client: Remember the cellular health information from the Whole Food slide show? Feed your cells well! Need to experience this workshop? Join me and the Local Living Venture on Thursday, September 25th for the start of the Whole Health and Healing Academy!
A few more tips for balancing mind, body, and soul weight.
- Eat raw foods: raw fruits & veggies, raw nuts and seeds, raw nut & seed butters. Raw foods are rich in nutrients that are not altered by the heat of cooking and provide natural enzymes needed in the body for many processes including digestion.
- Eating enough healthy fats and protein to satisfy your appetite and your body’s nutritional needs: choose naturally raised animal products for protein and fat and the omega 3's found in naturally raised meat, eggs and dairy products, wild salmon, avocados, walnuts, raw nuts and seeds.
- Eat breakfast. Skipping meals causes your blood sugar levels to peak and dip, affecting your energy and moods. It can also cause overeating later on because you’re so hungry. With this said, listen to your own body and what you know works for you. Some people do much better without breakfast and have no problems with the rebound overeating later in the day. Be conscious of you and your needs. I can personally admit I am not a breakfast eater. I get hungry by 11 AM or so. I listen and follow my body's requests for food.
- Eat mindfully. Turn off the TV. Get away from the computer. Sit down and savor the food you are eating with no distractions. Eat from a space of unconditional self-love!
- Get moving. Do any type of physical activity every day. Find movement or exercise you enjoy.
- Get outside. Your body needs fresh air and natural light. You will create life long health benefits!
- Sleep, rest and relax. Breath work creates relaxation, slow down & breathe deeply. Ask me for my educational handout on breath work. When you are sleep-deprived or stressed, your body will crave energy, causing cravings for sugary snacks and caffeine as an energy boost.
- Schedule fun time. Boredom and stress can lead to overeating. Make sure to take time to laugh, play and participate in activities that bring you joy.
- Find a mindfulness practice and use it every day. (Yoga, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Meditation, Prayer...)
PS Just a reminder about the Whole Health & Healing Academy that starts Thursday, September 25th. Join us to create vibrant health in your life!
Energy Out = Energy In
We will not be talking about calories here.
I was having a chat recently about good luck and bad luck, why not so happy things seem to happen more to some people. I brought up the idea of our energy, the energy we put out in the world with our thoughts, words, and actions. I made the suggestion that perhaps if our thoughts and words are mostly negative in nature we may be actually drawing these negative happenings to us.
The response I received was this: "That's impossible. No one is in control of what happens to them."
So I then threw out this immediate thought: (I am not always good with on the spot thoughts but I do love teachable moments. Ask my kids!)
"If some one is part of a prayer list, ladder, or tree, they are called upon to say prayers for another person or family when there is a sickness or some hardship. The person then sends prayers, i.e. positive energy, to this person or family in need. Is this not using thoughts, our mind's energy, to create a positive response or outcome?"
We agreed on this.
So my next thought I threw out was... "If we can use our thought process to move energy in a positive direction for someone else, does it seem reasonable that our thoughts and words can do the same for us?"
"Point well made" was the response.
So I ask you to ask yourself questions:
- What kind of energy do I put out into the world with my thoughts, words, and actions?
- Is there a correlation between my positivity or negativity and the general events in my life?
The energy we put out in the world comes back to us ten times over.
Whatever you put out to the univere is what you will get back from the universe. This is one of the essential threads of the universe.
Positive out = positive in
Love out = love in
Joy out = joy in (Yes, I am using all positive examples here... for a reason. It is positive!)
Is your life not heading in the direction you want it to? Try on a new attitude. Make positive thoughts, words, and actions part of your every minute thinking and doing. You will find positive thoughts, words, and actions filling your life!
Positive energy is healing to mind, body, and spirit.
Happy healing!
PS If you enjoy what you read here on The Whole Food Healer Blog... pass it along to friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, people you pass on the street! Share health. The healthier we are as a community, the more positive healing energy for us all!
PPS Talk about positive energy, pop on over to this page and get a copy of the recordings from the Radiantly YOU telesummit. Best 9 bucks you ever spent!
Cooking and Eating at Home IS the Life for ME!!
Try to sing that title to the tune of: "Farm Living is the Life for Me....!"
I confess, I do not like to eat out. The idea of eating out is fabulous: someone else doing the shopping, cooking, and washing the dishes AND I get someone to serve up the food to me!
Who can say no to that?
This writing idea came to me as I was driving my kids to school. It started off as 4 simple reasons to eat at home. And then... my mind wandered...
11 Reasons Why I Prefer to Cook and Eat at Home:
1. I truly love to cook, to stretch my kitchen artist's muscles and create fun and tasty food with what I have on hand.
Ethiopian carrots and Brussels Sprouts: First cook up a pot of red lentils (keep them firm, not mushy), then saute' up some onions, carrot coins, and Brussels sprouts in butter. Add in some mild curry powder to the veggies, mix in the cooked lentils, and toss with some cashews. Yummy, easy, seasonal dinner! Serve with a side of whole grain pita bread, warmed and slathered with butter, and a dish of local yogurt.
2. I like knowing my body cells, and my kid's body cells, are being nourished with real food. I like knowing my food is being made with high quality ingredients.
3. The vegetables and fruits I cook with... I know:
- who grew them: the Martins, the Kents, Dulli and her crew at Birdsfoot Farm, John Dewar (the local Doc gone veggie farmer)... and so many more chemical free, northern NY growers,
- where the farmer lives and grows food (no, I do not stalk my famers!) but I like to see the land, know the soil my food was grown in... that kind of picky stuff,
- how they grow the food (chemical free).
4. The animal products I use I like to know:
- see the above farmer information and
- that the meat, eggs, milk, and dairy products came from animals that are pasture raised... out there eating grass and all the plant life that they like to eat and is their natural diet.
OK, so these goats ARE wandering in the snow... but, they are free wandering, pasture raised goats when the snow melts!
5. Whole grains: when I cook at home I know the bread, pasta, noodles, pie crust, cake, cookies or any food made out of flour is 100% whole grains. Whole foods nourish our body cells for health and healing. Refined foods deplete our body cells and set our bodies up for chronic, degenerative diseases. I have yet to find a restaurant that serves 100% whole grain foods with pasta dishes, bread for sandwiches, buns for burgers and such, bread that is served at the beginning of a meal, etc.
6. The minimal amount of sugar being used in my kitchen is not refined, white, cell destroying sugar. I cook with the highest quality of cell nourishing ingredients in all my food prep and cooking.
7. I know my food is not being nuked in a microwave. Microwave cooking is best avoided in a whole health lifestyle. To learn more about microwave's impact on your food and health, click here.
8. I know my food is seasonal and local allowing my body to follow the natural rhythms of the seasons and nature. My food is living and growing in the same climate I live in and that is just good vibrational energy!
9. I use oils that contribute to my vibrant health and avoid cheap vegetable oils such as soy and canola. I use high quality olive oil for making salad dressing. Most food establishments do not invest in high quality oils.
10. I do not have to go anywhere. Home is where the heart is and my heart is happy at home!
11. I can dress up, or down, in any clothes I want. PJs at the dinner table? Sure, why not!
Reminds me of an early morning breakfast when I was 20 at McDonald's in Canton. (Yes, I had a rocky start to independent, whole food eating lifestyle. My Mom did not bring me up on McDonald's food!) A high school girl friend and I went to breakfast in our long, flannel night gowns. Made sense to us, it was breakfast and we were in our PJs. Apparently the manager was not on board with our logic! We were asked to leave and not so politely either!
Love yourself and everyone you feed with real food!
Like my blog posts? Share with like minded family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, people you pass on the streets... The healthier and happier we are, the better world we will have!
My boys baking at home. We prefer home made, whole food birthday cakes over bakery made, refined food cakes!
PS The Radiantly YOU Telesummit has been a hit! Only 2 days left to listen, BUT...To purchase, and listen to these fabulous women healer's recorded words of wisdom, over and over and forever, for only $9, click on the buy now button below!
Enjoy! You will be eternally grateful for these healing words of wisdom!
Cooking Like a Kitchen Artist
Herb Vinegar for home garden flavored salad dressings: raw, apple cider vinegar with rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, cilantro, tarragon, mint, and nettles. I buy my vinegar from Martin's Farm Stand, add my garden herbs, and blend in the blender. Pour back into the jar, with a funnel, and enjoy all year. Put 1 quart of vinegar into the blender with the herbs and pour back into the gallon jug. Shake to mix herbs with the whole gallon.
Back a couple of blog posts, Cook Book Or Not?, I mentioned I would write about cooking like a kitchen artist. Now is the time for you to: read on, get out your local foods, and start creating with your kitchen artist's palette!
A common challenge I hear from clients and health class students is: “How do I make my cooking easy, what do I use for spices, what can I do that is different….?
First Thought: Do what is easy and familiar, make your favorite foods! The key is to turn them into whole food recipes with fresh, local, and seasonal foods.
Check out this hidden page “How to Make Any Recipe a Whole Food Recipe” to get you into the ‘whole food’ recipe make-over swing of things.
Trying to get more vegetables into your life? People get too overwhelmed by ALL the vegetables that are available in the supermarket. Common questions I hear from clients are: WHAT do I do with all of these, what goes with what, how do I cook them…..?”
Second Thought: Learn to eat in season. If the veggies you are eating are only available at certain times of the year, it makes your choices narrower at that particular time of the year. Being overwhelmed by the plethora of choices is common in today’s culture of being able to eat broccoli, strawberries, asparagus, and every other fruit or vegetable 12 months out of the year. Create meals using vegetables that are available locally and in season. This makes the choosing easier, because there is not so much variety available all the time. It also allows you the opportunity to have a diet that is varied over the course of the calendar year.
Helpful hints around seasonal eating:
- I believe seasonal eating would help to cut down on food sensitivities as well. When your body is not being subjected to the same food, all the time, you are much less likely to develop food sensitivities and intolerances. Local, seasonal eating was nature's way of varying our diets.
- When you eat locally grown food you help cut down on the transporting of food all over the globe. This can have huge impacts on the environment when we are using less fossil fuels moving food around the earth.
Examples of seasonal foods for Northern NY State:
Spring: spinach, asparagus, green onion, early lettuce, rhubarb, wild leeks, spring sorrel, peas
Summer: leafy salad greens, summer squashes, seasonal berries from strawberries to late summer raspberries & blackberries, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, juneberries, cherries, garlic, carrots, new potatoes, fresh herbs, corn, onions, melons…
Fall: root veggies, winter storage squash, cabbage, apples, pears, peaches, fall raspberries
Winter: stored root veggies, kale & collards still in the garden, canned tomatoes and veggies, frozen veggies and berries
Many websites offer their version of a “what produce is in season” charts for the geographical region you live in. www.gardenshare.org
http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local
When you eat seasonally, what you eat changes with each seasons. Your meal planning and preparing takes on a rhythm of simplicity. I cannot stress this enough: keep it simple. Do not over think things. Wing it in the kitchen. If the meal was a winning combination, do it again. If the meal is not the taste you were looking for, eat it with gratitude for the farmers who grew the food, the earth/water/sun, etc. that provided the growing environment, and the work you did in the kitchen. Make a mental note (or keep a cooking journal, if that is easier for you) and do not repeat that particular cooking concoction.
If you think about vegetable dishes, they are the same things just cooked a different way. One fall or winter night you might roast potatoes, carrots, onion, and parsnips and another night you might throw those same types of veggies into a beef or chicken stew. On another night you might stir fry them and add meat, fish, scrambled eggs, or beans. Another night you might gently steam them, mash them up with grass fed butter and unrefined sea salt, and serve with a side dish of chicken, beans, or fish. This is what I mean about simplicity and not over thinking.
To these above meals add a grated root veggie salad using different root veggies: rutabaga, celeriac and beets with some finely chopped cabbage. Toss with an herbed, homemade oil and vinegar dressing and voila, dinner!
Summer cooking will be more tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, and other summer veggies enjoyed with green, leafy salads and raw carrots, baby beets, and cucumbers.
Let go of the idea that you have to work from a recipe and cook up this fabulous gourmet meal every night. 100 years ago, people ate what they had on hand, in season, with no regards for cook books and recipes.
In my herb garden I grow: mint, basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, sage, marjoram, certain edible flowers, etc. It is so easy to step outside, cut a bunch of herb sprigs and brighten up a raw salad or add to cooked vegetable just before you serve them. I do not recommend cooking the fresh herbs as you will save the fresh flavors for your eating enjoyment.
I keep standard herbs and herb blends handy to spice things during the non-garden, no fresh herb months:
Italian spices: rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, marjoram
Curries: mild, medium, or hot to your liking
Chili type spices: Chili powder, cumin, turmeric, and coriander
Pulled pork blend: (I also put this on chicken, in chili, and in stir fries if I am looking for this particular taste): ground pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili pepper, thyme, all spice, turmeric Use 1 Tbsp. of each spice except 1 ½ tsp. thyme, allspice and turmeric
Chinese 5 spice for Asian stir fries
Cooking and eating is wonderful, tasty fun! Relax and enjoy the process for good health in mind, body, and soul!
PS
I was making chocolate chip cookies this AM, for my boy's school lunches, and I reminded myself of a wonderful Whole Food Recipe Conversion tip:
- Never use 100% oat flour to make cookies. Why you may ask? Not because the flavor isn't yummy... it is because the cookies are very crumbly. Frankly, they can fall apart if handled roughly. Now eating cookie chunks and crumbs is an ok thing but a whole cookie that does not fall apart has a certain appeal!
OK, recipe... I know I will get emails asking where is the recipe? See below.
The cookie recipe began in this Betty Crocker cookbook!
The below recipe is the chocolate chips cookies, the left side is the original recipe and the right side is the converted to whole foods recipe.
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- Mix butter, sugar, and egg. Add vanilla here if using and I encourage vanilla!
- Stir in flour, b. soda, and salt. Add cinnamon here, if desired.
- Add in chocolate chips and nuts (if using nuts).
- Dough will be stiff. Allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes as the whole grain flours continue to absorb the liquids. If dough is not stiff enough for cookie dough consistency, add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time to get it to the necessary stiffness of cookies.
- Bake one cookie for 8-10 minutes as a tester.
- If all looks good with that one cookie, bake those cookies up & enjoy!
The finished, yummy, oat flour chocolate chip cookies! They do not last long!
Comments, thoughts? Write me a note in the comments below. Happy day to you!