Honest Nourishment
to bring you closer to yourself & Mother Earth
I feel earth beneath me…
I feel its breath around me
beneath my feet and in the trees.
The wind whisps and tells me to remember.
I remember the silent words it speaks ever so clearly.
I remember to listen because I know its truths so deep.
The words are woven into my being like a tangle of roots
holding me like a mother holds its child.
I am your child. You are my mother. You give me life.
You whisper softly, I listen close.
And I remember.
I hope you enjoy reading and find inspiration or commonality through my relationship with food, my ancestry, spirit & the earth as a whole.
I love nothing more than having my hands in the dirt, connecting with the earth
Growing food and medicine in my backyard, eating breakfast in the sunshine and dinner by candlelight.
Convenience takes the joy out of everything…
Tending slowly to a big batch of beans cooking on the stove while bread is rising on the counter with a roast in the oven…
Enjoying cookies, cake & pie because of the love and time I put into making them while naming each ingredient as I mix the batter.
Making blueberry pancakes on Sunday and lazing about all day long.
I find joy, comfort and healing in plants and medicine of the earth…
A simple delight in a cup of lemon balm & lavender tea.
Living in rhythm with the earth and tending the land is inherent in all of us we just need to find the space within us to remember… The knowing runs deep in our bones, it’s the wisdom that calls to us from the wind through the trees. Everything we need is provided for us by the grace of the Mother. When we reintegrate this connection we feel grounded and whole.
Getting down to earth and rediscovering our roots…
I find the truth of nourishment is in my bones and inherently eating as my ancestors did. I could live off of meats, cheeses, fruits & olives while dipping fresh bread into my wine. As I drink my yolky latte, my mother reminds me that my Nonnu use to drink the same. I remember as a little girl helping him make fresh sausage, pressing the meat through the mincer to fill the lamb intestine casing, teaching me the intention and intelligence of nature through using all parts of an animal and letting nothing go to waste. And the stories of the goats hung to drain in the basement of the house I grew up in and the garden in the backyard and photos of the summer kitchen with my great-grandmother standing at the basin rinsing freshly picked vegetables. Weaving their way of life in Sicily into their new lives here in America. Eventually, as the elders passed on and as my family became more accustomed to their lives here some things began to change and as time passed they stopped hanging the goats to drain in the basement. However, as I believe I am one of the lucky ones, where my family didn’t submit completely to the new ways of life, held tradition and didn’t stray far from their roots. We uphold these traditions by incorporating ancestral foods into our family meals as well as partaking in the celebrations of our hometown. I am honored that still to this day I have a connection to the motherland as well as having so many family members here that remember with great pride, where they came from. And when I garden I feel closer to my ancestors, I remember my grandparents and great-great grandparents with their hands in the dirt, in the kitchen, feeding our family.
And if I can dream, truly dream, then I dream to reclaim my family farm in Sicily with my cousins by my side, tending the lost land. First, I will have to repave the road there.
Embodying Honest Nourishment…
I want to eat for nourishment & enjoyment, in equal amounts.
As simple as eating real, whole foods, moving our bodies & tending to our minds, but most importantly, just relaxing, slowing down & generally taking it easier on ourselves… Finding your breath over the course of your day & taking moments for small rituals. Greeting the dawn by stepping outside with your coffee, sitting down for breakfast, without distractions and savoring the meal in front of you, maybe having a conversation with your sweetie while tossing blueberries into each others mouths… Eating lunch in the sunshine, taking a moment to rest your mind from work & going for a walk. As simple as, putting your phone away, a true delight.
Connecting with the land by growing something, anything, I promise just growing a few herbs will change your life. Trust that there is nothing better than a ripe tomato off the vine, plucking fresh string beans for dinner or drying a bundle of herbs to use for months to come. Going to your local farmers market, farm stands & health food stores to support your community… The devotion to taking that time to do so is equally effective. This is one of my non-negotiables, which makes eating in this way so easy.
My pantry staples:
2+ dozen pasture-raised eggs
1 gallon of raw milk (+ a jar or two in the freezer)
sea salt
grass-fed butter
sourdough & flour
a whole chicken + a few different cuts of meat
an assortment vegetables (mostly what is in season or frozen from the summer prior)
leafy greens
fruit, raw honey & an abundance of herbs
I opt for things like raw milk and grass-fed butter because it is full of all the essential nutrients as nature intended, not debased, broken down and then restructured with artificial ingredients, hormones and all kinds of nonsense. It is within this pantry that encompasses my nutrition. The cookies and pies become wholesome when I add sourdough starter to aid digestion and the use of other natural, unprocessed ingredients. It is within the seed oils, overly-processed and artificial ingredients which destroy your health.
Everything in nature is holy, everything is touched by god
I want to taste that richness and wholeness of nature and let it nourish my entire being.
Always remember, our Mother has created everything we need to survive. Return to that holiness of the earth. Return to the roots of nutrition and recall the ways of our ancestors to bring us closer to ourselves & Mother Earth.
My wish is to inspire you to find joy in rest and to remember your own deep-rooted knowing of how to nourish yourself
Because convenience takes the joy out of everything
And I’m hellbent on reclaiming my body and the earth as a sacred space and you should be too.