Mindfulness Tasting Challenge

Hello, tender friends!

Wth summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time to practice mindful tasting.

All it takes to mindfully taste something is slowing down enough to sit down and enjoy your food and not be distracted by other things. Then find a flavor that you’re not that familiar with to try something new. (“All it takes”… There’s a reason I’m calling this a challenge as I’m trying to break my own habit of acting like Pavlov’s dog in the middle of meals, jumping up when I hear the laundry ding that it’s done).

This week I did fresh basil. Yes, of course I knew what basil tastes like, but I wanted to focus on it more because I hadn’t eaten it since last season, so it was in my “partly known” list of flavors.

So I took some fresh leaves and asked Anthony to entertain Cubby in the garden for a few minutes while I went inside. I chewed through the leaves, so fresh and strong that it bordered on being unpleasant, and appreciated the slightly medicinal flavor of raw basil.

After the initial exposure bordering on too much, something fascinating happened: my basil tolerance increased dramatically. I made lime basil chicken and Anthony said the basil was “way too strong,” but it didn’t taste that strong to me.

I wouldn’t classify basil as one of my favorite herbs, but this week alone has given me an increased appreciation for it, and I’m eating much more of it than I normally would.

Of course, part of mindful tasting is for your health, as one of the goals is to slow down enough to chew your food thoroughly!

Chewing food thoroughly is important as that’s how we access all of its nutrition by allowing our digestive enzymes to begin breaking it down. Food that isn’t chewed properly still has nutrition locked up inside of it.

My hope for you is that you will join the mindfulness tasting challenge and slow down to enjoy something new. While I haven’t been enjoying every meal this way, I’m trying to increase how often I practice this mindful tasting from here on out. Let me know if you make a fun discovery this summer season!

Okay, that’s all for today, tender friends! Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for sharing!

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