Natural Zest

I know I know, I had promised this recipe to many people starting back in January. Well, so I’m a tad behind, but I did it, and darn it, they’re delicious! I’d say it was worth the wait. And not only are they great, but I seem to have perfected it on the first try!

Without further ado, the star!

Banana Oatmeal Quinoa Muffins

1/4 cup dry quinoa - cook according to instructions (see below)

2 cups quick oats - dry

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon or to taste

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup agave

2 cups banana

1/2 cup fresh cherries or other small fruit

Preheat oven to 325. Grease muffin tin. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. This recipe comes out a bit wet, so you can easily reduce any of the liquid ingredients according to preference, either less or no milk, or cut back on agave - the sweetener. My bananas had been frozen, so were quite moist when added in. And the cherries were very juicy too. I think any small berry would be delicious in place of the cherries, and dried fruit could be used as well.

Pour mixture into muffin tin and cook at 325 for approximately 25 minutes. The extra muffins refrigerate well so they can last all week! And the lack of flour in the recipe means very little crumbs, so it’s easy to eat on the go.

(of course ideally we all have a nice leisurely sit down breakfast, but in the real world, sometimes you gotta run!)

Quinoa Muffin Deliciousness (with two Zucchini Bread muffins on the side!)

NOTES:

For those who get really hungry or do a lot in the mornings, adding extra quinoa is another good option as that is the energy powerhouse in the recipe.

A note on bananas: If you eat bananas in your house, always take the last one or so, or the ones that are overripe and pop them in the freezer. This makes for a quick, always ready addition to any baked good (breads, muffins, etc). When you need to use it, it takes less than 5 minutes to soften, just cut the peel open, and the banana goop just pours out! I used two bananas in this recipe, one a bit larger than the other.

To cook quinoa: Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil, add rinsed, dry quinoa. Cover and lower to a simmer. Cook approximately 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.

This recipe was adapted from The Weekend Chef.

I don’t normally get political here, but this video is important. Al Gore spoke last week in DC and addressed the crises in climate, economy and national security. All are connected. And he has called for American to be carbon free within 10 years.

What does this have to do with health, wellness and food? Everything. Our climate is drastically affecting food production already. Food prices and gas prices and job availability affect our primary food, our stress and our families’ abilities to provide for themselves. Environmental stability is a MAJOR factor in our health and wellbeing, both physically and emotionally. Changes in food production are an important part of changing our energy consumption, from factory farms, concentrated animal feed lots to organic farming.

While the speech did not touch on the importance of reducing our impact by making different choices, like buying local food, using less energy to begin with and other personal choices, he does finally address the importance and necessity of regulatory changes from the top of the system.

I invite you to take 30 minutes and watch the speech. I try to make changes on a personal level, for myself and those that I work with, and it’s nice to see someone working on changes from a bigger platform.

This weekend marked the grand opening of a new yoga/massage/meditation studio, The Nurturing Spirit!

I have been invited by the owner, Michelle Tinsley, to join the team at The Nurturing Spirit. So Natural Zest health counseling will be offering individual sessions, group programs and classes regularly at this fantastic new studio! The Nurturing Spirit will have regular yoga and tai chi classes, meditation classes, and offers massage.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but here are some photos of the inside. This place is gorgeous and has a fantastic energy in every room!

Here is the owner of The Nurturing Spirit Michelle with her daughter:

Owner Michelle Tinsley and her daughter

The retail area has jewelery, yoga clothes and supplies, books, meditation supplies, candles, soaps and more!

They offer yoga clothes and various other items

part of retail area

The yoga room will also double as a Tai Chi room. Schedule of classes should be available soon! See that shelf unit? I put it together!

Yoga Room

Inside the yoga room is the Shambala Pyramid Meditation room. The energy in the pyramid is fantastic. Sessions will be available in varying lengths and can be purchased individually or as a package. And just fyi, yours truly put the chair together! (Don’t worry, I’ve tried it too, it won’t fall apart!)

Shambala Pyramid Meditation Room

In the hallway between the two bathrooms is some fantastic art. I’ll let you guess why I like it so much!

Buddha Cats in the Hallway

There are two meditation rooms available for rent. For those new to meditation, an introduction and guidance will be provided. Group meditation classes will also be scheduled starting soon. One room is a light blue and designed to provide a relaxing feel. The other room is a wonderful red and is for increasing energies. Both rooms have a meditation chair, cd player and a variety of items for visual meditation/focus. I want one of these rooms in my apartment!

The Blue Calm Meditation Room

Red Energizing Meditation Room

There are a handful of massage therapists available to help ease that stress in your body! Both massage rooms have ample natural light and a very soothing decor!

Massage Room

And perhaps one of the neatest rooms is the soon to be Labyrinth Room. Within the next week this beautiful spacious room will have an indoor walking labyrinth stained on the floor. Labyrinths have been used for ages as a form of walking meditation. This room has beautiful natural light and a wide open energy. Last night Bradford Smith led a kirtan (devotional chant) in this room, which also has great acoustics! It was a wonderful evening and a great way to dedicate the new center.

Labyrinth/Group Class Room

For information on my individual counseling, group programs and classes, sign up for the Natural Zest Newsletter! And check out The Nurturing Spirit for information on the schedules and other offerings!

Maybe now I won’t have to explain CSA as frequently! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. And a CCSA is a Combined Community Supported Agriculture.
The NY Times article discusses the history of CSAs and why they are becoming so popular. Personally I love my CCSA, Fair Shares. In a combined CSA the members/shareholders get to enjoy the bounty from many farms, not just one. So each week I get meat, veggies and other locally produced goods. Now that summer is finally under way the shares each week are getting more and more interesting! This week included eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, summer squash, mushrooms and more! And every week I get FANTASTIC cheese from local producers.

The things I love in a CSA:

- the challenge of cooking new foods

- the freshness of the food

- supporting local, sustainable farmers and companies

- the weekly surprise!

For some more great coverage of Fair Shares and other local food info, check out my friend Kimberly’s blog, Adventures in Eating Locally!

With a busy schedule, lots of traveling, and lots of things going on in life, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and admire some art, and some food, or some food art.

Slow Food St. Louis will be hosting The Art of Food in late July. This is an art show/silent auction/fundraiser held at Mad Art Gallery. Check out the Slow Food St. Louis website for more information.

And here is a wonderful article from last month’s New York Times with fantastic pictures of food sculptures.

One of my very good friends sent me the link for this trailer. This is a movie all about the food we eat and how it impacts our health, our bodies, and our planet. One of the people featured in the movie is the brilliant and always entertaining David Wolfe, raw food guru, whom I was lucky enough to see talk late last year.

The documentary teaches people how they can eat simple, healthy foods to save their health or regain their health. It is cheap, effective and far better for you than taking another pill from the doctor.

It can be watched online for a fee or the DVD can be ordered. I plan on ordering the DVD to share with clients!

If you or someone you know needs help in learning how to eat well, please visit Natural Zest.

When I read articles like this one, I’m glad that I buy locally grown produce. The most recent food scare from earlier this past week is salmonella poisoning linked to raw tomatoes. I love tomatoes, and could eat them all day long, but I have to say that local and fresh are FAR SUPERIOR to those shipped across country.

And it seems that local food is far less likely to lead to outbreaks of various diseases. The current tomato scare and the previous spinach scare were all linked to LARGE FACTORY FARMS where contamination is more likely to occur. This current scare has essential put a stop on almost all tomato sales in markets, and the top US growers in Florida and California are set to lose massive amounts of money, not to mention the wasted food. Just when people need to eat more produce there seems to be a never ending series of contamination outbreaks to scare everyone off. The solution? Buy local and seasonal, or better yet, grow your own!

50 Ways to Help the Planet is a simple website with a simple message.

I like simple! While this is not strictly food related, it is about being natural, and bringing zest!

This seemed to be the right thing to write about today as I was outside earlier hanging my clothes to dry. This is the second laundry day that has ended up with outside drying, and I love it! I’m saving energy, my whites do look whiter, I got some sun (for my Vitamin D) and my clothes smell great. Also, even with the humidity in St. Louis, my clothes dried faster outside than they would in the dryer!

Other great recommendations in the 50 Ways list include eating vegetarian once a week - meat production is a HUGE contributor to greenhouse gases. Buy local - I am a member of a CSA and shop at local farmer’s markets as much as possible - it’s delicious, supports local economy AND good for the environment. I use a Klean Kanteen water bottle every day, no more plastic bottles for me. I bring my own shopping bags when I go out.

Sure it’s not going to save the world tomorrow, but it’s a start!

It’s BBQ season and usually that means meat, meat and some crispy, burnt kebabs. I recently read a wonderful article from National Geographic’s Green Guide on Grilling Veggies.

The basics are:

- if you cut them, make them large and flat, you can always cut it up more later

- different vegetables cook differently!

- season lightly, generally just some olive oil, salt and pepper

- marinades with sugar will cause the veggies to get burnt and too crisp

- and the trick to not ending up with raw or burnt veggies? grill until lightly marked, then toss in a bowl/pot and cover for 15-20 minutes, their own heat steams them through

Check out the full article for great tips on how to cut/cook each veggie and some recipes.

While I’m here getting ready for my next trip to NY (second to last class!) I’ve been thinking back on how I got here. So I’d like to share a personal story with you today.

I realized at some point in college that I had issues with depression and anxiety, and that I had been dealing with (or more properly, ignoring) these problems for many years. I was frequently irritable, impatient and would get angry at myself and others at the drop of a hat, or the drop of anything. Little things, like stubbing my toe, dropping a book, would enrage me.

College had its rough points. There were definitely great times, but there was definitely stress. And stress kept me from eating, sick to stomach at the thought of food. My anxiety caused digestive problems all day every day. It didn’t help that I was already skinny. So if I didn’t eat because my stomach hurt, people assumed anorexia. If I ate and got sick from stomach pains, they assumed bulimia.

After school things only got worse. Eventually I started seeing a doctor and taking antidepressants. Only then did I truly realize how far off track I had gotten, how unhappy I had been, and for how long. So I took this time to work on myself. I didn’t want to stay on medication forever, and I did not like the side effects. I started meditation and became Buddhist. The big key mentally was learning positive self-talk. For most of my life I was self-critical and would find anything to complain about. I forced myself to turn around negative comments into positive, day in and day out. Eventually the positive comments came out first.

And just because I knew I should, I started eating better. Then eventually I came off my medication (with my doctor’s support of course). I still had my bad days, and one day was pretty bad. And I was SO HUNGRY. So I stopped and got a burger. And within 15 minutes I felt great. Then I realized, my blood sugar affects my mood!

So I started working on my diet. I cut out white sugar and processed flours. Started feeling better. Greatly increased my vegetable intake. And I’ve been doing this for over a year now. I have to say, I feel happier and healthier than ever before. If I don’t eat right, I feel it. And that keeps me on track. I don’t want to go back to where I was. And I know that I’m the only one who can keep me on the right path. But I also know that I can help others. So I write here, and I have Natural Zest.

And hopefully I can help someone else remember happiness.