My lot is live

I am participating in an auction with farm sanctuary. Come bid on my lot and win a nutrition session with me!


http://farmsanctuary2009.charitybuzz.com/viewLots.do;jsessionid=0416CE4C2B8313B00664F5E4224B95D8?show=10&index=30&order=default&id=877

Love and light!

It's been quite a while...so let me promote another blog!

Ok. So I am admitting to myself and the universe that I am no good at keeping up with this blogging thing. I am amazed by people who manage to blog 5, or even 3 times a week. Heck, even 3 times a month.

I have been doing so many things lately (I know: excuses,excuses). Well, I am a guest blogger on this fabulous eco-friendly, pro-veg site called GirlieGirl Army. Check out the blog I posted on healthy eating for companion animals at www.girliegirlarmy.com/blog

My post was made on March 10, 2009. Enjoy. And I will be back soon. Ok. Soonish!

Peace and love.

Burdock Root

I've been wanting to try burdock root for the longest time. In part, because I know it's super good for you, but in addition, I have a recipe for sweet and sour burdock root I've been dying to make.

I went to Souen, a macrobiotic restaurant in Union Square, for lunch the other day and they have tons of burdock root on the menu. They had a burdock root soup, a burdock root sandwich and other variations. These dishes were appealing but I wanted an idea of what it's individual flavor was like. I ordered a side of burdock root, solo.

Findngs: it is grayish purple in color, which I wasn't expecting, because in the picture for my sweet and sour recipe it is orange (guess that's the sauce). It's texture is different than any other vegetable I've had. It's hard, almost as hard as a carrot, and when you bite into it, it's top layer has that carrot like crunch. Sinking your teeth all the way into the root, you'll find it's inner layers are sort of sticky or gummy. While this description probably makes it sound horrible, it was actually pretty good. I think the gumminess makes it kind of fun to eat. It doesn't have too much flavor on it's own, so I could see why it would be added to stews or sandwiches. I would definitely cook with it for it's unique texture and great health benefits.

What are the health benefits of burdock? For starters, it's high in iron, which is a plus for vegetarians especially. In addition to it's iron content, burdock is a good source of B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, folacin, and fiber.

Historically, the root vegetable, has been used as a remedy for both fevers and colds, urinary tract infections, and rheumatism. It is an amazing blood purifier as well. Holisticaly prescribed to aid in a timely recovery from illness and relief from arthritis and diseases of the skin, burdock was combined with other herbs in Ancient Chinese Medicine to treat colds, measles, sore throats, and tonsillitis.

As with many herbs these days, those that don't wish to eat the root, can buy burdock root oil or capsules. My personal viewpoint: just eat it! Dress it up if you need to, but eat it rather than all the other junk that's out there. :D

Well, I'm convinced! Sweet and sour burdock root it is!



http://www.nutrasanus.com/burdock.html
http://www.souen.net/unique.html

Amazing Chia Seed

We went to get brunch at a raw foods restaurant in the East Village called Quintessence last weekend. I loved it. After our meal, we felt it was too early for dessert, but took a look at the dessert menu anyways. In addition to some of my favorites, tiramisu and pecan pie, they had chia seed pudding and a banana split chia sundae. Dan said, "I wonder if these are the same seeds used for the chia pet." I made a crazy face at him and he explained that those little plant-like pets had to grow from something. Then I thought, "maybe he's right." I went home and did some chia seed research; it turns out this seed has tremendous health benefits and it is indeed the same seed used to sprout those old-school chia pets! Who knew!

Benefits of chia seed:
-high in calcium and good source of protein
-easily digested, even as the whole seed (no grounding needed as with flax seed)
-energy promoting and endurance aid. Great for athletes.
-a small amount is all you need to receive all of these health benefits and they are filling so you will eat less
-help clean out the intestines; detoxifying
-aid in digestion and regeneration of healthy body tissue

Chia seeds are very mild in flavor so you can add them to any meal or snack (pasta, salad, smoothie, yogurt) and they will not alter the flavor. You can order a large bag online. The cost is so worth the health benefits!

*I got my info on chia seeds from icreatewisdom.com

I lost my virginity on the ice and all I got was this swollen ankle!

(Note: the dates listed on all posts are inaccurate. My posts are in oldest to newest format for the purpose of story telling.)

A twenty-five year old ice-skating virgin, I decided it was my time to be de-flowered. After all, I had the right city and the right man. I moved to New York City about a year ago, and about three months ago, met my studsy boyfriend. No better time than now!

So on Saturday, December 13th around 4:30p.m., we ventured toward the rink. En route, I explained to my boyfriend, a former hockey player who had been skating since childhood, that because I was such a serious little ballerina for forever that I could never ice-skate in fear of falling, breaking something, and thus ruining my future career as prima diva ballerina of the New York City Ballet.

What I didn't tell him, but was equally true, was that I have also had a fear of looking the slightest bit of amateur at anything since I was a kid; your average neurotic, perfection seeking and otherwise mentally self-debilitating ballerina mmm hmmm. So not only was I susceptible to pulling a muscle or cracking my skull open (and let me tell you that a cracked skull and a tutu do not go well together), but there lied a possibility that I would just look like a complete inexperienced-ass on the ice. The last thing I ever wanted was to step on the ice and not look Nancy Kerrigan-like.

Now, however, I am a twenty five year old grown person and I have learned to embrace my imperfections. I put on the skates and stand up in the lounge area and walk back and forth a little bit while I wait for my boyfriend, Dan, to tie his apparently uncooperative skate strings. "Walking's not so hard," a proudly tell Dan while he fumbles with his laces.

We get on the ice and I start to get the hang of it. Dan is a great teacher and I'm actually having a bit of nervous fun. I'm not overly self-conscious, despite the small children skating circles around me and the cliques of teenage girls pointing and giggling (whatever; they were standing on the rail and not even skating). I fall a couple of times on my butt and laugh it off. Dan assures me that everyone falls their first time.

So far so good. The main bother was that some of the rink workers were being annoying, as they wouldn't let us stop and take a break at the rail even though my poor baby's feet were hurting and I needed to stop and breathe.

--Shameful when a yoga teacher holds her breath while doing anything. "Must inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale."--

After our "achy foot slash oxygen break" is cut short by hateful ice police, we proceed back onto the ice. I'm doing so well that we start making circles toward the inner part of the rink, far away from the railing. I don't know exactly what happened but all of a sudden, "THUD!" Or it could have been "CRACK!" Or maybe even, "POP!" I don't know. All I know is that as I fell my right knee bent and rotated inward, and my outer right foot rolled flat against the ice with my heel pointing out in front of me and my toes pointing towards the mean ice police behind me; what a stretch! If you cannot picture this then just know that no human body, no not even a yoga teacher former ballerina body, should be contorted into this shape. The inflexible and hard ice skates did not aid in my fall either. As Dan reaches out his hand to lift me up I know I'm in trouble.

To be continued......

Wine Intermission....

My wiNe reView foR tHe weEk oF Dec. 14th 2008

If you like South African Reds this one is for you. It's a 2006 Brampton Shiraz by Rustenberg. 

Here is it's description (credited to the makers): Cloves, white-pepper, black cherries and hints     of dark chocolate (*can we say yummmmmmmm) suppport the richness of ripe fruit due to         an accessible tannin structure. This wine will complement a variety of fine dishes. Enjoy      

    now in the comapany of good looking friends (it really said that on the bottle) or cellar for a       further 3-6 years.

www.rustenberg.co.za

~Note: * indicates that this was my add-in and not stated on the back of the bottle

---------

Although it's a South African Wine I enjoyed it with some really good South Indian food from Tiffin Wallah, which is located at 127 E. 28th St. in Curry Row. The wine was not from Tiffin Wallah but the food and delievery service were great! : - P

Hare, Zheng Gu Tui Na

Standing up with Dan's aide was one thing, but I had no idea what to do from there. I took an almost 360 degree gaze around me (almost 360 degrees because unfortunately my head cannot make a full circular rotation and I had no ability to pick up my feet and actually move them to turn around). We were truly in the center of the rink. Great. I explain to Dan that THERE IS A PROBLEM. I ice-scoot my way over to the railing with Dan. Fantastic; in only moments I'm sure the rink guards will tell us to move. Apparently standing still is now a hazard. Movement really didn't seem like a  possibility though. The doorway that would take us away from the rink and into the locker room area was directly across from us; a short distance it was not.

I knew I had no choice but to skate back to the other side. Ugh! "I can do this. I'm a yogi; I've done harder things." We did it; made it to the other side. "Thank you universe!" 

I hobbled over to the nearest bench to find that taking the stiff-as-a-board ice skate off of my stagnant ankle was not going to be easeful nor pleasant . While scrunching my face up in different non-ballerina-stage-appropriate ways, I pulled the skate off of my foot. My right ankle was three times the size of the left one! I would learn that the black and blue bruises were to make their appearance in about 24 hours. I tried to walk, walking turned into crying, and we took a cab back to Dan's place. 

Although I was in tears from the pain, I'm stubborn, and I tried to get up off my assigned place on the love seat and limp around; I am not one for staying still. Dan was not having it though, and he ran and swooped me up each time I tried to stand and carried me everywhere I needed to go, which was pretty much no where but the bathroom and to get the wine bottle for a refill. "Oh, you best believe I was drinking!"

When trouble rears its nasty head, I call the acupuncturist. No Westernized hospital emergency room visits for me. They squeezed me in the next day. Yes! I had never been so happy to be punctured. Approximately 10 needles, a bag of marijuana-looking medicinal herbs, and a  stick of burning sage later...well, I would love to say that I was as good as new.....however, I felt exactly the same. 

After my session, my acupuncturist told me to do two things: one; schedule another visit for Tuesday, and two; go to an herbal pharmacy in Chinatown called Kamwo and get Zheng Gu Tui Na. This is mixture of chinese herbs that when combined with boiling water can be used as a soak to reduce swelling, relax muscles, kill pain, relieve spasm and move stasis.

--So my daily ritual of  today has been the heating of two to three gallons of water and herbs in hopes that this sacred solution will allow me to walk without pain tomorrow--not to mention have a leg that is not the size of a tree trunk.

Stay tuned. Cannot wait to gauge the size of my ankle after the fourth soak!