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Minestrone Soup

 

Minestrone

Soup is manna for the soul, and this soup is a spectacular meal sure to please the entire family.

  • 1 15oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • 1 cup each carrots, celery, yams, leeks, red pepper
  • 1 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large handful spinach
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 1-2 t olive oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 t cumin
  • 1 t coriander
  • 1 t turmeric
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 T ginger, minced
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  1. Rinse and drain chickpeas. In a l…

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Sweet Potato with Kale & Ginger

 

Sweet Potato with Kale & Ginger

Delicious as a main dish or side, this easy-to-make meal is a filling alternative to a pasta or grain offering. Double the recipe and have lunch ready for tomorrow ahead of time!

  • 1 T ginger, fresh, minced
  • 1/2 lb kale
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 1 T Sunflower or Olive Oil
  • 2 cups sweet potatoes, cleaned and diced
  • 1 t turmeric
  • 1 t cinnamon
  1. Boil the kale until leaves turn a vibrant shade of green green and strain.

  2. In a separate pot, add the diced sweet pota…

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A Call to Simplify

Last week I got back into my garden, my hands in the dirt, squatting to pull weeds for hours, removing dead leaves and branches, harvesting beautifully ripe no-spray strawberries.

It was a joy to be nurturing nature.  And a pain…literally.  My legs and back are sore to the core.  I realized – my garden and I are in the worst shape ever!

And then as I wondered again why we pay our landscape maintenance company to come regularly to “mow, blow, and go,” why do we pay people (gardeners, housekeepers, …

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Dealing with Depression

 

Please note that some links below are affiliate links and may result in a commission to me.  I only recommend products that I truly believe in.

Having dealt with depression for many years, I believe that an Integrative approach looking at all aspects of our lives is the key to healing.  Yes, sometimes medications are necessary and helpful.  But usually it is something more than a lack of a pill.  These are the things that have helped pull me out of the downward spiral and re-connect with the joy…

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Choosing a Sauna: What to Look For, What to Avoid

A good friend of mine with Breast Implant Illness who also happens to be a bargain hunter recently asked me if a discount-brand infrared sauna would be ok. She knows that detoxing with sauna is helpful for her and has experienced the benefits, but was wary about what she is being exposed to in a public sauna and was ready to invest in her health. But should she pay the big bucks for a name brand or would the one that she found at a substantial discount suffice? Here are the major things that I t…

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Sweat for Your Life: The Benefits of Infrared Sauna

Being sweaty hasn’t traditionally been regarded as a good thing (unless you’re a professional athlete). In fact, we’ve been told to do the exact opposite. Do you remember the ads like I do (OK, these are dating me...)? Want to be confident and secure? Don’t sweat. Want to be successful in your career? Never let them see you sweat. And for us ladies, make sure you’ve got something that’s strong enough for a man, but made for a woman! Now of course, having body odor is not a great thing. B…

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3 Reasons Why I Wrote "Resilient Health"

Medical School of the Internet – Part I

 This first reason why I wrote Resilient Health has two parts.  The first is the very abundant presence of Doctor Google and what happened to my Facebook feed.

You see, I am a skeptic and a researcher by nature. So when things come across my feed such as:

“Beaver Butts Emit Goo Used for Vanilla Flavoring”

(Yes, that’s an actual posting from National Geographic, no less)

I want to know – Is this really true?  What does the data REALLY say?

Before the conversat…

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What Makes One Person Sad and Another Happy?

Lately I’ve been hearing news from many people going through difficult times and I am reminded of a story that my dear mentor Dr. David Simon would sometimes share.  It apparently has several possible origins, but I like this version.

King Solomon asked his most trusted minister Benaiah to find a special ring that he wanted to wear for a festival.  He said, "It has special powers. If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no suc…

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Why Detox Instead of Diet?

With the New Year comes new resolutions.  For many, that involves getting healthy and very often that translates into going on a diet.  But, what if I told you that going on a diet could potentially release stored toxins into your system that could make you feel bad, get sick and potentially even prevent you from losing weight?

That’s what happened to Christopher, a 32 year-old successful salesman who had put on 35 pounds since college.  Friendly and gregarious, he enjoyed celebrating his success…

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Top 7 Tips for Managing Stress

Struggling with stress and feeling over-whelmed?  Incorporate these 7 tips into your regular routine to get your body and mind back on track.

  1. Meditate.  Learn and practice a meditation or relaxation technique on a daily basis.  Breathe deeply.  As a start, check out my guided So Hum meditation.

  2. Exercise. Integrate flexibility, strength building, and cardiovascular activities into your daily routine.  Even if you can only fit in 15 minutes of walking, it is worth it.

  3. Eat well. Favor an anti-inflamma…

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