A Refreshing Way to Welcome Fall

With the changing of the seasons, this is a great time to participate in a cleanse – a stepping out of your food habits and giving your body a break from working so hard on digestion.

The ancient Eastern wisdom of Ayurveda recommends simplifying both physical and emotional elements in your life.  For the physical, you can avoid canned and frozen foods for a week, opting for very simple foods, like soup, rice and beans, or just vegetables, focusing on one type of simple food for the whole week.  For instance, make one giant pot of soup and eat it all week.  If you can, omit cheese, milk, and coffee.  Drink only water and tea. 

On the emotional/mental side, this is a wonderful time to take extra special care of yourself.  Get a massage, make sure your house is clean to refresh yourself visually, use a sauna/steam room every other day, go outside in nature as often as possible and enjoy the quiet, listen to gentle music, release any negative emotions, turn off the TV, and find a yoga class or other gentle exercise to get your energy moving.  Ayurveda recommends cleansing for one week, though many other cleanses you can find go anywhere from 7 days to 28 days.  It’s all a matter of finding what works for you and your schedule, but still refreshes your system for the new season.

It is part of our American culture to rush ahead always, constantly pushing ourselves on from one thing to the next.  Our bodies are naturally in tune with the changing of the seasons and even the changing from day to night.  This is an important time to recharge- to let yourself get ready for the new season and take a little breath.

The most nurturing way you can kick off your cleanse is to make some homemade soup completely from scratch.  It is not difficult to make soup stock, it just takes some time to stick close to the kitchen mainly to stir and initially to chop.  Please enjoy this step by step recipe from last year, towards the middle of the post. It even has pictures.  The top is a little embarrassing, as it’s titled “Get Silly and Make Some Soup (from Scratch)!”  But enjoying yourself and having some fun is important, too! 

Also, the post is labeled as “Day 13” of a 21-day Cleanse from Kathy Freston’s book Quantum Wellness Cleanse.  If you are interested in participating in a 21-day cleanse, start here  and follow day-by-day.  You’ll find the cleanse posts in July and August 2012.  There are recipes each day to support the cleanse, as well.

However you decide to do it, this is the time to honor your body, your emotions, and the seasonal change from summer to fall.

*This article was originally published in the Geauga Family Farms CSA Newsletter in my weekly column, Creative Cooking for an Organic Life. 

This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday at HolisticSquid.com!

The Best Time to Eat Your Biggest Meal is...

Friday's treat is an Ayurvedic Fun Fact:

Did you know that the best time to eat your lunch is between 12 pm – 1 pm?  It should be the biggest meal of your day, contrary to the popular belief that breakfast should be the largest. 

According to the Ayurvedic tradition, your Pitta, or fire-power dosha, is burning strongest from 10 am – 2pm (also making it a good time to avoid difficult conversations – your anger could bubble up.)

This strengthens your Agni, or life-giving fire power & energy, which fuels digestion.

So whenever possible, eat your biggest meal between 12 pm and 1 pm for maximum burning power and energy for your day.

Bruschetta and an Italian Salad

Yesterday was a much better day once I got back to focusing on the present, taking care of my house and obligations, and cooking happily in my kitchen.  I guess it's easier not to have huge expectations for a Monday!

Birthday dinner appetizer recipe - as promised!  This is actually enough to make it a meal.  And the bonus is yesterday's lunch recipe with the leftovers.  I hope you like it.  I'm guessing a little on the measurements, so if you notice that something needs to be tweaked, please let me know.  Thanks!

Bruschetta (Vegan, serves 2 with some leftover)

¼ cup yellow bell pepper, diced very small

¼ cup red onion, diced very small

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 green onions, chopped very small

½ pint cherry tomatoes- preferably both yellow and red, diced larger

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

¼ cup good olive oil (cold pressed)

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp fresh pepper

1 tsp Italian Seasonings (usually basil, oregano, and parsley)

Fresh Italian bread, 4 slices (baked or toasted if you like)

Reserve about 1 TB of the olive oil.  Gently mix all toppings but bread in a small bowl and let marinate in the olive oil for at least 15 minutes.

Drizzle remaining olive oil evenly over the bread, then spoon mixture onto the bread evenly.  Enjoy!

(See below for what I did with the leftovers!)

Italian Veggie Salad (Vegan, Dinner salad size.  If serving for appetizer, put some of the salad in a container for tomorrow before you toss with the dressing.)

½ yellow bell pepper, diced

½ cucumber, sliced into thin half moons

½ large tomato, diced

¼ red onion, diced

¼ cup fresh basil

¼ cup green onions, sliced

1/8 cup sliced walnuts

1 TB sundried tomatoes, chopped small (optional - I always have a bag in the fridge)

3 cups red romaine lettuce, torn

Dressing:

3-4 TB Garlic Expressions (or your favorite Italian dressing)

Splash red wine

Touch of salt, if needed

sprinkle of garlic powder

Fresh pepper

Reserve a small amount of basil and green onions for the garnish.  Mix all other veggies in a large bowl with salad tongs.  5 minutes before serving, pour dressing and red wine over the salad and continue to toss with salad tongs.

Serve on the plates and top with garnish of fresh basil and green onions.

If you have fresh parmesan available and you like cheese, it’s a really nice complement to this.

Got leftovers from the bruschetta and bread?  I had salad leftover, too (did not pour the dressing over the whole salad once I saw that there was too much for an appetizer!)

Fabulous Bruschetta No-Cheese sandwich (Vegan, makes two sandwiches)

2 slices tofutti soy cheese (trust me, it’s good!)

Remaining Bruschetta (Hopefully enough for two sandwiches – ok if it’s not heavy)

4 slices Italian Bread

Earth Balance Buttery spread (non-dairy)

Just like you’re making a grilled cheese! 

Begin heating the pan to medium with a tiny scoop of Earth Balance Spread.

Spread more Earth Balance butter over one side of each piece of bread.  Flip over.  Fold the “cheese” in half and put horizontally across each piece of bread.  Top the bottom bread with the bruschetta spread.  Assemble the sandwich and place into the pan.  Again, make sure there is “cheese” below and above the bruschetta spread.  Cover the pan.

Check if bread is turning brown after about 4 minutes.  If yes, flip over and remove cover.  If no, keep a close eye on it and flip when brown.  Cook about another 2 minutes after flipping, again making sure that it turns brown but does not burn.

Cut diagonally and serve with salad or your favorite sandwich accompaniment!

Improvisations:  If you want real cheese and still have that fresh parmesan from last night, my husband says it’s a very tasty treat to use that cheese instead.  We also heated up some spaghetti sauce from the night before for him to dip his sandwich into – if you have some jarred sauce and you like to have a dipper, you might enjoy that, too! 

*An Ayurvedic Tip:  I heated the sauce in the hot pan after removing the sandwich – it only took a minute.  I NEVER use the microwave.  According to Ayurvedic philosophy, it actually changes the molecules of your food and mutates them into something else.  I cook like a grandma - stove and oven only- and it's much more delicious!  No more mushy microwave food!

A Leap of Faith

I am swan diving, free-falling, feeling light.  I have just quit my nice, steady job in the corporate world to seek life balance, a simpler and happier way, and to find my path to self-actualization.

“Ah, she’s lucky,” you may say.  “She must not have to work.”  Truly, it’s quite the contrary.  Yes, I am married and can use my husband’s health insurance, but we’ve actually taken some risks (rental properties) and carry massive debt (student loans) and we are certainly not wealthy.  My husband is very supportive, but I see him glancing at the bills with a touch of worry.  I share this with you only so you know that there is nothing special about my case.  I have as many bills as you do.

I know that this is a giant leap from convention.  As someone who finally got the guts at age 31 to dye my hair purple 8 weeks ago, I am finally ready to stop wondering what people will think and just LIVE fully.