Everything Ventured, Everything Gained

It has been a slow but sure process of getting my act together, and to be honest I don’t know where to start. Eight weeks of being on autopilot, of finding the balance of taking care of myself and still being responsive and kind to others’ needs, of wondering if graduate school was the right choice, of being numb and filling the void with not so smart choices, and it finally came crashing down around me. 

'Tis the season to be changing...

I struggled to find out what happened, what went wrong with my plan of discovering what being “successful” and “grown up” meant, and there were a lot of factors to consider. I own my mistakes, and accept that I’ve made quite a few as of late, especially where others have been on the receiving end of them. But everything happens for a reason, and my priorities are thankfully back on track.

October was a “shift or be shifted month”, and November follows with self-reflection and being the best Morri I can be. Perhaps it was getting an “A” on my first graduate school paper that has me truly believing that everything is okay, or that I finally have the information to heal myself from the inside out. So to really work on this aspect, I've decided to celebrate "Good Nutrition Month." For the entire month of November I will be going fairly "primal" (as shown on Mark's Daily Apple) in my eating habits, and have officially removed coffee from my diet completely.

My search for fulfillment of the higher self was like searching for a coffee substitute: everywhere I looked there was something offered but nothing that truly fit to my needs. There are herbal coffee replacements out there, the majority of which contain roasted grains of the gluten variety. I was excited to see that Elana of Elana’s Pantry had this recipe for a gluten free, DIY coffee alternative, and I couldn’t wait to come up with my own ratio for a mug of "Joe".

Over a week of drinking my own brew and I haven’t drunken any coffee. Sure, the desire for tea and hot cocoa comes and goes, but this has been my go-to drink as a way to warm my core while the temperature drops a little more each day. I prefer to drink it black, as it has this fantastic peppery taste to it my palate adores, but I also recommend it in the form of a latte with almond milk and honey/stevia. I’ve also prepared it in two ways, depending on how “chewy” (i.e., concentrated) I want a cup to be. Regardless, it still fulfills my coffee needs, and is a wonderful drink to have in the mornings while eating breakfast and in the afternoons with a small snack before dinner.

Note: this recipe is a ratio*, so no matter how much you make, it will still turn out delicious. (And stay tuned for “coffee” recipes and variations in the coming weeks!)

Morri’s Herbal Coffee Alternative

4 parts Roasted chicory root
2 parts Roasted dandelion root
1 part Raw cacao powder

For a more concentrated brew:
Combine a mug’s worth of water with a heaping teaspoon of my HCA in a small saucepan on high heat.
Get it to a rolling boil and then simmer for five minutes.
Pour the liquid through a small strainer into your mug of choice.
Add your preferences of creamer and sweetener (or leave it black) and enjoy hot.

For a lighter brew:
Prepare water in a kettle like you would for tea and place a heaping teaspoon of my HCA in a liquid measuring cup (I used my two-cup measuring cup).
Once the water is steaming and the kettle is whistling, remove from heat and pour the water in with the HFA and allow it to steep for five minutes.
Pour the liquid through a small strainer into your mug of choice.
Add your preferences of creamer and sweetener (or leave it black) and enjoy hot.

Both directions make 1 serving.

*For example, my jar of HCA contains about 100 g chicory root, 50 g dandelion root, and 25 g cacao.

New Priorities

As I worked to finish my midterm by the deadline, another week between posts went by. The realization of no longer having a plan still lingers in the back of my mind, but a new realization has taken its place for introspection.

That is, I’m going through the process of deciding what my priorities are. 

Tell me, has your Mara come to Tea lately?

This can be an ever-consuming venture, as I’m the sort of person with a plethora of big dreams, seemingly bigger than my life can permit simultaneously. To an extent, my dreams are too large to manifest themselves at the same time in the here and now, but I still dream and want and need.

The Burt-man, being ever observant in my turbulent changes these last few months, provided me with his Pennsylvanian Dutch wisdom the best he could (Dad figures tend to do that). He told me that life was like a chessboard and I was chess piece on that board. As a singular chess piece, I only have a certain number of options of squares to which I can move to, and each piece on the board plays the game differently. You play the game with the options you have, and work with the strategies to move from square to square to ultimately assist in best playing the current game.

In where I ultimately plan to be, I cannot move through life thinking “if only I had so-and-so’s life” or “why is it easier for so-and-so to do this or be that.” They’re just a different chess piece in a different game.

I bring this up because I still struggle with wanting to do everything and do it right the first time. I want[ed] to be a full-time graduate student with a full-time job of my dreams (with benefits), live on my own, heal whatever is conflicting my body, become amazingly fit as I excel at rock climbing, weight lifting, running, and yoga, blog beautiful posts and recipes five times a week, have an active social life and time for a significant other, learn the cello, sing jazz, travel often, have daily enlightening meditations and philosophical realizations… 

And this all had to happen at the same time in the course of a year or I viewed myself a failure to all Morri-kind.

I still want to do and be all these things, and I am confident that at the right time and place I will. It’s a matter of priorities, of deciding what move on the chessboard you position yourself first.

Not surprisingly, the personal growth my blog has nourished has become a top priority. This isn’t about the site itself, but more what it had manifested: self-awareness, confidence, the evolution of my passions, and a focus of my creativity. And though I have a few of the things I want to do in life underway (part-time graduate school, part-time work, part-time social life, working to become awesomely fit and healing holistically), fueling and nurturing my creative outlet has taken center stage.

For one, that means taking photography seriously and actually understanding why I produce the photos I take, and how to make them more professional looking. It also means taking the recipes to a higher standard.

Here goes everything.

Pumpkin Chai Latte

480 ml Filtered water
2 Chai tea bags (or loose tea equivalent)*
120 g Pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, plus a dash as garnish
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Coriander
1/2 – 1 tsp. Unrefined apple cider vinegar, optional **
Sweetener, to taste ***
120 ml Almond milk (or whatever “milk” you prefer)

In a medium saucepan, cook the water on high heat until it simmers, and add the tea bags to steep for three to five minutes.
Remove the tea bags and lower the heat to medium-low, and add the remaining ingredients save for the almond milk.
Pour the chai tea into two mugs and set aside.****
In a separate cup, froth the almond milk with an immersion blender, milk frother, or simply put in a lidded jar and shake rigorously.  
Pour the milk on top of the tea and garnish with nutmeg.
Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings.

*I used Trader Joe’s Rooibos Chai Tea
**When I was sick this time last year, the old boyfriend put apple cider vinegar in my rooibos tea and it tasted like a tangy hot apple cider. He had read somewhere that it helped with sore throats and the overall feelings of crumminess.
*** I used honey, about one tablespoon per serving. (I get such a sweet tooth for my tea as it gets colder.) But this can be easily made herbivore using maple syrup, stevia, coconut sugar, date sugar, or left unsweetened.
****The pumpkin puree has a tendency to separate and sink to the bottom. Simply stir until you add the almond milk.

The Last Days of Summer

Summer is slowly fading into fall, a time where hoodies and leggings become a common occurrence in northern Virginia. Change. That’s that word that comes to mind with a season’s birth from its predecessor's death. The wind is crisper. The air is cleaner. The sky is temperamental and absolutely beautiful in contrast with the leaves turning color. With such amazing feats of nature, why focus on the stressful things in life?

So much is going on behind the scenes of Meals with Morri, things I am timid with sharing and bringing out into the open. The majority of it has nothing to do with food or cooking, but everything to do with moving on, wellness and healing, and personal empowerment. Luckily, I have a plethora of posts I’m really excited to share with you, such as:

• A product review (click here)
• A new page on the MWM site
• Food inspirations from friends and family
• Fermenting (which I have been doing, I swear)
• Foodie adventures
• Getting back into the GFRR groove
• Health and fitness updates
• … and so much more!

As this is the last official week of summer (when did that happen?), I thought to share a recipe or two of something I view to be the epitome of the summer months.

The smoothie.

Oh, there’s a smoothie or two on this blog already, but I feel that next summer will be the smoothie season on this blog. Blended into a drink of nutritious goodness, you can put anything in it as meal on the go. Fruits and veggies, dairy and non dairy components, powders and spices… it is so versatile and takes maybe a minute or two to go from blender to cup.

Smoothie making, what a beautiful concept indeed.

In my vigilance to lowering my coffee intake (it’s between 30 – 60 ml now), my adrenals have been grateful and my mornings are not so chaotic and manic. There are some days, though, where a pick-me-up is desired and I came up with this recipe.

Good morning, Sunshine! Smoothie

1 Frozen banana
140 g Frozen mango chunks
10 g Chia seeds
10 g Bee pollen
240 ml Filtered water*
11 g Coconut electrolytes*

Place all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until thoroughly combined.

Makes 2 servings.

* You can use anything in place of the water, such as coconut water (in which case the electrolytes wouldn’t be needed), dairy or non-dairy milk, or juice.

The following recipe was my most recent smoothie attempt. It has fresh fig in it, a fruit that I adore dried and baked but really want to learn to like them fresh. It also has açaí puree, an interesting find in my local Harris Teeter’s frozen food section. Both fruits are not overtly sweet as far a fruits go, and most certainly not tart at all. The resulting smoothie, as it was pointed out to me, tasted like a simple bowl of oatmeal made right.

I’m still figuring that statement out.

Açaí and Fig Smoothie

100 g Frozen açaí puree
4 Fresh figs *
1 Banana *
360 – 480 ml Unsweetened almond milk, depending on preference to thickness

Place all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until thoroughly combined.

Makes 2 servings.

* I would recommend freezing the figs and banana for a creamy, ice cream-like consistency, though blending them from room temperature is fine.

Healing with Smoothies

Between the smiles and the sighs, I’ll have to say that turning my life upside down has been a worthwhile experience. The things that ended brought about opportunities, so I know this crisis will blow over soon. I’ve started regaining my drive towards what I really want to do for the world, feeling so sure and secure with my efforts that I rarely have time for much else. Funny how that happens once you are honest with the universe, give up television, and nourishing myself for a change.

So don’t worry about the turbulence that comes with an abrupt change, my friends, because sooner or later the storm quiets down.

In the midst of all this change, I’ve been making recipe after recipe after recipe, sometimes losing the paper I wrote it down on (I really ought to get a notebook for this sort of thing), but truly focusing on balance. While camping, I attended a class called “The Five Elements of Nutrition”, and immediately purchased the recommended books when I had access to my laptop. Since I’ve started reading these books, I’ve been thinking about foods in the aspect of “cold” and “warm”, “damp” or “dry”, “sour” and “sweet” and “pungent” and “spicy”, etc. As I work on using food as a form of healing, I’ll definitely post my efforts as I read through it.

After coming back from our trip, I was really big on smoothies for the days following. Green smoothies, sweet and savory smoothies, fruit and vegetable smoothies… you name it, I tried it. It helped me deal with the heartbreak, knowing that I was cleansing from the inside out, and I am thinking of making smoothies a usual thing in my daily meal plans.

Green Goodness Pineapple Smoothie

280 g Frozen pineapple chunks (Mango works beautifully as well)
100 g Frozen spinach
1 English cucumber, seeded and cut into chunks
1 Green bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
Fresh ginger, to taste (at least the size of your thumbnail)
500 ml Coconut water

Place all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until thoroughly combined.

Makes 2 servings.

Updates, News, and Cool New Features

If you told me in April of last year how much Meals of Morri would grow, I would have been wide-eyed and incredulous. I look back at my old posts fondly and see so many wonderful things: how my photos have improved (although I am still learning); how my understanding of hypothyroidism has broadened; how rock climbing and yoga have changed my life; and finally, how my recipes have been seen all over the world.

It’s amazing and mind boggling and absolutely fantastic.

There are a couple of things I want my readers to be aware of in the next few weeks/months that I’m particularly excited about:

1. Why my Fitness Page is m.i.a. (coming soon!): It is currently being updated to look a lot like my Health & Hypothyroidism page. I wasn’t really happy about my fitness log idea, because I would get so down on myself for not doing it exactly as I’d written. So what’s going in place of it, you’re asking? Rock climbing, yoga, and other fantastic activities I fall in love with along the way.
2. A FAQ page (coming soon!): This is going to be your go-to page for any questions you may have in regards to my recipes, cookbook and product reviews, my blog, my health, and my photography. And if you find I don’t have an answer to a particular question, feel free to write me an email.
3. Post variety: Besides recipes, I plan on doing more product reviews, video posts, organic gardening, foodie adventures, discussing what I find concerning thyroid function, fitness fun (how-to’s, places, and helpful hints), and non-recipe recipes (i.e., hair care, skin care, gluten free arts and crafts, etc.).

In the meantime, you can enjoy…

1. Meals With Morri has a Facebook page: Yes! Finally, a place where you can be notified of recent posts, ask questions (and answer them), provide solid feedback for when I’m stumped on recipes, or write about what recipes you want to see on the site.
2. Drinks, Smoothies, and Shakes: Remember when I said to enjoy those muffins while I was buying Vega One in bulk? Well, I meant it and it is due this week. As I fall more in love with rock climbing and yoga (that, and the hot summer months are just around the corner), I want to make sure that people remain hydrated with nutrient-dense drinks.

In fact, here is a smoothie recipe to get you started. It’s a green smoothie… with kombucha.

Ah, kombucha… a most refreshing fermented delight. What? You’ve never heard of kombucha? Well, let me enlighten you: it’s fermented tea. Pure and simple.

Some people may roll their eyes at my love for this stuff, because it’s become this “trend” in the alternative health world. But it has been around for a lot longer than hippies and New Age dippies. From the Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BCE) in China who referred it as “a beverage with magical powers enabling people to live forever” to 19th century Russia’s “tea mushroom” (чайный гриб) and “tea kvass” (чайный квас), it is said to aid digestion and promote other awesome things for your overall well-being. I personally just love the stuff, and have two cultures on the kitchen counter living and fermenting green and black teas as we speak.

But until I can drink my own, I treat myself to a bottle of GT’s Kombucha. I’ve tried many of the flavors, and like every single one I’ve had. The one I have the most often, however, is the multi-green. I enjoy the “green” taste of it, and it is a perfect base for a green smoothie.  

Greener than Green Kombucha Smoothie

240 - 350 ml Kombucha* (I used G.T.’s multi-green)
1 Frozen banana
85 g Frozen spinach
1/4 Avocado

Place the ingredients in the blender and blend until thoroughly combined.
Pour in a large glass and serve cold.

Makes 1 serving.

What's in a Name? That Which We Call a Recipe...

I like to name my recipes. Like a newborn or a family pet, a recipe’s name should have something with meaning, something with importance. Sometimes all it takes to name a recipe is to say what it is, like “Blueberry Oat Bagels” or “Panna Cotta”. But for the most part, it takes a lot of creativity and even more thought, such as: “Sweet Pea Pucker Smoothie”; “All Dressed Up Quinoa Salad”; “Little Bitty Popover Bites”; and finally, this recipe… “Agent Orange Smoothie.”

Now, you’re probably thinking: “does she mean the cocktail or the pesticide (definitely not), the comic book character or the Tori Amos song?” If you thought Tori, you thought correctly.

There are some songs that pop into my head on their own accord, and besides the Rites of Passage by the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos’s Boys for Pele is one of my favorite albums. Her song “Agent Orange” transports me to Miami, where tropical foods are plentiful and suntans equally so. I imagine Agent Orange to be a Miami Vice kind of detective, with an orange as a head, whose favorite highball drink is organic carrot juice and vodka, and is a sucker for the ladies. Or maybe he is a redhead investigator in San Francisco who falls in love with a tourist that insists on calling his beloved city “Frisco”. There is no way to tell what the lovely Ms. Amos meant, but that’s the beauty of her music. It’s all about the stories you find in her lyrics.

So listen to her album, skip to track no. 14, and take a sip of this orange-less orange drink simply made for a year of eternal summer and clear blue skies.

"Agent Orange" by Tori Amos (1996)

Gotta tell you what I heard

From agent orange

Mister suntan

Mister happy man

Mister I know the girls on all the world tours

Mister agent, yeah

He's my favorite

And they don't understand

He's got palm oil pants

Yes, he's down and there and everywhere

He's getting in too deep in this

Underwater city where she swims and swims

Agent Orange Smoothie

140 g Frozen Mango chunks
1 Frozen banana
420 ml Carrot juice
200 g Whole milk yogurt (or canned coconut milk for a vegan delight)

Place the ingredients in a blender until thoroughly combined.
Pour into 2 glasses and serve cold.

Makes 2 servings.

Stumped & Flopped

I’ve been producing quite a few “half-baked” recipes lately. It’s a term I use to regard a recipe as having the potential to be delicious, but it’s missing something crucial. There were two of which I was particularly bummed about, because I was really looking forward to blogging their awesomeness and I’m usually quite good at figuring out what recipes need.

These two, however, have stumped me silly. 

So if anyone out there in cyber space with some time and the ingredients could make it and tell me what’s missing, I’d gratefully appreciate it.

The first of these borderline flops was a smoothie similar to the “Sweet Pea Pucker Smoothie” recipe I made early on in my Meals with Morri blogging. I had a bag of key limes I needed to use up and was craving a key lime pie sort of smoothie. I don’t think it was nearly tart or sweet enough (that, or the sweet and sour flavors weren’t balanced correctly), and could have possibly used a banana in the mix.

Key Lime Pie Smoothie

Juice of 6 Key limes
1/2 Ripe avocado
81 g Frozen spinach
150 ml Coconut milk
120 ml Almond milk, unsweetened vanilla (found in Trader Joe’s refrigerated section by the milk)
122 g Applesauce, unsweetened
Stevia, to taste

I blended the ingredients until smooth and poured it into two jars lined with almond meal and flaxseed meal (the “crust”). It tasted okay, but I wasn’t very much impressed with it overall.

The second one was also a disappointment, though edible. I wanted to make an indulgent oatmeal breakfast with cocoa nibs and powder. I’ve had issues with cocoa powder before (see this post for my cocoa powder flop moment), so maybe baking chocolate would have worked better. It also wasn’t balanced in flavor, a little to bitter and not sweet enough. Instead of water, I think almond milk would have helped in making it creamy and decadent instead of strong and grainy. It’s also quite possible that the cocoa nibs should be on their own, like a chocolate chip or something.

Chocolate Crunch Oatmeal

20 g Steel cut oats
20 g CGF rolled oats
240 ml Water
5 ml Unrefined apple cider vinegar
7 g Cocoa nibs
5 g Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. Sea salt
1/4 tsp. Bourbon vanilla
Stevia, to taste
1/4 tsp. (1 ml) Coconut oil

I combined all of the ingredients except for the coconut oil the night before to soak, and then cooked it over medium heat the next morning (oil included). I poured it into a bowl and garnished it with a whole banana, a spoonful of peanut butter, chilled coconut milk, and a dash of cinnamon. Again, I think if the garnishes were integrated in the oatmeal, it would’ve tasted phenomenal.

Let me know what recommendations and alterations you’d make with either (or both) recipe, and I’ll make them again and credit you for helping me in its success.

Looking to the Future with a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

A lot of turning points happened this week. It was a merry-go-round of enlightenment. I went to a resume builder workshop on Tuesday. I roamed a job fair on Wednesday. I facilitated a focus group and partook in a CARmunity meeting on Thursday (As of this week we are officially recognized by George Mason University and the first School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution student organization legitimated by the school!). I went to my chiropractor appointment and walked out with spider technology for my wrist as well as my monthly visit with Cheryl. As for today, I’m writing it down to make sense of it all after coming back with the boyfriend from the pumpkin patch in Delaplane.

Well, that, and also to tell you the joys of pumpkin and my latest smoothie creation.

As I sat in the workshop I couldn’t help but feel so underachieved in comparison to the others. One was in the navy for nearly twenty years and was worried about finding a job. Another worked full time, volunteered often, and managed a 3.97 GPA. Sure, I was part of the BFSI this summer and I helped to create CARmunity with a small group of amazing individuals in both cases. I’ve facilitated talks, simulated conflicts, done extensive research based on theory and practice, attended seminars, and went abroad to Sweden. I have over three years of office experience and a year working in two cafés. I will be working with kids in an after school program part time in the next week or so at a local community center. But after my job fair experience on Wednesday, I feel so unprepared for life after graduation.

I considered grad school, but I missed the deadline for spring due to some mishaps with my grades. True, I have wonderful references, but the Universe seemed to say that I needed to go out in the world and take a break from traditional academia for a semester. So that’s what I’m doing, and I have no idea where I’m going.

The employers at the job fair were mostly computer or business oriented, and one or two maybe had jobs for public relations or human resources. As a CAR major, our blessing and curse is how wide our potentials are. Since my concentration is international (with a little community/organization on the side), I could be a diplomat, run a non-profit, and work for the government. But I left that fair disheartened; no one there was looking for a Morri.

For a brief moment I felt like the world didn’t need what I had to offer, and that there was a lack of belief in my visions and potential. Doubt spread throughout my being like a sickness, a disease that only cooking and talking to other CAR majors experiencing something similar helped put it into perspective for me.

I have this vision, of founding a movement that follows in Busboys & Poets footsteps, a restaurant that promotes to flourish a healthy and cohesive community, one centered on the arts, dialogue, and holistic food. The holistic food part of my aspirations will have a modern take on traditional and comforting foods, that’s allergen friendly, mostly organic and local, and finally (I cannot stress this enough), affordable.

So I keep thinking about that job fair, all those people dressed in three-piece suits with resumes and this air about them I couldn’t relate to, and started thinking I was unqualified for what lay before me. Graduation is closing in, a mere two months away, and I don’t know what to do.

Actually, I do know what I want to do, and what I will be doing. I will get a job helping an amazing organization with sustainable development around food, or something to do with food distribution to those who may not know when their next meal will be, or do field work revolving around food and conflict. In a few years I’ll earn enough money to go to Johnson & Wales or Boston University and learn the art of professional cooking, restaurant management, and hospitality.

I will have my restaurant by the time I’m thirty (or at least something similar). Make no mistake about it, and it will be the most bangin’ thing since gluten-free sliced bread.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake, Trial 1

Now, about my love affair with pumpkin.

I’m sure you know that the wondrous pumpkin is incredibly rich in vital flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants and vitamins such as leutin, xanthins, and carotene. It is a member of the cururbaceae family along with cucumber, squash, and cantaloupes, and is one of the most popular commercial field crops all over the world.

Oddly enough, I’ve found I’ve been craving pumpkin almost as much as I’ve been craving socca (definitely another post of the multiple variations I’ve done since my sweet and savory carrot socca recipe), and I think it has to do with manganese.

True, the pumpkin seeds (or pepitas) are the part of the pumpkin that has the majority of this trace mineral crucial to – you guessed it – thyroid and adrenal function.

According to The World’s Healthiest Foods website, high-manganese foods:

• Help your body utilize several key nutrients such as biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid, and choline
• Keep your bones strong and healthy
• Help your body synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol
• Maintain normal blood sugar levels
• Promote optimal function of your thyroid gland
• Maintain the health of your nerves
• Protect your cells from free-radical damage

And although manganese deficiency is rare in humans, the symptoms include (with mine starred):

• Nausea*
• Vomiting
• Poor glucose tolerance (high blood sugar levels)*
• Skin rash*
• Loss of hair color
• Excessive bone loss
• Low cholesterol levels
• Dizziness*
• Hearing loss
• Reproductive system difficulties*

If you think of incorporating more manganese into your diet, consider using these gluten free food sources:

Excellent sources of manganese include flaxseed, mustard greens, kale, chard, raspberries, pineapple, romaine lettuce, spinach, collard greens, turnip greens, kale, maple syrup, molasses, garlic, grapes, summer squash, strawberries, oats, green beans, brown rice, garbanzo beans, ground cloves, cinnamon, thyme, peppermint, and turmeric.

Very good sources of manganese include pumpkin seeds, leeks, tofu, broccoli, beets, and tempeh.

Good sources of manganese include cucumber, peanuts, millet, figs, bananas, kiwifruit, carrots and black beans.

I have been eating pumpkin and socca almost every day and literally cannot get enough of either. Even more interesting is that most of my favorite foods and spices are listed above. Anyway, here, have a piece of pie in a glass.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

8.6 oz (about 1 c.) Canned pumpkin
1 Banana, frozen (or fresh) and halved
4 oz Carrot juice
4 oz Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

Place all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until thoroughly combined.

Serves 1, but can easily be multiplied to the servings you need.

Peanut Butter Coco-nana Slurp

Before blogging and all of its wonder, I couldn’t wait to eat the plate of deliciousness in front of me. Typically I had to have my meals so hot that it was still bubbling as I put a spoonful into my mouth or so cold that even penguins would get brain-freezes. I was more concerned with eating the food at the right temperature that I would scarf up my meals so quickly you thought I had to be somewhere.

Remember to stop and smell the roses... or photograph dandelions. That works too. :)

Until now.

I realized why the Armour Thyroid wasn’t helping me at much in the mornings. I was eating breakfast too soon after that it was absorbed into the food and not into my body. Since that realization, my morning routine has taken a pleasantly different persona, and I am relishing the art of the time put into my meals, both in preparation and consumption.

With the Armour Thyroid to consider, I have to wait anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour before eating, though drinking my morning cup of Joe doesn’t seem to affect the hormone. I usually wait for that warming, tingling sensation I feel in my hands before I get to work on breakfast. That is when I know it’s in play.

So what do I do for those precious minutes that I can’t eat? I drink coffee, read, blog, and contemplate the wonders of the Universe. You know, typical Morri stuff. Yet this difference in time management has helped me take my time with food throughout the day, and all the things food had to be isn’t as important.

Taking photos and the artful placement of ingredients of my recipes has also helped me elongate the dining experience. Whereas before it was more about the touch (or the temperature on my tongue) and the taste of the dish, it has become a symphony of the sensory escapade: I acknowledge the look of the dish, both behind the camera and not, taking the time to analyze the colors and textures I see; I smell the aroma it gives off in the kitchen, tantalizing my nose with specific scents each ingredient provides; If I can, I touch the meal with my fingers and relish the textures on my fingertips; I feel the temperature as it enters my mouth and admire how that alone can warm you or refresh you to the very core; I hear the food “talking” as it is prepared on the kitchen counter, as it boils on the stovetop, as it chills in the freezer, as it visibly releases steam on every spoonful; I taste more than I ever have with the acknowledgement of the previous senses.

And finally, at the heart and soul of it all, my spirit shines and enlightenment results. My spirit is fulfilled with all the senses considered and treasured. I am fuller, exceptionally content at every meal, and feel significantly more rewarded when I contemplate the time and effort and love I put into something that will nourish my body.

Mind you, I do get excited with every recipe that I tend to get impatient and have a taste before I know it’s done. The result is a Morri hopping around the kitchen doing the “Hot! Hot! Hot!” dance, or sighing knowing full well it isn’t ready yet. Typically it’s the latter, but sometimes I am the Lord of Dance incarnate.

This recipe called for such patience, though I was looking for something refreshing and cool over something heavy and sizzling. It’s a lighter variation of Aubree Cherie’s Peanut Butter and Banana Mash Pudding from Living Free. I really like her concept, and her blog in general, but felt it would be too rich and heavy for what I was looking for. I used more lemon than it needed, so I suggest using juice from 1/4 of a lemon at maximum. I did like, however, how filling yet revitalizing it was. Since I tend towards acidic foods, this alkaline-rich recipe is nice to have on hand. Plus, it can be served as a drink, a breakfast, a lunch, a snack, and a dessert.

Peanut Butter Coco-nana Slurp

1 Banana
1 tbsp. Peanut butter
1 c. So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk (or less, if you want it thicker)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or, to taste)
1 tbsp. Chia seeds

Mash the banana until lump free, then mix in the peanut butter.
Slowly add the coconut milk and stir until thoroughly combined.
Add the desired amount of lemon juice and the chia seeds.
Put in the freezer to chill for fifteen to twenty minutes, more if you want a creamy “milkshake” concoction. (You can also eat it as is.)
When chilled to the desired temperature, pull of the freezer and be immediately refreshed.

Serves 1.

Rainy Days and Lattes

As I waited for yet another Morri “Classic” to finish up in the oven, my self-reflections were continuing on where my last post left off. I felt the heat coming off in waves from the kitchen in comparison to the coolness of the rest of the house, and how people embody that warmth with the meals they cook.

This is it. This is the reason why I cook, the reason why I love cooking for others. The warmth from the kitchen is born from the oven turning on, the stove-tops alight, and the presence of the person preparing their latest masterpiece. That same warmth seems to travel from the person cooking the food to the appliances to the food to the person cooking the food to the people eating the food.

Truly it is a phenomenal cycle, filled with loving intentions and care. I may have said I was joking about opening a restaurant, but after Andy Shallal’s talk and the image of Busboys and Poet’s dancing in my head, it has become more than a consideration.

It is becoming a vision.

Bella's Bistro in Simrishamn, Sverige

I romanticize the restaurant business, the dynamics beyond what guests see. Though it’s not just any type of restaurant I idealize, but the quaint locally owned café. Coffee and I go way back. As in, almost eighteen years back. Yes, I’ve been drinking coffee from a sippy cup since I was two, three parts milk and one part of the dark stuff with a little sugar. Shaken, not stirred.

When I graduated from high school I realized my passion for coffee went beyond big business, and I set out for locally owned establishments to work part time. I found myself behind the counter, completely Zen while learning the art of coffee, perfecting the espresso, making a café latte from scratch. Opening and closing were my favorite times, turning on and off the machines, wiping off the counters, listening to music play, and talking with my coworkers. Oddly enough, my times as a barista didn’t last very long. The first time I went to art camp for the summer and came back to the coffee shop overstaffed. The second time I came back from being in Sweden, and it ended up closing down.

I still remember the aroma of the espresso heavy in the air, the heat of the milk as it was frothed and foamed, the smell of chocolate, the taste of quality tea behind the counter. I miss those days, but I still remember the art.

The boyfriend's and my tea date last year

And I took the art home with me.

In Sweden they have this thing called a fika. In my travels blog, I wrote about the wondrous fika often. Fika means "coffee break", which in Sweden implies a true-blue break in the day with a cup of coffee or tea and a sweet. Along with paid lunch breaks, the Swedes are given two fikas during their workday, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. I fell in love with the concept so much I even hosted a few while abroad, but tea was my drink of choice. After getting sick early in the semester, I started having tea in the afternoon before dinner. Since I came back, the tea has been altered slightly into various chai latte concoctions of my own design. 

And on this rainy day, I tried Yerba Mate for the first time. It warmed me to my toes.

So, for those who do not know about coffee and tea, they are prepared in different ways based on the ratio (there's that word again) in which they were prepared.

There is the cappuccino: 1 part espresso, 1 part hot milk, and steamed milk foam on top.
There is the Americano: 1 part espresso, 2 parts hot water.
There is the black eye: 2 parts coffee, 1 part espresso.
There are countless variations to your personal taste, but lattes are my drink of choice.

The Yerba Mate latte didn’t disappoint.

Yerba Mate Latte
3 parts steeped Yerba Mate in hot water for three to five minutes
1 part frothed or steamed milk
Sweetener, to taste
Dash of nutmeg

In your favorite mug, add the Yerba Mate and sweetened.
In a smaller mug, froth up the milk using a hand blender (or if you prefer steamed milk, put it over the saucepan until hot).
Add the milk to the tea, with a dash of nutmeg on top.

Serves as many as you like. :)