Do You Want To Know?

by JaneEllen Sexton 

There has been some drama recently in the news regarding  facts that have been revealed to the public that show the truth about the epoxy resins that line the metal inside of cans that hold canned foods.  The plastic coating is called Bisphenol A or BPA.  This same plastic compound is what is used to create food and drink containers and the hazard’s for babies bottles & toys has been discussed in the news somewhat urgently for months.  Information like this can reveal very scary uses for something that is considered common yet many people don’t even know these things exist.  The good news about knowing the truth about BPA’s is that we can all be grateful that information is brought to our attention and lives can be saved as a result. 

I bring this up  to discuss the importance of wanting to know about basic ways to add value to your own life.  In 1987 I went to a location in Florida called the Hippocrates Health Institute.  For three weeks I lived on this location and learned about raw and sprouted foods as well as ways to grow my own foods.  The information I came away with has been invaluable to me for the rest of my life.  What was so astounding, at that point in my evolution, was to receive information that seemed  common sense like.  I couldn’t believe how much I had buried my head in the sand.  I never understood things like…. how important the enzymes in our food are to the energy we have in our bodies.  I never thought about how bizarre it is that humans will drink the milk from an animal when the young of that animal is really the creature who the milk is meant for. Of course, it didn’t stop me from consuming dairy products.  What it did was help me be mindful of how much I consumed.

I could go on for days reciting examples of behaviors we’ve learned that are just plain nuts!  My point is this….all of us can put our heads in the sand and be victims of some large business that produces the tin cans that foods are sold in OR we can make our own soup and never be at the mercy of those businesses that will cut corners in order to focus on their bottom line. It is our choice to want our bodies to be vital and healthy.  The health care reform bills that are such a huge struggle, in this country right now, have no power to hold you hostage. So, what’s it going to be…a group of politicians making your choice or you deciding that you will determine the quality of your life?

There are countless lies that float around in this world and we can either be paranoid or we can be proactive.  The buzzword of the moment…proactive!  Here’s where you get to choose for yourself and your family.  Is it worth my time to cook my own food or is it just easier to let someone else do that for me?  There are children starving all over this planet and we all know it. It’s not your job to save those little ones but it is your responsibility and mine to take care of our own environment which can be how we lead by example.  Let your voice be heard by you in your own mind.  Listen to that place in your heart that will always make the optimum choice for you.  You are wise beyond what you might think.  Feel the power that comes from honoring this life you’re living so that you can’t possibly doubt the choices you do make.

There are times when I know that I have no desire to deal with something that I understand isn’t helpful to me.   When I’m resisting the urge to be helpful to me I’m usually aware that I’m not  interested in value at that moment.  We all do it…those hissy fits!  But, it can’t become a habit to want to check-out more than you want to check-in.  None of us gets away with denial for very long.  People get sick and die everyday because they just don’t want to know what’s up. You do know it’s your movie so please be kind to yourself and let yourself choose what helps you.  You will never experience worry when you’re choosing quality in life.  Make your own food… keep your kids healthy with basic, uncomplicated ways of living life.  Your kids want you to care about you and they can relax when they see you choosing quality in life.  The same can be said for all of our relationships.  Never let anyone see you sell out on you.  Share the basic easy responsibilities of care and  self-nurturing with the people you love.  The way you teach others will become your legacy.  Memories do last a lifetime.

Food thoughts: taking responsibility for what goes into your body is a breeze if you want it to be.  Monday can feel like it has all the appeal of a dentist appointment, sometimes. You won’t  want to overwork the beginning of your work week with a complicated meal.  Monday equals easy… OK?!   Sprouted quesadillas for dinner with some homemade soup that you put in the freezer two weeks ago.  Here’s the trick…did you make soup to freeze 2 weeks ago?  Start doing those kinds of things this weekend or next weekend.  Mushroom potato soup…look up a recipe, make a gallon of it and freeze the soup in one quart containers…preferably glass containers and remember to leave space in the jar for expansion because liquid expands.  Roast some fall/winter squash for a great roasted squash soup  with mint and do the same…freeze in one quart containers.

On those Monday nights when you get home and don’t want to cook you’ll have soup.  Take the soup out before you leave in the A.M. and let it defrost in the refrigerator while you’re gone during the day.  Stop at a store that has a good selection of sprouted breads and you should be able to find sprouted wheat tortillas.  Slice up some cheese and lay it on one half of the tortilla. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the cheese and put in a skillet that has a medium heat under it.  You won’t need to oil the pan just flip the tortilla back and forth on each side every few minutes until it’s toasted and the cheese is melted.  For a more filling meal top the cheese, in the tortilla with some smoked turkey or thinly sliced ham.  Cut the quesadilla into 3 wedges.  Top with your favorite salsa or hot sauce.  Happy soup and happy Monday! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

A Teacher Named Sweetie.

by JaneEllen Sexton 

Boy, oh, boy, can this be a topic of conversation?!  When I sit to write a blog I let myself stop, breathe and then listen, to get a sense of what I’ll write about.  What popped up today was to write about respecting death.  The more we fear death and dying the less, I think, we feel comfortable about living life. Does that make sense?  Every issue any of us goes through has components of both joy and fear. Joyfully addressing our difficulties is a no-brainer.  Resisting our experiences creates a situation where life is a test.  The ability to go through our issues gracefully is the only option for harmony but graceful doesn’t always feel like an option, does it?

I don’t remember where I heard this, but years ago someone said “death is like taking off a tight shoe” and when I heard those words I felt a sense of relief.  I still find this expression helpful when a conversation comes up with someone about the death process.  I also learned, from an old friend, that when you are in the presence of a person who has just died, if you can, you’ll want to let yourself whisper in their ear “I just want you to know that you are dead”. This helps that person begin a process of understanding the transition that they are in.  These are interesting ways to be part of supporting yourself and the person you’re involved with in the death process. This is also a great way to let go of the fear of supporting someone who is dying.

I think the more we honor death the less we need the person who died to take care of our needs after they go on.  When my first cat family member died I couldn’t believe the emotion that came up & out of me.  Sweetie was my first teacher she taught me how to pay attention. I began to learn how to connect with nature and the earth through Sweets. I had no real feeling about nature before her arrival in my life. Mountains and meadows were just kind of a cool thing. She had the wisdom of a four thousand year old teacher.  She helped me understand the value of life in a whole new way. Sweetie died 13 years ago and a couple of weeks after she died I found myself questioning my ability to feel because I no longer had any sense of grief.  Here I’m thinking “what’s wrong with you. You don’t feel sad anymore.”  That’s when I realized that Sweetie and I were complete.  I no longer needed her to take care of me which allowed me to be filled up with more love & allowed her to move on more freely.

It can be a hard experience to let go of the people we love but as long as we are taking care of ourselves we won’t put pressure on ourselves to “perform”. So much of the human condition comes from thinking we need the approval of others. It was probably a good year into my life with Sweetie when I heard myself thinking “she only likes me because I feed her”.  I understood, at that moment, that I had some big ‘ol self-esteem issues to clean up!  I wasn’t going to get closer to her or anyone else, for that matter if I didn’t do my own work. Those kinds of thoughts will put tremendous pressure on the other people in your life so that those people have more power than you to make you happy.  This is where it is invaluable for you to take good care of you. You are in charge of your own house…that means all of it, internally and externally.

One of the greatest ways to celebrate Halloween is to send support to all the friends and family members you’ve had to let go of.  Even if those relationships were a little (or a lot) shaky.   Focus a great big bright light into the spirit realm. You are the spirit, here and now, who can add support and levity to the energy that will always be alive in your heart.  Feel all those losses in a completely new light, filled with great possibility and magic.  We’re all going to have to move into other dimensions at some point, why not respect that energy now.  Celebrate life, live it to your fullest and death can’t ever be a scary concept to avoid.  Happy Halloween! 

Food thoughts: you can ”bob”  for apples or you can make applesauce!  (Where does she come up with this stuff?!!!)  Peel, core and cut into ¼’ slices, about 20 medium sized apples.  Get to your local farm stand and buy five different types of apples. Experiment with the flavors of the different tastes of the apples before you cook them.  This is a great way to teach you the nuances of food flavors. Spend a few moments savoring the textures and tastes of all the apples you’ve spent your valuable time and money purchasing.  Really feel that connection to the goodies you’ve bought.

Put all the apples slices in a large, non-reactive pan.  Sprinkle about ½ cup organic sugar over the apples, squeeze the juice of one lemon over them and cover to cook until the liquid begins to boil. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and continue to cook until the apples start to break apart when you lightly mash them with the back of a fork.  Let the apples sit and come to room temperature then put them all in a food processor and use the pulse button to bring them to a desired consistency. Taste the applesauce and add whatever you think you’d want.  A little more sugar, maybe, or some cinnamon, nutmeg, possibly some dried cranberries?  Play with the flavors and let yourself enjoy the process.  If you want to, heat up some of the applesauce and put it over one of your favorite ice creams. Instant gratification! Don’t let those apples die on the tree.  Have fun with your creative process! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

 

Sometimes…Especially Me!

by JaneEllen Sexton 

On the front page of the New York Times yesterday there was a story written about the “Obama boys club”.  As I was reading the article I found myself, in my head saying, “Man, how does anyone ever get to win”?  The feeling I had was that somewhere, somebody will always feel upset about something. The dialog in my head was running me ragged until I caught myself on a mission about somebody’s opinion about how the Obama administration is supposed to act.  I can tell you that I am so looking forward to not needing to get plugged in to other people’s opinions.  What does bug me is that opinions seem so much bigger than they need to be and that’s the part I want to let go of in myself.  It’s all just input and information so why do I feel an allegiance to Barack Obama in a way that I want “that writer” to leave him alone.  “Stop picking on my pal”, of course, this coming from a person who understands that here’s a man who doesn’t even know I’m alive.  You guys know what I mean, don’t you? 

I can see where my over-sensitivity to MY criticism about ME gets stirred up when I see or hear someone criticizing a person I admire and respect.  The part of the article that tweaked me had to do with the information about some women who are building a case against the “boys” because they don’t include women in their basketball games.  YIKES, what’s up with that?  AND, here I go again… Miss Critic!!!  I’m so aware of how programmed I am about needing to say my truth, even if it’s just in my head. I want someone else to not say theirs because it doesn’t line up with mine…YIKES, again!  We’re a  pretty sensitive bunch and when we question our own lives we sometimes feel the need to question someone’s opinion if we don’t agree with them.

It’s can be a real trap to maintain calm and non-violence when opinionating about the world and its inhabitant’s.  I say non-violence because the verbal passion that can come up from disagreement’s can be as volatile as hitting a person over the head, if we’re not careful.  Energy has power.  We all feel each other’s energy all the time.  When we’re trying to be slick…you know… passive aggressive, the person we’re sending stuff to, may not tell us that they felt the vibe, but they will feel it.  It’s way too dangerous for any of us to be troublemakers in each other’s lives.  We live at a time in history when we are manifesting more quickly than ever.  No one gets slammed energetically without the slam being felt, even if the person receiving the slam doesn’t realize what happened. 

The part we all will want to be mindful about, any time we send negativity “out there” is to be clear to know that the negativity always comes back to the sender. Consciously acting out is a dangerous game.  If you’ve ever felt beat up by another person’s words, you have been. Your perception of the words belongs to you but you can always ask the person you’re dealing with to speak more respectfully to you.  It’s your responsibility to take good care of you and to do that respectfully.  Slapping someone because you feel they slapped you doesn’t ever work.  You might feel some weird distorted experience of power but that’s all that that is…a weird distortion.

Life is an incredibly sacred experience without a single challenge when we let ourselves let go the need to win.  When we think we need to be right or in control or when winning, no matter what, becomes so big that hurt is the only outcome, no one is safe.  These are all tricky behaviors to pay attention to.  We can’t possibly lose, anywhere, at any time, about anything when we are courageous enough to be honorable. A great person shows greatness to everyone without the need to be acknowledged for doing so. Quiet power is really obvious and really attractive. The  balanced version of power is always safe. 

Food thoughts: speaking of balance….”yes, JE, what about balance you say?” Well, here’s a balanced power breakfast.  Put ¼ cup ground almonds (also called almond flour) into a small bowl.  Add 1 Tbsp. ground flax seeds & one egg, plus, 2 tsp. water, scramble everything together.  If you got some ghee on hand use that or use butter, enough to lightly coat a small (6”) non-stick pan.  I’ve got an old iron skillet that works wonders for this.  Pour the egg/almond mixture into the hot skillet… sprinkle pumpkin seeds over the batter, cook over medium heat until you can tell the pancake is solid enough to flip over.  Flip the pancake and cook until you can tell it’s cooked through.  Put the pancake on a plate and in the same pan add a little more ghee or butter plus one egg. Fry the egg until cooked to your liking. Place the fried egg on the pancake and top with some salsa. A two egg breakfast with the addition of almond protein. That’ll get you through the day….balance….power, yeah! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Reaping Benefit.

by JaneEllen Sexton 

This time of year has such incredible energy and vitality.  The fall harvests are coming in with all the glorious squashes & potatoes, the golden beets & chard and countless other goodies.  Man, Oh Man, good stuff!  Beauty is all around us and taking a breath into your own beauty is so relevant right now.  Breathing into your own beauty will always be relevant but I assure you that if you can give yourself the wealth of acknowledgment, the acknowledgement of your beauty in connection with nature you’ll be so proud of your ability to be a part of life’s expansion.  It can appear that life is dying off as nature takes care of itself at this time of year but the truth is that nature brings us a fabulous mirror as season’s change.  The mirror present in autumn has so much magic, such an amazing sense of cleansing and letting go. The possibility for ritual and ceremony, as season’s change, are natural ways to connect with ourselves, through nature, to focus something as simple as a thank you to the harvest that has shown up.

Life certainly has been difficult for countless people all over this planet for months.  I think the more we remember to be grateful for our own heartbeat the easier life manifests blessings for us.  Any option to feel gratitude for what is balanced in life gives all of us more opportunity to feel our way into the ongoing benefits that are all around us. It’s way too easy to focus on the negativity in the world and we can’t access the natural bounty if we don’t let ourselves even get that abundance is everywhere. I sure hope I’m not sounding like some bleeding-heart here. It’s just that I am feeling lots of gratitude right now for all the “workshops” life has brought my way.  Every experience that comes up in me that is a challenge becomes an exercise in holding on and helping myself take greater care of this kid. Like you, I’m not always thrilled about the tests but there isn’t anything else to do with the tests but clean them up.

Go outside this weekend and quietly notice the beauty you see to give yourself a sense of how effortlessly you can feel the ease around you.  The more we feel life’s magic, just by participating with the real world, the less we bump up against resistance.  The sweetest moments in our lives are usually the most uncomplicated. Pick up a few pumpkins at the farmers market before it shuts down for the season. Maybe your local farmers market has already closed so go to a farm stand that’s not too far away from where you live. Bring your treasure’s home and take the time to carve one of the pumpkins in a way that you never have. Roast another one and make your first pumpkin pie of the season. Why wait until Thanksgiving?

Maybe this fall weekend will become an experience that is completely different than you’ve ever had.  Heat up the freshly pressed cider from the farm stand and create a mulling combination that becomes the new family recipe.  Most of all, really let yourself take your time!!!  Slow down and feel you gifting you with a new way to explore. Watch the kids around you…they’ll teach you how to honor your day.  They don’t care what you think about you they just want to hang out with you. If you don’t have children watch the ones you see. Children have more wisdom than ten adults. Just like nature they take care of their needs without needing to negotiate with themselves to find their joy.  They just do it!  Be a kid this weekend….knock yourself out with too much fun and no work.  Spread your joy, we’d love to feel it! 

Food thoughts: Stir-fried pumpkin for four. If you’ve got a wok, use it…if not use a large skillet to make this in.  2 Tbsp. vegetable oil…1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions…2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger…1 ½ lb. piece of pumpkin,  peeled, seeded & cut into 1” cubes…2 Tbsp. honey…2/3 cup vegetable broth…2 Tbsp. sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.

OK, heat the oil till hot but not smoking on medium-high heat.  Stir-fry the scallions & ginger about 30 seconds.  Add the pumpkin pieces and sauté over high heat for 2 minutes.  Add the honey and coat the pumpkin, tossing everything  together, then pour in the broth. Deglaze & loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer, covered on medium heat for about five minutes or until tender & the pumpkin still holds its shape & texture  BUT after a short time check to see if your liquid has evaporated, if it has add a small amount of vegetable stock or water. You don’t want  the honey to burn on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.  Happy Harvest! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Would You Call Yourself Generous?

by JaneEllen Sexton 

Every time I read another article about what’s happening financially in the world I am confounded by how much confusion there is about the value of money.  There is an enormous separation from the fluidity and expansion of abundance.  I so understand this process because I have experienced this feeling about money at times in my own life.  It helps to know that greater consciousness begets greater living.  Holding on to that reality can be a slippery slope if we’re not aware of our own issues of scarcity.  It amazes me how disconnected some people are to money as a valuable exchange of energy.  I have a friend who told me months ago that his feeling is that there will be an even bigger financial “crash” if financial systems don’t change in a huge way.  He was the chief counsel in a very large insurance company for many years and I value his opinion.  I’m not looking to give power to his words because of his past, professional work.  But, I have noticed, as a result of the conversation I had with him that I can feel how much manipulation there still is in the financial world.

It’s awful that so many people have lost their homes.  These individuals are living in shelters all over this country.  Maybe those people set themselves up but they can’t be dismissed because of that.  I don’t understand how this situation can end without a very scary result if something drastic doesn’t change soon.  The fact that credit scores still seem to matter is beyond me.  How do we create a new process of helping people, helping them no matter what their situation is?  It still doesn’t compute to me that people in trouble should be dismissed without as much as a kind word, let alone a helping hand.  This isn’t about me attempting to save the world.  I just don’t see how it’s possible for any of us, any longer, to pretend that these messes are going to just go away.

I remember when 911 happened how people stepped up and gave to others in a way that was incredibly unconditional.  It felt as if people were so humbled, through the shock, that they allowed themselves to be involved in their communities in ways they had not been before. Generosity is a natural state of being in humans.  Sometimes we forget that about ourselves because we get caught up in our own experiences of survival.  All it takes is the opportunity to regroup, within, to feel abundance immediately. We all know survival, sometimes, better than we know living.

Much of what has happened in the financial world is pretty concerning.  You can’t tell me that there aren’t some very real insecurities lurking in those people who think money is a manipulating tool meant to be squirreled away.  Money has to be considered a friend so that we can identify it for its true nature.  Money equals worthiness.  I have struggled with my own worthiness through my life but I do know that I have to be consistent about cleaning up my issues in order to feel a flow of abundance.  If you can remind yourself that you a generous spirit and then live that reality, aligning with prosperity becomes normal.  A surface level experience of abundance can’t build the security that’s possible.

We can all fill the money we touch with high regard & remind our friends & family to consider this as a possibility in their focus too.  Together, as a community we can absolutely re-identify money.  Every time you hold any form of money in your hands, fill it with value and send that money into the world as a tool for purification of all lack and scarcity.  Money must always be respected because money will always be a sacred exchange of energy.  It might be a treat for you to let in a thought or wish that helps you send value to anyone you know of who isn’t sure that they are cared for.  Give yourself the opportunity to be generous in your actions and energies towards everyone in this world who struggles with their own value.   Feel the value that we all are and will always be.  You know how to do that…it’s who you’ve always been…you’ve always been a generous soul! 

Food thoughts: Cheesy Cauliflower Noodles.  This is a good cold weather meal and a great way to get the kiddos in your clan to eat cauliflower.  Blanch a full, medium-sized head of cauliflower that you’ve cut into 1” pieces, making sure to remove the core and tougher pieces.  You’ll want the cauliflower to be al dente after you’ve blanched it.  Cook up a 1lb. package of the widest egg noodles you can find.  Wide noodles are absolutely kid friendly.  After the noodles are cooked toss them in a bowl with some butter and add a couple tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, put the noodles in a large baking dish & set them aside.  In a sauté pan add some vegetable oil and sauté  ¼ lb. of sliced mushrooms until the liquid runs out of them.  Then add a julienned sweet red pepper and one bunch of sliced scallions.  Cook till the scallions are translucent.  Pull all the vegetables out of the pan you’re working with and then melt (in the same pan) 4 Tbsp. butter and whisk 2 to 3 Tbsp. flour in the pan to make a roux.  Cook through so that the flour is slightly browned, whisking constantly.  Now, slowly pour in milk, probably about 3 to 4 cups and continue to whisk the liquid into the roux.  Keep moving the liquid around to avoid lumps in the sauce.  When the sauce is thickened to your liking stop adding milk but continue to whisk scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan.  The next step is to add as much cheddar cheese, preferably sharp or extra sharp, maybe 2 cups, to complete the sauce.  Add all the vegetables and blanched cauliflower back in the pan.  Adjust the seasonings according to your taste (a fat pinch of cayenne works) with salt & pepper.  Pour the sauce & vegetables over the noodles in your baking dish.  Mix them together and top the dish with a layer of breadcrumbs…Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) are the best for a good crunch.  Bake at 350˚ for about 25 minutes. Easy, cheesy, breezy!  Oh……I almost forgot…….have a GENEROUS portion, you won’t be able to help yourself!!!

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Ode to Gourmet…and Food Thoughts.

by JaneEllen Sexton

Well, boys and girls, I received my final issue of Gourmet magazine in the mail the day before yesterday!  Yep, Gourmet magazine is no longer being published!  How rude!  I remember when I first subscribed to Gourmet some 30 years ago, how much that magazine scared the pants off me.  I’d read ingredient lists in recipes and go “wait a minute what’s arugula…it’s a type of lettuce?  Smoked chicken, never heard of it!”  After having worked in corporate art departments in New York for about two years I was starting to make decent money.  I remember going over to Macy’s on 34^th Street, to the “Cellar” where I bought my first three pieces of Le Creuset and the first two Master Chef (now called All-Clad) pans and a Zyliss garlic press.  Man, I was a happy kid!  At that point I had no idea I’d be a chef/caterer eight years later.  In 1984 I let go of my graphic design business and began my professional cooking life.  I met a woman on the corner of my block in TriBeCa.  She was carrying some cake boxes from a wholesale cake company across the street from me.  I never went in that bakery because it wasn’t open to the public.  So, I stopped the woman and asked her, “is that stuff any good?”.  She sat down on one of the loading docks near where we were standing and we ended up talking for a while.  It turned out she had one of the top 10 catering businesses in NYC at that point in history.  The following week I was working for her.  I spent a season working in her company in Brooklyn learning the ropes of catering and then freelanced for many different catering companies in the city before I went off to begin my own business about two years later.  Because I grew up doing a lot of the cooking for a group of 13 (including me), catering became the perfect outlet.  I got to work in some of those amazing Park Avenue apartment buildings with the elevators that would take you straight up to an entrance that went right into the host’s kitchen.  I remember the two story, pink marble entrance way for a CEO that blew me away.  One client had gold, platinum and silver records lining many of the walls in their home that knocked me out.  Many of the clients I never met personally because “their people” would contact me to set up the soirée.  The Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Met were among many of the incredible locations for parties I assisted at with desserts so involved you wouldn’t want to eat them.  Like the sugar-coated, frosted grapes that took all day to put together that garnished the frozen cassis mousse.  I learned to do crudités baskets that were like floral arrangements and I would approach a guest or two staring at the vegetable creations and say, “I made that, I give you permission to eat it.”  It was fun stuff designing food as art.  At some point in the early 1990s once a month there was a function at Steinway Hall, the classic Steinway piano showroom, and I’d get to set up amazing displays that were literally the centerpiece of the room.  Food, flowers, hors d’oeuvres, with gorgeous cater-waiters carrying beautifully displayed food.  OY…what a world!

And, here we are, years of self-training and thousands of recipes later my old friend Gourmet magazine is side-lined, never to be published again.  I still make decisions about something I’m cooking based on the ingredients I see in a recipe.  Usually combinations of produce inspire me to create a pot of something that I change the order and amounts of ingredients for anyway.  But it seems so weird to me that Conde Nast is shelving this classic publication.  Not enough subscribers and advertisers, I’m guessing.  So many people don’t cook for their families, partially out of convenience, and usually because they don’t think they have the time to make their own food.  I think sometimes people are hoping that the food shows will help them vicariously assimilate the flavor of a pizza from a wood burning oven or something.  All it takes is a commitment to the quality of what you want to put in your body and the bodies of your own family.  Once you take the opportunity to “play” with your food, and I emphasize PLAY, you will find out it can be such a treat to create your own food experience.  Another part of the food world I worked in years ago was to produce the recipes from newly published cookbooks for the authors who would be on a show like the Today show.  Sometimes these authors didn’t recipe test their creations and I’d be up until three in the morning testing and re-testing the recipe, for presentation, that needed to be on air at 6 or 7 A.M. when the recipe was wrong in the cookbook  to begin with!  People don’t trust themselves in the kitchen because of cookbooks that have mistakes in them and usually the person producing the recipe doesn’t even know the recipe is wrong.  So this is where you really want to focus on the experimentation and play in your home kitchen.  Give yourself plenty of room for what might feel like error, but you may also be pleasantly surprised that the combinations you come up with can become your most cherished family meals.  Food should always bring you a joyful and nurturing connection to your own life and the creative person you are.  Even if burning the biscuits frustrates you don’t worry about it, just go for it.  Pick up the old Gourmet magazines that show up at garage sales, or any where you see them for sale out in the world.  You will always be happy to use this fabulous publication.  It’s a treat!

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Hardening of the Attitudes!

by JaneEllen Sexton

I can’t tell you kids how often my thoughts and feelings have been against me lately.  It is so hard for me to give myself a five-second break. So, I figured this is probably the best place to start writing this blog.  I’ve called this feeling of me against me, “hardening of the attitudes”,  for years.  What stinks about it is how difficult it feels, in these experiences, to give myself a break.  The break where I get to be-friend me no matter what I think about me.  The old dynamic of self-disgust has me feeling like “the bad girl” and I just don’t want to be the responsible adult right now.  When I look at how true it is that my own spirit doesn’t give a toot about my opinion of me and that I’m still supported, there is some consolation in that. What I’m tangling with is giving me the right to be kind and generous when I feel like I don’t deserve my help. It’s also clear how easily I’m opinionating about other people (in my head) and their unwillingness to move out of discomfort because I certainly know what that feels like, right now!  So, the projector in me has the floor more often than the loving, empowered woman. That guilty catholic is definitely dying away and that’s the good news here. I won’t go to hell for being a “bad girl” because there isn’t ever going to be a place called hell.  It just doesn’t exist and I’ve got to tell you that absolutely changes everything.

I decided that one of the best ways to clear this schmutz up is to write out what’s going on in me and get it out of my system without beating the cr*p out me any longer than as long as it takes to write this blog.  It helps me to be honest with myself about my resistances because I really don’t get to hide from this stuff very often anymore.  Knowing how to be clean with me will be an ongoing experience for as long as I live a human existence. There is no part of this writing that causes me to want people to say “oh, poor JE”.  I’m merely sharing what the process is. I do understand that as long as I tell myself I’m a “bad girl” I’ll be trapped in guilt and shame.  The shame of the past has so much to do with why any of us struggle with ourselves.  When you’re born “wrong” the work goes on and on until one day the permission to be a fabulous light, lines up & never goes away.  That’s my suggestion for all of us.  Find the depth that lives within you because it is there. It’s the depth of your greatest vision and version of you.  The thoughts of against-ness are only a temporary story.  They will effect what you feel about you but they don’t ever have the power to take away the truth.  The truth that you are now and will always be, a great God being created of loving light.  Just because your intellect might not get that has no weight in the laws of this universe.  God isn’t some guy out there…you are God.  Maybe you don’t feel like that’s your truth right now, well, OK.  Give yourself the spiritual support of being honest enough to let yourself hang-out with the critic and when you’re done you’ll know. You always know, we all know! 

Food thoughts:  the slug in me has no big bad groovy recipe up my sleeve today. I’m ready for a NAP!  Open the fridge, the kitchen cupboards and make something fabulous happen. Remember, eggs always work, you know what to do. Keep the faith…the faith in YOU!

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Whose Shoes are Those Anyway?

by JaneEllen Sexton 

We all know how easy it can be to judge other peoples’  behavior.  The critic in me will focus on “your B.S.” if I’m in judgment of me.  In those moments of insecurity we all would do well to help ourselves be mindful of what is happening in “ME”.  Today, a fabulous gift was given to Barack Obama and one of the immediate responses in the world was criticism. Criticism usually comes from insecure people who get off on bringing greatness down.  I’m not looking to be the cheerleader for Barack Obama here. What I’m looking at is, how often people who don’t agree with a situation will dismiss that experience because they think it will give them a sense of power.  I only know my insecurities, just like you only know yours and for either one of us to want to knock someone off their respective horse creates more insecurity than we might recognize.  Life can feel so flippin’ fragile so why in heaven and earth’s name do we set up dynamics of separation.  None of us can thrive in a world of separation and that’s exactly what judgment manifests….separation.  The separation builds isolation and isolation builds more insecurity…and on & on!  Remember the definition of insanity?  Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Give yourself a new opportunity to bless others in your respectful thoughts and wishes for them.  Send a hug to that person you “can’t stand” because the only possible way to dig yourself out of the hole of judgment is to lighten up on them and YOU!  Every single moment of our conscious lives we are projecting out into the world what we know about ourselves.  If we think life sucks it will!  If you want life to be softer it is your responsibility to soften your connect to you and life will show up more softly.  No one gets away with a thing and attempting to kid ourselves about anything just doesn’t work. It is impossible for any of us to truly know what is happening in the consciousness of another person unless they share their innermost feelings and experiences with us.  Whatever would cause a human being to feel the need to diminish another human being has solely to do with whatever it is that that person is holding onto about themselves.

Here’s the easy part…leave them alone!!!  Don’t throw something out there that hurts another because the laws in life will bring that energy right back to you and, it comes back in a heartbeat.  You are the creator whether you like it or not!  Create support, create greatness & create joyful living that you can feel satisfied with. We all know how fabulous you are.  I’m here to send you a big ol’ hug right now! We don’t have to have lunch together for me to send you a hug.  Breathe it in Honey’s.  Receive your approval from YOU right NOW!  You so deserve to be acknowledged by you, for you, about you. You’re the greatest!  Somewhere you know that, so why not know that now. Feel the permission to give in to it!  Many Blessings! 

Food thoughts: beets are showing up as farmers markets start to wind down.  If you haven’t roasted beets you’ll never eat them any other way ever again. Preheat your oven to 450F.  Wash the beets really well & get all the grit and sand off of them. It’s no fun to bite into dirt. Trim the green end close to the surface without cutting off the end totally and trim off the long tip of the root. Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil and to keep from wasting too much foil pull out a piece long enough that you can then rip horizontally to be the size that works to completely cover each beet.  Put all the beets in a baking dish, it doesn’t matter if you roast 20 of them at a time…pack them in the dish.  Pop them in the oven for a good hour.  Test for doneness by putting a sharp knife into one of the beets to see if it feels like the knife goes through easily.

Now, here’s the fun part.  Take the beets out of the foil when they’re cool enough to handle.  Put them all in a container that works for you, put them in the refrigerator and eat them cold whenever you  feel so inclined . Peel off the outside layer (skin) as you eat them. You can also make a salad by slicing the beets in ¼ inch rounds, horizontally. Put the beet slices in an overlapping pattern on a gorgeous plate. Crumble some of your favorite blue cheese on top and then top that with some toasted walnuts.  A drizzle of either walnut oil or extra virgin olive oil to finish will complete the salad.  Other options are feta cheese instead of blue and arugula under the beets for a fuller first course. If you’re having a dinner party pick up some edible flowers and garnish the salad with them. You’ll be the star of your evening…..food as art boys and girls…..have a great weekend! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

Body Memory.

by JaneEllen Sexton

I had a very interesting experience of feeling what I would describe as body memory, earlier today. It gave me a new definition for the reality of body memory.  I’ve been aware, for a long time about the process of clearing the past in the present because I’ve always made sure that I have been my first client. During the years that intuitive life coaching  has been my lifes’ work the learning has always started with me.  In the first part of my life denial was my protection.  I began at about 30 to let myself get honest about how often I was hiding.  Since then I’ve found continuous ways to self-heal by being honest with me.  I know that it has been more work to attempt to “get away with stuff” than it has been to face my bu*#sh*@!  But it wasn’t easy to look at the issues I now refer to as buried treasure.  This morning I felt a recreation of something that happened when I was probably 25 to 28, before I was even sober.  Out of nowhere, I was back in my apartment in Tribeca and I could actually feel  an experience I went through that I did not deal with then because at that point in my history feelings were not safe yet.  What I’m most grateful for, in this sensation that showed up,  is that I could identify the moment when these feelings were there and it is so clear how quickly I pushed them down.  My point here, is that sometimes we will disconnect from emotion that we don’t trust ourselves to handle and covering up the moment with something else becomes normal. We all come up with survival techniques that serve us.  But what will unfold, the more you want to know you, is a place where you’ll re-experience what you didn’t finish from back then. That’s a given. You’ll discover that the opportunity to help yourself want to know beats the crap out of denial any day.

As I was feeling this old unfinished business, this morning, I noticed that I was feeling resentful of another person I know now.  What I got to was a knowing, now, about what happened, then, and it helped me immediately want to “clean-up” the resentment I was holding this morning as well as letting go of the feelings from the past.   The part that was so amazing was how clear it was that I was feeling both emotion and a physical experience of emotion.  I’d like to bring that to your attention so that you might find your way into trusting yourself emotionally when you feel an amplification of energy from emotion.  Does that makes sense?  There are so many gifts available to all of us when we choose emotional honesty.  The biggest one is…you don’t have to like what you’re dealing with…but…you do have to face you.  Once you honor yourself in this way it becomes almost impossible to be unsafe emotionally ever again.  Respect yourself…always…it is the only way to fly!

Food thoughts: the farm share  I received last Thursday had a boatload of green, purple and cubanelle peppers in it.  Stuffed peppers were one of those dinners many of us suffered through as kids.  Here’s a vegetarian version you can try if you’re up for it.  Cook up one cup of any kind of rice you like.  This should be enough rice  (cooked, about 4 cups) to fill 4 large or 6 medium peppers.  Clean out all those pesky little pieces of leftover, raw vegetables, like the half onion, the quarter piece of cabbage with whatever else you find in the produce drawer. Saute them in some olive oil.  Grate a medium sized carrot and a whole medium sized  zucchini.  Put the grated uncooked vegetables in a large bowl, add in the cooked rice, the sauteed vegetables and throw in that half used can of  tomatoes.   1/2  teaspoon of dried thyme leaves and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes go into the bowl too. You can add 2 tablespoons of any non-salt seasoning combination you’ve got in your cupboard, like Mrs. Dash or Spike.  Any chopped nuts you want, about 1/4 cup and another 1/4 cup of toasted sunflower seeds, go in next.  Some salt & pepper and toss everything together.  The way to get the peppers to stand up straight is to trim a tiny bit off the bottoms that give you an even surface without cutting a hole in the bottom.  Stand those kids up in a 3 quart souffle dish or a baking dish that has a lid & can go in the oven.  After you’ve put the peppers in your baking dish fill them full with the rice/veg combo and pack them well.  Top each pepper with one whole tomato, either fresh or from the can. Basically, pull the tomato open to flatten it over each pepper.  Cover the pan and bake in a pre-heated 350F. oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  Grate a little cheddar on top and serve.  Use any combination of grain and vegetables you want. You can also set these peppers up and freeze then uncooked for up to 3 months.  Experiment away! 

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

If Only’s.

by JaneEllen Sexton

Man, remorse can be a crippling and painful experience.  So much time and energy focused on what did or didn’t happen.  So many moments of unfinished business and all of it a complete waste of energy.  Nobody will ever have quite the same check list on you that you do.  Giving up the sadness can be the hardest part of the “if only” mindset.  When you find yourself feeling locked into “if only’s”  it might be in your best interest to really look at how you got there and remember that you’ve got to start somewhere so why not start here & now.  Whatever you think you did or didn’t do has no weight once you do start.  Shifting your thoughts about what a “bad kid” you think you are is an amazing start.  You are in charge of your thoughts and you’re the only person who can change your perceptions about you.  If you want to be supported in life you can’t expect support to fall out of a tree.  You have to actively be engaged in your “recovery”.  Recovering from diminished and usually, self-imposed,  brainwashing can be a terrible road to climb but no person can do this for you.  You might feel that you are under such a huge pile of self-degradation that you’ll never be able to get back up…but you know what?  You will, because there isn’t anything wrong with you…you just think there is!  As hard as life might feel…right now…there is a new beginning awaiting you through the simplicity available in your next inhalation.  Breathe!  Then, breathe again…and again, until you find your way back to you. 

You might not believe this but you are still a perfect expression of the light and you will always be a perfect creature of perfect harmony…so, let yourself go there.  Go to that place of comfort that your mind wants when you feel the most out of alignment with love.  Love and your ability to love is what caused you to choose life.  You didn’t just sort of end up here.  You chose life and cooperating with you is now and will always be your greatest work in this life. Cooperate with your true identity, not some made up, half baked version.  There is no limitation…you just think there is.  You see boys & girls, we are all dealing with many of the same issues.  Sharing yourself with other people helps eliminate the isolation you sometimes find yourself in.  We all want you here.  We all need you to be here.  Even if we don’t know each other we do need each other so that we can share that sense of community that provides the flow in life.  If you feel the urge to  run, we will feel the loss of you when you run away. We are all filled with loving sensitivity and we will miss your shining energy. Know that you are needed.  If you were the only human on this planet you’s probably miss the rest of us.  Well, that’s what we’ll feel about you….you will be missed when you run from yourself because we do all want you here.  One less light really does effect us all!

Food thoughts:  check out the world of chia seeds. I’m about to learn more about the value of the omega 3’s that they have.  I’ll keep you posted on what I feel.  My pal Dawn is bringing me a product tomorrow that I’ll be taking for the next month.  Seems that chia seeds have more goodies than green “hairyness” for growing on a terra cotta pet!!!  Eat your omega three’s! Yep!

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.