The Art of Intuitive Eating
Our lives,
so seemingly small,
ripple out
to the whole universe
as tiny whispers
like the sounds
of butterfly wings,
and the clear voice
of the living truth.
-J.L.D.
Sometimes Rex and I aren't hungry enough to make a whole dinner but want to eat something. Or it's getting late in the evening and we don't want to weigh the body down before sleep with a heavier meal. Maybe we're too busy to take the time to make a salad with dressing, or we just want some simple, yummy snack.

For these reasons and for other times, like the holiday season when we're rushing to get so much done, here are three quick, easy, filling, fresh and juicy little meals that keep us going and nourish us with much needed vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
Mango & Papaya Fruit Pudding
A bowl of pure comfort food. This is a snap to make and utterly delicious. It's made with pure fruit without any added water. (We were amazed to learn about making fruit pudding while watching Alissa Cohen's raw food preparation DVD, Living on Live Food.)
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 medium/large fully ripened mango, or 1 bag frozen mango
1 cup fresh papaya (or 1 ripe banana if you can't get papaya)
Preparation time: less than 5 minutes
Directions:
If using a fresh mango, peel the skin and slice off the pit.
Place chunks into blender and blend until smooth.
If using frozen mango, defrost quickly by placing mango pieces in a colander or strainer, and rinse under warm running water until the fruit softens. (About 60 seconds.)
Place mango chunks into blender, and blend until smooth. (With frozen mangos you may need to add a few tablespoons of water.)
Rinse papaya with cool water and remove seeds and skin.
Cut up the fruit - you will need about 1 cup, and put in blender.
Blend all ingredients until velvety smooth.
Pour into bowls.

Eat with a spoon, breathe deeply, and savor the heavenly taste of fruit pudding!

Variations: Try pineapple/mango, banana/strawberry, blueberry/pear, apple/mango, or mix any of your favorite fruits together.
Avocado with Lime and Salt
Sheer simplicity at its best
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 large avocado
1 lime
Salt to taste (sea salt, Himalayan, Celtic, etc.)
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Directions:
Rinse avocado under cool running water. Cut in half. Remove pit. Put each half on a plate.
Rinse lime, and cut in half. Put each half on plate.
Squeeze lime juice over avocado and sprinkle with fresh ground salt.
Squeeze additional lime juice and add salt as needed.
Eat with a spoon. Yummy!
Apples with Ginger-Date-Almond Butter Sauce
Spicy and warming, perfect for a cold day.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 large fuji, or honeycrisp apple (or other favorite)
3 large Medjool dates
fresh ginger root
1 generous tablespoon almond butter (raw, if possible)
1/2 cup water
Preparation time: less than 5 minutes
Directions:
Rinse ginger with water, and cut 1 inch slice of the root. (The thickness of the root should be about 1 inch). Make sure to not use any parts that have bad spots. Place in blender
Remove pits from the dates. Place in blender.
Add almond butter to blender.
Add water to blender.
Blend all ingredients until creamy, about 60 seconds.
Pour sauce into bowl.
Rinse and peel apple, if desired. Cut into quarters, slice and put onto a plate.

Dip apples into sauce (or eat with a spoon). It's utterly yummy!

Variation: Bananas with Sauce.
There are some who believe that bananas instead of apples may even be better! You be the judge. Slice one large, ripe banana and put pieces directly into the sauce. Eat with a spoon.

Enjoy!

A Little Story.... Dad & My First Avocado

Janet about age 10, with her dad on the Washington Coast
The first time I ate an avocado I must have been seven. But this was not just any ordinary avocado. No, it was extraordinary, because my father made it so.

He stood in the large farmhouse kitchen that always smelled of wood from the blackened cookstove, and of salty air from the sea. The floor creaked when we walked across the room. Windows opened to bucolic views of the gentle inland waters of Puget Sound, a meadow, the old apple tree, and the curve of the beach that was just a walk down the path to the sea.

The light shown softly upon Dad that day. He stood, dressed in khakis or corduroy, holding something green - something very green and egg shaped, and something that he was cutting with a knife. It also looked, to me, a bit gooey. I could tell he was excited, taking one bite at a time, saying, "Mmmmm".

I asked what was that thing was that he was holding, and he replied, eyes lifting and twinkling, like he was letting me in on the biggest secret. "Would you like a taste? It's an avocado." "A what? " "An avocado." "Oh."

"You see", he said, "you hold it in your palm, after you've peeled the skin off. And then you slowly slice it off the big pit, one piece at a time, really thin. Then you sprinkle it with a bit of salt", and he did so, and popped another bite into his mouth. "Man, that's good. Want some?" I wasn't sure. "C'mon," he entreated, "it won't hurt you." His green eyes stared into my green eyes. "Okay, I'll try some."

I watched in fascination as he sliced the green thing, sprinkled some salt on for me, and then handed it to me, right off the knife. I picked the avocado piece up, put it in my mouth, felt creaminess, "greenness", and crunchy salt. I didn't know if I hated it, or loved it, but Dad definitely loved it, so I ate it, and swallowed. I was surprised that I liked the taste that lingered in my mouth. I even had another piece, just to show him that I was grown up. I was prepared then for the sensations - buttery, nutty, smooth, salty crunch, and that "green taste". Down went the second bite, and I thought to myself that I definitely liked avocado!

Every time we have an avocado, after all these years, as I slice it thin, sprinkle on the salt, my thoughts turn to memories of a little girl in a kitchen in South Colby, Washington, when her Dad shared a moment with his daughter. The love inside me grows, and the memory remains.









The Healing Feast is about:
healthful practices,
following our intuition,
& eating life-giving foods.

It's about:
transformation, joy,
inspiration, peace, gratitude,
and soulful beauty.

It's about:
living a life filled
with abundance and love,
& giving what is the best
within ourselves to the world.


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From Wikipedia: On Avocados, Mango, and Apples

"Avocados have 60% more potassium than bananas. They are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K."

"The mango is an excellent nutritional source, containing many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as enzymes such as magneferin and lactase which aid in digestion and intestinal health."

"There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples."

"Like many fruits, apples contain Vitamin C as well as a host of other antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage."