This week I've been talking A LOT about my mission with Hungry Hippie, if you missed that check a few posts back to learn more.

Part of that mission is to educate people on what they are putting in their bodies. When I first made the switch to a healthier lifestyle, a decade and a half after going vegetarian, I started with my food, but RARELY paid any attention to condiments.

I assumed ketchup was just ketchup, and Italian salad dressing was just herbs and oil - but I was so wrong. When I turned over the bottle of ketchup and saw High Fructose Corn Syrup as the 2nd ingredient I knew I had been missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

I started to make a lot of my own condiments like ketchup, BBQ sauce, and Italian Salad dressing (which is super easy!)

The ingredients in the store bought packet are pretty scary and include :

Sugar, Xanthan Gum, Maltodextrin, Guar Gum, Natural Flavor, Soy Sauce* (wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Citric Acid

You can avoid that by making a jar of the mixed herbs in just a minute or two!

Italian Dressing

Makes enough for 5-6 bottles

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried basil

1 tbsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp celery salt (omit if you don't have on hand)

Salt to taste

Olive Oil

Water

Balsamic Vinegar

Combine all herbs and spices in a glass jar to store.

Take 2 tbsp of the herb and spice mix and put your Italian dressing bottle. Fill Olive Oil, Vinegar, and Water according to the jar. Shake to combine

If you don't have the jar whisk together 1/4 Cup Vinegar, 3 tbsp water, 1/2 Cup olive oil and 2 tbsp of the herb and spices mix.

Have you ever had an “Aha” moment that you wanted to share with the world? It happened to me last week. I was sitting in my backyard working on my Spirit Daughter Full Moon book and one of the questions really hit home. It was about what you do to elevate yourself and your vibration and she asked specifically about the type of foods you eat.

I had just started my descent on a family situation that had me stressed out and not taking care of myself.

I realized I was gravitating towards pizza, and pasta, and bagels. Dead foods. I paused for a second and thought how interesting that was. I was eating these low vibration foods, and I couldn’t shake the feelings of sadness and oncoming depression.

It started to make sense to me and I decided that as tired as I was the next few days I was going to cook for myself and see how I felt.

If you don’t believe food has an effect on your energy I am begging you to give this a try next time you are sad, or feeling down. I’m not saying this is a CURE for depression - I am saying that by changing what I was eating helped me to get out of that state enough to start adding other things back into my routine.

If you’re looking to eat to raise your vibration here are a few guidelines

• Choose Organic and Local whenever possible - these foods are known to have higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals

• Focus on eating real whole foods! Fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds!

• Eat raw vegetables or cook below 70 degrees - I added lots of salads to my meals

• Eliminate soda, cereals, breads, and other packaged foods from your diet

• Drink water - add in some lemon or trace minerals to raise the vibration

• Practice gratitude before eating your meals

• Prepare your foods (plate your meals if you order Hungry Hippie! ) yourself. Connect to your food on an energetic level.

• Remove alcohol from the diet until your vibrating at higher frequency

• Avoid refined oil and sugars.

• Replace coffee with herbal teas

These tips are not meant to replace your doctors advice or prescriptions. These are not meant to be taken as treatment for depression or other illnesses. If you are under a doctors care please consult your doctor about any or all of the above tips before beginning.