Feeding The Heart

This past weekend I taught a cooking class. The theme for the class was "Foods, Herbs, and Spices that benefit the Heart."

As I began demonstrating the recipes, I couldn't resist the smiles and laughs that crept from my mouth as I began telling stories about the dishes. Each one had a different tale, a different experience, and a therapeutic moment for me. I couldn't help but feel uplifted by the lemons as I squeezed them to make the Hawthorn Lemonade. The simple smell took me back to the first time I learned to ride a horse in Andalucia, Spain. A dear woman named Stephanie kindly invited me into her home when she saw that I was crying--from not being able to fully canter on the horse. She offered me a fresh glass of homemade lemonade, and told me stories that lifted my heart. The infusion of the fresh lemons and the sweetness of her personal stories made the sadness melt.

Another recipe involved homemade garlic aioli. This was no ordinary--kinda garlicky-aioli, but the kind where your whole body sweats garlic afterwards (the very best kind!) This brought me back to the first time that I tried calamares con aioli (calamari with garlic aioli.)
At the age of 11, the sound of squid with some "crazy mayonnaise sauce" sounded about as good as a kick to the head. However, copying what my Grandfather was eating... was just about the wisest thing I could think of at the time. So, I braved the fried squid and licked my fingers clean after tasting the divine sauce that came with it. *Luckily, my Mom had introduced us to a lot of garlic at a young age, and had used it as a healing remedy for many things (including numerous earaches.)
To this day, I make a big batch of super-garlicky aioli anytime I feel the onset of any cold or other illness. I can always see my Grandparents smiling faces as they watched my first reaction to "Calamares con Aioli."


There's just nothing like a berry cobbler or crisp in the middle of summer that calls you back home. Back home to Missouri for me! My stepfather's parents lived in a very small town outside of Kansas City, called Excelsior Springs. Every summer we'd take a road trip to visit them, and what I can remember the most were the mouth watering cobblers and crisps that came pouring out of the kitchen when we'd arrive.
I can literally smell the caramelized blackberry and raspberry juices as the berries bubbled up from the buttery crust in the oven. It was as if the divine juices shared a common language with my heart. My heart just seemed to jump for joy, and all I could care about was sinking my teeth into that delicious crisp--suddenly my deep concerns of beating my sister at Super Mario Brother's amounted to just about nothing.


In class, I emphasized the healing properties of each ingredient I was using. I also began to emphasize the emotions that feed the heart, as well. I almost feel that the emotions fuel us more than the actual ingredients do. However, I feel that together--the food, and the love--create a most perfect symbiotic relationship. I could actually feel my heart warming as I remembered the love I felt from the memories of these dishes. I could imagine that my blood was circulating better, and that my digestion was stronger.
As I work with Heart clients; I have them imagine loving their food. I also bring back the recipes they loved as a child. It's incredible for me to watch their reactions. Adding the ingredient of LOVE, changes any "bad" food to something inherently healing. I have seen it in action!
The real key is to get the food to be as close to the Earth as possible, and to keep the chemical-lab processed foods to the very minimum. We want our food to love us back, and in order for the food to do this... it must have a similar energy to our own. In other words, you can still have a processed "Hamburger Helper" love you back, but you can imagine the energy and memories it will take to do this? Whereas, foods from the earth--mixed with loving memories--take very little extra energy and focus on your part (because the Earth has already done much of the work for you.) This is how the healing begins and continues!

I can teach about healing foods and spices till the cows come home (and I guess that's not the worst idea, since I'm counting on some ice cream for that berry cobbler I just made.) However, if we aren't loving those foods and spices while eating them, then what benefit can they have to such a loving organ as our dear heart? Only you can answer that for yourself. What I will say for me personally is that I have now found the most incredible peace and endearing joy in loving my food. Loving the old memories, and creating the new. I have also found that my heart stretches that much more when I experience food with inspiration, creativity, laughter and loving people.

When it comes to Heart Disease... we must remember not only to feed the body, but to also open our hearts enough emotionally to make sure it is fully nourished.

The Following are a list of beneficial foods for the Heart (as well as some loving recipes!):

Fresh, Non Rancid Wheat Germ

Wheat Berries – Organic Hard Red Winter Wheat

Wheat Berry Tea

Wheat Berry Rejuvelac

Sprouted Wheat – then cooked or raw

Other Vitamin E rich foods such as green cabbage

All chlorophyll rich foods including kale and cabbage.

Calcium & Magnesium rich foods

Healthy Oils / Fats – especially olive oil

Seeds & Nuts – including chia, flax, & hemp

Wheat Grass & other “cereal / grain” grasses & algaes

After Wheat (if gluten intolerant) then brown rice & oats (free of gluten)

Vitamin C rich foods including rose hips, bell peppers, etc.

Silica rich foods (barley, oat, cucumber, celery, lettuce)

Onions, chives, leeks, garlic.

All Mushrooms – especially reishi / ling zhi

Nutritional Yeast with calcium & magnesium

Lecithin with calcium & magnesium

Fruits – especially Hawthorn Berries & other berries

Spices: Cayenne, ginger, garlic, Rosemary, Turmeric, Horseradish, Peppers

Heart meat (if carnivore)

Bee Pollen

Honey (in moderation)

Mung beans & sprouts, lentils & sprouts, & other beans

Niacin rich foods including all grains (especially brown rice), nutritional yeast, legumes / beans & their sprouts.

Rutin from buckwheat

B-Vitamin rich foods – especially wheat bran & wheat germ

For Heart Sadness, grief & heart depression:

· L-Tryptophan rich foods including hormone free turkey & room temperature quality milk (if not reactive or allergic to) (before bed).

· Brown rice, wheat germ, cucumber, apples, cabbage, kuzu (kudzu) root, algaes, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast.

· Edible flowers – especially borage, nasturtium, chamomile

Fish: Especially salmon, sardines, & other deep / cold-water fish. Not fried or overcooked!

(Courtesy of Steve Schechter)



Heart Recipes (Courtesy of Christy Russell):

Hawthorn Lemonade

Ingredients:
2 ¼ C. Hawthorn Tea (8 bags steeped in 3 cups water)
1 ¼ C. Honey-Mint syrup (recipe follows)
1 ¼ C. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 C. Sparkling Water (I used Gerolsteiner)
Ice

Directions:
Pour all ingredients in a Pitcher and stir well! Pour into iced glasses and enjoy with a happy heart!


Honey-Mint Syrup
Ingredients:
½ C. Fresh chopped mint
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Honey (If using raw honey, add after you have boiled the water)

Directions:
In saucepan, bring ingredients to a boil, stirring until honey is dissolved. Simmer syrup, for 2 minutes. Pour syrup through a fine sieve, pressing hard on mint, and cool. Keep covered and chilled.
NOTE* Lemonade is pictured above with muddled blueberries and mint... and topped with edible flowers.



Garlic Aioli

Ingredients:
2 T. minced garlic
1 organic egg at room temperature
¾ C olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt

Directions:
In a food processor, blend the garlic with the egg. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a very slow stream until the aioli is thick. Add the lemon juice and salt, and blend again.

Your heart will LOVE this!



Wheat-Free Oat Berry Crisp

Filling:
2 Cups Blackberries
2 Cups Raspberries
3 T. Lemon Juice
2 T. Orange Juice
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
3/4 C Rapadura Sugar (unrefined sugar)
Pinch of salt

Crisp:
1 C Oats
1 C Oat Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Nutmeg
½ C Rapadura Sugar
½ C Coconut oil (chilled!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
(Filling):
In a large bowl, stir in sugar, berries, zest, juice, and pinch of salt. Pour into a shallow
2 ½ to 3 quart baking dish.

(Crisp):
In a bowl combine flour, oats, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until combined. Cut in the coconut oil. Squeeze the flour mixture together between your fingers and crumble on top of Berry Filling. Set dish on a foil lined baking pan.

Bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes until the juices are bubbling and the crisp is browned on top. Allow the crisp to cool for 45 minutes and then serve warm or cool with a little vanilla yogurt.

*NOTE: If you would like a thicker berry filling, add 1-2 T. of oat flour to the berry mixture to thicken in like a cobbler.
For a calming effect on the heart, you can add 3 T. of culinary lavender buds to the berry mixture for a Lavender Crisp!! The picture above shows you the beautiful colors of the filling! ENJOY~