Bodhimed

These days it's trendy to sneak nutritious ingredients into kids' meals.  While I'd prefer that my kids willingly and happily enjoy vegetables in their natural state, I also appreciate the versatility and convenience of a protein-packed sauce.  I love sauces because they make everything taste better and can really complete a meal.  This Yumm! sauce recipe below was introduced to me by friends in Eugene, Oregon where, for obvious reasons, it is all the rage.  Try it over steamed veggies with rice, as a dip for raw carrots and cucumbers, or any other creative use you can think of.  Your kids really will say "Yummmm!!!"

Yumm! Sauce Recipe

• 3/4 c. melted coconut oil (or organic canola oil)
• 1/2 c. roasted almonds
• 2/3 c. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 c. cooked garbanzo beans
• 1/3 c. cooked soybeans
• 1/2 c. filtered water
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 2 or more (or many more if you are like me) garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried cilantro (To be honest, I skip this because I am not a cilantro person and it still tastes great.)
• 1.5 tsp. curry powder (optional)

Blend the almonds, beans, and oil in a blender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until creamy and smooth.  Cover and let stand in the fridge for at least an hour.  Or just eat it right away.

All of a sudden I know too many people with cancer.  Years ago I worked in a cancer clinic supporting oncology patients with acupuncture and herbs.  They were patients of mine, not friends and family.  Prior to leaving for our summer road trip three weeks ago, five people close to me had cancer.  Sadly, now there are only four.  This is too many, and it leaves me sad and angry that our world has become so toxic that everyone from 6-month-old babies to 33-year-old women to 60-somethings can suffer from this epidemic.  What can we do if the dreaded diagnosis hits close to home?

It is said that it takes feeling 50,000 pulses to get really good at Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis.  After almost 20 years of practicing Ayurveda, I'm probably closing in on that huge number, but sometimes I still find myself doubting whether I'm really feeling what I think I'm feeling.  Driving back to Santa Fe from my recent weekend Ayurvedic pulse seminar with Dr. Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute, I remembered the profound truth that when we trust ourselves to listen to our intuition, we access a level of knowing that is usually hidden from our over-thinking, analytical mind.

While stress gets a lot of press because of its harmful effects on your health, guilt is usually overlooked as being equally destructive.  Whether someone tries to make you feel guilty or you succumb to it yourself, what good comes from feeling guilty?  Remorse for hurting somebody is one thing, but oftentimes we feel guilty because we ate cake, or because we think we're not doing something well enough.  What if we turned guilt around and practiced loving kindness toward ourselves, accepting that we are good enough and that we're all doing the best we can?  We might finally experience a new level of well-being and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Guilt-Free Eating

One of the worst things we can do during a meal is to feel guilty about what we're eating.  Think of the mental stress we create if we're not enjoying our food, but rather feeling stressed about it?  I'm not advocating that you eat junk food and feel good about it, but that you choose food consciously and then savor it.  One of the explanations I like regarding why French people are generally thin is that they take time to really enjoy their food. In my blog post about learning this lesson with donuts, I share how I had to confront my desire for donuts so I could then let go of it and move beyond the guilt I had created around it.