I am going to be showing at a brand new gallery in River North called Effe Leven Gallery. It’s a beautiful space and it’s always been my dream to show in that neighborhood. The Director and staff are awesome and supportive. My work will be apart of their Women’s show, celebrating women's art in September.
So I’m done with Eat, Pray, Love and I’m kinda bummed that it’s all over. What an enjoyable read that was! I’m going through that sort of sad feeling you feel when a book you loved reading has come to an end. Now what? I happened to find some books at Transitions, which is apparently moving. I have been in this town a long time and I will miss this location. I hope they are really just moving and not closing shop. Anyway, I went to their sale over the weekend and everything was 50% off so I got one of Byron Katie’s books, A Thousand Words for Joy, which I am liking more than I thought I would. A friend of mine introduced me to her work and Katie sort of frightened me. Very tough love focused indeed. It’s not about them, it’s all about you and how you suck—“Paul doesn’t love you because you don’t love you”—A Thousand Words for Why I Suck. Now that I’ve gotten my rant out of the way, her work is actually very liberating and she is a loving person. I like the idea of loving who you are, where you are right now. And notice how I said—I like the “idea” of it. I’m still working on it (working on The Work, for those who are in the know). I have to say it’s a breath of fresh air compared to The Secret. I liked The Secret but let’s face it a lot of disappointment happens when life isn’t like going into a candy store and getting everything you want. Not only does it leave one feeling sad about the not getting part but also, it makes you feel like you failed because you weren’t good enough to attract your good.
Now for something completely different, a recipe, since I can’t do typical Rueben Sandwiches I make what I call a Rueben Salad. I've been eating this all summer. I just combine the following:
- A whole lot of greens, really any thing you like
- A Scoop of fermented veggies, kim-chi or kraut. I make my own fermented veggies using one of Sandor Katz’s recipes. My favorite mix is usually cabbage, diakon radish, carrots, and onions.
- I add Nasoya's soy-based Thousand Island dressing. Nasaya makes a line of really tasty soy dressings. Their dressing are not too much soy and or too many carbs either
- You can also add some proteins like hard boiled eggs or turkey breast
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Upcoming Show and Other Stuff
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Just enjoying my summer . . .
I must admit summer makes me lose my ambition (but not my religion). It’s hard for me to be motivated to stay in and paint. What also has fuelled this lack of ambition is that my encaustic class was cancelled—a day before my first class. Argggh. I guess it’s just a sign from the universe that I should just enjoy my summer and I’m certainly doing that. Last Friday I had the best night after a really rough week at the ole day job. I saw a group of perfromers from Australia called Strange Fruit at Millennium Park. They climb these flexible high poles and do skits to music—it's all about love and loss, but isn't everything? They gracefully bend and sway in the air. I’ll never forget it. I’m a sucker for circus makeup and costumes and they did not disappoint. The ladies matched their red and purple hair with their skirts. After their moving performance, I walked through Millennium Park and dipped my feet into one of the cool poles of water and really took in the beautiful landscape. Then I got the most perfect latte at Intelligensia which has some of the best coffee in town. They make the lovely little leaf pattern swirls, I guess it went along with my nature theme! Ever since I started reading Eat, Pray, Live I have just been adoring coffee. I think it was the “Italy” chapters that did this to me. After my coffee I took the el to Southport and walked up and down the street all the way up to Foster. I haven’t been near there in ages. The el station was closed for at least a year. I lived near there years ago. It was “up and coming” then and bit more artsy now it’s where the loud sports fans hang. I did manage to find a non-noisy place to have a glass of wine as Iyanla Vanzant would say “with myself”. Then I went to Anthony’s Italian Ice and had a small mango ice sundae with hot fudge sauce. It was a beautiful night. I’ve been really enjoying MCA’s Jazz at the Terrace. It’s not too crowded and you can pack a lovely picnic. The music is always good. I wanted to make reservations to eat at an actual table at their dinner buffet but they are booked for the rest of the summer! Luckily, I still have time to go to the Garden Restaurant at the Art Institute on Thursday nights and hear live music whilst sitting/eating at an actual table.The MCA is showing the work of controversial artist, Jeff Koons. I adore this show, even the sexy sexy photos of him and his ex-wife. I admit I have a little crush on Mr. Koons but he is happily remarried so I will let that dream go. For me the highlights are the Hulk Paintings (how one paints inflatable toys with such realism I will never know), the sculpture busts of himself and his ex-wife, the capadamante Michael Jackson sculpture and all of the “ballon” sculptures. Love, love, love this show! (I exclaim in full Diana Vreeland-style).
One non-enjoyable thing that happened recently was receiving my new lease. They raised my rent an extra $40.00 the most ever. In fact one year they decreased it. I even called and wanted to know about this misprint and my mgmt was like “nope no misprint, we just want to keep our valued tenants here”. How times have changed! After looking at many shitholes I decided to stay put. Even though it’s $40.00 more it’s still a lot better than what is out there. I still heart Lincoln Square and my summer of fun.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I’m an Otter . . . I'll explain
I just finished a 10 day anti-candida cleanse. It was a basically a diet of kitchadi with whole or split mung means, quinoa, kimchi and organic yogurt lassi (raw goat yogurt works for me). No sugar, alcohol, caffeine, animal protein (except for a poached egg when I feel weak) or other dairy. I could also have bitter melon or asparagus as a side dish. I also too some prescribed anti-candida herbs. I also took care of some other personal cleansing that I won’t mention here.
My symptoms went away after Day 5. I’m amazed at how much clearer my mind is without that nasty-overgrown-Candida population. I was allowed 1 tsp of raw honey when I had sugar cravings. Surprisingly the raw honey did not “upstart” any reactions. Consuming coconut oil was helpful too. I’m going to do my best to avoid sugar(s). I feel too good to go back to being bad. Surprisingly I didn’t miss drinking which is saying something now that all the festivals are going on. One thing I did miss was protein. I never felt exhausted but I did lose a lot of muscle tone. During the cleanse I just didn’t have enough gas to workout so I kept things pretty light.
The only hard part was making/eating all this cooked food in hotter wheather. It’s probably more ideal to do a cleanse like this in early spring. Last Saturday I was near the Vietnamese restaurants on Argyle and I soooo wanted a Durian smoothie! I didn’t cave though. I still can’t believe I went 10 days without lattes or chocolate. I can totally feel how those things taxed my adrenals.
I’m slowly adding back the animal proteins. I do well with fish, especially raw. I may have a few protein shakes to get back into the game. I know it’s not necessarily “real food” but I do think there are a few brands of protein shakes that are healthy. I really found that I like the taste of onions, garlic and ginger so I will keep up with these anti-candida foods.
My chiropractor introduced me to a great diet program called the Hauser Diet. Two Oak Park nutrition experts came up with a diet that is similar to what animals eat. You take a quiz (and blood test if you visit their office) to see what animal diet works for you—a Giraffe (nearly vegan diet), a Monkey (mostly vegetarian diet), a Bear (a balanced diet similar to the Zone), an O
tter (modified protein) or a Lion (high protein). I took the quiz several times and found out that I’m an Otter. I need to eat 50% protein, 25% carbs and 25% fats. It’s very similar to paleo diets. I’m going to try this out but with foods that are complementary to my dosha. As a Vata-Pitta I do best with lighter proteins, especially seafood and otters tend to eat a lot of seafood, especially small fish.
I’ve also been reading a lot about paleo topics such as Intermittent Fasting and Evolutionary Fitness. Art DeVany is the guy behind Evolutionary Fitness which is basically exercising like our ancestors—lots of walking but also sporadic exercise, high intensity in short amounts. I’ll still be loyal to Power Pilates but I will add the EF principles to my cardio and weight training.
My symptoms went away after Day 5. I’m amazed at how much clearer my mind is without that nasty-overgrown-Candida population. I was allowed 1 tsp of raw honey when I had sugar cravings. Surprisingly the raw honey did not “upstart” any reactions. Consuming coconut oil was helpful too. I’m going to do my best to avoid sugar(s). I feel too good to go back to being bad. Surprisingly I didn’t miss drinking which is saying something now that all the festivals are going on. One thing I did miss was protein. I never felt exhausted but I did lose a lot of muscle tone. During the cleanse I just didn’t have enough gas to workout so I kept things pretty light.
The only hard part was making/eating all this cooked food in hotter wheather. It’s probably more ideal to do a cleanse like this in early spring. Last Saturday I was near the Vietnamese restaurants on Argyle and I soooo wanted a Durian smoothie! I didn’t cave though. I still can’t believe I went 10 days without lattes or chocolate. I can totally feel how those things taxed my adrenals.
I’m slowly adding back the animal proteins. I do well with fish, especially raw. I may have a few protein shakes to get back into the game. I know it’s not necessarily “real food” but I do think there are a few brands of protein shakes that are healthy. I really found that I like the taste of onions, garlic and ginger so I will keep up with these anti-candida foods.
My chiropractor introduced me to a great diet program called the Hauser Diet. Two Oak Park nutrition experts came up with a diet that is similar to what animals eat. You take a quiz (and blood test if you visit their office) to see what animal diet works for you—a Giraffe (nearly vegan diet), a Monkey (mostly vegetarian diet), a Bear (a balanced diet similar to the Zone), an O
tter (modified protein) or a Lion (high protein). I took the quiz several times and found out that I’m an Otter. I need to eat 50% protein, 25% carbs and 25% fats. It’s very similar to paleo diets. I’m going to try this out but with foods that are complementary to my dosha. As a Vata-Pitta I do best with lighter proteins, especially seafood and otters tend to eat a lot of seafood, especially small fish.I’ve also been reading a lot about paleo topics such as Intermittent Fasting and Evolutionary Fitness. Art DeVany is the guy behind Evolutionary Fitness which is basically exercising like our ancestors—lots of walking but also sporadic exercise, high intensity in short amounts. I’ll still be loyal to Power Pilates but I will add the EF principles to my cardio and weight training.
Intermittent Fasting is fasting for short periods of time, such as eating within a short window of time and fasting the rest of the day. You could also chose to fast for whole days once in a while. Being hypoglycemic, I have to be careful not to go overboard. But Ayurveda supports IF, as one should only eat when you have the appetite to do so. I have to say I like this way so much better than eating 5-6 little meals. The body accumulates ama or toxins if the last meal you ate has not been fully digested. I enjoy backing up my meals with a little hunger. I also like the freedom of it, a few days a week I will eat a good breakfast and lunch, and maybe a 3pm snack then skip dinner or I'll eat a good brunch with friends then wait till I'm really hungry for dinner. Of course part of the challenge is ignoring that "mom" voice in your head stating that you should eat. It's really not low calorie but eating your daily allotment within a short window of time.
To put it in a nutshell what works for me is:
- Above all eating real food. Mostly paleo with the exceptions of a raw goat yogurt/kefir, a little wine and chocolate (oh and the occassional latte, Starbuck's hasn't come up with a CaveGirl latte yet)
-The Otter diet percentages (although I don't keep a log) - Half my calories come from protien and the rest are divided between carbs and fats. I just eyeball it. If I had a weight problem I would but since I don't I don't feel the need to stress about it
-Ayurvedic principles - I still try to eat seasonally and dosha-appropriate foods, making most of your own food, not eating left overs, avoiding eating when full or emotionally upset, daily massage, getting to bed by 10 pm, etc. etc.
- Intermittent Fasting - eating in shorter periods of time to fast and allow the body to heal. The body likes variety (although too much can upset vata, you have to experiment and listen to your body)
-EV fitness - speaking of variety. The body needs a variety of exercise and EV is the perfect model
Already I'm developing a little 6-pack and leaning out. I was getting a little thick over the winter with T-Tapp (a workout that works for everyone but me). Now I want to focus on gaining a bit more muscle. I'd like to do more push-ups and have more stamina. It's good to be back in the game!
How Not to Eat Ice Cream in the Middle of Summer
As I’ve mentioned previously in my blogs I’m allergic to most dairy foods. I can tolerate some fermented dairy like kefir, goat yogurt or sheep/goat feta. Ice cream is a big no-no. Back in the day before my allergies I used to love Dairy Queen’s Butterscotch malts. The last time I had that was 1998 and I was doubled-over for 12 hours. It’s just not worth it. So how do I survive a summer without ice cream, here are some of my tips:
- At the neighborhood ice cream establishment, when everyone is ordering ice cream sundaes get yourself an orange or raspberry sorbet sundae with hot chocolate sauce. Even StoneCold Creamery has a sorbet sundae now
- Argo Tea has some really yummy ice teas like the Mojito Tea that doesn't have any dairy at all
- I learned this trick from a raw food chef. If you blend a banana, freeze it and slightly thaw it the texture is similar to ice cream. It’s even better if you run it through a Champion Juicer after it’s thawed a bit. It's a similar consistency to the ole soft serve cone
- Make your own smoothies so much healthier than Jamba Juice. Choose a liquid foundation to start with such as nut milk or coconut water; add a fruit (banana is the creamiest); add a powder such as Jay Robb, which is the only tolerable protein powder in the market (IMHO); add flavor such as raw chocolate or organic cocoa powder, or mesquite meal which tastes similar to Butterscotch (so I can re-visit all those DQ memories)
- Of course this isn't the healthiest of options as I try to avoid "red no. 12" but the ice cream man does have some non-dairy treats like popsicles of all shapes and sizes as well as snowcones
-I'm gonna end this post with a mention of my favorite summer treat of all: durian. You can buy it frozen here in Chi-town at the Vietnamese markets. I'll warn you it smells really bad. So bad that I usually wrap it several times in bubble plastic when I keep it in the freezer. But the taste is worth it, it's sort of a custardy, vanilla meets an onion taste—I know indescribable. I love durian thawed a bit with some homemade chocolate sauce (which is usually coconut oil, cocoa powder or raw chocolate and some raw honey or agave). I sometimes make a smoothie with durian, avocado and coconut water. Yum!
- At the neighborhood ice cream establishment, when everyone is ordering ice cream sundaes get yourself an orange or raspberry sorbet sundae with hot chocolate sauce. Even StoneCold Creamery has a sorbet sundae now
- Argo Tea has some really yummy ice teas like the Mojito Tea that doesn't have any dairy at all
- I learned this trick from a raw food chef. If you blend a banana, freeze it and slightly thaw it the texture is similar to ice cream. It’s even better if you run it through a Champion Juicer after it’s thawed a bit. It's a similar consistency to the ole soft serve cone
- Make your own smoothies so much healthier than Jamba Juice. Choose a liquid foundation to start with such as nut milk or coconut water; add a fruit (banana is the creamiest); add a powder such as Jay Robb, which is the only tolerable protein powder in the market (IMHO); add flavor such as raw chocolate or organic cocoa powder, or mesquite meal which tastes similar to Butterscotch (so I can re-visit all those DQ memories)
- Of course this isn't the healthiest of options as I try to avoid "red no. 12" but the ice cream man does have some non-dairy treats like popsicles of all shapes and sizes as well as snowcones
-I'm gonna end this post with a mention of my favorite summer treat of all: durian. You can buy it frozen here in Chi-town at the Vietnamese markets. I'll warn you it smells really bad. So bad that I usually wrap it several times in bubble plastic when I keep it in the freezer. But the taste is worth it, it's sort of a custardy, vanilla meets an onion taste—I know indescribable. I love durian thawed a bit with some homemade chocolate sauce (which is usually coconut oil, cocoa powder or raw chocolate and some raw honey or agave). I sometimes make a smoothie with durian, avocado and coconut water. Yum!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Integrative Nutrition Road Show
Last night I attended a presentation by Joshua Rosenthal who is the founder of Integrative Nutrition. I expected a rousing, energetic, “fists in the air” type of talk about nutrition. Instead the energy of the talk was very purposeful, grounded, and sincere. Mr. Rosenthal’s demeanor was very kindly and calm. It’s nice when presenters can just be who they are. We don’t all have to be Rachel Ray smiley-loud-pants. That style is so popular in our Western culture. So what I’m saying here is that I wasn’t the least bit disappointed.
Some important things I heard last night:
- The U.S. is the 37th best country (yeah—best) for healthcare. We fall one notch below Slovenia
- Healthy eaters are an “oppressed minority”. THANK YOU JOSHUA FOR SAYING THAT. We are constantly made fun of—“What is that you are eating?” Like I never hear that in the lunch room.? No wonder most people don’t want to be healthy, you get to be alienated and made fun of. Oh you’re a healthy eater, I can’t hang out with you.
- As our diets are becoming less about real food we are becoming less human—infertility, disease, obesity, etc.
- Americans get better service at Starbuck’s than they do at most doctors
Part of the talk was a promo for the school. Many of the attendees, like me, are potential students. I like the school's open approach to studying over 100 types of diets. IIN doesn’t recommend one diet over the other, it’s about bio-individuality. There isn’t one diet that’s perfect for everyone but of course eating real food works for everyone. Even if you do find the perfect diet, that diet might need tweaking over the years. I loved Ayurveda in the beginning but found I needed more protein. So my diet is a modified high protein diet with foods that are still compatible for my dosha, I’ve only tweaked the macronutrients.
The tuition is roughly $9K plus travel time one weekend a month would probably cost me roughly $15K. It’s not just the money but the time spent away from making art. I don’t live large but I do enjoy the occasional latte, good book, or makeup product from Benefit. I’ve been really broke before, I don’t know if I want to do it again. Also, I don’t want to spend this amount of money and not well . . . make money. The grads I spoke with last night seem really happy and are employed so that was encouraging.
June is my month to experiment and then see where I really want to put my focus. I’ve been scattered for too long. I’m also taking an encaustic painting class at the Evanston Art Center. If I become enraptured with my art again then I will put my money/focus/energy toward that. If not then maybe I’ll become a nutritional counsellor or as Joshua puts it a “health coach”.
Some important things I heard last night:
- The U.S. is the 37th best country (yeah—best) for healthcare. We fall one notch below Slovenia
- Healthy eaters are an “oppressed minority”. THANK YOU JOSHUA FOR SAYING THAT. We are constantly made fun of—“What is that you are eating?” Like I never hear that in the lunch room.? No wonder most people don’t want to be healthy, you get to be alienated and made fun of. Oh you’re a healthy eater, I can’t hang out with you.
- As our diets are becoming less about real food we are becoming less human—infertility, disease, obesity, etc.
- Americans get better service at Starbuck’s than they do at most doctors
Part of the talk was a promo for the school. Many of the attendees, like me, are potential students. I like the school's open approach to studying over 100 types of diets. IIN doesn’t recommend one diet over the other, it’s about bio-individuality. There isn’t one diet that’s perfect for everyone but of course eating real food works for everyone. Even if you do find the perfect diet, that diet might need tweaking over the years. I loved Ayurveda in the beginning but found I needed more protein. So my diet is a modified high protein diet with foods that are still compatible for my dosha, I’ve only tweaked the macronutrients.
The tuition is roughly $9K plus travel time one weekend a month would probably cost me roughly $15K. It’s not just the money but the time spent away from making art. I don’t live large but I do enjoy the occasional latte, good book, or makeup product from Benefit. I’ve been really broke before, I don’t know if I want to do it again. Also, I don’t want to spend this amount of money and not well . . . make money. The grads I spoke with last night seem really happy and are employed so that was encouraging.
June is my month to experiment and then see where I really want to put my focus. I’ve been scattered for too long. I’m also taking an encaustic painting class at the Evanston Art Center. If I become enraptured with my art again then I will put my money/focus/energy toward that. If not then maybe I’ll become a nutritional counsellor or as Joshua puts it a “health coach”.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Great things about Lincoln Square
I've been super busy working on the new business among other things. I have been wanting to put this post up forever so here it goes. Here's a few of my favorite in Lincoln Square.My neighborhood has a lot of ethnic charm. I can walk a few yards away to an Irish bar, and across the street from that is a Bosnian restaurant. Walking toward Lawrence is a Korean BBQ.
On Thursday nights Provenance in the Square has free wine tastings. The owners and staff are lovely, friendly people just happy giving wine away on Thursday nights. They also sell gourmet food "stuffs". I buy grass-fed beef there for the reasonable price of $7.00 for four patties.
Speaking of wine, I love The Book Cellar which is a bookstore/cafe. It's nice to support our local bookstores too. Sometimes when I just want a glass of wine and a place to j
ournal it's a nice alternative to the ole bar funkiness.My neighborhood has the largest population of Germans in Chicago. I'm not huge on German cuisine but I love the yummy red cabbage/apple side dish. You can always find an eclectic mix of people at the Brauhaus dancing to the accordian filled pop. I've seen punk rock kids on the floor with their German grandma's doing the polka. Good times and good beer.
I miss the Meyer Deli which closed a while ago. It is supposed to re-open and be even better I'm told. I'm hoping the recent gentrification doesn't destroy it's remodeling plans. I got nervous when Potbelly's and Stonecold Creamery opened up a few years back. Well at least I can still buy gnombs at one of the older German gift shops. Their cuteness is like kriptonite on my wallet! Must buy cute gnombes!
My other random faves:
- Music in the Square on Summer Thursday nights. A bit of everything from folk to rock to polka. I love hearing Irish music live, which I also hear on various nights of the week at the Atlantic Bar and Grill or the Grafton
- Mertz Apothocary – the oldest Apothocary in the midwest. Great for shopping! Has everything I love—green products/cosmetics, herbs, and the best black licorice
- Harvest Time Foods – My grocery store. Romanian, Bulgarian, Asian, American, Greek, Mexican foods all in one place. They have the only cheese I can eat – it’s a Bulgarian brined sheep cheese. It’s yummier than that description sounds—really.
- The Davis Theater – $5.50 matinees. What more can I say.
- The Chakra Shoppe, which is right around the corner from me. Blanche Blacke is the fascinating proprietress. Since Healing Earth Resources went out of biz a few years ago this has been my little replacement. Lillian Lovlas is a wonderful healer there too who teaches some amazing Yoga Nidra classes. It's got a lot under one colorful roof—past life regression healing sessions, salts, oils, sage, incense, tarot decks, books and jewlery.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I've been in the neighborhood for five years. We'll see if I can still afford rent when the ole lease application comes around again. I may be doing a "Great things about Rogers Park" blog in the near future.
Monday, April 28, 2008
My Week Off and Whatnot
I was off last week. I don’t think I have actually taken a full real week off in years. I usually just do the long weekend thing. I totally spring cleaned my apartment. I felt like an Anne Tai
nter fridge magnet. You know the one that says, “I dreamt my whole entire house was clean” with the big overly excited smile! That was me. I am almost ready to launch my business. I kept ping ponging different names and package designs. I decided that Live Long Foods just didn’t sound like me. It sounds like a very zen sort of business, like an accupuncture merchant and let’s face it —I’m a bit funkier than that. So keeping with my beloved Dandelion theme, I decide to go with Dandelion Dehydrated Foods. I will be launching on Etsy next week.
I’ve got some show coming up too. One painting will be shown in the Highland Park Art Walk and two paintings will be going out to Rochester, NY for a group show called, Circulation. Speaking of art, I made time to attend Artopolis which I felt was the best yet in it's three years at the Merch Mart. When it moved from Navy Pier to the Merchandise Mart, I felt it lost some of the magic but I think now the magic is back. I typically like the work that comes from outside of Chicago. Lots of great work from New York and some Denver galleries really struck me.
During my cleaning week I also completed some inside cleaning and did a kidney cleanse as prescribed by my ayurvedic guru. It was basically a macrobiotic diet for a week including ginger and lassi (although I can’t tolerate lassi). I also took a Kidney Rasayana. I won’t go into the other more TMI aspects of the cleanse. I managed to lose a lot of my food cravings. I didn’t think I could go a week without wine, absolutely no sugar or chocolate but I did it! It was surprisingly not that hard. I actually kinda liked the macrobiotic diet aside from the short grain brown rice. Thankfully it’s not completely a diet of beige foods. I’m inspired to start adding more sea veggies to my diet. I do feel a lot calmer. My skin looks better than ever. I could forsee a sort of ayurvedic-macro mix that gives room for fun things like foreign beer and chocolate.
Speaking of food, I’m totally addicted to Top Chef but aren’t I always! I’m cheering for Mark Simmons from New Zealand. He's so adorable like a hobbit. I"m really curious about the NZ cuisine. I may have to plan a trip. It’s seem very pure and paleo-like. I’d love to have that recipe for the anchove-quinoa dish he made for the zoo challenge. I could actually eat that. It’s always fun to play a little game of “What would I do” given the challenge. I was thinking about the Earth soup that Spike wanted to make. I could see doing something like Dr. Furhman’s Famouse Soup which is more delicious than it looks as it’s very green. I could see serving that in a squash bowl with edible flowers and maybe plate some pretty mushrooms.
Dr. Furhman’s Famous Soup:
Making this soup involves more time and effort than the other recipes, so you might want to make a huge amount and save it in the refrigerator for the whole week.
nter fridge magnet. You know the one that says, “I dreamt my whole entire house was clean” with the big overly excited smile! That was me. I am almost ready to launch my business. I kept ping ponging different names and package designs. I decided that Live Long Foods just didn’t sound like me. It sounds like a very zen sort of business, like an accupuncture merchant and let’s face it —I’m a bit funkier than that. So keeping with my beloved Dandelion theme, I decide to go with Dandelion Dehydrated Foods. I will be launching on Etsy next week.I’ve got some show coming up too. One painting will be shown in the Highland Park Art Walk and two paintings will be going out to Rochester, NY for a group show called, Circulation. Speaking of art, I made time to attend Artopolis which I felt was the best yet in it's three years at the Merch Mart. When it moved from Navy Pier to the Merchandise Mart, I felt it lost some of the magic but I think now the magic is back. I typically like the work that comes from outside of Chicago. Lots of great work from New York and some Denver galleries really struck me.
During my cleaning week I also completed some inside cleaning and did a kidney cleanse as prescribed by my ayurvedic guru. It was basically a macrobiotic diet for a week including ginger and lassi (although I can’t tolerate lassi). I also took a Kidney Rasayana. I won’t go into the other more TMI aspects of the cleanse. I managed to lose a lot of my food cravings. I didn’t think I could go a week without wine, absolutely no sugar or chocolate but I did it! It was surprisingly not that hard. I actually kinda liked the macrobiotic diet aside from the short grain brown rice. Thankfully it’s not completely a diet of beige foods. I’m inspired to start adding more sea veggies to my diet. I do feel a lot calmer. My skin looks better than ever. I could forsee a sort of ayurvedic-macro mix that gives room for fun things like foreign beer and chocolate.
Speaking of food, I’m totally addicted to Top Chef but aren’t I always! I’m cheering for Mark Simmons from New Zealand. He's so adorable like a hobbit. I"m really curious about the NZ cuisine. I may have to plan a trip. It’s seem very pure and paleo-like. I’d love to have that recipe for the anchove-quinoa dish he made for the zoo challenge. I could actually eat that. It’s always fun to play a little game of “What would I do” given the challenge. I was thinking about the Earth soup that Spike wanted to make. I could see doing something like Dr. Furhman’s Famouse Soup which is more delicious than it looks as it’s very green. I could see serving that in a squash bowl with edible flowers and maybe plate some pretty mushrooms.
Dr. Furhman’s Famous Soup:
Making this soup involves more time and effort than the other recipes, so you might want to make a huge amount and save it in the refrigerator for the whole week.
1 cup dried split peas and/or beans
4 medium onions
6-10 zucchini
3 stalks leek
5 lbs. carrots
2 bunches celery
1 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp. VegiZest (I've skipped this and just thrown in extra nutritional yeast flakes)
1 package mushrooms, any type (optional)
6 oz. textured vegetable protein (optional- I skip this)
Place the beans and 4 cups of water in a very large pot and start cooking them, covered, on the lowest flame possible. Take the outer skins off the onions and place them in the covered pot. Do not cut them up, put them in whole. Add the zucchini, uncut. Cut the bottom roots off the leeks and slice them up the side so each leaf can be thoroughly washed, because leeks have lots of dirt hidden inside. Throw away the last inch at the green top. Then place the entire leek (leaves uncut) into the pot. Juice the carrots and celery in a juice extractor. Add the juice to the pot. While the soup is simmering, chop up the mushrooms (if desired). By the time you get to this stage, the zucchini, leeks, onions should be soft.
This next step only works if you have a Vita-Mix, a powerful blender, or a food processor. Ladle some of the liquid from the pot into the machine. Use tongs to remove the soft onions, zucchini, and leeks. Be careful to leave the beans in the bottom of the pot. In a few separate batches, completely blend together the onions, zucchini, and leeks. Add more soup liquid and cashews to the mixture, and blend in. Return the blended, creamy mix back to the pot. Add the textured vegetable protein and the mushrooms, if desired. Simmer another 20 minutes, and you have my soup that is famous the world over. I know a doctor who makes and freezes my soup and sells it to his patients to cure everything from sinusitis to cancer. It’s not really a cure, but it sure does taste great.
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