bread – in thriver words

Man cannot live on bread alone…or here’s what I learned last week!

Man cannot live on bread alone…or only food for the body for that matter. Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being are closely intertwined. Starving any one of those will result in an imbalance that affects our quality of life.

Nonstop work has been wearing on me, but last week provided an interesting mix of lectures, documentaries, and presentations around here. I attended enough of them, I should be a lot smarter than I was two weeks ago. Am I? Probably not, but at least I enjoyed some interesting distraction and I can share with you what I took away from the events:

Tuesday – Dr. Rodney Ford presented the story of his journey to believing that gluten-zero is the best alternative for many, if not most, of us.
Observations: His tone and approach have softened in the two years since I last visited with him. Always informative and able to present complex medical information in an audience friendly way, Dr. Ford brings compelling evidence from his pediatric practice that many patients who test high in Anti-Gliadin Antibodies (AGA) improve on a gluten-free diet even if they are not celiac and yet the medical community and many parents remain resistant to adhering to the regimen.
Takeaway: Dr. Ford poses the question regarding our beliefs about the importance of socialization vs. the importance of health when it comes to making decisions for our children. It’s a subject that we focus on often here at Cooking2Thrive. We love his bravery in asking the tough questions! He’s done it his whole career and his patients are better for it. I’m better for it having read his books.
Comment: At Cooking2Thrive, we continue to observe that it is rarely a lack of information that keeps us from making healthy choices. It’s not even necessarily a lack of desire to be healthy. More often, it’s a lack of social and emotional support for a healthy choice in a given moment that leaves us with the overall feeling that being healthy will mean giving up too much.
garden_gun
Wednesday – Rebecca Darwin, CEO of the Allee Group and a founder of Garden & Gun magazine spoke on the advent of the magazine, the organization’s expansion into books and events, and the importance of dedication to quality content and thinking big.
Observations: If Ms. Darwin had not been willing to leave her high profile New York job as marketing director of Fortune magazine and move with her husband who had decided to attend the seminary, Garden & Gun would not exist.
Takeaway: Dedication to quality content and thinking like a big player can take you far.
Comment: Sometimes we become so focussed on what we’ve achieved, we are afraid to let it go and move on to something different. It is inspiring to know that Rebecca Darwin resisted that temptation and the result was an incredible new publication.

Thursday – Arthur Agee, Jr. (one of the subjects) and Gordon Quinn (artistic director) discussed the making of the 20-year-old documentary Hoop Dreams.
Observations: This lecture was held in the same room as the Garden & Gun lecture. The crowd was much smaller and the discussion more intimate, moving, and compelling.
Takeaway: Arthur Agee, Jr.’s desire to do his parents proud brings him to tears and makes it easy to understand why he can support himself with a role model foundation. Gordon Quinn’s extraordinary story of how the producers of the film voluntarily, without legal obligation, cut the subjects in on the profits once the film made money shows that some organizations do the right thing just because it’s right.
Comment: The display of authentic goodness in the room was the feel good story of the week!

Sunday – We made a quick drive on a beautiful, crisp morning to a screening of the film, Just Eat It.
Observations: In the film, a couple lives for 6 months on only food that has been discarded. While some of the food comes from dumpsters, they’re kind that are parked behind food wholesalers and filled with thousands of packages of unexpired hummus, not the kind full of partially eaten scraps. The couple rescues enough food ($20,000 worth) to let their friends come shop from their pantry.
Takeaway: The waste built into our farming and food distribution system is so huge as to boggle the mind. Part of the waste is because of our expectation of uniformity in fruits and vegetables and our failure to understand freshness labeling.
Comment: I live in a state where 19.7% of households experience food insecurity. There has to be a way to rework our expectations and reroute perfectly safe and edible food away from dumpsters and into homes where it is needed.

I love weeks that leave me feeling inspired, challenged, and a bit more informed. If you have recently learned something exciting, please share the source with us in the comments section.

For more information, visit these sites:
http://drrodneyford.com/
http://gardenandgun.com/
http://www.arthuragee.org/
http://www.foodwastemovie.com/

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be god for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What’s Happening at Cooking2Thrive

Here’s what’s happening at Cooking2Thrive…This weekend I’ve been baking bread. I have new neighbors, so I took them a warm loaf – gluten-free of course – yeasty, hearty, and multigrain. Nothing can make the smell of new paint seem more homey and inviting than the added smell of freshly baked bread.
multigrain bread

Yesterday’s bread didn’t rise quite as high as I wanted, so today I’m going to add a tiny bit more yeast, knead 2 minutes less and allow the dough to rise higher in the pan before it goes in the oven. I’ve baked bread off and on for over 30 years. Today’s exercise isn’t really necessary. I know I can play with the science, get the recipe perfect, and still the bread will vary.

Bread is affected by the temperature in the house, moisture in the air, really everything around it. The best bread is made by feeling your way through the process. Does the dough look moist enough? Should I let it rise a bit more even though I’m past the window in the recipe or does this height feel right? The more you bake, the easier it is to end up with the bread qualities you want even when you change things on the spot. Baking is as much art as it is science.

Nonetheless, we’re dedicated to providing you with recipes that are as perfect as possible. We put all of our recipes through a minimum of 3 levels of testing. The breads and crackers often go through many more rounds to get the taste, texture, and look just right. Of course that means we’re way behind where I’d like to be…way behind where I thought we’d be…in launching our full website.

So, where are we? I’m excited to say that we have several unique products produced and ready for the photo shoot that will give us images for the online store. We’re only 3 recipes away from having or first 2-pack ready to print. Our unique recipe boxes are on the shelves ready to fill with printed recipe cards. We’re designing the electronic version that you will be able to download or purchase on a credit card style USB drive. The educational portion of the site is built. We have several episodes of our cooking show edited and ready to post, and video interviews with a chef, MD, and life coach are ready as well. All of that feels great!
recipe box

And it feels frustrating. I feel like the closer I get to the home stretch, the further away I get. I’m familiar with the process. I’ve been a business owner for almost 25 years, but my other business feels more scientific. My clients originate the projects. All I have to do is finish out a narrow portion of each project in the manner that meets industry standards and pleases my clients. My timelines are based on their deadlines and they are rarely flexible. It is always a juggling act, but with a very routine flow.

This process felt totally organic in the beginning. It evolved naturally almost without effort because we could allow it to grow and evolve away from the public eye. It didn’t feel like a business. Now we’ve hit the point where other priorities enter the picture and I am struggling to get the art and science in balance. I have a vision for how I want things to happen and the sort of work environment I want to create. I know that as long as I keep baking, the bread will turn out fine. I’ll have perfect batches and I’ll throw some in the trash. It’s the process of all things creative.

And while I know that, I feel frustrated and discouraged and annoyed right now because I can’t wait to give you access and I have no idea what the real launch date will be. I feel bad that I’ve been so off on my estimated timelines up to this point. While I believe it’s important to have things working correctly when we launch, I feel like I’m letting you down somehow by taking so much time.

I am grateful for your patience, grateful that I’m excited about what we will offer you from the moment we launch, and grateful for all the hard lessons I’m learning in the process. I am – all foot stomping, silent screaming, frustrated tears included – grateful.

That’s the Cooking2Thrive update for today. How are things going with your endeavors? Feel free to share triumphs and trials below!

What is the Best Thing about a White Christmas?

This morning, I’ve been looking out the window at the 10 inches of snow that fell on Christmas. It is beautiful. The branches on my elm tree are sparkling in the sunlight. The streets are quiet because we have no snowplows in the south so most people are staying home. I feel relaxed because I don’t have to hurry to get ready and get out the door to get to the office by a certain time. In fact, I feel like I’m able to move at my own pace instead of at the pace of someone else’s expectations.

Is that it? Is it that the snow frees us from the usual expectations, takes away the pressure of rushing around to accomplish the too many tasks of our over-scheduled lives, and allows us to move at the pace we determine is correct to meet our immediate needs?

Is it the quiet that comes from the soft snow cushion that muffles sound, plus less traffic noise, and no airplanes passing overhead? Is it the beauty of the snow’s changing reflection of light that keeps pulling us into the moment?

All of these questions have run through my head as I’ve relished the quiet peacefulness of the day, lingered over coffee, left the TV off, and wiggled contentedly under the blanket covering my legs. I feel less pressured, more peaceful, and more connected to the being of life rather than the activities of life. I am able to continually watch the light changing on the snow and stay right here in the moment.

It is as if the veil that clouds life’s possibilities has been lifted and I am free to explore what I want right this minute. I don’t have to try to get around to seeing my options once I’ve met everyone else’s deadlines (a time I know will not come before I’m too exhausted to care). I can stay in, or bundle up and go out. I can shovel my walk, or see how many funny looking footprints I can make. I can cook brownies and then cake and then the bread that has been rising to the warmth of the oven vent. There’s plenty of time for the bread to rise twice without me having to plan ahead. I can put on make-up or I can skip a shower. I can read a book, organize photos, meditate, do yoga, or just sit quietly and be with myself.

This is the kind of day I want to have every day – the kind in which I’m present in the moment, open to the possibilities, and deliberate in the activities I choose. For me, such a day always begins with stillness and quiet. That’s the very best thing about a White Christmas – beauty that keeps me focused in the moment, and the blank slate created by a blanket of stillness and quiet. It is from this place that all good things begin.