ROOTED IN NATURE
Growing up with curly hair was a challenge for me and my mom to manage. To ease the mind, she would make me homemade natural hair masks of egg, avocado, olive oil and mayonnaise providing essential nutrients while keeping things under control, and I’m grateful she taught me how.
To boost the immune system, in the cold NJ winters, my mom would drop a raw egg yolk (protein) into a cup mixed with a pinch of cane sugar and lots of cinnamon (antioxidant and anti-inflammatory), adding hot milk (Calcium and Vitamin D) giving it a stir and down the hatch.
She also made a similar mixture with grape juice for the added antioxidants. It did the body good.
Mom also taught me how to make Sofrito, a simple fresh, aromatic vegetable and herb base to most Latin cuisines and the foundation for building delicious and delectable dishes that lift the spirit.
From a very young age, after my parents’ divorce, I spent winters in New Jersey with my mom and summers in Puerto Rico with my dad.
It was my first-hand experience with real change and the beginning of my journey towards adapting to it, and many other uncertain times that followed, like the present moment.
I learned how to transform lemons into lemonade, among other creations, to help me breathe easier!
Spending summers with my dad in Puerto Rico roaming free, climbing mountains through creeks and streams, in the warmth of nature, provided the space and nourishment I needed then, and recalling the sweet scent of that time, continues feeding my mind, body, and spirit today.
Change can transform a person without breaking their spirit if they stop to smell the lemons along the way—and breathe.
Spending summers with my dad in Puerto Rico roaming free, climbing mountains through creeks and streams, in the warmth of nature, provided the nourishment I needed that continues feeding my mind, body, and spirit today.
From my dad I observed first-hand how quickly bacteria propagate in a Petri dish, and that not all microbes are harmful, some are needed to help the human body thrive. My dad was a biochemist, studying chemical processes and their function in living organisms, until he passed at the age of 51. He encouraged me, my free spirit, and curious nature. We were a mirror image. I have come to embody his nurturing spirit and curious, scientific wisdom, and have become a woman who is always looking to make the human+nature connection, one aromatic botanical and person at a time.
There I observed from Mamá (like a grandmother to me), as I tagged along, what it was like to grow your own food, tend to the land and eat from nature’s bounty: Fresh eggs, mango, guava, acerola, aloe vera, tamarindo, quenépa, pana, plátano, avocado, coconut, guingambó, ají, limón, grapefruit, oranges, gandules and coffee beans: all organic and hand-picked right from its source.
For me, it did not get better than this!
She also gave me my first glimpse into herbal infusion, watching her make her own capsaicin pepper (ají), garlic and vinegar fire cider with antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, and immune and metabolism boosting goodness. She would drizzle it on everything and went strong until she passed 40 days before her 95th birthday.
Mamá also macerated whole fresh lemons (limón) into the best lemonade I’ve ever had! I can still smell the clean fresh aroma and sweet tart taste. I often formulate with lemon (Citrus limon) essential oil and think of her. With high levels of d-limonene, y-terpinene and a-terpineol constituents, it’s known to promote anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and antidepressant effects.
BOTH EXPERIENCES IN CONTRAST PLANTED THE SEEDS THAT GAVE ROOT TO THE HOLISTIC, BOTANICAL SUPPORT PATH I HAVE PAVED FOR MYSELF AND AM OFFERING TO YOU TODAY.
Change can transform a person without breaking their spirit if they stop to smell the lemons along the way — and breathe.
ABOUT THE PROCESS
Our process is essentially a science and an art
