March 2013 – Querin Explores

My mother’s flowers

March 22, 2013June 16, 2013 by Querin Ventura, posted in Beauty, Inspiration

These are the flowers my mother lives by in her house in DR. When she is not there, she leaves someone in charge to water them.

March Baby

March 20, 2013March 21, 2013 by Querin Ventura, posted in Inspiration, nutrition, Places, Travel

March is my birthday month. As a gift to me, I took a few days off from work and flew to the Dominican Republic. I departed to DR on Saturday, and came back today. I relaxed by going to the beach and drinking lots of coconut water. I love sugar cane and had a lot of it while there. I also ate some delicious crabs . And of course, I inhaled the pure and fresh air of the countryside.

By the beach enjoying the fresh air and some sweet and juicy sugar canes

Enjoying some coconut water

Wild natural curly hair

Pretty house in the countryside

I brought honey on it’s most pure form from a beehive in the country-town Palm Tree. There is something about the countryside that is healing to the soul.

Pure honey, from the beehive to the bottle

When I visited Betty and Roberto’s house (friends of the family), in addition to the crabs, they served us some Moringa tea. This was my first time trying this drink and from the background information Roberto gave me about this plant, I developed a curiosity to learn more about this tree and found out that it has 7 times the vitamin C of oranges, 3 times the potassium of bananas, 4 times the vitamin A of carrots, 3 times the iron of spinach and 4 times the calcium of milk.

Here is a video I found on Youtube about the plant.

There is something very special about being surrounded by nature and getting away from the city for some time. Nature rejuvenates me and detoxifies me from the day to day stress. It brings my mind, body and soul to a state of calmness and awareness. It revitalizes me to go back to the daily routine and to the city more energized. Just as I do a juice cleanse a few times a year, I like getting an air cleanse at least once a year.

Thank you

Don’t give up

March 6, 2013March 7, 2013 by Querin Ventura, posted in healthy eating, nutrition

When you eat, make it an experience! Be, in the moment, be present. Masticate your food. Digestion starts in the mouth. When you feel about to give up, look for inspirations. In my case, food presentation matters. When my food looks pretty on my plate, it makes me want to eat it. There are people who only use their nice plates and silverware when they have special guests. How can that be possible? Use your nicest plates and silverware regularly–don’t wait to have company. You will immediately notice a change in your mood. You will feel good in the moment, and you will be creating memorable experiences for yourself. A healthy body and mind creates good thoughts and creates good moods. Every moment of your life is a special moment.

I had this salad while at work in my job’s cafeteria. The pretty colors of the tomato, the cucumber and radish made me feel good. It sounds strange to say that good food presentation makes me feel good, but it does.

Picture above: grilled calamaris. Who said calamaris have to made only be fried…and I find that grilled taste 10 times better.

Spinach salad with salmon…simply delightful

Have you been juicing

March 3, 2013June 16, 2013 by Querin Ventura, posted in healthy eating, nutrition

Having a juicer in every household should be a must. When you drink a freshly pressed vegetable juice, the nutrients are immediately absorbed by your blood streams because there is no digestion.

Fresh produce

March 2, 2013March 6, 2013 by Querin Ventura, posted in Empowerment, Food and Dining, healthy eating, nutrition

I am so into healthy eating and I am so humbly proud of it. I buy food for nutrition, not just for taste. Food is your true medicine; food can also be your poison. This is why it’s so important that you educate yourself about food and nutrition. When you eat, ask yourself “I’m I nurturing my body, or I’m I harming it by making my kidney and liver work harder to rid of foreign substances?” The more processed the food you eat is, the harder your lymphatic system has to work to dispose of toxins.
If you have not always been into eating healthy and don’t know where to start, that’s no problem. There is plenty of information on the Internet (blogs, articles, etc.) to help you get started. There are dozens of books about nutrition. Learn about naturopathic medicine and consider having a general doctor who is an ND (naturopathic doctor). I admit that I seldom, in the past, felt excited about spending time in the kitchen preparing healthy and delicious meals (yes, I said healthy and delicious). However, the more I educate myself about food and proper nutrition the more I enjoy and look forward to be in my kitchen. Find ways to make it fun and exciting. Take pictures of the foods you make. Learn something about a fruit or vegetable each day. But most important, put into practice what you learn about nutrition. I think of my kitchen as my laboratory where I prepare the best medicines that will help me keep my body healthy. I could go on and on about this topic… and I will, but it will take many more pots. So for now, I hope you find motivation in the following pictures I took while I was in the supermarket.