Taco Buffet

Tacos are a favorite for all.  When you can put together a buffet style, make-your-own  taco line-up, dinner couldn't be better.

Invite friends over and prepare the ingredients together or have the spread ready before your guests arrive.  Either way, your dinner parties are sure to please!

1 package, 18 taco shells warmed in oven (or 2 pkgs. tostada shells) 

3 lbs lean ground beef or chicken

2 large onions

2 cans black refried beans

1 package Mexican shredded cheese

1 head iceberg lettuce (shredded)

6 roma tomatos (chopped)

2 cans black olives (sliced)

1 container sour cream

1 jar salsa

3 medium avocados (mashed)

Meat Seasoning:

chili powder (to taste)

paprika

garlic powder

dried onion flakes

dash of basil and oregano

splash red wine vinegar

Cook beef or chicken on stove top.  Drain any fat.  Add a tbsp. olive oil and saute onions until translucent.  Add the meat seasoning ingredients.

Assemble the buffet for guests to help themselves.

Taco shells

Refried Beans

Mexican Cheese

Beef or Chicken (or a veggie mix for those who prefer, sliced peppers)

Tomatos

Olives

And, the condiments: sour cream, salsa, and avocado (guacamole)

Serves 6 guests (hearty portions)

Knee Health and Newton's Law

Whether you run, play tennis, enjoy team sports, or frankly, move at all, you may be at risk for a knee injury.  Joints are intricate pieces of machinery.  Prone to wear and tear as well as stress and twists.  Recovery can be long and arduous, but there are ways to build up your strength, possibly delay or remove the need for surgery, or best of all, keep them strong before you fall into the group of athletes or chronic pain sufferers known for their "bum knees".

As most of us know, swimming and cycling are the sports recommended most for those suffering from knee problems.  Swimming not only builds strength, but water workouts provide cushion and stability, as well as a healthy form of resistance exercise for our muscles and joints.  

Cycling may present an initial challenge.  You may feel a few cracks or creaks if you do have an injury.  Start easy and listen to your body's messages about when to back off a bit.  In the long term, if you can deal with the strange feeling and noises emanating from your joint, the payoffs are tremendous.  Essentially, cycling holds the key to naturally solving knee problems.  The quadriceps.  Quadricep strength and building these muscles supports your knee and takes a lot of the pressure off of the joint itself.  The "work" belongs to the muscle group, where it belongs.  Not left to a set of bones (your knee joint) and the delicate cartilage that allows the joint to provide mobility and rotation.  

Runner's World describes, "When you walk, you keep your legs mostly straight, and your center of gravity rides along fairly smoothly on top of your legs. In running, we actually jump from one foot to the other. Each jump raises our center of gravity when we take off, and lowers it when we land, since we bend the knee to absorb the shock. This continual rise and fall of our weight requires a tremendous amount of Newtonian force (fighting gravity) on both takeoff and landing."

Imagine the force we don't even consider as we enjoy the most natural sport or activity of them all!  

Cross-training is for real.  Take some of that force off of those joints once in awhile.  You'll get better mileage!  Swim if you can -- and cycle -- most definitely.  Maybe there's a reason we never forget how to ride a bike!

Stress Breath

Stress relief is simpler than you think.  When you feel that unmistakeable rise in your heart rate or that tightness in your muscles, there is a quick way to restore a sense of calm.  You may not have the time or place for an extended workout or a few moments to meditate or perform your favorite relaxation exercises.  Maybe a public speaking engagement is moments away.

Try this quick cleanse.  It won't require your running shoes or visualizing a tropical island!

Just once, inhale as deeply as you can, filling your entire diaphragm with air, imagining that you will be blowing into a balloon. Exhale through your lips as if you are trying to fill the balloon with as much air as possible.  Holding your lips in a "balloon blowing", pursed manner is a very important part of this exercise -- as is blowing out as if it is a balloon you are attempting to inflate.

You will feel the immediate difference this makes.  If you have not yet made breathing exercises an important part of your health routine, this may be your chance to introduce yourself to healthy breathing!

It is surprising how long we sustain ourselves on shallow breathing -- expecting that our bodies and minds can function on so little of what we need to survive -- oxygen!!  We drink water, eat, sleep, exercise...it's amazing...what we too often forget?  Breathing...feel the difference.  Take a Stress Breath...and feed oxygen to the starving tissues of your mind and body.  They will thank you for it!

Meant to Hear

With the exception of someone explicitly asking or crying out for help, most of us do our best not to overhear conversations.  To not...eavesdrop.  However, after reading a bit about "awareness" and listening to messages around us, messages that are essentially meant for us, I left to take a walk and photograph some scenes at a local pier.  Not even "aware" that what I had read had left that much of an impression on me.

Minding my own business, or so I thought, I was standing and photographing a scene when I heard an unlikely group of friends approaching.  A well-dressed man and woman were casually walking toward me.  They appeared to live a comfortable life.  Well-kept clothing.  They carried the accessories of tourists traveling the coast.  Beside them, a bearded man, draped in a heavy, worn, over-sized coat.  His shoulders round and hunched under the weight of a tremendous knapsack.  Garbage bags filled the tilted, twisted bike basket on the front of his rickety, rusted, squeaking metal machine that had obviously seen better days.  He rolled his old mangled friend alongside his limping left leg with all the respect that a man of his means could give his true love and most-prized possession.

I didn't hear the majority of the discussion.  Thank goodness.  I always feel that I have more than enough of my own business to attend to without even thinking about hearing others' conversations.  But, I did hear one line.  One line rose above the sweet sound of the fog horn and shouts of fisherman advertising their catches.

The homeless stranger, who I now consider a sage, let out a prickly, gruff noise and out came a statement that said so much in so few words.

Out from behind his grizzly beard he snorted, "Why would I give an opinion about something I know nothing about"?

Wow.  The context was irrelevant.  The statement rang true.  A truth that stood alone.  A fact that simply existed.  Outside of space and time.  Untouched by the limits of any one conversation.

How many of us could learn so much from just that?  Just listening, learning, seeking, keeping the peace by not feeling that our opinions were necessary.  Just listening or saying the dreaded, "I don't know".  Not having all the answers for things which we just truly can't answer.  Allowing the words of those with greater personal experience just stand.  Uncontested.  Humbly admit we just know nothing...until we know something -- and being comfortable in acknowledging our uncertainty.

I don't know where you are, Sir.  I don't know if you still carry your cumbersome load and you continue to stroll your seasoned machine down the sidewalk or into the brush by the sea.  I do know that you changed my life, and I will never forget the mark you made on me personally.  The gift you gave to me.  A question that I will remember far longer than my "eavesdropping" reading.

What's strangely sad for me?  I will never be able to tell you, "Thank you".  But, Sir, thank you...wherever the road takes you...thank you.  From me.  A sweet lesson I will never forget.  Words I was meant to hear.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Without exception, this version of the classic Mediterranean Pasta Salad outshines them all.  Try it yourself and compare the others.  You won't be disappointed.  Serve warm or make ahead and chill for later.  We can assure you, it won't last long!

This recipe can be doubled or tripled.  If you're like us, it will have to be!

7 oz. pesto sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
9 oz. cooked tortellini (cheese or garlic)
1 small cucumber (sliced and 1/4 ed)
1 medium red bell pepper (cut in strips)
1 cup, 1/4 ed cherry tomatoes (or roma)
1/4 cup sliced, pitted, ripe black olives
2 tbsps. chopped red onion
2 oz. feta cheese (crumbled or sliced)

Mix pesto and vinegar.  Add all ingredients except the cheese.  Toss in feta before serving.

Amazing!

Green Clay Mask for Men and Women

Out-of-this-world tranquility using only natural "of-this-world" ingredients!

Don't wish, wait and hope for the day that you'll have time to care for and cleanse your mind and body.   Seize this day and create your own at home spa experience. Create your own oasis and approach your life with new found clarity and focus.  You will become your very own source of tranquility and inspiration.

If you have never experienced the benefits, both physically and mentally, of a clay mask, it is definitely time to do so.  There is no doubt that having a dutiful spa technician prepare and apply a mask is a wonderful luxury, but you may find that it is next to impossible to just work in the time to schedule the appointment.  Planning relaxation becomes a stress in and of itself.

Sure.  You may not want to answer the door bell while you're enjoying the mask at home.  But, after all, isn't that the idea?

A simple clay mask will amaze you with its benefits as you productivity improves, your senses become far more acute, and your focus will become remarkable.  If that's not enough, you will actually be physically healthier and look refreshed as well.  So, add this simple, homemade spa mask recipe to those index cards for healthy dinner possibilities and make this a staple -- stay healthy on the inside and out!

2 TBS Green Clay
1 tsp. aloe vera gel
1 tsp. macadamia oil
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. pumpkin seed oil (or almond, olive or sesame oil)
3 tsp green tea (or variation 3 tsp. sandlewood hydrosol)
5 drops vitamin E (optional)
1 drop roman chamomile
1 drop sandlewood
1 drop ylang ylang

Mix until smooth, spreadable "mud-like" texture.  Apply to face, neck, and upper chest for 15 minutes, once a week.  Do not apply more often.  This healing clay has very strong cleansing properties.  Makes approximately 2 masks.  Refrigerate and use within one month.  Warm container in a warm water bath for any refrigerated portions.

After cleansing:  Finish with a cucumber hydrosol spritz and light application of almond oil.

Recommendations:
While enjoying the mask, place chilled cucumber slices over the eyes and play soothing music to provide additional health benefits.  Tibetan flute, chants, or meditation music is a perfect accompaniment.