Mindful Girl Blog

A Peek Inside Her Kitchen

Our conscious food expert, Randy Rabney, shares with us her pantry full of secrets to quick, great tasting, yet healthy food. Learn more about Randy at http://www.theconsciousplate.com

By Randy Rabney

“I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.” ~ Madame Benoit

I often teach about the importance of keeping your house stocked with herbs, spices, condiments and basic food items so that you can make great tasting healthy food on a regular basis. Sometimes, when I tell this to people, they seem confused. They don’t know where to begin and ask for examples.

Today, I am going to share with you some of the things that I always keep on hand to make my food taste great and to make a quick meal from ingredients in my kitchen. Remember, this is my list and I created it based upon what I enjoy eating. You can use this as a guide, but your list should be created based upon what you enjoy.

If you’re ready, here’s a peek inside my refrigerator, freezer and pantry.
• Dijon mustard
• Hot sauce
• Shoyu or tamari (Good Quality Soy Sauce)
• Toasted sesame oil
• Gamasio (a blend of sesame seeds and seaweed)
• Organic apple juice (I use it for a sweet element in cooking)
• Organic raw honey, if you can get local even better
• Real maple syrup
• Good Quality Butter (unsalted is best for cooking)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Brown Rice Vinegar
• Herbs de Provence
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Cinnamon
• Dried Basil
• Sea Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper 
• Vanilla Extract
• Mellow white miso
• Onions and Garlic
• Carrots
• Lemon
• Lime Organic
• Whole wheat, spelt and or corn tortillas
• Organic Eggs
• Organic Milk
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Organic Cheddar, usually raw
• Frozen organic spinach
• Frozen organic peas
• Whole wheat pasta
• Soba noodles
• Quinoa
• Various types of nuts
• Various Sea Vegetables
• Dried Lentils
• Canned Organic White Beans
• Canned Organic Chick Peas
• Canned Organic Refried Beans
• Some type of tomato product
  
Special extras: White truffle oil and Saba
 
These are the things that are my staples. They allow me to cook quickly and add flavor to my food. As I begin to run low on these items, I replace them. Having these things in my home forms the foundation for fast, healthy and DELICIOUS meals. I encourage you to create your list and stock your home so that you too are ready to cook well.

If you want help creating your list or want to learn more about my list, contact me at Randy@TheConsciousplate.com.

Road rules

By Jen Maidenberg

You wake up. You get dressed. You take your coffee or tea. You eat breakfast. You prepare to set out. You map out the route or you grab your GPS to do the mapping for you.

You’ve planned your day. You know what’s ahead of you.

And then you don’t.

What happened?

You wrote the directions down wrong. The GPS battery died and your forgot the charger. You made a wrong turn. An accident caused a back up. The train broke down. There was a roadblock or a detour.

Yes, that’s what happened. But none of that truly matters, does it?

Seriously, pause and think about it. When all is said and done, and you finally arrive at your destination (whether that destination is the same or different from the one you anticipated), what really matters? 

I suggest that what’s real is who you choose to be in the face of road blocks, traffic, and wrong turns.

Do you get to be angry? Or accusatory? Or self-doubting?

Or do you get to be graceful? Forgiving? Accepting?

I got to experience the often frustrating, yet valuable upset that is life while driving in my car this morning. Looking back on my morning, it’s easy to laugh at the real-time metaphors that kept cropping up. It wasn’t so easy at the time, though.

This morning, I had every intention of meeting up with my friend Kathy Smyly Miller of Wellness Possibilities to try out a new fitness/self-improvement program called IntenSati. Knowing I had about a 40 minute drive ahead of me and knowing it would be rush hour traffic, I got into my car with a plan…and plenty of time to spare.

I’m tempted to give you a play by play of my morning. How, beginning with writing down the directions, every wrong turn just led to another one. How I encountered every man-made and natural diversion known to man while trying to make my way to Kathy. Wrong turns, traffic, accidents, slow moving grandma traffic, construction, detours, you name it. Not to mention, I had no gas, no cash, no map (or GPS), and a very full bladder. It sounds like bad planning, I know. Which is even worse for someone who prides herself on being a planner.

I kept telling myself to breathe. I reminded myself of all the tools I have to keep calm. And yet I still succumbed to the upset. I cursed. I cried. I made myself wrong. I replayed over and over again all the mistakes I made that got me into this situation.

Until I finally got to Kathy. I made it. An hour late and about 40 miles from my original destination, I found myself.

Yes, lucky for me, I had a very patient and loving friend waiting for me on the other end. Every step of the way, Kathy gracefully changed directions and altered her own plans to adjust for what life was throwing at me that morning. I joked with her when we finally (FINALLY) met up at a diner in Summit: “You were an unknowing participant in a life lesson for me this morning. I’m treating you to breakfast.”

Within ten minutes of chatting, the upset magically disappeared. From that vantage point, I could finally see what I did right that morning.

I acted with integrity (I called Kathy to let her know what was going on.)

I asked for help (In the absence of maps, I called my husband to help me navigate the way.)

I asked for forgiveness. And I quickly let go.

I was able to laugh at myself. I was able to acknowledge the Universe for knowing that sometimes it’s the “wrong turns” and “roadblocks” that get you where you need to go and show you who you get to be.

Keep Cool Like You Give A Damn

Mindful Girl welcomes to the blog Jennifer Chaky, owner of Montclair’s eco-store, Go Lightly. Through her store and workshops, she is dedicated to bringing about the Green Revolution and spreading the love of life and planet!

By Jennifer Chaky

As I walk and bike all over town, I hear central A/C units cranking all day in huge 3,000-square-foot homes whose owners aren’t even home during the day. I asked one such homeowner why they keep the a/c on even when they are not home and they told me it’s so the house is cool when they get home. I can’t help but wonder what becoming a society that cannot tolerate being uncomfortable for even 10 minutes is doing to us—both personally and physically.

Now that I am committed to not using A/C and keeping my heat low in the winter, I’m finding that I am developing a tolerance to heat and cold that I never had before. And this year in particular I discovered how my metabolism and my wellbeing adjusted to this deeper experience of the seasons.

Last winter I kept the heat at 58 degrees. I wore sweaters and hats in the house and frankly I wasn’t miserable (and I am NOT a winter person). But my body adjusted, and instead of craving warmth, I craved fats. We are a vegan household so our fats come in the form of nuts and oils, and boy, did I crave them last winter. Talk about being in tune with nature! The weather was actually directing what my body needed. And while everyone around us was falling ill to the dreaded flu, we managed to stay completely healthy all season.

And now this summer, since I am experiencing the heat without the aid of air conditioning, my appetite has dramatically decreased and I only crave fresh fruits and vegetables. That diet, plus the fact that I’m biking and walking more, have resulted in getting more toned than I have been in years. I feel great! I have learned to cope with extreme temperatures by controlling my body temperature instead of controlling the air temperature around me.

Here are the ways I keep cool naturally:

# 1: Drinking tons of ice water. My insulated stainless steel water bottle has become my best friend and I sip from it all day long.

# 2: Keep the air moving. Human beings have a natural cooling mechanism called sweat. We sweat, air moves over our skin, the moisture evaporates, and we are cooled. You can enhance this process by spraying yourself with a mist of water and using fans and open windows. Put a bowl of ice, or a bowl with frozen water bottles that you can refreeze, in front of a fan directed at you if you are doing something stationery like working on the computer or watching TV. You may actually get cold.

# 3: Do a mini-cooling with ice water on the back of your neck, wrists, and feet. The body radiates heat from the hands, feet, face, and ears, so cooling any of these will efficiently cool the body.

# 4: Keep the sun out. Close blinds or drapes so the heat of the sun does not reach inside.

#5: If you still need to use the A/C, setting it to a high temperature like 80 degrees will cut the humidity and a ceiling fan will create a nice cool breeze. There is no sense in cranking an A/C so much that it is actually frigid. It is very inefficient and the planet just can’t withstand that kind of waste. And by all means, cool just the rooms you are using, not the whole house of empty rooms! And of course, turn the A/C off when you leave the house!

#6: Don’t forget to leave ice water and open windows for pets. They know what to do when it gets hot—they drink and lay still, usually finding a nice tile floor.

Holistic Pet Care

Mindful Girl welcomes Dr. Judy Morgan who has been operating the Clayton Veterinary Associates, located in Clayton, NJ since 1993.  Holistic medicine for pets? Yup! To learn more about their integrated holistic, alternative and traditional approach to veterinary medicine visit www.claytonvetnj.com

By Dr. Judy Morgan

When we tell a new client about our practice, one of the first questions we hear is commonly: “What exactly is Holistic Medicine?”

While it can be applied to a wide variety of things, it’s simplest to look at the root word “whole.” Holistic medicine treats the whole of the patient’s mind, body and soul. Around the world this philosophy has been applied to preventative medicine quite commonly and is finally crossing into the western world. Why is it becoming so popular? Simply put, it’s safe, it’s natural and it works.

 We all love our pets. They’re part of the family and we try our best to treat them accordingly. We shower them with affection, treats, beds, toys, and their favorite, table food. When we go on vacation we board them in kennels that cost more than our children’s college fund. We really try our best to pamper them.

But some people think that all veterinary experiences are the same. A doctor only needs to be good at knowing what’s wrong with the pet and diagnosing ailments when they come up. Other than that, an office visit consists of the vet freshening up a laundry list of booster shots and sending them packing for the next year.

Holistic medicine is different. Each animal is an individual whose needs are to be catered to personally, on a case by case basis. Most problems can be avoided by formulating a unique care plan for each animal. It is really simpler than it sounds; if you would do it for yourself, then you should do it for your pets. Just like people; diet, mental health, wellness and avoiding unnecessary chemicals and toxins are key.

Holistic veterinarians offer many of the same treatments alternative physicians do. If you have back problems and go to a chiropractor, why isn’t your dachshund going to one also? If you’ve got persistent stomach cramps and need to see a nutritionist, why isn’t your Persian cat seeing one too? Getting back to a more natural care plan for your pet that includes a focus on alleviating stress and maintaining a well balanced diet not only can save you money in vet bill, but may also save the life of a family member.

Alive

By Jen Maidenberg

My husband said to me the other day, upon observing our seven year old walking through the door at the end of a day at camp, “Doesn’t he look like he lived life today?”

And he did.

Blonde streaks highlighting his tussled hair. Hat on sideways. A touch of sunburn beneath his eyes, despite the SPF 30 Badger Balm applied and reapplied. You could tell he committed himself to the day’s activities. He put himself out there and reaped the benefits of playing hard.

Of course, he was tired and spent. Energy depleted. He was emotionally fragile in the hours leading up til bed. You could tell he needed time to recharge; a freedom and luxury you don’t get in a house with a little brother and baby sister demanding your attention. Rules still to adhere to and schedules to follow. We actively tried to give him some space and slack.

I’m thankful that with the help of our family, we’ve been able to send our son to a local camp that provides him not just with the opportunity to spend the summer playing outdoors, but also teaches him values that are important to us. Most of which are taught simply through play, and not through lesson plans.

What if we all lived life as if it were summer camp? Spending each and every hour learning and living? Connecting with our community and our Earth? Giving of ourselves and receiving love and light back?

We adults could use a little bit of the magic that summer camp supplies, don’t you think?

They say that everything you needed to know you learned in Kindergarten. Perhaps. But the sequel to that book might be “Everything You Need To Know to Live Life Fully, You Learned at Summer Camp.”