Seared Baby Bok Choy & Blood Orange Citronette

I found inspiration for this dish from about 7 years ago when I was having a barbecue dinner with two of my good friends over a long weekend.  They were vegan, so at that time when I was far, far away from any vegan tendencies, it was always an adventure dining with them.  This was no exception, as I watched them grilling halved romaine hearts, fire licking at the mellow green leaves.  When the romaine was plated with a flourish of extra virgin olive oil and grapefruit, my first thought may be like yours now:  not exactly "Yum."  But it smelled good, and they had never steered me wrong, so fork and knife in hand, I set aside my doubts and dove in.

And I was so glad that I did.

"What Would Jonathan Buy?" : Mindful Shopping for Mindful Eating

I'm actually approached with this question quite a bit.  It makes me a laugh, because just like gravity or the air I breathe, I take my everyday for granted.  But it's a good reminder that it wasn't too long ago that my "everyday" was far from everyday and far from healthy or compassionate to my body.

When I first began transitioning to a gluten-free lifestyle in 2007, I had to rediscover grocery shopping in many ways.  Breaking out of well-worn, comfortable habits, venturing into uncharted territory, and relying largely on recommendations and trial and error to help me figure it all out.  Naturally, I was overwhelmed at first, but as my body began to feel different based upon these new choices - stronger, less "broken," and more present - I became more confident with my grocery-shopping.  And soon I grew to love grocery shopping and frequenting the local farmers' markets, inviting opportunity and discovery at every turn to forge a new path to health for my body, mind, and spirit.

2nd Blogoversary: Finding Meaning in the Here & Now

2 years.

Wow.  That truly snuck up on me, so much that I didn't even realize it had happened until after the fact.  I remember last year around this time, scrambling to publish posts detailing my favorite moments of the first year and the obligatory celebration cake.  I was in a very time consuming show that required me to arrive at the theater hours in advance for makeup and wardrobe, so in order to make my everyday life, my actor life, and my life as a blogger all fit into one I had to extend the hours in the day, sacrificing even more hours of sleep beyond my usual night-owl nature.  In short, I was not the happiest, nor the healthiest, camper.