Foods Alive Recipe + Newsletter
IT'S HIP TO BE HEALTHY
Not surprising, “being healthy, and getting fit” found it's way to the top of the New Year’s Resolutions List once again. I hope that this promise to one self fares better than the 85000 neck ties that are being bought in North America each year as Christmas presents. I don’t know who takes the trouble to take neck tie polls but apparently only 5 percent of Christmas ties are ever worn.
Popular dietary trends, have moved from “Fit For Life” in the eighties, to “The South Beach Diet”, “the Atkins diet”, “the Zone” and “Perricone” (low glycemic index) in the nineties to macrobiotic, ayurvedic, vegan and vegetarian (11 million in the USA) diets, which are centuries old but are steadily gaining ground in our western culture. We are discovering that being healthy is more valuable than having the perfect body size and shape, and that fitness can be as simple as a daily walk for some, and four a week work outs at the gym, the pool, a hike, or ski on snowy mountain trails for others.
We are choosing our foods with greater consideration for the planet, and buy more locally grown fresh foods. Many of these are nurtured by hands and hearts that care more about the health of their customers than instituted government regulations. The negative connotations associated with vegan diets (undernourished, protein deficient hippies and boring, bland health foods) are disappearing. Yoga, meditation, naturopathy, acupuncture and integrated health or chiropractic treatments are booming along with juice bars, vegetarians dishes and raw food restaurants.
Labels on processed foods are checked by a more educated consumer for sugar and salt content, trans fats, food colouring, preservatives and MSG. It was with pleasure that I discovered the growing interest in raw food diets, the 100 mile diet, slow cooked foods, fair trade organics, fresh organic milk and natural sweeteners.
I know that there is no one perfect diet for everyone. We are all unique in our dietary needs. And our preferred foods will always be in a state of flux. Eating plenty of fresh, colourful, living plants and seeds as the mainstay in our daily food, will automatically supply our bodies with essential vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants.
I find that when I eat well 80% of the time, I feel good. When I feel good, I am more patient to those around me and have more time and energy to care about how my choices affect the people I love. Being healthy is never just one thing, one diet or one fix. It contributes to all we do and think and it creates balance and harmony with greater ease.
Making a difference begins with small changes. One day at a time. One day at a time, quickly adds up to a whole year of living, giving, learning, laughing and loving in healthful abundance.
Recipe of the Week
Sweet Potato Celery Soup
1 very large light skinned sweet potato, peeled and cut in chunks
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium leek, sliced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp celtic sea salt or (herbamare piquant)
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
Gently fry onion in 2 tbsp of butter until soft (or steam in water or vegetable broth). Add 1 liter of organic vegetable broth. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer 15 minutes.
Let cool for awhile and process at high speed in a blender, or food processor until creamy.
Reheat and add seasonings, plus lemon juice. Add more vegetable broth for your preferred consistency. Garnish with very finely sliced leek tops and a swirl of plain yogurt.
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