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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Quarantine Food Diaries, Get outside, Picnic Packing Goodies and Shinrin-Yoku


The weather is warm and we can all be outside, reconnecting to the earth, walking through a forest, releasing, discharging our bodies frenetic energy and absorbing the negative ions released by our planet, bare feet upon the earth.
In Italy we take our entire lunches to the beach in the summer or  into the countryside, it's called a "scampagnata" literally to escape to the countryside. We carefully prepare and pack way more than the typical sandwich and potato salad, you might say it is somewhat of an art, not as much as the Japanese create sushi and bento boxes to go but all the same the italian will figure out the how to of eating well during a "scampagnata".
Picnics will become a new way to pass time with friends, bring a plate to share and be with others,  here are a few of my go to favorites.

Insalata di Riso



 

1 cup dry arborio rice
Tonino brand or other glass jar tuna ( please no canned tunafish)
handful or more pitted olives sliced ( I use calamata, but your preference is fine) 
1 cup fresh spring peas
2 hardboiled eggs
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped radishes
1/4  cup mayonnaise 
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Himalayan Pink salt, Pepper

The recipe is super simple, the key is to eat a little warm and then chill it for up to 24 hours before taking it on your picnic. Mix all ingredients, add Mayo salt and pepper and chill!


PANELLE
Chickpea flour fritelle


a common Sicilian street food is Panelle, a smooth chick pea flour paste that is deep fried into little rectangular pancakes and placed in a bun called "rosetta" with a squeeze of lemon and off you go.
Because I am gluten free, I use the panelle like the bread and make a frittata to put between two to take to the beach!


Savory Pinwheels and Napoleons





Store bought puff pastry sheets
sauteéd maitake or button mushrooms
chevre
cherry tomatoes
a few fresh basil leaves
1 egg yolk


De thaw puff pastry sheets until flexible, flour and roll out cut rectangles for layering the  napoleons and one long recatangle for rolling the cherry tomato goat cheese spirals. This is uber easy but presents like it was way more complicated!
Spread chevre and sliced tomatoes and a chopped basil, salt and pepper on the long rectangle, roll and slice into spirals. Arrange on parchment on a baking sheet.
Layer puff pastry squares alternately with sauteéd mushrooms and chevre until they are neatly stacked, place on parchment paper. Wash both spirals and napoleons with an egg yolk wash and
pop in the oven 400F for about 20 min, e´voila!!
Picnic blue ribbon ready!!




Sunday, June 14, 2020

Quarantine Food Diaries, Settle Down Bars, Ashwaganda Powder Power!

Settle Down Bars



Settle Down Bars
makes 30 single serving bars

Stone ground peanut butter, oats, oat bran, chia seeds, sesame seeds, ashwaganda, sunflower seeds, coconut, pink Himalayan sea salt and local honey make these protein bars both a satisfying salty sweet snack and calming adaptogenic healing morsel!  Ashwaganda is a widely used Ayurvedic adaptogenic herb used to calm vata energy and soothe the internal anxiety of the body. 


3/4 cup oats
1 cup stone ground peanut butter or almond or cashew
1/4 oat bran
1/4 whole raw almonds
1/2 roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
3 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup coconut, raw, organic no added sugar
3 tsp ashwaganda adaptogenic powder ( I use this one )
1/4 cup or less,  honey
1/4 cup chia seed 
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Himalayan Pink salt to taste, 1/4 tsp or more depending on butter saltiness 

Mix in a bowl with a heavy wooden spoon, it's thick. Make  a paste and adjust salt and honey to your taste. Wrap in parchment paperand roll flat with a rollijg pin to about 1 inch thickness evenly, pat the sides square and chill. after a few hours you can slice into bars and keep wrapped in parchment in the fridge and eat as you please. Just the right amount of salty and sweet!


It was hot and humid this morning when I woke, the perfect opportunity to sweat out impurities of both mind and body. I got on my bike and plugged into a playlist I made called BIG LOVE. Scrolling through the thousands of songs I realized my musical tastes said something about me, I am inclusive, expansive. I pressed shuffle and started my ride, the wind and heat softened my joints, the speed and exertion neutralizing the pent up stuff stuck in my gut from feeling the groan of the world. I don't have the words to speak using historical reference, I don't have statistics on the tip of my tongue, but I am still having conversations about individual consciousness with anyone who would embrace these words as a starting point. I have never had a group mentality, never followed a crowd, particulalry one that shames. I don't see how our social media is encouraging anything other than polarization as usual. I saw this with the me too movement, with our politics and now with black lives matter and I can feel in my gut that we are not raising our consciousness, that we are using thunder instead of rain to try to grow flowers.
I am an empath, these days I feel like everyone's mother, daughter, sister and friend all in one and it hurts and I want all to feel love and acceptance and compassion. Changing thoughts and beliefs comes from within. It may not be my thing to protest in a crowd, but to instead quietly love and accept and give to whomever crosses my path, like creating a safety net for however long you stay in my presence, this is my vow. 
There is a simple but profound Hawaiian prayer that carries me:

Ho' oponopono
The Four Mantras

Ho' oponopono is about taking responsibility for everything that affects your state of being. It's the art of acceptance, forgiveness, and cleansing of the energies that you attract into your life.


I'm Sorry 

When you say "I'm sorry" you are recognizing and accepting responsibility for the actions, thoughts, and emotions that have caused conflict to manifest into your reality.

Please Forgive Me

The words "please forgive me" are said as a request to make amends with your higher self and the universe alike. 

Thank You

"Thank you" is the opportunity to show gratitude to your higher self as well as the universe for allowing your negative thoughts, actions, and emotions to be cleared.

I Love You

"I love you" can be offered out to the universe as a form of gratitude. When you use the words this way you are saying "I love you for allowing me this earth experience"