Posts from — March 2009

I’ve blogged recently about my leaving the daily news to others since late Jan. In the time that’s past I’ve watched one primetime Obama press conference, or sales pitch, as well as read a couple of articles about AIG and others. Right now I don’t feel like I need to see more to understand where we are.

During the Obama pitch I heard him talk about credit for small business owners loosening up, as well as other help being implemented. If I were the administration I’d move as fast as I can on this front. As a resident and having my company based in Huntington the words “For Rent” and “50% Off” are all too common. If small business is the economic engine of this country then letting more space go for rent after the 50% off sale is going to make the problems at AIG look like Mickey Mouse.

Many of the small business owners I talk continue to have a positive outlook. Most, including us, are repositioning our products and ourselves to get through the times and prosper on the other side. However seeing the signs already prevalent leaves me wondering…

Small Business Owners need real help from places like the SBA, not just lip service. They also need to support each other, sometimes just by being there for each other, to hear or share an idea – remember to bring you NDA. Our efforts have been devoted to expanding services that have proven successful and introducing new services aligned with our business.

It’s incumbent on us to change the nature of business to be frugal, authentic and flexible, shaping the way companies conduct themselves for the next generation. I look forward to playing a part in this change.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

The philosophy and health benefits of eating raw foods (Part I)

Eating a simple raw carrot or celery stick may not be a flavorful experience for most. Dipping it in a mixture of hummus or avocado is an improvement, though the average person may find it difficult to maintain this habit for all three meals of the day. This is the notion most people have about the raw food diet: a tasteless meal without the warmth and smooth textures that most cooked foods provide. If you take a closer look, it’s not just a diet of eating salads and unsavory vegetables. Yes, it requires a challenge on one’s palate, but considering the possible health benefits of eating raw foods can lead to a positive and powerful lifestyle change.

Raw Life Benefits
So what does it mean to eat raw? What are the benefits? Changing ones diet and eating habits is a gradual journey. Our palates have been programmed since childhood to feel the texture and temperature of cooked foods plus our bodies have a digestion process to get used to. The main appeal of eating raw foods is the health benefits. Raw foodists publicize that the diet improves chronic conditions, efficiency of digestion, internal body cleansing, and maximum nourishment by maintaining live enzymes in fruits and vegetables. The byproducts of the diet include increased alertness and feeling of rejuvenation, therapy of mind, body, and spirit, and promoting a cleaner planet by saving energy.

The raw diet is about intense nutrition of uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. If the food is cooked or when the food temperature reaches beyond 118 degrees (depending on the source, some state 104 degrees), enzymes die and vitamins can be depleted. Digestion relies on these lost enzymes and as a result the body expends unnecessary energy to digest the food. Because of the added energy use, people feel more lethargic and sleepy, which has been known to occur after eating a big meal. Raw foodists claim otherwise.

The Raw Pantry
Since foods are eaten raw it’s important to include organic ingredients. If some ingredients are not available in the supermarket they are most likely found in a health food store.

Nuts/Seeds
cashews (raw)
flaxseed
pecans
pine nuts
pumpkin seeds
walnuts
sunflower seeds

Spices/Flavoring
black pepper, freshly milled
cayenne
cinnamon, freshly ground
cumin
curry powder
nutmeg
nama shoyu
miso
oregano
sea salt
ginger, freshly grated

Herbs
fresh basil
fresh cilantro

Oils/Vinegars
apple cider vinegar
olive oil

Other Ingredients
Almond butter
carob powder (raw)
tahini
coconut, shredded
dates
garlic
raw honey (rich in enzymes)
maple sugar
maple syrup
prunes
raisins
water, distilled

The Raw Tools
Aside from a good chef’s knife the following are some common appliances that replace the use of a stove.

• blenders and mixers to whip up soups, sauces, and dressing
• coffee grinders to powder spices
• dehydrators and dehydrator sheets used to dry vegetables and fruits. Used for preparing breads, jams, and jellies.
• food processors to pulverize large batches of ingredients such as converting nuts into flour or vegetables into chopped-sized pieces
• juicers for fruit smoothes and ice cream
• molds and pans to create beautiful presentations of various shapes
• mandoline slicer to create strands of pasta from vegetables
• water distiller for high quality water

Raw Food Resources
Raw food is an artistic cuisine that rediscovers the intensity of natural flavors with the main focus on maximizing nutrition. It has slowly entered the culinary mainstream with the opening of restaurants, availability of cookbooks, and skilled chefs. Like any other diet, this is not for everyone. Many were initially introduced to “un-cooking” because of weight issues, chronic ailments, and other health issues. The following are some online resources with a chockfull of recipes and blogs. You’ll also find cookbooks in your local library, online bookstores, health food stores and supermarkets such as Whole Foods or Wild By Nature.

Recommended websites:
http://www.goneraw.com/
http://www.rawfusionstore.us/

Recommended books:
RAW: The Uncook Book: New Vegetarian for Life (Regan, 1999) by Juliano Brotman and Erika Lenkert
The Complete Book of Raw Food, Second Edition: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made with Living Foods * Includes More Than 400 Recipes from the World’s Top Raw Food Chefs (Hatherleigh, 2008) by Victoria Boutenko, Juliano Brotman, Nomi Shannon, Matt Amsden, and Julie Rodwell

Read Part II here

Luella Semmes is a personal chef for Your Kitchen Companion. Visit her website at www.kitchencompanion.org or email her at kitchencompanion@gmail.com

A few weeks ago I attended a seminar by Marcy Neumann of Heartlites Inc., at the same time I was doing an Isagenix cleanse, consultant Jan Potter, both have helped me change a couple of things in my life. My carb intake is probably half of what it was before the cleanse; my caffeine intake has gone from a minimum 40 ozs of coffee daily to virtually zero. My positive thinking has gone up tenfold while my assertive daily news consumption has gone to almost zero.

That has left me feeling out of touch in sorts. Today I had lunch with some former colleagues from Newsday, they had asked me a couple of things they might have thought I would have seen in the news – I hadn’t. They were surprised by this, especially since I was employed there from 21 years. This was not the first instance this I’ve found myself feeling out of touch because of my lack of daily news consumption.

The bigger question I, we all, have is the notion that not following the doom and gloom, sensationalist daily news somehow makes us irresponsible and ignorant. I know my friend at the Fair Media Council would probably have a strong opinion on this. I’m struggling with this because I personally feel I should have a basic handle on what’s going on in the world and do feel somewhat ignorant. However it’s hard to get a basic handle without being inundated by news overload through print, online and broadcast channels. I will tell you it’s been a pleasure not getting stressed out by the daily news, especially when my own life is providing enough of its own stress.

What’s the balance? Should I connect with the news once a day, a week, a month, never? I haven’t figured that out. I’d love to hear how others have dealt with this either totally tuning the news out or struck an acceptable balance between absorbing news and not.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

I was speaking with a writer named Gabrielle Selz this week about covering a really interesting upcoming conference called Women’s Initiative for a Sustainable Earth, which will be held at the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University on March 27 to 29, 2009. The conference is being planned by a group of women who are deeply concerned about climate change. According to the press release, the purpose of the event is “to educate themselves and attendees about the effects of weather patterns, learn grassroots leadership practices, understand how change happens, and move toward action and advocacy for resilient and sustainable communities.”

Per Gabrielle, “At first a three-day event may seem like a lot of time to devote—we all have busy schedules—but there is a process of learning, absorption, processing, and connection that has to take place. We’re trying to get up to speed fast, on a problem that is snowballing—no pun intended. In order to do that we need to make the commitment of time to engage with one another and build community . . . one conversation at a time . . . so that we almost have a cathartic experience and come away transformed and ready to take action, even in the smallest way.”

The conference will host an impressive panel of speakers and performers, and invite attendees to actively participate. Find out more details at http://www.sowise.org/

This is just the sort of grass-roots effort I deeply admire and am so happy to see is happening in a time when it seems like there are so many social and environmental causes to be concerned about, though so many of us—myself included—are often apathetic, or even paralyzed, about doing anything about. As our apathy and stagnation is likely due to simply not knowing how to participate, this conference seems like a great platform to learn about what’s going on and how to become involved.

I encourage you all to attend, and please visit back to this site to let us know what you learned and how others can get in on the action, or feel free to weigh in on your thoughts by posting your comments below!

—Diana Murphy, canvas editor in chief

Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you try to change old habits, they sometimes have a way of sneaking back when you least expect it? I caught myself automatically reaching for a paper towel the other day amidst simultaneously washing dishes, cooking dinner, talking on the phone, and answering a text message, and it wasn’t until I was throwing the dirty towel away that I suddenly realized I should have used a sponge or a cotton dish towel to mop up the mess. In all likelihood, multi-tasking is to blame, as most women I know are just like me, often juggling too many tasks at once.

I’ve cut my use of paper towels down to the bare minimum–and feel a wave of eco-guilt every time I do use them on those occasions when there is no better alternative (spilled bacon grease ring a bell? or stepping in the stinky surprise my friend’s dog left outside my back door last time he came over?). So I was particularly disappointed in myself that when I wasn’t paying enough attention, out of old habit I reverted to bad uber-consumer behavior. And once it’s done, you can’t take it back, just wallow in self-disgust and hope that next time that mindless wasteful action won’t inadvertently repeat itself.

Perhaps part of my commitment to living more sustainably should include slowing down and trying not to do so many things at once, which is admittedly  increasingly difficult in our time-stretched, overly techno-intrusive 21st Century society. Simplifying, slowing down, stripping away . . . just saying these words has a calming effect. Perhaps it’s something we should all consider as a priority, so we are more aware of being in the moment and are less apt to let those old bad habits rear their ugly heads.

What are some of the bad old habits you’ve caught yourself reverting to now and again? And what are some ways you’ve tried to combat them? We’d love to know . . . leave your comments below.