What Does Love Have To Do With It

Everything, according to Chef Amy Rachelle who held a raw
food prep class in Bridgeport, CT, her only Connecticut
appearance during this trip back to the US.

Love yourself, the food you prepare, set loving kind connections as you work with the food, she loves to be creative, she loves to share her love, enthusiasm and knowledge with you, love the animals, and the earth we grow our food in and advocates that we do the same.  Keep it mineral rich, be, use organic in your foods, what you put in and on our bodies.

To succeed in a busy world where most food is nutrient deficient instead of nutrient dense how do you eat and be healthier?  This is Amy's mantra, "Plan and Prepare, Plan and Prepare".

When you plan and prepare you decide what recipes you want to make for the week.  Then you create a shopping list for the week.  Decide how many times you want to go food shopping.  Amy goes twice a week and as soon as she gets home the preparation for the week kicks in.  She allots 2 days a week for prep work.

All that can be washed, chopped, soaked is done in bulk for the week. This cuts back on the sense that this is labor intensive, get it off the list, it's a big time saver. Can we all use this? Definitely.  

Part of the planning is also knowing what needs dehydrating and when. Dehydrating needs time, therefore, it is the first step in prep for recipes where it is required.

We all introduced ourselves and stated why we were taking the class and many needs were expressed.  As the class progressed the needs were addressed for example, I'm busy and don't have alot of time for recipes that take long time", "I get bored with the recipes I gravitate to and eat over and over", "I want to feel better" and the list went on. 

One sauce miraculously turned into three different sauces with little effort. One sauce is for ratatouille, one for an awesome portabello with creamy sauce, and one for use in flax crackers.  The ratatouille was also used as a side for the portebello dish. Most recipes we saw were converted into more than one recipe.  Everything was absolutely delicious and not just to the raw foodists in the class.  "I can eat meals like this and be happy, this is tasty and satisfying" from a student who didn't think raw would be for them when it comes to satisfying meals for dinner.

Amy backs all of her love with food, with science. Throughout the day she always included the science backing her statements.  The importance of understanding food combining, fermentation (decay) of foods which cause the breeding ground for candida and bacteria and what happens when it gets into your tissues and blood.  She recommends blood tests and ph testing with ph test strips to understand if you are acidic or alkaline.  This is a whole topic unto itself and the backbone of her talk.  If you are too acidic you will invariably be sick, wake up tired even after a full nights sleep and invite major dis-ease into your life.

The other important mention was that our stomach is our second brain. It communicates to the brain, sends messages to us and to our body.  We need to listen to it carefully and what it is telling us.

One important piece of advice, we are all different and here and there we may chose to eat not so healthy.  It is important to be loving and kind to yourself which means not to deprive yourself.  If you really want something unhealthy or a totally unhealthy meal, make sure you really know what you are doing and why. Come to terms with it.  Her advice is to have a detox day the following day and include drinking alot of pure fresh water throughout the day.  Please contact me if you would like assistance with your detox needs more locally.

Amy covered kitchen setup how to's and for those who exclaimed, "my spouse isn't into this at all how do I set up the kitchen?" "Lovingly.  Express your needs kindly and be firm for your needs and set up half of the cabinets and half of the refrigerator for your foods and equipment". 

We learned 12 recipes and variations in an eight hour class were there was a large amount of instruction, discussion and yes, we all ate nice size samples of each and every recipe. A delicious and empowering day.

A plaque on the wall said it all:  "There is only one Happiness in Life, To Love and Be Loved".
Remember to love yourself too.

For more information amy@amyrachelle.com, founder of purerawlifestyle.com.

This event was hosted by Glen Collelo of Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe, 39 Unquowa Road, Fairfield, CT,  and held at the GreenGourmetToGo  2984 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.

Want to learn more?  Give me a call or email  me and we will  schedule a time to talk about Refreshing Your Life Now.

Barbara

203-216-6889

RefreshYourLifeNow@gmail.com

www.RefreshYourLifeNow@blogspot.com

This post may be reprinted on your blog, website or in your e-zine with my blessing as long as you include the following:  Barbara Greenhouse shares her passions of Food, "Cooking", Cruelty-Free, and the Sharing of Unbiased Information for a healthy and informed world.  She guides her clients through their journey to live their dreams, easily and holistically, with compassion and by incorporating some delicious live raw foods.  She is currently authoring her first book, "Sacred You, The Delicious Journey"®    © copyright refreshyourlifenow, - 2011 Connecticut, USA