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When you think of the life you have lived and are living, does the word delicious get included in your description? This is a profound question that can lead to some great soul searching, which I strongly encourage! To be honest, I can use delicious to describe parts of my life, but not my entire life. Is it too much to ask to have more yumminess in our life? I think it’s up to us. We cannot control what Life brings, but we can always control how we respond to what is brought to our table. I’m bringing this up because it’s something I’m working on. I haven't mastered it…yet! The first ingredient needed in living a delicious life is mindset. Imagine believing that everything in life happens FOR you, not TO you. Just that paradigm shift in thought will take you a long way to experiencing more flavorsome outcomes. It’s more than just a positive attitude. It is a way of BEING - it’s gratitude. The next ingredient starts with a personal experience. About 3 years ago, when I was about to turn 60, I had a gnawing feeling in my gut that there had to be something more to life than this! I knew something huge was missing, but I didn’t know what. Do you know the answer? It was ME!!!! So the second ingredient to a luscious life is YOU! How do you know if you are missing in your life? Do you feel like you just run through your day, but don’t really experience it? If someone asks you what you did last week that was memorable, could you tell them? Does time just keep going by faster and faster and it’s all a blur? These are classic signs that YOU are MIA (missing in action). More specifically, you being present and aware. I just listened to an interview with Ronda Rene, Founder of Divine Navigation. I like the distinction she made. She said in order to be present, you have to be in your body. In the book Dubliners, James Joyce wrote: “Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body”. Do you ever feel like your essence lives outside of your body? Or do you feel like you live in your head? These questions are meant to stimulate some mental digestion of how you are living your life. It’s a big topic, of which I will touch on more in the future. For now, just know you can create a more delicious life with a mindset of gratitude and including yourself by BEing present. If you’ve enjoyed this topic, please share it with a friend, or drop me a line to let me know! Till next time, be present, eat joyfully my friend!
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The definition of food is any nutritious substance that is eaten or absorbed in order to maintain life and growth. Wow, by that definition, a lot of what we eat is not food!! A lot of what we absorb is in the form of what we listen to, who we hang out with, our environment, and the thoughts we feed ourselves.
In an effort to be more present and intune with my body, I ask myself questions throughout the day. A big one is “are you hungry?” Being a Foodie, I always look forward to the opportunity to try new food, but when I ask myself if I’m hungry, the answer is often no. Hmmm. I’ve discovered that I often eat just because it’s “lunch time”, or “dinner time”. How about you? Another question I ask myself is, “why do I eat when I’m not hungry?” I had to sit with that one for a while. I discovered that I eat when I’m not physically hungry because another part of me needs to be fed. We are all comprised of body, mind, and spirit. How often do we feed those parts of ourselves? Just like physical food, it should be daily. Yesterday I woke up hungry. Not for physical food, but for “something else”. I realized I was hungry for spiritual sustenance. I feed my spirit by going out in nature, enjoying the beauty of the day, prayer, meditation, spending time with loved ones, and listening to something inspiring. It’s different for everyone. I wondered what is something that feeds all of me. It’s laughter! I love to laugh, almost as much as I love good food. The right recipe can feed all of you. Here is one of my favorites…hearty ham soup! I have a couple of versions of this and it’s especially good on a rainy day. Mmmmmm! Be present, eat joyfully my Fellow Foodies! Link: Savory Ham & Vegetable Soup.pdf I had some labs drawn recently that indicated my body was under stress. Honestly, a lot of it is self-imposed. How about you?
Seeing my labs brought to mind two statements I heard often while growing up. One was from my mom saying “don’t forget to pray” and one from my 3rd grade teacher: “work hard, so you can play hard”. My labs are reminding me not to forget to play, and don’t forget to pray. I write out my daily schedule and will now schedule in @ least 30 minutes of play time. For me that includes playing in my garden, enjoying the beach, sewing, laughing and cooking! Here are some fun recipes to play with: Jell-O is the first thing that popped into my head! Maybe it’s my age, but Jell-O is synonymous with fun! It’s wiggly and giggly, it’s super easy to make, comes in all kinds of colors and flavors and it makes you smile when you chew it! You can layer it or put it in fun molds and eat it as finger food. Prepare your favorite flavor as directed. My mom used to add a little sweet cream to peach Jell-O - SO GOOD! Make your own pizza party. Use Naan bread or English muffins as the “crust” and have a bunch of ingredients for everyone to make their own pizza. Suggested ingredients are red sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, spinach, olives, etc. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Cookies!! Shortbread Cookies - make with children or grandchildren for added amusement.
Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour and cream. Roll out to ½” thickness. Cut into squares. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes on a non-greased pan. I hope you will join me in adding fun to your daily schedule. My grandma Parker grew up very poor in Honolulu. She was very frugal and passed that trait on to her children and grandchildren. I can often hear her saying waste not want not. I incorporate that into my daily life, which cooking is a big part of.
Today I made beef stew. I added in all kinds of things I had in the fridge that you may not think of adding to stew. I had lamb gravy from a week ago, a little bit of brine from kalamata olives, extra sauce from when I made ajitama (seasoned boiled eggs). I also added things that “normally” go into my stew - chicken broth, celery, carrots, onions, garlic and some chuck steak I bought on sale, cut up and froze for several meals. It turned out delicious. The best part is that I can feel my grandma smiling down on me. I think God is happy too when we use all the ingredients we have available to us and don’t let them go to waste. I see another Life lesson mirrored in this- a reminder to use the gifts and talents we have to create something delicious in our lives. Sometimes we put things together that don’t normally go together and it works out beautifully. Next time you make stew or soup, look at what is in your fridge that needs to be used up. You may be pleasantly surprised at your results. Doing this adds to the creative process of cooking and makes it fun!I We all can use a little more of that. Here is my recipe for ham soup. I used up what I had and added some surprise ingredients. I’d love to hear what creative ingredients you put in your soup! Make a comment below! Till next time, be present, eat joyfully. Link: Hearty Ham Soup #2 |
AuthorSpiritual Foodie, Chef, Holistic RN, Healer Archives
August 2024
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