DINING WITH THE DEAD
We understand the concept of death as spirit leaving the body. But, what about the idea of spirits returning for dinner?
Our love for the deceased is shown by talking to them in their burial place, lighting candles for them in places of worship, and displaying their pictures. On the anniversary of their passing we have moments of silence, song, and food where we live, work, and pray. So, is setting a place for the dead at our dinner table going too far? Those who practice the Dumb Supper on All Hollow’s Eve don’t think so.
The Dumb Supper is a reverent event that discourages conversation of any kind. Dumb Supper literally means quiet meal—mum’s the word. It takes place on Samhain, which is All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween. This practice, celebrated worldwide, is one of the largest gatherings at the Festival of the Dead in Salem, MA.
After the family meal is cooked, the table is set with an empty place setting filled with food. This extra setting is for all the family ancestors to come and enjoy a meal with the living family members. Photographs of the deceased are often placed on the table.
Dinner begins with a prayer and a welcoming of the ancestors, and continues with quietude for the remainder of the meal. Appliances and cell phones are turned off because it is believed that silence is helpful for the dead to be among the living.
No one leaves the table until everyone has finished eating. The silence is broken when everyone thanks the ancestors for dining with them.
After the meal is over, the ancestor’s food is fed to the family pets, spread over the earth, or taken to the cemetery where it is left on their grave sites. It is believed that the dead ate of the essence of the meal and thereby shared in the celebration of life.
One of the largest gatherings for the Festival of the Dead’s Dumb Supper is held in the Grand Ballroom of the Historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem; a haunted site featured on the SciFi Channel’s show Ghost Hunters.
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos www.survivingcancerland.com and @PsychicHealing twitter
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
DINNER
Calling all Mr. Moms, Moms, and Bachelors-read up!
From SURVIVING CANCERLAND: The Psychic Aspects of Healing
QUICKIE (15 MINUTES OR LESS) COOKING FOR LIFE
(www.survivingcancerland.com)
(This is for everyone with time restraints.)
“Quickie” includes clean up. This recipe was taken from the cookbook section of my book. Over the past days, I posted meals—breakfast, lunch and dinner—with the nutritional and calorie information for a time challenged family. Enjoy!
Dinner after a long day can be daunting. When our fast paced life and medical appointments take precedence in our lives everything else must be re-prioritized including family, home and work. Fast food restaurants can be enticing so cooking and nutrition can get pushed to the end of the line. During a time of watching our pennies and waistlines, cooking at home is more important than ever.
After all we’ve endured, financially, medically, and emotionally, including a cranky belly; we need a belly pleaser meal that meets our nutritional needs, time restrictions and weight concerns.
I dedicate this recipe to all those hard working people, often raising their families alone while undergoing health treatments, and who put their children’s needs first. Not only do they bring home the bacon, they cook it, too.
Throw this dinner recipe together at lunch time and it will be ready when you are thinking about a quick drive through restaurant for dinner. Save you money and energy. This is a childhood favorite that adults love, too.
DINNER: Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese & salad
Prep time 5 min. Clean up 1 min.
INGREDIENTS: serves 6
8 oz macaroni, cooked 6 oz 2% milk
6 oz evaporated milk 1 large egg
Salt and pepper to taste 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Spray the crock with nonstick spray. Mix everything and put into Slow Cooker. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 1 ½ hours.
Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese=Calories 342; Total Fat=15.0 mg; Carbohydrates=34.3g; Cholesterol= 81mg; Sodium= 250mg; Dietary Fiber=0.9; Sugars=6.5; Protein=16.4.
Good Points= High in Selenium and Calcium.
Bad Points=High in Fat.
TOSSED SALAD- TOSSED SALAD- TOSSED SALAD
Prep time 1 min. Clean up 1 min.
INGREDIENTS: serves 2
½ head green leaf lettuce, torn into pieces and placed in bowl 1 Tablespoon extra virgin oil
Salt and pepper to taste or 1/8 teaspoon “jar spices” 1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
DIRECTIONS:
Wash lettuce.
Pat dry with paper towel.
3. Add favorite salad dressing
OR
Home-made vinaigrette dressing.
1.Toss with olive oil to coat lettuce leaves (this keeps the vinegar from soaking into the leaves and making them soggy).
2.Toss with ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or to taste).
HOMEMADE BALSAMIC VINIGARETTE DRESSING
Prep time 30 sec. Clean up= 0
INGREDIENTS: serves 1
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar ¼ teaspoon “jar spices”
NUTRITIONSAL FACTS
Green Leaf Lettuce, one serving size = 4g Calories per serving=1; Total Fat=0g; Cholesterol=0g; Dietary Fiber=0g; Sugars=0g; Protein=0g.
Good Points= Very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, good source of Protein, Dietary Fiber,
Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus, high in Vitamin. A,C, K, B6, Foliate, Iron,
Potassium, Thiamin., Riboflavin.
Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil- Serving size 1 Tablespoon (15 ml)- Calories= 120; Total Fat= 14g; Cholesterol= 0mg; Sodium=0mg; Total Carbohydrates=0; Protein=0.
From SURVIVING CANCERLAND: The Psychic Aspects of Healing
QUICKIE (15 MINUTES OR LESS) COOKING FOR LIFE
(www.survivingcancerland.com)
(This is for everyone with time restraints.)
“Quickie” includes clean up. This recipe was taken from the cookbook section of my book. Over the past days, I posted meals—breakfast, lunch and dinner—with the nutritional and calorie information for a time challenged family. Enjoy!
Dinner after a long day can be daunting. When our fast paced life and medical appointments take precedence in our lives everything else must be re-prioritized including family, home and work. Fast food restaurants can be enticing so cooking and nutrition can get pushed to the end of the line. During a time of watching our pennies and waistlines, cooking at home is more important than ever.
After all we’ve endured, financially, medically, and emotionally, including a cranky belly; we need a belly pleaser meal that meets our nutritional needs, time restrictions and weight concerns.
I dedicate this recipe to all those hard working people, often raising their families alone while undergoing health treatments, and who put their children’s needs first. Not only do they bring home the bacon, they cook it, too.
Throw this dinner recipe together at lunch time and it will be ready when you are thinking about a quick drive through restaurant for dinner. Save you money and energy. This is a childhood favorite that adults love, too.
DINNER: Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese & salad
Prep time 5 min. Clean up 1 min.
INGREDIENTS: serves 6
8 oz macaroni, cooked 6 oz 2% milk
6 oz evaporated milk 1 large egg
Salt and pepper to taste 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Spray the crock with nonstick spray. Mix everything and put into Slow Cooker. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 1 ½ hours.
Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese=Calories 342; Total Fat=15.0 mg; Carbohydrates=34.3g; Cholesterol= 81mg; Sodium= 250mg; Dietary Fiber=0.9; Sugars=6.5; Protein=16.4.
Good Points= High in Selenium and Calcium.
Bad Points=High in Fat.
TOSSED SALAD- TOSSED SALAD- TOSSED SALAD
Prep time 1 min. Clean up 1 min.
INGREDIENTS: serves 2
½ head green leaf lettuce, torn into pieces and placed in bowl 1 Tablespoon extra virgin oil
Salt and pepper to taste or 1/8 teaspoon “jar spices” 1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
DIRECTIONS:
Wash lettuce.
Pat dry with paper towel.
3. Add favorite salad dressing
OR
Home-made vinaigrette dressing.
1.Toss with olive oil to coat lettuce leaves (this keeps the vinegar from soaking into the leaves and making them soggy).
2.Toss with ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or to taste).
HOMEMADE BALSAMIC VINIGARETTE DRESSING
Prep time 30 sec. Clean up= 0
INGREDIENTS: serves 1
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar ¼ teaspoon “jar spices”
NUTRITIONSAL FACTS
Green Leaf Lettuce, one serving size = 4g Calories per serving=1; Total Fat=0g; Cholesterol=0g; Dietary Fiber=0g; Sugars=0g; Protein=0g.
Good Points= Very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, good source of Protein, Dietary Fiber,
Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus, high in Vitamin. A,C, K, B6, Foliate, Iron,
Potassium, Thiamin., Riboflavin.
Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil- Serving size 1 Tablespoon (15 ml)- Calories= 120; Total Fat= 14g; Cholesterol= 0mg; Sodium=0mg; Total Carbohydrates=0; Protein=0.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Compassion
Social Security’s COMPASIONATE ALLOWENCES INITIATIVE
This information was sent to me in a number of cancer and health related newsletters. I combined them and did research of my own to pass on to my readers.
According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security has implemented a Compassionate Allowances initiative to expedite the process of disabilities claims for medical conditions so severe that their conditions obviously meet Social Security standards. About half of the initial list of covered conditions are cancers: acute leukemia, CML (blast phase), stage 3 or 4 astrocytoma, pediatric brain, esophageal, gallbladder, gleoblastoma multiforme, inflammatory breast, liver, mantle cell lymphoma, pancreatic, mesotheloma, salivary, and small cell (of the lung, colon, ovary, prostate, uterus) cancers. Also included are metastic, inorperable or recurrent cases of breast, adreanal, bladder, bone, head and neck, kidney, colon,nonsmall cell lung, ovarian, small intestine, stomach and ureter cancer. Compassion Allowances is the second piece of the agency’s two-track, fast-track system for certain disability claims. Once it and the agency’s Quick Disability Determination process are combined and fully implemented cases for as many as 250, 000 people will be decided in an average of six to eight days.
To read more about what is going on with Compassionate Allowances go to
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/ and the Press Releases at
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/compassionate-allowances-1008-pr.htm or
Mark Lassiter, Press Officer press.office@ssa.gov 410-965-8904
This information was sent to me in a number of cancer and health related newsletters. I combined them and did research of my own to pass on to my readers.
According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security has implemented a Compassionate Allowances initiative to expedite the process of disabilities claims for medical conditions so severe that their conditions obviously meet Social Security standards. About half of the initial list of covered conditions are cancers: acute leukemia, CML (blast phase), stage 3 or 4 astrocytoma, pediatric brain, esophageal, gallbladder, gleoblastoma multiforme, inflammatory breast, liver, mantle cell lymphoma, pancreatic, mesotheloma, salivary, and small cell (of the lung, colon, ovary, prostate, uterus) cancers. Also included are metastic, inorperable or recurrent cases of breast, adreanal, bladder, bone, head and neck, kidney, colon,nonsmall cell lung, ovarian, small intestine, stomach and ureter cancer. Compassion Allowances is the second piece of the agency’s two-track, fast-track system for certain disability claims. Once it and the agency’s Quick Disability Determination process are combined and fully implemented cases for as many as 250, 000 people will be decided in an average of six to eight days.
To read more about what is going on with Compassionate Allowances go to
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/ and the Press Releases at
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/compassionate-allowances-1008-pr.htm or
Mark Lassiter, Press Officer press.office@ssa.gov 410-965-8904
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