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May His humble beginnings, rich life lessons and promise for the future inspire you to do more and be more in 2008.
The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will be taking a short holiday break. I want to thank all of my readers for a wonderful 2007. I hope that the content of this blog has challenged you to step away from the status quo. Join me in 2008 as I continue to serve up a powerful blend of inspiration to enrich the body, mind and soul.
Enjoy the holidays!
Why not substitute the cookie mix for a heart healthy muffin recipe? This makes a great gift that is easy to assemble over the weekend. I found this at iVilliage. You will need:
Directions:
1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt
2. Using a funnel, pour ingredients into the jar. In a small Ziplock bag, place the dark brown sugar in and completely close. Push bag into the mason jar. Close jar tightly. Secure the small wire whisk with a rubber band around the lid.
Enjoy!
Are you a last minute holiday shopper? Here are 15 simple, healthy and thoughtful holiday gift ideas that you can have delivered by December 24:
Battery Powered Candles from Plow and Hearth. No mess, no flame. Order by 12/19.
Pilgrimage Jewelry, owned by one of my life coach buddies, has a beautiful selection of handmade jewelry. Let Laura know Terri sent you. Order by 12/20.
Help a loved one or friend reclaim their mailbox by giving the gift of less clutter. Present them with a gift certificate from 41 pounds and eliminate 85-95% of their unwanted mail for five years. Pay online and a gift certificate will be sent to you via e-mail.
Giaim has a lovely yoga mat and bag kit for your yoga loving friend. FedEx 2 day shipping available.
Help someone go green with a Free and Clear Starter Kit from Seventh Generation. Express shipping available.
From paying for monthly food and vitamin supplements for 4 people living with AIDS to nurturing, planting and protecting 60 trees for restoration, alternativegifts.org allows you to make a donation in the form of a gift.
Tastebook has one of the most unique gift ideas of the season. At their website, you can create a personal cookbook from 25,000+ recipes at epicurious.com. You can add your own pictures and more. As of today, there is a slight possibility of a 12/24 delivery. It is worth a try!
Papercup Design has some delightful custom made stationary and journals. Overnight delivery until 12/21.
Have you ever thought about re-gifting? When done right, re-gifting can serve as a great way to save money, and the earth’s resources. What last year holiday gift can you re-give? Read a great book over the summer? Give it to someone else to enjoy. The possibilities are endless!
Organic rice hull herb garden. Grab and dry terry dishtowel gloves. Hand knit bottle toppers. All of these gifts and more can be found at Uncommon Goods, one of my favorite online stores. Express delivery until 12/21.
Shop thrift stores in your area or online. You’ll be amazed at what folks are giving away free or selling for almost nothing.
Sierra Trading Post has hundreds of great gift ideas for the active person in your life. Why not purchase a gift card? Ground shipping until 12/19.
Help someone stay active by purchasing a pedometer at Pedometersusa. Order by 12/21.
Create personalized items with your pictures at Shutterfly. Next day delivery until 12/19.
Give a gift certificate for a meal at a favorite restaurant. Try going to the restaurant.com gift center. No shipping! You can print or e-mail gift certificates for free.
That's it! Good luck with your last minute shopping!!
Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better. Read more about these posts here.
It's cookie time! Here's a great recipe for Healthy Honey Oatmeal Cookies I found at Recipe Zaar.
| 3 | tablespoons butter, room temperature |
| 1/2 | cup brown sugar |
| 1/4 | cup honey |
| 1 | egg |
| 1 | tablespoon water |
| 1/2 | cup whole wheat flour (all-purpouse is good too) |
| 1/2 | teaspoon salt |
| 1/4 | teaspoon baking soda |
| 1 1/2 | cups rolled oats (aka oatmeal) |
| chopped dates (optional) or figs (optional) or raisins (optional) or currants (optional) or chocolate chips (optional) or chopped nuts, etc (optional) |
Enjoy!
Today my father would have turned 83. There is one thing I will always cherish about my father: No matter how many crazy ideas I entertained about what I wanted to do when I grew up, he patiently, and lovingly, held the intention of success. Here are 50 nuggets of wisdom he left me:
This week's inquiry:
Reflecting back on 2007, what was one life-enhancing barrier that lost its power?
"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me."
- Jim Valvano
I am usually the one to put up the holiday outdoor lights. This year, as part of my "downsizing the holidays" plan, I decided to forgo the lights, but I was too chicken to tell my family. Would I have the guts to tell them? Well, I did, after which there was a decision that my husband and daughter would put up the lights instead.
Yikes!!! Do what?
"And this year we are going all out with color!" My stomach began to turn.
I was the holiday light master! Nobody can do it like me! I can't leave them to this task! But then, my little coaching angel tapped me on the shoulder and shared some coaching wisdom:
...Everything will be fine! I bet they will come up with something really creative, besides, you don't have to do it this year, and isn't that what you wanted? Just sit back and relax...
So I listened and the weekend came when it was time to put up the lights. While they began their planning and hustle and bustle, I remained busy with other things while curiously watching from the corner of my eye. I lost count, but they probably ran to the store about three times, buying lights, returning lights, buying more lights....
I refrained from asking all the questions that I normally would have:
"Do you have enough lights?"
"Have you thought about how to distribute them evenly?"
"What about extension cords?"
Talk about self-management.
About 4:00 PM, I decided to take a walk. At the end of my stroll, shortly after dusk, I approached the front of my home and was greeted by the prettiest little tree displaying a brilliant array of chunky holiday lights that reminded me of my childhood. What a wonderful little gift! It just goes to show what people are capable of when we hold them naturally, creative, resourceful and whole. They rise to the occasion each time.
Each Monday The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will start off the week with an inspirational "click". Found something you would like to share? Email me!
This is probably my favorite inspirational click to date. Make it a great week!
Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better. Read more about these posts here.
This is a winner for the holidays! I found this at Suite 101. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?
Peppermint Angel Food Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the cake flour and 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with an electric mixer until the egg whites are foamy and reach medium stiff peaks. Gradually add in the remaining sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. Beat in the peppermint extract. Gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg white mixture, one-quarter at a time, being very careful not to deflate the egg whites.
Spoon the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Turn the pan gently to make sure the batter is evenly distributed in the cake pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake 40-50 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched.
When done, remove the cake from the oven, invert pan and allow cake to cool completely upside down. When cool, run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert cake onto a serving plate. Top with strawberries, chocolate sauce or canned blueberries.
Makes 12 servings.
Per serving: 156 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 5 g protein, 0% Vitamin A, 0% Vitamin C, 0% calcium, 4% iron
Enjoy!
One glance at the The Heart and Living Well and you will know it is not your run-of-the-mill book on health. Just as beautiful inside as it is on the outside, The Heart of Living Well eloquently and honestly speaks to the real meaning of health. Abandoning the singular focus of most health books, The Heart of Living Well combines the latest research and best advice on all aspects of a woman’s life including mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health. Recently becoming one of Amazon.com’s top 100 bestselling new and future releases in the Healthy Living category, The Heart of Living Well is an inspirational guide filled with practical tips and tools for making wellness a core part of your life.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with author Judy Lubin, MPH, about the message in her book.
What gave you the impetus to write this book?
I started writing the book after my own experience of being burned out and just wanting more for myself. I decided to go on a hiatus and stop and think about my life. My career has been about helping others to live healthier, but I was not feeling well, well in the sense of being whole and complete. For years, I carried around emotional baggage and sought resolution for chronic aches and muscle tightness through a variety of alternative health treatments. But as I began to think more deeply about what it means to truly be well, and seeing a transformation happening in myself as a result of journaling, psychotherapy and yoga—a new way of looking at wellness emerged for me that is grounded in the connection between one’s mind, body, heart, and spirit. The idea that wellness could be a path toward wholeness and being fully awake in our lives, is a conversation I want women to have with ourselves and each other.
What do you want for your readers?
I want to encourage women to move toward wellness and to find the fullest expression of who they are. I want this book to remind readers that they intuitively know how to be well and that it is okay to give ourselves permission to heal from the stress of daily living and the emotional roadblocks that get in the way of making positive, lasting change. My hope is that readers will walk away with a feeling that they are supremely capable of living a healthier and fuller life.
The Six Principles
1. Open Your Mind to Wellness. Create space in your mind and your life for greater health and wellbeing by letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs. Believe in your inner beauty, wisdom and power.
2. Find Your Balance. Simplify your life and keep stress at bay so you can direct your energy toward people and activities that nourish and uplift you.
3. Feed Your Spirit. Enrich yourself through practices and rituals that build your connection to yourself and the world. Reconnect and commit to your values so your lifestyle choices become clearer and easier.
4. Open Your Heart. Tune in to your emotions and live from your heart by following your passions, and practicing forgiveness, gratitude and compassion for yourself and others.
5. Honor Your Body. Respect, love and appreciate your body. Find new joy in exercise, eating and self-care by listening to your body and the natural rhythms of life.
6. Live in Beauty. Reclaim your inner radiance by celebrating and connecting with the beauty and greatness within and around you.
Why are woman hesitant to use their inner wisdom?
Women have huge barriers when it comes to seeing and appreciating our innate beauty, wisdom and power. At a very early age, women learn to adapt their behaviors to gain approval and to please others. We’re also inundated with messages that suggest that we are lacking or missing something. We often internalize other people’s ideals, believing that we’re inadequate or need to look outside of ourselves for affirmation of our beauty and power. On top of that, the high-stress that characterizes so many of our lives forces some of us to tune out the natural instincts (such as sleep) that lead us to balance and good health. My book offers simple and practical ways women can reconnect with the innate wisdom inside each of us.
How has writing this book changed you?
This was a healing journey for me in the sense that I had to stand in my own truth. I was not sure that I was ready to share my story, but with some coaching, I realized that my story, like those of so many other women, needed to be shared. We learn so much from sharing and listening to each others’ stories. The Heart of Living Well is about opening up to the beauty and greatness inside, so I had to open up my life and share some my struggles to reinforce the book’s message.
So brag about the book! What do you love about it?
The Heart of Living Well is written in a flowing and conversational style. It is extremely easy to read. You can get something out of it even if you just have a few minutes to browse through it each day. The response has been very positive. It’s wonderful to hear that the book is helping women commit to making health a core value. The path to living well begins when we decide to honor the vision and values that we have set for ourselves. The book helps women stay focused, motivated and connected on their journey to optimal health and wellbeing.
You may purchase The Heart of Living Well from this site (link is to the right).
Be sure to visit the website at http://www.heartandstylewoman.com/books
Time to sound off!
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