Two tips for a great life: eat healthy and get massage

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Just sayin….

            Making the commitment to eat healthy and get massage regularly might just make your life great:)  Who can argue with that?

We just updated our menu to make it easier for our clients to get the most out of their massage and acupuncture treatments by highlighting the unique training and skills of each therapist versus the generic deep tissue or relaxation massage.  The truth is that each of us come with our own set of issues that need a combination of techniques and focused attention in order to be resolved.  We wanted to give our therapists the freedom to help shape each clients experience without the confines of upgrades and appointment types.  So now here we are offering personalized sessions where your appointment is defined by the therapist you have chosen and their specific talents as well as the many facets of you:  your stress levels, pain levels, needs, desires and more at each session.

To book with us please:

  • go to our website and read about each therapists offerings and skill set
  • Choose the “book” link
  • Choose the therapist and  length of the personalized session you would like to book ie.  if you want to focus on one area of the body or you would just like an all over relaxation massage an hour might work great but if you need to address a couple of area’s you might want to choose a 75 or 90 minute session
  • Choose the day and time for your session and you are all set!

Need help? Have questions? Text us at   email us at  or give us a call at 503-473-8515 and we will be happy to help! Interested in more regular treatments or prefer a more standardized massage type?  Go to our packages page to find out about memberships and packages.  Want to learn more about how often you should get a massage?  Read our blog post on that very topic:)  No matter what we are pretty certain that choosing to eat healthy and get massage will improve your overall quality of life and that is why we are continuing with our fall series on healthy recipes for “the dark time” of fall and winter.  Enjoy!

in the mean time Eat healthy with this Caribbean style stew pigeon pea recipe!

eat healthy and get massage

Stewed Pigeon Peas

*originally posted on the amazing website for all things Caribbean please visit this site to see amazing pics of this dish:   http://caribbeanpot.com 

Ingredients:

1 Can Pigeon peas (I used 2 cans, you can find these near the Hispanic foods section in any grocery store)
2 scallions
1 tablespoon olive oil (I used 2 tablespoons of coconut oil)
1 med tomato (chopped)
1 cup diced bell pepper (I used 2 red bell peppers)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (keep whole) (Habanero pepper is a great substitute, I like a lot of spice so I broke mine open half way through cooking)
1 med onion diced
2 cloves garlic
3 sprigs thyme (I like a lot of flavor so I used about 8 sprigs of dried thyme)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon parsley (I substituted cilantro because that is what I had on hand)
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk (You can use low fat here if you prefer, I used one whole can of full fat coconut milk)
1/2 cup water

optional – grated ginger – diced carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato

I made this with brown rice, jerk tofu and roasted sweet potatoes

The process

  • In a large shallow pan or wok heat the oil add the celery, garlic, tomato, parsley, thyme, onion, black pepper and scallions. Turn the heat down to low and let it gently cook for about 3-5 mins.
  • Drain and rinse the peas and add them to the pan, turn the heat back up to medium
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and bring it up to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer (remember to add the scotch bonnet whole and try to NOT break it open) and let it cook for about 15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I did let mine simmer for a while because I was cooking other things but you can let yours cook to desired consistency. 
  • Serve with rice, tofu and/or sweet potatoes and enjoy!

I am having so much fun sharing my favorite recipes with you and it is defintinitley helping me stay on track:)  Thanks so much for reading and as my good friend from Dominica used to say “Good times always!”.

Eating healthy during fall: Jamaican brown stew fish recipe

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Here is another great recipe to help us in our quest to continue eating healthy during fall!  I hope you love it and feel free to share your faves with me:)

Jamaican Brown Stew Fish

eating healthy during fall

Adapted from “Brown Stew Fish” found on JamiacaTravelandCulture.com

Some of you may already know that I spent a couple years in the U.S. Virgin Islands and loved it!  I really miss island food and culture especially when “the dark time” starts to creep in here in the Pacific Northwest.  Luckily I still live in a location with an abundance of fresh fish and I try to eat fish at least once a week, otherwise I am pretty much a meatless cook.  This week I bought some wild caught Pacific Cod not really having a recipe in mind.  After I got it home I searched around online and came across one of my favorite Caribbean dishes called stew fish (I pretty much loved “stew anything” while I was there).   This recipe was already pretty healthy but I did make a few adjustments.  I served this with brown rice and it was fabulous!  I hope you enjoy:)

Ingredients

  • 2lb fish fillets
  • 1 tablespoon of lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1 onion diced
  • 3 stalks of scallion minced
  • 1 habanero pepper minced (or adjust amount to your desired spice level)
  • 1 red pepper diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1/2 inch of ginger grated
  • 3 tomatoes chopped
  • 3 tablespoons of flour
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 3 teaspoons of dried thyme)
  • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon of browning *see recipe at the bottom of this post
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 2 cups of water
  1. Rinse the fish filets and put them in a bowl with just enough water to cover and lime juice, leave them to marinate while you make the browning sauce.
  2. Make the browning sauce, the recipe is located here and at the bottom of this post.
  3. Mix flour into 1/4 cup of water and set aside
  4. Take fish out of the water mixture and pat dry, season with salt and pepper
  5. Heat large shallow pan with oil, I used about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, until hot.  Add fish (I like to break it up into smaller chunks as I cook it).  After about 5 minutes when the fish has sealed you can add in the onion, scallion, habanero, red pepper pepper, garlic, tomatoes and thyme for three minutes.
  6. Add the water, soy sauce and browning and simmer for five minutes.
  7. Stir the flour/water mixture in to the stew then add the fish.  Simmer for five minutes, occasionally stirring gently.
  8. Serve with Rice or a traditional Jamaican “rice and peas”
  9. Put on some Caribbean music and enjoy!

Browning Sauce

A version of this sauce is used a lot in Jamaican cooking, this is a healthy version and it makes quite a bit.  Feel free to cut it down to only make what you need.  Also you can substitute brown sugar and regular salt if you prefer. This recipe comes from thatgirlcookshealthy.com.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups of coconut palm sugar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tsp of himalayan pink salt
  1. Add the sugar to a saucepan and turn on medium heat.
  2. Use a wooden spoon and begin to slowly stir. The sugar will start to dissolve and turn into a syrup consistency while darkening.
  3. If the sugars begin to smoke too quickly then reduce the flame or switch off the stove and continue to stir while charring the sugar.
  4. Once the sugar darkens to a dark brown almost black in colour remove from the stove and carefully add the water. The saucepan will yield plenty of steam and splutter which is normal – keep on stirring the pan.
  5. Once the sauce is formed, allow to cool before adding the pink salt and pouring into a sauce bottle.

 

Health is wealth: eat healthy with these recipes for fall

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Eating healthy through the colder months:

Healthy recipes for fall

I am going to tell the truth….

I have no problem at all getting plenty of water, exercise and sticking to a healthy diet in the summer.  I am a true sun lover and I love being outside when it is hot which means I walk everywhere, eat farm fresh veggies with every meal and in general live more lean and green.  But fall happens and as soon as the weather changes I get tired and hungry!  I start to crave pot pies, corn bread, cheesy casseroles and a myriad of other comfort foods from my child hood.  I avoid the outdoors and sleep a whole lot more.  I have lived in Portland for too many years now to claim that I am new or to wait for the acclimation to happen.  This year I am taking the challenge of finding out how to balance the long winter months with the easy lifestyle of Portland summers.  I thought some of you Portland transplants and maybe even a few native PDXers would be able to relate and might like to join me in the quest to eat healthy through what I like to call “the dark time” aka.  PDX fall, winter and spring.

I recently found one of my favorite cookbooks at Goodwill “Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites”  I have never made a single dish that has turned out less than delicious from the Moosewood cook books so if you are in the market I highly recommend checking them out!

Here are two of my favorite recipes from the book:

eat healthy

 

 

Vegetarian Feijoada

Serves: 6 to 8
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:2 cups chopped onions

  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
  • 1 cup minced celery
  • 2 red, yellow, and/or green bell peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups canned tomatoes or tomato fillets (18-ounce can, undrained)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 5 cups cooked black beans (4 15-ounce cans, drained)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 1/2 pounds collard greens or kale
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 oranges
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • toasted cassava meal (optional)

Procedure

Place the onions, garlic, celery bell peppers, and water in a large saucepan. Drain the juice from the tomatoes into the pan, squeeze the juice from each tomato into the pan and then chop the tomatoes and set them aside. Place the pan on high heat and boil the vegetables, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Lower the heat and sitr in the cilantro, thyme, fennel, and coriander. Add the black beans and chopped tomatoes, cover and simmer on low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add salt to taste.

While the black beans simmer, remove and discard the collard or kale stems and rinse the leaves well. Stack the leaves and slice them crosswise into 1/4-inch strips. In a saucepan, bring the greens and water to a boil. cover and simmer, stirring frequently as the greens wilt, for about 15 minutes, until the greens are tender.

Meanwhile, peel and section the oranges and set aside. When the black beans and the rice are ready, drain the greens and toss with the soy sauce. Serve the feijoada on a large platter as described above or on individual plates. Pass the toasted cassava meal at the table, if desired.

* I enjoy serving it with the Brazilian Rice dish from the same book.

Caribbean Stew

 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Stew

  • 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 1 minced fresh chile, seeds removed for a milder “hot”
  • 1 large sweet potato, cut into medium chunks (about 2 cups)
  • 2 cups water or vegetable stock
  • 2 small zucchini, cut into 1” chunks (abut 2 cups)
  • 1 ½ cups undrained canned tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 4 cups loosely packed shredded kale
  • 1 tbls fresh lemon or lime juice
  • 2 to 5 tbls finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • salt to taste

Procedure

Sprinkle the onions with the salt.

In a covered soup pot, saute` the onions in the oil for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the thyme, allspice and chile and continue to cook for another 1 or 2 minutes.

Stir in the sweet potatoes and the water or stock and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes

Add the zucchini and the tomatoes (with their juice) and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until

all of the vegetables are barely tender.

Add the kale and cook another 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the lemon or lime juice, cilantro and salt to taste.

* I like to serve this one with brown rice and either jerk chicken or jerk tofu

I would love to hear your favorite fall/winter recipes!  I absolutely love to cook and I am always on the prowl for more ideas on how to eat healthy through “the dark time”.  Check back every week for more tips and tricks on eating and staying healthy this winter.   Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy:)