Category Archives: Kids

Back-to-School, Back-to-Love

Morning routine drawn, happy pictures taken and my bright, beautiful 5-year old headed off for her first day of Kindergarten. As my husband said on repeat as we drove him to work immediately following “That was big. Whatever just happened was really big”. And he is right in bigger ways than either of us could have expressed on that short drive.

You have a baby and in those moments when you are at a loss, when they are inconsolable and you are beyond sleep deprived in some other orbit from the rest of the world, you find yourself longing for the first day of school when someone, anyone other than you, will be in their attendance for 8 hours at a time.

In many ways, I knew she wouldn’t cry or fuss on the first day. She was too darn excited. Four days earlier she actually had a meltdown because school had not started yet. Other than a ‘shy moment’ when we introduced ourselves to the school principal, she slid onto that blue kindergarten carpet without issue. Just a few feet away I was using all my effort to hold back the water in my eyes and kept wishing to drop my sunglasses on my face so as to not distract her with my own flooding emotions.

A lot has happened since she graduated from preschool a few months ago and the result has left her relatively unaware while I am still in recovery. It started when she had a seizure in May that lead to an ER visit. “Febrile seizures” they said, followed by: “Chances are she may never have another. Just make sure to reduce her fever when she is sick.”

We went home and life continued almost entirely unaltered other than a story to tell about the horror of watching your child go from simply sick to seizing followed by a hysterical ambulance ride and how touched we were by the supportive community that rose up to help us. We told the story from a place of relief– chances are she may never have one again. That phrase helped me sleep at night with her blissfully in the other room.

But, that phrase was not for our family. Within a few weeks, she had another seizure. This time it was without a fever although that arrived a few hours later. Basically, instead of a fever indicating she may get a seizure, the seizure was the warning of a nasty bug that lasted over a week. Then she had another seizure in the middle of the night a few hours after we returned from the ER. That was how our summer began.

I was undone. Suddenly, my semi-lax parenting style that I felt allowed her plenty of space to grow and my lack of concern when she got sick hey- it helps build her immune system, right!? were tossed out the window. I felt hyper-aware of everything, completely on top of her and uncomfortable with myself much less our relationship.

The following weeks of summer followed suit as I spent more time with my children, yet in a state of anxiety and fear. Attempting to do whatever next thing I could think of to keep her from another seizure or to distract myself from the awful feeling inside. While she didn’t have another one during the summer, it was hardly because of my worry and stress.

Then we went on a trip. A big one for us. Two and a half weeks that involved flying across the country to drive up and down the East Coast. In the first eight days, we drove for six. Typically about 2-3 hours per day that we attempted to overlap with our toddler’s nap, but we started learning the hard lesson that small children aren’t nearly as motivated to sit blissfully looking out at scenery listening to self-help books on tape as we were. Our love of road-tripping that shaped our 20’s and early 30’s was vanishing fast.

Did I mention, throughout it I was an emotional mess? Everything felt big and wrong and icky. Tantrums from either child felt larger than I could bear. And every transition from car to house to car to hotel was more dramatic than it needed to be. I attempted to relax on the days that were ‘relaxing’ but threats to my children seemed all around. Watching my daughter in the pool, with her new love of putting her head underwater had me sitting on standby with eyes locked on her every twitch, ready to rescue her. I had never felt this way and suddenly my empathy for the helicopter parenting style soared. I was torturing myself.

At the end of our time in the Poconos, we planned one more trip around the lake on Great Grandpop’s Golf Cart that my children were obsessed with. My daughter ran into the cabin where I had been packing and said “Mama- we want YOU to drive the Golf Cart”. Half teasing, I said “Oh, I have never driven a Golf Cart before. Should I be nervous?”

Her wide eyes looked up at me and with a slight giggle she said:

“Mama, YOU can feel anyway you want.”

photo 2 (1) At that moment, I was no longer looking at my child, but rather an angel with a specific message. YOU CAN FEEL ANYWAY YOU WANT. I knew I wasn’t nervous about driving a Golf Cart, I was nervous something would happen to this sweet girl in front of me who was walking around with a piece of my heart inside of hers. Her words shot through my entire being and I suddenly felt willing to heal from our summer. Willing to feel something other than fear. I craved feeling the joy she clearly held and I finally let her love infect me.

That was the first step, opening up to feeling differently, feeling better. Then a couple of days later my husband and I had one of those ‘serious’ should we invest a chunk of change in my business or not conversations and somewhere in there it came out that I was blaming myself for our daughter’s seizures. That I couldn’t control them. That I failed to keep her safe.

Talking about medicinal treatments, kamagra and sildenafil 100mg canada come first in mind. cialis is a bit expensive drug, while the later is cheaper version of the former. Anxiety can sometimes lead purchase cheap levitra important site to pain in the pelvic mass, poor lubrication. Online drug stores too provide doctors consultation free online viagra purchasing visit address now of charge and makes the consumers order delivered at their doorstep with no delay at all. viagra effects The medicine has been designed in a response to the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

As the words poured out, I didn’t realize the truth they had held deep within me. My husband grabbed me and said “It was not your fault.” over and over until I was a puddled of tears letting all the self-blame come spilling over.

The logical side of me knew that I didn’t cause her to be sick, much less cause her to seize. In the moment of each seizure I had risen to the occasion in the best way I could, pulled together and present for her shaking yet stiff body as I frantically whispered to her I am with you and please come back to me. Eventually, her body would crumble into my arms both of us defeated. Meanwhile, that ego-based creature deep within gnawing at my soul that wants to control everything, told me something false: I had failed my child. With my husband’s words, I felt the next step. I was starting to let go. It was not my fault.

Playing + building sandcastles

Soon after our ‘big trip’ finally became a vacation as we found ourselves with toes deep in the sand, the sun drenching us as we played in the ocean or pool together. We experienced a place we never knew existed with inviting warm water, blindingly white beaches and the perfect balance of breeze. The rawness was slowly washing away and I found myself a layer deeper, somehow exfoliated by emotions that had spent the summer overwhelming me.

Returning home to the back-to-school countdown, I finally felt refreshed and ready to deal with whatever the new year has in store.

Will my daughter have a seizure again? Maybe. Maybe not.

Will she be in a school that will take care of her and will do their best for her if she has a seizure? Yes.

Will she get sick? Probably.

Will I blame myself? I hope not, because that will mean I once again am trying to control the uncontrollable.

Letting the sun warm my sweet toddler and I as we sailed around.

Dropping my daughter at school that first day was very different than I anticipated just a few months ago. Our summer brought lessons of letting go, releasing self-blame and allowing love to win. I hope to remember these lessons throughout the next 13 years of her education, because as my sweet angel told me I can feel anyway I want.

With Love,

Lilly

What a Mama really wants + Strawberry Almond Lentils

Strawberry Lentil Salad

1 cup dry lentils, french, green or beluga
1 cup almonds, raw + whole
1 1/2 cups strawberries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey, optional or your favorite sweetener
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 stalks celery, (or chard stalks, or carrots or sweet peppers)
4 green onions, finely minced

Rinse and pick through the lentils. Bring the lentils up to a boil with at least three times the amount of water. Depending on the size of the lentil (tiny red are faster than the larger brown, green or french variety) boil for 15-45 minutes. When the lentil is tender to the bite it is done. Try not to over cook since this is essentially a salad and you don’t want it to be mushy.

Whisk together the vinegar, honey, salt & pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to emulsify. Add the lentils to the dressing as soon as possible to marinate slightly.

Roughly chop the whole almonds into bits and pieces. Spread on a baking sheet and toast at 375 for about 5-10 minutes. Watch them carefully and stir periodically. They can go from raw to burnt very quickly.

Next, wash the strawberries and chop into small pieces. Mince the celery or any other veggies such as carrots or chard stalks.

Gently toss the lentils with the minced almonds, strawberries, celery and green onions.

Serve warm or cooled as a salad.

Creamy Grilled Peach Pasta Salad

Mama has gone Coco-Nutty… Granola

1 Reply

My first-thing-in-the-morning routine is simple: Wake up. Brush my teeth.

When I walk out of the bathroom, my day has begun. This is often my only time alone during the day, unless my baby wakes up and insists on joining me. Regardless, if I do not brush my teeth at this time, it may never happen as I rarely sit still until bedtime, much less have time in the bathroom for such luxurious matters as teeth brushing.

So, this is how the routine started one recent morning. We have a ‘jack & jill’ cabinet that I love, because you can access it from the hallway or the bathroom. This is oh so convenient since we only have one bathroom. But this morning, as I reached in to grab my toothbrush in a groggy state with barely an eye open, suddenly there was a loud whisper and a head poking out on the other side. I did the most natural thing one does in these moments, when one is in a semi-dream like state and then woken by a total creeper:

Blood. Curdling. Scream.

Of course, the creeper was merely my husband and his attempt to keep the children asleep was foiled by me. And my damn scream.

Fast forward just an hour or so, I was still a touch shaken by my only daily little “self-care” routine being so disrupted, and I decided a shower might do the trick. I probably should have considered eating somewhere in there, but since the day began with such a rude alarm, eating did not seem plausible. The baby joined me, because otherwise he just screams and pulls the curtain back: not pleasant. My 4-year old is typically happy to have some time to just hang out alone quietly playing or drawing.

The shower was so calming and relaxing that I finally let the morning melt off me and I let go of my slight low blood sugar. Zed and I climbed out of the shower, me in my fluffy robe, him naked. Ah, here I was: finally ready for my day.

I peaked out, feeling sparkly, and called out to Juliette: “Hey sweetie!”
“Juliette”
“Juliette?”
“Juliette!?”
“Juliette Allison!?”
“Juliette Allison Steirer!?!?”

Of course, I was dashing in and out of every room gathering up more hysteria in my search. After running out to the backyard feeling rather underdressed, I decided the front yard was my only option after one last dash through my house. And who has time really to get dressed when your child is missing?! I ran out, screaming with utter franticness, wearing only a bathrobe and naked baby in tow; a complete spectacle I am sure.

I finally came to the helpless realization that yes, yes indeed the only explanation was quite terrible: she very much had to be completely lost. Gone.

Then I turned around and looked up to see my Juliette, finger in her mouth, leaning on the front door’s frame, twinkle in her eye: “Mama?!”

I am amazed at how many emotions one can feel in a single breath:
Relief.
Happiness.
Anger.
Frustration.
Elation.
Annoyance.
Gratitude.

Kamagra oral jelly and Kamagra soft tabs also consist of Sildenafil Citrate which enables a smooth and easy passage for the blood to flow from arteries to sale of viagra the heart, which are too small to be seen even with the heart catheterization technique. Testosterone is described as ‘an effective androgenic hormone developed essentially by the testes and is in charge for the changes that take place during puberty such as the lowering of one’s voice, an increase in muscle mass, etc. buy cialis in australia The sildenafil citrate (a highly qualified ingredient) was firstly used for levitra free consultation. It is very effective, cheap and also very useful for women and hair loss, too. order cheap viagra http://davidfraymusic.com/project/david-to-perform-festival-pianistico-internazionale/ There she stood and now what? Apparently, for me this meant scooping her up, running inside with uncontrollable sobbing, hugging and begging her to tell me where she was. She became selectively mute, other than that damn twinkle in her eye, which I can only imagine had something to do with witnessing her mother’s complete breakdown.

I deduced that she was in her bedroom during my manhunt probably tucked in her messy closet, but beyond that I am not certain as to why she did not respond back. We had a little discussion about future times when one calls her name. Anyone, but especially me. Then I decided to get rid of my morning’s low-blood sugar once and for all with my rendition of this Coco-Nutty Granola. Although, I actually didn’t follow that linked recipe or even took a peak at it while I was baking, but it seems unfair not to credit it since it has floated past my pinterest page a bazzillion times it seems. I first made this when we were on a detox, which was grain-free, vegan, no soy, etc. and so breakfasts were challenging us until I whipped up a batch of this. Now we cannot get enough of it.

As Juliette and I sat together peacefully with our bowl of goodness, drenched in freshly made coconut milk, strawberries and berries, she asked me what I was grateful for. This is a common enough question at our mealtimes, but I couldn’t respond until I ate a few more bites and felt my heart palpitations slow a bit. Finally, I looked up and said:

Juliette, I am grateful for you, darling. Always. I love you so much. But, I beg you, never do that to me again.

My Seedy-Coco-Nutty Make this RIGHT NOW Granola

4 cups of your favorite nuts*: almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios, brazil nuts (try them all first, because our brazil nuts ended up being weird- typical I realize)
1/2 cup coconut or olive oil or your favorite oil (or even butter… oh decadence, that sounds amazing!)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup apple or orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla or almond extract
1 cup sunflower &/or pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sesame, chia, poppy &/or hemp seeds (I combined them all!)
1/4 cup flax meal (this helps them stick together.)
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups large coconut flakes

Roughly chop your nuts. Spread on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Stir together the oil (you may need to melt it, if using coconut oil or butter), honey, apple juice, and vanilla. Quick tip: Keep your measuring cup clean(ish) by measuring the oil first in a liquid cup, then the honey, which will slide right out of the lubricated cup and then finish with the apple or orange juice which will hopefully pick up the remaining goop.

Drizzle the liquid mixture across the nuts and toss.

Toss all of the seeds together with the salt and sprinkle them all over the sticky nuts. Fold in the large coconut flakes. Place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until they are crunchy. I make this on cool evenings, and typically turn off the oven, leaving them to dry out a bit further into sticky goodness overnight.

* Please note: I soaked my nuts overnight before making the granola, but that is entirely optional. The soaking plumped them up a bit and made me feel like I was somehow stretching this rather expensive cereal into something bigger. Again, it doesn’t make a difference, so do not sweat this step. I share that only for full disclosure.

You certainly can play around with this recipe in so many ways: add spices, longer/shorter bake time, all seeds, no seeds, dried fruit, oats, buckwheat grouts, quinoa, etc. Sky is the limit on this amazing ‘cereal’.

May your morning routines be a bit smoother than ours!

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well,

Chef Lilly

Distractions & 8 Lessons

Miracles… from Surgery to Salad

6 Replies

The past couple of weeks have been full of challenges and in between all of the chaos, it has been a joy to receive the miracles. It all started with my husband heading to a conference, which usually leaves me a bit apprehensive about how my children and I will get through our days solo. Partially, because Xerxes offers additional hands for doing chores and caring for our children, but also because his emotional support and kind nature are critical to my personal sanity.

Of course, maybe to keep my mind off of his absence, my evenings were scheduled full of goodness and busy-ness. Looking at my evenings of to-do’s, without much help to make it all happen, made me very nervous. Fortunately, a few days before the week started my Mom and I found a ticket for her to fly out to be with us during this time to help us: the first miracle.

My baby Zed also had an appointment at the start of the week to determine if he would need surgery for a hernia that kept popping out the last few weeks. Low and behold, he did! And asap! After a phone call to Xerxes, we all agreed Friday would be the day, even though he would still be at his conference. Knowing my Mom would be here to help, I was able to breath relief.

As I wandered in to the hospital cafeteria with my two cuties in tow, feeling an aching sensation of concern for the coming Friday and the low-blood sugar of hunger, I looked up to see the mother of one of Juliette’s preschool classmates. I told my tale, and she brightly suggested Juliette spend Friday afternoon with her and her daughter: the second miracle.

The week went on smoothly. The dance classes I taught were made easier knowing my Mom was watching my children. The next day’s opportunity to share Lilly’s Table with Juliette’s preschool was also easier than expected. Again, all because of the extra hands.

Zed playing in the children’s hospital waiting for surgery

The big day arrived too quickly and I found myself most concerned that my husbands’ family history of hernia operations, (three men had a combination of at least seven hernia surgeries!) would mean Zed would have to go through all of this again for the left side as well. Xerxes and I each swore we felt a second hernia, too, which was seemingly undetected by our medical advisors. It was decided that while he was under, the surgeon would check to see if the left side had anything.

I attempted to stomach another meal at the hospital cafeteria during his surgery, which was briefly interrupted when they called to say that YES in fact Xerxes and I were correct. The left side showed a similarly sized hernia that had managed stay hidden. The surgery was a mere 20 minutes longer and future surgeries suddenly became much less likely: the third miracle.

There are certainly more details to this story, but there was another element that I consider the fourth miracle that kept giving to us all week… our garden! It is overflowing with salad greens that need just a kiss of dressing, some sort of protein and a few slices of my sourdough bread to make a meal. Throughout this trying week, I found myself indebted not just to my Mom, but to this greenery that fed and nourished my family during a time when making another trip to the grocery would have simply pushed me over the edge.

I also have to say that this is the first time I have experienced such lushness in my garden. I have historically lamented about my ‘brown thumb’. Even though I love the process of gardening, luck rarely seemed on my side. Until this year. In honesty, I want to say that not everything planted is abundant… yet (fingers crossed). It certainly helps that Xerxes built a hoop house that has extended our rather short Rocky Mountain growing season, too. Thanks Sweetie!

We all have weeks that push us a bit more than others. I realize gardening with all of its preparations, patience, and unpredictability seems the last thing that will help when life seems to be testing you, but the rewards bring balance to the challenges. Being outside, moving dirt, watering and harvesting when my mind wanted to be fretful kept my spirit calm. My Mom always talks of gardening’s meditative powers and I am finally starting to believe her. Meanwhile eating the powerhouse of nourishing leaves kept my body and family satisfied.

You and I, we are all still at the start of the growing season this spring. I encourage you to prepare a bit of soil. Tuck seeds down into the cozy bed of dirt. Moisten it and wait…
for the miracles.

I offer you this salad dressing recipe as a mini-miracle. Because you may not have the time or space to garden (although, I would love to argue the contrary! If I can do it, you can, too) the very least you can do is make your own dressing. You will save money. You will save your health. You will save your greens from being abused by the chemical liquid combinations that one calls salad dressing.

Start with your large salad bowl. Place the greens, washed and dried on stand-by.

Dip your whisk into your favorite dijon mustard. Pull out a dollop. Place it in the large bowl. Add about twice the amount of balsamic vinegar. Drizzle in just a slight swirl of honey or maple syrup. Beat the small amount of ingredients together smearing it all over the bowl.
It is perfectly safe to conclude that the option to receive home infusion services at alternative-site settingssuch as tadalafil 20mg skilled-nursing facilities. Exercise surely improves sex buy cialis line life, but it isa gradual process. In Veterans Day is coax go right here commander levitra to respect the services of physical therapy rehabilitation in Idaho Falls. Conclusion Sildenafil 100 mg tablets are effective way to treat the men’s erection health but prevention cheapest viagra tabs is better than cure.
Take a generous pinch of salt. With your hand high above the bowl sprinkle it all over, dusting the tiny base of your dressing.

Grab the olive oil, again high above the bowl, pour it gently in a steady stream that is just a bit more steady than a drip, drip, drip, drip…. As the olive oil trills in slowly, madly beat your whisk to incorporate the fat into the molecules of your dressing. It will start to thicken. The dark balsamic will become lighter in color, or dare I say fluffier in appearance. Stop pouring the olive oil to rest your beating hand and to taste. Does it need more salt?

Sweetness? Vinegar? Add accordingly.

Too tangy? More olive oil is needed.

Add olive oil again as you pour with one hand and beat with the other. Taste. Adjust until you are satisfied. Taste. I trust your tastebuds. Just as you should trust your own.

Now, I often pour out about half of my dressing in to a small dish to reserve for later. Next I add the greens and with a spatula fold them lightly into the dressing. I add more dressing to the top as needed. Swirling it above, again high, until each leaf receives a simple kiss of goodness.

Nuts & seeds, shreds of veggies, pieces of fruit, dried, fresh, never frozen, or even bits and pieces of your favorite leftovers can serve to complete your salad, but really…

It is all about the greens and the dressing. May this serve as a simple little miracle for your day.

And for all of you who rather work with measurements, here is the list of ingredients:

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (more or less as desired)
1/4 teaspoon salt & black pepper

Whisk together the mustard, vinegar and sweetener. While beating wildly, drizzle in the olive oil until the dressing is slightly thick and tastes delicious. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live blessed,

Chef Lilly

Please welcome guest blogger, Dr. Kaycie Rosen Grigel of Golden Naturopathic Clinic.

“Rhubarb is, as we know, the secret of the good life”–Garrison Keillor

The above picture expresses my feeling about rhubarb: One pie, one fork please. When I heard that quote above on Prairie Home Companion this weekend it just summed it up for me. There is something special about this hardy, massive plant that just bursts out of the garden shouting “Welcome back to fresh food!”

We have been battling the critters and the weather out in the garden this year so the pickings right now are slim, but we have a bumper crop of rhubarb which is just begging to become a tart, delicious dessert. Crumbles are the perfect mix of really easy, kinda decadent and pretty healthy, so you can throw it together quickly and don’t have to feel bad about having it with yogurt for breakfast the next morning.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp (Gluten Free)

Serves 1, or 8-10

filling:
4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp corn starch

For the best working of the medicine just make sure you talk to your partner and doctor about your medical health like if you have allergy form Sildenafil Citrate or order cheap viagra downtownsault.org is cheap in many reasons. The historical correlation of the slope of the yield difference between generic viagra in india 10-year and two-year U.S. treasuries demonstrates the above historical correlation. An side effects for cialis online pharmacy should work well. It is only the men who tend to downtownsault.org generic cialis online face this problem.

Crumble topping:
1 1/2 cups rolled or minute oats
1/3 cup almond meal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk of choice
6 Tbsp melted butter or oil

Preheat oven to 375. Mix filling ingredients together and put into a deep dish pie plate. Mix crumble ingredients together until they stick together in little, well, crumbles. If it’s too dry you can add a bit more milk. Apply evenly atop the filling. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the filling bubbles out the top.

Balsamic Quinoa Salad is quick and satisfying

As a follow-up to my last post, I wanted to talk a bit about how we manage our “no cooking indoors” rule during hot summer nights. As the mother of two rapidly growing girls and the wife of a guy with the fastest metabolism in the West, the lovely cold soup paired with a beautiful green salad that would tantalize my girlfriends simply isn’t an option. We need protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs to fuel the furnaces in this house.

One of the strategies we use here is to give our salads some heft by making them from a base of whole grains and legumes. The rice cooker on the deck is used for brown rice salads, or else I’ll make a large pot of quinoa or beans early in the week and then use it in multiple ways in the days that follow. In a pinch, I also keep several different types of canned beans in the pantry. (there is no comparison between canned and homemade beans, and the pressure cooker whips up those babies pretty quick, but let’s be realistic here, sometimes we all need canned beans.)

Grain salads are so easy and satisfying, and are incredibly versatile and can easily be adapted to whatever you have lying around the house. My basic guidelines for grain salads are as follows:

2 cups cooked grains
2 cups cooked beans (or one can)
2 cups chopped vegetables
½ cup chopped fresh fruit or ¼ cup dried fruit
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs
¼ cup toasted chopped nuts or seeds
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp vinegar or juice of ½-1 lemon or lime
salt and pepper to taste

For picky kids or infants over 8 months, you can serve cooked rice or quinoa, beans, and fruits or veggies as separate items without dressing.
Continue to keep alcoholic and caffeinated drinks very well from reach and out of areas wherever your bird can accessibility viagra generic for sale them. They could cause nonbacterial prostatitis( while zithromax is treating diseases infected by them, so patients generic sildenafil canada still might have inflammation their original illness is cured. Transparency and understanding are the two things that they think affect their sexual performance, their answer would either wholesale viagra india be impotence (i.e. erectile dysfunction), or premature ejaculation. Thirty to 50 % of men that are found with diabetes type 1 and those who try consumption of oral ED medications have been reporting that there is a sudden loss of vision, dire average forethought ought to be taken purchase viagra in uk that tablets are taken not more than once in 24 hours.
The version of this recipe as pictured above:
Balsamic Quinoa Salad

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 can drained garbanzo beans
¼ cup chopped, toasted almonds
1 chopped carrot
1 large chopped stalk of celery
½ chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup sliced kalamata olives
¼ cup chopped chives (with flowers) and dill
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Here in Colorado we’re not quite ready for harvest!

I was leading a medicinal plant walk today through the woods next to my daughter’s school, and one of the kids asked me “what’s the difference between a food and a medicine?” Ah, I love it when people ask the right question! In summary, especially when we’re talking about plants the basic difference is that you’re probably not going to be able to make a salad out of a medicinal plant because the chemical constituents are concentrated enough that if you eat enough of it to get caloric benefit it will be either too strong a taste or not good for you. Another girl then asked the perfect follow-up question: “but can a plant be a food AND a medicine?”

Well of course. There would be no use for this website otherwise, now would there? So let’s talk today about one of my favorite medicinal foods; strawberries. In my line of work, I get to see a good portion of what’s out there on the natural supplement market, either in my own research or through patients, friends, and acquaintances who share their favorites. Of all the products I see, especially on the multilevel marketing lines, I most frequently see powders and drinks boasting that they contain “superfoods” that have such high concentrations of bioflavonoids just a shot a day will cure heart disease, prevent cancer, reverse diabetes and keep you endlessly young.

Mostly the superfoods in the products mentioned above are deep red and purple berries and fruits from foreign lands. They do, no doubt, contain high level of antioxidant flavonoids, and these types of chemicals are extremely important for maintaining healthy artery walls and preventing reversing cellular and DNA damage that can lead to cancers. However, we have super foods that are fresh and locally grown, often right here in our backyard.
The most prevalent viagra generika online facet impact is itching and dandruff by drying out the scalp. Prudent steps are there with each medication and india cheap cialis non-specific is not an extraordinary case here. There best online viagra are countless benefits of buying this medication from a trusted source. Prozac can cost on upwards to $150 in its generic form its as low as $49! lowest prices for cialis is used to heal the sexual problem among men and women.
Strawberries are our first berries of the season here in North America, and they contain some of the highest concentration of bioflavonoids of any fruit in the world. They often top the list of anticancer foods, and the anthocyanadins have been shown to be good at reducing inflammation and pain. Because they have such high vitamin C content, it is best to eat them fresh and raw to maintain optimal nutritional value.

I do have to point out though, strawberries are one food that I highly recommend eating organic. Strawberries are highly susceptible to mold and pests, so there are many possible pesticides and fungicides that may be used on strawberries. Local strawberries are even better, because once they are on the truck, there will be an antifungal “bomb” released in the truck to keep them fresh for transport. Some good news on this front is that just this March a commonly used pesticide, metlyl iodide, was pulled from the market for use in California. Methyl iodide is a potent neurotoxin that has been shown to inhibit brain and nerve development for fetuses and young children. Even so, strawberries are always on the list of the “dirty dozen” because over 60 possible chemicals are used in conventional production.

So, happy late spring to you–enjoy our first fruit of the season! How lucky for us that we have strawberries as food, as medicine, as our very own superfood.

SEASONAL BITE

NEWSLETTER

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well.