Publisher'sletter


y grandmother once gave me a very precious piece of wisdom. After listening to me complain about how long it was taking for me to fi nish my dissertation, she said, “You kids nowadays expect things to happen overnight. In my day, we took our time and found joy in mastering a craft. Let it take as long as it takes, you’ll learn something from this experi- ence.” From her valuable insight, I came to realize that anything worthwhile in life requires time, patience and persis- tence. Patience is indeed a gift. It helps us to deal with frustrations and failures without losing our vision or becoming irri- tated and depressed. It helps us reduce stress and maintain a sense of calmness when we encounter unexpected situations that upset our schedule or require us to wait for something. These situations give us an opportunity to practice disciplined patience.


M Unfortunately, in our society today, we are accustomed to instant gratifi cation and we demand it. We are used to


getting what we want, how we want it, where we want it, instantaneously. We have high speed internet, instant messag- ing, one hour photo, movies on demand and online shopping. We have 24 hour grocery stores and dry cleaners that also deliver directly to our door. If you live in the city, you have anything you want at your fi nger tips every minute of the day from restaurants to fi tness centers to convenience stores and more. It’s no wonder why we expect whatever we want to materialize instantly.


Although it may seem wonderful to have all of these conveniences, they come at a great cost to everyone in society. Modern conve-


niences allow people to pack more into their life, but they are losing patience in the process. We all have managed to compress time to such an extent that we are now painfully aware of every second that we wait for anything. The next time you or someone you witness has to wait for something, watch the reaction. It probably won’t be pretty. We will experience much more success when we are patient with ourselves and others. Think of it as an opportunity to refl ect on


where you are now and how far you have come. Sometimes we fi nd that situations that require us to be patient are invaluable opportuni- ties to realize that we are on the right path or the wrong path. It is a chance to take a step back and make changes to ensure we are on the right path before we reach our destination and realize that we don’t really want to be where we ended up. Examining nature is a great way to observe patience. It takes time for things to grow, mature and reproduce. You don’t see nature strug- gling against the natural course of time to speed things up. It is a beautiful unfolding of things occurring exactly when they are supposed to.


Wishing you health and happiness,


the zucchini has managed to thrive, despite my obvious black thumb, and I have more zucchini than I know what to do with. I have been racking my brain in an attempt to fi nd creative and tasty ways to utilize all of this zucchini. I have been grilling, baking, and frying and eating zucchini at just about every meal. My favorite recipe I have used so far is for zuc- chini lasagna. It is tasty, gluten-free and uses up a lot of zucchini – a winner in my book!


E Here’s the recipe:


2 large zucchini 1 tablespoon salt 1 pound ground beef 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 small green bell pepper, diced 1 onion, diced


1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste


1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 egg


8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese


1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices, a mandolin works great if you have one. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander. To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; re- duce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If you are a vegetarian, simply skip the meat – it will still taste great! Stir egg, ricotta, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, all of the spinach, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; raise oven tempera- ture to 350 degrees F, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!


www.EssentialLivingMaine.com 3 In good health,


arlier this summer I decided to try my hand at gardening and I planted a raised vegetable bed. I planted beets, cucum- bers, peppers, beans, basil, cherry tomatoes and zucchini. So far most of my crops have failed miserably. But somehow


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