Welcome to my blog, Harmony Shift. Have you ever
wondered about the people you hear about living to 100 years old and beyond?
Have you ever wondered what their secret is? Or how they do it? Well, I ran
across this great Netflix original series about the Blue Zones and thought I
would share it with you just in case you haven’t heard of them or haven’t
watched the series yet, which I highly recommend. The Blue Zones are basically
the places in the world where people live to 100 and beyond. Let’s dive in and
see where these places are and how you can include some of their secrets into
your life and maybe you too could have a long, wonderful life.
The term “blue zones” was first coined by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic
Explorer. During an exploratory project he led in 2004, and an expedition to
Okinawa, Japan in 2000, he set out to explore other regions of the world with
reportedly high longevity. Buettner, and his team of scientists and
demographers traveled the world in search of communities where people lived
longer and enjoyed a high quality of life in their old age. After analyzing these
demographic data areas of the world and interviewing numerous centenarians, the
team identified five regions of the world for their extraordinary longevity and
vitality. Gianni Pes and Michel
Poulain outlined in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology, The
concept of blue zones, where they identified Sardinia, Italy as the region with
the highest concentration of male centenarians. What they did was draw blue
circles on a map highlighting these villages of extreme longevity and began to
refer to these areas inside the circles as the blue zones. Building on thedemographic work of Pes and Poulain, Dan and his team of
scientists often including Pes and Poulain, discovered other longevity hotspots
worldwide and dubbed them blue zones as well. Dan and his team found that all
blue zones areas share nine specific lifestyle habits that they call the Power
9. According to https://www.bluezones.com/live-longer-better/#section-2The Power 9 share
commonalities that lead them to live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
Which is our goal here! These 9 commonalities are:1) Belong2) Move
Naturally3) Purpose4) Downshift5) 80%
Rule6) Plant
Slant7) Wine
at 58) Right
Tribe9) Loved
Ones First
I have included a couple
recipes here that you can try and see what you think. I have tried some of the
recipes in the Blue Zones Recipe Book with over 100 recipes from each Blue
Zone.
Second-Chance Sheet Pan
“Fried” RiceINGREDIENTS1/4 cup soy sauce or
gluten-free tamari3 tablespoons drippy
almond butter, peanut butter, tahini, or sunflower seed butter11/2 tablespoons pure
maple syrup11/2 tablespoons rice
vinegar11/2 teaspoons red pepper
flakes3 cups leftover cooked
rice2 cups diced vegetables,
such as onion, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, bell pepper.1/2 cup almonds
(optional)DIRECTIONSPreheat the oven to
375°F, and line a baking sheet with a reusable baking mat or parchment paper.In a bowl, combine the
soy sauce, almond butter, maple syrup, rice vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Add
the leftover rice and diced vegetables and toss until evenly coated in the
sauce mixture.Arrange in a single layer
on the prepared sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the rice is slightly
crispy and the vegetables are cooked, tossing halfway through. If using the
almonds, add them to the sheet pan 10 minutes before the dish is cooked
completely.Storage: Store in a
sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.(Excerpted from PlantYou:
Scrappy Cooking: 140+ Plant-Based Zero-Waste Recipes That Are Good for You,
Your Wallet, and the Planet by Carleigh Bodrug. Copyright © 2024. Available
from Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.) Yuca Cakes
INGREDIENTS1 ½ pounds yuca (can
substitute with sweet potato), peeled.2 mini sweet red peppers,
* seeded and finely chopped1 cilantro coyote leaf finely
chopped.½ teaspoon salt1 tablespoon extra-virgin
olive oilDIRECTIONSBoil the yuca about 30
minutes, until soft. Drain the yuca and mash in a medium bowl.Add peppers, cilantro,
and salt and mix to combine.
When cool enough tohandle, roll mixture into plum-size balls, then flatten with your palm or the
back of a spoon.In a frying pan, heat 1
tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heatAdd yuca patties to oil.
Do not crowd them in the pan, work in batches if necessary. Fry 3-4 minutes on
each side, until browned and crispy. Remove to a paper towel–lined plate and
serve hot or warm. (Alternatively, you can bake the patties on a baking sheet
at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.)*You can find the sweet
red peppers used in the Nicoya region of Costa Rica in American grocery stores
in packs labeled “mini sweet peppers” or at Latin markets.(But if you can’t track
them down, you can swap in one red or yellow bell pepper instead.)
I hope you can try these recipes as well as some other
ones on the Blue Zones website. This is the closest thing I have found to align
with my philosophy and standards of living a happier, healthier life. This is
what my whole site and services are all about. I hope you too can incorporate
the Power 9 in your life and live life to the fullest. Please let me know if
you need any help or need my services to help get you started.
Take Care, Until next time. Darren
Harmony Shift 