Get to Your Local Farmers Market -- It's So Good Right Now!

I just got back from one of my local farmers markets (in Portsmouth, NH) and everything was so beautiful that I just wanted to post a quick reminder for all of you to get out there too!

I only have time right now to post a few pics because then I'm off to a (belated) graduation party with a bunch of my fellow holistic health coaches from the Boston area.  So, I hope these pics motivate you to get out to your local market.  I'll post some recipes over the coming week using my ingredients gathered today:

• bok choy
• sweet red peppers
• yellow onions
• lacinato ("dinosaur") kale'
• rainbow chard
• a beautiful variety of cherry and grape tomatoes (check 'em out below)
• garlic
• cukes
• winter squash
• and maybe even the spicy Italian sausage (local, humanely raised/animal welfare approved) I got last week

My Haul.  Can't wait to start cooking!

Recipes to follow.

Do you frequent your local farmers markets?  Do you belong to a CSA?  How's your garden doing? 

Please share with us what you've been harvesting/buying and what you're doing with it.

Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well. 

Healthy Aging (not "Anti-Aging")

Healthy Aging Rx:  Relax.  Spend some time with your feet in a tide pool?

Today is my 35th post on this blog and I am 35 years old, and in my stream of consciousness that got me thinking about healthy aging.

It seems like everywhere you turn these days there's some product or diet that promises incredible anti-aging effects ("incredible" being the operative word here).  What's up with that?  What do we have against aging?  Each of us started aging when we were born, but our perception of aging seems to change a lot through time.  When we're younger, we want to be older.  Then, at some point, we start falling into this anti-aging mindset.  To me, it seems much more productive (and sane) to see aging for what it is -- time moving onward -- and to direct our energy towards doing it healthfully.

So, what is healthy aging?

I think that healthy aging is simply this: being in the best physical and mental health possible at each age.

But how do we do that?

Well, this is the subject of entire books, but given our definition of healthy aging (above), we can safely say that the following things will help to get us there.  Eat mostly whole foods from quality sources -- grow and cook your own food when possible.  Eat only when you're hungry.  Drink tons of good, clean water.  Connect with your inner voice and pay attention to what it tells you -- ultimately, each of us is the expert about what's best for us as individuals.  Do what you love, or find a way to love what you do.  Spend some time outdoors every day.  Cherish and strengthen the positive and supportive relationships in your life.  As for the relationships that don't support you, find a way to mend them, or else let them go.  Make time in your busy life for self care -- how can you expect yourself to care for others if you don't first take good care of yourself?  Be generous.  Cultivate gratitude.  Ask for help when you need it.  Incorporate appropriate exercise/movement into your life (and be mindful that your relationship with exercise will change as you age).  Be gentler with yourself.  Show yourself the same kindness and respect that you show your partner or best friend.  Rest and sleep well.  Learn and practice ways to reduce stress.  Never stop learning new skills -- take a class or teach yourself.  Connect with your own personal brand of spirituality, whether that comes from your involvement with a community group, your religion, your connection with nature, or something else entirely.  When you find yourself stressing about your age (which seems to happen every once in a while), stop and redirect that energy -- use the moment to instead reflect back on all the beautiful, exciting, and powerful things you've done with your life so far; then decide what you'll do next, and start right away!  Finally, it's natural and good to reflect on the past and imagine what's to come, but spend most of your time each day right where you are -- be present, so you don't miss what's right in front of you.

I also think we should encourage the kids in our lives to really enjoy and embrace their age, rather than to spend so much energy wishing they were older.  How cool would it be to be able to look back over your entire life and know that you appreciated and embraced every single year for what it was and how it moved you forward?  It's never too late to start that.

I'll leave you with this thought from Andrew Weil: "Yes, aging can bring frailty and suffering, but it can also bring depth and richness of experience, complexity of being, serenity, wisdom, and its own kind of power and grace."

What's your advice for healthy aging?

Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Age Well.

Happy Birthday, Keeley!

Keeley hiking Mt. Cabot (just shy of 7 yrs old)

We'll get back to some straight-up nutrition talk shortly, but I hope you'll indulge me this moment today to meditate some more on another non-food aspect of life that nourishes us and supports our good health.

Keeley is my now 7-year-old dog, and today is her birthday.  This picture was taken a couple weeks ago on a hike of Mt. Cabot, here in New Hampshire.  What's up with those (birthday) candle-glowing eyes, you ask?  I like to think of that as Keeley's unique prana (energy, life force) brimming over so much that it can't be contained.  (Thank goodness I couldn't get the red-eye-reducing tool to work on those golden eyes, otherwise I would have missed out on that perspective, huh?)

I adopted Keeley from a rescue when she was 3 months old (the pic below was taken on her first night home), when I was working on my Masters degree in Akron, Ohio.  Today I wanted to post a brief note here in honor of Keeley because she has brought so much love, laughter, comfort, and peace into my life.  Those of you who know Keeley are aware of her pure, innate happiness.  This is a dog who greets you with a smile (a "creepy smile" to be exact) and with a whole-body wag.  I'll try to avoid hokiness ("Lessons I learned from my dog..."), but she truly is a constant reminder of how to enjoy life. 

Keeley's first night home (3 mo.)

So, in honor of Keeley, and all those other wonderful animals out there who enrich our lives, do something simple and nurturing today -- take a long walk and stop to smell the flowers, curl up in the middle of the afternoon and enjoy a nap without guilt, drink tons of water (and don't be embarrassed if it rolls right down your chin!), greet everyone you see with a smile and even a whole-body wag if you like (whether or not you know them), let people know that you love and appreciate them, and listen intently in your conversations (especially if someone says, "Do you wanna..."?). 

Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well. 

Happy Birthday Keeley!  

Midnight Canning: Blackberry Jam and Apple-Mint Jelly

Friday night I went to my good friend Sadie's house to hang out and do some canning.  We had grand plans to make blackberry jam, apple-mint jelly, pesto, and I think there was something else (clearly we never got that far).  Let me start by saying that my friend Sadie is absolutely amazing!  She has an almost-2-year-old son who, as adorable and wonderful as he is, struggles with sleep.  You moms (and dads) out there know that this means Sadie now has a less-than-optimal relationship with sleep as well.  Knowing a little about the energy needed to get through those long nights, and the days that follow, makes all the things she does seem even more impressive to me (oh, did I mention she's also writing her dissertation?).  So, when I showed up at Sadie's house on Friday night and we sat down to a beautiful and delicious, homecooked dinner (I really should have taken pictures!) made from organic ingredients, 99% of which she grew in her backyard garden, I was humbled.

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner, a little Petite Syrah (gotta get those polyphenols!), and some great conversation (including a lengthy discussion about midwives, doulas, obstetricians, cesarean sections, and womens' intuition).  Then, around 10:30pm or so, we figured we'd better get cookin'.  Where had the time gone?  Ah well, we headed out to the garden in the pitch-black darkness to collect the herbs for our jelly and pesto.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside: the stars were dense and brilliant, the night was cool and crisp (you could feel autumn around the corner), and the air smelled of mint and basil.  We spent the next several hours making blackberry jam and mint jelly, largely from ingredients foraged from Sadie's garden and neighborhood.  I cannot wait to break into a jar of this blackberry jam!  We didn't get around to the pesto, but I left with a big bag full of fresh basil and wound up making that on Saturday (Thanks, Sadie!).

Some of you may be wondering what the point of this post is, where it fits in to the general health forum we've got going here.  Glad you asked.  My Friday evening with Sadie showcased so many things that I feel are integral to good health.  To name a few... Spending time with friends and family.  Nurturing good, supportive relationships.  Growing and cooking your own food.  Eating mindfully.  The importance of good sleep.  Trying new things (for us that meant apple-mint jelly).  I enjoyed every minute of it.  And now, days later, I can still feel the benefits of spending that relaxing evening with a good friend. 

It's not just food that nourishes us.  Not even close!

What non-food things in your life nourish you?  Can you find a way to make room for those things in your busy schedule?  Isn't it worth it?

Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Do What You Love.  Get Moving.  Be mindful.

Cool Your Tastebuds with Kolrabi-Apple Salad

Thanks for starting to use the feedback boxes at the end of posts.  I'm hearing that you want more recipes, so here's one more to help you cool down and refresh your tastebuds after those stuffed poblanos.

Last week during my tour of area farmers markets, I bought some kolrabi.  I'd never had kolrabi before and I didn't really know what to do with it.  But I decided to buy some and figure it out.

I got it home, cut off a little piece, and gave it a taste.  I found it to be kind of like jicama in texture, but with a sweetness and a mild veggie flavor (some say it's like broccoli, but I found it to be more like early turnips).  The taste reminded me of a salad I'd made last fall with turnips, radishes, and apples, so I substituted my kolrabi for turnips and made a nice refreshing salad.  Give it a try.  I was never a fan of radishes, but I love them in these salads.  And I think the kolrabi was a great addition.  I'm not so great with exact amounts because I just love to play, but here's my best recreation.  Enjoy!

Kolrabi-Apple-Radish Salad
(This made ~2-3 servings, as a side dish)

• 1-2 kolrabi (sliced, I peeled half the skin off because I wanted to keep some of that beautiful purple color) --- in place of kolrabi, you can use 4 small, sweet white turnips
• 1-3 radishes, depending on your love of radishes (sliced)
• 2-3 stalks celery (sliced)
• 1 small apple, sliced thin
• ~1-1/2 tsp lemon juice
• ~1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Just combine all the sliced/chopped (however you prefer them) veggies in a bowl.  Then toss with lemon, olive oil, and salt to taste.  Eat immediately or chill for later.  Keeps well for a few days. 

Have you tried kolrabi?  Tell us how you like to eat it -- raw?  cooked?  What's your recipe?


Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Try Something New.

Tri-Market Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Over the last 8 days, I've been to 3 farmers markets in honor of National Farmers Market Week 2010.  Okay, you got me -- I'll use any excuse to hit the farmers markets.  I usually head to my local farmers market (in Newmarket, NH) on weekends, but this week I also went to Exeter on Thursday and Portsmouth today.  I love our local market, which happens to be the first town farmers market in our area that was open all winter long, but the Exeter and Portsmouth markets are much bigger and have a greater variety of produce.  I was in heaven!

I got all sorts of wonderful things and have been doing tons of cooking this week.  Tonight, using ingredients from all three farmers markets, I created these Tri-Market Stuffed Poblano Peppers.  I made mine with local sweet Italian sausage (from the Newmarket farmers market), but if you want to make this recipe vegetarian*, just make the veggies without the sausage and bulk them up with some brown rice and beans.  I'm sure I'll be making the vegetarian version soon because they were incredible!

Tri-Market Stuffed Poblano Peppers

(makes 4 peppers, 4 servings)

Here's What I Used:

• 4 poblano peppers [Portsmouth]
• 4-5 leaves dinosaur kale [Exeter]
• 1 medium sweet onion [Portsmouth]
• 8 roasted Roma tomato halves (I roasted my own tomatoes earlier in the week, but you could also use sun-dried tomatoes) [I roasted tomatoes from Newmarket & Exeter]
• 2 cloves garlic [Newmarket]
• 2 sweet Italian sausages (*see above for veggie option) [Newmarket]
• 1/2 cup sharp goat cheese ("cheddar"), crumbled [Portsmouth]
• olive oil to sautee filling

Here's What I Did:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare peppers by cutting in a "T" pattern to remove seeds.
3. Prepare filling by sauteeing onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent and browning, add crumbled sausage and continue to cook until browned, and finally add chopped tomatoes and kale and cook another minute.
4. Stuff peppers with veggie & sausage mix.
5. Add crumbled goat cheese (or sharp cheddar or manchego?) to peppers.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until peppers are browned.

Do you love your farmers market(s) like I do?  Better yet, have you been eating from your backyard garden all season?

What have you created for dinner from your local, seasonal foods? 


Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Eat Local.

Easy Recipe for Healthy, Homemade "Ice Cream" (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar!)

I've been getting requests for more recipes, so I thought I'd share this dessert I threw together recently: Cherry-Vanilla Coconut Milk "Ice Cream".  This one came to me last week during my long stretch of no grocery shopping.  I only had a few random veggies left (maybe I'll share my sauteed radishes story another time?) and I had completely run out of fresh fruit.  But I was craving fruit.  Then I remembered I had frozen cherries (I love to keep them on hand for smoothies!).  And then I realized I had some coconut milk (coconut milk, NOT coconut water/juice).  I figured I could make something tasty from cherries and coconut milk.  And I did.  Really tasty! 

Here's the recipe...

Cherry-Vanilla Coconut Milk "Ice Cream"
(Dairy- and Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar = NO Reason Not to Try This!)

Ingredients:
(for 2 servings)

• 1 cup frozen organic cherries
• 1/2 cup (classic / NOT "lite") coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• (optional: add 1/2 banana -- adding banana makes it creamy; without banana, consistency is more like sorbet, but there is still some creaminess from the coconut milk)

Here's What You Do:

• Blend together all ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor
• Pour into glass container/bowl (covered) and return to freezer
• Freeze for ~2 hours
• Enjoy. 
• (If your "ice cream" is kept frozen for an extended time, you may need to thaw it before eating.)

I hope you enjoy this simple, tasty, and very healthy alternative to traditional ice cream. 

Let us know if you like it and share with us your own healthy dessert creations.

Eat Well. 
Live Well. 
Be Well.