Open House! MIH One-Year Anniversary Celebration

Many of you may know that I've been in private practice as a Clinical Nutritionist since 2002, but it's only been a year since I joined forces with three other holistic healthcare practitioners to form Montague Integrative Health. ("Only" a year or "already" a year, depending on how you look at it. And what a year it's been.)

My fellow highly skilled and experienced MIH clinicians are (shown below in the following order) Dr. Emily Maiella, licensed naturopathic physician; Nancy Paglia, massage therapist and yoga teacher; and Dr. Ellen Mitnowsky, chiropractor. Together, we offer compassionate and comprehensive natural healthcare to the Pioneer Valley community - from Montague to Greenfield, Turners Falls, Northampton, Amherst, Leverett, Shutesbury and beyond!

Last weekend, the MIH team hosted an Anniversary Open House in honor of our one-year group practice venture. MIH is located right next to the lovely Book Mill complex where a Gallery Walk and Diminutive Art Sale was in full swing the same day, so in addition to our invited guests we had the pleasure of meeting many curious, art-loving walk-ins who saw the balloons and came over to investigate.

This is the office I share with Dr. Maiella, transformed into Party Central. Note my Raw Pumpkin Pie (made this year with butternut squash) in the back left corner of the desk/buffet table.
About a hundred members of our community visited our 432 Greenfield Road location. Local, raw and healthy refreshments, ginger tea, dance music, a free raffle and the most perfectly splendid sunny day made the event complete!

Here are Nancy and Ellen in the kitchen, preparing Ellen's famous salad as sunlight streams in the window.

This is a glamour shot of Nancy's addmittedly decadent Apple Chunk Cake with Caramel Glaze from the Leverett Elementary School Cookbook (True confession: I LOVE this cake!)
We also served an assortment of raw cheeses from local dairies, along with olive tapenade and freshly baked spelt and multigrain breads from the nearby El Jardin bakery in Deerfield.
This is the Free Raffle table, where prizes included a free one-and-a-half hour massage, free nutritional and naturopathic consulations and a free chiropractic adjustment!
It was wonderful to see our dear friends and meet so many new people. We hope that some first-time visitors to the event will become familiar faces before long.

The Anniversary Open House was so much fun that plans are in the works for another MIH Open House in the Spring...to celebrate...well, Spring! May we all enjoy a healthy winter until then.

Love always, Diana

P.S. A silly moment between Dr. Emily Maiella and yours truly. Everyone has to have a little fun sometimes, right?

Thanksgiving Treat: Raw Pumpkin Pie

When I served this raw pumpkin pie at the Montague Integrative Health Open House, I had so much fun watching all the guests take that first bite and go WOW! I can't believe this is RAW!
This scrumptious, naturally-sweetened pie delivers all the thick, creamy deliciousness and sensual, spicy bouquet of a traditional cooked pumpkin pie without any sugar added. Plus, you get the bonus of high nutrient values from 100% raw and living ingredients.

Wishing you all a happy & healthy Thanksgiving. Wherever you may be..may your heart be filled with gratitude for all life's gifts...including...

Raw Pumpkin Pie with Coconut-Date-Pecan Crust

For the Coconut-Date-Pecan Crust:

Ingredients
½ cup almonds, soaked 2-4 hours or overnight and drained
½ cup pecans, soaked 2-4 hours and drained
1 cup dried coconut
4 dates, pitted
1 Tbs raw honey (or maple syrup or agave nectar)
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch sea salt

Directions
Place nuts and dates in food processor and process with S-blade until granulated. Add honey, lemon zest, spices and salt and process again till well combined. Add coconut last and process until fully blended. Transfer dough to pie plate and press evenly into sides and bottom of pan to form crust, crimping edges with fingertips. Set crust aside while you prepare filling. (Chill if desired.)


For the Raw Pumpkin Filling:

Ingredients
4 cups fresh diced pumpkin (peeled and seeded)
1 cup dates, soaked 1-2 hours and drained; reserve soak water! (Feel free to substitute any dried fruits for the dates, such as dried apricots, raisins or prunes.)
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1½ tsp each ginger & cinnamon, ½ tsp each nutmeg & clove)
½ cup raw almond butter
½ cup date soaking water (or use apple cider or fresh squeezed orange juice)

Directions
Peel a medium sugar pumpkin, remove seeds and dice. Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until creamy. Be patient; because this is thick, you will need to stir/plunge with plunger attachment while blending and/or stop blender periodically to push down contents into blades, then start again until it all catches. Add additional liquid if necessary, but try to use the least possible. When fully blended, pour or spoon filling into prepared pie crust and chill at least one hour to set. Cover with plastic film and store in fridge.