Thai food is my absolute favorite cuisine! With its bright, fresh flavors, and the combination of sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and umami created by simple ingredients, it's not hard to see why I love cooking Thai food whenever I can. Even better is when I can incorporate plenty of veggies from our garden into a recipe - like this one, below.

This classic Thai dish is accented in this case by plenty of fresh veggies - including bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, and lots of Thai basil. While it has been a strange garden season, and not all crops have fared so well, our basil has been ridiculous! We are completely overwhelmed with both Thai basil and "regular" or Italian-style basil - to the point where I've finally given up and am just letting it go to flower. The waist-high bushes are so vibrant and leafy they are more like incredibly fragrant shrubs! So any recipe I can find that calls for a lot of basil is welcome.

To top it all off, this recipe takes less than an hour (30-45 minutes if you use your prep time wisely), which is a big plus in my book!

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this week's topic may seem a little "woo-woo," in scientific speak. :-)  However, the guest on this fascinating podcast episode certainly comes with an impressive list of credentials, so I encourage you to tune in and open your mind to the possibilities of...your mind!

In fact, much evidence suggests that we are only just barely beginning to realize the immense powers that our minds possess - especially when it comes to healing our bodies. Although the scientific community has neatly divided the human mind from the human body as if they were two separate entities, the truth is that our bodies and minds have always been inextricably connected - in ways that modern medicine has yet to understand.

We, humans, on the other hand, have always had an inkling that these connections are very real indeed, and you can find the evidence in our language. For example, you've almost certainly heard the expression of someone "knowing" something "in my gut." Likewise, our heart also gets a lot of press as a center of knowledge ("I knew it in my heart," "I let my heart lead me," etc.).

Your body truly is part of your mind, just as your mind is a part of your body, and so it's no wonder that mental health has many physical aspects to it (depression and even addiction, for example, have been closely linked to dietary issues and gut health), and similarly, that our mind can have significant impacts on our physical health.

The placebo effect is one example that has long been recognized even by mainstream medicine. Once believed to be a mere fluke, the placebo effect is very real indeed, and has been used in a wide range of medical studies of many different health conditions and treatments. In fact, fascinatingly enough, some studies are now being conducted to learn whether the placebo effect can successfully be used to treat certain health conditions without using drugs at all!

Check out this podcast episode below to learn about the amazing powers hiding in your mind - including - "woo-woo" as it may sound - the potential for spontaneous healing!

Welcome back! I apologize that your August freebie is a bit late this month, as we returned a bit later than expected from our annual Tennessee trip last weekend. (It has been quite a busy summer, to say the least!)

However, I've got a fun little video class to share with you this month, and if you've ever been curious about the health benefits of mushrooms, you'll definitely want to tune in!

Did you know that humans have been using mushrooms for thousands of years for their health-promoting and medicinal properties?

In fact, there are thousands of edible mushroom species in the world - and approximately 250+ of them so far have been identified as having healing properties.

East Asian traditions and Indigenous cultures have always embraced mushrooms to treat all manner of ailments — and now Westerners as well are beginning to recognize their nutritional and medicinal superpowers for the body, mind, and even the spirit.

Dr. Christopher Hobbs, internationally renowned author, herbalist, botanist, mycologist, research scientist, and faculty at the University of Massachusetts, believes that "by incorporating mushrooms into our diets — fresh, cooked, or as dried adaptogens — we can help prevent and transform a myriad of debilitating issues."

And on this Wednesday, August 11, Professor Hobbs will share some scientifically supported benefits of making mushrooms a part of your daily regimen. He’ll tell you the ways that this fungi can strengthen and fine-tune your immune system to help stave off cancer, prevent heart disease, keep bones healthy, improve digestion, aid cognitive function, and much more.

Register here for Mushrooms as Medicine: Discover the Science-Based, Practical Benefits Mushrooms Add to Your Diet, Healing Regimen & Spiritual Evolution - or learn more below...