Whenever I am in NYC, I MUST stop by Viva Pizza for 2-3 warm slices of whole-wheat or spelt crust cheese pizza and a China Cola. Bon appétit from me to me… Yum!!!
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We can all cook!!!!
21 MarSome of us love and enjoy cooking… Some of us just like to eat and would very willingly skip the cooking part because they find no joy in it at all. Or they just believe they do not have the skills necessary to cook delicious and healthy meals.
Such is the case of my friend Alison, the executive director of KarmaNYC’s Karma Life & Style Magazine. Alison loves to eat and she actually wants to follow a more healthful diet but feels her skills in the kitchen are an obstacle to her goal. She does not feel comfortable in the kitchen, AT ALL… not even her own kitchen. She doesn’t even know what kitchen appliances she owns!!!
She came to me for help… “Madelyn… I can’t cook to save my life!!! Where do I start??” Alison is not alone… I get this same question all the time from friends, family, even people I meet randomly. And what I suggest all of them do is start SMALL.
I now love cooking… but this wasn’t always that way. I remember there was a time when all I knew was to make things in the microwave. But it’s all a matter of exposure… exposure to flavors and techniques and ingredients that make your life easy and delicious.
I went to Alison’s home recently and created a whole dinner party menu ANYONE can put together, even kitchen-challenged Alison!!!! This menu is all about ASSEMBLY – mixing, layering, pureeing, tossing together ingredients which in the end all look and taste delicious. And on the best thing… it’s all good for you. Look at the directions of each of these recipes… lots of assembly, very little tending over a stove.
Here was our menu:
Baked Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce
Mesclun Greens, Figs and Blue Cheese Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
I hope Alison and some of you “eaters-not-cookers” find the confidence to make at least one of these recipes at home. You don’t have to make them all for a dinner party… start small. Pick one and start building your self-confidence. You’ll see that in very little time you’ll slowly start enjoying cooking, or at least “assembling” a whole lot more.
Stay positive… I am rooting for all of you. Right, Alison???
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan
16 MarEat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.
That’s what it comes down to.
These are the words of my friend, Sheri. She chose what she found to be the 12 most all-encompassing and useful rules from the book Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan. I have never heard of the book until the day Sheri posted this on Facebook. Her words, and I guess Mr. Pollan’s too, resonated too much with me and KarmaFree Cooking’s philosophy. That’s why I wanted to share this with you all…
And, in Sheri’s words – “May they keep you fit, healthy and energized in the new year!”
1. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
2. Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
3. Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
4. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
5. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
6. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.
7. Stop eating before you’re full.
8. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry.
9. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.
10. Do all your eating at a table.
11. Leave something on your plate.
12. Break the rules once in a while. “All things in moderation. Including moderation.”
Fro-Yotopia in West Palm Beach…
15 FebIf you live in the West Palm Beach area I urge you to try Fro-Yotopia…
I thought this was a franchise of some sort, but no… they’re a locally owned business located at the Downtown @ The Gardens open mall in Palm Beach Gardens.
I wish I had taken more pictures… but these are frozen yogurts with probiotic Active Live Cultures, which are good for you and your digestive system. They are delicious…
The concept is you take a cup and you fill it with your favorite flavor or flavors of soft serve frozen yogurt. You add as much or as little yogurt was you want. You serve it yourself… Add as many toppings and syrups/sauces as you want and the end concoction is then weighed and you pay by weight. You are the designer of your own dessert…
They have a lot of flavors to choose from: Vanilla, Strawberry, Tart, Chocolate, Dulce de Leche, Blueberry Acai, Cake Batter, Sweet Coconut, Banana, NSA Coffee, among others. You just need to ask which flavors are made with eggs. Some of them are, but not all…
Then they have a whole suite of toppings you can choose from – all sorts of fresh fruits like strawberries, mangos, blueberry, kiwi, raspberries, walnuts, almonds, pecans, candy bars, chips, m&ms, you name it!!!! I like it they have it all color-coordinated so all the colorful stuff is together and all the white add-ons are placed together. So cute and fun!!!
I had the Tart and Strawberry fro-yo’s, which none contain eggs in their formula… topped with fresh strawberries and mango. I wanted to add some syrup, but I hesitated and my sister took the cup out of hand to weigh. I was holding the line…
I really enjoyed it a lot… If you’re in the West Palm Beach neck of the woods, visit this nice store and help them to continue bringing a great delicious product. And maybe even consider expanding to Puerto Rico!!!!! Hint hint 😉
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Mantra Yoga Meditation benefits your heart
14 Feb
Article in El Nuevo Día newspaper – 14 Feb 2012
If you want to learn more about the benefits of Mantra Yoga Meditation, the Centro Cultural Yoga Devanand will be holding a workshop this coming weekend February 17-19. At this workshop you’ll get a “crash course” on the benefits of meditating, not only in your own life, but also how it will benefit those around you and the world in general.
For more information on this interesting workshop, call Centro Cultural Yoga Devanand at 787-273-0236.
KarmaFree Cooking 