Creamy Mediterranean Quinoa

I've been making Quinoa for awhile, and have finally hit on what I declare to be a tasty Mediterranean version of my beloved grain.  I made enough to share. :)

Quinoa:

Chop:
1 medium-large Sweet Potato or Yam
1 small purple Onion
1 inch fresh Ginger
1 clove fresh Garlic
3 cups mixed red & white Quinoa
1/4 c. Date syrup (Silan), no sugar added
Himalayan salt
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Olive Oil

Heat large pot on med-high heat, add 1/2 c Olive oil.  Sautee Sweet Potato till tender, add purple Onion, Ginger and Garlic and sautee for several minutes.  Add Quinoa (and more Olive oil if it's dry), and brown it a bit, while adding several hearty dashes of Turmeric, Cinnamon, Salt and Date syrup.  Add appx. 4 1/2 to 5 cups of Water and stir.  Add more Olive oil if it seems necessary to you. x)  Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the Quinoa has absorbed all the water.


Tehina:

Use 1 500mg jar of Organic Tehina

Add & Mix:
2 cloves garlic, minced
500ml water
1/2-1 cup fresh Lemon Juice
Himalayan salt
sprinkle Parsley for awesome presentation.


Salad:

Chop finely & Mix:
20 mini-Cucumbers or 3 large Cukes
3 cups of Baby Tomatoes in various colours, if available.
1 cup of fresh Parsley
1 whole skinny Chive
1 white Onion
1 clove Garlic
1/2-1 cup fresh Lemon juice
Himalayan salt

Afternoon Chill

Afternoon Chill-out Juice :D

4 med. cucumbers, peeled
1 med. apple in sections
8 large leaves of green lettuce, or 1 small head of green lettuce
1 inch of fresh ginger
2 sprigs of mint

Juice all ingredients. This juice must be drunk in the afternoon!! Jk, but that's the best time in my opinion. The greens & cuke & mint are nice and mellow, the ginger adds just a bit of zing, and the apple just a bit of sweetness. Perfect!

Flowers

This is hardly a recipe for salad.  I have sorely neglected this blog, and plan to remedy that in the near future. ;)  Instead, I just wanted to share a few ideas with you that may help you in your own journey to health.

I have had my share of struggles with depression.  It's definitely related to the Type 1 Diabetes, because it did intensify at age 15 while I was on a trip with my family and we all started to realize that there was something wrong with the way my body was functioning.  Why I got diabetes?  No clue.  Science is still working that one out.  In the mean time, I am still pursuing health and healing to the best of my abilities.  And something I have noticed is that 1.5 years ago, when I chose to start eating much healthier, it had a beneficial effect on my body, but the most profound effects were felt in my mind.  In other words: I've started to realize that treating depression with food is just as important as treating the other aspects of illness.  It seems like depression is actually a pretty physical thing.

Sugar seems to be an enemy to my mental health.  When I eat it, it does contribute to moodiness. Czech out this fun stuff:

"a study of 3,456 middle-aged civil servants, published in British Journal of Psychiatry found that those who had a diet which contained a lot of processed foods had a 58% increased risk for depression, whereas those whose diet could be described as containing more whole foods had a 26% reduced risk for depression."  http://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1635

Interesting.  Tons of informations on that site.

Now, here are some more ideas that have helped me sidestep a few spirals of depression:

Going for a walk to touch and admire the leaves of green growing things has often cheered me and reminded me of the beauty inherent in life.  Green growing things grow up and out because they must, and the energy they embody is a comfort to me in my more scrambly times.

Yoga has been very beneficial to my life and well-being.  I feel so much better after a few rounds of sun salutations in the morning versus starting the day without stretching.  It's so lovely to get the blood moving in the morning, and feel the blissful after effects for hours.

Meditation.  I love the concept of the out-breath meditation, which I read about in one of Pema Chodron's books.  It's a very simple meditation - your mind may be wandering and engaging in verbosity during your in-breaths, but on the out-breath, try to send all of your attention to the simple act of breathing out.  Be in the moment as the air rushes out of your mouth.  This is a deceptively simple meditation technique that I have enjoyed for years.  It really does have a way of putting me back in the present moment, bringing more presence to my present.  Coming back to a state of centered mindfulness is very important for my mental health.

Bellydancing!  Is one of the greatest things ever in helping a woman to come into a very positive and loving relationship to her body.  You can't bellydance and swing your hips and NOT love your body.  I dare you to be depressed whilst bellydancing.  All that movement does marvelous things for the blood flow & functioning of your organs in the abdomen.

Accept your self, for the love of god.  No one else can do this except you.  And if you are not actively accepting your chubby, awkward, un-cooler aspects, you will not be attracting healthy relationships.  If it isn't present within you, how's it going to be present in the outer world?  I am learning delightful new lessons all about self acceptance lately.  Let's just say, that if you take a moment to declare to the universe that you are ready to embrace the challenge of self-acceptance, THINGS WILL HAPPEN.  And maybe sometimes it gets uglier before it gets prettier, but that's the point.  "Always a valley before a hill" sez that one fortune cookie that one time.  It was so true, and still is.  When you feel like you're in a pit, have patience with yourself, because it is not all shitty all of the time, and things are about to get way more awesome...

Love you!
Debs

YellowGreen Un-pasta

Sautee 1 chopped squash in 1 generous tsp coconut oil.

Add 1 inch minced Ginger, 1 clove minced Garlic & Salt.

This is my favorite way to make squash - ginger/garlic/coconut. The flavors go so well together.

...meanwhile:

In a bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups fresh sprouts (I had Fenugreek sprouts) with:

1 avocado, sliced
6 green olives, halved
1 tsp Tahini
1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
Dash Garlic powder
Dash Blue Green Algae
2 capsules Chlorella
2 - 4 tbsp Olive brine
Salt



Mix sprout pasta till the avocado is uniformly mushy, and top with squash. This tastes like a warm bowl of pasta, without the refined carbs, and is half raw. I like adding olive brine, the saltiness elevates this to healthy comfort food. Tasty and easy to make!

The Great Caper Salad

Bamboo shoots, 1/2 can
Small bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 tomato
5 green olives, halved
1 tsp capers
Dash of horseradish mustard
Olive oil
Salt
Garlic powder
Dill




Salty raw midnight snack! Yum!

Triad Juice aka Purple Dragon

I love color theory. Leave it to the studio art / art history major to invent new juicing recipes based upon the color wheel... heh heh. I love my juicer; it was the wisest purchase I've made all year, probably. Thank G-d for vegetables... and fruit...

Dinosaur parts

This juice was very simple, just 1 beet, about 8 carrots, 6 leaves of dinosaur kale and a whole lemon, with peel.

There's a heart in mah juice! Juicing is pretty... :)

This juice tasted wonderful. To be honest, I'd drink literal Dagobah swamp water if I knew it would make me healthier, because I'm hardcore that way. But this juice really did taste delightful; I drank this on a day when I was struggling with the purple dragon of Money-love, financial insecurity. I made this juice intuitively, then did a little shaky dance to shake all the material clinginess out of me. Truly, I think it worked. Dance is a great unifier, when you're feeling fractured by ridiculous desires.

When I drank this, I could feel the loving dinosaur cells working their way into my system, re-arranging furniture to a more suitable feng shui, dusting the crystals on chandeliers, taking big chunks out of the old toxin burgers floating around in my fat cells... heh heh. Is that gross? I'm just bein' silly. Detoxing is a bitch.

I've started doing things like skin-brushing and oil pulling in the morning to help with the process. And the occasional water-in-the-bum. These things have really helped with the detoxing process, to make it more bearable and less like the Cold Sweats of Death.

Why am I still detoxing? Because I keep falling off the horse, and having to get back on the raw train. It's been difficult, but I'm still committed to being responsible for my own health. I think I'm back on for good now. Whenever I eat things like "bread" I feel like crap, haha. I'm tired of feeling like crap, it's as simple as that...

Other things that help with detoxing? Breathing consciously, stretching, jogging/sweating, and dancing! And definitely, absolutely, essentially: Journalling. I've written about 15 pages in the last few days... It doesn't just help with the process, in some ways it is the process.

Love you, person reading this!

Dinner Party

Long time, no blog. I've been plugging away in my vegetarianism, with the exception of the occasional Salmon Ceviche, and continuing to try to eat raw. My living environment hasn't been entirely stable lately, which makes it much harder to prepare food for myself, but I have not given up, even if I often have to make do with a meal of cooked vegetarian food. My HbA1c is down to 10, from 11.5. I know - YUCK. Either way, it's still too high. But I'm moving in the right direction. I had a talk with my doctor about all of this last week. She pointed out some changes to make in my insulin regimen, but did not disapprove of my eating this way. I asked her if she had any other patients or knew of any other Type 1 Diabetics who were eating raw, and she said no...

Creativity is Queen; Wisdom reigns supreme...

I got rambunctiously creative yesterday and made a feast for some friends... I thought I'd share the intuitive recipe process on here. By the way, there is a lot of butter used in these recipes. I'm not sure yet what to substitute for butter in baking, and I'm not baking much anymore anyway. But this was a special occasion, so there you go; disclaimer duly stated.

Portabello Adamah

"Adamah" means "earth" in Hebrew. The earthy taste of the portabellos is beefed up by a Kalamata olive tapenade (which I bought at Costs-As-Much-As-Your-Soul Foods), and sesame seeds add to the natural nuttiness of the 'shrooms.

earthy goodness

Wash a gaggle of portabello caps, and break into smaller segments. Put them on an oiled baking sheet, and sprinkle with sea salt. Add a pat of butter to each one. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Crush baby green blend lettuce in your hands, and place a little ball on each piece of portabello. Then top with a teaspoon full of olive tapenade. Stick it in the oven at 425 for about 18 minutes. However long it takes for the mushrooms to release their juices and get tender.

Avocado-Carrot Salad

I invented this a couple of months ago, when I had some leftover carrots and an avocado. It's ridiculously simple and tastes heavenly.

symbiosis of the mostest flavor

Slice a crap-basket-ful of Avocadoes and place in a dish. Thinly slice two chunky, decent-sized carrots, and throw into a sautee pan with some butter. After the carrots begin to get a bit brown around the edges, squeeze on some honey and add a dash of cumin. Add more or less to taste, but believe me the cumin and honey do wonderful things to the carrots. Avoid over-cooking the carrots by stopping whenever they get tender, and then spoon them over the avocado.



Baked Acorn Squash with Peach Pecan Butter

When I was younger I hated squash - WHAT WAS I THINKING?!? I just didn't know how to prepare it..

this ain't yo momma's squash

Cut open the Acorn Squash and scoop out the seeds. Place facedown in a baking dish with 1/2 inch of water. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes at 375. Take them out of the oven and turn them face up in the dish. Sprinkle with salt, add a little butter, and a spoonful of Fredericksburg Farms Peach Pecan Butter (beyond words good! I hope you can find something equally marvelous if you don't live in Texas). Bake at 425 for 15 - 25 more minutes. Just till the edges get a bit crinkly and the filling bubbles.


I also made Start Fresh Salad, this time with yellow cherry tomatoes and no avocado. Tasty as ever. And a perniciously delicious dessert involving waffles, strawberries, vanilla bean ice cream and King's Cupboard bitter chocolate sauce, which is something I do NOT eat on a regular basis. As I said, special night, special foods. It was something to write home about. so... Hi Mom! :D

squashy squashy squashy I love squash