The Healing
Page 29
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Filtered water
1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
Shallot topping
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1. Soak hiziki until soft, about 15 minutes.
2. Drain and discard soaking water.
3. Mince hiziki.
4. Heat oil and sauté hiziki for 3–5 minutes.
5. Add filtered water to cover, bring to a boil, add soy sauce, and simmer until the liquid evaporates.
6. In bowl, mix shallot, capers and lemon juice.
7. Serve hiziki on bread, pita chips, cocktail toast or endive, then top off with shallot mixture.
Baked Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
Oil (olive, unrefined corn or safflower)
Water
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Wash sweet potatoes.
3. Rub oil all over the sweet potatoes.
4. Put in a baking dish with a little water.
5. Bake until soft—about 60 minutes.
Veggie Bowtie Pasta Dish
2 cups bowtie pasta (use whole grain pasta)
Water
1–2 tablespoons of olive oil
Crushed garlic clove
½ cup onion, diced
½ teaspoon of sea salt
½ cup carrots, julienne
½ cup yellow squash, thin rounds
½ cup broccoli florets
¼ teaspoon juice from fresh lemon
Pinch of sea salt as a finishing salt (optional)
1. Bring water for pasta to a boil.
2. Prepare vegetables, check on water.
3. In a wok or skillet, heat oil. Add garlic, sauté for 2–3 minutes.
4. Add onions, sauté until translucent.
5. Add carrots and yellow squash, sauté 5 minutes.
6. Put pasta in boiling water, follow directions on the package.
7. Add broccoli to skillet.
8. When pasta is ready, drain and add to skillet.
9. Serve on a plate. Squeeze juice of lemon wedge onto dish, optional sprinkle finishing salt onto dish.
Sweet Veggie Drink
1 cup butternut squash, cubed
1 cup carrots, diagonally, sliced
1 cup green cabbage, shredded
1 cup onion, diced
8–9 cups filtered water
1. In a large pot, layer squash, carrots, cabbage, onion, and water.
2. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Drain liquid into a glass carafe or pitcher.
4. Drink cold or hot, ½ cup–1 cup daily or several times a day.
Gourmet Baked Apples
4–6 apples, cored
2 tablespoons tahini or sunflower butter or peanut butter (optional)
¼ cup raisins or currants
Cinnamon
Maple Syrup (optional)
Water
1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together tahini, dried fruit, cinnamon, maple syrup.
3. Core apples, and then pack each apple with mixture.
4. Add water to the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking dish.
5. Place apples in dish.
6. Bake for 35 minutes until apples are tender.
Carob Cake with Raspberry Jam Sauce
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons carob powder sifted
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder (non-aluminum)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (any flavor neutral oil)
⅔ cup Maple Syrup (real, organic)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup soymilk (carob, vanilla or original flavor)
1 tablespoon organic raspberry jam
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Oil the bottom of 9-inch pan.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add oil and maple syrup in second bowl and emulsify.
4. Mix in vanilla and soymilk.
5. Bake approximately 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. In a saucepan, dilute 1 tablespoon organic raspberry jam with 2 tablespoons water and simmer until thinner. Drizzle jam on the plate around carob cake slice.
Adapted from Melanie Ferreira, Chef at The Natural Gourmet
References
Baldwin, James. Nobody Knows My Name. New York: Vintage Books, 1961.
Connelly, Dianne M. All Sickness is Home Sickness. Columbia, MD: Traditional Acupuncture Institute, 1993.
Covey, Stephen. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press, 1990.
Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with the Seasons. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1981.
Hay, Louise. You Can Heal Your Life. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Incorporated, 1994.
Kushi, Michio, Stephen Blauer. The Macrobiotic Way. New York: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1985.
Levin, Cecile Tovah. Cooking for Regeneration. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, Inc., 1988.
Mandino, Og. The Greatest Salesman in the World. New York: Bantam Books, 1968.
Oriah. The Invitation. San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 2009.
Peck, Scott M. The Road Less Traveled. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.
Roethke, Theodore. Straw for the Fire. Ed. David Wagoner. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1980.
Turner, Kristina. The Self-Healing Cook Book. Grass Valley, CA: Earth-tones Press, 1988.
Acknowledgments
No one goes it alone. Many writers say that writing is a solitary endeavor. Well, I have found it to be the opposite, and I believe that no one does it alone. So many people have been involved in the writing of this book from the very beginning. I hope to thank everyone here, but I know that is impossible. So, if I don’t mention someone by name, please understand it is not because I have forgotten them; it is because if I thanked every single person who held my hand, cheered me on, or whispered I believe in you, the list of names would be as long as this whole book.
This book would not be possible without the hard work of Linda Huff-Paul. Linda was with me at the very beginning, in the late 1990s, and was there with me again at the tail end, in 2014. Her coaching work with me in the beginning helped me understand that I had a story to tell and that I owed it to myself to tell it in my own voice. And her copy editing throughout the writing of this book has been invaluable.
I also want to thank every writer’s group that I’ve ever been in, and the amazing friends that I have made along the way. My spiritual writing group in Pittsburgh planted the seed of knowing how important it is for me to share my gifts with the world and become the best person I can. The Writing Salon in San Francisco is a place unto itself. Jane has made a space for every type of writer and non-writer to dig deep and participate fully in the story they want to tell. The Writer’s Grotto in San Francisco rocks the house with all of its celebrity authors. The teachers there make a writer feel as if they belong, regardless of what stage of the writing process they are in. Janis Cooke Newman is a teacher/author who gets results. And Constance Hale’s passion for writing, grammar, and structure enabled me to embrace language and appreciate its potential power.
My editors have been phenomenal. If it weren’t for Rachel Howard, I would not have a book at all. She gave me tough love when I needed it, and she validated my experiences. She encouraged me to be more honest, even when I thought I was already being my most honest self. She helped me dig a deep well inside myself. Nora Is
aacs has a powerful way of guiding me toward trimming the fat while still telling a full and robust story. David Gleeson, who has felt like my own private cheerleader, has extended himself far beyond what anyone can expect from an editor—and a friend. David is my Harriet Tubman, leading me along my own personal underground railroad.
Deep appreciation goes to Victoria Butterworth, PhD. To call her a “therapist” is too limiting. Tory has been an amazing home base for me. She has held up the mirror of sanity for me when I thought I was going to go absolutely mad. Thank you, Tory, for acknowledging my journey every step of the way, even when we didn’t agree.
A special thank you to Josh Michels, who put clothes on my naked story by designing the book’s cover, and its overall look and feel. His efforts have made my story tangible for me, and for those who will read it. Thank you to all the folks at Parallax Press for believing this book should reach an even wider audience. Thank you to Hisae Matsuda and Terry Barber, my editors, who cocreated a story with me that celebrates a woman’s ability to gather deep inner riches to stay on her authentic path. Thank you for seeing me and the value of this book. Thanks to Terri Saul for being my book whisperer.
A most sincere thanks to Petra Dierkes-Thrun who, when I was at the point of deep frustration with this book, literally convinced me to not burn or erase all of my living copies. We agreed that I could have a bonfire at Ocean Beach with just a few copies.
Many, many thanks to those friends who read drafts of this book along the way and enthusiastically cheered me on while being kind with their constructive criticism. Hugs to Maria Acosta, Diane Akshak Alexander, Zed Armstrong, Deborah Barr, Jessica Frazier Barreto, Angela Chen, Yasmin Choudhry, Heather Donnell, Stacie Dooreck, Sharon Diotte, Josh Eisenberg, Mark Elkin, Joe Gross, Rachelle Henry, Felicia Hodges, J. Quincy Jones, Karen Kane, Heather Easley-Kasinsky, Kim Klausner, Geeta Kothari, Ken Lang, Pam Lewis, Kevin Madzia, TerriAnn McDonald, Leilani Mears, Eliza Menzel, Aife Murray, Volker Pasternak, Lynne Piade, Henry Phong, Meru Rattehalli, Darrin Robinson, Siri Schubert, David St. Martin, Caroline Sterling, Susan Stryker, Besty Reiling, Tracey Scott, Susan Beallor-Snyder, Melissa Hurley, Jim Van Buskirk, Edwige Riou, Ozgur Sahin, Samovar Tea Lounge, Kandy Smith, Penfan Sun, Francina Temple, Sebastian Thrun, Karen Topakian, and Daniel Vocke.
Special thanks to Darrin Robinson. Although his friendship does not appear in the memoir, Darrin was a friend (a boy) from the ‘hood’ who helped me to feel like royalty. He put my fourteen-year-old thoughts and ideas on a pedestal without me knowing or understanding that this was also building up my self-esteem. He is not mentioned in these pages, but his energy is all throughout this book.
About the Author
SAEEDA HAFIZ is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia. She spent her twenties working in management, believing mainstream success was her key out of a childhood of poverty. After discovering the power of yoga to transform, she took a leap of faith to train to become a yoga teacher and wellness expert. She studied yoga at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams, and holistic nutrition at Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City and Whole Health Resources, and keeps a busy schedule as a yoga teacher and speaker. For the past twenty years she has held leadership positions in the San Francisco Unified School District, the YWCA, the YMCA, and other organizations to bring a more holistic understanding of physical and mental wellness to a diverse population.
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