We love our Quinoa here at Feel Good Guru! Quinoa, a staple crop grown in high altitude areas of Peru and Bolivia, has been surging in popularity in the West. It is no wonder that more and more people are consuming this seed because of its rich nutritional profile and versatility in recipes. Our “Cosmic Quinoa” is one of our most popular offerings…

But quinoa has become controversial…

Several recent articles in the media have reported that quinoa consumption has had negative implications on quinoa farmers. These articles state that farmers are being deprived of their own crop because increasing demand for export is increasing crop prices, causing them to turn to much cheaper, less nutritionally-sound foods. This article from the Guardian makes vegans in particular feel guilty for consuming quinoa as a credibly nutritious substitute for meat.

Actually, the truth is far from what these articles report. A first-hand account from these filmmakers working with Bolivian quinoa farmers says these reports are grossly misleading. They say our increased demand for their crop facilitates their income and has improved their quality of life. In fact, farmer incomes are up from $35/family/month five years ago to $220/family/month today. By demanding their crop, we are actually supporting rather than depriving them.

At Feel Good Guru, we work closely with our suppliers to ensure that we are buying the highest quality food available while striving also to support small scale farmers. We are fortunate to have a great wholesaler who carries fairly-traded quinoa produced by small family farms at the shores of the Bolivian salt flats.

We reached out to this company to find out more. Here’s our exchange:

Hi there!

I operate a small organic takeout in Toronto, and one of our suppliers carries your quinoa.

I’m going to order our next batch from him, and would love to know how you are responding to the quinoa “controversy” circulating around the news these days…

I try my very best to source the most sustainable organic product available, and to be as informed as I possibly can about our staples right from the source.

Any information you can share with me, which I can then share with my customers, would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks so much,

Moira

***********

Hello Moira,

Thank you for being concerned about the origin of your quinoa.  The quinoa that you source comes from only small family farms in Bolivia.  The farmers have no other crop options and depend on the income they perceive from quinoa.  Their incomes are up from $35/family /month 5 years ago to $220/family/mo today.  They used to survive on quinoa alone and now can afford some other foods in addition to quinoa.  They still eat quinoa- as a matter of fact they are top consumers of quinoa, with more than one serving per person per day.

Here’s a balanced article you should read to learn more about the quinoa farmers:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/01/quinoa_bad_for_bolivian_and_peruvian_farmers_ignore_the_media_hand_wringing.single.html

Please feel free to call me to learn more about quinoa.  We a fully integrated operation, with over 100 employees in Bolivia and we work directly with farmers who work on lands owned by their communities… so we know the realities on the field very well.

Best regards,

Sergio Nunez de Arco

****************

Today we made our “Cosmic Quinoa” for the first time with this Bolivian Royal Golden Quinoa and we’re so excited because it is amazing. It’s substantially bigger, fluffier, “rounder” than the quinoa we’re used to, mild in flavour and incredibly aromatic. C’mon in and try it for yourself and feel good about eating consciously sourced, fairly traded beautiful nutrient-rich organic quinoa!

Also, we welcome your feedback. Let us know how you feel about the quinoa controversy in the comments section below. 

Thank you, Vivien Wong, for researching and writing this for Feel Good Guru!

It’s quiet on the streets, and the city has taken on its winter aura of a million shades of grey – beautiful, if seen through the right filters. The loft is cold, but the industrial gas blower kicks in every few minutes and moves hot air around, I’m cozy in flannel, and a giant mug of matcha warms from inside out. Green tea and flannel shirts: two things I could not live without in Canadian winter.

I’m listening to RadioIo Ambient, always just the right vibe for meditation, contemplation and cooking.

While Forest’s perfectly curated grooves bathe my brainwaves, I give thanks for another amazing year on Planet Earth.

It’s always quite shocking when the calendar indicates that a year has passed, isn’t it? On one hand it feels like time has flown and on the other, we wonder how we managed to squeeze so much living into just three and a half hundred days.

Whenever I have the luxury of a quiet day like this, where the world is on pause, the heat continues to blow and the music continues to play and I get to reflect and resolve, I bow deeply to the gods in gratitude. So many people in the world are too busy simply surviving to contemplate happiness.

This has been a full-on growth chapter for me. I spent the year very intentionally solo, single, uncoupled after most of my adult life in and out of long term relationships, which meant a complete from-scratch re-define of everything from where I live to what I do, and a challenge to my emotional security my financial stability and my social aptitude. The re-in-vention continues as I attempt to peel away old layers that no longer serve and polish others that play to a higher calling. I’m choosing to surround myself with positivity and beauty, and in doing so have found beauty in some unexpected places and people!

I dove back into entrepreneurship this year, a place where I’m equally comfortable and incompetent. This is an arena that serves as a master class in communication and commitment. Failure is an option, but fear of failure is not.

Some friendships were tested this year, while others proved rock solid and new ones spontaneously showed up. I could not have gotten through months of this year without the support of some amazing friends. To be a friend to someone in need may be the highest calling there is. I have had better friends this year than I have been.

I struggled with independence. I’m of two dubious hearts here: The one that defies, “Leave me alone, I can do it,” and the one that demands, “Why aren’t you helping me?” This is an arena where I’ve left friends and partners scratching their heads, and one that needs major work. If I take ego out of the equation, independence does not involve another or mean separateness from another at all. It is simply claiming absolute responsibility for my own words, thoughts and actions. Once ego is out of the equation, there is no one to blame (or to claim independence from).

I struggled with solitude. Not with the act of being alone, because I consider that a rare privilege and a gift that most of us don’t give ourselves often enough, but with the aspect of solitude that requires making big decisions in the bubble of one. I understand how women turn into a crazy cat ladies or adopt wolves. The biggest struggles and the greatest pleasures are always best shared, aren’t they?

I was inspired by you this year. So many of you whom I love and admire are the bold ones, the adventurers, the edge-walkers, the people who live as though your heart and mine and this moment are the only things that matter, you who challenge monotony and mediocrity, not the motivational speakers but the motivational doers.

The pathway from dreams to reality is action.

If last year was a year of growth, this is a year of ACTION. A time to implement ideas, to take all the learning and all the experience and synthesize it into refined reality, a year to reach out and connect, a year of bridging community and building business, a year to be bold, to be seen and heard, to be fearless in all arenas, to cultivate generosity and abundance, to wear out the pathway between the dream world and this world, a year of sculpting beautiful supportive personal and professional relationships, a year to harness the incredible flying dragon energy to fire the spirit and move mountains. Yeah! I’ll need fellow fiery dragon wranglers! 2012 is gonna be monstrous!

In my year of growth, I learned a few simple things and learned to groove more deeply a few other things. I hope some of these thoughts will inspire you to grow, to be still, to grow some more.

Chop wood; carry water.

1. My biggest lesson this year: There is so much more to learn!

2. Define your purpose. Why do you get out of bed in the morning? Until you know the answer to that question, life will meander with little meaning.

3. Become a ruthless optimist. Even people who want to hate you will find it impossible.

4. Friendship can’t be measured or judged. True friendship has no agenda but to play, to grow, to support, to forgive and to love.

5. Love for another truly does begin with love for yourself. Love is many things but first, love is a choice. Love is also absolute surrender in every moment.

6. Your body is a temple. Treat it with reverence and it will reward you with a fulfilling life. Make high quality food, daily exercise and a solid night’s sleep your top priorities.

7. Practice radical acceptance. This is not turning a blind eye to what you know is wrong, this is changing what you are able to change and wholly accepting all else.

8. Do what you love. Period. The universe really does conspire to support a person on his or her right path.

9. Schedule time for yourself no matter what. Meditate, pray, sit, sleep. Do whatever you need to do to replenish your spirit daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.

10. Practice gratitude. Each and every breath, each and every moment is an opportunity to give thanks.

11. Grow up but refuse to grow old. Children see the world through curious eyes. When we cease to be curious, we become old. Let your freak flag fly!

12. Ask for help. No one achieves greatness on their own. Your happiness is mine. Your success is my success.

How can I help you?

Happy 2012!

Everyone has his or her fave way to get their greens. Here in the FGG kitch, our daily dose is in the form of a Supergreenfood Smoothie – one full litre sipped throughout the day. It’s become a true grooved-in habit, good medicine, a mason jar of fuel that not only gets us through the day, but supports a super busy lifestyle and keeps us (and our clients) aging backwards;) Here’s our secret formula:

Supergreenfood Smoothie

(makes 2L)

in a powerful blender:

1 organic banana

1 organic apple

large handful each, organic spinach, black kale, green leafy kale, collards and/or any greens at all

1 organic lemon

1″ piece of fresh organic ginger

1 tsp each, maca, lucuma, spirulina, ashwagandha

3 organic medjool dates

small bunch of fresh mint

1/4 cup raw organic almonds

1/4 cup raw organic pumpkin seeds

1/8 cup raw organic flax seeds

Cover with spring water and blend until smooth. Always best fresh from the blender, but you may sip all day. If you don’t finish it, keep in fridge for maximum 24 hours.

Thank you for slurping. Wishing you an auspicious 2012.

Some of us have a preconceived notion of what a cleanse will be – starvation, deprivation, misery. Most people can’t make it through 3 days of just drinking lemon water or juice, but “Feel Good Fast” is not that! It’s a simple plan that will have you eating three gorgeous, easy-to-prepare, super-healthy meals/day for three weeks.

Most people who try “Feel Good Fast” are not vegans or even vegetarians, but people who just want to try a short period of eating more simply to feel a little lighter and brighter or gain some understanding of how a vegan diet can affect their bodies, see for themselves what everyone’s talking about.

“Feel Good Fast” is a great seasonal tune-up. With the change in the weather, our bodies also go through subtle changes. Feel Good Fast can help you lose that little spare tire, give you some awesome new skills in the plant-powered kitch, and awaken a ton of energy you didn’t know you had. Welcome to a healthy new you:)

As with most FGG recipes, this is more an easy assemblage than an exact science. Get your just-picked market veggies and grate them into a large pocket-shaped lettuce leaf – big kale or chard leafs work just as well. The addition of mineral-rich kelp noodles gives it great texture and added nutrition, and a thick slab of veggie pate brings the whole naked heap together with great substance.

Lettuce leaves are less absorbent than wonderbread, so sauce will spill. Be free and pour it on!

Naked Lettuce Wraps

for 1

2 lettuce leaf pockets (or large kale, collard or chard leaf)

1 large carrot, grated

1 medium beet, grated

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1/4 red, yellow or green pepper, julienned

1/4 package kelp noodles (available at health food store in fridge section)

handful grape tomatoes, whole

a few thick slices of pre-made veggie pate like FGG’s Savory Raw Carrot Pate

Arrange all ingredients into lettuce leaf pocket and drizzle liberally with sauce. Sprinkle with sesame or sunflower seeds for added crunch.

Miso-Ginger sauce

3 Tbsp mild miso

1/4 cup warm filtered water

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (or more, depending how you like ginger. Alternatively or additionally, mince a clove or two of garlic)

Mix just enough water into miso to create a thick sauce for dipping or pouring. Add ginger and/or garlic.

Forks Over Knives examines the claim that we can reverse degenerative diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer simply by eating a whole foods plant-based diet — and it makes a powerful case for animal protein being the cause of most cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Full disclosure, Feel Good Guru’s Food appears ever-so-briefly-but-beautifully in Forks Over Knives – here are the recipes! – and the producers are friends, but after four viewings, I’m convinced this film is a game changer that will make the masses think more deeply about the correlation between what we eat and how we feel. Unlike some of the more graphic animal rights movies aimed at changing peoples’ diets, Forks Over Knives is much more palatable to a mainstream audience, approaching the topic solely from a health standpoint. It takes “Food, Inc.” to the next obvious level, and challenges big agra/pharma a la “Inconvenient Truth.”

For those of us in the choir, Forks Over Knives is a strong reminder that food is the best medicine, and some of us will walk away vowing to eat even healthier, armed with scientific proof that we can actually rebuild epithelial cells with whole plant foods. (I want my teenaged 4 tennis courts’ worth back!) For those not yet convinced, it may just be the catalyst needed to ignite a radical lifestyle change.

Producer, Brian Wendel has been working on the film since October 2008 after reading The China Study and deciding the world needed this life-saving information in a broader format. “I love how much feedback we’re getting of people going home to clean out the fridge!” he says. “That’s what it’s all about!”

The film follows several inspiring transformations from over-caffeinated, overweight, diabetic and unhealthy heart-attacks-waiting-to-happen to happy, healthy -buff, even – remarkably, alive (!) former patients after weeks, months or years on a plant-based diet supervised by doctors who prescribe food over pharmaceuticals.

Esteemed Drs. T. Colin Campbell and Caldwell Esselstyn both grew up on farms promoting animal foods as the healthiest diet for human consumption. Through scientific research and clinical studies over decades, each separately and simultaneously came to the same conclusion – that the diet they’d worked hard to promote was actually killing people. The statistics are staggering, the graphs are convincing, the evidence is compelling, and the numbers don’t lie.

There will always be people caught in the pleasure trap who don’t want to hear that their grilled pork belly sandwich is the cause of their hypertension. Some of us have sick relatives who don’t want to believe their arthritis or diabetes can be cured with leafy greens. But this doc serves as a wide opening for people to have a considered conversation. I suggest that one of the most loving things you can do for them (yourself?) would be to make a fabulous plant-powered meal – make it delish! – then take them to see the film. It may be the remedy that allows them to accept that forks over knives, salad over surgery is the key to a longer, healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.

The evening began with a glass of Ontario Biodynamic wine while people arrived and introduced themselves. In the mix were two TV producers, a flight attendant, an actor and author, a health industry professional, a couple of ad execs, a holistic nutritionist, and myself, host and chef – a diverse group of singles and couples bonding over the common interest in healthy eating.

The Menu:

Fresh Spring Rolls with Raw Beet, Bartlette Pears, Spiralized Zucchini Noodles, Organic Greens, Mint and Steamed Fiddleheads, served with a Spicy Raw Spanish Almond Sauce

Kale & Avocado Salad in a Blueberry, Goji, Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Forest Fern Bisque with Cashew Sour Creme

Heirloom Beet Rawvioli stuffed with Truffled Macadamia Nut Ricotta and topped with Fiddlehead Pesto

Merlot-Salted Double Raw Cocoa Cream Pie

Enjoyed to the max by all in attendance:) Can’t wait for next month! Don’t miss it! L.O.V.E. Cafe Underground operates once a month out of the downtown Toronto loft kitchen of Feel Good Guru’s Food. For more info or to get on the list, email me at moira at feel good guru dot com.

A few kind words:

“Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Thank you so much. Steph and I loved the L.O.V.E. Cafe. Each bite was a revelation. 10 out of 10″ Glen Hunt, Glen Hunt Projects, Toronto

“What a fabulous evening. Wildly delicious & very inspiring evening. Thank you!” Gwen Smith, holistic nutritionist, Toronto

“Moira’s recipes are delicious and inspired. No other food makes me feel so good both during and after a meal; filling and fulfilling, yet so light and so right. Awright!” Peter Erskine, jazz musician and food bon vivant, Santa Monica, CA

You know greens are the absolute best thing you can put in your body for energy and concentrated nutrition, but the last green thing you ate was the basil garnish on your take-out pasta. If you’re like a lot of people, who eat less than the recommended three cups of dark green veggies per week, try getting your greens with this “Gateway Greens Smoothie.” The sweetness of the mango and banana balance any bitterness, the coconut water fuels it with life, and the avocado completely blends through, giving your greens a creamy, smooth drinkability.  So. Good. So. Good. For. You.

Gateway Greens Smoothie

(per serving)

1/2 mango

1 banana

1/2 avocado

two hands full of spinach

3 large curly green kale leaves, stalks removed

1 scoop “Perfect Food Raw Green Super Food”

1 cup coconut water

Blend and slurp. Your cells will vibrate and you will regain energy you thought you’d lost forever.

My response is not simple. Many of my friends are ethical vegans and animal activists whom I love and respect for their tireless work to help end the horrible suffering most farmed animals endure.

I can’t officially call myself a vegan though, because every summer when I embark on my solo motorcycle adventures, I don my 20-year-old leathers…very grateful for the protection they provide. I am certain that in my closet or in my bathroom cabinet or on my shelves there are things which, in their manufacturing process have harmed animals. This computer, for example, and all the electronics in my life – how many rivers were polluted, how much wildlife was harmed in the process of making the software and hardware in my flat screen tv? I feed my cat turkey & salmon. My local organic farmer last night left me a dozen eggs from his truly free range chickens, who live their lives outdoors, pecking in the dirt, rolling around in the sun. I am thinking of whipping up an omelette for the first time in years. I whipped up a 3-egg omelette, with daiya vegan cheese, green onions and avocado.

A few weeks ago, a scandal rocked the vegan world. I know, right? Scandal in the vegan world! My friends at VegNews were discovered to have printed images of animal products posing as vegan foods. I was disheartened to see the inciting article written by a popular vegan blogger and the vindictiveness toward the amazing team at VegNews that enspewed from the mouths (keyboards) of her readers.

Life is never as simple as right and wrong. I wish we lived in a perfect world, where suffering of all creatures, human and animal, was over for good. I do my best to have considered conversations with people about what we eat and why without imposing my own beliefs, and I try to remain open to others’ beliefs. There is always something to learn.

Our farmer, “Uncle Jorge,” at the L.O.V.E. cafe last night described his life with animals. He believes he is doing the right thing, raising his creatures to live full and healthy lives, free to roam, free to just be in their nature. When it comes time to send them to market, he does it himself, quickly and precisely. I couldn’t do it, and I believe that if humans had to kill their own animals to eat, most of us would be plant eaters. But I respect his life, and I’m grateful for his labour that brings me and my customers our bounty of incredibly healthy vegetables. (Who do you know who would spend all day in a forest filled with torturous black flies picking 3 bushels of fiddleheads?)

To me, evolution is not a single path, but many divergent paths, all valid, some getting us lost, others getting us found.

So my answer to “What are you?” at this moment goes something like this: I am a flawed human being striving to walk the right path, willing to be wrong. I prepare and serve up what I believe to be the healthiest food available for body, mind and planet. I am always learning.

This TED talk on being wrong was a timely post today on a friend’s Facebook page:

And this is simply hilarious. What are you?

It’s both the content of the message and the tremendous grace, gratitude, acceptance, compassion and humility with which she describes the beauty she is seeing all around her that make this an astonishing read.

She writes “Somehow, as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide…”  Thank you, Dawn of the Mountains for sharing this with me. I felt compelled to post it again here ~ The world needs this message ~ Would love to know your thoughts ~

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,

First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend’s home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to fill up their jugs
and buckets.

Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, “Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.”

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on.

But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun.

People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled.

The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is
a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend’s husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,

A good soup is all about the ingredients. If you have good quality food, it speaks for itself and barely needs to be doctored in any way. We’re lucky to have Uncle Jorge supplying us with all our amazing local organic winter veggies. The beauty of this soup is it makes itself in the oven. Roasting the veggies creates a beautiful rich flavor, and the maple syrup caramelizes and brings out the sweetness of the root veggies. Y-ommm.

Drizzle some good quality olive oil onto the bottom of a roasting pan.

Chop a handful of all or some of the following winter root veggies: yams, carrots, celery root, rutabaga, parsnip, potatoes, beets, turnip, onions and garlic. Fill the roasting pan with a nice variety, lots of colors, and drizzle with a touch of maple syrup. Add a cinnamon stick. Sprinkle pink crystal salt, some pepper, herbes de provence, dill, caraway seeds and a pinch of dried chilis.

Slow roast at 300 for a couple of hours, until veggies are soft and caramelized. You will need to give them a stir a few times, check in on them, make sure everything’s roasting evenly.

Pour into a soup pot and cover with water. Warm and blend, adjusting seasoning to your liking.

Enjoy! And if you’re in the Queen West hood in Toronto, c’mon over to our Facebook page and subscribe to Feel Good Guru’s lunchtime Food delivery service!

The thing I miss most about the restaurant is the community that sprung up around it. Loyal local customers who came in every day for lunch, month after month, year after year. We became a close-knit little tribe of healthy mountain people. No, I have not opened a restaurant in my Queen West hood, rather, I’ve set up my new FGG headquarters as a stress-free production kitchen for a hyper-local, super-awesome vegan food service, made by hand and delivered by foot to a small clientele within a ten-block radius. Yes! I’m finally ready for prime time! Until April, I’m serving up organic vegan soup in mason jars, made with ingredients sourced at the local farmers’ markets, delivered hot at lunchtime.

I dove off the “start a new business” cliff with a “ready, fire, aim” approach – a delivery route, a few key contacts, and some free soup. The response has been amazing! People who get it, get it immediately, and word of mouth is already spreading fast with people signing up for soupscriptions daily.

Rather than have people come to me, I’m going to them. Keeping it local, keeping it friendly, keeping it conscious and sustainable.

Launching Feel Good Guru’s Plant-Powered Foods is my way of building community in the city one person at a time, one jar of healing soup at a time. I believe Toronto is one of the greatest cities in the world, and the Queen St. West neighbourhood is one of the most dynamic in the city. I support my local businesses because I want them to be here tomorrow.

If you live between Spadina and Crawford, Dundas and King, and have an appetite for feel good food, order up food@feelgoodguru.com! I deliver between 11 and 1 Monday to Friday. If you know someone who lives in the hood and would love this service, please hook ‘em up with the info!

And thank you to all the sweet peeps in the hood who are already spreading the soupsational service

Like the Facebook page to find out the night before what soup’s on and other treats!

Studies suggest that 20% of New Year’s resolutions are broken in the first week of January! And the other 80% break down over the year… Are we setting our expectations too high? Are we trying to break all our bad habits at once, thereby setting ourselves up for failure? While the pendulum swings wildly from extreme excess of the holidays through to self-imposed monk-like austerity on January 1, consider catching it somewhere in the middle and hanging out, somewhere you can be nicely challenged, maybe even a tad uncomfortable, but not the house of pain and punishment we are all capable of inflicting on ourselves. We need new lifestyles, not new rules.

If we were to seize each day as though it’s New Year’s Day, live each moment as though it’s a brand new opportunity to become a better version of ourselves, everything else would take care of itself. The only effort required would be in breathing consciously in the moment, becoming more present with ourselves and others, bringing more awareness to every action we take, every thought we think and every word we speak.

Rather than offer suggestions for resolutions, I’d like to share with you three simple things I’m working on for a better life, whether it be January or July…

1. Rise above the little things ~ because they are so very insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Look at those little annoyances as opportunities to learn something new about yourself or someone else. Challenge yourself to shift perspectives when something or someone threatens to throw your good mood. Think of those much less fortunate than yourself and send them a silent blessing. All of a sudden, your cold coffee or that kid on the airplane kicking your seat aren’t miseries you can’t endure.

2. Live up to your mythology ~ we’re all spending a lot of time building our own legends online, tweeting into the cosmos, updating our facebook profiles several times a day, creating websites and blogging regularly. Most of us have a version of ourselves we put “out there” and a version of ourselves we live with. If we were to take a close look at what’s on the cutting room floor, we’d probably find the human stuff – the stuff that makes us uniquely beautiful. No one does you better than you. What would happen if you dedicated your life to the expression of your highest purpose, even if it meant firing your inner critic and stepping into that mythology for real?

3. Open wider ~ as any seasoned yogi will tell you, no matter how many years you have taken to the mat, there is always more strength, more stretch, more depth, more refinement, more grace, more joy, more bliss, more surprise, more understanding, more acceptance, more compassion, more love, more insight to be gained. The practice applies off the mat as well. The one magic ingredient, I’ve found, is surrender. Stop trying so hard. Let go. Breathe. Be. Open.

Happy endings, beginnings and in-betweens! Now is the time.

On January 9, 2011, a referendum will be held that will determine the fate of Sudan. Help Emmanuel and friends Alicia Keys, George Clooney, Peter Gabriel, The Elders (Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Sir Richard Branson, Fernando H Cardoso) spread the word for peace.

Be peace.

The videos below will break it down for you, in order, from the beginning.

My favorite addition, by far, is the reclaimed bowling lane kitchen island, and I can’t wait for you to come by for a LOVE cafe in the new year!

So, this week in moving mode, transferring FGG headquarters from between two coasts into this amazing, beautiful, bright, empty downtown Toronto space, I’m having a long think about furnishings and decor and how to maximize beauty, comfort and efficiency while minimizing costs, both financial and environmental. I need rugs and window dressings and furniture, but I have strict personal and professional LEED standards – and a tight budget. I want to support my local community, but I recognize almost everything sold in my neighborhood stores comes from China…

Well-wishing professional shoppers (friends) are recommending Walmart, Pottery Barn and Ikea for value for dollars. It’s hard to argue with Walmart’s prices, yet I can’t help but think of the much greater price we’re all paying to have massive tanker after massive tanker, dedicated solely (soullessly?) to Walmart stores across North America, chug their way very fuel-inefficiently from China to our living rooms.

I’m not anti-big-box, I’m pro mom & pop. I’d much rather have a hand-crafted piece of furniture from a local artisan than something spat from a cookie cutter in Asia. But locally made comes at a higher out-of-wallet price that makes it harder to swallow in the immediate. This Canadian-made nest chair I could absolutely move in to is $1127. I couldn’t do that purchase many times before I’d have to move into the nest chair.

I know many people who are constantly upgrading their technology, their kitchens, their furniture, their vehicles, so many tons of it going into landfills, it seems ludicrous to start from scratch by buying everything shiny and new. The beauty of an empty industrial loft space is that it’s very forgiving when it comes to design. Anything goes — used, new, ancient, mod, eclectic.

I’m looking for an upcycled funky vibe that’ll be green and clean and safe and warm and inviting and inspiring and make you want to stay and play with food and friends. A huge kitchen for classes, playshops, product development and catering, and a zen lounge for chillin with a fresh wedge of raw vegan pumpkin pie after yoga.

To save my budget and the planet, I’ve enlisted the help of friends with extra stuff weighing down their lives, and my new friends, EBay, Craigslist and Kijiji. I haven’t yet been on a dumpster-diving adventure, but I’ve found some gems in alleys in the past.

Can I live up to my lofty green ideals, keep a clean conscience and stay within my low-rent budget? Follow along here. I’ll be posting regular updates with pics and vids. First up – cleaning and painting. Plain white vinegar as disinfectant and low-voc paint – bittersweet chocolate for the floors…

What would you do with this fabulous empty space?

When the weather outside turns cold, it’s time to turn our internal heat on, bring the sun into our bellies, and nothing does that better than a big warm bowl of homemade Curried Yam, Fennel & Butternut Squash Soup. This potage is delish. Whip it up in 15 minutes, then leave it on the stove for a couple of days of heart-melting, body-warming sustenance.

Curried Yam, Fennel & Butternut Squash Soup

makes a big pot for 6 or 8

1 medium organic yam, diced, not peeled

1/2 medium organic butternut squash, diced

1 fennel bulb, chopped

1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (or to taste)

1 small red onion, minced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

4 leaves blue kale, chopped in ribbons

2 tsp medium spiced curry powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp nanami togarashi (Japanese spice, available in specialty stores)

tiny drizzle olive oil

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil gently on medium. Stir in garlic and onions and continue stirring until translucent. Add salt and spices and mix.

Add carrot, celery and fennel and stir to mix in spices. Careful not to let it dry out. Add a splash of spring water and continue stirring.

Add yam and butternut squash, stirring to mix in spices.

Cover veggies with spring water and bring to a quick boil, then turn down to minimum and simmer until veggies are soft.

Turn off the heat and add kale ribbons. Stir and cover for a few more minutes.

Taste and adjust spices to your liking. If you like it a little thinner, add another splash of water and adjust salt.

This soup is wonderful as is, or you can blend it for a smooth consistency. It’s best on day 2, so let it sit, covered, on the stove overnight (if there’s any left!).

Squash are highly nutrient dense, containing excellent amounts of vitamins A and C, beta carotene, fiber, and omega 3 fatty acids. Squash can promote lung health, prevent heart disease, and protect colon cells from cancer growth. Get your autumnal sweet nutty buttery plant-powered butternut sage risotto on!

I tweeted that I was making this for dinner and one of my followers replied: “every time I read the word risotto I hear Chef Ramsey screaming at someone ‘YOU CALL **THIS** A RISOTTO??!?!?!’”

If you’re a Hell’s Kitchen fan, you’ll appreciate that he would absolutely be screaming this at me if he were watching me make it. There is no butter, there is no cream, no cheese, we use slow-cooked brown rice instead of fast-cooking white arborio rice, and there is no chicken stock;) So, no, it is def not Chef Ramsey’s Risotto, but it is a lot healthier, and though I’ve never tasted the Gordon’s, which is certainly ooey gooey buttery and cheesy, I’m certain this lovely creamy sweet butternut squash and savory sage version is much more delish;)

Here’s how for 2:

1 cup organic short grain brown rice, rinsed well and cooked
1/2 medium butternut squash, diced in small dice
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion
1 tsp dried sage or 4 fresh leaves, minced (go easy on sage – you can always add more, but too much will ruin the flavor)
2 Tbsp mild miso
2 umeboshi plums, minced
1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt
4 leaves blue kale, chopped in fine ribbons
1/4 red pepper, diced finely
1 cup veggie broth or 2 tsp veggie broth mix and a cup of spring water

Cook brown rice with 2 cups spring water. (Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to minimum for 30-40 minutes, covered.) About 10 minutes from the end, toss in half of the diced butternut squash, the minced umeboshi plums (or a tsp of paste) and all the kale ribbons. Cover.

In a frying pan on medium, heat just enough veggie broth to cover the bottom of the pan. Sautee garlic and onions with a pinch of salt, and when broth evaporates, add another splash. Toss in the other half of the diced squash with the sage. Cook in broth until squash is soft (15 minutes or so), continuing to add broth as you need it.

When squash is soft, remove from heat and blend in blender with miso. Adjust consistency with veggie broth to make a nice “cream.” The miso will give it a slight “cheesy” flavor.

Pour back in the frying pan and add the rice. Stir until the butternut sage sauce is absorbed into the rice. Plate, and decorate with finely diced red pepper. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Chef Ramsey and I agree on one thing: “There’s never two risottos the same.”

Enjoy! And please don’t eat this while watching Hell’s Kitchen. So. Bad. For your digestion;)

I witnessed the other day, perhaps for the first time, the exact moment a single leaf let go. I admired its courage as it surrendered to the breeze and danced gracefully toward the dirt. In response to this beautiful, tender vision, in my heart I wondered why I struggle so much with the same simple act of letting go, when over and over again, nature and experience show me that to do so is essential for life. 

A heavy personal loss this season has me meditating on the act of being vulnerable. I’ve discovered that it is a conscious act – - a courageous one. Being vulnerable requires that despite its cuts and cracks and wounds and brokenness, the heart must remain fearlessly open. It’s counter-intuitive for most of us. In the past, the moment my heart was threatened, I would raise the steel wall shield and lock it down, denying any vulnerability or masking it with false confidence. In the past, I would have called this “strength.” In the past, I would have considered myself “pathetic” to phone a friend, crying, at midnight. In the past, I’ve been in the fetal position, alone, in a cheap hotel room in India.

But this time, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. In my quest to live with ever more awareness and ever more compassion toward myself and others, during this time of acute vulnerability, at the risk of being seen as imperfect or inadequate or, god forbid, pathetic, I’ve chosen to expose my damaged heart to my friends.

The first friend who saw my tears took me into her arms and said “I’m so glad to know you’re human.” The next two said “We’re here for you.” Someone I’d just recently helped welcomed the opportunity to return the unconditional support. My dearest friends provided sanctuary and saunas and a healing, neutral space. Others started calling, emailing and texting on a daily basis, seemingly with all the time in the world to listen. Someone I know only peripherally invited me out for tea and shared with me her own vulnerability. Even people I’ve never met in person who sensed something was up from my lack of activity online reached out with heartfelt sentiments. I observed, humbled, in awe, as my community rose up around me like a protective fortress of caring hearts.

As a result of my willingness to expose my vulnerability, my willingness to risk being seen as weak and helpless, I’ve been able to move through the grieving process quickly, while feeling it fully. I’ve been able to sift through the emotions consciously, feel them deeply, find compassion for myself, and acquire discernment in my heart. I’ve discovered incredible strength, gratitude, empathy, even joy in the process. I feel closer to my friends than I ever have in my life, and instead of feeling pathetic, as I feared, I feel empowered, loving, deserving of the wonderful community I’ve called in. Naked, yes, like the trees outside, but beautiful, like the brave, delicate leaf.

Do you have the courage to be vulnerable?

The vid below will give you a 2-minute tease. Check it out, then simply invite it to your inbox. Next, wipe off a three-week block on your calendar sometime before Christmas and get your cleaner, greener, leaner lifestyle on!

From some of our Feel Good Fans:

“I am so very appreciative of your help in the changes we had made to our diet this year. From doing our very first cleanse ever with you in January to now being over 2 months drinking green smoothies everyday. It’s been a wild ride on this healthy train! Looking forward to trying out some new recipes. Blessings,” Anita

“I loved the summer feel good fast. My body felt great and I’ve lost 10 pounds since I got it. I would love the Autumn version. Thank you!” Michy

“Hey fellow bikerette. The fire stations are buzzing with who this mystery gal is (they all know your name now) who got Cpt Philly off the evil meat diet. I’m promoting your ideas big time, might have a few converts…I guess we all will (or won’t) change in our own time. Again, thanks for making a big change in my life….u r my hro.” Phil