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Dose of Beauty – Solitude

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“Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone….” 

The poem “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (below in its entirety) is a powerful exploration of an undeniable reality of human nature. There is a natural desire to seek out that which exudes happiness and cheer and to avoid pain and darkness. It extends to our tendency to gravitate toward other people who are joyful and happy and full of positive energy. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it is healthy to surround ourselves with people who are positive and encouraging and exhibit love, joy and peace. No one wants to be around those who are constantly negative, cynical, sarcastic and depressing. So in one sense, this poem is a clue to the reality that others are attracted to us if we endeavor to be cheerful and positive rather than negative and gloomy.

But understanding this truth of human nature also informs us we should not ignore those around us who are hurting. Even though our natural tendency is to seek out joy and happiness and people who exude those things, the reality is we should cultivate within ourselves a desire to help others in their time of need. We all go through difficult times and need help from others who are in a stronger place in their lives – people who can reach out to us and draw us out of depression, grief or other pains.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox emphasizes the uncaring world by exploring not only how we humans often flee from those in pain, but how the earth itself is indifferent to human suffering:

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How to Make Ghee in the Oven

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Homemade ghee

Homemade ghee

What is Ghee and Why Should I Care?

Ghee, also known as “clarified butter”, “butter oil” or “drawn butter”, is delicious, healthful and fits in well with the Paleo diet. Many people have immune reactions to the milk solids (lactose and casein) in dairy products and may not even realize the source of the problem. This, among other reasons, is why the Paleo diet generally eliminates dairy. (I recommend trying a 30 day elimination period such as the one outlined in the Strictly Paleo Plan to help determine your tolerance of dairy products.)

Even if you find you need to avoid dairy, most likely you can still enjoy ghee. Ghee is butter that has had all the water and milk solids removed. It is somewhat different from clarified butter in that the process of making ghee involves toasting the milk solids resulting in a nutty, rich flavor. Unlike butter, ghee has a long shelf life and can be used for high temperature cooking. It is also not as difficult to make as you might think.

Make Ghee, Feel Like Wonder Woman
Make Ghee, Feel Like Wonder Woman

The Health Benefits of Ghee

A tablespoon of ghee contains 8g Saturated fatty acid (SFA), 3.7g Mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MFA) and 0.5g Poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Saturated fat, contrary to what you might have learned, is not an evil menace directly responsible for heart disease. (See this post and this abstract from “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”). Mono-unsaturated fats (also known as oleic acid) are the main structural fats of the body and are non-toxic even at high doses.

Ghee is also rich in fat soluble vitamins like A, D, and K2, as well as CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). CLA is an essential fatty acid found almost exclusively in grass-fed animals and may protect against cancer, heart disease, and type II diabetes. To get the benefit of CLA from butter and ghee, I strongly recommend you purchase varieties from pastured (grass-fed) animals. Using organic butter will also ensure you are avoiding hormones and pesticides that may find their way into your ghee.

Here are a couple of brands of pasture butter I use:

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A Rutabaga By Any Other Name…is Still a Rutabaga

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Rutabaga Hash Browns

Rutabaga Hash BrownsThe “Turnip Hash Browns” were so good I went to the grocery store again (a different one) searching for another turnip. The one I found looked similar – slightly larger and more yellow – and the sticker said “Rutabaga”. Having eaten both turnips and rutabagas, I knew rutabagas are typically more yellow than turnips. So the darker color of this one made sense to me. When I continued to look for turnips I only found some smallish, bright white and purple turnips that were not waxed. So I went ahead and bought the rutabaga thinking I could easily make the same hash browns recipe with it. Once it was shredded I noticed, even though it was slightly more yellow than what I thought was a turnip, it tasted EXACTLY the same. So I posed the question on the Paleo Spirit Facebook Page and was met with a link to an article called “Turnip or Rutabaga?” In spite of having Googled the question myself, this particular post mentioned that rutabagas are sometimes called “Waxed Turnips”. That answered my question. What I thought was a turnip was actually a rutabaga (also known as “Swedish Turnip”, “Swede”, “Yellow Turnip” and other terms.) Egads!

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Does the Paleo Diet Make Sense Only in Light of Evolution?

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Creation of Adam

Creation of AdamThe Paleo diet (as in “way of eating”) is based on the premise that we humans are genetically adapted to the diet of our ancestors. There is a heavy reliance on the explanation that Darwinian Evolution is at the root of this. It is frequently presented that we have EVOLVED to eat this way.

Is the Paleo Diet only for people who believe in Darwinian Evolution?

Now, I consider myself an intelligent person. For what it’s worth, I do have a couple of degrees from great universities. I like to examine facts and evidence and use logic in making decisions. But guess what? While I acknowledge adaptations and mutations, I am not a believer in Darwinian Evolution and I am not alone. There are many other people like me. The point of this post is NOT to debate evolution or change anyone’s mind (please, let’s not go there). But I would like to explore why it is that I am a devotee of a diet and lifestyle that appears so rooted in something I do not embrace.

Why the Paleo Diet Makes Sense Even Without Evolution

Instead of relying so heavily upon human evolutionary theory, the Paleo diet makes sense for other reasons. I believe the argument “cavemen did this so you should too” is illogical. Sure, I like the fun, iconic caveman as much as the next person. There’s no reason we can’t have fun with this, right? But I believe as Matt LaLonde, a biochemist with a Ph.D from Harvard and a strong interest in Paleo nutrition, stated in episode #68 of Robb Wolf‘s podcast, that looking at what our ancestors ate is instructional at best. It can point us in the right direction but does not rise to the level of a convincing argument.

In fact, LaLonde said,

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Gluten-Free Communion Bread

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I have been eating a paleo diet since early February 2011 but was only recently diagnosed with celiac disease.  So even though the paleo diet is gluten-free by nature, because it eliminates grains, I was not concerned about the seemingly miniscule amount of gluten I was ingesting every week at church worship services via communion bread. However, after learning a ton about gluten intolerance and celiac disease I know even a small amount of gluten can set off an immune reaction. Once I was diagnosed, I knew I needed to take the avoidance of gluten more seriously.

For a person with celiac disease, ingesting even a small amount of gluten is problematic. Even a crumb is enough to set off a reaction. The reaction may be immediate or it may take time to manifest itself but either way damage is being done to your system. I was sensitizing myself every single week with the matzo cracker in communion. We do not have a priest who hands out individual “bread” or “hosts”. At our congregation we have trays that are passed around that contain a matzo cracker. Church members break off a piece as the tray is passed. My temporary solution was to break off a piece and then disposed of it later. The idea of just waving off the tray as it was offered seemed awkward, like there was some other reason I was not willing to partake other than a health issue. And it bothered my conscience that I was just going through the motions and not really partaking fully in the communion. What to do?

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Paleo and the City: Lululemon and The Central Park Zoo

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Over the summer I took my boys into New York City a few times. It was the first summer since going paleo so our jaunts included efforts to find paleo eats wherever we went. We were fairly successful. You can find most anything in New York so it stands to reason one could find plenty of paleo-friendly food. Afterall, paleo means eating meat, vegetables, some fruit and nuts and good fats – not really that hard. Of course, New York has its share of food temptations. We had to avoid the street vendors with dessert crêpes and falafel. We did not indulge in black & white cookies and cannoli. And we stayed away from Italian restaurants – with one exception, Mario Batali’s La Lupa. That was tough because, let me tell you, there are REALLY good Italian restaurants in New York City. Sigh.

Lululemon Athletica

I lugged my camera every time we went in and managed to get some fun shots. You can see a few of them in a previous post about our trip to Madison Square Park – Paleo and the City: Madison Square Park. That particular trip was during a week when my oldest son, Big Boy, was away at church camp and Sweet Pea and I were on our own. We took a second trip into “The City” that same week which included a stop at Lululemon Athletica (quite the yoga-wear Mecca). My husband G has gotten into yoga over the last year. He enjoys practicing when he has the time and appreciates the multiple benefits. Lululemon has a fantastic men’s line of yoga clothing. But even though G is quite comfortable in his manhood he simply cannot abide the name. He can’t bring himself to buy clothes from a store with “lulu” in the name. Maybe if they changed it to “Stevestevelemon” or “BobBoblemon” or simply “Lulemon”?? Next time I shop there I may buy him something but disguise it to look like it came from a more manly sounding athletic store. In spite of the unusual name, Lululemon sells terrific products. Everything I have purchased there has been great quality and has worn and washed well. The yoga top you see in the photo below came from Lululemon. Come to think of it, so did the hat.20111027-044307.jpg

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The Love of Poetry in First Grade

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poetry in first grade
the love of poetry
Sweet Pea enjoys his after-school tea time and a poem.

A love of poetry is developed at a young age. Have you ever noticed most of the time when someone references a poem it is one they learned in school?  Sitting down and reading a book of poetry just for the joy of it is not something many of us do on a regular basis. That makes it all the more important for teachers and parents to not only expose children to good poetry but to encourage an appreciation of the art form. What better time to do that than in early childhood education?

I was reminded today of the importance of teaching children to appreciate poetry when I participated in Sweet Pea’s first grade “Fall Centers”. It was a morning of art and crafts and, happily for me, poetry. I was one of three moms who volunteered to help out with the Fall Centers by tending one of the stations. Having manned craft stations in the past I was excited to find there was a poetry center so I put dibs on it.  The simple fall poem was posted where the kids could see it and they were also given a piece of paper with the poem to decorate and take home. We read the poem together, learned some sign language and motions to go along with it, then recited the poem and acted it out together.

Here is the very simple poem:

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