To be or not to be...a vegetarian

Check out the latest news I read from Courtney Pool's blog...

More than one million people in Taiwan have pledged to help cut carbon emissions by being a vegetarian. Taiwan's population is about 23 million, and the one million vegetarians would reduce at least 1.5 million tons of carbon emissions in Taiwan in one year.

The Union of NoMeatNoHeat made the announcement during its anti-global warming drive. Many prominent politicians, such as the legislative speaker, the environment minister, and Taipei and Kaohsiung Mayors all pledged to become vegetarians.

The Union said 20 percent of the world's carbon emissions are created by the livestock industry, which is higher than the 15 to 18 percent produced by all the world's transportation vehicles.

The Union said if a person eats only vegetables for a whole year, roughly 1.5 tons of carbon emissions can be cut.

Awesome! I think we should all pledge not to eat commercially grown meat! Last October, when I decided to move more towards raw, I stopped eating meat (although, I think I accidentally eat my fair share of slugs and bugs from our organic garden). I didn't eat a lot of meat at the time and most of it was local wild game and fish. I continue to feel no need in my body for meat at this time, but this subject always brings up that interesting concept of local and low carbon footprint. My husband is a hunter. It may sound like an oxymoron to some, but he has a deep respect for the animals and woods he spends so much time with. He is able to hunt close to home and we do all the processing ourselves. He spends tons of time out in nature observing. So much of the food we consume is something we have grown or gathered or he has hunted/fished. Commercial agriculture has huge negative impacts on the physical, mental and spiritual health of our planet and all of it's lifeforms. This is obvious to me. However, this gray area I am speaking of, never seems to be addressed. It deepens for me as I think about Shamanism and the plant matrix of life...who are we to decide that taking the life of a plant is any less powerful of act than taking the life of an animal? What is most important to me is that we receive our nourishment with a deep level of gratitude, respect and connection. By connection, I mean knowing what our food looks like when it grows and where it comes from, rather than being consumed by supplement bottles and packaging.

I would love it if folks would like to comment on this, as I am very curious for your opinion and experience.

Sending Love and Respect, Kelly O

p.s. The sarvice berries are ripe in our yard (a wild edible berry, sometimes known as saskatoon berries) and I picked a big bundle for my green smoothie this morning, along with lamb's quarter and chard from the green house! Yum!

Raw Cheesecake!!

Alas, I got around to making that raw cheesecake recipe-I was waiting to make it for my folks to arrive for their visit. It was a hit and so simple to make! Sooo much easier than baking! We topped it with mashed up strawberries fresh picked from the garden! Here's the info:
Crust:
1.5 cups Organic Raw Macadamia Nuts or Organic Raw Cashews
1/2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
1/2 cup pitted dates (I used prunes simply because that's what I had)
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1-2 Tbsp raw Carob Powder
1-2 Tbsp raw Cacao Powder

Throw it all in a food processor and then press it into a springform pan or any baking dish.

Filling:
3 cups cashews
3/4 cup lemon juice (about 6 lemons or less, if you would prefer it less tangy)
3/4 cup Honey
1 or 2 Vanilla Beans
1/2 cup water as needed

Food process until nice and smooth (Vitamix Blender would work well for this too), pour on top of crust, cover and freeze or refrigerate to make firm. Savor and enjoy!! xoxo
p.s. It freezes really well, so it is easy to make to have ready for company or keep some emergency sweets on hand!

Backpacking with wild foraging!

Aaah...we have just returned from a lovely weekend in the back country! It was so nice to spend such a busy holiday weekend completely immersed in nature. We came upon more snow than we had expected (we have had a late cool start this year) and often weren't exactly sure where the actual trail was, but everything worked out perfectly! There was just enough dry space for us to camp and on the ridge above, there were tons of glacier lilies and spring beauties, which are some of the yummiest edible flowers around!


We also nibbled on young fireweed, yellow violets and even found some stinging nettles down low. While I was showing my friend how to fold the leaf so the stingers don't get you when you eat them, my other amigo threw the whole top bud of the plant in his mouth for a nice surprise! Before we left, I was able to collect some nettles leaves that I am drying for tea. Here's the 411:
Nettle leaves are a storehouse of nutrition, with high iron and calcium contents, as well as an excellent source of folic acid, an essential nutrient during pregnancy. Nettle strengthens the kidneys and adrenals, while it relieves fluid retention. Because nettle also supports the vascular system, it can prevent varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Postpartum, it increases breast milk. Good stuff!
During the day, we each carved our own wooden spoons from fallen trees to enjoy our curried lentil soup with. So fun!! They turned out pretty good and it was a beautiful, meditative way to spend a cool day.

Have you ever played pigs? It's a fun, old game where you shake little plastic pigs like dice and get points for the different ways they land. Upright is called a "hoofer", on it's back with feet in the air is a "razorback", breakdancing on the side of his face is a "leaning jowler" and touching is "makin' bacon"! We found a gorgeous flat rock to play on and I'm proud to say I am the reigning champion! It reminds me of someone in Bali who was famous for wearing a shirt with a picture of a pig that said "Friend, not food." Simple pleasures...what are the simple pleasures of your day? Thank you to ya'll out there who leave comments on this blog, I love to hear from you and I apologize for not communicating back so much...I tend to hit a wall with my computer tolernace, but please know I love to hear from you!! XOXO, Kelly Ordway :)

Wild Greens!

Buenos dias! Good morning! Actually, it's after noon already, but it rained and rained and rained all night and morning, so it feels like the day is just beginning! I had fun with another Yoga podcast class this morning and am just loving it! As long as I can actually get started, I am good to go. I have heard that 90% of the equation is simply showing up and this rings true for me in many ways. Then, I walked outside to pick some greens for my smoothie and realized some of our strawberries are ripe!! Yahoo! Only a few were ready and they were delish! Nice appetizer...then to the greenhouse to pick some of the last of the spinach (it likes cooler weather in early spring and fall)and some weeds to eat! I picked lamb's quarter and dandelion leaves. Here's some info I cut and pasted for you...

Lamb's quarter, is a wild relative of the spinach plant and can be used as a free replacement for spinach! It grows prolifically throughout most of the world.
This herb is one of the most nutritious wild foods you can eat.
One cup of raw lamb's quarter leaves contains:
~ 80 mg of Vitamin C
~ 11,600 IU of Vitamin A
~ 72 mg of Phosphorus
~ 309 mg of Calcium
as well as good amounts of
~ Thiamin
~ Riboflavin
~ Niacin
and
~ Iron

Dandelion greens are one of season’s earliest wild picks and one of the finest spring tonics. The greens have a slightly bitter note and are elegant in a salad.
Dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat viruses, jaundice, edema, gout, eczema and acne. This sunflower relative boasts potent medicinal properties with laxative and diuretic properties.
Don’t bother gathering from plants that have gone to flower. Here’s why: as the energy moves up to the blossom, the greens becomes quite bitter and require blanching to be toothsome. Please note: do not gather dandelions from lawns, public trails, roadsides or any chemically-tainted area. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.

Pretty amazing stuff, eh? And all just a free, fun wild pick! I was having a hard time bringing up pictures, but you can google them easily to be able to identify them for harvesting. I blended the big handful of greens with frozen plums, stevia, Carob Powder,, Spirulina , Goji Berries and water. I made the same concoction yesterday and this one tasted quite a bit more bitter, so you have to be careful with the amount and youthfulness of the dandelion greens, but it was still yummy. Frozen plums aren't my favorite fruit of choice for smoothies, but that's what I have in the freezer from last fall's harvest. I am grateful for all this beautiful, healing food that comes right from home! Pick something wild!!

Yoga class podcasts and Raw cheesecake!

Isn't this a gorgeous photo? This is Nikki and Edward again from Tripsichore. If they ever travel near you, I highly recommend checking out their performance, which is a blend of graceful Yoga flow, theater and humor!

Aaaah...it is late evening and I just finished practicing Yoga and then listening to Holosync for a meditation...Yum!! Many days at home I have been listening to podcasts to practice. I didn't even realize it existed before the Yoga teacher training, but our teacher was recording himself for a podcast, so I decided to check it out upon my return home. I am able to hear a teacher leading a class and for some reason, I find this so much easier to challenge and focus myself compared to doing it on my own. It is such a helpful stepping stone to developing my own personal practice and it's fun! It's also a good way to learn about teaching since I can indirectly experience so many different teachers and styles! Yoga and meditation are so monumental in my life right now...helping me remember balance and release that peace and joy that is present in every moment!
The podcast I took tonight talked about self-worth and how often times we feel better about our selves when we are good at a posture or can do a certain Yoga asana well. It focused on remembering how completely worthy we are, simply by BEING ourselves. From that place of self worth and Love, we can have fun with asana to play and explore! Click here if you want to check out this Level 2 Anusara class with Betsey Downing :)
On the raw food tip, a friend of mine brought a raw cheesecake to a potluck baby shower party that was epic!! wow! I wish I had a recipe to share and try out for myself, but I know it came from one of Ani Phyo's books. I might try to make one soon from some of the recipes I've found on the internet, so I'll keep you informed and post the recipe if it is good to go! Until then, our sweet treat is the latest version of spirulina balls. Sweeet dreams!!! XO, Kelly O

As Local as it gets!

Hallelujah for fresh garden greens! I am so happy it is summer time and I can walk out to the garden to pick a salad for lunch! We are going to really pursue a greenhouse set-up that we can grow in year round...the freshness is leaps and bounds different than anything we can buy at the store, even organic. We are able to grow everything organically here too! From the garden, we have been enjoying all kinds of salad greens, chives, mint, cilantro and asparagus. The strawberries are starting to move from flower to small, yellow berries. I am grateful our spring was chilly and I didn't miss strawberry season while I was in Bali. We also have wild strawberries on the property and I have been picking young dandelion weeds to add to my salads and raw dressings. Not from the property, I have also been enjoying dehydrated raw portobello mushroom burgers and raw corn chips...Yum!!
May your day be fresh and vibrant!! XO, Kelly O

Are you still out there? I apologize for being much less consistent with my postings as of late...my focus was deeply embedded in the Yoga Teacher Training :) The tremendously slow internet connection combined with very little free time gifted me with very little computer time. Here is a great picture from a Bali beach...an Acro Yoga Daniel sandwich...what a fun way to play with Yoga!
I am back from Bali now and am happy to say that I experienced no jet lag in either direction. Someone suggested that my diet and lifestyle probably helps a lot with that. Whatever it is, I like it!! I feel so grateful that the training was 100% raw food-it is such a huge bonus and a big reason why I chose that particular training. A friend of mine recently went to a week long Yoga workshop where the food was not so healthy. It seems so silly to be diving so deeply into health of the mind, body and spirit without recognizing diet. I love being 100% raw and am going to stay very mostly raw and I am also open to some cooked foods. I feel like it is so important to eat as local as possible right now and always. We have a short growing season here, since we have long winters, but I am able to grow a lot of our own food. I feel very happy eating applesauce that I canned at home from our apple tree last fall rather than an organic Fuji apple shipped from Chile. We have amazing salad greens growing right now (thanks to ma-in-law!) and I am happy to have a side of steamed squash frozen from our fall harvest. Hopefully that will balance those yummy Goji Berries I love to eat from China!

Speaking of goji berries, do you eat them? They are so yummy and nutritious-I eat them almost everyday...oops, there goes my local plan. It's all about balance, si? Here is some info on the amazing goji berry...
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Goji berries, sometimes called Wolfberries, are perhaps the most nutritionally-rich fruit on the planet. Goji berries contain 18 kinds of amino acids (six times higher than bee pollen) and contain all 8 essential amino acids (such as isoleucine and tryptophan).

Goji berries contain up to 21 trace minerals (the main ones being zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium, and phosphorus).

Goji berries are the richest source of carotenoids, including beta-carotene (more beta carotene than carrots), of all known foods or plants on earth! They contain 500 times the amount of vitamin C, by weight, than oranges making them second only to camu camu berries as the richest vitamin C source on earth. Goji berries also contain vitamins B1, B2, B6, and vitamin E.

Mature fruits contain about 11 mg of iron per 100 grams, beta-sisterol (an anti-inflammatory agent), linoleic acid (a fatty acid), sesquiterpenoids (cyperone, solavetivone), tetraterpenoids (zeaxanthin, physalin), and betaine (0.1%).

Goji berries contain polysaccharides which fortify the immune system. A polysaccharide found in this fruit has been found to be a powerful secretagogue (a substance that stimulates the secretion of rejuvenative human growth hormone by the pituitary gland).

Goji berries have been traditionally regarded as a longevity, strength-building, and sexual potency food of the highest order. In several study groups with elderly people the berry was given once a day for 3 weeks, many beneficial results were experienced and 67% of the patients T cell transformation functions tripled and the activity of the patients white cell interleukin-2 doubled. In addition, the results showed that all the patients spirit and optimism increased significantly, appetite improved in 95% of the patients, 95% of the patients slept better, and 35% of the patients partially recovered their sexual function.

The famed Li Qing Yuen, who apparently lived to the age of 252 years (1678-1930), consumed Goji berries daily. The life of Li Qing Yuen is the most well-documented case of extreme longevity known.

These Goji berries grow in protected valleys in million year old soil in wild and cultivated areas. The plants grow like bushes with vines that reach over 15 feet. The berries are never touched by hand as they will oxidize and turn black if touched while fresh. They are shaken onto mats, then dried in the shade.

The Goji berry is a deep-red, dried fruit about the same size as a raisin. The Goji berry tastes somewhat like a cross between a cranberry and a cherry.

A good daily intake of Goji berries is 10-30 grams (a small handful). Goji berries may be used as snacks or mixed with recipes or smoothies like other dried fruits.

May your day be filled with Peace and Joy!! xo, Kelly O