Go Vegan!

Ooooh. Join me as I get back on the road again to radiant health. The past 14 months have been horrible on my health. Filled with sugarplum fairies in the middle of the night, frittatas, overload of mayonnaise and breaded buttery oomph, this trial period has been one we would like to put on the shelf and can as ashes to never be given away to anyone and be spread only across the narliest of landfills.

This was one woman's account of journeying away from macrobiotics and the psychro-myoptic lifestyle that lethal control over the amount of sea vegetables consumed does to one's bite sized belly, and the after math of discovering a playground beyond that which she knows works to balance the brain chemistry of a nearly manic princess with a sleep disorder called n.e.s (do not worry, you don't have it!). So, please, wonder not what those letters stand for and read on, my friend, only if you would like to hear how not to eat, pleeeeease!

I promise I will leave a gift at the end of the story. The story will be the present, but if you make it through, you might find there is a lovely lady waiting by the rainbow's edge to dish out delicious delights of vegan chocolate, entrees, side dishes and the best part ever, never having to eat animal food or gluten again!

Woosh. This has been a long struggle, but I thank God for reminding me today that I don't have to play with my food or let my food play with my mind like this ever again. It sucks feeling trapped in the cycle of messed up and mess myself up even more, though now that I am informed as to what causes the bubble around my heart, I can start to unravel the knot and thank you, CREATE RADIANCE IN THE KITCHEN!

So sad to say that you will have to wait until tomorrow to receive your first gift. It is a wonderful, magnificent, invitation to come to heaven with me. It's just down the street, over night, into the land of the Vegan goddesses. I might bring some of them on here to share their stories of bright and meaningful recovery of their radiant goddess energy.

Sing me a song or read me a line of your favorite haiku, I would love to hear it from you!
Email me@ waller@createradiance.com

Once more, a vegan and committed to you that's what I'm saying, I never thought it would be so necessary to declare it, but my name is Waller and when I give you the gift of a new life tomorrow, I will officially be...a VEGAN!

Love, Peace, and Vegan Chocolate,
Waller

Might I add a side note? Just thinking,m after eating a bowl of brown rice and olive oil and feeling my heart beat again, about the distinction between whole, mother earth-loaded kind veggies versus packaged, wheat/corn syrup, cheesy/ crunchy pockets of air and gas and what option 1 creates in the body versus option 2. Let's start with option 2. For me? Easy answer. No sex drive (fairmones literally float away and men stay far away), flabby belly, gas and it's nemesis the d-word, disgusting sleep habits and well, we'll save the best for last, a couch sentence when I am in the final stretch of my 20's and finding a partner to get through with me to the hill is a priority of my heart, but obviously, when I am eating gas pockets, the counter parts to my not-so recent reverse vegan goddess exploration does everything but draw the gods to me: it makes me look pregnant so they stay far, far away.
Option 1: hmm. flat belly, gentle digestion, super efficient, brainiac, goddessly powerful, on and naturally and authentically KIND.

Thanks for listening!

African Delight

I spent a semester in college in Africa. Upon flying into Nairobi, Kenya and looking for common ground between me and the rest of the unfamiliar world, I was soon greeted by a crew of 11 otther "majungos" (Swahili for "white man") to journey into the African bush. I could not have predicted the intense and invigorating adventures we endured.

We were chased by a herd of elephants. This is the type of thing that you hear about in the movies. It did indeed happen to us on the first week of bushwacking through the bamboo forest. (FYI: it is difficult to predict what lies ahead when trudging through the bamboo) All of a sudden we heard "Coooowee!" from an accompanying Masai warrior, and a clearing opened up as the bamboo went leaning on it's side to make way for the majungos in the front of the line.

"Drop your pack and run like mad." I had no idea, but I felt in my heart that this was not a false alarm. So I followed order, and was not quite sure where I would end up. I was so delighted to have the 85 pound pack off my back, that I felt lighter in my toes than expected and so could really run. And run we did, until we got to the clearing and could see, and hear the elephants in the distance rearing up. Fortunately for us, they were corned with the option to run up a hill or have to forge the bamboo, and so frighteningly confused. Elephants are basically big babies, I learned on that day. They can hear and so follow, but they can't really see. Imagine someone who has a gift for music, they may not be so concerned with being able to see the performance, but the listening is what guides them. Same with the elephant, they can hear with their big, droopy ears, but they sure aren't too concerned where they step.

I went windsurfing off the coast of Kenya. This sounds like a luxurious experience, but for one month we lived on a "dhao", a century-old sail boat carved out of a mangrove tree. We slept on the planks, fished for whatever white fish we could find, and combined that with ungawi "African cake", which was a very basic white grain, cooked over a ticky fire, made tasty with African tabasco sauce. Mmm. Yum. Eating with your hands was required on the boat, as was following orders by the pirates (or muslim sailors). So was taking risks and jumping off the boat at times. We carried in the boat the equipment for windsurfing, and I loved trying it. On one particular afternoon, I was engrossed in the opportunity to sail away in the African sea, and the deep red sunset was drawing me in until I heard a yell from far off. I looked away from the horizon and towards one of the sailors, who I will refer to as Bob. His name was Bob, but he could not speak enough English to say his own name, and so stuck with one word: "Spaghetti."

I heard Bob yelling in his own language. I fell over and suddenly I found myself in the deep and dark African ocean, being carried by massive waves. He was on his own surf board, and I assumed perhaps he wanted me to come back to the boat. I was alone in the big sea, and all I could to do to get back to the boat was to ride the waves on the surf board. This encouraged me to become preficient in windsurfing, where otherwise I was a bit imbalanced and slightly uncoordinated. As I rode back that evening, I felt free. I feel like I have just broken the law, and no one needed to know about it, but I knew I had been where I would never go again, and perhaps where no one near me had ever been. When I got back to the boat, I discovered that I had crossed the Kenyan border and was in Ethiopia. No wonder that afternoon seemed so magical.

Ethiopian Red Lentils

2 T ghee* (or olive oil)
½ cup red onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, mince d
1 tsp. turmeric
1 cup red lentils, soaked for one hour
3 cups butternut squash, cubed
3 cups water

Melt the ghee in a large pan.
Sautee the red onion in the ghee for about a minute, and then add the garlic and ginger. Do not let them turn brown, but allow them to soften a bit.
Add the turmeric and stir.
Next, add in the red lentils, stir, and pour in the water.
Once the water comes to a boil, add in the butternut squash.
Let the lentils and butternut squash simmer for about 30-40 minutes, and then season well with salt.

*Ghee is a clarified butter common in Ethiopian (and Indian) cooking. It is sold in most supermarkets, and definitely in organic food stores.