Taking Charge of Anxiety and Stress

I admit that, when I last wrote, I was still knee deep in fight-or-flight mode. My sentences were run-ons and manically distributed. The words I used were emotionally driven and hectic. My stories were jumbled together and I had just started the process of coming down to Earth from a lifetime of stress and anxiety. A chill pill would have worked wonders during those two weeks of uncertainty, followed by a hot cup of herbal tea and warm milk.

(source)

Whenever I talk about taking medication - in this case I mean the antibiotic and the antispasmodic - I worry about perceiving myself as a hypocrite. After all, I often write how I am all for using natural means for healing. Be it with the food/supplements I eat, the thoughts I think, and the actions I do, I exhaust every option I can think of before even considering the idea of taking a pharmaceutical drug. Getting an artificially dyed pill from a doctor in a lab coat is a last resort thing for me. And I was definitely in the “last resort” category not too long ago.

So I took the medicine and I am gradually healing from the inside out. I am feeling better than I have in years, and I celebrate the changes: I can discern hunger, and I’m not as hungry as I once was; my activity level has skyrocketed while my fatigue has decreased; my mood is level and I’m not overexerting the good mood image (I am simply in a good mood); my skin is clearing up and my organs are starting to function properly; I'm sleeping (a big factor in all this); and I do not feel rushed or overwhelmed.

“The truth is somewhere in the middle.”  When I said this, I originally meant this as a way to balance the various practices and professionals I’ve gone to for healing purposes. This statement is also true for the concept of healing in general, and this post is dedicated to how I'm working on making this happen.

Along with the prescribed medicine I’ll be taking temporarily, I wanted to find ways of healing that I would feel empowered doing in the long run. I considered the gastroenterologist’s diagnosis of ASD, and how once upon a time another gastroenterologist tried curing my supposed “depression” with an antidepressant. I didn’t want to take a pill that altered my brain chemistry and played ping-pong with my emotions. I wanted to learn how to bring myself back to a peaceful baseline and essentially change how I handled stress in a positive and loving way.

(Note: What I’m about to share is in no way a formal treatment to ASD, IBS, or any other health concerns you may have. These statements are personal opinions and things I’ve tried that are working for me. Please consider this as you read on.)

I had received wonderful suggestions when I’d asked for advice last time. Emails, social media comments, and words face-to-face offered support and food essentials for tummy troubles and antibiotics. Oddly enough, no one really touched on the ASD aspect, and I think I know why.

We are part of a global paradigm where stress means productivity. At least in my interpretation of Western culture, we have to be “on” all the time to feel like we’re doing something meaningful with our lives. In many cases, and this resonates with me also, we have been in “fight or flight” mode for so long we don’t even remember what being at peace is. We become bored with inaction, and worried that we are stagnating progression. We lose our self-awareness with constant pressure from our inner dialogue, perceived expectations, over-stimulation, and over-scheduling.

Stress and anxiety are normalized internally. When we experience the adrenaline rush and adrenal fatigue over a significant period of time, our body gets used to the highs and lows of both, and our baseline adapts to being at the height of Mount Everest rather than sea level. A bit extreme, I know, but I want you to understand how crucial it is to nip chronic stress and anxiety in the bud and how small changes can leave a big impact on your health.

The first steps I started working with were self-awareness and acceptance. I asked myself questions like: How are you feeling? What are you feeling and what caused that feeling to occur? Is your mind racing and heart pounding when you’re trying to sleep/meditate/calm down? What external factors are affecting you internally, for good or ill? Acceptance is a hard thing indeed, for we are our toughest critics. Thoughts like “What do I have to be stressed about?” and “Come on, Dummy, this isn't hard!  Why can’t I do this?” can plague the chronically stressed and anxious. When we are in this state, it is extremely hard to see the big picture because we are so hyper-focused on the mini crises all the time.   

I learned that by being in a constant state of distress, I was hungry all the time. When I was stressed and anxious, I snacked on nut butters, rice crackers, and smoothies. Add that to my tummy troubles and my habit of not getting enough sleep, I was too fatigued and in too much pain to be active in my daily life. I used the medication prescribed to me as a tool to remove my body woes from the equation to turn my focus then on what was going on upstairs behind my pretty face.

The second step for me was analyzing the life I live with love and compassion. What are the things most important to me? What can I place on a shelf to work on later? What do I keep? What do I let go or change? These questions led me to the journey of finding an inner calm and adjusting the structures of my life to suit me.

There are certain ways to calm yourself, and you do not have to do it alone or by your own design to get positive results. To increase my own ability at achieving a steady baseline, I looked to meditation. I was advised to do fifteen minutes a day, but my mind tends to wander and think of all the things I need to/have to/should be doing. So I became even more frustrated when I was unable to return to mindfulness and stressed by those precious minutes wasted on trying.

The answer for me was guided meditation, and there are many sources out there varying in length, type, and technique.

“But I don’t have time to meditate and sit still”, you say. “I have all these obligations to do…”

Stop. right. there. When you are in this mindset, of course you won’t have time. And my answer to that can be shown in this image:

(source)

As I said, guided meditation is helpful for me because I can focus on a voice and the instructions I am being given. For 10 – 20 minutes (or more), all that matters is my breathing, resetting my brain, and reveling in the possibility in how it will affect my day for the better. I find doing it in it the morning (though not necessarily right when I wake up) and/or before bed good times for me, but choose times that work for your schedule.

(source)

This leads to another crucial aspect in lowering stress and anxiety for me: routine. Now, I’m not talking about being a “slave to routine” as the comic above implies. I’m talking about having something your body can work with, a way to regulate and manage yourself and what matters most to you. Since graduation (and quite possibly before that), I was flying from one thing to the next – blind and awkward in between – doing everything I could to stay upright. Instead of planning by the hour for everything I do (as I tried to and bombed at), I’ve laid out my weekdays in morning, afternoon, and evening time-slots. I have days where I am climbing or doing other forms of exercise and completing a certain chore/task for the house. I have definitive times when I’m working or at school. I have days dedicated to studying, and an evening or two dedicated to whatever it is I may treat myself to. From doing it this way, I found that I not only have more time than I thought; I also have focus and energy without becoming overwhelmed. Work and play are becoming wonderfully balanced.

The final reflection I’d like to share is to not sacrifice taking care of yourself in order to “get things done”. I admit there are still days in the week I perceive I have a lot to do and the consequence is getting less sleep/relaxation than I’d like. For example: On Tuesdays my class gets out at 10:00 p.m., and then I am up at 5:00 Wednesday morning to climb. I know that I’ll get less than seven hours of sleep in between, so it’s just a matter of adjusting certain variables to ensure I’m doing all I can to not return to that unhealthy cycle. Be honest with yourself and others when everything in your being is telling you to chill out. And when stress and panic arises, don’t beat yourself up about it; instead, take pride knowing you realized what’s going on and take as long as you need to bring yourself out of survival mode. 

Chuck Steak and Vegetable Stew

I have been busy. Wonderfully, fantastically, borderline overwhelmingly busy. It’s the kind of ‘busy’ that gives me breathing room, time to stretch out and do nothing, time to do a certain chore each day, time to work, time to meditate, time to play, time to climb. Within two weeks or so I’ve never felt so in tune with the current in which my life flows; and with school starting up again next week, not to mention possible career/volunteer opportunities to pursue, I will want as sturdy a foundation as I can.

Then there are the unexpected things that happen, the kind that don’t make themselves visible to you until someone else mentions them. The planner that I am and the Bisy Backson I tend to be, the recipes /adventures/product reviews in my posts are almost always preplanned with the intention to share on cyberspace.

This recipe was not a preplanned post. This post had no preconceived theme. In fact, I wasn’t intending on posting anything at all until tomorrow. But there was this rather insistent voice (i.e., Mama Dazz’s) to provide this recipe on Meals with Morri. And you would think by how persistent she was in my posting this it would be this elaborate meal with complicated directions to get it "just so". This could not be farther from the truth.

It’s the easiest thing you could make.

However, I do admit to using an ingredient that may bring a quizzical expression to your face (or at least a “Say what?” expression, although I have no idea what that would look like): black garlic.

Look at the difference!

I first heard about black garlic when I was watching an episode of the Food Network show Chopped. Almost a year later as I was visiting friends in Toledo after Thanksgiving, I saw bags of it at the store while shopping for dinner items and bought it on an impulse.

To say I was hooked on the sweet and savory, smoky almost teriyaki taste would be an understatement. And when I brought the rest home to share with the household, one bite and Mama Dazz ordered sixteen bulbs online. Apparently, someone loved the flavor more than I had.

Black garlic is that sort of ingredient to use sparingly, but is also that sort of ingredient you’re likely to put in everything. Gravies, soups, stews, curries, sauces, and marinades will be enhanced with such depth of flavor that it will be the ending note on the tip of your tongue that will have you wanting  second or third helpings.

Personally, soups and stews have (deliciously) never been the same in this house since.

Chuck Steak and Vegetable Stew

2 – 2.25 lb Chuck steak, cubed into manageable bite-sized pieces
1 Red onion, finely diced
2 Carrots, finely diced
2 Celery stalks, finely diced
142 g Baby bella mushrooms, finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 Black garlic cloves, coarsely chopped*
170 g Tomato paste
Sea salt, to taste
Cracked pepper, to taste
Water (Or stock, if you prefer)

Combine all the ingredients in a pressure cooker** and fill it with water until it almost submerges the meat and vegetables.
Place on medium-high heat until you can easily blend the tomato paste with the water, and then cover to cook on medium to medium-low heat for one hour.
Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to dwindle naturally.
Carefully remove the lid and stir the stew to check the consistency.
Adjust the taste with sea salt and pepper and pour into bowls.
Serve hot.

Makes 8 servings. 

*If you do not happen to have black garlic on hand (or simply do not prefer it), try using soy-free miso or coconut aminos instead. Click here to find it near you or order it online!

**This seems like the sort of recipe that would do well in a crock pot as well. So in case you don't have a pressure cooker, this may be an all-day make-the-house-smell-amazing sort of recipe. 

Getting 2013 Started

It’s a quiet Sunday. The holiday craziness and frivolity is finally winding down, and loved ones are back at their respected states and countries. The New Year is being written down in a brand new planner, with classes, studying, work, climbing, friends, family, appointments, new hobbies and a blog to fill my time avidly.
 
I made such wonderful connections with people over winter break; fantastic food was made, with and without recipes, and none of it was photographed. Even the wonderful dinners with family weren’t documented, either because I wasn’t in MWM mode or I had something else to occupy my interests. 

It’s weird, not having food (the making of and posting of, anyway) be the focal point of my life anymore. Where does the food blogger go from here?

Apparently, the food blogger is publishing her 200th blog post...

Personally, I’m looking forward to actually gardening this year, and am really contemplating urban agriculture and the sustainable food/energy revolution as a career. For Christmas, Mama Dazz gifted me with books (among other awesome things) such as Katz’s (2006) The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements, Cockrall-King’s (2012) Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Despommier’s (2010) The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Ladner’s (2011) The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Families. I will also be more focused in my “going homemade” endeavors with even more fermentation and sausage making (can we say blood sausage and chorizo?). There’s also the remote control and new lens for my Nikon to help me with this endeavor (thanks, Daddy-O!), because I love sharing with all of you and hearing what you have to say.

Chicken and Vegetables in Peanut-Ginger Sauce

340 g Fresh haricot verts
2 Bell Peppers (Red, in this case), thinly sliced vertically
2 Medium-sized onions, thinly sliced horizontally
2 Carrots, julienned vertically with a peeler
1 Garlic clove, coarsely chopped
4 Boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced into long strips

For the Peanut-Ginger Sauce:
100 g Smooth peanut butter
45 ml Coconut vinegar (rice vinegar would work here too)
10 ml Coconut aminos
1 tsp. Powdered ginger
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
60 ml Filtered water
Sea salt, to taste (I used 1/4 tsp.)

On medium heat, bring your choice of cooking oil (mine was olive oil) to smoking point in a large wok and sauté the vegetables for five minutes.
Lower the heat to medium-low and add the chicken to cook for fifteen minutes covered with a fitted lid until the chicken is cooked completely and the vegetables have softened.
Prepare the sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a medium bowl.
Place the heat on low and pour the sauce into the wok.
Make sure the chicken and vegetables are thoroughly coated and allow the sauce to reduce to your desired thickness.
Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings. 

A Little Bit of Philosophy in Sun Butter

Before you read any further, I must ask that you pay no attention to the background of the photos. The blurred, artistically cropped things of food surrounding the sun butter are not important right now. What is important is that little glob of sunshine smeared on the still-warm dish. The littlest things in life, at least for me this week, are the most significant.

Thus, sun butter.

Sun butter is that holy grail of spread that took me so long to find and create to my liking. I didn’t want sun butter (or sunflower seed butter, but I like its abbreviation better) that had additional oils or sweeteners, and I didn’t particularly care if it wasn’t raw. I wanted something that stuck to the roof of my mouth just like any nut butter and taste what it really was: sunflower seeds.

There are a lot of great recipes out there for sun butter, though I find in my search through cyber space a twisted hope that I don’t find it. If you go on an adventure to find something and come back empty-handed, that is where your creativity, ambition, and strength to make do come out to the light. So what if you don’t get exactly what you wanted? Sometimes getting what you want is the last thing you need. Sometimes you do get what you want and realize it wasn’t what you were hoping for. Sometimes it just takes a little more effort to get there, perhaps with more twists and turns along the way.

Sun butter has become the focus of my philosophical “aha!” moment this morning. Here is this dollop of brown gloop just sitting there at the center of whatever I happen to put it on, and I get lost in its significance. 

I’m learning to break things down into manageable blocs of focus throughout the day. There’s time reserved for meditation, for studying, for classes, and for my part-time job. There’s time reserved for blogging, for eating, for exercising, and other things. From my week enjoying a spoonful of the sunny stuff I learned to not stress over being perfect the first time around (case in point, the delicious “flop” food the sun butter is so delicately placed on), and to not micro-manage everything. Just because I’m managing my time is no reason to become too time oriented and rigid. There’s stuff going on between the studying and the classes, the blogging and the meditating, little stuff that cements those blocs into the collective whole that is my life in a day. Life happens and there will be bumps and bruises and tears amidst the smiles and smooth sailing. That’s just a small part, the majority of which being rather amazing and awe-inspiring.

In conclusion, my dear readers, the little dollops of sun butter are just the minute experiences that make the whole dish of life that much better. So go ahead and take a spoonful. Just remember that there are other meals to taste along the road.

A Little Bit of Sunshine Roasted Sun Butter

330 g Raw sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp. Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 300ºF.
Spread the sunflower seeds flatly on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Roast for 30 - 35 minutes*, until golden brown and aromatic, stirring 1 to 2 times.
Remove and add to your food processor, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Process for 10 - 12 minutes, continuing to scrape as needed.** 
Once it is smooth, add the sea salt and process for another minute or so until it is at the desired consistency.

Makes 10 servings.

* Sunflower seeds take a little longer to brown, but I assure you the “roasted” taste in the sun butter is worth it.
** Okay, sun butter takes quite a while to become, well, sun butter. For a time it will seem like all it’s becoming a sunflower seed flower, but then it will ball up and have the consistency of sticky dough. The ball will twirl around the processor and then it will flatten out and finally liquefy. (But is it worth it, Morri? you ask. Yes, yes it is.)

Yerba Mate Chai Scones

(For the revised version of this recipe, click here.)

This morning reflected how I felt in a nutshell. It was rainy, cold, with a wind that chilled me down to my rain boots. George Mason is halfway through its last "official" week for the semester before finals. (I say "official" because some classes are making up for their snow days next week as well as finals.) People were literally dragging themselves to class, faculty members and students alike. There are final projects and papers to turn in, exams to study for, student organizations to finalize, internships to prepare for.

I’m not even graduating this semester and I feel slightly overwhelmed with it all.

The weather cleared up by the early afternoon, but the lethargy still remained. I wanted something to chase away the cold and uncertainty. I wanted warmth. I wanted comfort.

There are two things that do this: time and baking. That’s where this month’s Gluten-Free Ratio Rally comes in.

For some reason, I seem to miss the submission deadline for each challenge; that, and I am often confused as to who I’m supposed to talk to. Melanie from Mindful Food has been such a great help, sending me to the right people, simply being awesome... you know, the usual. I finally touched base with Erin from The Sensitive Epicure, to sign up for future rallies, and Lauren from Celiac Teen, the cutie patootie who is hosting the rally this month.

I like Lauren for quite a few reasons: one, she is simply adorable; two, she is an amazing blog writer and cook; and three, she thinks outside the box. I’ve been a huge fan of her blog for some time, marveling in the honesty and compassion for every word (and recipe) she writes.

There should be more Lauren’s in the world, but this particular Lauren challenged the rally to make scones.

Since this morning I kept thinking what type of scone I should make for the rally. I wanted this to be the recipe that proved my worth in the gluten-free community, where other bloggers for the cause would come out of the woodwork and say hello. It had to be perfect. It had to be unique. And with all the wonderful ideas I could come up with and proposed by friends, there was still one problem.

I had no idea how to make a scone. 

Like biscuits, scones are a relatively foreign concept to me. I’ve seen them in bakeries, cafés, and in stores, but they were so different from each other that making a batch of my own was terrifying. Were they like biscuits in texture or taste? Did they have to be cut in a certain way, and if so, was it in triangles or rounds? What size should they be? What should the dough feel like?

As I started to calm down and really think about it, I decided that regardless of the outcome, I would learn something. Even if I was too late to be part of this month’s rally, at least I got in contact with the right people for future fun. I then came up with my scone recipe and, like the bisckies before them, played by ear until it felt right.

That’s how you know a recipe is a keeper: it feels right.

The original recipe ratio called for 6 parts flour, 2.5 parts shortening, 1 part egg, and 3 parts milk. As time went on, however, I felt that the recipe called for 7 parts flour to make a better forming dough.

I looked down at the dough in my mixer, thinking that it should be 8 parts flour, and I paused. The dough was still rather sticky at this point and I was slightly concerned, yet I didn’t want to continue adding flour to the point the dough was pliable but the scones were dry and crumbling. I then remembered what Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef wrote, about how gluten free batters and doughs are different. If I wanted the scones to turn out as I wanted, I had to be patient. So I let the dough sit for ten minutes and, sure enough, the dough was still tacky but easy to shape.

Lesson learned: time makes all the difference in the world.

Now, this recipe really brought out the mad scientist in me. Why? Well, I was particularly creative in what I used, especially since I was low on one or more flours and was out of butter. I didn’t want to add anything into the scones (such as berries or cheese) as separate entities from the crumb. I wanted the scone itself to be the main event, one that was delectable for both sweet and savory dishes, perfectly paired with a cup of Joe or a chai latte.

The result was a scone that was dairy free, had ten flours used, a combination of fresh avocado and coconut oil for the fat, and highly concentrated yerba mate tea with coconut milk for the liquid. The crust was sturdy and the inside crumb was so moist and creamy from the avocado. I truly believe I found the balance for future baking where fat is needed. All this delicious concoction* needs is a little honey smeared on top for your taste buds to do the happy dance. 

Yerba Mate Chai Scones

2 oz Glutinous Rice* Flour (I ran out and ended up using 0.1 oz Rice flour to compensate)
2 oz Millet flour
2 oz Amaranth flour
3 oz Arrowroot* starch (I also had to use 0.1 oz Rice flour because I ran out)
1 oz Quinoa flour
1 oz Coconut flour
1 oz Buckwheat flour
1 oz Rolled oats (Certified Gluten-free, of course)
1 oz Almond meal
2.5 oz Avocado (about 3/4 of a medium-sized avocado)
2.5 oz Coconut oil, room temperature
2 oz So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
4 oz Yerba mate tea, concentrated
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
Put the avocado, coconut oil, egg, coconut milk, and yerba mate into a blender on low until there is an even consistency.
Using an electrical mixer (or by hand), combine the wet and dry ingredients until the dough forms.
Let the dough sit for about 15 minutes until it becomes tacky yet still can be touched (this is crucial if you don’t want a sticky dough to work with).
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or greased), form the dough into a flat circle or rectangle shape (I wanted smaller servings, so I used the rectangle shape).
With a knife, cut triangles into the dough so that individual pieces will be easier to slice (I was able to make 12).
Shimmy a thin layer of cinnamon on top of the dough and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Makes 8 – 12 scones.


Here's a list of the other participants so far:

Amie Valpone | The Healthy Apple  Chocolate Chip n' Rice Crispy 'Muffin' Scones  
Britt | GF in the City   Blueberry Buttermilk Scones   
Brooke | B & the boy!   Coconut Scones with Pineapple Curd
Caleigh | Gluten-Free[k]    Jam on top, or cream on top? Scones
Caneel | Mama Me Gluten Free    Savory Jalapeno Cheese Scones   
Caroline Shannon-Karasik  | The G-Spot    Carrot Raisin Scones with a Cinnamon Glaze   
Charissa | Zest Bakery    Amaretto Soaked Cherry and Almond Scones   
Claire | Gluten Freedom    Strawberry Banana Scones
Erin Swing | The Sensitive Epicure    Millet Scones   
Gretchen | kumquat    Maple Oat Nut scones   
Irvin | Eat the Love  Green Garlic, Bacon, and Thyme Scones
Jeannette  |  Jeannette's Healthy Living   Coconut Pineapple Scones (Vegan)
Jenn | Jenn Cuisine    Apple Banana and Currant Scones   
Karen | Cooking Gluten-Free   Oat Scones with Currants
Kate | Katealice Cookbook   Cinnamon Fruit Scones 
Lauren | Celiac Teen Gluten-free Multigrain Cream Scones
Lisa | Gluten Free Canteen   Bisconies, actually
Lisa Thiele | With Style and Grace    Lavender and Earl Grey Lemon Scones   
Marla Meridith - Family Fresh Cooking    Avocado Scones
Meaghan | The Wicked Good Vegan  Simple Scones with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam (Vegan)  
Melanie | Mindful Food  Hazelnut Cream Scones with Blackberry Jam (Vegan) 
Pete and Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem    Mesquite Scones   
Mrs. R | Honey From Flinty Rocks    Classic Cream Scones - Gluten & Dairy Free 
Mrs. R | Honey From Flinty Rocks    Almond Fig Scones - Gluten & Dairy Free 
Sea | Book of Yum    Classic British Currant Scones (Dairy free)   
Shauna | Gluten Free Girl and the Chef   Gluten Free Scones
Silvana Nardone | Silvana's Kitchen    Gluten-Free Pecan Streusel Scones   
T.R. | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies    Cinnamon Pecan Scones
Tara Barker | A Baking Life    Crystalized Ginger Cream Scones   
Wendy | La Phem Phoodie  Red Velvet Scones
Winnie | Healthy Green Kitchen  Coconut Raisin Scones (Vegan)

*Note: As much as I think these scones turned out rather deliciously, I will work on perfecting how it tastes, looks, and forms. I think I will add something sweet to it next time as well as using butter for the fat.

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.