October 2007

In This Issue

Nutrition Tip – Whole Grains read more...
Featured Recipe – Barley Porcini Risotto  read more...
Featured Article – Eating With the Seasons read more...
Upcoming Events – Coming in November – Healthy Holidays Teleseries –read more...
Get to Balance read more...
Looking for a Speaker? read more...
New at Seeds To Change read more...
Quote of the Month Shut your eyes  read more...

Nutrition Tip

Whole Grains  Eating food in the form in which nature intended is ALWAYS what our body is looking for.  Whole grains are perfect example.  Eating them in their whole form provides more nutrients, more fiber and creates less chaos in the body.  Now days we often eat grains in a HIGHLY processed form (think white flour).  This leads to blood sugar instabilities, mood swings and weight gain.   Barley in the recipe below is a good example of a whole grain.

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Featured Recipe

Barley Porcini Risotto  Serves 6

2 T olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 / 2 cup minced onion

1 / 4 cup diced celery

1 / 4 pound porcini mushrooms, sliced

1 1 / 2cup barley

5 cups HOT vegetable broth

Sea salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

1 / 4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (or use soy or parm. cheese)

2 T minced parsley

Heat the oil in a large heavy sauce pan over medium heat.   Add the onion and celery and sauté for 3 minutes; add the garlic and mushrooms and sauté for another 2 minutes.  Add the barley and stir to coat with oil, sauté for 3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lower the heat and add the stock 1 ¼ cup at a time, cooking and stirring frequently for about 15 minutes or until stock is absorbed.  If the stock is absorbed too quickly lower the heat.  After 1 hour all the stock should be absorbed and the barley cooked.  If not, raise the heat to boil off the stock.  Stir in cheese and parsley.  Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.  Serve hot garnished with parsley.

Sounds like a lot of work I know – but it is well worth the effort.  A great thing to make with a group of people – everyone can take a turn stirring. The process also builds community along the way.

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Featured Article

Eating With the Seasons by Brenda Jaeck

Modern farming methods and easily accessible transportation have made virtually any food available at any time of the year.  It used to be that people ate in line with the seasons - eating foods that were available in their region during that time of year.   Perhaps our bodies are best suited to this type of eating.

Eating with the seasons allows us to eat more locally grown food and allows us to nourish our bodies in the way that nature intended.   Why is it advantageous to eat foods that are grown locally?  The fewer miles food has to travel and the fewer traumas the food has endured before consumption the better.   Food that has to travel great distances before being consumed is generally picked in an unripe state to prevent spoiling – therefore, it does not taste its best due to the unnatural way in which it was ripened.  Also, food that has traveled great distances by nature will have a different energy than food that is consumed near where it is grown.

Foods that are indigenous to areas during certain times serve a purpose related to the weather and/or the moods of the season – think watermelon and its cooling qualities in summer or warming, hearty winter squash in the cooler months.

Below are some suggestions for seasonal food including their seasonal advantages as well some other lifestyle focuses:

Spring  This is the season about cleansing and lightening up – refreshing light greens, citrus fruits and sprouts.  It’s  time for cleaning – i.e. spring cleaning, perhaps clearing emotional baggage or other things we hold on to.

Summer  Wonderful fruit and glorious summer vegetables abound during this time.  To name a  few: peaches, plums, tomatoes galore, zucchini and corn.  The increased heat aids us in eating light – salads and lots of fruit.  It a good time for lots of sun, fun and exercise!

Fall  This is the time to start buttoning down the hatches – staying inside more, perhaps cooking more.    Foods that are plentiful are root vegetables, squashes, apples, and pears.  The grain barley is a hearty one – good for creating warmth.  Emotions are pulling in – reining more around the home front.

Winter  Heartier, denser foods grow in winter – they need to be hearty to survive the weather but also we need heartier food when the temperature plunges.   Winter squashes and hearty greens are good choice.  These also create a warming (and comfy) feeling.  Remember, the days are shorter and this combined with the temperature drop we are likely less active.  As such, we need to be consuming few calories.

It’s good to have a guideline (and yes this article is just that – not a set of rules).  Do with it what you wish.

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Upcoming Events

Tele-Series –

Healthy Holidays Series – 4 Mondays at 7 PM EST– starting

Nov 19

Do you know the average person gains 10 – 15 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years spends more money than they have and often needs a vacation after the holidays of dealing with the parties, family, food and money?  THIS is the year it can be different.

Through a series of classes we’ll learn how to gain control this year – you’ll enjoy the holidays and still be healthy at the end (maybe even healthier!) 

This four-part series begins before the mayhem sets in!  Join me for one call or all of them.  See special pricing on the website – the more you chose to attend, the lower the cost per call.

Tips for making healthy food choices at events –

Monday, November 19

            Tips for not over spending – your money or your time –

            Monday, November 26

            Tips for staying sane, healthy, and unfrazzled this time –

           Monday  December 3

            Creating Healthy Choices - Monday December 10

For a description of each class go to www.SeedsToChange.com/classes.asp   

All teleclasses will be one hour in length with a question and answer period following. Can’t make that time?  Sign up anyway as anyone who signs up will receive the notes from the call via email as well as the ability to download a recording of the call.  This way you can listen to the call again or tune it when it is more convenient for you. 

To register, call or email me or go to my website: www.SeedsToChange.com/classes.asp   You will receive call-in information after registering.

 (what’s a teleclass?  It is just like a class you would attend in person, except you don’t have to leave your house or office.  You simply call the number provided and participate via telephone)

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Get to Balance – How will you usher in the new season?  How about with a healthier, more balanced life plan?

Are your health concerns impeding you from living life fully? Do you want to change your relationship with food from the inside out? Are you seeking deep seeded balance and wellness?

I would eagerly welcome the opportunity to work with you on a personal level.  We can work together privately to create a customized life-long plan for you AND create the steps to incorporate those changes into your existing routines.

Through my counseling services I can help you create and maintain balance in your life by using nutrition as a focus and a tool.  To do this I look at your entire lifestyle to achieve maximum health.  This is accomplished through education and private consultations where an individualized program is developed for you.  These consultations include evaluating your current diet and overall lifestyle and then making easily implemented, gradual changes.  Additionally, you’ll receive outside information in the form of articles, books, tapes and recipes.  Also included are additional monthly forms of education and participation -- activities like cooking coaching, health food store shopping hints, light exercising functions and other activities. My practice is telephone based, allowing for maximum flexibility and ease. To learn more to go http://www.seedstochange.com/programs.asp.

To schedule an initial consultation contact me today at Brenda@SeedsToChange.com or (917) 213-9305. 

By starting today, you will; Create action NOW

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Looking for a speaker?

One of my greatest joys is speaking to groups.  It is always a dynamic exchange and we all come away enriched.  Would your company or group benefit from an entertaining, motivating speaker on how to get healthier?   If so, please let me know the name and contact information of your program coordinator so that I may send them an informational packet.  I would love the opportunity to serve your favorite group.

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New at Seeds To Change

FEATURED CD  This month’s featured CD is--  CD of the Month Club

Join now to receive an inspiring and informative CD each month – and a bonus CD when you register.  Also makes a GREAT gift.  For more information visit: http://www.seedstochange.com/item.asp?id=96&cat=1

PERFECT FOR YOUR CAR LIBRARY OR A GIFT. Informative CD’s - You can lean about anything from Sugar to How to Eat Out Healthily in my new series of nutrition and lifestyle lectures on CD. Other topics include: Fasting and Cleansing, Eat for Balance and Energy, Healthy Weight Loss, Your Nutrition Questions Answered, Get out of Your Head: How To Stop the Chatter, and an Introduction to Meditation and five new titles: Sleep Issues, Water: How and Why to Drink More, Ten Top Tips for a Healthier You!, Constipation and Food Cravings. They are informative, interesting and even a little entertaining!  To order go to www.SeedstoChange.com/market.asp

NOW AVAILABLE CD OF THE MONTH CLUB  What a GREAT way to create change or to give the gift of health.  For details: http://www.seedstochange.com/item.asp?id=96&cat=1

WEBSITE: Check out my website.  It is chock-full information and resources. www.SeedsToChange.com

GIFT CERTIFICATES: Looking for a unique and easy gift?  How about a Seeds To Change Gift Certificate – available in any denomination – give the gift of health – to yourself or someone you care about. Another perfect gift!

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Quote of the Month

I shut my eyes in order to see. Paul Gauguin

See the invisible and hear the inaudible 

    Dr Michael Bernard Beckworth – Founder and Spiritual Director of Agape    

        Spiritual Center

 What do YOU see when you shut your eyes – perhaps this is a good way to look within. J

Please forward this newsletter to anyone and everyone that would benefit from Nutritional and Lifestyle Advice. Enjoy and thanks for reading.

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Helping you grow a happy, healthy life