Today's Beyond the Beyond Food:
Breakfast:
32 ounces lemon water
1 apple with 1-2 tablespoons raw crunchy almond butter
Lunch/snacks:
6 'Foods Alive' Mexican flax crackers
3 bricks of 'Two Moms in the Raw' goji berry granola
32 ounces lemon water
Dinner: (at Pure Food and Wine, NYC; the finest raw restaurant in the city)
2 coconut waters
shared appetizers of nori rolls filled with kim chi and Dr. Cow's tree nut cheeses
crustinis topped with Bernaise sauce
shared entrees of golden and red beet ravioli filled with pistachio nut cheese with sweet bits of flax crackers
seaweed croquettes with sourkraut, on broccoli rabe with an incredible green sauce
shared dessert of 3 dark chocolate Indian spiced "ice cream" treats; one on a popsicle stick, one a large rectangle and one a miniature ice cream cone; all coated with dark chocolate and infused with cardamon
A girlfriend wanted to offer me a "thank you" gift, and asked me to choose my favorite raw restaurant for dinner, so I picked Pure Food and Wine (on a side note, I must add that it's always a toss up between that and Raw Soul; they are completely different experiences from one another, but I adore Raw Soul as well). Pure Food is the most high end, fine dining raw in the city. Their presentations are just exquisite, delicate and delicious. They also "take the cake" on creating raw chocolate desserts.
We got to the restaurant at 7:00 and left at 11:00. While eating this magical meal, we talked intimately about our lives and opened up whole other aspects of ourselves to one another. In other words, while cultivating our relationship with food, we deepened our relationship with one another; or, while we deepened our relationship with one another, we were also dancing with our food in a symbiotic relationship. Most importantly, we took our time and honored our food and our friendship; savoring every bite and every word.
I really encourage the practice of relating to food in this way. I admit it once again, I am a foodie, I grew up a foodie, and some of my best memories are of 3 or 4 hour meals with specially prepared menus. Those were the most intimate and special times for me. I loved watching food being created at the table by chefs or sitting down to an entire evening at a restaurant with someone I loved. Those were the most special and romantic and passionate times; whether it was with a boyfriend or with family, the excitement of the meal was captivating. I remember meeting my dad each year between February and April, when shad were migrating through the Hudson River, to eat shad (the fish) and roe (the eggs); a culinary delight only available seasonally. It was our time together, and we met either at The Oyster Bar or The Four Seasons Grill Room. We would talk about it through the year: "Wait till it's time for shad." I remember one New Year's Eve with an old boyfreind in an exquisite French restaurant in Hastings, NY; Buffet de la Gare, where the menu was beautifully hand-designed for us to bring home afterwards, and the meal went on for hours and hours. I remember dinner with my parents at Chanterelle, in NYC, thinking, "I hope one day my husband takes me here for the most intimate, romantic dinner." I remember an earlier dinner at Pure Food and Wine, again celebrating New Year's Eve, this time with another boyfriend and my parents, when my dad's illness had started to take a toll on him. We had such an intimate time together, and I remember my dad's sweet smile and love of the experience. All of those meals were slow and delicious; hours long.
I encourage you to balance the meals you eat at the computer; standing up at the kitchen counter; while getting your children ready for school; with the kind I speak about here.
Please write in and tell me about your favorite meal memory...
With Love,
Hope
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3 comments:
Dear Hope,
I find myself hitting the sugar pretty hard at night and was wondering what ideas you have to help?
Thanks,
Ron
Hi Ron,
That does go on for alot of people, mainly due to an overall blood sugar imbalance from what we eat.
For that aspect, I recommend introducing more root vegetables into your meals (beets, carrots, squashes, daikon, radish, turnip, parsnip, onion, rutabaga). They naturally balance our blood sugar so that we don't have those highs and lows. The other reason for nighttime sugar binges is emotional/cellular; we are sad, lonely, tired, angry, empty or anxious. Sugar has been our friend for many years, and has been 'who' we turn to when we have these feelings. For this scenario, I recommend looking at which feeling is the strongest, and reaching out to someone who loves you and holds you as magnificent. Have them remind you how great you are and maybe ask for a hug, too. Journaling your feelings also helps. Have something other than food fill this open space for you.
Michele wrote to me directly with this question:
What is wrong with eggplant? I like it but why do I never feel good after I eat it? Also, is zucchini in the same category as eggplant or is it a squash?
Good questions, Michele!! Zucchini is a squash, yes; eggplant is not and is a nightshade vegetable.
Zucchini has great healing abilities, similar to root veges, in that it grounds your energy and alleviates anxiety.
Eggplant, though delicious, can cause adverse reactions in some due to it being a nightshade (mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers also fall into this category, though we can experience each of them differently). I adore tomatoes, but they sometimes create a blood reaction of temporary inflammation for me, where I experience pain in some 'jointed' part of my body (knee, elbow, finger, shoulder). If you are someone who does not feel good afterwards, then eggplant is not for you.
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