Cooking Healthy for One

Some days I just want to swing by the health food store and pick a package of that India space food that you just plop in boiling water and its ready to eat in 3 minutes, like some gushy curry lentils or creamy spinach. Yeah.... but today I realized it was time for me to practice the art of cooking for one. I am horrible at this. I love to cook gigantic spreads that can feed 20 people or a plated gourmet 3 course sit down orgasmic organic delicious meal for 4! But when it's just me eating.... I tend to drop the ball, reach for those already cooked easy to prepare foods or just snack on fruit throughout the day. Today I wanted a meal that would be fantastic and delicious and healthy just for me! So with Indian space food in mind I foraged through my own kitchen for all the ingredients it would take to reach nirvana and 20 minutes later I was smiling widely.










Let's call it Spinach Curry Quinoa with Chickpeas (not so fancy). Ok how about Vegetarian Bliss! I have to admit I impressed even myself. The recipe was simple:

16 oz can chickpeas
3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 golden delicious apple
handful organic spinach
1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (peeled & chopped)
2 Tbs Yellow Curry
1 tsp organic olive oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
dash cayenne pepper

Directions:

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over a low heat to caramelize the onion. After 2 or 3 minutes add entire can of chickpeas (including the liquid). Stir in the curry, turmeric, sea salt and cayenne pepper and allow all ingredients to simmer and soften the chickpeas.

Combine quinoa with 1 1/2 cups of filtered water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to low heat and cover with tight lid. Let it cook 12 minutes or until all the water has evaporated and grains are fully cooked.

Wash and dry handful of spinach and shred it into smaller bite size pieces. Slice half the apple into small cubes. Combine apple and spinach and then cover with two heaping tablespoons of the quinoa and fill the bowl with the curry chickpeas. Stir it all up together and let it cool a bit before savoring every bite!

Enjoy! I sat quietly and read a chapter from my favorite book, Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins. If you have never read it, its a juicy cosmic adventure to eternity and beyond, try it.

Feel Safe to Be Wild! by Kiana Love

The following is a re-post of a blog written by my friend Kiana Love. I first met her as the mother of a dancer I taught at the National Dance Institute and I recognized her power at that time. Since then we reconnected through union of powerful healers here in New York City and I learned about her organization, Be Wild Woman. I love it! Very juicy and powerful stuff here. Read her post and join her blog and learn to reclaim your wild side!!

_______________________________
From Kiana Love
Here is a blog post I wrote on my Be Wild Woman blog that explains why I'm dedicated to supporting women in reclaiming their body & their wildness & excited about our new Wild Wombing Group Program. I'm excited about sharing what I've learned from my own journey to reclaim my body & my joy to help women give birth to themselves. Imagine what women could create if they felt safe, nurtured, sexy & confident. Please spread the world & help women feel safe to be wild. Invite women to join my Be Wild Woman group here on fb http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52982335884
Kiana Love

Women Need to Feel Safe to Be Wild

I use “womb” as a verb: to create and cultivate safety and healing in your body & in your life; to empower women to nurture, protect themselves and each other.

I realized that women need to womb to be wild. In order for us to let go and express with wild abandon we have to first feel safe. We have not felt safe or protected. Every day in our communities and around the world women are raped beaten, enslaved, & mutilated. Without safety wildness becomes distorted; wildly out of control, disconnected, ungrounded.

The wild I’m talking about is the wildness you see in a lush plant that’s been nurtured & protected, that sinks down deep roots, and has room, feels safe to grow tall and take up room. A garden grows because it is nurtured, rooted, & protected. In the same way we need to feel nurtured, protected, rooted, and safe. We need to feel safe to unfold to our true potential and be wild.

Here at Be Wild Woman, finding love starts with loving and nurturing yourself. Be Wild Woman provides the tools & support for you to reclaim your body & love feeling sexy! Learning how to reclaim my body helped me move from feeling anxious, depressed, ashamed & uncomfortable with my body to feeling innocent, self confident, empowered, sexy & free to express myself. I know it can help you too!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

go here for more be wild posts & to learn more about Wild Wombing
http://bewildwoman.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/reclaim-your-body-give-birth-to-you-with-our-new-wild-wombing-group-program/

Happy Day, Earth!

Happy Earth Day, earth! Umm...well. We're trying, right?

Big round of applause to all those folks out there who are working very hard to give Earth Day a face-lift. It's long overdue and I'm grateful for social networking as a catalyst for this change. I can remember when Earth Day was me and a bunch of young wanna-be hippie kids in our tie-dye tees and Burkenstocks, strummin' acoustic guitars and being pissed off that nobody came to our event, because nobody cared about Earth. Nowadays, Earth day marketing is slick, there are events happening globally and it's far more accessible to people of all walks of life.

But there's still a long way to go before the Earth and its inhabitants are in a state of balance. As we can see all around us, there are warning signs of the consequences of all our actions coming to a head; global warming (which by the way folks is probably REAL), natural disasters, new found disease that seem to result from chemical toxins in our air and water.... Luckily, more so now then ever, there is great information out there about what we can do each day to be a part of the solution. I think we should give a shit. I think we should care about what our kids will inherit.

Bottom line is, if you are a person who cares even just a little bit about the future of the planet, then it's actually IMPERITIVE that you make changes. And if you are not, well, you got your own thing going on and please just stay out of our way.

As we know, you gotta be the change you wish to see, so here are some ideas and thoughts for energy conservation and reducing your personal carbon footprint:

Start a Home Compost
You don't have to be a farmer to compost. You can just start one in your freezer at home by saving all the scraps of organic waste-matter that you create instead of throwing them in the garbage. Keep them in a small bucket or bin, a used orange juice carton, or even an old plastic bag from grocery shopping. Check with your local farmers market or grocer about who collects compost and find out where you can drop it off. In New York, there are composts set up at many major outdoor farmers markets and in some of the smaller community gardens and parks. Farmers are thrilled to receive donations of compostable material because its great for your soil. You can include all remains of fruits and vegetables, grains, coffee grounds, and even egg shells! DO IT TODAY!!! Feel free to email me with questions.

Ride A Bike!
If you don't already love riding a bike, then I promise you as soon as you get back on one and start rollin', you will love it again and the joy of cruisin' will come back with a new found purpose as you realize that not only do you feel more free as the wind whips through your hair, but Hey! you're saving money and reducine the amount of fuel-based toxins in the air. Get back on it buddy. Just DO IT. You will be so happy.


Unplug Appliances and Turn Off Lights
This is good for the environment AND your electric bill. It's so simple. Just make sure that unplug any appliances or lamps or stereos when they are not in use. Electricity seeps in very small amounts through the contact of the metals (even when your swithces are off). So you are wasting electrical energy, and wasting money. It's small but it's also big, you know.

Take the Plastic Challenge!
See how much plastic you use in one week and then make an effort to reduce it by half!
This is fun for the whole family. I bet you have no idea how much garbage or plastic waste you and your housemates or family create and if you did realize, you'd be embarrased.

So, here's what you do. For one straight week, just live normally, but bring home any plastic containers that you purchase and use both in and outside the house (eg: you had a salad at Whole Foods that came in a plastic carrier or you bought a 16oz soda and drank it on the bus).

Create a recycle bag that you fill with your weeks plastic usage so you can see it all pile up.
Make a note of how much you used and recycle it. The following week, see if you can cut that amount in half. The week after that, see if you can cut THAT amount in half, so now your down to 1/4 the original amount, and so on... If you're the competetive type, make it into a household challenge and set a reward for the person who makes the least waste for the week. This is a great way to SHOW your children the impact of their actions as well.

Remember things like stainless steel containers for water and bringing your own lunch from home in your reusable tupperwear.

That's all for now. Happy Day mama Earth!

Health & Sensuality

Greetings! I'm so excited to be hosting my first teleclass this evening with Cindy Neder-Highfield of Majestic Living. If you haven't already checked out the info on my "classes" page, please do so and join us tonight for the FREE teleclass.

Our topic is going to be health and sensuality. When we reached out to female friends and peers to find out what kind of information they were really craving, it was true across the board that women want to have a conversation about how sexuality and sensuality play a role in their health. In addition, they felt starved of a safe and authentic conversation about the health of their reproductive organs and how thier sensuality plays a role in their daily happiness.

As a holistic health practitioner and life coach, I have many conversations about this with my clients, but when I think back to times in my life where I have felt a safe platform for this conversation, I realized they were few and far between. I would like to change that, both for myself and for all women. Let's talk about sex? YES!, and the grounded and healthy way to treat yourself, your body, mind and soul in relation to this topic.

What are some foods that support the health of your reproductive organs?

What are some ways that you can let go of negative self image that is holding you back from feeling your best in your body where it's at right now??

Call in tonight and find out! Visit Majestic Living's website to register for tonight's event and get the call in number!

I hope to hear you all there!

Letting Go- Mind, Body & Soul

Lighten up! Balanced holistic health has everything to do with being in the present moment and knowing what your body is communicating to you right now.

So often we get caught up in the emotional energy of the past and we aren't available to support ourselves in getting our current needs met. We know what it is that we wish to gain or create in our lives; but do we know what we need to let go of in order to make room for all the new?

Here are some ideas for letting go of the old and clearing space for manifesting your heart's desires. Have fun with it, it's Spring after all! Cleaning is practically mandatory.






Mind
- tackle your clutter for a few hours a week
(old books, DVD's, paperwork, unused or too-tight clothes all go!)
- take 5 minutes each morning to breath and meditate
- create some space from heavy or negative relationships









Body
- clean out the fridge of old and funky foods
- check exp. dates on spices and dry goods and toss oldies
- walk/run 15 minutes a day to shed layers of winter padding
- cleanse your digestive system by adding fresh squeezed juices









Soul
- donate old things to a local charity or organization
- get rid of behavior patterns that cause guilt
(guilt holds you to the past and never allows you to be in the present)
- laugh for 15 minutes each day (letting go of everything!)

Make a list of all the things you can think of that you want to let go of and then get to it. I promise you will feel lighter and much more ready to invite abundance into your life! Then let me know how it goes....I'm working on it too!

Classes and Private Sessions!

Yeah!! I just added two new pages to this blog: Classes, where you can learn about upcoming Holistic Health Classes and Private Sessions, where you can learn more about working with me as a private health coach.

Could a conversation about your diet or stress levels help set you back on track? Could you use some support around setting and attaining personal goals or do you just need a good therapeutic massage??

Everyone needs support in addressing their overall health and that's what I love to do! Check out my pages and links to my personal coaching website and contact me with any questions or to schedule a session.

I added Gift Certificates too! So now you can buy that special gift for somebody you love and know they will get something they can really use!

Blessings,
Deborah

It's A Family Affair

Family Juicing
I've been thinking about the tone that I want to create for my blog posts. What is most important for me when I read a blog or follow a writer: their voice. So, my intention for this blog is to allow my personal voice to come through, while continuing to create fun, inspirational and educational content that makes people want to live a healthier, juicier life!

With that said, I had a great time this weekend celebrating Easter with my sister and her family. We cooked a gorgeous brunch, which consisted of fresh strawberries and grapefruit slices, greek yogurt and raw honey, as well as scrambled eggs and chicken apple sausages. My favorite part, of course, was that we got out their Breville juicer and made a giant pitcher of fresh squeezed juice.

We added all the following: - beets - lemon - red apples - celery - carrots - beet greens - cucumbers - green apple It was a sexy bright pink color (much like the Hot Pink Limeade on the Green Pirate Juice Truck!) and it tasted divine!


My adorable niece and nephew (Margaux and Will) loved it and never once complained that it wasn't the juice that comes in their juicebox or that it was a funny color. Will (age 1 1/2) even asked his daddy to lift him up so he could watch the fascinating process of all the big chunky vegetables and fruits going in and only juice coming out! Done. Simply delicious, good for the whole family, and FUN.


Now, get out your juicer or your wok or steamer, crank up the tunes in the kitchen, and invite your entire family (or housemates or roommates or neighbors!) to participate in creating something delicious for your next meal.

Power of Intention Exercise

What's your personal intention for this weekend?
What's one thing you intend to do to improve your relationship with your self? with nature? with the food you eat? with your relatives or loved ones?
Where do you see yourself thriving in life?

I offer you a little assignment for the weekend...

You may not realize how valuable it is to begin every action with a clear intention.
Philosophers, scientists and spiritual leaders alike have been studying the impact of positive or negative thinking on the outcome of any given situation for years. What we
have learned is that overwhelming proof supports the idea that our intentions
directly effect the outcome of our actions.

We can create so much for ourselves through the power of intention. Much like prayer or meditation helps to calm the mind, allowing for greater mental clarity and a feeling of inner peace, setting a clear intention can help to better guide you on your path to achieving your goals.

Try this: (it will only take 10 minutes!!!)

Choose one personal goal for which you would like to set an intention.
(ex. I want to make a really healthy dinner. I want to have a better relationship with my mother. I want to make $50,000 this year. I want to travel to India.)


- Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
- Float your eyes closed and begin to focus on your breath.
- Take 3 deep inhales and exhales.
- Now clarify your intention to a single goal: travel to India.
- Begin to create an image in your minds eye of what that would look like.
- Create a symbol for your intention (ie: a statue of Ganesha!)
- See all the details of that symbol and breathe deeply in your relaxed state.
- Smile knowing that the symbol for your intention exists!
- Continue to breath quietly for a few minutes focusing on the symbol.
- When you're ready, float your eyes open again.

There you have it. You just carved a serious path towards acheiving your goal
and you got to relax and relieve stress in your body at the same time.

Have fun with this practice. Setting intention can be a powerful way to infuse meditation into your every day and get closer to living the life you desire.

Enjoy!