Lentils Alive!

Exhibit A: Plain boring dried lentils.

Plain, boring lentils have been sitting quietly in my pantry for years (well not the same exact lentils), yet I never knew they were actually alive. I buy the dried, whole lentils with intent to have a healthy lentil dish about once a week, but the crave-factor dips pretty low…until now! Two paramount lentil discoveries have recently changed everything.

First, My Indian bliss experience revealed to me that making Indian-style gravy to cook into the lentils causes the flavor to skyrocket to the moon. It involves heating oil or ghee in the skillet, browning spices (chile pepper, cumin seeds, garam masala, salt and hing), adding and browning minced/blended vegetables (ginger, onion, garlic, peppers), adding and further browning something wet or creamy (plain yogurt or a crushed tomato), and finally adding this “gravy” to a cooked pot of lentils. This, I crave. Even my picky tween is finishing her lentils prepared this way.

Exhibit B: Lentils alive and ready to eat!

Second, and most shocking to me, is that the lentils are ALIVE. I mean, they are seriously like tiny brown rocks, but there is LIFE in those dried beans. People who sprout things know this secret. I vaguely understood sprouting alfalfa seeds, but I was totally unprepared emotionally for what I saw when I soaked lentils in water over night then rinsed them a few times through out the next day. They sprouted tails! And then their tails grew. They became soft, but still crunchy and very flavorful. I immediately loved their nuttiness sprinkled over salads, potatoes, eggs and soups. But then one more discovery elevated lentils to one of my very most favorite kitchen staples: they toast up beautifully in butter, ghee, or oil (especially coconut oil). They become this decadent treat because of the crispy little buttery edges.

How can something so little be so assertive?!?

Nowadays, I stir-fry sprouted lentils almost daily for their taste, but also for their dense nutrient value. I love the extra protein that my meat-picky kiddo gets from lentils, and I love that I am eating something full of life for the health of my digestive system. A bonus is that having something alive and sprouting in your kitchen is SEXY! It makes the kitchen feel like a place where primal, natural things happen. So, unleash the aliveness of food. Sprout those babies and be amazed. Enjoy!

HDH…helping you make healthy changes in your kitchen and beyond. Next up: kitchen meditation.

Work, Family, Home...Your Health?

For 22 years, I worked and served as a leader in a very structured full-time career. With managing high demands that often ran counter to my authenticity, I became known in my work world as the Healthnut, complete with a goofy certificate for it hanging outside my office door. Over time, colleagues would often seek counsel for making changes in hopes for a better work-life balance. Turns out, strategies for managing a high-stress work environment weren't so nutty after all. At one point, I was asked to write an article about healthy living for the agency's newsletter. I've since made a career change in order to help people make healthy changes as a full-time Health Coach, but for those of you who may be looking for ways to refine your routines for a better work-life balance, I offer the following snapshot of my approaches at the time...

One way to simplify life and reduce stress is to be clear about your priorities and align the way you spend your time to those priorities. Mine are health, marriage, kids, work, and home. These change over time and vary widely for different people. At another stage in my life, travel and friendships will be top priorities again. Always though, health remains at the top of my list. It’s what allows me to enjoy everything else in life! I align the way I spend my time to this priority. Here’s how: sleep, movement, happiness, and food.

Spotting a giant asparagus on my walk to work!

Eighteen years ago, I eliminated television from my home and ever since have benefitted greatly from that single decision. One result is that my evening activities come to a pleasurable close by about 8:30 each night, at which time I go to bed and get a solid 8 or 9 hours of sleep. We rise 6:00, light a candle, chug a glass of water with lemon, do a bit of simple yoga (stretching with deep breathing), and meditate while coffee or tea is brewing. As shared in a previous blogpost titled Morning Glory, my husband I have a long-standing coffee-talk-on-the-couch routine every morning that lasts about half an hour. By the time I’m ready to get the kid up, I am feeling relaxed, rested, centered, connected and warmed up for the day. I then enjoy a big hot breakfast that usually consists of dinner leftovers like rice and veggies with an egg or two on top – all simply heated in my favorite cast iron skillet. After trying many ways of eliminating daily car time, I am now settled into walking my daughter to school each day and then the rest of the way to work, using the city bus for part of the four-mile route. Anytime movement can be integrated into your necessary functions of the day, it’s the most pleasurable and sustainable way to stay active (example: using the stairs at work).

Another example of daily, integrated movement is the standing desk arrangement. This is really catching on in our office. It can, in most cases, be set up easily and at no cost. I stand at work throughout the day and as a result fidget, stretch and walk around much more frequently. The only time I sit down is during meetings. If, like my husband, you are lucky enough to work for an organization that concerns itself with your well-being, you may be able to purchase a standing desk for your office. The desks on the market these days are very cool and designs are numerous. I encourage you to explore the *standing desk options at reviews.com!

Our workteam exudes positivity throughout the day. We meet our challenges with open communication, flexibility, solution-oriented thinking, and fun teamwork. You may find us boisterous like a big loving family – laughing and fussing and laughing again - or studious and focused with our heads together on a tough issue at any given moment. Being happy at work is essential to my good health. 

Now about food…The kitchen and food culture in our society is becoming less intuitive, warm, nurturing, natural, and nourishing as our lives become busier. As a result, many of us feel disconnected dread related to the chore of feeding our families and ourselves; some even feel intimidated using their own kitchens. American kitchens are often highly well equipped, but rarely used and somewhat dysfunctional. Family culture around kitchens and mealtime are also becoming less positive and connective. Ultimately, as a culture we are sacrificing our empowerment over our health and daily kitchen experiences.

Food is personal and intimate. We take it into our bodies multiple times a day and it impacts our health, moods, energy, and behaviors. Because food is a personal necessity, we benefit from taking ownership over our food related choices and behaviors (shopping, growing, cooking, mealtime routines, kitchen management, cooking and eating atmosphere).

So I cook like it’s a party in the kitchen. I buy fresh, real food that looks pretty and smells good – fruit, veggies, bulk rice, bulk beans, local eggs, local meats, fish, and a few treats like plain Greek yogurt, local honey, sauerkraut, dark chocolate, and wine! Since health is a priority, I’ll sacrifice expenses in other areas so I can afford to spend more money on quality food. When I cook, there are no measurements, no plans, no obligation except to feed my body and spirit. If high quality, whole foods are in the kitchen, all I have to do is toss them together and apply heat in most cases and it will taste good! I make enough of whatever concoction I create to feed everyone, but beyond that I don’t cater to pickiness. My family knows that they can eat it or leave it, but meals are rituals and all are expected to show up, sit, take a deep breathe, slow down, and then engage in the experience with manners.

Finally, I usually end the day with a glass of wine (or kombucha) with my husband on the front porch. We call it happy hour because it really is a happy time to debrief the day, watch the neighborhood kids, and wave at the neighbors walking before dinner. 

My health is influenced not only by my daily routines, but also by my levels of satisfaction with how other areas of my life are going. If you don’t feel as “healthy” as you wish, examine voids or negativity in your work, relationships, finances, and home because the secret barriers to good health may go beyond food and exercise choices.

With intent to help you make healthy changes...the most important thing you can do for yourself is to enjoy the pleasures of your life. A bit of ease and healthy, simple pleasure can go a very long way in supporting the body's ability to both heal and sustain itself beautifully.

Enjoy!

*Finding the right standing desk for your needs

In the last few years, work-life integration has become more of a concern in office life. Ergonomic furniture and devices have replaced typical desks and computers in an effort to help office workers stay happier, healthier, and ultimately, more productive. We’ve all heard buzz about standing desks — some sources like CNN even say that they can facilitate a measurable bump in productivity.

With so many options out there on the market, it can be tough to know how to find a standing desk that’s right for you, or even if it’s a good solution for your unique needs. That’s why the team at Reviews.com hand-tested leading options on the market to determine what is the most important when finding a great standing desk.

Function: Standing desks often boast stand-to-sit capabilities and other features, but do they really do what you need? Make sure the desk space itself is big enough to be a workspace for everything you’ll be doing, not just computer work.

Warranty: Given how expensive standing desks typically are,, they will ideally come with a warranty. Warranties are obviously great for covering damage, but also signify that the manufacturer stands behind their quality of their work.

User Experience: The team went on to personally test everything from design and smoothness of raising and lowering desk height to actually putting them to use for work. Again, these aspects are pretty much up to one’s personal preferences at the end of the day.

Ease of Assembly: Desks can appear to be very straightforward in construction, but they may actually be quite complex to put together. Testers found a huge range in how hard they were to put together, so we recommend you look for one that’s not so complicated.

While these factors will help you get a good idea of where to start looking, one of the most important aspects of incorporating a standing desk into your routine is proper use:

First, keep in mind that standing around all day isn’t necessarily better for you than sitting. Like the rest of the world, office life can get caught up in fads, and standing desks are no exception. While some experts make claims that “sitting is the new smoking” and the like, there is a delicate balance to supporting your health during the workday. Aim for a combination of both sitting and standing, and look for a standing desk which facilitates that transition.

There’s also a right and a wrong way to be using a standing desk — and that positioning is key. Your monitor should sit at/just below eye level, and remember to position yourself so your eyes are 20 to 28 inches from your screen. Upper arms should be close to your body with straight wrists, with hands at or below wrist level. Ultimately, the table height should be roughly at elbow height to create a 90-degree angle at your elbow. 

Ultimately, your decision will be up to personal preference, but these factors will be important to keep in mind as you determine what’s best for you. To take a look at the full guide and see which standing desks performed the best, you can take a look here: https://www.reviews.com/standing-desk/

Precious Things

It seems to me that sometimes the most precious, symbolic and meaningful things find their way into my kitchen. Like no other room in the house, the kitchen holds the most sentimental gifts and reminders. 

Literally...Sunshine in My Kitchen

The item that inspires my awareness of this fact at the moment is a small jar of seasoning called Florida Sunshine made by The Spice and Tea Exchange. It arrived via FedEx yesterday in a package from a very beautiful friend who also happens to be an incredibly awesome travel agent. This gift was selected and sent to me as a thoughtful gesture of gratitude for my reconnection with her after about 15 years and my trust in her company's ability to expertly plan my family's upcoming vacation. 

This small dispenser of sunshine (sea salt, orange zest, green peppercorn, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest and rose petals) will brighten my meals and my heart for several months. When I used it last night to season strips of turkey breast simply pan fried over medium heat with olive oil and ghee in the iron skillet, I was amazed at how a meaningful addition can make a very simple meal taste like it's full of love and new life.  Thank you, Korrine, for both the Sunshine in a jar and the remarkable travel service. 

Other examples of precious things in my kitchen are:

• The orange, brown, and avocado green crockpot from the 70's passed along from my friend Martha, who was a young inspiring woman during that era and has in more recent years taught me about independence and self possession.
• The exotic chives that came in bundles throughout the season from my husband's Chinese co-worker's garden, because he recalls my fascination with his family's Chinese-American kitchen culture.
• My two glass olive oil bottles that both stand full and ready for service next to the stove. One was given to me as a birthday present from my sweet daughter and the other as a Christmas present from my long-time friend, Cyndy, who knows how to jack up a person's coolness factor with household relics.
• The jar of Harissa sauce with blue duck tape servicing as a date label in the fridge right now, recently given to me as a homemade gift from a friend, SaraKeith, during a 7 Day Cleanse we went through together.



The BEST Packaging



Recycle/Trash Cabinet

• One of the original microwave cabinets that my Mom, Aunt and Nanny all bought when microwaves were just becoming affordable additions to the modern kitchen (in the early 1980's), at least in our family. I acquired Mom's years ago, and it has been painted every color and served every purpose you can imagine in my kitchen, except as a microwave cabinet!

I could go on because so many things in my kitchen have precious memories and gratitude attached, even the half a cucumber that my neighbor, Sue, "loaned" me on a recent stormy day right after my daughter and I spent an hour running around in the summer rain laughing so hard... 

But...here's the point:

I am CONVINCED that acknowledging and honoring these connections to people, memories and feelings makes our food taste better and our time in the kitchen more FUN.

Take a moment to browse your kitchen. Lay your eyes and hands on a thing or two that triggers a thought, memory, connection, or feeling. Consider how personal and deeply connected to you and your family your kitchen is compared to a restaurant kitchen. Send a silent (or wildly loud) expression of gratitude to your kitchen and it's contents for being there to nurture and nourish you when you choose take advantage of all it has to offer.

...the can opener that I found a duplicate of when I was housesitting for a friend and stole as a joke on her tendency toward clutter...

...the small spatula I use EVERY day that my aunt gave me after I became so enthusiastic about hers when I spent a weekend visiting and "guest cooking" in her kitchen...

...the coffee mug...that sexy Indonesian bowl...MUST STOP SHARING!

My work, HDH, exists to help you embrace desired or required changes for healthier living. Coming soon...

• Work-life Balance
• The shocking ease, nutrition and yumminess of sprouting lentils

The Modern Cookie Jar

Have you ever found yourself enjoying something that for years you thought was totally uncool? This happens to me often, which probably means that right this very minute I am ignorantly missing out on something super cool. The most recent example of this self-induced injustice is the cookie jar.

The Cool Cookie Jar

I've always preferred savory to sweet flavors. Even as a kid, the idea of having a sweet tooth was lost on me. I shared this trait with my mother. Then and now, we both proudly declare that we "crave" salty french fries or cheese while others lament over their sugar addictions.  Digging a little deeper into this smug position we share, I've realized a few things. During an era of ladies' jazzercise classes and calorie counting madness, my mother left an impression on me with her lack of interest in sweet treats. It seemed that while so many role models were wrestling with the sugar monster, she was modeling that one could simply decide not to like certain offending foods. She conceded to having one small canister for my father's Little Debbie Snacks, but she was wasn't happy about it. Also, under no circumstances did she bake cookies, except to fulfill her family tea cake obligation at Christmas. Even now, at each Christmas gathering, she brings the tea cakes and comments that they turned out well because "...they aren't too sweet." This kind of parental conditioning along with my natural tendency toward savory foods, resulted in disdain for old-fashioned celebrations of sweet treats, like the iconic cookie jar.

How were you introduced to the idea of a cookie jar? The Cookie Monster? Your grandmother's kitchen? I remember asking about the huge glass jars tucked into back corners of the pantry storing things like bags of microwave popcorn. I was told that these relics were saved from my great grandparents' old country store where they sat at the counter filled with penny candies or homemade cookies. In this way, cookie jars became an antique idea. The very opposite of modern. Uncool.

Nearly thirty some odd years later, I snagged one as it was sitting empty in Mom's pantry to use for my sourdough bread starter, Claudia.  After downsizing my sourdough production to a large mason jar, I was left with this huge countertop vessel begging for a purpose. I don't know about you, but a thing without a purpose in my home haunts me until I do something about it.

About the same time, I began using almond pulp that was leftover from making almond milk for gravies and other sauces. It occurred to me that I could attempt a "not too sweet" grain-free cookie using the almond pulp. Well, it worked. I felt I was crossing some bridge back in time and through my oddly personal internal "rules" when I loaded the cookie jar with that first batch of cookies. I also felt like a total and true stay-at-home domestic matriarch for the first time ever, and it was...both sweet and powerful. Here's an example for cookies using almond pulp:

Ingredients (as fresh, real, whole, and simple as possible):

• About one cup of almond pulp (best leftover from making almond milk)
• Two eggs
• Something sweet (sugar, date syrup, honey), about 1/4 cup
• About 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• About 1/2 cup of any kind of nut butter
• About 2 tablespoons of oil, butter, or ghee
• About a tablespoon of salt
• A dash of baking soda and a dash of baking powder
• A handful of any nuts, seeds, chocolate chips that you desire

Method (...remembering that this is not a recipe or a test, but an invitation to learn by experimenting and playing with your food!):

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lay a sheet of parchment paper (or grease) a cookie sheet
• Mix all ingredients, tasting and adding more of this or that to the batter until you like it (If the flavor of the batter is pleasing, you will most likely enjoy the cookie!).
• Add wet or dry ingredients if needed to create a consistency that is sticky and wet, but plops off the spoon rather than dripping.
• Plop spoonfuls of the batter about an inch apart and bake for 10 or 15 minutes until cookies are a bit springy when you press the middle. 
• Let cool to room temperature and taste them! 

You cannot screw up. Nothing goes to waste. If a batch turns out too dry for your taste, dip them in your coffee or smear them with something creamy like peanut butter, hazelnut chocolate butter, whipped cream, or cream cheese. You could even serve them with ice cream for an ice cream sandwich effect. If they are too gooey (is there such a thing?) you could mash the whole batch up into a baking dish, cover it with chocolate or honey and re-bake for a brownie dish. But most of the time, even if they're a bit this or that, put them in the cookie jar and watch them shine! In my experience, there is something about the cookie jar that elevates their status with all who pass through.

Once my cookie jar was loaded, very sweet things started to happen. A neighbor passed through to deliver a message, but stopped mid-sentence when she saw the cookie jar. "What's this," she asked with a smile and without hesitating dipped her hand in to grab a cookie. A friend stopped by needing a sympathetic ear and ended up sampling and excitedly discussing the cookie ingredients. My daughter began asking permission to eat a cookie from the cookie jar as if it was a precious privilege in contrast to the lukewarm response to my constantly offering "healthy" snacks.  I, myself, experienced a new feeling of warmth radiating from the freshly loaded cookie jar as if the past few generations of kitchen goddesses in my family were smiling on me with approval. And here's the thing, these cookies are not junky processed sugar addiction starters and they are not inducing any sugar binges. It seems that the cookie jar content is far less important than the act of keeping a jar of love, stocked and accessible, in the family kitchen.

I write to help people improve their health by bringing more ease and pleasure to the kitchen...may the culture of your kitchen support your health and happiness!