It is a glorious fall day here and I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate this month devoted to the Feast of Gratitude: Thanksgiving!
Something amazing happens when you stop and pause and appreciate all the glorious food out there: you lose weight! You only need a few moments to stop and think of how Blessed we are to live in this country with such an abundant food source. That food is everywhere and so accessible to us. It is truly wonderful! And if you stop for just a moment to be thankful for what you are eating and putting in your mouth and appreciating every taste and bite than you rarely overeat. Mindful eating with gratitude is a sure way to have a wonderful day and feel terrific! I really can't emphasize enough how important it is to enjoy and taste your food. So many people have food issues and guilt issues and the simple act of appreciating what you eat and knowing there is such an abundance of wonderful food that is so healing and good for your body is truly one of the keys to health and happiness.
I've been meaning to tell you about my hot water heater for a long time. When we remodeled our kitchen I really wanted a pantry. We have a small house so we had to be creative. I had seen these tankless hot water heaters in Europe and they are the same ones used in other efficient locations. They are incredibly energy effiecient and you have an endless supply of hot water and it is about the size of an extra large cereal box. So certainly a space saver too! On the day we went to buy the tankless heater the one we had researched and that had the five-star rating was sold out everywhere. We went to Lowe's, Home Depot, everywhere we could from Camarillo to Ventura to try to find the one we wanted to buy. Our contractor was only had a short window to work on our house before he went to his next job so it was essential we get something immediately! We decided to buy the one that had a four-star rating that was ironically more expensive. Well, there is a little fluke with the one we bought and perhaps the reason for being down a star. For some reason, in the middle of your shower, for less than 60 seconds, your water will get cold. Sometimes it is only 10 seconds and most often only 30 seconds. It is enough time to be annoying but not annoying enough for me to have it replaced. So when it happens I stand out of the cold water and start counting. And in that time of counting to 30 I think how lucky we are to live in a house with running water. I think of all the people in the world that don't have this simple luxury that we take for granted: hot running water in our house. And I truly don't think I'll ever fix it because there is something in that 30 seconds that reminds me how lucky I am and how much I have to be grateful for. And then the wonderful hot water comes back and I feel wonderful clean and relaxed and refreshed. There is nothing better than a good hot shower.
My sister and a few friends used to write Gratitude emails to each other. We'd quickly email a list of 10 things we were grateful for that morning. You can't believe the difference it made in our outlook on the day and how the problems and to do lists and stress we felt were suddenly lifted. It is best to share the lists with a close friend because then you can write truly anything you are grateful for. Now that it is the month of November I thought I'd start doing it again. Try for a minimum of 10, but feel free to write as many as you want.
1. I'm grateful Princess slept through the night and didn't wake me up!
2. I'm grateful for my morning cup of tea that I just love.
3. I'm grateful for email and facebook so I can still be in touch with my friend, Kirsteen, who is in China for 4 months. I can see videos and pictures of her life there and feel like I'm sharing it with her.
4. I'm grateful I get to met Erica's twins for the first time this Thursday.
5. I'm grateful Pete came home safely from Afghanistan.
6. I'm grateful Karen is coming to help me file and organize the office.
7. I'm grateful we have a tradition of having a lovely Halloween dinner with Elizabeth and Lee year after year. It is good to have an official date to get together to mark the years going by and be amazed at how our gorgeous children have grow up so quickly.
8. I'm grateful Jason and the girls had so much fun carving pumpkins and that they didn't need my help at all.
9. I'm grateful for the artichoke plant my neighbor, Kelley, gave to me because I think Artichokes are so lovely in the garden.
10. I'm grateful Jill could help me cook for the Halloween party on Friday. It is always so much fun to cook with a friend.
11. I'm grateful my husband likes to dress up for our Halloween party and has as much fun as the kids.
And yes I'm grateful for the big things too like my children's health and our home and my family and friends and all of those things. I'm grateful for the big things and the little things, but sometimes there is something about being grateful for the tiny things that add up to the big things.
In my last email I was talking about the rich and delicious vitamin packed pumpkin. Right after I wrote the email i was making my beef chili and vegetarian chili for our Halloween party and I decided to add pumpkin puree to both of them. It was a great addition. I also added pasilla-ancho chiles and some cinnamon sticks and that was a great addition too. Then I went to Fresh and Easy and tried their pumpkin soup and it was wonderful and super low in calories so I'm going to try to whip up a version to share with all of you. And then one of my favorite food blogs Cannelle et Vanille has a gluten free recipe from Pumpkin and Quinoa Gnocchi. Here is the link: http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-quinoa-and-hazelnut-gnocchi-and.html
Finally, before I share the recipes below I want to mention that our dear friend, Shaun Cassidy, will be on Oprah this Thursday, November 4. So be sure to watch or tape it. Tracey and the kids will be on the episode with him because they filmed all the animals at their farm as well. (The wooden platter for the cheese below was a gift from Tracey and I'm grateful for that beautiful gift too!)
With gratitude,
Maili
Recipes I shared with this email: Fall Dried Fruit and Cheese Platter and Fiddle Linguini with Clam Sauce
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