~ Buying olives in bulk? Buying freshly ground peanut butter? Bring your own container. Before going to the store put a few plastic containers, and maybe even a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, into your cotton tote bags! Remember to have the glass jar weighed at the store when it is empty! It is that easy!
~Expand your reserve of grains and legumes (beans) each week by purchasing one ‘new to you’ item. Purchase with the mothering Mother mini bulk bags to keep the purchase small. Try out a new food each week and expand your palate while also nourishing your body with a different spectrum of nutrients.
~Just as a surfactant makes “water wetter” so does a humidifier make “heat hotter”. The water that is put into the air from a humidifier spreads the heat in your home and your office more effectively. At the same time it gives some moisture to the skin and nasal passages, which are affected by the dry air from indoor heating.
mothering Mother Blog
For even more wholesome food for thought, presenting the
What does mothering Mother® nurturing Nature mean? It means taking care of Mother Nature through our daily actions. Mother Nature has given us so much and now it is time for us to be aware and active in creating a reciprocal relationship.
Each newsletter seeks to address opportunities in daily life to invite a connection to the Earth. mothering Mother® believes that food is an integral and ongoing way to nurture the Mother Nature relationship. We eat 2-3 times a day. Eating whole foods for a healthy body, and a calm mind, will also nurture the Earth. We are intricately connected with the Mother.
Use your cotton mothering Mother® bags as ongoing reminders of this evolving relationship. Less plastic is better for you and the Earth. Eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds are better for you, and the Earth. Allow the mothering of Mother and the nurturing of Nature to be your daily offering of thanks.
Namaste Sydney
Digesting the Information
Sydney MacInnis
Last week I took in three different environmental events. Each one left its own unique imprint on me. This past week I went to see the filmChasing Ice. It was visually spectacular, but spiritually sad and despairing. Then I attended a talk on the oceans given byDr Sylvia Earle. Dr Earle spoke of the beauty of life deep in the water and the state of fish depletion in the high seas. Then I attended a discussion amongst 2 authors of books on food, an owner of a NY City rooftop farm and alocal baker.
What was interesting in all of this, outside of the information, was for me to watch the personal impact of each event. News of the state of the environment can be disturbing, scary. It can make me feel helpless. Dr Earle left me feeling empowered, and gave me hope as a steward of the Earth. The author of Eat the City taught me how immigrants in NY City made their own food. Therooftoop farmshowed creativity in using the building and spaces that we have to grow food for local communities.
I encourage you to go out and seek the information about our Earth. Knowledge can be power, personalizing it can be a motivator. With a sharp and alert mind, and a compassionate heart, we can do anything!
Quote from Dr. Sylvia Earle
People ask: Why should I care about the ocean? Because the ocean is the cornerstone of earth’s life support system, it shapes climate and weather. It holds most of life on earth. 97% of earth’s water is there. It’s the blue heart of the planet – we should take care of our heart. It’s what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won’t get better unless we take the action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is without power. Everybody has the capacity to do something.
It Is This Simple
Once you begin to master a few techniques, it is easy to create simple plant-based wholesome and healthy meals. Below is a dinner that I created for our family, with the simplest ingredients on hand. Stocking a kitchen with basic ingredients to support plant-based protein meals allows you to transition to this way of eating with greater ease.
Easy and delicious!
Cooked Tofu
Take a block of tofu and rinse it briefly under running water. To drain some of the liquid from the tofu lay it on a cotton kitchen towel. Fold the towel over the tofu so that it is completely covered with the cotton. Lay a large plate on top of the tofu, and add some weight to the plate, maybe a couple of packages of pasta. Sometimes the plate slips on the tofu and the items on the plate fall off. Choose something non-breakable.
Let the tofu drain for 15-20 minutes. Put the kitchen towel into the laundry and place the tofu on a cutting board. Cut the tofu into large chunks (see image for an idea of size).
Vegetable Stir Fry
Look at your vegetables on hand and create a stir fry to accompany the tofu. Chopped onion is a good base. Add jalapeno pepper for a little spice. If possible, choose a selection of vegetables that offer some color to your plate. The more leafy greens the better. Chop and/or slice the vegetables. Keep the onion in a separate bowl since it is cooked first, and cooked on its own.
Quinoa
If you are unfamiliar with quinoa, cook it according to the instructions given on this‘How To’ mothering Mother video. Quinoa offers a different flavor from the traditional rice accompaniment, and different nutrients, including lots of protein for growing bodies!
Top with sesame seeds and Tamari (healthy soy sauce)! Enjoy!
As long as we are eating foods that have been altered and manipulated by human hands, we are stuck in a cycle of dependence on these human manipulations to also solve our problems. The altered foods create their own set of problems by putting foods into the body in forms and concentrations that are undeliverable by nature. Look at sugar alone, no fruit in nature offers sugar in that concentration. Look at what continued exposure to sugar at high concentration rates and quick absorption rates (lack of fiber to slow down the rush to the blood stream) has done to our body chemistry. Diabetes. Then we are really locked into human manipulations to manage ourselves.
The confusion of what to eat, of what nutrients are best for us, all comes from a massive confusion that we have with the purpose of eating. The very first and primary reason to eat is to feed the body energy and nutrients that are required to move through each day. The secondary reason for eating is to feed the mental and spiritual aspects of our being. This is accomplished through the consumption of eating food that was lovingly prepared and consumed in a calm and loving atmosphere.
Simple food lovingly prepared.
Food that is manipulated by human hands (processing, packaging) change the natural nutrient array, usually losing the precious and more volatile nutrients, and then increasing the nutrient density of less precious and more caloric nutrients. The excess concentration of fat, sugar and salt have changed our flavor receptors and satiation indicators. The quality of the fats that we eat will affect all parts of our bodies. Each cell in the body has a membrane – the cell wall – and the ability of that cell to allow fluids and nutrients in and out of it is determined by the quality of the membrane structure. This is why there is talk of good fats and bad fats. The good fats, in the right proportions, will give the cell the needed permeability for optimal functioning. What fats? What proportions? Eat naturally, eat whole foods only, and the balance will work itself out. You will start to hear your body talking to you. Truly, the answers are there in your own connection to the wisdom of your body. The connection is opened up when we are eating Nature’s food in its simplest forms.
So, no need to rush for fat burning this, and omega-3 that, and and and….we have made it so complicated! Eat simple foods, eat close to Nature, eat as low as possible on the food chain. Look to Nature for your nourishment and look to Nature for your healing.
May you be well on your journey.
Namaste
* Next month we will look at the effects of high sugar concentration on the body.
