~Soaking seeds before consuming is not only good for you, but it is also good for your plants! Use the soaking water from your seeds to give plants a nutritional boost. They will love you for it!
~Weather hot outside? Not enough air circulating in your bedroom? Make a campout right at your own home. Make a bed by moving a mattress near an open window. Wake up to the exhilaration that nature offers!
~A fitness publication recently listed 4 sneaky ingredients that are often found in foods typically viewed as healthy.
1. Transfats in margarines and buttery spreads
2. Sugar added to dried fruit
3. Oils in packaged food (crackers, bottled dressing, granola bars)
4. Artificial sweetners used in products advertised as low sugar or sugar free (inhibit bodily functioning)
And for a not so sweet ending, the average American consumes 30 teaspoons of added sugars each day!
mothering Mother Blog
For even more wholesome food for thought, presenting the
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
Perimeter Shopping
According to an article in the New York Times on Aug 11th, supermarkets are experiencing a decrease in sales in the center aisles of the store (packaged and prepared foods) and an increase in “perimeter shopping.” Perimeter shopping refers to literally the perimeter of the store, where stores can create their own fashion in the way that they present produce, dairy items, bakery goods and meats. The center rows of the store are labeled as the grocery atherosclerosis. People are beginning to shun these aisles in favor of healthier foods.
Major food companies (Heinz, Kraft, Kellogg) have seen a decline in sales this calendar year. How are they planning to handle this? By add pizzazz to their processed products, such as shortening the microwave cooking time of some foods, adding new flavorings, and tweaking packaging!
From the moment that we walk into a supermarket we are being marketed! We are being watched and scored from the choices that we make to the amount we purchase and the time that we spend in the store.
So, congrats to all who are speaking loudly with their food dollars by shifting to choices that are fresher and more wholesome! One meal at a time we can all make a difference to our own health, and the health of the planet!
Split Pea Curry
If you eat, love and make East Indian food enough the spices will become familiar enough for you to play with combinations. This is a dish that I made with yellow split peas. The split peas are very hearty, and high in fibre, amongst other nutritional notes. The spices help to make the food more digestible, the hing helps with gas and the tumeric helps clean the blood. Together the flavor is wonderful and the post digestive effect is wonderful!
White Woman Curried Split Peas 2 T ghee butter 1 dried chili pepper 1 t cumin seeds 1 t coriander seeds 1/4 t cardamon powder 1/2 t mustard seeds 1/4 t hing powder (asafoetida, an Ayurvedic herb) 1/2 t turmeric powder 1 large yellow onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 t grated ginger 1 cup split peas, sorted and rinsed 3 cups water 1 large bay leaf Salt to taste Optional 1/4 cup slivered almonds, dry roasted Green Vegetables T = tablespoon t = teaspoon
Melt the ghee over a medium heat. Add the dried chili, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamon powder, mustard seeds, hing and turmeric. Let the spices cook and the seeds pop slightly. Then add the onions, garlic and ginger. Stir frequently until the onions are soft and cooked. Now add the rinsed split peas, and stir to cover the peas with the spices. After a minute add the water and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a gentle simmer.
Cook for 75 minutes, stirring the peas gently every 15 minutes. Careful that the heat is not too high causing the peas to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Now add the salt, stir to completely incorporate and let sit or cook a further 5 minutes. The dish can be served with a cooked grain and cooked greens. I like to cook the greens at the last minute right on top of the legumes, eliminating the need to use another saucepan! The almonds make the dish a little more fancy and rich, for special occasions. They can easily be dry roasted in a frying pan on a low heat. Shake the almonds around the pan every minute. Roast for a maximum of 5 minutes.
The dish ideally is thicker than a soup or a dahl but thinner than refried beans! Play with the consistency. I love to eat with my hands so a slightly thicker mixture is easier to group together with a leafy green and some rice.
It is the summer and no doubt everyone reading this has spent many a meal lounging around with family and friends. Summer is a great time to connect and talk and eat and drink! That is a reality.
If you have chosen to embark on a new eating regime it can be challenging when in these settings to “stay the course.” It is a careful balancing act! But it is worthy of your effort and reflection.
It is with friends and family, who have known us for longer, where we are often presented with the greatest challenge to be something different than we have been thus far. It is not easy to gently decline a food that you are choosing not to eat. By altering your diet you are voting to not to be the same person, whether that decision centers around weight or the quality of the foods or the source of the foods. You are voting for change.
Food choices are not like a ballot, they are not done in secret. We can quietly make changes to our diet in our own kitchen, but going out involves a more public display of your vote. I constantly walk the line between “being too principled” and making others feel comfortable. I do not want attention brought to the way that I eat, but when it is so far from the average plate at the table, attention happens.
I am shedding some of my apologetic shell. I am learning to voice in advance my unique dietary needs. Unique that is in comparison to most meals in North America at this time. What could be better for all of us than a meal that centers around plant based foods?! Recently it was worded to me, that this advocacy is carving the way for the next generation. Demographics show that a higher than average number of young adults (20-30 years) are choosing a vegetarian diet. This group is a large part of the change in shopping habits in the grocery store, discussed in the Perimeter Shopping article above.
Step out, stand up, differentiate yourself from the crowd! Let your unique approach to eating for health, longevity and planetary vitality come forward. After the initial discomfort, we all benefit from this approach.
