Simple Secrets to Eating Naturally & Joyfully

Free Market Solution to Food Access?

I caught a repeat of Michelle Obama on Fox News’ Huckabee Show on Sunday (below) and was very intrigued by her discussion of access to food and food deserts being addressed in the current Let’s Move campaign addressing childhood obesity (http://www.letsmove.gov/accessing/index.html). Two things that really stood out where: 1) Mike Huckabee brought up that the free market solution could help address access and help lower prices; and 2) Michelle Obama indicating that access to food isn’t only an urban issue, but also quite prevalent in rural areas as well. So, take a look and let me know what your takeaways are!

Obesity and Happiness. What Do They Have in Common?

According to Dan Buettner, the author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest”, the Framingham Heart Study indicates that both are contagious.  The study asserts that if your three best friends are obese, there's a 70% better chance that you'll be overweight.  Additionally, knowing someone who is happy makes you 15.3% more likely to be happy yourself, the study found. A happy friend of a friend increases your odds of happiness by 9.8%, and even your neighbor's sister's friend can give you a 5.6% boost.

 

So, what conclusion am I drawing from these facts and figures?  The key to a long life is to have many wonderful meals with family and friends, which will keep you healthy and happy.  And don’t forget to include many fresh local foods in that wonderful meal.  Ah, the formula to happiness is so pure and simple and always food-based!

And Yet Another Study…

…to prove what most of us intuitively already know – namely, that junk food habits impact your well-being.  I came across an article titled “Is your junk food habit making you depressed?” by Megan Othersen Gorman for Rodale Health (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34448158/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/).  

 

In the article the author discusses that a new study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry makes a strong case that processed junk food can trigger or contribute to depression, while eating whole and healthy food seems protective.   I also want to highlight two points from the article, which reinforce several of my prior blog postings:

 

·   Snack on whole foods. Substitute at least one processed snack a day for a whole foods version — swapping out, say, chips and choosing raw carrots, almonds, or cheese on a whole wheat cracker instead.

 

·   Set the table. Children in families with more structured, sit-down mealtimes tend to exhibit healthier eating habits. No doubt, the same is true for adults, too. Aim to make a healthful, sit-down dinner for the family at least once a week. Maybe it'll become a habit — and your consumption of fast-food dinners will become history.

 

While I commend the researchers for providing additional evidence that a nutritional plan based upon natural and pure foods, as well as mindful eating habits, I would love to start seeing some of this research money being funneled into local food economies.  I’m wondering how many more studies we need to support the same conclusion over and over again.  Isn’t it high time that we move from the studying phase into the doing phase?  Let’s focus on providing financial incentives to local farmers and local merchants to supply us with those wonderful whole foods.    The happy faces of the families enjoying those goodies will be enough to prove that good food equals joy and happiness…  You don’t need a study for that…

 

Kids and Tricks of the Trade

Our kids have absolutely resisted eating mushrooms.  They claim that they don’t like the texture.  We’ve been through entire gag rituals when we’ve put a few on their plate.  I, on the other hand, have always loved mushrooms.  I used to eat them raw as a kid and couldn’t wait until they had been prepared in a cream and parsley sauce.  I’m still the same way.  I try to find any opportunity to integrate mushrooms into a dish.  After all, they’re high in fiber and provide vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, cobalamins, ascorbic acid.  Mushrooms are also a source of some minerals, including selenium, potassium and phosphorus. 

 

I picked up some wonderful Baby Bellas at the market yesterday and decided that we were going to have them for dinner.  Knowing that the kids wouldn’t eat them, I decided to use the cook’s trick of the trade by disguising them in a pureed consistency.  I threw 1 qt. of Baby Bellas, 4 cups of brussel sprouts, 1 bunch of parsley, 2 potatoes and 5 heads of broccoli into a pot with 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of salt.  I cooked the vegetables until they were nice and mushy.  Then I pureed the vegetables with 4 oz. crème fraiche, ½ pint of heavy cream, 2 cups of water and salt and pepper to taste, with an immersion blender.  The result?  The kids were talking about how good the “cream of broccoli” soup was…

Fried Egg Sandwich – The Ultimate Comfort Food

Everyone has childhood comfort foods, which invoke those warm and cozy feelings and cause a Zen-like state.  For me, that’s a fried egg sandwich.  Both my parents were quite skilled at preparing those wonderful gooey versions of the fried egg sandwich variety.  While I then would eat it and have yolk dripping all of my fingers, I myself, prepare the open face type, which I can cut with my fork and knife.  I especially love fried egg sandwiches for dinner.  They’re so easy to make, and accompanied by a nice spring salad with vinaigrette, make a wonderful healthy meal. 

 

Eggs are a wonderful source of protein and choline.  Thus, they fall under Meats in the US Food Guide Pyramid.  While there have been studies both proving and disproving their impact on offsetting the good cholesterol, HDL, I say – everything in moderation.  Also, consider the nutrients in this little miracle food:  Protein, Tryptophan, Threonine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Cystine, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Valine, Arginine, Histidine, Alanine, Aspartic acid, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Proline, Serine, Water, Vitamin A equiv., Thiamine (Vit. B1), Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Pantothenic acid (B5), Folate (Vit. B9), Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, and Choline.

 

So, go out and buy some nice quality sourdough bread.  Then take out your frying pan, add a little butter and olive oil, crack open that egg, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. I love my egg sunny side up and the edges just a tad crispy.  Serve as an open faced sandwich along side a nice salad.  Yum!  The ultimate comfort food at the end of a busy work day…  Enjoy!

The Deliciousness of Snow Crowns - aka Cauliflower

So, I’m back today to talk about another member of the Brassica oleracea species, namely cauliflower.  Again, another wonderful vegetable with a bad reputation or one, which causes nose wrinkling.  When my stepson was a bit younger, we started a tradition of introducing new foods to his dish as a birthday resolution.  One year it was salad, another salmon, and then cauliflower.  I want to assure you that I wasn’t the one who nominated cauliflower – he actually was.  Now he loves it.  And how can’t you with all the wonderful vitamins and minerals in each floret:  Thiamine (Vit. B1), Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Niacin (Vit. B3), Pantothenic acid (B5), Vitamin B6, Folate (Vit. B9), Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc.

 

I served cauliflower as one of the vegetables at our holiday get-together with my father.  He was amazed that my stepson took 3 helpings of cauliflower and just shook his head.  (Especially since the only “vegetables” he eats are carrots and corn.  Obviously, I didn’t inherit my love for veggies from him…)  How did I prepare the vegetable to get a 12-year old to take 3 helpings?  Again, pure and simple – I steamed them in homemade turkey broth until they were quite soft.  The cauliflower just soaked up the broth.  It was so delicious.  So, in case you still go through the arm twisting with serving up cauliflower – give it a try!  You’ll be amazed at how quickly it disappears from the plate…

 

Brussel Sprouts – Little Crowns of Glory…

I have to confess – brussel sprouts have been one of my favorite vegetables since I was a little kid.  My grandmother in Germany used to grow them in her garden.  I can recollect how she’d just cut the entire stalk with sprouts and store them in her cellar for future consumption.  I loved them steamed and doused in butter with just a bit of a crunch left to them.   Plus, the German word actually sounds so much more appropriate, Rosenkohl, which means rose cabbage.  

 

While you may be shaking your head at someone loving brussel sprouts, think about all the nutrition in this little bud: Vitamin A equivalent, Thiamine (Vit. B1), Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Niacin (Vit. B3), Pantothenic acid (B5), Folate (Vit. B9), Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, and Zinc.  They’re typically in season from June through January. 

 

I prepared brussel sprouts as one of the vegetables for our Christmas dinner.  People were taking 2^nd and 3^rd servings.  You’re asking how they were prepared.  Ahhh, really simply…  I started off with 4 lbs of fresh brussels. (Fresh ones require just a tad of effort to clean.  I recommend starting off by cutting off the lower stem and removing the loose outer leaves.)  I steamed them for about 5 minutes in salted water.  While they were steaming I sliced 2 lbs. of bacon in 1 inch strips and sautéed the bacon until just crisp.  Then you move the steamed sprouts, after draining, to a roasting dish and spread the bacon on top of the vegetables.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  And voila!  You have vegetables your family and friends will want multiple servings of.  (Now I didn’t indicate that I cook low-fat, did I?!) 

Purity of Federal ' Organic ' Label Is Questioned

I came across a great article:  Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned by Kimberly Kindy and Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post Staff Writers at:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html This is a must read for anyone who is committed to organic foods!  Key paragraph from the article:  "The Organic Trade Association, which represents corporations such as Kraft, Dole and Dean Foods, lobbied for and received language in a 2006 appropriations bill allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing and packaging of organic foods, creating conditions for a flood of processed organic foods." Bottomline - focus on pure foods which come from Mother Earth or animals with plenty of access to Mother Earth.  Leave the processed "stuff" on the shelves...

Getting Off the Food Grid …

The international organic food grid that is. While I say this, it also slightly tears at my heart given the fact that the seeds for real foods and local sustainable farming were planted while being raised in Germany and observing how my grandmother approached the gardening of our fruits and vegetables. Everything was organic and local. I can still smell the cow manure that she wheeled down to her garden in her wooden cart. Here I am 20+ years later and getting extremely frustrated with the fact that my weekly organic produce delivery contains pears from Argentina, tomatoes and honeydews from Mexico and kiwis from Spain or Italy. I have always used my European background in how I embrace food and the approach to enjoyment thereof. However, as much as I honor international cultures and foods, I am becoming very resistant to seeing organic foods imported from outside the US. Importing totally defies what traditional and real food is all about. The French and inhabitants of the Mediterranean region are always touted as the best examples of healthy and joyful people. Do you think they would enjoy a tomato from Holland, zucchini from Germany or an apple from Sweden? I don’t think so! So, let’s get off the international food grid and support sustainable farming here – local as the ideal, but national as the foundation!

Organizing Your Life Around A Healthy Nutrition Plan …

Where Are Good Places to Shop for a Healthier Lifestyle? • Chain Supermarket – most stores nowadays have natural and organic food selections • Whole Foods • Trader Joe’s • Health Food Store • Wegman’s (in Northeast) What Are Some of the Brands And Products I Recommend? Baked Goods French Meadow Bakery (yeast-free products) Rudolph’s Bakery (organic selection) Ryvita (crisp bread and crackers) Beauty Products Annemarie Borlind Aubrey Organics Dr. Hauschka Kiss My Face Organic Naturopathica Cleaning Products Eco Clean Method Home Seventh Generation Dairy Natural by Nature Vermont Cheese Company Flours/Grains Bob’s Red Mill Herbs/Spices Simply Organic Whole Foods Brand Trader Joe’s Brand Juices R.W. Knudsen Whole Foods Organic Brand Nut Butters Whole Foods Organic Brand Trader Joe’s Organic Brand Oils Garden of Life Spectrum Trader Joe’s Organic Tree of Life Tropical Traditions Whole Foods 365 Vitamins/Essential Fatty Acids Food of Life Barlean’s Carlson’s How Do I Organize Myself? Why most people fail with a new nutrition plan is that they become overwhelmed with the day-to-day maintenance of such a plan. This is easily avoidable with some basic organization. Here are some simple techniques to get organized: 1. Prepare a weekly or monthly meal planner. (I personally use Excel to plan my weekly meals.) 2. Have a shopping list template organized by the store layout and standard staples purchased to eliminate any guessing of what you need and where to find the items. 3. Prepare meals in batches and prepare snack bags to help reduce time requirements and temptations to stray from your plan. 4. When eating out, don’t hesitate to make special dietary requests. After all, you are the customer! 5. Most importantly, tell yourself that you deserve to be healthy and happy!