October 2008 - Page 5 of 8 - Allergy Free Menu Planners

Pantry Essentials

I personally find that cooking and shopping is much easier when I have basic ingredients on hand, and only need to shop for the extra things weekly. I have compiled a list of items that I use regularly when I cook and which I consider to be the staples of the kitchen cabinet.

You will see that I have jars of ginger and garlic on the list – these are two of my short cuts that make my life easier in the kitchen. I still enjoy using fresh garlic and ginger, but when I don’t have much time to grate or crush (or am just feeling lazy), these “pantry essentials” come in very handy.

The Blessings of Food

From 2001 to 2002, I studied Classical Five Element Acupuncture at the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture in Louisville, Colorado. I was truly fascinated by this intricate and beautiful system of healing and preventative medicine. What particularly interested me was the deeper emotional and spiritual levels that were an intricate part of the healing process.

The following is an excerpt from an essay I wrote about the Earth element, which has everything to do with food, the stomach and digestive system, late summer and the harvest, and feeling nourished and nurtured which goes beyond the physical level into the emotional and spiritual.

The field of plenty of Mother Earth gives forth prosperity and abundance during the Harvest of Late Summer, producing and offering nourishment to all of the bodies, minds and souls of all children and creatures of this world. As John Robbins expresses, “Eating is essentially an act of communion with the living forces of nature” (p. 21). Every bite we eat of the food that is produced from the commingling of the Elements connects us to the source that created it.

Archives for October 2008

Pantry Essentials

The Blessings of Food

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