The Colors of Fall

Isn't this pasta gorgeous? I got this from Williams Sonoma. It's all organic, all natural without the fake artificial colors or flavors and it's made in Italy.

I love that it's from Italy because glyphosate is illegal there. What's glyphosate? It's poison and it causes cancer. It's in Roundup and in many of the foods in our local grocery stores.

This meal is loaded with organic mushrooms specifically cremini and shiitake. Mushrooms are super awesome because they make cancer cells commit suicide. How does it get better than that?!

If you don't like the texture of mushrooms, there are a number of alternatives to get the anticancer benefits. Mushroom teas, mushroom powders, and mushroom vitamins are all available. Organic is best.

Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce by Giada

1 lb rigatoni pasta (if gluten free I like to use Jovial brand, penne, it's made in Italy)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb assorted mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, button) cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup white wine (I just use about 1 or 2 tbsp)
1/2 cup vegetable, mushroom, or chicken stock (homemade is best)
1 cups (8 oz) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (I use Italian flat parsley a lot)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook till tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. While the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till soft about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook till mushrooms are tender stirring occasionally about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes till all the liquid evaporates. Add the stock and simmer till liquid is slightly reduced. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese. Stir till creamy. Drain the pasta reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to coat pasta adding the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the pasta. Garnish with the chopped chives. Serve immediately.

Allergies Go Away

Yesterday I sent a text message to a friend.  I hadn’t seen her in a while and just wanted to check in.  She replied that she and her two young sons weren’t feeling so well.  The culprit?  It was allergies.  As I was reading my friend’s messages, my son’s sensei at the karate school came over to say, “Thank you for the eggs!”  He is currently celebrating 40 years of his black belt status.  That’s quite an achievement so I thought I’d give him some local, pasture raised eggs from happy chickens since I remembered that he eats about 30 eggs a week.  He then started to tell me that since my family and I have been coming to his karate school he’s been suffering from allergies.  Allergies, allergies, and more allergies.  It’s that time of the year.

In the past few years I’ve worked with people whose allergies have pretty much disappeared.  A relative that I health coached had really bad allergies.  She was taking Flonase ever single day. We worked with food and eventually she went from taking the Flonase every single day to once a month to once in a while to none at all. This was just working with food.  Today she doesn’t use Flonase and her blood pressure is almost in normal range that she doesn’t need to take her high blood pressure medication all the time.  She’s even lost a little weight.  A friend had bad allergies last summer.  I made her an allergy herbal tea and in a matter of a few days she was better. Another relative told me that she’s allergic to cats.  I sent her the same allergy herbal tea. After a few months she noticed that she could tolerate being near her cats.  She stopped taking her allergy medicine and consistently drank the allergy herbal tea.  I told my son’s sensei that I’ll be giving him some allergy herbal tea the next time I see him.  

Food is medicine.  it’s pure and it’s gentle.  When you start to understand the medicinal benefits of food and incorporate real food into your diet, your world changes for the better.  It’s so simple.  Just start with food - organic, local, and seasonal.

Do you suffer from seasonal, environmental or food allergies?  How badly do you want them to go away?

Set The World On Fire

In fall of 1994 I was among the students of the incoming freshmen class at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  The freshmen class was gathered at William and Mary Hall for the convocation.  One of the speakers told us to look at the person on our left and then on our right.  The speaker went on to say that our class was among the brightest incoming classes ever.  I forget the percentage but it was something like 90 percent of my class were either salutatorians or valedictorians of their graduating high school class.  More importantly, the speaker passed on some very smart advice to us young men and women that every college student should take to heart.  He said, "Take classes that interest you.  If you've never taken a kinesiology class or a philosophy class take it.  Major in what you want to major in.  Not what your parents or your brother or sister want.  Major in what you want."

I did graduate from The College of William and Mary in four years and I'm very proud of that.  But I did not major in what my parents had planned for me.  They had hoped that I would choose a career path just like my late paternal grandfather, Pastor Fabunan, who was an accountant.  The truth was that the economics and business courses were not meant for me.  Yeah, they definitely were NOT meant for me!  I struggled and I humbly withdrew from or failed a couple of those classes.  Instead I majored in Spanish.  Why?  In my junior year I took a hard look at my grades and immediately noticed that my best grades were from my modern language classes.  At the time I loved immersing myself in the romance languages and I excelled in them especially Spanish.  There was also pressure from my mom to complete my studies in four years so a BA in Spanish it was! 

And this is true for much of life.  By pretending to be something that we are not we can never be happy or be true to ourselves.  Life will always be an upward struggle.  I love this quotation by Saint Catherine of Siena:  "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."  Life is so short.  Why pretend or delve into misery, right?  

For about 12 years of my young professional life I was a banker for large and small banks and I did pretty well for myself.  The problem was that I pushed myself at work and I never really loved it.  I pushed myself to the limit working extremely late hours and even on the weekends.  I liked certain aspects of bank management like leading, coaching, and encouraging my team members but deep down inside I was never completely happy or satisfied.   

What changed for me?  I got married to a wonderful man and we had a beautiful baby boy.  But then my health spiraled downward and I hit rock bottom to the point of being bedridden.

Eventually I found the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and in a year I became a certified integrative nutrition health coach.  I utilized the knowledge that I learned from IIN and thankfully I started to heal my condition.  I was so intrigued with the use of food as medicine that I continued my education taking an alternative healing course.  I then used that education to help myself completely heal and my own family heal their conditions ranging from eczema, food sensitivities, high blood pressure, and heart burn.  I continue to take holistic health courses because of my passion in helping others heal their own conditions.  And, yes, since I've found my calling I want to set the world on fire!

I believe that any disease or ailment can be reversed.  Anyone can heal with the right foods, mindset, and proper rest.  That's the beauty of working with a health coach especially an integrative nutrition health coach.  We health coaches are trained to really listen to our clients and help them heal on a deep physical, emotional, and spiritual level.  

I love the flexibility that I am allowed.  I am able to be the kind of wife, homeschooling mom, blogger, and integrative nutrition health coach that I want to be.  Thanks be to God, my faith and family will always come first but I have found a wondrous joy in health coaching and there is nothing else I'd rather be doing.  Find your truth, your voice, and your purpose, and you will set the world on fire.  And after that there is no going back!

For A Healthy And Happy 2018

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““Take classes that interest you.  If you’ve never taken a kinesiology class or a philosophy class take it.  Major in what you want to major in.  Not what your parents or your brother or sister want.  Major in what you want.””

“I love this quotation by Saint Catherine of Siena:  ’Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’”

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