A Few Facts About the Obesity Epidemic

First let me say that I strongly recommend the HBO documentary series The Weight of the Nation.  The series inspired this post. Click here to watch the series for free.

(Click on the links highlighted in blue for more information.)

• Two thirds of Americans are overweight and half of those (one-third) are obese.
• The rate at which obesity is climbing is scary and there is no sign that it’s slowing down. It’s predicted that soon nearly one-half of Americans will be obese (42% by 2030 according to the CDC).
• The rate of childhood obesity has tripled since 1980. WE are over feeding them and THEY are suffering, and some are DYING from adult related diseases – preventable diseases that can be avoided just by maintaining a healthy weight.
• Children today have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
• Obesity is killing us. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable diseases. (Smoking is the first.) Four of the ten leading causes of death in America (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer) are directly related to obesity.
• And if money, healthcare or the economy is your thing then you should know that obesity is costing America about $270 billion a year. (That’s $270,000,000,000.00!) Many people believe eating real food is costly, but the hidden costs of eating junk food is exponentially more. Here’s just one example:

“Obese men rack up an additional $1,152 a year in medical spending, especially for hospitalizations and prescription drugs, Cawley and Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University reported in January in the Journal of HealthEconomics. Obese women account for an extra $3,613 a year. Using data from 9,852 men (average BMI: 28) and 13,837 women (average BMI: 27) ages 20 to 64, among whom 28 percent were obese, the researchers found even higher costs among the uninsured: annual medical spending for an obese person was $3,271 compared with $512 for the non-obese.”

• There are other costs associated with obesity as well. Some of which include increased fuel, increased food costs, increased costs to accommodate the obese (i.e. bigger seats, toilets, beds, equipment, clothes, etc.), increasing insurance premiums and lost productivity, just to name a few.

Spring – Time to Grow!

The weather has been unbelievable. I think we skipped the harsh winter months and got a head start on spring. And now it’s like early summer around here. I’ve found myself still too warm in a tank, shorts and flops more than once this week. The garden is growing and I’m adding more plants each week. The tomatoes I planted a week and a half ago - are already flowering.

I’m planting mostly food, but some flowers too. We have a small lot and last year I had decided there was only enough room for edibles. Unfortunately, it occured to me later in the summer that a few more flowers would’ve attracted more beneficial insects. (I had to hand pollinate my zuchininis and pumpkins.) And pretty flowers are nice to look at.

This year I have decided that I’ll have a few more flowers and I want a little more than food from my gardens. I want them to add a little natural beauty to my yard. I’ve found quite a bit of inspiration for neat ways to label plants using old stuff like wire hangers, wood scraps and small bamboo stakes. I’ve just been too busy planting the last couple of weeks. I just can’t seem to pry myself from tending to the gardens. My farmers’ market trips aren’t solely about buying food  ready to eat. I look forward to see what transplants are available each week. I’ve got a total of seven tomato plants so far. Fennel seeds are sown. There are carrots, countless herbs, garlic, spring onions, garlic chives, lettuces, beets, peas, kale, spinach, blueberries and raspberries and a few surprises (some kind of squash, pumpkins or maybe melons). Volunteer seedlings are popping up anywhere I mix in my compost. I’ll let a few of them go to see what grows. I hope we don’t have a late cold snap!

I do already feel the effects of the mild winter. Critters are everywhere. Literally. I come inside and have to inspect myself for hitch-hiking pests. I usually find at least one of these:

And my plants are all under attack. I found this huge snail in my garden. He looked like he could do some damage, so I had to relocate him – probably permanently. So sorry little guy. I have to admit that the small act of killing critters foraging for food sheerly for their own survival, does make me think twice before killing even the tiniest insects. Laugh if you must. I wish there was enough food in my garden to go around, but a seedling is no match for a slug or a snail or catepillar. My beet seedlings get devoured by something the day they emerge. If I could just get them to wait a little while… they’ll be enough for them too. Me and the snail hung out for a bit while I decided what to do. I couldn’t bring myself to kill it, so I put him in the trash bin. There is plenty of food in there. If he makes it out, well then kudos for him.

Last year I sowed only five pea plants. All but two of them were hacked by cutworms. We never had enough to make a side dish and usually opened the pods and ate them straight from the garden. This year I planted twelve. One of my food discoveries in this journey is that I don’t hate peas after all. I just don’t like the stinky ones you get in a can at the grocery store. Frozen or fresh peas are a staple now. I’m excited and hopeful about fresh peas! I may try and grow fava beans too, if cutworms thin out my peas again this year.

I’m looking forward to long, warm lazy days.  I’ve made a kind of bucket list for the spring and summer.

I hope I get to take a nap in a hammock (have to get one first).

I’m looking forward to outdoor dinners with amazing food, amazing people and laughter and smiles and candles and pretty table settings.

I hope I don’t get too caught up in the day to day details and I find time to do all the d-i-y art and garden projects I have planned.

I want to eat a meal made almost entirely with ingredients from my own back yard.

I want to swap and share homegrown and homemade food.

I want to can tomatoes, at least enough to last through the winter. I’ve planted seven tomato plants so far, and plan to get three more varieties.

I want to freeze some homegrown veggies, like peas and squash and peppers, so that I can have a taste of homegrown veggies in the dead of winter, when I’m craving springtime.

And those are just a few things I can think of at the moment.

Stress Is Natural, Seasonal Affective Disorder Might Be Too

Oops! If you subscribe to my blog you probably got some weird email that I have this new post titled something slightly different than this, with nothing actually written. That’s because before I’d written a single word, while I was still working on the title, the screen changed to let me know I had just posted. Great. Obviously I hit a key I shouldn’t have or clicked something inadvertently. Seems like stressful situations are piling up on me lately, which coincidentally is what this post is all about, so it’s almost no surprise that something went wrong here too. But it’s fine, because I’m laughing at stress today. And now I’ve just noticed that the “excerpt” from this post in the email just reads “Pinterest”. It doesn’t end. Stress gets the last laugh.

My ‘to do’ list is in the double digits and ironically completing the ‘to do’ list is also on the list. I need to take a breath. I’m always seeing headlines about how too much stress is bad for our health. How we should find ways to cut it back. Maybe. But stress is part of the yin and yang of life. It drives us. And sometimes it comes in big waves. Sometimes it’s like the tide. Sometimes we just feel it more, even when the stress really isn’t that bad. It’s not going away. More important than cutting stress back, I think, is learning to deal with it.

In my experience, everything about life seems to have an ebb and flow that coincides with the rest of the natural world. Human life is no exception. In the winter everything in me feels more internal. I do a lot of soul searching and contemplating. I read more. My spirit is more subdued and I spend a lot of time in my own head. I have a feeling I’m not alone. Sometimes my head is so busy by this time each year, that I’m yearning for the relief of spring time. If I tune in to the natural world, I realize that even if the first day of spring is a month away, my being already knows winter is on it’s way out. If I can silence my thoughts, I can feel spring creeping in. In the spring I’m more external. I put the internal growth of winter into action. I think being aware of this can help me shake the winter blues.

Maybe you’ve heard of seasonal depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder aka “SAD”. (That acronym just makes it sound even more dreadful.) I’m skeptical that it’s actually a “disorder” at all, but if a person is severely depressed, then that is a real problem. Here are some signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder from PubMed Health:

• Increased appetite with weight gain (weight loss is more common with other forms of depression)
• Increased sleep and daytime sleepiness (too little sleep is more common with other forms of depression)
• Less energy and ability to concentrate in the afternoon
• Loss of interest in work or other activities
• Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
• Social withdrawal
• Unhappiness and irritability

According to the link above, some of the factors that cause “SAD” are the lack of sunlight,  cold temperatures, barometric pressure. Here’s an interesting excerpt from Wikipedia about it’s origin:

Origin

In many species, activity is diminished during the winter months in response to the reduction in available food and the difficulties of surviving in cold weather. Hibernation is an extreme example, but even species that do not hibernate often exhibit changes in behavior during the winter. It has been argued that SAD is an evolved adaptation in humans that is a variant or remnant of a hibernation response in some remote ancestor.^[23] Presumably, food was scarce during most of human prehistory, and a tendency toward low mood during the winter months would have been adaptive by reducing the need for calorie intake. The preponderance of women with SAD suggests that the response may also somehow regulate reproduction.^[23]

Neither article mentions this, but I’ve read somewhere that SAD may cause an increase in carb cravings specifically. But maybe the increased carb consumption and cravings in winter is natural too, especially if you are eating seasonally as we are. There is less variety in fresh foods during the cold winter months. Most root veggies and winter squash that store well contain more carbs than other vegetables. Flour and sugar are cheap, common staples available year round. We eat more sweets during the holidays. All of this could feed our carb addiction. (Many believe sugar is highly addictive.) Increased carb intake alone could cause the symptoms associated with seasonal depression. Simple carbs like sugar and white flour in candy, cookies and cakes can cause a spike in blood glucose, resulting in a sugar rush – a temporary and subtle “high” which, along with the sweet yummy taste, you begin to crave. But after that brief “high”, blood glucose levels drop quickly, which could cause lack of energy, unhappiness, irritability, mood swings, anxiety and possibly headaches and even more cravings.

Whether it’s from lack of sunlight or an increase in carb consumption or a combination of both, I think seasonal mood changes are natural for most living organisms – less noticeable for some and excruciatingly obvious for others. But knowing that this state is probably just a natural, temporary, seasonal condition, can help us cope whether our symptoms are mild or severe. Lowering simple carb intake will likely help to reduce symptoms.

Just to confirm my suspicion that my mood is affected by the seasons, I found a few posts from this time last year (one of the many benefits of journaling/blogging). In this one in particular I say “I’m in a bit of a funk.” And I remember feeling withdrawn and highly irritable that day. It’s also interesting see that my posts around this time last year involve reflection and revelations about minimalism and toxins in other things besides food (i.e. beauty products and cleaners). I was contemplating making changes. Maybe this internal growth during winter is a lesser form of human hibernation. Maybe it’s just natural. And in the posts from March and April,  I talk about the actions that came from that internal growth. We purged stuff. I deleted everything on my DVR and cancelled future recordings. There are pictures of a newly planted garden. We go on trips.

This winter, I’m still building on all of that and I’ve been growing spiritually. I’ve contemplated religion, atheism and our natural world a lot this winter. I’ve been planning and learning about gardens, back yard design and DIY projects. I have found inspiration (largely thanks to Pinterest) and re-awakened my love for art and crafting. Maybe this internal growth during winter is just a natural cycle of human life. Now it’s time to take action. Make some changes. Go to bed earlier. Cut back on carbs. (Not surprisingly, this time last year we had the same problem with carbs.) Clean out the DVR. Start purging (my room is the first target). Plant stuff and just get outside. Spend time with family and friends and reach out to people who share my nonconformist views and hobbies. Just thinking about all that growth and future plans makes me feel alive again. Spring, ready or not, here I come.

Farm to Table Journey to Health (and Weight Loss)

The most remarkable thing about this journey is how it has affected my soul. When I first started my goal was to lose weight. But where I ended up instead, was so much better. And the weight fell off. This journey led me to unexpected places. Like farmers markets. And farm tours. And to cultivating a garden of my own. I have a deep appreciation for food now that I’ve seen the whole picture, from seed to plate. And when I say food, I don’t just mean ‘food’. I mean everything from seeds and plants and animals that “only have one bad day”; to climate and fertile soil and clean water and organic, sustainable  farming; to creating recipes with appreciation for the ingredients; and then cooking and sharing meals, relaxing and making memories with friends and family. Even after the food is gone from our plates, it’s sitting in our full bellies, nourishing us. I mean “FOOD!” I didn’t know it could be this good and, this nourishing. I’ve changed from the inside out. Deeply. This journey moves my soul and now I’m in tune with the natural world. It’s a part of me and I’m a part of it.

So if you want to lose weight AND be healthy and you’ve tried everything else… I have a little suggestion. Something you probably haven’t tried. Just learn to love nourishing food. Reconnect with it. Get to know it really well. Try a… I was going to call it a “farm-to-table diet,” but I hate diets. And I hate when people call eating well a “lifestyle”. I mean it is, but it sounds so cliché. How about… a farm-to-table journey to health. If you learn to eat well, the weight will fall off – and you won’t feel deprived or starved. Our entire family slimmed down in one summer. Except the picky one that needed to gain a little. She did.

Read some articles about all those foodie things I italicized above, and blogs like this one and dozens more like it. Subscribe to facebook pages and blogs like health.com, Slow Food USA, 100 Days of Real Food, Harvest Moon Grille/Grateful Growers and Mark Bittman. I suggest this book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and other books by Nina Planck, Michael Pollan, Alexandra Zissu. If TV’s your thing, try watching some food shows. Set your DVR to record “Dr. Oz” (he has Oprah’s old spot) and “The Chew” on ABC and Extra Virgin on the Cooking Channel. And watch Food, Inc. Don’t let the politics deter you. Understanding where food comes from and how it gets on your plate is the first step to eating well. Ignore the politics, unless of course you feel passionate about it.

Visit a farmers market or two. Try to find one that is a “producers only” market with food that comes from within a 50 or 100 mile radius. Start shopping there regularly. The best one in the Charlotte area is (Matthews Farmers’ Market.) In fact, some might say this is not a good time to start farmers’ market shopping, because we’re in the middle of winter and there’s hardly any food. First of all, that’s not true. There’s plenty of food. There’s just not a wide variety of food. But I think it’s the best time to get to know the farmers’ market – before it’s busy and crowded and there’s food everywhere. In the winter, farmers’ markets are quieter. The farmers, vendors and market goers will be more relaxed, less busy and open to conversation. And you can watch it grow into spring.

Locate some organic, sustainable farms in your area where food is grown without chemicals and animals are treated humanely. Most of them offer free scheduled tours. This is a great opportunity to find out why sustainable food costs more. It’s also a great way to spend a day with the family. Farms have a way of reminding you what life is all about. Kids of all ages will love it. It’s such a fun learning opportunity. (Also good for getting a reluctant spouse on board.)

Start small. Read one article a day. Subscribe to one blog. “Like” something food related on facebook. Cook one meal from fresh, whole ingredients. I’m telling you, this journey is nothing like a diet. There’s no calorie counting or eating low fat (fat is delicious and doesn’t make you fat – google it). This journey is eye opening and it’s fun. It changed my entire family. We’re all better because of it. I thought it would be nice to hear a kid’s point of view, so I’ve asked my daughter Haleigh (she’s 12) what she has enjoyed the most about this journey. So I’m stepping away from the keyboard now and letting her write it in her own words. This is what she has to to say:

“Eating healthier isn’t as bad as it seems – like eating vegetables all the time and not eating cookies – because there are also good things, like I get to go to the farmers’ market every Saturday. That’s fun for me and also the food from the farmers market tastes better than from a store. Healthier food makes me feel more focused and fit. Unlike junk food which makes me feel lazy. At lunch when I see people all around me eating cookies and chips and I’m eating carrots and a sandwich, it makes me think I’m much healthier than my friends and I’m going to be better off in life. Even though they sometimes make fun of me and stuff, because my mom’s such a “health freak” I’m thinking well at least my mom cares enough not to feed me junk food all my life.”

Things I Learned in 2011 and What I’m Looking Forward to Learning in 2012

Things I learned in 2011:

1. Scaling down and purging stuff is a life style, not a task to be completed in a weekend, a week, a month or even a year. It’s easier to get rid of things, than it is to stop accumulating more stuff. Still, we did a really good job.
2. Thrift stores are a great way to recycle, upcycle, save money and cut down on trash. If we could all buy more used stuff or just use and repair stuff we already have, demand for new things would fall, less of it would be produced and we could save some of our precious resources.
3. Gardening is rewarding, but less predictable than I imagined. Nature can be harsh. Bugs are an organic gardeners worst enemy. Everything you plant will not survive or be edible. Luckily, most of it will, even if you’re an amateur like me.
4. Having two compost piles is better than one. One to use now and one to build up for later.
5. Making mostly homemade bread from scratch, instead of buying it from the grocery store is doable… if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook (and maybe a bread machine, but I don’t use one of those). A stand mixer is worth it’s cost and it’s space on the counter. I still haven’t found a 100% whole wheat sandwich bread recipe that works without using vital wheat gluten (or other additive). But I’ve learned to accept a 50/50 or 40/60  loaf using good quality, organic all purpose and whole wheat flour. It’s way better tasting and better for our health than store bought bread.
6. Homemade tortillas are not worth the trouble unless you eat and make them often. A lot of work goes into it. I have an awesomely perfect recipe and a tortilla press, but we just don’t eat them often enough for me to really get the practice I need to make them quickly. So I buy the best quality I can, when we do need them. Homemade pita bread on the other hand, is totally worth it.
7. Kids (and spouses) will eat well if you feed them well… eventually.
8. My kids aren’t ADHD afterall. Our education system just stinks. I kinda knew this already, but it’s actually worse than I imagined. School’s just too damned boring for kids. Bad diet also plays a role.
9. Okra doesn’t have to be slimy. And I like it grilled. It’s not the only food I’ve learned to like this year. I like arugula. And salmon. But I still don’t like liver. Maybe I never will.
10. The world is not going to end in 2012. It’s a rumor. The Mayan calendar, actually the long-count period “ends” on winter solstice 2012, the same way our yearly calendar ends on December 31. Time will not stop. The world will not end. The calendar just starts over. So don’t put your pets to sleep or spend all of your money. (Here’s a little NASA FAQ, in case you’re still worried.)

Of course I’ve learned more than that, but those are my highlights. Here’s what I’m looking forward to learning in 2012:

1. Creating. This blog, my new camera, cooking and even gardening has all helped me get in touch with my inner artist. I’m looking forward to “up-cyling” projects this year. The ugly gold chandelier in our dining area has been a thorn in my side. I can’t wait to paint it, embellish it and add a lamp shade (or several). I’m sure there will be some DIY disasters in my very near future, but I’m looking forward to learning. I need to work on my sewing and painting skills. (Oh and have you heard of Pinterest? Whoa! So inspiring. And a great way to figure out what you like and organize your life.)
2. I want prettier gardens and I want more of them. Still mostly edible of course. And definitely still organic, just better laid out. I’ll be working on a garden design, before I start sowing seeds and planting this year.
3. You know I’m a bit of tree-hugger, but this year I want to do better. I have been replacing old store bought cleaners and some health and beauty products with safer, d-i-y alternatives. Beauty products have been the most intimidating, but I’ve stocked up on some good quality carrier oils, essential oils, bees wax, a few other ingredients and tons of small containers to store it all in. I’ve made all-over moisturizer using coconut oil and couple drops each of rosemary oil, tea tree oil and lemon oil. My hair serum is made with coconut oil, lavender and rosemary essential oils. They work great and smell better than anything I’ve bought in the store. I’m working on a post about these.
4. I’m a free spirit. This year I’m going to let it out more and stop worrying about other peoples’ opinions. Even if it ruffles a few feathers. (In fact I kinda hope it does!) I’ve found that by being honest and being myself, I attract the kind of people I want to be around and I fit better in situations and my surroundings. And if I’m more open, others are more open with me. This is my blog. I can write whatever I want.

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Well

This NPR article inspired this post. Apparently Georgia is running some controversial ads to try and fight childhood obesity. I think the ads are going to shed light on a subject that has been taboo for decades. Fat kids. There I said it. Not to be mean, but to be honest. Many kids (and adults) have excessive fat on their bodies. The fat is dangerous. Yes dangerous. In case you haven’t already heard, our children’s life expectancy is shorter than our own. What could this mean for future generations – our grandchildren and great grandchildren? Scary stuff. Something’s got to give. I want to break the cycle, not perpetuate it. I’m doing everything in my power to improve my kids’ chances. By example. And by showing them how to eat healthy. That’s right. I’m the mom who doesn’t like it and discourages her kids from eating candy and chips and soda and cake and ice cream. Though I try not to be a fruitcake. (See below.)

My kids eat vegetables. But they didn’t used to. Because I didn’t offer them. And the road hasn’t been easy (still isn’t). But I do it anyway. My three year old only eats a couple – celery (thanks Wonder Pets), broccoli (sometimes) and french fries (technically a vegetable, but just barely). But I’ve noticed that just like the older two, she’s eating more of them each week. Guess what else she loves. Tofu. Loves it! Because it tastes good. You probably don’t believe me because of it’s reputation in America as a disgusting or tasteless health food. I didn’t believe it until I actually tried it a couple times, a couple of ways.

Before you can convince your kids to eat well, you have to learn to do it. If you find healthier food to be tasteless (or even gross), give it a fair chance. Try not to write a food off after just one taste, or even just one preparation. It’s okay to be honest when you don’t like something. The kids have seen some funny, interesting and honest reactions from me. But keep trying it. They’ll get the lesson and hopefully you’ll learn to like it, not just tolerate it. Here’s a list of just some of the foods (and drinks) I used to dislike but now love:

• unsweetened beverages
• milk
• kale
• arugula (only after about the third try and after learning that salty and acidic foods compliment it’s flavor)
• beets (just getting to know and like them)
• figs
• rosemary, sage and a bunch of other herbs
• Greek yogurt
• parsnips
• goat cheese
• fennel
• kombucha
• salmon (just in the last couple of weeks)
• anchovies
• all kinds of beans
• cole slaw
• and of course, tofu – so versatile, yet I only had one image of it before we started this journey:

Here’s a link to some beautiful tofu on Google Images. Okay they aren’t all beautiful. But most of them are. And for the record, like chicken, it has an extremely mild taste, so a flavorful preparation is recommended. If you think you don’t like it, you probably just didn’t like the flavors used to prepare it. And the texture can vary and can also be manipulated if that’s your hang up. It can be delicate like cottage cheese, or firm like chicken.

But this post isn’t about tofu. It’s about getting kids (and you) to eat better, to be healthy. I’m no expert but I can tell you that I’ve learned a lot from my picky eaters over the last couple of years. One thing is certain, if you want kids to eat healthy food you first have to offer it (hello!?) and don’t give them an unhealthy option to choose from instead. In other words don’t serve chicken nuggets, french fries and kale. Duh. No need to elaborate further on that one. What are you afraid of? Insist (that’s right insist) that they take at least a reasonable bite. You do it all the time with other things. You insist they go to bed at a reasonable hour. You insist that they wear their seat belt. So ignore those “experts” that claim forcing your kids to eat their vegetables will give them some negative associations with the food. They’ll get over it. They might not like it this time, but keep offering it – over and over and over again. It can take something like a dozen tastes to change our minds about a particular food. Try another preparation. Use flavors they love. Just don’t give up on nutritious food – or your kids.

Here’s another tip. If they refuse to eat, let them go hungry. They won’t starve. And the next time you offer them something nutritious, they’ll probably be hungry enough to try it. Maybe not at first. They’ll probably rebel if you haven’t been eating this way for long. But if they refuse, they probably aren’t really that hungry. Trust me on this. Even if they’ve barely eaten for days, they won’t starve. If you cave and offer their favorite junk food, you are undermining your efforts and their chances to learn to eat healthy. It helps to look at the big picture. Have plenty of the fruits they love, milk if they’ll have it and other healthy options for snacks or meals. Stock up on the nutritious things they already love. And don’t expect them to be eagerly eating vegetables in a month or even a year. We’ve been at it for two years, and we still have issues. But it’s a million times easier than it was those first couple of weeks. Trying new foods and learning to like them is a lifestyle, not a childhood phase. As I said, I’m still doing it.

Come up with some ground rules. For instance, our kids must take a “thank you” bite. Always. At home and away. If they want seconds or dessert, they have to eat everything they’ve been served. I only serve them small portions to begin with. Sometimes a half portion or even just a couple tablespoons. My kids are used to trying new foods or new dishes now, though they aren’t always thrilled about it. Many of the foods that used to make them gag (literally, but I still made them take a bite) are some of their favorites now, or are at least tolerable. And I don’t care if the only reason they eat the kale or tofu is to get more chicken or dessert (we don’t have dessert regularly though). I am even going to start offering special privileges for clearing their plates. Like offering to play a board game after dinner, or to do one of their chores for them – dishes perhaps. The point is for them to give the food a chance. Who knows, you might like it Sam I Am. And don’t forget to praise them when they eat well or try something they don’t like.

While this post is mostly about offering healthy food, don’t forget to teach them portion control. My kids are only allowed one serving of each food, until they clean their plates (unless of course it’s more vegetables). If they want a second single serving of chicken after they’ve eaten salad and roasted carrots, then go for it. Americans tend to over estimate portion sizes (thanks to “individual” sized bags of chips with two servings, soft drinks and super sized meals in almost every restaurant, but especially fast food joints). A serving of vegetables is about 1/2 cup (1 full cup for greens like spinach and lettuce). A serving size of meat is 3 ounces (not 4). A single slice of bread is one serving, so a sandwich includes two servings of bread. Learning how much to eat is equally as important as learning what to eat. Here’s a handy chart.

I want to suggest one other thing. Eat and prepare meals together as a family. Families who eat together are usually closer, eating habits are better and kids are more confident, less likely to drink, do drugs, smoke, be depressed, have sex at a young age or get pregnant (just to name a few). Countless studies and research has been done on the subject. Tons of articles have been written about it. We eat dinner together nearly every night. My kids are almost always in the kitchen when I’m preparing dinner, usually doing homework or chatting (though I still need to work on letting them help more). It’s not always fun and games, but as the kids get older, the benefits become more and more important. And linger at the table after everyone is done eating. Finish your glass of wine or coffee. Chat. Goof off. Plan future events. Talk about your day. Our best conversations happen after the meal. Serious subjects like sex and drugs and bullying. Sometimes we get down right silly. Like the time we used an iPhone app to turn our voices into a song and sent it to a relative. Or the night we gave London some silly (but useable)  examples of what to do and say next time a boy in her class hits her or one of her friends. The dishes, the homework and the baths can wait just a little longer. This is more important.

***Updated to add a couple of things.

1) Sometimes kids will refuse to eat something even if they like it, just to be right. One of mine decides with her eyes first and will rarely admit she likes anything new. (Very discouraging and annoying.) But I’ve accepted it. Sometimes she’ll continue the charade indefinitely. But she doesn’t put up as much of a fight when I put it on her plate. Sometimes she’ll say it’s “okay”. But she’s quite stubborn. So am I. I just keep putting it on her plate. It’s like a little dance we do.

2) Texture can be a big problem for picky eaters. If something doesn’t taste good AND it’s mushy, it’s like a double whammy. She dislikes some delicate fish and hates beans and used to hate mashed potatoes (keep reading). Funny though she never had a problem with grits, which have a very distinct mushy/gritty and slightly slimy texture that many people do have a problem with. I have always added milk, cheese, lots of butter and sometimes sausage or bacon in our grits, preparing them almost like a rich risotto. Sometimes I even add onions, tomatoes, chard or spinach, mushrooms… My guess is that she just couldn’t resist the rich flavor. (That gives me an idea. Maybe I should try this with beans.) I mentioned that she used to hate mashed potatoes, but now she devours them. Especially with gravy. That’s my girl!

Grandma’s Number 1 Perfect Apple Cobbler

Grandma was right. This is definitely “Number 1 Perfect Apple Cobbler”. I don’t recall ever eating this cobbler made by Grandma. She lived out of state and we didn’t get to spend much time together. Maybe twice a year when I was growing up. Even less when I grew up and had a family of my own.  She passed away a few months ago. But my Grandma was something special. She wasn’t stuffy and prudish. Nor was she soft and gentle. But she was warm and fun. She was known to enjoy a couple of beers and she loved to play cards… and smile and laugh. She was in a bowling league for decades into her ripe old age. She was a ‘people person’. I will always remember her smiling, singing and dancing around. And if she wasn’t doing any of that, she was humming. Always. While she worked on her crossword puzzles. Or even when she was just strolling around the room, with one hand planted firmly on her hip. She was a ‘lefty’, and I swear there is just something special about lefties. I do miss her.

I stumbled across her recipe for apple cobbler a week ago. And what do you know? It’s apple season and I had a ton of them in the refrigerator. This apple cobbler was meant to be.

What I love about the recipe (besides that it’s damn good)  is the simplicity. It’s so quick and easy that you could be eating it within an hour of starting the recipe. And it only contains staple ingredients you would find in most kitchens. You don’t need any baking powder (something I frequently forget to restock) or corn starch. It’s just apples, a little lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, eggs and butter. I followed the recipe nearly to the letter because I wanted to taste her apple cobbler. I only needed about 6 apples since mine were fairly large and I used the juice from one not so juicy lemon, which may have been more like 1 1/2 tbs. Her recipe also calls for “oleo”, which makes this recipe even more charming to me. Oleo is an old-fashioned term used sometimes for butter or oil, but usually for margarine. I used real butter.

I should also say that technically, this may be more of a “crumble” than a cobbler, just in case you are looking for a true cobbler recipe. I thought it was a little bit unusual that there was an egg in the topping. Most recipes only call for butter, flour and sugar in the dough. The egg though, is what gave it the extra crunch that I loved so much. I also love that the apple “filling” is just apples and a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. No milk or water to make it soupy. No flour to thicken it. No added sugar to sweeten it. Just apples!  (I say to you with both hands in the air! Do you know how happy this simple detail makes me?) I wouldn’t use Granny Smith or cooking apples for this recipe. It would probably end up too tart and too dry. But if that’s all you have then just add maybe a 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water or juice to the apples. They may also need just a few more minutes in the oven to get them nice and soft. I almost always prefer to use regular eating apples and cut back on the refined sugar in any recipe. I used mostly Golden Delicious and a few Pink Ladies that I bought from Matthews Community Farmers’ Market (my favorite source for locally grown food).

I’m not sure if any of you actually care about the quality of the ingredients that I use. But I have a feeling some of you might. So from now on I’m going to put my first choice for ingredients first and then, in parenthesis the more common substitute in a sort of sliding scale. If I use organic, obviously the regular stuff will work in it’s place. I won’t bore you with every detail on each ingredient, but I’ll share this with you instead. Most of my produce and the little bit of meat we consume comes from the Matthews Community Farmers Market. Everything is grown or raised within 50 miles and the produce is either USDA Organic, organically grown (without the costly USDA certification) or grown with minimal amounts of the safest pesticides or chemicals possible to save crops from complete devastation; and the animals are all raised on pasture. I am confident that this is true because these farmers and vendors feel as passionately about real, unadulterated food as I do. Some of them are members and supporters of Slow Food. The vendors and the patrons all care about things like sustainable farming and the humane treatment of animals. If they didn’t, they’d be selling at another farmers market. This is the best farmers market in the Charlotte/Matthews area, I assure you. Also I usually buy organic when it comes to these big three:  corn, soy and wheat products – to avoid controversial genetically modified food (GMO’s). I wouldn’t be as worried about these, IF they weren’t in the majority of the products found in grocery stores (in one form or another). So here we go:

Mabel’s “Number 1 Perfect Apple Cobbler”

• 8-10 local, organic apples, peeled and sliced (mine were not organic, but no detectable residues were found on the fruit upon testing, obviously commercial organic or regular apples can be used)
• 1 Tbs. organic lemon juice (non-organic is probably okay when it comes to citrus juice)
• 1 c. organic evaporated cane juice  (I used 3/4 cup since my apples were sweet and because I always try recipes with 1/4 to 1/3 less sugar at first. 3/4 cup was enough for our taste. Organic sugar or regular sugar works fine.)
• 1 c. King Arthur’s organic all-purpose flour (Local and organic is better if you can find it. Hoffner Organic Farms has some, but regular flour will work, whole wheat flour is probably okay too)
• 1 tsp. organic cinnamon (non-organic cinnamon will do)
• dash of real sea salt (any sea salt or regular table salt)
• 1 local, pastured egg, beaten (organic, cage free or free range or regular eggs will work)
• 4 tbs. oleo (butter), melted (I used Kerrygold unsalted, which is pastured, but imported from Ireland. Organic butter or ordinary butter will work.)

Method:

Pour lemon juice over apples. Mix dry ingredients and egg until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples in 5 x 9 baking dish (a 9″ square pan worked just fine for me). Drizzle with the melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. “You can use peaches instead of apples if desired.”  (I’ll remember that when peaches are in season!)

Things “Real Food” Ruined (for Me)

Knowing and giving a crap about where my food comes from and how it was made has ruined the instant gratification that comes from eating and drinking whatever I want, when I want it regardless of the quality. I can’t buy anything new without scanning the ingredient list (unless of course it’s a whole food that doesn’t have an ingredient list like cuts of meat and produce – good stuff). But that’s really a good thing, isn’t it? I mean I consume less food partly because of this. So here’s a list of some things I’ve had to “do without” this week.

1. Eggnog. I know it’s only October. But I spotted some Southern Comfort eggnog at Harris Teeter and now I have a craving that won’t go away. The old me would have put it right in the cart without thinking twice. But now, no ordinary eggnog will do. I want one made with pastured milk and eggs from pastured chickens… and no weird ingredients. The closest thing is Organic Valley’s eggnog, and I haven’t been able to find it yet. I could make some from scratch, but I don’t want to. Maybe later.

2. Cheap, junky candy, cookies and cakes and plastic trinkets. I don’t miss these things, but I do miss  how easy it was to find and gather treats for goodie bags and trick-or-treaters. I also miss not caring about what others are buying. It’s discouraging to see all the plastic that’s going to end up in landfills and all the junk that kids are going to eat. It’s also discouraging to know that companies will continue producing this junk as long as people are buying it.  I am not forbidding my kids from accepting them, though I will offer alternatives. I just refuse to buy them. And guess who Linsey’s class parent is… That’s right. This makes the task even more difficult. But at least I have some control over the junk this class and these children will consume. I mean I can’t not hand out the trinkets and candy donated by other parents, but I can minimize the total amount. And I’m not handing out any junk to trick-or-treaters either – except what I recycle from the junk the kids bring home. You may be thinking “My gosh! It’s Halloween!! Give me a break!” But the truth is Halloween is just one more in hundreds of other occasions in which people think kids should get junk and candy. There is always a holiday or special occasion. If it were just this one day, it would be easier tolerate. But Halloween celebrations and fall festivals go on all month. They’ve already had a couple. Two or three more celebrations to go. See what I mean? It never ends.

They will also be getting pencils. Which are at least useful. This Crabby Patty is gross. Wish these things would go away, but it appears they have become a Halloween staple. My kids get some every year. 

3. Cool Whip. It was so easy and used to be my favorite pie topping. It tastes good. There I said it. But that was all spoiled for me when I found out that this is mostly hydrogenated vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrup. It used to be considered non-dairy until recently when Kraft changed their recipe. However, there’s still way more hydrogenated vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrup (and regular corn syrup)  in this stuff than milk or cream. And water is the first the ingredient. (See what I mean about ingredient lists…) The stuff in the can is made with real cream, but I question it’s quality. So now I make my own from Organic Valley* Heavy Cream, organic cane sugar, my homemade vanilla extract and a little bit of nutmeg. It takes maybe 5 minutes total and only two dirty dishes. A whisk and bowl. It’s easily worth the effort. The store bought brands don’t even compare. The taste and texture of homemade whipped cream is far and away more superior. But on Sunday we were having dinner with family and I baked a homemade pumpkin pie (from scratch). I didn’t have any heavy cream at home. It would have been easy to run in and grab some Cool Whip or Reddi Whip on our way over, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

*Organic Valley is not my first choice for dairy, but it’s the best, widely available grocery store brand. They source their milk from small, organic farms with pastured cattle that are not treated with antibiotics or synthetic hormones. Their pastures are not treated with pesticides and their products are regionally produced. My first choice for dairy would be direct from the source. Incidentally, we visited one of Organic Valley’s farms on our recent Know Your Farms Tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Hoffner Organic Farms – This certified organic, third generation dairy farm raises 300 head of Holstein dairy cattle for milk and meat and sells milk to Organic Valley Co-op.  The farm now grows delicious, certified organic vegetables in their new 200 foot hoophouse.  Beef (including bratwursts), Organic Valley dairy products, and freshly ground barley and wheat flour available for purchase.

In fact, their freshly ground 100% whole wheat flour is also organic. Yes! Local, organic 100% whole wheat flour! It’s what I’ve been using to bake our fresh sandwich bread with, which brings me to:

4. Fluffy 100% whole wheat sandwich bread. I don’t eat a lot of bread, but when I do, I miss the light and airy texture of store bought bread. I’ve tried lots of things, and none of them seem to work that well. The fact of the matter is you have to add questionable ingredients to 100% whole wheat to get it that way. Usually vital wheat gluten does the trick. It’s not horribly terrible, but it is an additive and I guess you could say that I am kind of a purist when it comes to bread. In fact, I wish I had time to keep up my own sour dough starter so that I don’t even have to add instant yeast. But that’s like adding another pet to take care of (like kefir water, only it requires even more attention). Sometimes I use vital wheat gluten or substitute some all purpose flour. It’s still better for you than store bought bread and tastes a thousand times better. I also buy Natures’s Own 100% Whole Wheat bread when I don’t have time to make fresh bread. My kids must have the option to make a sandwich at all times – for my own sanity and theirs. It’s one of our “fast foods”.

I did cheat and use half King Arthur’s Organic All Purpose Flour in this loaf. That’s why it’s so light airy.

This is how much more rise you get with 100% whole wheat when you use vital wheat gluten.

See how airy it gets with the addition of vital wheat gluten?

5. The sense of security I felt in our American food system (trusted brands, industry practices, agriculture, among other things). In fact I never even considered it to be a food “system” at all. It was just food. It was all the same to me. But what I’ve learned is that it’s not just food and it’s DEFINITELY not all the same. It’s a house of cards (like our financial system). And I wish it wasn’t so taboo to talk about healthy, natural food. Eating a healthy, whole foods diet hundreds or thousands of years old and avoiding modern processed food shouldn’t seem eccentric. It should be the norm. The major food manufacturers have worked very hard to convince us that everything is fine. In fact, I would compare those big name brands like Kraft, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Con Agra to the big, greedy banks in our failing economical system. It’s not all bad, but there are many things that will have to change. Or else it will crash like the stock market. I’m aware that money generally makes life more comfortable, it’s food that makes life possible at all. You can survive with little or no money but you cannot live without food. A little perspective, you know? While I sometimes wish I could unlearn what I know about food,  I’m glad I decided to take a closer look. After all it was a false sense of security.

Fall Food

Less than a week until Autumn. This is a bitter sweet time of year for me. I love the festivities – the new school year, Halloween and Thanksgiving, festivals or outings planned nearly every weekend, farm tours, pumpkin patches and then carvings, warm, spicy apple cider, football, slightly cooler weather… But the cold, the darkness and the lack of fresh produce are only a couple months away now. There is less variety at the farmers market and some vendors appear to be taking time off – much needed I’m sure, and well deserved. Or maybe it’s the lack of produce and the need to plant fall and winter crops.

Spaghetti squash was my “something new” for this week.

I didn’t think the two small, yellow ones from the farmers market would be enough, so I bought another one from the grocery store. There was little difference in taste.

This is a great low carb alternative to regular pasta. We were all skeptical, but once we started eating it was easy to forget that it was squash and not noodles of some sort. We topped it with a leftover meat sauce, sliced Italian sausage from Grateful Growers, Parmesan and parsley. Linsey even asked for seconds. London wouldn’t touch it (as usual).

Now that the weather is cooling off I find myself craving warm herbal teas. I had never thought to put rosemary in tea, and can’t remember where I got the idea, but I should have known. I love rosemary in everything else. And now I love it in tea. It’s so good for you. So’s mint. I made an herbal infusion of white tea with mint, rosemary and stevia. Sadly my mint isn’t doing well (which is a bit weird since it’s supposed to be so hardy, sometimes even invasive). Or maybe I just need to leave it alone for awhile. But this tea was so comforting.

I steeped the mint, stevia and rosemary first, until it cooled completely. Then I warmed it again and let the tea steep for a couple of minutes. Di-vine. I grew my own chamomile in the spring. It wasn’t very hardy and I only managed to dry enough buds for one cup of tea. I was surprised how much they smelled like apples. And that’s the flavor they impart in tea. I’m feeling inspired. There’s an herbal tea garden in my future – one with stevia, violets, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, more chamomile, mint and rosemary. Maybe jasmine and lavender.

Another highlight of fall – chestnuts! One of my favorite foods of all time. And my dear, sweet, very generous mother hooked me up! I’m feeling a bit gluttonous at the moment. Good thing they are so nutritious and low in calories compared to other nuts. Walnuts, for instance, have about four times the calories as chestnuts. There are about 170 calories in 100 grams of chestnuts. Chestnuts have more fiber, less fat and are loaded with vitamin C.  In fact, eating 3 ounces will supply you with almost half the daily recommendation. They’re also a good source of vitamin B, copper, folate, magnesium and manganese.

^^The girls sharing an after school snack – warm chestnuts.

I also find myself craving Korean food lately. I’ve been watching the Kimchi Chronicles on PBS. This show makes my mouth water. Also makes me want to visit my mother’s home land. One day…

^^Somen noodles cooked in chicken broth, garlic and green onions with turnip kimchi.

^^ Mandu soup again with chicken broth, garlic and green onions. Also fried egg and toasted seaweed.

Stevia – A Safe Sweetener?

I’ve heard of stevia and it’s refined cousins “Truvia”, “PureVia” and “Stevia Extract in the Raw”. But because there is some controversy over it, I lumped it in with the artificial sweeteners – Nutrasweet, Equal and Sweet’n Low and even with another natural sweetener, agave nectar, and just decided to avoid it. I lost all interest when I found out that Truvia was developed by Coca-Cola and Cargill and that Pepsico had their hands in PureVia.

Then last Saturday I sampled a stevia leaf and was quite surprised. It is pretty amazing how sweet it was. Definitely not what I was expecting. The sweet flavor even lingered in my mouth, as you would expect with any herb. I was intrigued, so I bought a few stems to experiment with.

How does it taste (fresh leaves)? The first time I used it I added about four whole leaves to my cup of green tea. I bruised the leaves with my spoon against the side of my cup then let it steep for about five minutes. I was unimpressed. Not that sweet. Next I decided to chop the leaves finely. I also used about three times as many leaves. Big difference. The tea actually increased in sweetness the longer it steeps. By the time I got to the last few sips it was actually too sweet. Some say there is a licorice taste to it, but I didn’t get that at all. It tastes similar to artificial sweetener, which was a slight turn off for me. However, if it’s a safe natural sweetener, I could get used to it.

Is it safe? Most of the controversy appears to be centered around the commercial sweeteners Truvia, PureVia and Stevia Extract in the Raw. The way I understand it, the refining process used to produce these commercial brands is what’s wrong with them – as is the case with nearly all other refined foods and additives, especially sweeteners. They have extracted something called “rebiana” (a.k.a. Reb-A) from the leaf and so they aren’t really stevia, the way high fructose corn syrup isn’t really corn. They are also blended with erythritol, a sugar alcohol (in fact Truvia has more erythritol than rebiana), maltodextrin or dextrose, cellulose powder (huh?) and “natural flavors”. I would also be weary of it’s use in prepackaged foods (which we’ll be seeing more often according to this article). More than likely food manufacturers will be using a refined mixture similar to Truvia, PureVia and Stevia Extract in the Raw.

On the other hand, the whole leaf from the actual stevia plant (fresh or dried) appears to be safe. (Whole foods usually are.)  Stevia (a.k.a. “sweet leaf” or “sugar leaf”) is a plant that’s been around for centuries. There have even been some studies that have shown it may improve glucose absorption (good for blood sugar) and may reduce hypertension. In fact diabetes and high blood pressure often occur together, especially in over weight individuals, and are risk factors for Metabolic Syndrome.  (See my previous post about it here.) If you use an artificial sweetener like the ones I mentioned earlier, this is definitely a better alternative.

How do you use it and where can I get it? I would stay away from the PureVia, Truvia and Stevia Extract in the Raw. You can make your own stevia extract by soaking lots of fresh or dried leaves in grain alcohol (like Everclear) for about a month, or even water (but less effective and less sweet). Dried leaves have more intense sweetness and can be ground into a powder. The whole, fresh leaves (I recommend mincing them first), the extract, dried leaves and powder can all be used as sugar substitutes, but since it can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar you will only need to use a small fraction of it. Click here for a stevia conversion chart. You would probably find the dried leaves at a health food market or a specialty store. Or you can grow the plant yourself. That’s what I plan to do.

My first attempt at "Stevia Concentrate", a/k/a really, really strong, super concentrated stevia tea. Easy. Steeped for about 10 minutes in hot, not boiling water. Tastes better than it looks.