Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

This creamy butternut squash soup is just so delicious. I suggest you balance this recipe with some fresh and enzyme-rich food. Add raw, living, whole and fresh foods to your diet and feel the energizing affect it has on your body and mind, how it strengthens your immune system, improves your health and slows down the aging process. My suggestion is to eat a green salad prior to this soup. It will make a huge difference in the way your digestive system works and how you eliminate.

MAKES 6 to 8 SERVINGS

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large onion, cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon Celtic or Himalayan sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 stick cinnamon
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded cut into 1-inch cubes (See Cathy's Tips below)
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 quart filtered water or low sodium vegetable broth (I like Pacific Natural Foods)
½-1 cup apple juice
Ground cinnamon for garnishing the soup

Warm the oil over moderate heat in a large pan. Sauté the onion and salt for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the ginger, cinnamon and garlic and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add the squash, carrot, water and ½ the apple juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until the squash and carrot are ready. Remove the cinnamon stick and puree until creamy.

If the soup is too thick, add some more juice or water. Serve the soup sprinkled with cinnamon.

Cathy’s Tips: To help with the squash, put it in the oven, whole, at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes. After letting it cool, peel and cut into cubes. So much easier than cutting it first!

(Inspired by a recipe from The Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health)


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The Best-Kept Secret on the Planet to Achieve Health and Beauty

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.’
— Mark Twain

I am starting with this quote because there is so much truth to it. I don’t think I am a conspiracy theory person. We all know by now that information and profit don’t exactly go hand in hand. Just think about the tobacco industry and how they hid the facts and studies against cigarettes for years.

Let’s not forget that the food corporations are also huge money making machines and they don’t exactly want us to know everything. You can watch ‘All Jacked Up,’ a documentary the food companies hope you’ll never watch to know the whole story on the manipulative food corporations.

During all the years of being my own lab, experimenting and learning, there is something that I now know for sure and it is the power of food, food as medicine.

Throughout my process, I’ve met people who’ve healed their body and their mind from what we consider in the western world as degenerative diseases. I myself learned to use food to heal my body from debilitating allergies and painful menstruation. My story is nothing compared to the testimonials I heard and often made me cry. Women who had cancer and had been told it was the end. Women who had been told they would never have a child and then got pregnant as a beautiful side effect of their healing. So many amazing stories!

I believe that the truth is hidden from us and that we need to dig deep to get it.

There’s so much more to say here, but for now let’s go right to the question:

What is the best-kept secret on the planet to achieve health and beauty?

Ready?

Here it is:

The best-kept secret is to add raw, living, whole and fresh foods to your diet!

Notice that raw, living, whole and fresh foods don’t come from big processed food corporations. There is no money for them or even the packaging industry in this deal, this simple law of nature. It is also actually a really bad deal for the pharmaceutical industry or even the supplements industry. The only one who is making good on this simple truth is the farmer and I would add the organic farmer because you simply don’t want to put toxins back in your body while you are cleansing yourself from all the accumulated toxins that make you sick in the first place.

Now, there is so much wealth within this simple truth: The concept of enzymes, pH balance information, fasting, cleansing, breathing, purifying the mind, juicing, meditating, etc. I’ll be sharing more on all those subjects. Stay tuned!

Add raw, living, whole and fresh foods to your diet and feel the energizing affect it has on your body and mind, how it strengthens your immune system, improves your health and slows down the aging process.

Cathy's Action Health Tips:

1) If you are new to the importance of raw foods in your diet, my first suggestion is to add a green salad prior to your lunches and dinners. It will make a huge difference in the way your digestive system works and how you eliminate.

2) An awesome way to add raw, enzyme-rich food to your diet is to prepare yourself a daily freshly prepared juice with a juice extractor. A daily juice is much more powerful and efficient than a synthetic daily multi-vitamin. To get you started, here’s the recipe of the juice, which I prepare all the time: Few organic celery sticks, 1 whole organic cucumber, 1 handful of spinach, 1 organic green apple, 1 organic lemon; Simply process all the ingredients through your juicer. If you would like to know more about juicing, I recommend the book ‘The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health: Unleashing the Healing Power of Whole Fruits and Vegetables.’

3) Continue to learn, to expand your knowledge. Like they say, ‘Knowledge is power’ but don’t get it from your regular newspaper ☺ Continue your education about raw and living foods. I recommend that you read ‘The Live Food Factor,’ which contains 66 scientific studies to support the superiority of eating raw. I also suggest (of course!) that you continue to read my newsletter. I share so much information through them. If I can be of service, let me know.

3) Make a plan and know that you can start slow. Per example, your first week could be to add one daily salad to your diet and to read the first chapter of ‘The Life Food Factor.’

4) Email me your experience – I always love to hear from you!

To Your Long, Healthy, and Passionate Life !

Cathy

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It’s Been A Really Long Time!

It's been a really long time and I am so happy to re-connect with all of you. I’ve been (kind of) hibernating for the last 6 months and reflecting on my life.

Let me share with you the whole story: My husband and I have been longing for a baby for a pretty long time. For many couples, failed attempts to start a family create conflict, fights and even separation. Believe me, we’ve had our own share of challenges. Today, I’m happy to say that it brought us to a new level of commitment and partnership. It's been difficult at times but it has also been an opportunity for growth and for getting to where we are now. I've learned a lot about myself and about my marriage and I am grateful for that.

My friend and amazing business coach, Heather (www.EnergyRichCoach.com), told me once: "Everything you learn will support you in better serving your readers and clients." I believe her. I am becoming an expert on fertility. ☺ I might not be pregnant yet but I am certainly creating each moment of my life powerfully with the support of new knowledge and making choices that are not only serving my fertility but also my life in general.

If you (or someone you care about) have doubted your fertility, I highly recommend two books by Julia Indichova (click here to know more about them). Those two books have been a source of hope, insights and inspiration. Last fall, my husband and I met the author at the workshop she leads in her home in Woodstock. Since, we remind ourselves that it is not our age, hormones level, past miscarriage, statistics and sperm analysis that will help us to have a baby. It is nothing but our desire to have a baby that will make it happen, one step at a time.

I know that anything is possible. We first need to open our heart to it, look for evidence to support our desire and ultimately believe in it. Anything is possible. Anything! I once met a man who reversed his neurological disease, which prevented him from being able to read and write. He was also starting to have trouble walking. Within five weeks of raw juices, salads, healthy raw dishes, meditation, breathing and other mind-body exercises, he could read and write again. He could also participate in a gentle yoga class every morning. This is after a five-week stay in the healing retreat where I spent some time myself. I was there three weeks to cleanse my body, rest and also learn their principles of healing. I got so much more. I got how life is powerful and how important it is to focus on what we want, not what we fear.

Until next time,
Lots of Fun and Joy and Peace for you!

Cathy

To receive your FREE subscription to Cathy’s newsletter offering tips, articles, recipes and resources to help you have an energetic and productive life with more purpose, go to www.CathysHealthTips.com.