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Some of you may be old enough to remember a song by Jackie DeShannon with the above title. It came out in 1969. If you don't know the song, Google it. It has a sweet tune and wonderful lyrics.
What does that have to do with food? EVERYTHING!! As a fellow Foodie and Sustenance Seeker, I don't think that surprises you. I'm sure you have had people tell you that they could taste the love in the food you made, or you've experienced that yourself. Everything is energy. Every thing, color, word, sound, ingredient, has an energetic vibration that is felt and interpreted. Whether it is physical food or an emotion or thought, that energy is ingested by us. Oprah used to have a sign in her Harpo office that said: “Be aware of the energy you bring into the room.” Here are some tips for a flow of good vibes:
I am in love with this cake: Best Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Ingredients
Frosting
It doesn’t hurt to make extra frosting in case you taste too much of it before you frost it. :-) Gluten Free version: Best GF Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
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We’ve all heard of Horse Whisperers. I’m a Food Whisperer in reverse, and I’ll bet you are too.
Food whispers to me all the time. Different ingredients offer specific guidance. I went to the Farmers Market the other day and brought home some lovely herbs and vegetables. As I was handling the Italian Parsley, its personality came through. It said, and this was not a whisper: “I am strong! I am bold! I am authentic! I am sturdy! I am confident! I am proud to be me!” Whoa! I could really feel that was true. I also knew, from experience, that it lasts a long time in my refrigerator, it stays fresh, and a little goes a long way. As I got more present, I felt the invitation from the Italian Parsley to take on these traits. I next went to the Cilantro, also called Chinese Parsley. Its energy felt feminine to me. I could hear her say, in a demure way, “I am delicate, I am beautiful, I too am proud of who I am and how I add flavor to your creations. I am perfect the way I am”. Next was a large gorgeous purple eggplant. Again, I got a feminine sense. I felt she was comfortable in her skin. She was delighted with her roundness, her width and depth. Wow, I definitely could follow her example! I assure you, I’m not crazy. I believe God talks to us in a million ways. One way is through food. So the next time you cook, pay attention to what your food is whispering to you, because you are a food whisperer in reverse! Baba Ghanoush Every year, I institute my version of March Madness by cutting our monthly budget to $100 max for eggs, milk, fresh fruit and veggies. The rest of the time we live out of what’s in our fridge, freezer and pantry. It’s amazing how quickly that pot roast you got on sale at Costco gets put in the back of the freezer and forgotten.
You can adjust this to your needs. If your budget is a lot smaller, say $300 a month, I’d suggest that you set aside $50 to buy fresh produce, milk and eggs. If you have a garden and friends with fruit trees, you can cut it down to $25 for basics. Tailor it to fit you. Tips:
Mai's Fried Rice I was working on an exercise to help me discover why I really wanted certain things.
Step 1 is to write down something you desire. Step 2 is to describe the experience you want from it. Step 3 is to go deeper and ask yourself the feelings you are seeking by having the desired item or circumstance. Here is one of the things I wrote down:
The amazing thing is that as I continued to write the list of things or circumstances I wanted, my end result in step 3 remained the same for the next 3 desired outcomes. My aha moment came when I saw that self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-appreciation was the deepest experience I desire. This includes feeling safe with what is, aka trusting God/Source that everything is as it should be. Take some time to try the exercise for yourself and discover your own aha moment. Ronda, a mentor of mine, says if you want to get from A to B, just go straight to BE. That same thought has been said in other ways by Wayne Dyer, in The Having, by Suh Yoon Lee, and by so many other thought leaders. It comes down to being in the feeling of having. Go straight to FEELING what you desire. This will bring you the desired outcome. Did you get that? You’ll know I got it - I’ll send you a picture of my dream home. Send me a picture of what you manifested; I’d love to see it! I enjoy several food websites and love trying out their recipes. Once in a while I’ll try a recipe that really isn’t very good. It usually has rave reviews from people who have made it and loved it. It just reminds me that everyone is different, and some people's tastes are not at all like mine.
I recently tried a recipe that was highly rated and raved over. My reaction? YUCK!!! So I took the basic idea of the recipe and made it my own. The results? YUMMMMM! Wow. It turned out so well that I typed up my version and will be using it for the rest of my life, - THAT level of delicious! It’s important to note that I didn’t throw away the original recipe, I used some basic ingredients and added what I felt would make it great. Food and cooking brings so many insights that we can apply to our lives. How can you use a recipe you have that isn’t working for you (and I don’t just mean in the kitchen) and make it your own? What can you keep and what can you change to make it so extraordinary that you’ll use it to improve and benefit your life? Here is one of the recipes that I’ve tweaked and made it my own: Mai's Miso Lime Dressing .pdf I had a huge lesson in the importance of setting boundaries this week. It was painful! Now that I’m on the other side of the lesson though, I have to say I’m so thankful to have learned what I have. Here is what I learned:
Don’t assume people have the same priorities or values. It sets you up for disappointment. Expectations must be stated clearly. For example, here is something I should have communicated to a friend last week: It’s not OK when you are late. It tells me that you don’t value or respect me or my time. Do not lower your values for the sake of friendship or a family relationship. It’s not worth it.It is to your own detriment. If a person is truly your friend, they will respect your boundaries. If they do not respect your boundaries, the friendship will not last. I have not been clear with my expectations and boundaries up until this point in my life. If I don’t hold to my own expectations, I can’t expect others to. It’s best to speak up when your boundaries have been violated. It is difficult to do, but it will get easier with practice. Perhaps you have been told that you are too nice or too kind. This is a wonderful thing if you start that kindness with you. Setting boundaries decreases stress and creates peace and freedom. I love things that smell good - food, flowers, and essential oils. I got the chance to work on two of my friends recently. I am also a Massage Therapist and Energy Healer. COVID brought my massage and Energy Work to a halt, so it was really nice to bust out all my “tools”. Along with my oils, I have crystals and singing crystal bowls. I had forgotten how fun they all can be. It’s fascinating all the properties they have to calm, soothe and heal.
Scents travel directly to the limbic system where the amygdala and the hippocampus are in our brains. These regions are related to emotion and memory. That’s why a certain scent can take you right back to a special moment in time or remind you of a loved one. Isn’t that fascinating? Whenever I smell Bengay, I think of my Grandpa. His muscles and joints were sore a lot, so he always smelled like Bengay. It makes sense to use scents you love to bless yourself and others. You can brighten your home with the look and smell of flowers, take a bath with scented Epsom salts, and breathe in your favorite perfume. These are all simple ways to add peace and happiness to your day. Here is my recipe for aromatic Lavender dressing which I serve on my Burrata Bliss salad. Ingredients
Preparation
Lavender Dressing
Video: Lavender Dressing with Burrata Bliss Salad Recipe: Lavender Dressing with Burrata Bliss Salad I’m a woman of faith. I believe in God and am a Christian. I believe your relationship with God is a personal thing and is something to be explored between the two of you.
As with all people on the planet, I’ve experienced many difficulties and trials. I’ve doubted that God really cared about me. I’ve done a fair share of yelling at Him and telling Him off. I’ve given Him the silent treatment. Through it all, my faith has grown despite the hardships. I’ve learned and continue to learn to trust Him. I find myself asking, “are you sure about this? Can you really make this work out?” I have to laugh at myself when I question God, the All Mighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Creator of the Universe, if He really knows what He’s doing. My humanity infuses doubt, despite my knowing that I have a loving and kind Providence who knows what’s best for me. There are so many things that are unfair, brutal and incomprehensible - the war in Ukraine, the senseless suffering, blatant deception in politics, hate, and greed. It can be overwhelming. How to keep the faith? Here are a few ways I keep my faith alive:
I do a weekly video called F-Word Fridays, F-words that inspire. I recently did a video featuring the word frazzled. It means showing the effects of exhaustion. Can you relate? I think it is a common occurrence and because it’s common, it has somehow become acceptable.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want frazzled to be a “normal” part of my daily life. I definitely do get frazzled and distracted because I have so much on my plate. This year I am striving to live a more peaceful life; to not get caught up in the busyness of doing, but to spend more time in the appreciation of BEing. I am taking a course called Business in Your Soul. It brings in a spiritual aspect of business. Most of the participants are women - wives, mothers, full-time breadwinners, many who are fraught with exhaustion. How about you? To help me stay in a peaceful state, and away from being frazzled, my mantra this year is “I am guided by grace”. This reminds me to be forgiving of my shortcomings, to acknowledge I’m striving to do my best, to give and receive grace. Just saying it brings a sense of calm. Is there a word, possibly an F word, that you can use as your word for this new year? Here are a few suggestions: fun, faithful, fabulous, fantastic. May you find freedom in the word that you choose. Wishing you a fruitful year full of finesse! 🙂 Wow! What a whirlwind it has been with all the Holiday Celebration! I took a short break from my writing so I could fully enjoy family and friends. I hope you had a wonderful time enjoying the Season. We all have good intentions of starting our year right and making it better than the previous one. I have been thinking of my intentions for this year and going over past years intentions. I have some that have carried over for quite a few years, like get to my ideal weight. I lost 30 pounds a couple of years ago and have kept it off, but I really need to drop another 30 pounds to be at my ideal weight. So what is going to be different for me THIS year? What will I need to do to get the job done? I think the answer is to really feel the burden of the weight and look at how it holds me back and what I’m missing out on because of it. Here are some examples: I’m not as confident as I could be. That could be costing me opportunities in my business as well as meeting new people. I don’t feel my best physically or emotionally. I run 3 times a week and walk the other 4 days, but my knees hurt. I’m sure being 30 pounds lighter will take less of a toll on my knees and my entire body. I’m missing out on vibrancy. Getting to a healthy weight will allow for a richer life. I have some very nice clothes in my closet that are my skinny clothes. I don’t fit them, so I resort to wearing comfortable workout clothes and basically live in that. I don’t look my best. It’s costing me the experience of feeling and looking great. Being overweight darkens my mindset about myself. I was in an online class last week and the facilitator, Ronda, said something that really hit me hard: “How we perceive ourselves creates the reality we live in”. Read that again. In other words, if I perceive myself as old, or overweight, or inadequate, those thoughts create a reality where that is true. We are all masters of our fate. The thoughts we think, our mindset, how we perceive ourselves dictates the life we live. That is powerful! So my intention is to release the extra weight, stop telling myself I’m old, or not good enough, and create a reality where those new perceptions liberate me into a new truth of happiness and health. Here is a recipe from Hannah McKitrick, Founder of My Intuitive Health. This dressing is so good and so healthy, it’s an instant boost to my energy. Pour it over a mix of fresh greens, quinoa and sweet potatoes. Hannah's Harvest Dressing.pdf |
AuthorSpiritual Foodie, Chef, Holistic RN, Healer Archives
January 2025
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