Quotes are there for you sometimes when you need it the most. They can make you laugh out loud or let you know everything's going to be all right.
Luckily, they can be found easily on the internet, in newspaper comics, Twitter, You Tube or ... from the mouth of a child.
Here are some today that I hope will inspire you:
"You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens."
~ Ethel Barrymore
"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next."
~ Gilda Radner
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful."
~ Sophia Loren
Have a favorite quote you want to share? Please post it - I can't wait to hear it - and I'm sure others will benefit too.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Not the words you would choose to describe our present economy. But what if you could feel that way while eating certain foods?
Part of where we derive pleasure from eating is the anticipation of something good. Let's take chocolate for example. A piece of quality dark chocolate can make you feel luxurious, decadent and luscious before it even passes your lips. It's long been one of my go-to indulgences for that very reason.
Recently, while in the throws of a particularly challenging week, I wanted something really good for lunch and I decided to perform a food experiment. Instead of walking down to the corner store for my favorite brand of chocolate for "dessert" (Recchiuti, you're the best!), I decided to chow down on a pile of steamed vegetables drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. That's right, chow down. Should I have been surprised that I felt so much better afterwards? I mean, my mood instantly lifted and I felt like a different person. I usually reserve steamed veggies for a side dish at dinner, but as a main dish during that day, it was nothing short of miraculous for my mood.
I guess my lesson learned (or re-learned, what have you) that I hope may inspire you is that whenever life throws us a curve ball, to take a chance and allow for some experimentation with our foods. Healthy food can make us feel really good. It's supposed to, for crying out loud. And if it doesn't work, try something else or tweak what you know. You may just be pleasantly surprised.
"Got Milk?" Becomes "How did you Get that Milk?" according to an ABC News anchor recently when reporting on undercover video footage on a dairy factory farm dairy, The Ugly Side of Milk: Animal Cruelty. This is not the first time this has been shown to the public (see www.meatrix.com, Fresh, Food Inc., The Corporation, etc). However, will such videos influence customer behavior? Some may be appalled to learn some of the ugly truths but will it make you or others you know care enough to spend more at the checkout counter or seek local farm direct sources of your own?
Please check out the video and share your thoughts on what influences consumer behavior:
In case this video causes you to seek out other sources of milk, here are some resources for you to check out:
To find local sources of milk, nationwide: http://www.localharvest.org/
To locate a local chapter leader to find local raw milk, worldwide: http://www.westonaprice.org/chapters/
Ever feel sometimes like your food cravings are controlling you? Monica Seles - the hot tennis champ (just look at her on the cover!) - tells all about her tennis career, family life and the circumstances surrounding her 40-pound weight gain despite her grueling workouts in her new book, "Getting A Grip - On My Body, My Mind, My Self".
After being stabbed in the back by a deranged Steffi Graf fan, her father's cancer diagnosis and millions lost in failed sponsorships all happening around the same time, Monica used food to cope. Ah, who can blame her? She developed a major junk food addiction that she kept hidden from her family, friends, coaches and nutritionists that was spiraling out of control.
Some will love this book for the stories around her tennis - it's very exciting to read about other pros we all know and love as well as her winning mental strategy when approaching different types of competitors. The reason I loved it most of all was because of her message that not all of us are meant to achieve health through strictly following a diet or exercising like a mad-woman. There is a peace that we can achieve by intelligently following our body's lead, which is what Monica eloquently talks about.
Whether you love tennis, want to be inspired by her champion mindset, or learn her lessons around overcoming a mad food obsession, her approachable voice in this book is a great comfort to oneself or someone you love.
You gotta love Forrest Gump's memorable line, "Life is like a box of chocolates ~ you never know what you're gonna get". When it comes to food, "what's old is new" in that we're returning to local, farm fresh fare at restaurants, food stores and farmers' markets - just so that we know what we're going to get and for getting it cheaper.
Eating farm fresh isn't just a cool new trend or for enjoying tastier meals, it's helping out local economies too. Studies done in the state of Maine (see link) have shown that local farms bring more $$ back to Main Street. What a tasty way to support your local economy!
Last weekend, I made my first trip to Donna the lamb farmer in Sonoma County and picked up 10+ gloriously fresh pounds of butchered and packaged lamb. So fun, exciting - and at $8 a pound even for expensive cuts of meat - much cheaper! I almost wish I had friends - especially kids - with me when I went to share in this exciting experience.
Breathing in fresh air and walking on grass with a farmer describing life on the farm is a cool thing - it quickly takes one out of the usual workstation-based rat race routine. It feels good to see happy animals on pasture (including one-day old baby lambs!), reassuring to witness clean facilities and what they're being fed after being on pasture. And as one soaks up the fabulous scenery, one gets to touch, feel and breathe in what's real, witnessing in nature what it takes to sustains us.
For a soulful journey that you can't buy but must experience, here are some resources that show you where to check out a local farm near you:
Do you have a story or pictures of when you went to a local farm to buy produce, eggs or meat? Are you or someone you know a local farmer and would like to show off your goods on my website? Please let me know - I'd love to hear your story, share it on my website or maybe even make a visit!
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, Red Cross officials have estimated that one-third of Haiti's 9 million people are in need of aid. There is a way you can help and show you care, even if all you can afford to give is $5.
Want to find a charity you can trust to deliver help to the victims? Try out this website, Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org), which ranks thousands of charities by allocation of funds to administration, programs, events, and other qualifiers.
For my Facebook friends, you can check out my blog, recipes and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Take yourself...Peel off layers of egotism and self-pity. Cut out seeds
of unkind thoughts and unhappy emotions. Remove all prejudices and
worries. To this add one firm belief that life's worth living. Mix well
with one practical idea that you are somebody…season with a sense of
humor and optimism.
Sweeten with love. Then add one strong
determination to live at your highest every hour of the day, come what
may. Let effervesce for 365 days. Garnish with smiles and pleasant
words. Serve with gentleness and courage. Note the effect.
Want to bring a thoughtful gift to food-loving hosts who say "don't bring anything - just yourself"? Instead of - or in addition to - a bottle of wine, consider giving a food-related gift. Bargains are aplenty at Cost Plus and Trader Joe's, however, here are my favorite splurges for gifts:
1) A lovely bottle of extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
2) An herbed sea salt or set of sea salts - a set or one for meat, another for fish (Williams-Sonoma, Dean and Deluca)
3) Locally made dark chocolate (Recchiuti's Feve is a traffic-stopping, stunningly delicious choice)
4) Beautiful locally made soap and hand lotion set (try this fancy olive oil based set by Oliviers & Co.)
5) Last, but certainly not least, homemade goodies that you made yourself*
* This year, we made lavender sea salt giveaways with lavender that we grow in our garden (half lavender, half sea salt blended together). You could do the same with dried herbs or spices. Check out my recipes for a delicious homemade spice mix that's a snap to whip up.
What are YOUR favorite thoughtful food-related gifts to give? What's the story behind it? I'd love to know - please share it in the comments.
As reported in The New York Times, MSG has been blamed for "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome". According to neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of "Excitotoxins", MSG can cause long-lasting dysfunction among many organs throughout the body, even in-utero. A child's brain, for instance, is four times more sensitive to MSG than an adults' (p. 34). Unfortunately, a lot of canned products - even those marketed to children - contain the neurotoxin. Unfortunately, you may not know it from the list of ingredients.
How to know when MSG is in your food? Uncover the many names used to describe MSG on the Truth In Labeling website http://www.truthinlabeling.org. Terms like "natural flavors" and "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" are ingredients that you may not suspect are really MSG in disguise.
Even brands of organic chicken stock contain these ingredients, so this holiday season you may want to make your own. Here's my easy-peasy no-chop recipe for chicken broth that you can make overnight when you sleep. By making your own, you can save half the price of store-bought organic brands. Make it on the weekend before a holiday, freeze the leftovers, and you'll have life-giving broth that you and your family will love.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Our older loved ones can give us a goldmine of insight and perspective. I love asking my dad about his Korean war experience, the '50s heyday of Detroit Motor City, and favorite meals his mother made that I never had the chance to sample.
With the holidays approaching, if you are spending time with family members of earlier generations, it may be fun for you to capture their stories and essence on camera, audiotape or paper.
Here's a cute book by Live Inspired for under $10 that can help you capture some important stories about your dad, titled, My Dad. His Stories. His Words. (Of course they have other books for other family members and situations, so you should check it out.) The book is designed like a journal with a question listed on every other page. You can give it and your loved ones can simply fill in the blanks, or, use it as a basic list of questions to ask while videotaping your loved one giving the answers.
This book, or it's idea, may inspire you to find out more about your family - both for yourself and the benefit of future generations. I'd love it if you would share some of your questions for family members and encourage others to do the same. Here are some samples from the book:
1) What music did you grow up listening to?
2) What kind of house did you grow up in and what was your old neighborhood like?
3) How did you spend your free time before you had kids?
4) What was it like to become a father?
5) What rules did your parents have, and which ones drove you crazy?
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
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