To Prep With Love

To follow up on the "eating raw/healthy takes so much time" issue...I have to say, it depends on what you mean by "so much!" It also depends on what you are preparing. Some prepping is quick, some is not. Either way, I feel like it is time well spent.

On days that I work outside of the home, I usually “brown bag” both breakfast and lunch. (Actually, there’s no bag involved – it’s a willow basket - but you get the idea. The basket part is sweet – almost makes me feel like I’m off to a picnic every day. And what could be more fun than a picnic?!)

Anyway, I never eat first thing in the morning, so I must pack both my lunch and my break-fast meal. Typically, the break-fast (first food of the day) is either veggie juice or a green smoothie (although in winter, I’ll sometimes have dried fruit, such as figs or dates, with nuts. That's an instant breakfast - no prep time needed.) So usually, I need to allow about thirty minutes in the morning to make both the breakfast drink and my lunch (most often a beautiful raw salad with avocado, nestled in a covered Pyrex bowl), like this:



In the spirit of playing in the kitchen (see previous post), I must say I really enjoy my half-hour prep time. First of all, it’s quiet time alone in the house (yes!). Secondly, I love "handling food" (thank you, Grandma Ruth, for bequeathing me this gift) - in itself, pleasant and creative.

For me, handling food involves all my senses. Of course, first is TOUCH. I love feeling the different textures on my fingers and palms: hard cool root vegetables, tender green leaves, tangled life-filled sprouts, soft yielding avocado, smooth-skinned crispy apples. I also love absorbing the healing light wavelengths of rainbow colors through my EYES, smelling the various aromas of the different ingredients with my NOSE and hEARing the snap, slice, grate and tear of fruits and veggies as they transform shape and become something entirely new and yummy that I get to TASTE later!

Prepping with love means there is no sense of pressure, rush or tedium. (Plenty of time for all that later!) Instead, this is a calm and joyful time of day. It’s also one of the few times of day when I get to be fully focused just on taking care of me, which I believe is really important for everyone to do: set aside time for self care. So I pour my love into the food, knowing that when the moment arrives to consume my juice, smoothie or salad, I will be eating love. This is sacred food. First, the sun blessed the plants, and then, so did I - blessed them with my love, patience and positive intention. What could be more healing? What could be more worth a half an hour of my morning?! Or yours?

May all your food nourish you deeply.
May all your food serve to cleanse, heal and energize your body.
May everything you eat turn to health and beauty!