Archive for December, 2005

Cutting down on sugar
I’m trying to cut down on my intake of sugar and get more raw food into my diet. These cookies are very tasty and good for you too. The almonds help to counter the sweetness in the honey. I still try not to eat too many sweet things since too many sweets, even whole food sweets, can throw the body out of balance. There are also other cookies on RawFood.com. When I really feel like indulging I get these so I don’t eat the stuff that makes me sick.

Degrees
There are degrees of healthy eating.  I’ve found that all things are relative. It was 52 degrees today. In the summer that would be considered cold but nearing the end of December it’s considered warm. See? So, in relation to food I feel it’s better for me to indulge in something that’s on the healthy side of sweet instead of trying to ignore my cravings and then wind up going completely downhill with stuff that’s loaded with sugar, preservatives and all kinds of artificial stuff.

Cravings
Now, on the flip side of that is why do I get the cravings in the first place. There are many opinions on why people get cravings (and the one that makes the most sense to me comes from Arnold Ehret). I notice that I don’t get as many if I get enough sleep, exercise and meditate regularly. If I’m doing those things then eating healthy is much easier. I’m also in a better mood, usually feeling blissful, compassionate and generous. Wow! Just think what it would do for the world if everyone got enough sleep, exercised and meditated on a regular basis… In the meantime, let’s enjoy raw cookies knowing that, at least we aren’t doing any harm. And considering all the "less than healthy" food we probably ate during the holidays, this one’s a no-brainer.

View product details at RawFood.com: Chai Raweo Cookies

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The energy of your purchases
Do you know where the things you buy come from and what kind of energy they bring with them? Food, clothing, etc. carry the vibration of those who have handled them and all their parts. As it passes through these hands the vibration of the workers stays with the product. This eventually makes its way to you in the form of karma that you share with the companies and management, etc. So it is very wise to consider how the employees, who made it possible for you to have something, are treated by their employers.

Karma
When we purchase products we bear some of the karma for the way everyone is treated all the way down the line. That includes the earth, the farmers, those involved in every aspect of growing and harvesting including those who pick it, those who transport the raw materials to the factories, the factory workers process it, those who turn it into the final product, those who sweep the factory floor, those who maintain the machines, those who sell it, those who manage all the people at each point, the people who package it and ship it out the door, the delivery person who brings it to you, the way it’s disposed of/recycled/composted upon its inevitable demise. There are certainly others who touch it and contribute to its energy and karma so it’s definitely worth considering where your goods come from when you are shopping.

My goals
One of my goals is to bring you products from companies that treat the employees well, from beginning to end. Ultimately you can always rely on your intuition: if it doesn’t feel right then it probably isn’t; if it feels good then it probably is.

Eating local produce
It has been argued that we should only eat what’s in season in the area where we live. The theory is that local food is what our bodies know and are used to. I don’t know how true that is anymore. So many of us have moved away from the place of our ancestors that it just doesn’t seem to apply anymore. If you add in the mixing factors of generations of people having babies with people from other climates it’s completely confused and there isn’t anyway to point to just one "right" way of eating for any individual. Take me for instance; my ancestors were of the following backgrounds: Cherokee, Swedish, French, Irish, Italian, and English. None of them are tropical areas but they do certainly grow different foods. There are just so many variables to this whole discussion that I can’t get into them all in this forum.

Eating local produce is a beneficial practice for many reasons: you’re supporting the local economy, local farmers, open land, get your food fresher, get a greater variety of better tasting food and you can even get to know where your food comes from, which is exactly what we’ve been talking about here.

Others involved in getting us our food
One thing I like to take into consideration, mostly when purchasing food, is what humans had to do to get it and how animals were treated when they were harvested/butchered. I’m not a vegetarian, as much as I would like to be, but I accept that fact that what I’m eating used to be a living, breathing animal. As far as I’m concerned, if someone doesn’t like being told that what they’re eating was an animal then they probably have very strong vegetarian tendencies and should consider being a vegetarian. Read John Robbins book Diet for a New America.

Dangerous jobs
That being said, did you know that Alaskan Crabbers have a very high mortality rate and work under amazingly inhuman conditions? What can we do? One solution is to purchase local produce. Purchasing other products online can also save on gas. It also provides work for local people making deliveries. "Why", you say, "does that make sense? It requires even more deliveries using more gas." This is just my observation but most of those delivery people are local and those who have to fly the airplanes can fly right back home. So, if we all ordered online then the delivery trucks would be making all the deliveries for us so we wouldn’t have to go to all those stores. Gas would be saved by the one delivery truck making deliveries to 50 or more houses a day. Well, who knows, these are just my musings.

ResponsibleShopper.org
Fortunately there is a free service where you can check on the larger picture of certain companies. You can search by company, product, brand name, or category. Not everything a company does that isn’t in line with healthy earth/healthy humans makes it to this resource but at least we can we can get a clearer picture on most of them.

And to be on the proactive side, when searching for "green" businesses to patronize, you can look to the National Green Pages as a resource. Become a member and get the Green Pages book but you don’t have to be a member to search for businesses on their site. If you own a "green" business and would like to become a member and be listed in their directory you can apply on their website.

Considerations
So when you are making a purchase consider all those involved. And let’s be forgiving when things aren’t the way we have come to expect them. We have become unreasonable in our expectations of what a human being should endure in order to earn a living. Who ever thought that working 5 days and having off only 2 days was a healthy idea? And eight hours of work a day is very taxing on the mind, body and nervous system. We are all humans with human needs and really do need to take care of ourselves. So when the line is too long at the grocery store, because someone called out sick, let’s be understanding of the extra time it takes and the extra burden on those who are working, be compassionate and send them a little love, a smile and some kind words to energize and encourage them.

We are all one and what helps one of us helps all of us.

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This CD always gets me in the mood for New Year’s Eve. With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas crowding people’s minds New Year’s reminds me of a more genial time of relaxing with friends and family without the expectations that come with Christmas. So when I start to feel overwhelmed, listening to Striking 12 helps me relax while keeping me in a holiday mood.

Striking 12 is the musical story of a man who decides to spend New Year’s Eve alone reading Hans Christian Anderson’s story, The Little Match Girl. Along the way he comes to the realization that everyone deserves to be treated well. He learns compassion, gratitude, and generosity. The parallel between Hans’s little match girl and Striking 12′s little light bulb girl create a synergy that gives the story added dimension. Hopefully the girls will not share the same fate.

This CD was released last year and we listened to it all season. Now they’re back touring with the live show through 12/23. In the meantime you can enjoy one of last year’s live shows on this CD. The playful bantering and live audience make for a really enjoyable listening experience. I really love the music and the story is very clever. GrooveLily’s music continues to evolve and climb to higher levels. They are truly an amazing group.

Listening Tip
The whole CD is a little over an hour and you might want to listen to the whole thing uninterrupted the first time so you don’t lose the story line. After that you can listen to the songs as you please.

My favorite mellow song is Snow Song (It’s Coming Down); favorite clever song is Last Day of the Year; favorite fun song, Hey La La which we always refer to as "This is the sound of a party you don’t get to go to"; and last but not least, my favorite brutally honest song is Screwed-Up People Make Great Art. The CD is so wonderful I can’t pick just one!

Parental Caution
If you don’t know the story of The Little Match Girl you might want to read it, or better yet, listen to this CD before letting your children listen to it. (Psst – the little girl dies, sssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh…)

View details at Amazon.com: Striking 12: The New GrooveLily Musical

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About this honey
This is one of the creamiest, smoothest honeys I’ve ever tried. It has a subtle taste and is quite a treat when you feel like indulging yourself. I eat it instead of candy, which I’m working on giving up completely. It also makes a tasteful gift.

(Dawn’s Note: I originally got this honey from RawFood.com but they don’t carry it anymore. I’ll let you know if I find a new source for it.)

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About this book
 This is such a cute book. A little boy wonders what Snowmen do at night. Curiously enough his musings sound like what little boys would do if they were snowmen out at night. The pictures are beautiful and contain hidden items for the children to find.

Also check out the companion book, Snowmen at Christmas.

View book details at Amazon.com: Snowmen at Night

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