Kim O’Donnell was here in Eureka Springs at the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow this fall. Her newly released cookbook is now available through all the usual sources such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders Books, plus we have copies here at Suchness – great idea for gift giving.

Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour – This guide is arranged a little differently from your typical cookbook. There’s 52 menus, one for each week of the year, organized by season, rather than chapters on different courses. The 95 recipes are, where appropriate, designated gluten-free, vegan, dairy-optional, kid-friendly, and leftover bonus, so you can tailor what you cook to your needs and those of others joining you at the table. O’Donnell is targeting meat lovers who want to figure out how to take one day off a week without meat.

Listen to an interview with KUAF radio’s Jacqueline Froelich –

and here is a sample recipe:

Kale Pesto

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 cups Lacinato kale, stems removed, chopped coarsely
1 1/2 – 2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
ground black pepper

1. Toast the chopped walnuts in a dry, heavy skillet over medium-high heat stirring constantly, until they start to brown and become fragrant. Keep an eye on the nuts – they burn quickly and will become bitter.

2. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, then add the kale. Cook, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pot and drain.

3. In a blender or food processor, combine the garlic, walnuts, and drained kale and whiz until well mixed. Pour int he oil in a steady stream, and pulse until combined. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the slat, pulse, then taste. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt if necessary.

4. Transfer the pesto to a medium-size bowl and stir in the cheese and pepper.

We regularly use discount online shopping sites for ordering our herbs, supplements, and other natural products. Catherina’s favorite? www.vitacost.com for great prices, low shipping ($4.99 flat rate per order!), large variety of products and manufacturers – we can’t complain!

The strength of ginger, turmeric, and cardamon lies in the digestive process. Thus it is no surprise that they have been used since ancient times as digestive aids. They activate warmth receptors in the mucous membrane of the mouth and in the stomach, encouraging the production of saliva and stomach juices. These fluids contain enzymes that break down the food and make its nutrients accessible. Ginger stimulates circulation in the stomach as well, which enhances digestion.

Healthy coking with the ginger family starts with some recipes for coffee, teas, and apertifs. Hot soups made with ginger, turmeric or cardamon not only taste great but also release the healing and stimulating effects of these spices.

Coffee with Cardamon

1. Use 1 cardamon seedpod per cup of coffee. open the capsule, peel the seeds out of their shell and crush them slightly.
2. Place the seeds in the coffeepot
3. Prepare the coffee as usual. The coffee can remain in the pot until the coffee is finished.

Hot Ginger Milk Coffee

1. Prepare the coffee as usual. Heat the milk but do not boil. Beat the milk until frothy, the film prevents a skin from forming on top of the milk.
2. Pour milk and coffee into a cup and add honey or sweetener according to taste.
3. Scrape one dried ginger root with a nutmeg grater. Add the freshly grated ginger to the cup and stir briefly. Start with one knife tip of ginger per cup, you can increase this dosage later should you wish.

Hot Ginger Tea – Recipe for a Cold (runny nose, scratchy throat, headache, body ache)

makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons fresh ginger
2 cups water
1/4 cup milk
honey according to taste

1. Peel the ginger and grate into rough pieces. Add to the cold water and bring the mixture to a boil. Let boil about 10 minutes.
2. Add the milk and sweeten according to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil again. Strain out the ginger.
3. Lie down in bed, cover up, and drink the tea as hot as possible.

Source: The Spice Lilies: Eastern Secrets to Healing with Ginger, Turmeric, Cardamon, and Galangal

A bath helps keep body and soul together. A bath – enhanced with a luxurious fragrance – once a well kept secret, is one of the most wonderful and relaxing ways to use aromatherapy. You can create your own personal bath oil, free from dyes, synthetic emulsifiers and artificial fragrances. Or you may want to create a gift to pamper someone special.

Since essential oils do not mix well with water, most store-bough preparation are made with synthetic emulsifiers. You can, however, prepare your own bath oil with natural emulsifiers that is good for your skin.

Here are a few ideas:

• Honey Bath. Honey is very nourishing for the skin and has great anti-inflammatory properties. Essential oils dissolve easily in honey. Mix 3 to 5 drops of essential oil in 3-4 tablespoons of honey (raw, unprocessed honey would be preferred) and pour the mixture into the bathtub.
• Cream Bath. Like Cleopatra, you can pamper yourself in fragrances and cream. Cream is a natural emulsifier and will prevent dry skin. Mix 10-15 drops of essential oil in 3-4 tablespoons of sweet cream. (You can substitute egg yolk for the cream also).
• Salt Bath. Sea water added to bathwater helps remove toxic substances from your body. It cleanses the whole system. Minerals contained in sea salt help strengthen the immune system. Add the sea sale (available at health food stores) to a container with a lid and add 5 to 10 drops of essential oil. Close the lid and shake vigorously. Try the following oils for an invigorating, detoxifying salt bath:

  lemon – juniper – lavender – eucalyptus – lime

  Pour the mixture into the tub and add water. Stir bathwater well to allow the salt to dissolve. Enjoy your creation of a fragrant ’sea water’ for about ten minutes.

Customized Baths with Essential Oils

• For refreshing and invigorating baths try these essential oils: rosemary, juniper, lemon, bergamot, myrtle, lemon verbena, Swiss pine, mint, lavender, lime and ocean pine.
• For stimulating circulation and detoxifying the body, try: rosemary, juniper, queen of the meadow, lemon, birth, angelica, camphor and line.
• For a sensual bath, try: neroli, sandalwood, tonka bean, mimosa, jasmine, clary, ylang-ylang, patchoiuli, tagetes, and tuberose.

Source: Complete Aromatherapy Handbook: Essential Oils for Radiant Health

A facial steam bath can be very helpful during this season of colds, sinus congestion and coughs. Typically 3-5 drops of essential oil is added to a large bowl of hot water. With a towel covering your head, bend your face over a bowl filled with the steaming water. Close your eyes and inhale the rising steam for about five minutes.

For acute conditions, repeat two to three times a day.

Some helpful essential oils for inhalation include: eucalyptus, sage, myrtle, cypress, lemon, lemongrass, juniper, tea tree, thyme, and cedar. These combination can be helpful and make enough for two or three applications:

For Colds
eucalyptus 2 drops
mountain pine 2 drops
lemon 2 drops

For Flu
niaouli 3 drops
sage 4 drops
thyme 1 drop

For Sinus Infection/Congestion
angelica 1 drop
rosemary 3 drops
lavender 4 drops
cypress 1 drop
thyme 1 drop

For Coughs
thyme 1 drop
hyssop 3 drops
sage 2 drops
cypress 2 drops
niaouli 2 drops

Source: Complete Aromatherapy Handbook: Essential Oils for Radiant Health

Jack Kornfield stands out as one of the most helpful and encouraging instructors in the West for newcomers to the art of meditation. With Guided Meditation: Six Essential Practices to Cultivate Love, Awareness, and Wisdom, this renowned Buddhist teacher brings you six practices that will open the door to the serenity and joy of meditation and serve as your foundation for years to come.

Offering you precise guidance through every step of these transformational practices, Kornfield introduces you to:

* Basic sitting practice: The essential starting point for nurturing nonjudgmental spaciousness
* The heart-opening techniques of lovingkindness and forgiveness meditation to help you discover liberation from suffering
* A visualization exercise for overcoming difficulties by making direct contact with the voice of your highest wisdom
* The gratitude and joy meditation, which nourishes an innocent rejoicing in life itself
* Mind Like Sky: a practice to enter “original mind,” the pure space of awareness that is consciousness itself

2 CDs – 2 hours

Here’s a flute-based album created specifically to support healing and relaxation. Instrumentation includes Native flutes, soft drums, harp and ambient sounds.

Born in Venice, Italy, Shastro, a multi-instrumentalist, has traveled the world on a spiritual quest (stopping by South America and India for intense meditation) resulting in his creation of music for various meditation techniques. Among his instrumental repertoire, Shastro is versed in both Indian and Native American flutes, ancient instruments that he uses to bring age-old practices of relaxation and healing into the modern world.

Shamans’ Healing is created with the intent of aiding self-healing, though from an inner psychological perspective. The healing nature of this album makes it appropriate for any healing practice, from positive thinking to yoga. Shastro incorporates Reiki ideology into the album, which is essentially healing without energy depletion. The concept is the same as shamanism, drawing on universal life energy.

In addition to the flute, Shastro emphasizes the use of bells, guitars, and harps, adding a magical, celestial aura, and affirming the message of inner peace achieved through communication with a world not entirely our own.

Since the publication of his book, The Biology of Belief, Dr. Bruce Lipton has received widespread acclaim as one of the most accessible and knowledgeable voices of “new biology.” The science is called epigenetics—a revolutionary field that shows us how the energy of consciousness is as important in shaping life on earth as DNA and chemistry.

In this original author adaptation, Dr. Lipton brings his clarity, insight, and humor to unveiling a profound change in how we perceive the way life works, including:
• How environment—including our thoughts and emotion—controls the character of every cell
• Quantum physics and life: the key to understanding the bigger picture of how mind over matter works
• Cooperation and evolution—moving beyond the “selfish gene” theory to see that a natural trend toward harmony literally shapes the biosphere
• Why the oft-dismissed placebo effect is really the most powerful healing tool we have, and much more

As scientists have mapped the human genome, it has become clear that there are important aspects of life that defy our traditional models of evolution. The “missing link,” according to Dr. Lipton, is consciousness.

With The Biology of Belief, listeners join this groundbreaking researcher to learn how this new science radically alters both how we understand life on earth— and how we choose to live.

3 CDs – approx. 3 hours

Yoga for Your Eyes: Natural Vision Improvement Exercises by Meir Schneider is a DVD and study guide for improving your eyesight without glasses or expensive surgery.
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The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy by Cyndi Dale, is an in-depth, illustrated guide to the invisible energies of spirit, psyche, and consciousness that influence every aspect of our well-being. Whether you are looking for the complementary medicine to enhance your own healing practice, seeking perennial wisdom about your body’s energetic nature from world traditions, or exploring the quantum edge of intention-based care, The Subtle Body is an indispensable companion for exploring virtually any facet of holistic healing.
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