~Eating less or no meat while also eating leafy green vegetables, has been scientifically shown to be better for your bones. A USDA study reported that “vegetarian women had stronger bones than women who ate meat” (PETA)
~Increase the green in all areas of life by walking or running outdoors in place of the mechanized gym experience. Enjoy time in nature and feel the subtle benefits!
~We apologize for the error. In the last newsletterwe mistakenly stated that there are 30 million coffee cups thrown into the garbage every day in the US. That number is incorrect. The number is 300 million! Another zero changes the picture yet again!
The mothering Mother newsletter seeks to address how integral food and its connection with the Earth is to our everyday lives. Eating healthy foods is easy if you buy healthy and natural ingredients. Get familiar with your produce and bulk bags. You do so much for others, now do something for yourself. Buy fresh produce, fresh seeds and nuts, and follow the recipe below to good and natural eating.
Can we eat our way out of the environmental challenges? One thoughtful meal at a time. See the continued “Eating Our Way Out” article at the bottom of this newsletter. Share your joy for the world by using cotton mothering Mother bags and sharing your home cooked foods with others.
Namaste Sydney
mothering Mother Blog
For even more wholesome food for thought, presenting the
Food never seemed important to me until I had to cook for myself. It was amongst the many commonplace things that I took for granted, like the animals and people in my life. Then I started to cook. Hamburger helper, boxed and canned pasta, chicken and rice. The prepared meat I was accustomed to consuming suddenly came alive when I attempted to manipulate flesh with
my fingers. My Frankenstein, I finally see you. I finally see me.
How could I prepare food that came from taking the lives of innocent creatures? I was ashamed. My eating habits were no different than the violence that pervaded my life. I had beeneating death all this time! I could not continue down that path once I looked in the mirror and saw how I was contributing to the cycle of violence in this world. By eating meat – and yes, dairy, eggs, and honey – I agreed that death was delightful, even delectable. And by death, I call attention to the animals caged and slaughtered, the earth poisoned and stripped bare, and the people consumed by their desires.
The act of eating is extraordinary. In eating we do not simply ingest nutrients to prevent our hearts from stopping. We build friendships, families, communities, cultures through eating. At our tables, we celebrate and show appreciation through eating. By eating, we nourish our bodies, our minds, our hearts with love. What better way to share this love than by eating Vegan?
My Veganism is a promise: I will no longer contribute to the cycle of violence; I will love unconditionally; I will learn how my actions affect everyone and everything around me; I will no longer fail to see; I will learn from my mistakes and my discomfort; I will discipline my desires.
Often people try to pigeon-hole my compassionate approach. Friends will tell me, “But animal bone is in cement,” or, “Plants are alive, too!” Ultimately saying, your attempts at compassion are futile. As vicious and typical as these comments are, they highlight an important question: Why bother being compassionate when you alone can’t prevent all violence?
Revolution starts within oneself. From there, the effects are infinite. Veganism, like most food cultures, is a shared practice. And I share it every time someone asks me about my diet, every time I cook for friends, every time I go to a restaurant and ask for Vegan dishes, and every time I shop for groceries. The more Veganism is practiced and talked about, the more people will consider compassionate approaches to living. Since changing my diet, I have witnessed many of my friends make similar changes in their diets, local restaurants have added Vegan options to their menus, and local grocery stores are now providing more Vegan-friendly items. These are significant changes in my local economy and social eating dynamic!
By practicing Veganism I am literally building a safer, kinder world with compassionate cuisine. A better world is possible! And it tastes delicious!
Barley & Lentil Soup
This month we are highlighting Barley. The barley in this recipe is made with pearled barley, which is more refined than hulled barley. More of the fibre has been removed in the pearled barley. Regardless both take quite awhile to cook.
It is well worth it! During cooking the water becomes thicker, making the soup more stewy without any flours or thickeners. Hulled barley is also good in a salad. Straight from nature, good for you and good for Nature, buy some barley in the sealed bulk bags and start playing with this grain!
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1/3 cup pearled barley
3 ½ cups water
1 cup lentils (green, brown, French, not red lentils)
3 ½ cups water
1 piece kombu
1 T ghee or olive oil
Half of a yellow onion, chopped
1 t cumin seeds
1 dried chili pepper
2 cups chopped vegetables – green or red pepper, carrot, bok choy or celery, sweet potato, fennel, almost anything!
2 cups vegetable stock
1 chopped tomato or 1 T tomato sauce
Salt, Pepper
Herb(s) of your liking
Chopped Cooked Kombu (from above cooking with lentils)
Chopped Greens (from Bok Choy or other Leafy Greens)
T = teaspoon
T = tablespoon
Rinse the barley in a sieve under running water. Dry roast in a saucepan (to make the grain more alkaline and flavorful), then add the water. Bring to the boil and reduce heat to low and let the barley gently simmer until cooked. This will take about 90 minutes.
In a separate saucepan, add the rinsed lentils, water and kombu to the pot and bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer and let the lentils gently cook for about 45 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the variety of lentil that you are using. The green lentils are larger and therefore take longer to cook.
Over a medium flame heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan. When it is hot add the cumin seeds and the chili pepper. Swirl them in the pan for 15-20 seconds, being careful not to burn. Add the onions and cook until the onions are soft. Add the chopped vegetables, stir for a minute.
Combine the barley, lentils and vegetables. While the pan with the vegetables is still hot, add some vegetable stock to be sure to get all of the flavorings, and pour this into the pot. Add the remaining vegetable stock, tomato or tomato sauce, chopped kombu from the cooked lentils, and seasonings. Bring to the boil and let this simmer for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the chopped vegetables.
Turn off the soup. Just before eating stir in the chopped greens. Adjust the seasonings. This soup will develop a deeper flavor if it has time to sit before eating.
Sydney MacInnis Founder mothering Mother Holistic Nutritionist and Yoga Instructor
There are so many things to consider each day, so many decisions to make and the ability to act upon a finite number of them. Some decisions can be shelved for a later date and some must be addressed immediately. We all have this experience on a daily basis.
In my extended family, I am watching as different members deal with health/diet issues. One member has had digestive issues that grew in intensity to the level of investigative testing. Deciding not to go down the path of pharmaceuticals to alleviate the symptoms, she began to monitor the food that she ate and noted the post digestive effect. From here her journey continues to unfold, going forward in spurts when she has the energy to invest in looking into new foods, and coasting when busy by sticking to the foods that are easily managed by her system. A year and a half later her understanding of her own system and her willingness to explore alternative eating choices has blossomed.
Another member has had allergies, that developed into asthma, eczema and sleep apnea. All of this before the age of 20. Recently the ENT doctors decided to take out her tonsils in the hopes of bringing down all of the immune responses that were going on in her body. At the same time the doctors asked her to eliminate dairy from the diet. Within weeks of eliminating the dairy from the diet the eczema disappeared. Following the surgery, and with a continued dairy free diet, the snoring disappeared. Three months of no dairy and 15 pounds lighter she wants to shift to vegetarianism. Everything that she has read about continued health points in that direction.
Then just this week a teenager in the extended family has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The family is learning how to walk through each day differently. There is no choice around this decision for action, no delay.
When discussing diet and nutrition with an individual, more often than not I find that people already know what foods do not agree with their system. Too often, unless there is a critical situation, the decision for action is delayed. What compass are we using to guide us to the choices that are holistic for our body and our mind? With a love for the foods that are best for us, rather than a forced distaste for the foods that are not nourishing us, we are able to make meaningful shifts with lasting effects.
The question that is begging to be asked is “What are you waiting for?” Just as Angelica listened and created a dietary lifestyle that had deep meaning for her and other beings around her, your reason will be unique to you, to your intuitive understanding of your unique body and its needs. Listen, trust and shift. Eat with compassion, eat with care, eat with consciousness.
May your walk in life be to the benefit of the world around you!
