Posted By admin on April 25, 2012

I recall a conversation last spring in the produce section of the supermarket where I noticed a woman purchasing organic strawberries. Earlier in the day, I had been to Reeder Farms, where owners Nadine and Russ Reeder grow pesticide-free produce, meticulously wiped free of dirt and handsomely displayed. Being strawberry season, I delighted in the selection of “just picked” beauties. Now at my local grocers only a few miles away, I couldn’t help asking a perfect stranger as she reached for a quart of strawberries if she was familiar with Reeder Farms, where strawberries are grown locally and “non-certified” organic.

She paused for a moment, as if vaguely familiar with the name but trying to place it. “Oh yes,” she replied, “they are right down the street from me and I didn’t even think to go there.” She seemed puzzled by her own response and I wondered how many locals are zipping by farms, farmers markets and farm stands to head to the supermarket in a habitual daze for one stop shopping. Is all the care and love that pours into responsibly grown local food relegated to an occasional treat or infrequent family activity? For many folks, it might be. I am often amazed at the produce left unsold at the end of the day at my local farmers market. While large quantities of food are passionately sought after by loyal and committed foodies, the display tables, baskets and buckets should be wiped clean, feeding the masses.

My personal observations have led me to conclude that much (if not most) of what we do is out of habit. One stop supermarket shopping is convenient, familiar and time-saving. Many who would like to enjoy the freshness of local foods on a consistent basis are challenged to make a habit of including time for healthier living; shopping as well as preparing the food.

Farmers Markets and farms across the country are continuously expanding to offer shopping opportunities beyond the usual produce, and have included grass fed meats, free range poultry, cheeses, eggs, freshly baked bread, local wine, prepared food from local ingredients, fresh cut flowers, hand made gifts and more – all in one stop. Although the growing season is not year round in most areas, with some resourcefulness, we can experience the first sprouts to the last roots. I was amazed last season to discover I could still purchase local rutabagas as late December 31st!

Visiting a farm, farmers market or farm stand offers unique opportunities to learn, grow and experience a sense of community. In addition to knowing your grower, often are opportunities to sample fresh tastes, watch cooking demos, participate in contests, view local art, pet the animals, view the green valleys, listen to music, watch crafters at work, breath the fresh air, hear some great stories and make new friends.

So ask yourself if there is room in your life for a “locavore awakening.” A creation of space that encourages a conscious and consistent commitment to exploring what is available in your community while supporting sustainable living and growing practices.

As we brink on the opening days of Farmers Markets throughout the Northeast, many of us will intend to adopt more locavore lifestyles. We also know that to incorporate favorable behaviors into our lives they must become habitual. For centuries, “locavore” wasn’t the new found buzz word of today but an assumed way of life that needed no verbal reference. We drifted as far away as we could from local living, going from backyard growing to food imported from the farthest ends of the earth. We are coming full circle, back to basics, back to our communities to sustain our most basic needs.  Although we may not yet be completely sustainable locally, we can certainly embrace all that is available.

Make this season the beginning of a long and consistent relationship to local sustainability. Make it a habit. For me that means going food shopping every Saturday morning at the Easton Farmers Market, with stops at a few local farms in-between. Meals are planned around local availability with the supermarket serving as a “filler” for whatever else is needed. I prefer to bite into a strawberry lovingly grown by my local farmer instead of one that traveled a cross country trip supervised from start to finish by a large conglomerate. See you at the market!

Category: Healthy Living | No Comments »
Tags: Easton Farmers Market, locavore, non-certified organic, organic, Pennsylvania, Reeder Farms, sustainability

Posted By admin on March 29, 2012

On a recent trip to Southwest Florida, I visited beautiful Pine Island, also known as “Florida’s Creative Coast.” The senses are nurtured and inspired here, through visual art, musicians and authors.

Lovegrove Gallery and Gardens is one of the many brightly colored alluring havens in the village of Matlacha. Leoma Lovegrove, artist extraordinaire, is zipping through her gallery covered in paint, sporting funky white sunglasses, and carrying a blue glass bottle in her hand. She pauses long enough for me to snap a photo. Her creative energy and active imagination weave a presence through the wildly vivid paintings and freeform designs.

Much of the gallery is devoted to her admiration for the Beatles, the most striking being a colossal brush-stroke recreation of our favorite foursome as the focal point to her garden of glass trees. Most of the garden trees are constructed from blue glass bottles and my interest in her original and inspiring creations allows me a brief conversation before she is summoned for a phone call.

Leoma lost her sister to cancer, and the glass bottles make a statement against the plastic drinking bottles her sister was so fond of. Leoma believes the toxins in plastic as well as her sister’s frequent use of the microwave may have been contributing factors to the illness. Plenty of glass bottles are collected for Leoma’s innovative designs. In addition to her personal commitment to healthier living and concerns for the environment, she offers the glass bottled water for sale to her patrons.  Her growing glass garden offers plenty of creative opportunity for Leoma, an internationally recognized artist.

Upon returning home, I desired a deeper connection to the bursts of artistic creativity sprouting from Leoma Lovegrove. Who among us hasn’t dreamed of picking up a brush and offering something brilliant? For those of us not destined to create such pleasures, we are blessed to share in the genius of those who can.

To learn more about Leoma Lovegrove, visit her website.

Category: Healthy Living | 1 Comment »
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Posted By admin on March 6, 2012

March rolls in the hope of spring along with truckloads of cabbages displayed in produce departments servicing potential patrons of St. Patrick’s Day. One certainly need not be Irish to enjoy this undervalued member of the cruciferous family that offers up a lot more than a side-kick to the traditional corned beef supper.

The display of organic cabbages has been impressive this season, sporting crisp, tight, unblemished leaves in an array of sizes. Whether part of a long slow braise or added to a mixed green salad, they offer a surprising sweetness.

This recipe was a result of a desire for a bed of something “yummy” flanked alongside a boneless turkey breast, which can sometimes lean towards dryness under the best of circumstances. I have since served it as an accompaniment to leg of lamb as well as oven roasted chicken and it has proved to be a complimentary and versatile side dish. 

Lately, I have been fully appreciating the flavor of fennel seeds and finding new and exciting ways to incorporate them into several dishes. The unique flavor of fennel adds a pleasing dimension to this dish.

Ingredients:

1 large green cabbage, about 2.5 – 3 pounds, cored and chopped into strips
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Extra-virgin olive oil
Butter (optional)
1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
Sea salt to taste
¼ – ½ cup of water

Directions:

In a 6-8 quart pot or dutch oven, toast fennel seeds for about 1 -2 minutes or until fragrant. Add 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter (or 2 tablespoons of olive oil) and heat. Slowly sauté onions on a low flame for about 20 minutes, until softened and slightly browned. Add the cabbage and stir to mix. Add ¼ cup water. Cover the pan and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding additional water if necessary. After 30 minutes, add the apples, lemon juice and agave. Stir and simmer with the lid on the pot another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sea salt to taste.

Makes great leftovers, even better the next day!

Category: Recipes | 2 Comments »
Tags: apples, blood type diet, braised, cabbage, fennel seeds, healthy, leg of lamb, onions, organic, roast chicken, St. Patrick's Day, turkey breast

Posted By admin on February 18, 2012

My Oatmeal Tea Cookie creation is a tasty and healthy alternative to the traditional favorite “old fashioned” variety. Whole grain spelt flour adds a nutty flavor while flax meal (not flax seed) further enhances the nutritional profile of this popular confection that made its début in the late 1800’s.

If you can appreciate a slight sweetness and firm texture, these little gems pop with flavor, reminiscent of a biscuit and with a lot less sugar.

Perfect with a cup of your favorite tea, it may just lead to dunking!

Fill a jar for the kids (of all ages) and they won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:

1 stick of organic butter, (slowly and carefully melted to avoid burning)
½ cup of agave nectar or honey
2 farm fresh eggs
1.5 cups whole grain spelt flour
½ cup flax meal (available in most grocery stores)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 cups regular oats
1 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a baking sheet or cover with parchment paper.

Pour the melted butter into a medium mixing bowl. Add agave nectar. Stir to mix. Add two slightly beaten eggs.

In a large size mixing bowl, mix spelt flour, flax meal, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and oats.

Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry while gently stirring until blended. Add raisins and combine.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up a chunk of dough and slightly mound onto cookie sheet.

Bake about 8 minutes or until slightly browned. Cool on a baking rack. Store in an airtight container to maintain freshness.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Category: Healthy Living, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Tags: agave nectar, biscuit, blood type diet, flaxmeal, healthy, oatmeal cookies, spelt flour

Posted By admin on February 9, 2012

Spelt is an amazing grain, capable of producing crusty loaves of bread, firm pasta and tasty baked goods with a similar texture to wheat and a much more desirable nutritional profile.

Sporting a rich sienna color, spelt can be traced back to the Stone Age and is still popular in parts of Italy, where it is known as farro, as well as Germany and Switzerland where it is called dinkle. In medieval Europe, spelt was the chosen grain of aristocrats while the commoners were fed rye. We can thank our Swiss immigrants for first cultivating spelt in the U.S. as early as 1890, and surprisingly, this grain was largely cultivated until 1920, when it became cheaper to process wheat. 

Recently, the valued properties of this long forgotten grain used mainly in the U.S for animal feed up until the 1980’s, have been rediscovered. A new surge of interest has encouraged the availability of spelt in many supermarkets and health food stores. Offered in various forms, spelt can be purchased as flour, pasta, whole spelt berries, cereal, baking mixes, snack foods and baked goods. Currently, the increasingly popular grain is grown in several states, with Ohio being the leading producer.

Spelt is a hardy grain, protected from insects and pollutants by its hull. Unlike wheat, it is naturally resistant to disease and adapts to various environments. It does, however, produce a lower yield per acre and requires a more labor intense grinding process, contributing to its higher price tag.

Considered a low allergy grain due to its reduced gluten content and ease of digestion, spelt is often tolerated by individuals allergic to wheat. It is not a gluten free grain and should be avoided by individuals with celiac disease. Spelt is nutrient dense and an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein.

Spelt adds a robust nuttiness to breads, cookies, cakes and muffins and can be substituted for wheat in any recipe. Baking bread with spelt flour requires additional adjustments due to the fragile nature of its gluten content. Spelt does not rise as well as wheat and can easily be over-mixed. For best results, a “starter” or “sponge dough” is suggested. Baking bread with spelt flour takes practice and patience and so far my two attempts have been less than stellar. However, I use it almost exclusively for quick breads, cakes, muffins and cookies. Other uses include lightly dusting cutlets or seafood in seasoned spelt flour before sautéing to add a nice crust, or adding a few tablespoons to thicken a sauce. Spelt pasta is also a favorite. Available in a variety of forms from ribbons to elbows, it maintains a firm texture when properly cooked.

As consumers become more discerning, spelt may become the desired choice over wheat, especially as some of the less than admirable truths about modern wheat are increasingly brought to light.

For an interesting read on the evils of wheat, check out this interview with Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist and author of “Wheat Belly.”

Please feel free to share your comments on spelt. Perhaps you have some tips on baking bread with spelt flour!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto with Spelt Pasta Recipe

More Spelt recipes coming soon!

Sources for this post include “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods,” by Michael Murray, ND.

Category: Healthy Living | 4 Comments »
Tags: baking, bread, celiac disease, dinkle, Dr. William Davis, farro, flour, grain, healthy, nutrition, pasta, spelt, spelt berries, wheat allergy, Wheat Belly

Posted By admin on February 5, 2012

The amazing properties of sea veggies are not just for boosting your nutritional profile, but have been used for centuries to nourish the skin as well.

With the combination of three natural ingredients; kelp powder, raw honey and aloe vera gel, the skin is gently refreshed and rejuvenated. Treat your face to a lift with the many minerals and antioxidants found in sea veggies, as well as the moisturizing and healing properties of honey and aloe vera.

Ingredients for a Seaweed Facial Mask:

1 tablespoon kelp powder or other seaweed powder (available in health food stores)
1½ teaspoon raw honey
1½ teaspoon aloe vera gel (at least 98% pure)

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix to a paste-like consistency. I find the easiest way to blend ingredients is using a fingertip. Apply to clean face. Mask will tighten while drying. After about 20 minutes, remove mask. Gently peel sections of the mask that loosen easily, being careful not to tug at skin. Remove the remaining mask with warm water and moisturize as usual.

Mask can be applied up to two times per week.

*Note: most homemade seaweed facial masks include adding about 1-2 tablespoons of warm water. I find the consistency much more manageable without this addition.

Depending on how much paste is needed to cover face, recipe may be halved. Considering the expense of the ingredients, I use the smallest amount possible.

Category: Healthy Living | 2 Comments »
Tags: aloe vera gel, antioxidants, facial mask, healing, kelp powder, minerals, nutrients, raw honey, seaweed