Passionate about Health

This is one thing I am passionate about: serving real food, adding veggies and fruit (purees often) to foods we eat, and making sure we all eat lots of anti-oxidants (cell healers: they keep our cells young and functioning at top ability) and vitamins and immune boosting foods/supplements.

This is whole wheat French bread (Albertson's has a few now and again) dipped in eggs, soy milk (or organic milk) and 1/2 cup of butternut squash (pureed). We add cinnamon and nutmeg and sometimes a little bit of orange juice. It is so tasty! So sweet and has a slightly pumpkin-y flavor; just slightly. I got the idea from my most favorite cookbook written by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife). She sneaks pureed veggies and fruits into breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Actually, her kids and Jerry know about it and love what she does. She uses fresh ingredients, egg whites, butter substitutes, some sugars less refined than white, etc. I love that she tells you how to prepare the purees (easy and quick both) and about labeling them in freezer bags and storing them; then you get out what you need, heat it up and mix it in.

These are our whole wheat (1/2 white flour) pancakes made with 1/2 c. of butternut squash, flax seed, chopped walnuts or pecans or almonds, frozen (thawed or fresh when in season) blueberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg. They are delicious! The kids eat them without syrup most of the time.

The other things I routinely put purees in are:

• pizza (spinach puree)
• banana/zucchini bread (squash puree)
• pastas (cauliflower or summer squash purees)
• cakes/cookies (squash or zucchini or carrot or pumpkin, depending on what type of cookie)
• sauces (varied purees: cauliflower, squash...)
• smoothies (full of fruit; can add pureed spinach and not taste difference)
• chocolate cake (beet puree)

Our kids love to brag about what I have put into our food when friends are over; I don't want to turn off their friends from eating, so I plead with the kids to not mention it til we are done eating. So far, I have only had compliments to the food, even to the zucchini-banana-craisin cookies and the spinach laden whole wheat bagel pizzas.

The kids feel good, are rarely sick and I hope we are establishing life long traditions of eating to live, not living to eat! Health, wellness, vitality, wisdom and freedom from addictions, skin problems, organ issues, overweight, immune disfunction and depression to name a few.

A couple of fabulous websites by others who are actually physicians who support preventative medicine (as opposed to most MDs who treat disease with drugs and don't work on preventing disease) and integrated medicine (and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy which I am following) are these:

http://www.stangardnermd.com/ MD who now looks to prevent disease and writes a lot about sugar addiction, food cravings, poisonous sugar substitutes (Splenda and Aspertame) and healthy, natural sugar substitutes. I am loving his website!

http://www.realage.com/ Dr. Oz and Dr. Rozien's website if FULL of awesome recipes, facts, ideas, etc. You can see how "old" you really are by taking a detailed health self-analysis which covers mental, social, emotional and physical health. I was thrilled to be told I am living 5 years younger than I really am, though after the quiz, it told me specifically where I could improve and knock more years off (live younger and longer) by doing a few things differently than I do now.

Excellent health of body gives me a happy mind, an upbeat disposition, ability to work, serve, and play. It keeps my spirit up and lets me do all the things I want to do. Exercise, which I didn't mention is my 'drug' of choice and without it I feel lethargic, prone to eat poorly, and a bit down. Weights, walking, yoga, pilates, kick-boxing and zumba get me fired up! What is really blessing my life now is yoga with it's emphasis on breathing, focusing on the breath, mind, thoughts, and body and getting in tune with the divinity within me and the potential within myself for good; I move so fast all the time, I breath shallowly and don't take time to nurture myself. This year, at age 40 I am determined to live fully: healthfully, mindfully, quietly, introspectively, honestly, gracefully, and to Stand Up for My Life (favorite title I'm reading now by Cheryl Richardson).

Wow, that is my most personal entry of all time. As this is a family journal, I want to record and remember this. Much, much more is in my personal notebook/journal.

Quotes from Stand Up For Your Life:

"When you make a conscious commitment to your own inner development, you take a giant step toward making a greater contribution to others."

"Think of self-discipline as an act of love. When you engage in any behavior that honors yourself, you automatically raise yourself-esteem--the ability to hold yourself in high regard."

"Your thoughts are like magnets. What you think about and focus your attention on shows up in your life."