Click here to see video:  http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html

I’ve suffered this seasonal misery for over 15 years, with no consistent relief from any treatment – conventional or natural. Until now, with my discovery of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

I tried standard treatment for allergic rhinitis caused by pollen:  antihistamines, nasal sprays, and so forth. But while my allergy flare-ups were controlled with these medications, it was at the cost of a load of nagging side effects—headaches, fatigue, dry mouth, low energy and more.

I also turned to alternative/natural treatments, including acupuncture, homeopathy, and dietary changes. Some helped, some did not. I did find temporary relief with acupuncture, though its effect lasted only two to three days before I needed another session, a time-consuming and expensive solution.

Homeopathy simply meant my symptoms occurred in the middle of winter! I was told that I needed to start the course way before allergy season starts, and although the homeopathy doctor adjusted the dose and tried changing the medication, I was sniffing when trees were still dormant!

Making some changes in my diet have been helpful, but did not provide complete relief.  Eliminating dairy, wheat and corn made a huge difference to the severity of my allergic symptoms, but I still needed medication to control symptoms.  It makes sense that reducing dairy and wheat – especially the former —should alleviate allergy symptoms, as these foods tend to produce mucus.

I have been told that there is no cure for allergies, so finding the treatment that best suits your allergy, your lifestyle, and your wallet is very important.

Well, I think I found mine! This spring, for the first time in 15 years, I was allergy- free and able to welcome its arrival rather than dread it.

In April, as I sat sneezing and sniffling, waiting for a massage appointment, the woman sitting next to me, a flight attendant, suggested I visit her Chinese doctor, who she said was the only doctor to successfully treated her allergies.

I visited the doctor the same day and left his office with 10 tiny bags of specially prepared herbs, which I was to take as a tea for 10 days. After the second day of taking the tea, I was symptom free!  I continued taking the tea for the 10 prescribed days.  At his suggestion, I returned after allergy season was over so that we could focus on getting my immune system to work properly by restoring balance in my digestive and respiratory system thorough another specially tailored herbal therapy.  I am taking that herbal therapy now, and I’ll update you on the effects of that treatment as well.

Hoping my experience with TCM brings you relief from allergies, I invite you to give it a try and share your own personal experience with me!

Carbohydrates come from a wide range of foods, such as grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. They supply the body with glucose; its prefer source of energy.  Glucose (sugar is the generic term) is made in the liver after food has been digested in the stomach. The hormone insulin then carries the converted glucose out of the bloodstream and into the body’s cells where it is either used as fuel (as we walk, run, think, and perform other daily activities) or stored, as fat, for later use.  This process happens every time we consume food that contains carbohydrates. Slowing this digestive process has healthful benefits.

Different types of carbohydrates go through the digestive process of turning into glucose much quicker than others.  For example, a donut will be converted into glucose and released into the bloodstream much quicker than an apple. Consuming carbohydrates that breakdown quickly during digestion is not a sensible dietary practice as they will flood your bloodstream with sugar all at once, too much and too fast surge of fuel.  In addition to that, this energy is short lived.  As you soon discover that your energy is low again, you feel hungry and need to eat again.
If you continue eating only this kind of “quick energy-giving but not lasting” food, you are more likely to overeat and it will show in your waistline.     

Since carbohydrates seem to be the food we tend to eat the most, especially when we are hungry and low energy, our carbohydrate consumption should come from whole grains, vegetables and fruits, not from processed food. 

How can we tell the difference between a healthy carbohydrate and a less desirable one? A good way to tell is the degree of refinement or processing of the food. In general, the finer the pieces the faster it is digested (steel cut oats vs. instant oatmeal).  The least processed the grain, the most fiber it contains. Fiber is found mostly in the casing of the grain, which slows digestion and absorption, thus glucose release is more gradual.  So, whole grains (whole barley, oats, quinoa) are healthier than heavily processed refined grains (white rice, wheat that has been ground and turned into white flour).

Controlling our glucose level through diet is a key component to staying healthy, since elevated blood sugar level will create imbalances in our body, which can translate into fatigue, feeling lethargic, mood swings, cravings, weight gain, and in the long run also put you at risk of developing diseases. 
Here are some general guidelines to choosing healthy carbohydrates:

Bread
If you chose to eat bread (most of us do) choose bread that is high in fiber (whole wheat or sprouted whole wheat bread). The husk around the grains (the bran) slows the glucose conversion. Rye bread is also a good option. Limit your consumption of baked goods that are made with white flour.

Breakfast cereals
Eating breakfast is an important dietary practice. Avoid cereals that have been processed and have high levels of added sugar, opt for the traditional oatmeal or choose high fiber content cereals.  Examples are those that list whole grains, such as whole wheat, oats, barley at the top of the list of the ingredients. 

Grains
Whole grains are subject to little or no processing, so make friends with them. Barley, buckwheat (kasha), quinoa, millet, brown rice, are good choices. 

Pasta
The type of type of flour used to make pasta (wheat durum), which contains protein and slows digestion, makes it a good choice. It is also a good idea to eat pasta al dente, the softer the pasta the easier it is to convert into glucose.

Vegetables and Fruits
Vegetables are high in fiber, thus an excellent choice.  The exception to this is the starchy vegetables such as potatoes. Due to their high starch content they are digested and turned into sugar rapidly. But you can use sweet potatoes instead, which can be prepared in similar way as regular potatoes. 

The more fiber content the fruit has the better the choice, think apples, pears, peaches and berries. Canned fruit is different though, since sugar is likely to have been added, thus glucose release is quicker.  Fruit juice, since fiber has been removed, also has a rapid glucose conversion. 

Beans and legumes
The starch in these foods is slowly broken down into sugar. Canned beans are converted quicker than beans that have been cooked from the dried state.  So using   dried beans to cook whenever possible is a good idea.   

An important caveat here is the fact that everyone may digest food differently. Factors such as how well the persons chews the food, and what other foods are eaten at the same meal also have an effect.  But if you stick to eating mostly whole foods and little or no processed food you are likely to be just fine…

I’ve been really careful to use the “L” word with you because as you can see, I use it a lot in the rest of the world around me.  With you, the “L” word is feeling different…something I have only felt very, very few times before.  And this time, it actually feels even more rare.  Honey, I can’t tell you enough of how you have made me feel so good, so warm, so happy, so loved, these past 7 weeks.  Let’s just keep going forward and you’ll come to understand how the “L” word from me is only special to you! 

Happy 7 Week Anniversary
xxxox
Rand

I soon learned just how special it was to be loved by Rand and as he said in this note, many people from around the world got to feel this love as well. The love between the two of us may have been different from the rest, but being loved by Rand was truly a special experience and something those that got to feel, will never forget.  Rand had the ability to make YOU, whoever that was at the moment, feel like the most special person in his life.  And at that moment - you truly were. 

My hope with The Palette Fund is that the work we do, in Rand’s name, will enable many people to continue to feel this love.  Being loved by Rand was one of the greatest gifts I have been given in my life and being able to help spread that light is not only an honor, but a wonderful reminder of just how special our love truly was. 

One More Day -

T

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground turkey (can use a mixture of white and dark meat)
1 medium size white onion, diced
¼ cup of rolled oats
¼ cup rice milk
1 bell pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon of Bragg’s liquid aminos
¼ cup organic unsalted tomato sauce
3-4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400*F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the rice milk and oats and let it soak for at least 15 minutes.
3. Wash the pepper, dry it and roast it in the oven till skin is soft, about 15 minutes. Wrap it in aluminum paper.
4. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  Using a roasting pan, arrange them in a single layer, and roast them in the oven (can be done while roasting the pepper) till they start to caramelize. Set aside.
5. Lower the oven temperature to 350*
6. Using a frying pan, sauté the onions till translucent.  Add a pinch salt.  Set aside.
7. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, peel the skin, seed it and dice half it.  Reserve the other half for other uses. Add it to a salad for example.
8. In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, caramelized onions, oats mixture, diced bell pepper, egg, Braggs liquid, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. 
9. Place the mixture in a baking dish that holds 3 cups, like a 7x5-inch dish.
10. Peel the skin of the roasted tomatoes and arrange them in a single layer on top of the turkey mixture.
11. Bake it a 350* for about 45 minutes or till meat thermometer inserted in the middle reads 160*.
12. Let it rest, for about 15 minutes, before cutting it into squares. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Recipe adapted from the book The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

When should we do it?
If we want to keep our body in rhythm with the seasons, the two times for natural cleansing are the times of transition into spring and fall.

What type of fasting should we do?
Though we can find many fasting/detox products and programs in the market, some of these regimes are extreme and challenging to follow, like the multi-day detox (30 days liquid fast) fox example. There are however, safer ways to do it. Some of these gentler ways include the use of juices made from vegetables and fresh fruits, as well as herbal teas. Another good option is the macrobiotic fast, only grain (brown rice); yet another option is to eat solid, but not protein, only vegetables.  Another gentler way is doing it every day for 12 hours of the 24 hours. Abstaining from eating food from 8am to 8pm or after dinner from 8pm to 8am. 
All of these fast programs generate varying degrees of detoxification.

Whichever program we choose to do, it is important to keep in mind, that the level of detox with fasting is a very individual experience, and it will depend on the condition of the body, as well as mind and attitude. The experience might be intense, some may experience some malaise while going thru it, while others may find it immediately helpful and uplifting.

Who should fast?
While fasting for a day or two is rarely a problem if you are healthy, it can be quite risky and dangerous if you are not eating a healthy diet, or if you have health issues, such as liver or kidney problems, or have a compromised immune system.

Fasting for example is not recommended as a tool for weight loss. As the weight loss may be temporary. A more effective way may be through a lifestyle change that includes new dietary habits and food choices to replace the old ones.

Fasting for cancer treatment is also controversial as cancer is a debilitating illness, so fasting may not be wise. It may be helpful with early-stage cancer as an addition to a whole food diet, fresh juices and vegetables, as it can induce mild detoxification and enhance vitality.  Fasting can also be used as a cancer preventive to reduce toxicity.

How to go about fasting?
Start slowly - fast one day a week for example. Then move to doing it for longer periods of time. I usually fast up to 7 days.  I do fresh vegetables/fruits or a combination of both. I have also done it consuming raw vegetables and raw fruits.

Will there be reactions to fasting?
When you go on a gentler fast, usually there are gentler healing reactions.  But it will depend on your existing health and toxic load present in your body. Say for example you decide to do a 7-day fast. The first 3 days will be the most challenging.  After that your appetite for food generally goes away. During those days, you may experience headaches, joint pain and some discomfort in general. I must say, I have experienced none of these.

An important note: in preparation for your fast it is crucial to start eliminating some acid forming foods from your diet days prior to your fast.  Eliminate alcohol, caffeine, sugar, red meats, dairy, including cheeses, butter and other animal-based protein. Then move into consuming primarily fruits and vegetables, as well as increasing your liquid intake, drink more water and other liquids, like herbal teas (peppermint, chamomile, mint are good choices).  These will start cleansing your system and increasing waste elimination.  I start my day with ½ glass of water with a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Lemon is useful for liver cleansing. The juices of apple, grapes, carrots are also good choices. 

Ideally, we need to return to the cycle of a daily fast -  overnight fasting for 12 of the 24 hours, and finding our most natural pattern of food consumption as well as using our experience and listening to our body to find our individual nutritional needs and balance. To me this usually means a good breakfast, lunch as my main meal, and a lighter evening meal.

Don’t forget to join our Nutrition Forum so we can continue this topic as well as talk about many others!

The music I was listening to had morphed from Rand’s favorite mixes of old school dance classics to my Glee Playlist.  The bathroom I stood in two years ago was filled with brass fixtures and gilded accents while my new bathroom was nothing but polished nickel and white marble. Although the wine was still Pinot Noir, the glass I was holding was no longer the traditional crystal wine goblet but a stem-less Riedel. 

Even though many parts of my “new life” (or as I often refer to it, Life After Rand) have now started to feel normal, I still instinctively call out for him as I did on Thursday, hopefully assuming that he is sitting at his desk or talking away on his phone somewhere close by.

When I got out of the shower two years ago, however, Rand was not sitting at his computer nor was he talking on the phone at his desk.  Instead, he was lying on our bed telling me he wasn’t going to make it to the Bailey House Auction as he wasn’t feeling well.  As this was such a big night for him, I knew it must have been serious and I insisted on staying home as well.  In typical Rand fashion, however, he somehow convinced me that it was more important to attend the event to represent us both.

Two years ago was the first time I went to the Bailey House Auction without Rand on my side and it was simply not the same.  Three days later I brought him to the hospital and a few days after that we got the devastating news of the tumor on his Pancreas.  Thursday night marked my third year attending the auction without Rand.

Anyone who has lost a loved one hears that time heals wounds.  Am I healed from the loss of Rand?  Absolutely not…nor will I ever be.  But two years after it all started, the wounds are not so deep and the tears are not so frequent.  And even though I still have the urge to call out for him at home, or pick up the phone to tell him something about my day, those urges have started putting a smile on my face instead of tears in my eyes.  Not always…but more often.

Life has indeed changed and Thursday night reinforced not only just how different Life After Rand is, but also how much I have begun to adapt to the changes.  Not healed…but healing.

One More Day –

T

I have decided to start sharing some of these notes with you as they help give insight into the person Rand was…for those that did not have the lucky fortune of knowing him the way I did.  His love was extremely powerful and will hopefully continue to spread hope and joy through his words on these pages.

Prior to Rand leaving for a business trip to London in April of 2003, I discovered a drawer in his office that contained EVERY note we had written to each other since the day we met. He had kept them all and called it his “T Drawer.” 

While he was in London I bought a red leather folio from T. Anthony (red was his favorite color!) and put “T Notes” together which also contains pictures, restaurant menus, theater ticket stubs, etc. from our “date nights.”  As his birthday was the day he was due to arrive back to New York, and I would be at the office when he came home, I left it for him on his desk. The cover of the book seen here was his favorite picture of me taken in Miami earlier that year.

Like many things in our life together, I will never forget that teary phone call I got at work when he arrived home to find “T Notes.”  He was overwhelmed and told me he had never felt so loved in his life.  Rand loved to love and loved being loved in return.  Loving him and showing him in a way like “T Notes” was one of the best rewards of my life.

The first entry I am sharing is actually not a note written by Rand but the letter that I wrote in the cover of the book as it paints the picture of what is to come.  This is what Rand read the first time he opened “T Notes:”

Sweetness,
On the 21st day of the 9th month of the year 2002, I walked through your door with a smile on my face and a nervous pounding in my chest.  Over the past seven months that smile has grown wider every day while the pounding in my heart has transformed into the greatest love that I have ever known. Now, on your 45th Birthday, I wanted to reflect upon this wonderful journey that has brought so much joy to both of our lives.  Taken directly from your “T Drawer” I present you with “T Notes” – a compilation of the loving words we have penned to each other. As these seven months are only the beginning of a lifetime together, may these pages be the first of hundreds to come.  I so look forward to continuing this journey of light, happiness and most of all love.
Happy Birthday my love –
Your Loving T

Lying in bed that night together, on his 45th birthday, Rand told me that if he were to die that night he would die the happiest man in the world.  From the evidence on these pages over the next five ½ years, which easily reached into the hundreds, I hope and truly think that if he could have, Rand would have said the same thing as we lay next to each other for the last time.

One More Day,
T

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces of organic skinless chicken breast, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups of butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 cups of swiss chard, rinsed, stems removed, and chopped fine
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, add it to the pot and cook till just cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a dish and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pot; add the onion, pinch of salt and cumin and sauté onion are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add squash and sauté, till vegetables are tender.
3. Add the broth. Bring it to boil. Return chicken to the pot. Add swiss chard. Lower heat to simmer and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Add a bit more salt if needed, add a few grinds of pepper, adjusting to your taste. Add lemon juice and serve.   

Classroom lessons will include a discussion about culinary literacy: what is food, how it is grown, where is it grown, what is good for (what effect it has on our body) and most importantly how to turn it into delicious healthy dishes. The emphasis will be in introducing kids to a variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables and grains. The lesson will include demonstration and hands-on food preparation, which the kids will be encouraged to sample. The lesson will culminate with distribution of take-home printed recipes for the students to share with their families.

Additionally, a parent participation activity, “Mommy and Me Nutrition Night,” will be held quarterly—the first in March and the next in June—at which time parents will discuss the impact of the program on their family’s nutritional behavior as well as be provided to participate in hands-on food preparation activities in the school cafeteria. Qualitative, and observational data will be collected by Project Aspire staff to measure program effectiveness.

EPTA is the electronic parent outreach component of Project Aspire. Staff has been compiling email and home addresses of parents of Project Aspire students this fall. Parents have already received copies of the Thanksgiving recipes prepared by the culinary educators and demonstrated to the students at the Thanksgiving Event on November 19. Feedback is very positive. In fact, many parents indicated that they would try the Thanksgiving side dishes at home. EPTA will contact parents monthly to keep them informed of Project Aspire/The Palette Fund activities at P.S. 197 and to invite them, with the school’s permission, to participate in special events. “Mommy and Me Nutrition Night” events will be highlighted well in advance of the March and June dates to encourage as many parents as possible to attend and participate.

Each monthly classroom nutrition lesson will include a food preparation hands-on demonstration/student participation food preparation activity. The students will be provided with recipes of the dishes prepared, which they will collect in a personal “cookbook.” Mr. Timothy Bellavia, creative consultant to Project Aspire, will work with the culinary educators and students in constructing the students’ cookbooks, which will be completed at the end of the school year. The students will be able to share their cookbooks, which will also include the Food Pyramid and other helpful nutrition facts and tips, with their families.

I doubt many people give even that much thought to adapting their behavior to a given season. Basically, we all make choices and act based on the conditioning and lessons we’ve learned since day one. We simply develop a ‘knowing’ as to which choices and circumstances will make us feel most comfortable, and we act accordingly, with hardly a second thought. We wouldn’t think of subjecting our outer body to shocking temperatures and conditions. Instead, our ‘knowing’ adapts to the changing seasons, creating balance by leading us to choices that produce comfort. 

But what about our inner body and its need for comfort and balance?  Have we developed a ‘knowing’ which enables us to adapt our food choices to the seasons? – Does it even occur to us to question our choices? For instance, ‘It’s winter; maybe I should trade my cold cereal for a hot oatmeal porridge instead, which probably will warm me up’, or ‘It’s too cold for fresh strawberries with cream, maybe a better dessert choice would be the apple strudel’.

Thanks to modern means of refrigeration, preservation and transportation, we can enjoy strawberries in December and yams in July. But is that ideal? The human body is working constantly to maintain internal balance, a challenging task given the chaos and constant motion of modern life. Eating ‘out of season’ adds to this challenge as the body becomes out of sync with the balance naturally occurring in nature. A good example is how the proper temperature of the body, so vital to health and well-being, can be thrown out of balance simply by eating out-of-season food.

Just as we are living beings adaptable to our environment, foods, too, are living organisms which have adapted to their own immediate environments. Nature provides us with food that is precisely right (balancing/comforting) by virtue of the place and season in which it grows. So ideally, it is healthiest to eat food grown and cultivated near our area, and in the season they are harvested (meaning here and now). Seasonal eating is one of the keys to a balanced and wholesome diet. Not having been preserved or refrigerated for long periods, or having travelled long distance to get to market and our plate, locally grown, picked-ripe foods are the freshest, often the most economical, and usually less chemically treated, even non-organic, because they do not need to be protected for long distance shipping. A good rule of thumb, the shorter the life span of a food, the more important it is that comes from a short distance. Example, fruits and vegetables have a short life span, so they would fall into the “here and now” category of foods, and thus, ideally they should come from local seasonal sources, your neighborhood farmer’s market would be an excellent source. 

So begin to broaden your adaptive behavior, your ‘knowing’, to include healthy seasonal food choices.  Keep ‘Here and Now Food’ in mind the next time you step in the supermarket this winter. Look around to see what vegetables and fruits are more abundant (hint: apples, grapes, pears, tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, turnips, all squashes (acorn, butternut, chayote, pumpkins) mustard greens, etc.) and incorporate these into your diet. You may be surprised to discover you need fewer layers of clothing for the rest of the winter!

Upon Graduating from Bucknell University in 1998, Lindsey joined the Peace Corps and later attended graduate school for International Development. After a few years in the international community, she joined the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program where for four years she worked with communities across the city creating public art while also taking classes in baking and pastry at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.  In deciding how to combine her community focus with her passion for cooking, she discovered the Natural Gourmet Institute and soon after found out about Palette’s Scholarship with the school.

Like the work that Palette is doing in Harlem with child obesity, Lindsey recognizes the same need in Philadelphia, her home town, and plans on making a difference in the communities’ ability to gain access to healthy food and education.  After receiving her degree from NGI she plans on making her way back to Philadelphia to do just that.  She also lost a loved one to cancer, her aunt, and was able to see first hand what healthy eating can do to one’s life while going through such a difficult diagnosis.  Like Rand, it was too late for food to help extend her life, but it made the life she had left just that much sweeter.

Upon learning of her scholarship, I received a very touching email from Lindsey and she agreed to let me share some of it here:

I cannot begin to express just how deeply touched I am that you and Ruth have chosen me for this scholarship.  I spent my Thanksgiving, quite honestly, thinking about Rand. I looked at the website, read the blog that you posted, and was hit with such strong emotions. Sad that you lost a beautiful soulmate and partner, and that the world lost a devoted brother. And warmed by knowing that clearly he impacted so many in his lifetime - and that his loving spirit continues on in so many ways, particularly with the work that you and Ruth are doing. I feel blessed to be one more person that can take his life mission into mine, continually feeling overwhelmed with honor that you have found value in what I have done in my life, and respect for the potential of what’s to come. You have given me a small piece of Rand to carry with me in my heart. I hope to make him proud.

These words hit home and reminded me why Palette exists and why the work we are doing is so important.  Rand DID impact so many in his lifetime and with people like Lindsey coming into our lives, we will ensure that his loving spirit will continue on and spread throughout the country. 

Thank you Lindsey for seeing Rand’s light and we look forward to helping you achieve your goals and seeing what you accomplish down the road.  Congratulations!

One More Day -

T

Thinking of you…

Your loving “T”

When I got to Miami that weekend, Rand had this in a beautiful silver frame next to his side of the bed.  He asked me read it to him out loud that night before we went to sleep.  This framed letter always stayed by his bedside.  When we left Miami and moved back up north it came to the New York apartment.  When we bought The Raven and started spending more time out in PA, it came with us.

When Rand started working back at Solgar and our time together became more infrequent than we were used to, he would often ask me to read this letter to him before we said good night on the phone.  He knew every word by heart as I could often hear him whispering the words along with me.

The last time I read this to Rand was on July 3rd 2008 – the last full day of his life.  He had been under hospice care for a week at this point and it was just a matter of hours before everything was over.  I never stopped talking to him during this week even though he was no longer able to open his beautiful blue eyes or speak back in that adorable Rand voice. 

When I read these words to him that day, however, a small tear fell down his cheek.  At that point I knew that he had been able to hear me all along and my fear of him feeling alone slipped away.  Less than twelve hours later Rand would take his last breath and open those perfectly blue eyes one last time to see me holding him and telling him I loved him.  It was exactly the way he wanted it to happen.

Three days later this letter was read at his funeral service in New York that was attended by over 700 people.  As I heard my words being spoken, a rose petal from the flower arrangement on either side of Rand’s coffin slowly fell to the floor in front of me…just like that tear on his face.  Rand was still with me, listening, just as he is today.

One more day –
T

Serves up to 4

Ingredients:

Filling:
2-3 large organic apples (Cortland or McIntosh), unpeeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup dried pitted cherries, chopped
1 tablespoon brown rice flour

Crisp:
½ cup rolled oats
¼ cup brown rice flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
¼ cup raw walnuts, soaked in water
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut butter or coconut oil
         
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, combine, sliced apples, cherries, cinnamon, and maple syrup.  Fold in flour.
3. To make the topping. Mix the oats, flour, cinnamon and salt. Using a sieve rinse walnuts and rub them against the sieve to remove some of their papery skin.  Add to dry ingredients. Add maple syrup and butter. Mix well.
4. Place apple-cherry filling in a baking dish. Press the crisp over fruit evenly.
5. Bake it covered for 30 minutes. Then uncovered for another 10 minutes. The apples should be soft and the top should look golden. 

Can be served with a dollop of Greek yogurt. 

Looking at it from the typical western standard approach, “left brain approach,” we define it as one that provides you with all your nutritional needs, the macronutrients and micronutrients. 

But I want to introduce another way of looking at it, the “right brain approach” which defines a balanced meal as one that not only provides you with all your nutritional needs, but also satisfies your taste buds, color, texture, aroma, and how food makes you feel - an energetically balanced meal.  I learned this complementary approach while attending my chef’s training program at the Natural Gourmet Institute, and I have been incorporating it ever since, when putting together meals for myself, family and clients. 

Nutritionally speaking, a balanced meal is one that contains all the nutrients needed for your body to function at optimal levels. The macronutrients (defined as essential nutrients in large quantities): proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water; and the micronutrients (small quantities required, but also essential) vitamins and minerals.

Therefore, to meet your nutritional needs, the goal is to include these foods in your daily meals:

Carbohydrates - whole grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, fruits;
Proteins - beans, bean products, fish, seeds, nuts, meat, eggs, dairy;
Fats and oils - cooking oils, nut butters, nuts, seeds, butter, animal foods;
Minerals - salts, sea vegetables, vegetables, fish, lean grass-fed meat;
Vitamins - vegetables, fruits, sea vegetables;
Enzymes - fermented foods, raw vegetables and fruits;
Water - spring water, vegetables, fruits;

The “right brain approach” on the other hand, is a bit more subtle, but still quite easy and interesting concept to practice when putting a meal together. Rather than classifying your needs as macro and micro nutrients, they are classified slightly differently, though as you will see the ultimate goal is still the same.  Practitioners of Chinese medicine have been relying on this concept for centuries, and is associated with the Five Elements Theory, here food is classified into Five Phases (among everything else). 

Under those elements, flavor, color, and texture, play an important role. The theory is that each of these flavors is found in the tongue, so if each is incorporated in the meal, the meal will be satisfying.  Also each of these flavors is associated with an organ system in the body, so food from each category need to be eaten every day to nourish all of the organs.

The flavors are: bitter, sweet, spicy/pungent, salty, and sour.  Under this theory all foods are classified in one of these flavors, here are the most common examples:

Bitter: leafy green vegetables:  kale, collards, broccoli, parsley, Brussels sprouts, chicory, dandelion greens, endive, mustard greens, cucumber, chard.
Sweet: yellow-orange vegetables:  cooked carrots; winter squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, delicata) sweet corn, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, yams.
Spicy or Pungent: ginger, garlic, mustard, watercress, raw red and white radish, scallions, onions, leeks, horseradish.
Salty: sea salt, miso, shoyu, tamari, salty condiments, and sea vegetables.
Sour: vinegars, sauerkraut, sour pickles, lemons and limes.

The goal is to have at each meal something sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy/pungent.  A note about sweet flavors. It is not the one coming from ice cream, or sugar sweetened beverages.  Here we are talking about the sweetness as it comes from some foods, for example sweet potatoes or butternut squash.  Orange vegetables are the ideal candidates in this category.

The colors associated are green, red, yellow, white and gray/deep purple/ brown/black.
The goal again is to incorporate all these colors in your meals.

Green: leafy greens, kale, collards, broccoli, parsley, etc
Red: tomatoes, red peppers
Yellow: yellow-orange vegetables, squashes, carrots,, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, yams
White: garlic, onions, radishes, scallions, leeks, horseradish, ginger, mustard
Gray/deep purple, brown, black: sea vegetables, sea salt, miso, shoyu

Incorporating texture, means, having creamy, crunchy, chewy consistencies:
Here is an example: if you are making oatmeal porridge for breakfast. The oats will give you the chewy consistency, adding a little butter will give you some more creamy consistency – if you cook the oatmeal starting with cold water it will get very creamy! Then add some roasted or soaked raw nuts for crunchiness, and you are all set.

Here is another example of an energetically balanced meal:
Roasted winter vegetables: sweet potatoes, parsnips, (sweet, orange and white colors)
Broiled fish with fresh ginger and scallions (salty and sharp/pungent)
Green salad, include either Belgian endives or watercress (bitter and crunchy) with dressing (sour).

The food for thought I want to leave you with, is that ultimately the goal is to consume a meal that will leave you satisfied, (but not overly full), will give you lasting energy that will carry you thru till your next meal (rather than a quick burst but short –lived), and that also have satisfied all your taste buds in terms of colors, flavors and textures.
Another way of looking at creating balance with your meals is the acid-alkaline concept, but lets leave it for another time…

Luckily, the champagne was flowing so I wasn’t quite so nervous and possibly the reason I can’t remember a word that I said!  What I do remember, however, is looking across the long table and seeing no one else but Rand.  This was one of the first moments I remember realizing I had found the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

Once the toast was over and the meal was under way, Rand came and knelt beside me and whispered how much he loved having me sit across the table from him.  Then, in a way only Rand could do without sounding critical or in judgment, he gently let me know that I forgot to mention some very important people in my toast.  Soon enough, he had the kitchen staff in the dining room for a round of applause. 

After lunch Rand told me, “Never forget about the people behind the scenes…whether it is at home or in business, these are the people working hard to make the rest of us look even better. They are the ones that deserve your appreciation.”  He then gave me a quick kiss and said “and you are the one deserving my appreciation for putting a smile on my face.” 

This was one of the first of many lessons I learned from Rand throughout our years together and it certainly translated across everything we did down the road…including the work we are doing now at The Palette Fund.  Whether Rand was in his office meeting with other CEO’s or down on the factory floor talking with a machine tech, Rand treated everyone as equals and as if they were the most important person in the company.  In Rand’s reality, at that moment, they were. 

Rand’s amazing ability to teach without judgment and his love for watching those around him learn and grow is something we also focus on throughout Palette’s mission.  For Rand, like many things he did, it came effortlessly from his heart.

The end of our first Thanksgiving weekend together culminated with a magnificent boating excursion to the annual White Party at Vizcaya with many friends.  Rand had told me some amazing stories and wonderful memories about this day and he wanted me to experience it as well.  This was our last Thanksgiving in Miami and it was the last time Rand would make it to the White Party.  Although it happened 7 years ago, I can picture us in our matching white (as seen in the top photo) coming back home under the sunrise like it was yesterday. I was 24, falling in love and living a dream that not even I could dream up. 

During this time of giving thanks, I am thankful that I listened to Rand as he taught me invaluable lessons throughout our years and thankful that I continually appreciated our life together and the love we shared every day.  Six Thanksgivings were not enough but created memories that will stay with me for a lifetime. 

Happy Thanksgiving All.

One More Day –

T

I am well aware that maintaining optimum health goes beyond just food and diet, other aspects of our life, which do not necessarily come in a plate, also play an important role in our health (exercising, a meaningful job, a spiritual practice, among others) but food is one key factor and here it will be the main topic.

For several years now, I have been practicing a way of eating that has helped me stay relatively healthy (rarely catch a cold), has helped me keep my body weight at a good range (for my age and height), supplied me with a steady level of energy throughout the day, and be less dependent on pharmaceutical drugs when dealing with minor aches and pains. I also use this diet with my clients (work mostly with people dealing with serious health issues) where I make the necessary adjustment to each particular client’s needs and health issue.

This way of eating is very inclusive and can work for anyone. Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan or meat eater.

The basic foundation of the diet is consuming as much as possible whole, unprocessed foods. When eating whole foods, we do not need to count calories, whole foods are nutrient dense, your will feel satiated sooner, and this feeling will sustain you a good few hours, so you rarely will overeat.

When eating whole foods we do not need to worry about whether we are taking enough of a specific nutrient, rather than worry about quantity of nutrients, emphasis on the “wholeness” of the food is more important. Nutrients in the whole food come perfectly proportioned so that the body has all it needs to assimilate it. So when we consume a whole carrot, we are taking in all its nutrients (iron, calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, B-Vitamins, fiber, vitamin A, water). It is not the same, drinking the carrot juice or taking just vitamin A, as eating the whole carrot. When we take just one nutrient alone, we may throw our body off balance, which may result in a craving, which often we may not even know why and what we are craving for. As my teacher and mentor, Annemarie Colbin says in her 1996 published book Food and Healing “if you take the Vitamin A pill in the morning, you may be spending the whole afternoon looking for the rest of the carrot”.

So, I take all this into consideration when making my food choices. The bulk of it, consists of fresh seasonal organic (whenever possible) vegetables and fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, mostly plant-based protein, small amount of animal protein, good fats, such as olive oils, all kinds of herbs and spices, sea salt, sea vegetables. For sweeteners, maple syrup or crystals, rice syrup (all in modest amounts), some dairy products (fermented if possible, like Kefir), lots of herbals teas and filtered water.
Minimum or avoid altogether consumption of all processed food, such as sugar, white flour, cured meats, products containing high fructose corn syrup, shortening, commercial oils, fried foods…

Additionally, at every meal the goal is to create balance. How do we create balanced meals? There are many ways to approach it (color, flavor, texture, macronutrients, micronutrients)… and that will be the topic of our next blog.

Till then I hope you keep whole foods in mind as you make your daily food choices.

Some of my favorite songs were playing in the car as I drove across the GW Bridge to Holy Name Hospital and answered phone calls from family and friends singing happy birthday. Life was good and in my mind, it was about to get even better as the love of my life was coming home and the wonderful life we had created together would soon continue to go on as normal after a scary month of hospitals, doctors and many unknowns.

I grabbed my mediocre coffee from the cafeteria and made my way up to the fifth floor. As I started the walk down the hallway to Rand’s room, his doctor yelled my name from behind. Dr. Djubian, who had been wonderful over the past month to both of us, gave me a hug and quietly said “Happy Birthday.” She held me a little longer than I expected and when she pulled back and I saw her eyes, my heart suddenly lurched into my throat.

There are many words you never want to hear come from your doctor’s lips but at this moment, I couldn’t think of anything worse than what she said. “I’m so sorry to do this on your birthday, T. I don’t even know how to tell you this.” These two short sentences, which I can hear as if they had been said yesterday, were then followed by all the other words you never want to hear: tumor, cancer, metastasized, advanced, oncologist. I honestly think I stopped listening at some point as the reality of what she was saying sunk in.

I don’t recall what I did next or what I even said back to Dr. Djubian, but I somehow pulled myself together before walking into Rand’s room and was greeted by his cute voice from beneath his blankets, “Is that my birthday baby?” At this point he had no idea of the results from what we both thought were going to be more routine tests of his abdomen and I was about to tell him that they found a large tumor on his pancreas, including many spots on his liver.

As I always did when I arrived in the morning, I lay down on his bed with my arms wrapped around him and for a very brief minute had one of the last moments we would share together without fear and pain. I wish it could have lasted forever but I couldn’t hold back my tears, and within minutes, Rand knew the devastating news. At that very moment, as we held each other tight, our lives changed forever.

As many reading this blog know, Rand died four months later at 7:02 AM on July 4th, 2008 at our home in New Hope, Pennsylvania. We were back in a hospital bed and he was still in my arms but the fear and pain that engulfed our lives over the last four months, slipped away with Rand’s last breath.

This blog will often refer back to what happened over these four months, as much of these experiences are what helped shape the principles of The Palette Fund. As I continue to remind myself, however, these four months were a very small part of Rand’s 50 fascinating years and because of that, this blog will also relate many stories of my six years with the most caring, genuine and intelligent man I have ever met, as well as guest bloggers who knew Rand for much longer.

My hope in sharing some of our personal moments together is twofold. The first is for those who did not have the pleasure of meeting and knowing Rand. This blog will help paint a picture of the man hundreds of people fell in love with through his infectious personality, overwhelming generosity and continually expanding heart. The second is that my experience, even at the young age of 30, can hopefully help others of any age get through the devastating loss of losing a loved one.

Towards the end of Rand’s life, when he no longer wanted to hear about what was happening in the world and lost the desire to even watch TV, I would crawl into bed next to him and we would whisper quietly about how lucky we were to have each other. I don’t remember when it started, but at some point in that last month we adopted to saying the phrase “one more day” every night before drifting off to sleep as it symbolized how lucky we felt to have one more day that we got to spend together.

Those days sadly ended that morning of July 4th, but because of The Palette Fund and the many wonderful memories I shared with Rand, I still get time every day with the man who has made this foundation possible that, in turn, will help so many people for decades to come. Thank you Rand for giving me the gift of being loved by you and trusting me to help spread the joy that you did so effortlessly throughout your life.

One more day –

T