I’ve been really intrigued by one woman recently named Annemarie Colbin. She’s the founder of the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC and has also written some books. I’m reading Food and Healing right now and agree with her in so many ways that it’s almost as if she’s reading my mind at times! Go figure… She believes that there’s no one diet for everyone! Perfect, that’s right in line with my thoughts exactly. She’s learned through time that one person’s food is another person’s poison and I’ve been exposed to that exact same thing. What a completely knowledgeable woman who offers GREAT advice and wisdom. I highly recommend her books and am actually going to be attending a class at the Natural Gourmet Institute next week, which I will clearly write all about. I look forward to sharing more info that I learn from her. Stay tuned.
Dear friends,
My mom always told me how much I wanted to be in this world as a baby, meaning… I was born a month early and when she was giving birth, I literally flew right out – literally… the doc caught me (thank g*d!!) I always thought that was the main reason she used to say this, but low and behold there is more to the story. My mom decided that I was officially of age, being 24 and married, to know what really went on back then. It all started with my conception of course, but this wasn’t just any story of hey… we’re pregnant. No, my mother had an iud placed in her uterus, which is said to “have one of the lowest failure rates of any contraceptive method.” Picture that! My mother, using birth control with a very tiny chance of getting pregnant and BAM there I was growing in her belly. Then the dr. said she had to remove the iud to actually have a safe pregnancy and that she had a 50/50 chance of losing me. Clearly here I am, safe and sound.
Have you ever wondered what your mother was going through when you were growing inside of her? Was she happy, stressed, anxious? What was her relationship status? Were you breast-fed? Gosh, so many things start while we’re in the womb and we don’t even know about them until we’re old enough (whatever age that really is anyway.)
My point is this, do you really know who you are until you know all the factors that went into making you? Maybe this is a far off idea… or maybe not. It’s something to look into if you have the opportunity to do so. Maybe you’ll learn something about yourself that you never even knew. Ask questions until you feel satisfied – you deserve to know!
Good luck, and please write back if you find out anything that totally shocks you.
Dear friends,
It’s been an exciting few weeks! My gluten free, vegan, baking adventure is quickly taking off. My new name is The Lovely You Bakeshop. We’re working hard on getting our samples out to lots of different people and stores to see everyone’s reactions. We’ve had very good responses so far and are continuing the process to see where this takes us.
We tackled our neighborhood of the upper west side today and it was a lot of work but we met some really great people who gave us lots of advice. Stay tuned to see where our brand winds up. If there’s a store or café that you feel we would be a good fit for then please let us know, we’d love to talk or send samples.
Thanks for your support!! We hope to spread our gluten free, vegan goodness all around New York and the surrounding states.
Don’t forget to treat yourself!
Hi friends,
Have you ever heard of Kripalu? Well if you haven’t boy have I got news to share with you! It’s a yoga retreat center up in the Berkshires in MA. Chad and I went to this place last weekend not knowing what to expect – we knew we needed to relax so that’s why we signed up for the relax and renew program to just chill out! We were both spiraling into a stressed out world and knew that we needed to get away.
We stayed in the annex which is the air-conditioned, luxurious part of the whole place – yes it was beautiful. The whole place is very green conscious and even the room we stayed in had all eco friendly materials, furniture, flooring, everything!
It was awesome!
I do have to say this, the place focuses a lot on yoga and there are wonderful classes to take that are included in your package. There are other packages to take as well, for example when a visiting teacher comes they create a whole program based on it, check their website to see if any of your heroes will be making an appearance there. All 3 of your meals are included in your program as well, and the food was amazing. Although, I don’t think I was so used to all the fiber and ended up having some issues on the second day… Beware of that!
We took a meditation class, I took a class on having a healthy gut (obviously!! HA), we took a yoga nidra class, which is yogic sleep and there are many other options to choose from.
We both came out of the weekend feeling refreshed and renewed, which was exactly what we needed.
When you feel yourself getting too wrapped up in your own head with stress and negative thoughts, take yourself out of the situation and find the getaway that’s right for you. Kripalu was PERFECT for us and I highly recommend it. I’m just so thankful that I’m still young and I found this now, as opposed to being older and missing out on it for all those years.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter how old you are, get yourself on a retreat and you won’t regret it – who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by a positive bunch of people?! Go for it!
I just went for my annual physical checkup today and was so pleasantly surprised when Dr. Lee took a look at my latest colonoscopy results and stated “it looks like your colitis is getting smaller and smaller.” I’ve been having a flare up for 3 years and the time is finally here when not only are my flares getting less and less but also, the colitis is diminishing all together!
You might be asking how in the world did I do this?!
Let me explain – over the past year and a half I’ve taken the time to read many books and educate myself on how to cure myself of this belly bloating, gas producing, uncomfortable, colitis.
I know that there are lots of sufferers out there and I totally get what your going through – I promise I was right there with you not too long ago.
Instead of only listening to my GI doc, I decided to educate myself even further on the topic. I wasn’t happy about taking steroids for the rest of my life so I made a decision not to do it. Yes I did take the suppositories when needed but I coupled them with the eastern side of medicine.
I do yoga, acupuncture and see a chiropractor on a regular basis, which are all part of eastern medicine. I believe that these forms of medicine have helped calm belly.
I’ve made the conscious choice to change my diet and I haven’t looked back since. Well… maybe I’ve looked back when everyone is enjoying their glutinous filled pizza and all I want is that NY slice… I have found other options for pizza and they are pretty delicious, but when it’s right in your face it’s very hard to say no – the only way to really say no is to remember how you feel when your belly hurts and for me that’s plenty. I’m so happy to have my gluten free, dairy free Amy’s Pizza readily available when I need my pizza fill. It takes strength and a good support system but you will overcome it.
If you have specific questions on what books I’ve read or what I’ve done to help cure myself please feel free to message me. I want to keep an open communication with you and anyone you know who suffers from a hurting gut.
Please take care of yourself.
Dear blog friends,
You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been working on… my own gluten free, vegan, no refined sugar muffins! I’m creating my own brand! YES you heard me… finally after all those thoughts of creating something on my own I’m actually making it happen. Let me introduce you to:
*** The Lovely You: Treat Yourself.
I am creating a logo as we speak and am getting very excited about this amazing new market that I’m about to dive into.
Of course there are some kinks to work out, like how to get my muffin papers to stop sticking to the delicious muffins! I’ll figure it out, although if anyone has any suggestions for me I’d greatly appreciate them. I may just decide to do away with the papers and simplify the whole situation!
My IIN (Integrative Institute of Nutrition) friends are hosting an event next Saturday, June 26 where I will be having one on one yoga alignment sessions as well as selling my newly branded Lovely You muffins. Please contact me for more information (my contact info is in the tab above). This event was incentive for me to make my brand happen and I am SUPER excited to make my debut.
Stay tuned for more info regarding The Lovely You and where you’ll be able to purchase them.
Enjoy your beautiful weekend!
Dear friends,
We are now the proud owners of the Excalibur food dehydrator!! Yes you heard right, we can now make our own dried fruit, fruit roll ups, raw treats, granola and lots more!
Clearly I am quite excited about this new addition to our tiny kitchen although we don’t have much space to store the new tool, but we will find a place – even if it has to hang from the ceiling! Kidding… but that’s a running joke around my apartment – we have to start sticking things to the ceiling so we can walk a straight line! I’m exaggerating a bit, but let’s put it this way, we need a new apartment JUST to have space for all our fun kitchen goodies.
For those of you who eat a raw diet or know someone who eats that way, this dehydrator is the perfect gift for him or her! I was so excited to try it out that I took whatever fruit we had in our fridge, sliced them and stuck them in the dehydrator for about 10 hours -maybe longer next time though – the mango looked SO delicious that we couldn’t resist. I will post pictures next time, but this time there just wasn’t enough, and it was gone within minutes that I didn’t even have time to reach for my camera.
Stay tuned for more raw yummy food from the Excalibur!
During my IIN (Integrative Institute of Nutrition) classes we had the pleasure of meeting David Wolfe, raw food guru. The most important lesson that I learned from him is that going raw may not be the best idea for everyone – but adding raw products into your existing daily diet can’t hurt at all.
He taught us how to make a “superfood smoothie,” which uses ingredients that I usually use on a daily basis but now I’ve learned how to also add in superfoods to pump it up.
Here is the recipe:
Handful of strawberries
Handful of blueberries
Handful of blackberries
Handful of raspberries
Coconut water – enough to cover the fruit and a little extra (too much is never a bad thing) one cup-full of coconut water contains more electrolytes than most sports drinks and more potassium than a banana**
1 tbls chia seeds– Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds! Chia is rich in antioxidants, provide fiber as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc. Chia is an AMAZING superfood!
½ tbls maca powder- Has been found to enhance fertility and sexual performance in both men and women.
½ tbls cacao powder – All chocolate is made from the cacao (cocoa) bean, and cacao beans in their natural, unprocessed, unadulterated state are rich in nutrients and beneficial to health. Cacao helps dilate bloods vessels, reduce blood clotting, improve circulation, help regulate heartbeat and blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks. It is a feel good food and it may reduce the risk of certain cancers.
½ tbls camu camu powder – Camu camu fruits contain more vitamin C than any other plant in the world from 30 to 60 times more than an orange. It has astringent, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, emollient and nutritional properties, and also contains important levels of beta-carotene, calcium, iron, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin and thiamin.
1 tbls raw honey – Honey is antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal, and antibacterial — it never spoils and is best in it’s raw, unprocessed state.
½ tbls blue green algae – A form of microalgae phytoplankton containing chlorophyll, vitamin B-12, complete protein and omega 3 fatty acids.
1 tincture of cat’s claw – Is thought to have anti-inflammatory effects and has been used for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. It has also been used for high blood pressure, HIV, diverticulitis, gastritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
1 tincture of pau’darco – An anti-inflammatory
1 tincture of fo-ti – Can lower serum cholesterol, decrease hardening of the arteries, and improve immune function.
1 tincture of reishi mushroom – Regulates and fine tunes the immune system.
A handful of almonds (if you like them!)
Feel free to add in a green veggie if you want, sometimes I add in spinach or kale depending on what I have in the fridge.
If you have any serious health problems I suggest you do some more research on these superfoods to make sure they won’t effect you in a negative way – they are powerful and wonderful if you use them properly.
It’s finally time to enjoy what Mother Nature’s given us!
Dear blog friends,
It’s hard for me to even explain what’s happened in the past few weeks but I can start by saying there was a wedding, 2 funerals and 2 birthdays.
They always say that with the happiness comes the sad – but who knew it would all be at the same time…
Chad and I got married on May 15th and boy was it beautiful. Everything went as planned and we couldn’t have been happier with the outcome: beautiful day, easy-going people, wonderful guests and amazing, loving energy surrounding us throughout the night.
My mother’s parents were able to make it to the wedding, but only because my papa had incredible will power and really practiced mind over matter – he may have been in silent pain, but he never showed it once on his face. He proudly watched us walk down the aisle, exchange our vows and then he even came to the party and cut the challah! We couldn’t have been more proud to have them there to watch us.
Unfortunately, my father’s mother (my Omi) was not able to make it, although she was alive, she wasn’t strong enough to make the trip to where the wedding was.
With all that being said – the week after the wedding they stopped holding on…. 7 days later Omi passed away and then 2 days after that papa passed away.
My two grandparents who I’ve known for my entire life and who I’ve been scared to see die have just passed away in the same week.
I don’t think I have too many words: except that I feel as though I’m in a dream and that I have to wake up from it soon. I don’t want to depress any of you readers out there, but this is happening in my life right now and I feel as though I needed to share, especially since it’s been a while since I last posted – now you can understand why.
Besides all of this, the week is still not over and today: May 27th is my “husband’s” birthday! AND it’s a big one! 25!! That was my first time writing out husband, so excuse the quotes but I was excited!!
Saturday May 29th is my sister’s birthday and here we are again with the happy occasions. I’d like to stick with those. On that note, I will post some pictures from the wedding below! Enjoy!
Onetora Mountain House, Boiceville NY
Hi all, I thought I’d share what I’m planning to make for dinner tonight:
Thai style coconut chicken with cashews.
I’ve made this before and boy is it delicious. The flavors burst in your mouth and you won’t believe that you actually prepared it! It seems like a professional dish from a restaurant! ENJOY!
2 boneless skinless, organic chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon grated, fresh ginger
2 scallions, diced (the green and white parts)
3 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup unsweetened, organic coconut milk
1 cup finely ground cashews
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Wash and prepare chicken, cutting off all the fat. Cut chicken into cubes – it’s easiest to do this with cooking scissors – set the chicken aside until ready to cook.
In a large skillet heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the ginger and scallions stirring frequently so that it doesn’t burn. Let cook for 2 minutes then add the tamari, maple syrup, coconut milk and sesame oil. Stir together on medium heat and add the chicken cubes. Stir frequently until the chicken is cooked through. Lastly, add the chopped cashews for your topping and serve. This dish goes well with a plain grain of your choice. We love quinoa, brown rice and kasha (buckwheat). It’s always fun to experiment!
Cheers to any new cooking adventures you encounter in this meal.
