Feeling Low Spirited?

Do you ever wake up feeling anxious, frustrated, maybe even a little bit angry, but for no good reason? Today I woke up and was experiencing all of these feelings but with no legitamite inciting factor. It could be a multitude of reasons, whether it be dreams, hormones, or some deeper subconscious factor that has yet to be revealed. Or, it can very well be attributed to my diet. Un-surprisingly, I just got back from a series of weekend trips. First San Diego where I literally ate tacos for 3 days straight. The second weekend was Las Vegas. No other words needed. This past weekend I went on a trip to San Francisco where I explored giant sandwiches, giant plates of thai food, giant waffles... With almost 3 weeks straight of eating big, rich meals that aren't the best for the digestive tract, plus coffee throughout my trips to stay energized, things aren't looking so good.

Exhibit A: here I am today, the high of traveling coming to a close. With nothing great to look forward to in the immediate future I instantly blame my near depression to the lack of excitement in my life. But, with further self-consulation, I believe there is a bigger, greasier, caffeinated explanation. My body is in withdrawwal from eating out and I have little to no energy in return.

Right now the only thought that makes me feel happy is the thought of eating out or grabbing a cup of joe. But I just spent $90.00 at the grocery store last night to make up for even higher eating out costs which serves as a sort of nicotine patch for the foodie.

I packed a reasonable lunch: salad with ginger dressing, a nut mixture, and apple sauce. I had a big bowl of hearty cereal this morning with a cup of green tea. I should be feeling okay, right?

Currently I am considering ramming my car into oncoming traffic and feel as though I am starving to death. Man, withdrawal can be rough.

For the next week I have decided to fight the depression and get back onto a normal eating pattern. It won't be easy. I am going to eat small portions. No more coffee and no eating out for at least 2 weeks. This weekend I am going to complete a "cleanse" prescribed by Dr. Deepak Chopra from his book "Perfect Health." It includes eating a light meal Friday night, then basically only consuming small amounts of juice on Saturday with little to no exercise or movement. Then Sunday you are alloweed to slowly re-introduce a more normal diet, still eating very light foods. It's supposed to "re-start" your digestive tract. Right now I feel like I need to re-start my life.

I'm hoping this allows my body to be able to use energy not given artifically by foods with high salt, sugar, fat and caffeine contents. Eating out and traveling is fun but it definitely should be done in moderation. The ability to find happiness and energy in the everyday is what I'm working towards. I don't want my life to be a series of waiting for the fun to come to me. I want to learn to make the fun for myself at all times of the day and all days of the week. Plus withdrawal sucks.

I'll let you know how I'm doing in a week from now. Hopefully I can stay clean for the time being...

Gluten Intolerant? What happened to Our Sh*t?!

So what is the deal with all this Gluten woo-hee-haw. Recently I felt I had/have a possible intolerance to Gluten products. Specfically this idea came about after becoming aware of certain digestive issues. And digestive issues, unfortunately, are the first step to more serious things like disease and sickness. So if you are facing digestive issues, I would not turn the other way. In fact I do suggest turning down more often so you may be more aware of your digestive health...

The more research I did, the more I found that I certainly am not alone on this gluten fiasco. It seems as though everyone is starting to form a gluten intolerance in their body and switching to eating every corn, rice, soy product out there (soy is another topic I can talk about for hours... to come later).

But why?

We have been eating wheat for thousands of years and all of a sudden we can't digest the stuff? It was, and still is in some places, the staple of a diet. Are humans just plain evolving poorly? Maybe. Or maybe it's how the wheat is being grown...

With the amount of chemicals used in the farming process, it's hard to be sure what long term effects they are having on food. Was there always this much backlash to new technology in farming? But there are lots of humans to feed and the structure of cities does not leave much space for growing enough of your own food to feed your immediate family. Plus I don't think the majority of people really care where their food comes from but this is, again, another topic of discussion. My point is to try not to jump on the bandwagon too quickly. Organic food products is not the end all be all to our food problems. And even eating entirely locally is not the end all be all.

Let's look at a BIG picture:

A cow is being fed antibiotics on a big cow factory. Whether or not you eat the cow, the cow sh*ts, and that sh*t will end up back in the earth, eventually. Even quicker than that, when the rain comes it will wash all the residual antibiotics back into our water system, which may very well be used to sprinkle our beloved wheat products later that year. SO, my idea here is that maybe the mass amounts of antibiotics that are being poured into our eco system, and quickly draining into well um, every product grown under the sun, may have an effect on how our body can or cannnot digest well.



Like I stated on my first post, I am no expert. I like to stress this point because I do not intend on being another lofty pretentious opinion floating through the internet that has no real backing. I don't have real backing aside from having a good set of eyes and ears (yeah I RULE). My point is to merely raise questions concerning food issues. Certainly I love bread and beer and cheeseburgers for that matter and gosh darnit wheat is in everything! The idea that I may be intolerant of those foods is hard to swallow (ba dum CHING).

So for now I will continue introducing organic Ezekiel bread into the diet, hoping those sprouted grains were unaffected by the cow's sh*t. So in turn, well, I can, umm... go to the bathroom.

My Daddy always said, "what goes in, must come out." These, my friends, are words to live by.

The Best Lentils Recipe in the World!

Hello lovely friends- I know, I can't believe it's almost been two weeks since I started my new blog, and have only posted once. It's hard, people! Give me a break. But seriously, work got really busy and I had this visitor and the (insert excuse here) took over.

ALAS! I will enlighten you with a delicious and fulfilling Lentils recipe CREDITED to my wonderful, charming and handsome (single, too) brother Andrew. This recipe makes a LOT of lentils, so put aside a large tupperware for storing in the fridge. Of course, you can cut down the recipe to make less. But the recipe re-heats so well for lunches why not make the whole darn thing?!

I made it last night and made a few adjustments. For example, Ralph's doesn't carry Mustard powder so I opted out. I know it can be expensive to buy all those spices at once if you don't have them hanging around your kitchen. But, at the same time it's great to have them hanging around your kitchen because you can get more creative while you cook your next meal! So use your judgment, and feel free to add in other veggies and see what fits.

LENTILS*
*these are Andrew's words that I edited.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. bag green lentils (red works too, green tastes better)
1 yellow onion
1 garlic bulb
fresh ginger (a palm's length worth)
olive oil or salted butter
turmeric powder
cumin
mustard powder
coconut milk
4 medium sized tomatoes
spinach (a lot!)
slivered almonds
cayenne pepper
brown rice
salt

Cook the lentils according to bagged instructions. 1 lb. should be just about 2 full cups, and you need around 8 cups of water. It seems like a lot, but the lentils soak it up! Add about 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder to the water and stir it up, cover with a lid, medium to low heat, and leave it be.

While your lentils are a boilin, chop your onion, and mince your (whole) garlic bulb and ginger. In a frying pan (I suggest cast iron pan) use a hearty amount of olive oil (or salted butter if you're feelin' frisky!) and give them all a good sautee. While this is sauteeing, add the cumin and mustard powder, to your discretion, you can always add in more later so I would say about a 1/2-1 tablespoon of both now.

By now the lentils should be close to done (have soaked up almost all of the water). Toss in your onion, garlic and ginger mixture in the pot with the lentils. Pour in about 1/4 cup of coconut milk, or more if you like things really creamy.

Let that simmer while you chop your tomatoes (chunky), then proceed to add these to the mix. Allow these to combine with the rest of your ingredients. At this point you must add in SALT. If you don't the flavors will not combine correctly. Again, you can always add more salt later but for starters try 2 tablespoons. I tend to opt for less salty than salty but if you're the other way around...

Next throw in the spinach. I used an entire container (it cooks down quickly I promise!). Pile it in and then throw the lid over the pot to let it steam and shrink. Then add more. Mix and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Throw in some slivered almonds. I used about half a bag (1 cup approx.) because I like that crunch! Feel free to adjust according to your likes. You're almost done!


Now is the time to throw in some cayenne pepper. I like things spicy, so I used about 1 tablespoon (a little goes a long way). After mixing in the cayenne, get yourself a spoon and taste. You will most likely need to adjust the spices, maybe add in more salt, more cumin, whatever. These are YOUR lentils, so put your stamp on it! All done!


Serve with brown rice.

My brother says, "easy to make, healthy, reheats well, a complete meal. I make a big batch and it lasts me all week. Nom nom nom! Yum yum!"

Love
A

Eat Your Beet Out!

What's in a Beet? Full of potassium, calcium, dare I say... ANTI-OXIDANTS? Why do we care? We went many many years not knowing the scientific underlying of our food and survived. I call this phenomena instinct (not sure if the cavemen had it, remember Brendan Fraser eating toothpaste in Encino Man?) Many Americans seem to be obsessed with getting enough of the correct vitamins, minerals, fats, calcium, sugars, calories, proteins, omega 3's, anti-oxidants, probiotics, blah blah blah, boring! In my humble opinion, a beet is filled with tasty yummyness that can be used to brighten up your plate, your body and your life! There is no way one can feel satisfied and full after feeling stressed about whether they in took the correct amount of STUFF. You think french fries will cause you a heart attack? Try STRESS on for size. YEEESSSHH- that stuff'll kill ya. My idea of a healthy meal is something colorful, flavorful, and satisfying.

And there it is people- the tie to the title of this here blog. Beeting Heart Soup. What? Well, the kinds of ideas and theories and current events I will post on this here blog will be about beets (not only beets, silly) but also whole food, the art of eating, how eating and yoga are connected, and how these all relate to your spiritual well being. What you eat affects how your body functions. If you eat well, your heart functions correctly. You can move, breathe, and evolve to the highest and most perfect potential that your body and cells are capable of. Goodbye Disease! Hello Happiness!! Your heart center is also the center of your heart chakra, responsible for compassion and love. If you have a functioning heart then you most certainly will have functioning compassions and loves. All of this combined with a funny play on words (get it, beeting instead of beating heart, like your heart is pumping beets, like, your heart is pumping LOVE from delicious food!). It's just one big jolly mix of warm soul-lifting soup. YUM.


What I mean to say is, you are what you eat. If you eat a carrot, you'll turn into a carrot. If you eat a hamburger, you'll turn into a hamburger. Do the math! HAH!
But in all seriousness if you want to experience love and spiritual groundedness, then you must eat love and spiritual groundedness (unless you think love is a big ole chocolate easter bunny, but ummm, we will get to that later). This blog is about how to eat love.

Okay. If you're still confused on what's the point, then just keep following along and you will pick up on what I mean. Urban gardening, recipes, omnivore vs. the alternative, digestion, yoga, alcohol, foodies, cooking, movement, love, spiritual, chakras, ayurveda, doshas, heart center, well being, whole, radical, chocolate; this is just a taste of some ideas.

I am by no means an expert on these topics. I am a mere curious soul, avid reader, and one who loves life and happiness and wants to share some good news.

Oh and, I LOVE FOOD.




Love,
A