Magnesium sulfate...who knew?

March 8, 2010

I've been drawing myself evening epsom salt baths to help speed the recovery of my feet and while they feel incredibly good, I was curious to know more about the health benefits....I found this incredibly interesting:

Researchers and physicians suggest these health benefits from proper magnesium and sulfate levels, as listed on the web site of the Epsom Salt Industry Council:

• Improved heart and circulatory health, reducing irregular heartbeats, preventing hardening of the arteries, reducing blood clots and lowering blood pressure.
• Improved ability for the body to use insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.
• Flushed toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances.
• Improved nerve function by electrolyte regulation. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium levels in the blood.
• Relieved stress. Excess adrenaline and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of well being and relaxation.
• Reduced inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps.
• Improved oxygen use.
• Improved absorption of nutrients.
• Improved formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins.
• Prevention or easing of migraine headaches.

All this from a bath, hurray! While there are many different brands of Epsom salt, they are all the same product chemically, and can even be found at a feed store. Add 3-5 cups of Epsom salt and soak for at least 12 minutes. Do this three times weekly.

A peanut sauce to write home about...

The Meat Lover's Vegetarian Cookbook Steven Ferry and Tanya Petrovna

Here's the recipe from the book:

Makes 4 cups
10 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped medium
6 cloves garlic, sliced finely
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
1 14-oz can of coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp red chili flakes

1. Saute onions and garlic in oil until transparent.
2. Place onion and garlic mixture in a blender or food processor, together with other ingredients. Blend thoroughly into smooth paste. Serve warm.

Here's how I did improv with the ingredients I had laying around:

I used oat milk instead of coconut milk and bragg's instead of soy sauce and ground peanut butter instead of whole peanuts and a combo of agave and maple syrup. Oh, and no chili flakes...SO, one could say this is an entirely different recipe! All that is missing are cilantro and green onions!

Episode 6...

This was my latest art piece for Leave No Plastic Behind and it was a really fun one to watch it fall into place. I decided to use a melange of mediums: shoe molds, tea bag tags, wine corks, bottle caps, gardening signs, old credit cards and natural paper.

Here's a good little article that came out on our art collective:
http://www.good.is/post/how-to-make-an-american-quilt-out-of-plastic

You Don't Look, Period - Hebrew Mamita

A elder friend of mine passed this along and it's worth the post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubdGjzzJiVs

I liked that it challenged even my own expectations around being a Jewish woman....spoken word is not typical of the Jewish culture...that I'm aware...I liked how strong and confident this woman is and I like that in that tiny amount of time my heart was changed and that this was partially why she did this piece: I managed to learn something new about my culture, feel reaffirmed as a Jew, and let go of some of my stereotypes. I also like that the audience was full of people of color and that she wasn't preaching to the choir. oh, and a lot of what she shared reminded me of some of my inner homophobia and some of the things I've already been confronted with (you're gay? with an expression following that suggests I don't seem gay because I don't "look gay").

My Sweet Charlie

Ode to Charlie - February 20, 2010

It is hard to imagine that Charlie came into my seven fateful years ago. I was on my way up to leading a workshop in the bay area at an student animal rights conference (about a 10 hour drive). My dear friend, Kathy Kan and I who had both studied the egregious impacts of animal agribusiness, decided that we would stop off in the Chino area, AKA armpit of the dairy industry, to capture some photos and take some footage of the conditions. I knew this footage would lend further credibility to my presentations in school classrooms.

In searching for dairy lots, we came across a veal ranch instead (baby calves stripped away from their mothers at 1-2 days of age - often chained at the neck and unable to even turn around in their tiny stalls so as to produce the highly demanded anemic flesh, otherwise known as veal - such a euphemism) and decided to use our video camera to document what we could from the side of the highway. My heart was broken within the first minute...seeing baby calves deprived of every shred of decency, anything that is natural to them.

But something else quickly caught our attention. Sitting in plain view was a small, shivering dog. He looked terrified and as we approached him, he took off running towards the barbed wire fence that separated the veal farm from the highway.  Fortunately, Kathy grabbed his back legs just as he nearly slipped through the fencing and he reached back to bit her. Tellingly, he didn't break skin. He was skittish and displayed definite signs of having been neglected or abused. We quickly discovered he had a lacerated shoulder and knew he needed immediate veterinarian help...Kathy used her wildlife rehab knowledge and compressed his shoulder with a handful of grass to stop the bleeding. It worked like a charm. Who knew? Good thinking.

We scooped him up, decided to leave the site in search of a local vet...I had no desire to find his "owner" - who would abandon a young pup and leave him without any identification...perhaps he never had a home at all, but if he did, he wasn't going back. We found a vet clinic about 5 miles away and they happened to have one remaining appointment slot and 15 minutes before closing. Upon entering the clinic, we were asked for Charlie's name and since he was unnamed, they assigned "stray" to him. His name would eventually become Sikora (the last name of a mentor and dear friend who had a similar rescue story) and then finally Charlie.

They said he was about one-year-of age and they based that on his dental records. After some x-rays ruled out major issues like having been shot, he was given Rimadyl and Clavamox and we were well on our way. We had a 9 hour drive ahead of us and Charlie happily konked out for most of it. He was virtually silent, the antithesis of the personality I'd see develop months down the road - my fiesty, scrappy, protector! Kathy lives in Maine and she knew she could not adopt him. At the time, my sister and I were living with three cats and a rabbit and the possibility of bringing a hunting breed (terrier) into the house seemed a recipe for disaster. Yet my heart could barely handle the thought of adopting him to someone and leaving him behind in San Francisco. I visited the potential of having my parents foster him, but every idea I had faded with each passing hour on the drive back.

Charlie is my best friend here in Oregon - he's loyal, incredibly bright, completely zany, gets away with anything with his pools-of-chocolate eyes, is consistently stubborn and one of my best teachers. He's grown immensely since we moved to Oregon - his trust in others had noticeably shifted. He's just about the cutest dog around. We've shared countless fun memories together and I am so happy he's in my life.

I love you and honor you today, Charlie. Happy eight birthday - here's to many more. xo, Dani