To Save a Species from Extinction, Serve It for Dinner

The new long-awaited book from Gary Paul Nabhan is out. I haven't seen it yet, but this article in the New York Times yesterday is great. The book is Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods.

Sorry I haven't been writing much. When you're hungry all the time and limited to a list of about 25 foods, it's hard to write about food....

The Smells of Passover

This year, I don't get to taste Passover, only smell it. Strange and sad, for the first time in my 42 years I can't have the charoset, matzoh, or kugel. I always pass on the horseradish (ick), and even that smelled good at mom's seder--and sentimental.

I haven't spoken about it here yet, mostly because I'm not sure how it's going to impact the new direction of the blog, but I am dealing with food allergies. And, no, I couldn't be dealing with eliminating one category of foods from my world. Heavens, that would be too simple and not nearly dramatic enough. Instead, I have been gluten-, yeast-, sugar-, and dairy-free for nearly two weeks now. Wanna be successful on Weight Watchers? There's my secret. I lost four pounds in my first eight days.

I'm sure at some point I'll be able to add in some thing (please, Lord, let me have an apple or an orange) but some things, such as processed sugar, yeast, and gluten are probably gone forever.

I feel remarkable, I have to say. I had some ups and downs the first ten days as my body detoxed--headaches, chills, crying jags, and more--and then two days last week I was completely manic. My poor officemate couldn't work out which was worse....

I feel better mentally and physically than I have in years, but I also faced minimal food temptations so far, Passover seder being the biggest. The smell of the cinnamon and wine of the charoset, the starchy goodness of the kugel--almost too much to bear. But I keep reminding myself how incredible I feel.

I don't know where I'm heading with this post. Doing a lot of thinking lately, especially about how I interact with food and the role of food in my life. Food has always been something to be savored, something special to share with friends and family. Now I'm approaching it as "fuel", plain and simple, as I settle into my new life.

I am finding joy in some of my foods, however. Today, cutting into an out-of-season organic red bell pepper, I took a bite and discovered it was sweet as candy. It was almost too sweet. Stunned, I cut off a slice for a co-worker who looked at me and laughed, saying, "Kay, it tastes like a red bell pepper." To me, it was a little bit of heaven. I'm learning to savor each and every one of those bits of heaven.

Fresh as a Spring Daisy!

It's not food-related but here's a recipe for a nice, refreshing body spray. It can also be used as a room spray, but wherever you use it, be careful with the oils as they can stain clothing and other fabric.

At any craft or health food store, buy a 4 oz (I think) glass bottle--brown or blue preferably. A colored bottle helps your fragrance hold longer.

Mix 1/2 a cup of distilled water and 1/2 cup of vodka and add to bottle. Add 5 to 10 drops of your favorite essential or fragrance oil. Cap, shake, spray, and adjust the fragrance if necessary. Top off bottle with more vodka and distilled water, if needed, using more water than vodka. Some essential oils, such as orange blossom, don't hold well, but others such as mint, rosemary, bergamot, and lavender do.

The difference between essential oils and fragrance oils is simple. Essential oils are naturally-derived while fragrance oils are synthetic. Fragrance oils should be avoided by people with skin or respiratory sensitivities. Think Bath & Body Works.

A great source for essential oils (and loads of other supplies) is Denver's Apothecary Tinctura--and they ship. Their staff is really knowledgeable about blending oils and which will carry best in your homemade products.

This simple spray is really refreshing on a hot day. Play with the scents and you'll soon have a favorite--or two.

I Love the Java Jive and It Loves Me...

There are few things better in the world than the smell of the first pot of coffee in the morning. I woke up this morning at the obscene hour of 4:00 and came down to the couch to read, where I promptly fell asleep again. I was jolted awake by the sound of Nigel grinding coffee beans (ahem) but I was willing to forgive once I heard the water drip and smelled the coffee.

I was still on the couch when I heard him pouring the dark, hot brew into cups, and the clinking of his spoon as he stirred honey into his. That first sip of coffee in the morning is heaven. So are all of the subsequent sips, but the first one is really special.

So, what's in your cup? Right now, we've got an organic fair trade blend from Whole Foods. I don't remember which one and the bag is long gone. We're both coffee junkies and we like good quality roasts. We're also more and more interested in fair trade coffee.

Defining organic coffee is easy--it's grown without use of pesticides. Fair trade is also easy to define and it's an important designation to seek out. From the Global Exchange Web site (they say it better than I would, so I'll let them...):

Fair Trade is a viable solution to this crisis, assuring consumers that the coffee we drink was purchased under fair conditions. To become Fair Trade certified, an importer must meet stringent international criteria; paying a minimum price per pound of $1.26, providing much needed credit to farmers, and providing technical assistance such as help transitioning to organic farming. Fair Trade for coffee farmers means community development, health, education, and environmental stewardship.

Our world is facing a global food crisis. With rising food prices--due in large part to the current "challenges" in the US economy--poor countries are feeling the pinch more than the rest of us. European leaders are taking this seriously and have been holding meetings this week to address the growing crisis. Buying Fair Trade coffee allows those who are growing coffee in the third world to earn an honest wage, so they can afford to live. We expect nothing less for ourselves, why do we accept it for our brothers and sisters around the world?

There is a great book on the topic called Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee. It's written by an American who has traveled the world, and is one of the leaders in this movement. He buys his coffee directly from the people, paying fair prices, and helping them diversify their crops, start side businesses, and think about sustainability issues in their own communities. It's a fascinating read, and there is an outstanding interview on PRI's "The World" with the author here. It's well worth the 15 minutes or so and you'll learn a lot about how and where you buy your coffee. Bottoms up!

(Oh, and did you know that Dunkin Donuts coffees are Fair Trade? Kudos to them.)

Look For the Organic Label

Ideal Bite is another great resource for people trying to green their plates and the rest of their lives. They send a daily email tip, with links to some cool resources.

One of my recent favorites was about how to tell if your produce is organic, conventional, or genetically-modified (and we'll talk about frankenfoods soon, I'm sure) by simply looking at the sticker. Until now, those were just stupid little things you had to try to peel off when you got home. Actually, they've got some important info on them.

Supermarket Numbers Game

The upshot is this:

(from Ideal Bite)

A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown.
A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic.
A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's GM.

Easy peasy!

The Dirty Dozen

The Daily Green, a website from Hearst, does a lot of things right. One of their best resources is a list of The Dirty Dozen--the top 12 things you should buy organic if you buy nothing else, and an explanation about why.

Sorry, the first picture is oogy meat. But then it gets yummy.

The Dirty Dozen

Mo Bettah Food: Larabar Review for Mo

Today's feature: Cherry Pie.

Yum yum.

Hard to believe that something made with only almonds, cherries (unsweetened, even), and dates can taste this good. This bar is only 3.66 points (call it 4, call it 3.5--up to you) and well worth it. We'll see how long it holds me, but I just had one for breakfast. It had great cherry flavor; didn't pick up on the dates at all. Two thumbs up.

I don't know why I've never tried Larabars before. They're from Denver, after all, and they're about as clean as you can get for a processed food. I think part of it is the price--these puppies were $1.49 each at Sunflower, and I believe they're higher at Whole Foods. Maybe cheaper at Vitamin Cottage; will have to remember to check. Still, for a quick breakfast or snack, I think they're probably worth it.

An addendum: The bar didn't hold me as long as I had hoped it would. Alas. I also learned from my next door neighbor that the guy next door to them knows Lara, and in fact, some of the early bars were made in his kitchen. That's pretty cool.

Take Only What You Need

Just in from grocery shopping at Sunflower, where I bought the vast majority of this week's produce. I think most people over-buy, thinking "I'll be healthy eating fruits and vegetables this week!" and then they end up throwing a lot of it out a week later when they haven't gotten to everything they purchased.

In an ideal world, we'd all be able to stop at a green grocer (and butcher, fishmonger, etc.) walking home from work. In most communities, that just doesn't exist. Most of us are lucky to do one big shopping trip on the weekend and maybe supplement once during the week. This is generally the reality for me. If I don't buy it on Saturday or Sunday, we don't have it. Where produce is concerned, that can make for a tricky week, but soon we'll talk about the wonders of frozen produce. Promise.

The above picture is all of the fresh produce I bought for this week. We've got bananas--Nigel eats one each morning. I may have one during the week. If we have too many, they get frozen for banana bread later. The apples are for my lunches; I'll pick up another one or two during the week if I feel like it. I have one orange leftover from last week that I'll eat this weekend.

The other items:

three onions
two apples
green beans
three peppers
Italian parsley
four potatoes
green onions
zucchini
cherry tomatoes
spinach

About half of what I bought is organic, and the dinners on this week's menu are:

Shepherd's pie (onion, green beans, potatoes)
Chicken breasts, spicy orange noodles, green beans (parsley, green beans, green onions)
Orzo salad (spinach, onion)
Easy Corn Sautee (a WW recipe; zucchini, peppers, onion, tomatoes)
Potatoes and beans with cheddar (potatoes, duh.)

Anything that doesn't get used for a dinner gets incorporated into lunch (and lunch is usually comprised of leftovers, or something simple like soup or beans and rice.) I'll probably take some pepper strips this week as well as some cherry tomatoes with my lunches.

Anything that isn't used by the end of the week will become part of "Egg Night" on Thursday night, where we have the traditional pre-weigh in dinner of scrambled eggs, refried beans, salsa, and sometimes hash browns (I use frozen ones for convenience.) Everything I'm making is easily incorporated into a Weight Watchers diet--plus, it's fresh and tastes good.

Ooh, Pretty Circles!

I forgot about this chart created by Phil Howard at Michigan State University, until I saw it referenced today. It's a great resource to learn who owns whom in the natural foods business, though it is probably somewhat out of date, as the Hain Celestial Group has been on a buying spree of late.

http://www.msu.edu/~howardp/

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

A very good place to start.

You might be wondering what I mean when I talk about eating clean or focusing on whole foods. There are no absolutes here--everyone has their own definitions and their own place where they draw the line.

Michael Pollan talks about purchasing food from the grocery store with no more than five ingredients (and if you can't pronounce them, don't buy it) and others talking about "shopping the outside aisles of the store." For me, it's a balance between eating healthy, whole, and minimally processed foods and convenience.

I love to cook. I always have. While you don't have to love to cook to live a cleaner (and lower weight) lifestyle, you've got to be willing to do it, plain and simple. But I'm also busy. I work 40+ hours a week and have other activities beyond grocery shopping and food prep.

In our house, I cook about four nights a week. Not gourmet meals by any stretch but good, wholesome meals. Sometimes it might be all fresh-made food like a roast chicken, Spicy Orange Noodles (try it--they're insane), and roasted green beans, and sometimes it's a pre-made pizza crust (Rustic Crust kicks ass) with organic mozzarella, Muir Glen pizza sauce, and Hatch, NM green chilis from my freezer (we buy two bushels fresh every summer, freeze them, and eat them through the year--in and on everything.)

It's a mix of fresh and homemade, and minimally processed. Snacks are the same. Many times I have a yogurt, fruit, veggies, hummus, Kashi crackers, string cheese, raisins, and the like. Other times, I'm in a rush and grab a "nutrition bar" (Clif Kids bars are my faves right now) or a pack of microwave popcorn. What I don't do is eat those processed things every day. It's all about balance. And sometimes you've just got to make the best choice you can. Eating microwave popcorn is far preferable to getting too hungry and eating everything but the kitchen sink when I walk in the door. That never ends well and then I beat myself up for not making a smarter choice, both nutritionally and "diet"-wise.

So, what are you doing? What are your fall-back convenience foods? Give me some new ideas! (Oh, and Wild Cherry M&Ms don't count, though they are freaking awesome.)

No Foolin'

Today's issue of The Daily Green had a link to all sorts of cool discounted stuff! Now, living a greener lifestyle is supposed to be about consuming less, but hey, if there is stuff you need to buy, it may as well be green--and discounted.

The Daily Green

My Earthbound Organics re-usable shopping bag is already winging its way across the country. I wonder how many carbon credits I'll have to buy offset that?

(And don't get used to this "every day" stuff--it ain't gonna last!)

And Now For Something Completely Different....

Well, not completely but perhaps a bit more focused. I've been wondering what--if anything--to do with this blog and I think I've decided.

I've long had a fascination with "health food." When I was a kid, we used to go to a restaurant in Boulder called The Good Earth and I was the weirdo who ordered the carob-flavored frozen yogurt. This was back when yogurt was tart and not as sugary-sweet as it is now.

In high school I became a vegetarian and stayed one for about 10 years. I bought all of the Moosewood cookbooks and devoured them. Amanda and I lived on Humble Vegetable Casserole (see: Enchanted Broccoli Forest) through our college years. It still the quintessential comfort food to me--potatoes, cheese, and pickles. Don't go kidding yourself--it's great and I dare you not to fall in love with it (though I never ever make it with the hard-boiled eggs. Yuck.)

So, over the years I've gained weight. And lost weight. When I made my Weight Watchers goal in 2001, I relied heavily on processed foods including aspartame, sucralose, fat-free this, and reduced-fat that. I looked hot. But I wasn't eating very clean and it has always bothered me.

So, I maintained that loss for about five years. And then, as my diet got cleaner, I got heavier. In eliminating fake sugar and fake food from my diet, I replaced those with real sugar, butter, cheese, and more. While I still keep my portions in check (mostly....) what I'm eating is intrinsically more fattening. I'm not even close to being back at my highest weight, but I'm higher than I want to be.

In the last year to 18 months, there's been a lot more talk in the mainstream media about organics (which I've always purchased as much as possible/affordable), plus eating foods in season, and the local foods (locavore) movement. I've become re-ignited with a passion for clean eating and exploring some of these options. But the challenges are: how to do it and lose weight, too? How to do it affordably?

There are loads of great resources for "green" living and whole foods, whatever your interest. If you want to explore the world of fermented foods, there are sites for you. Artisan cheese? Plenty of sites. Organics? Community Supported Agriculture? Locavores? It's all out there--but none of it addresses weight loss issues. Maybe they assume that everyone who wants to eat clean is skinny? I don't know.

So, together with my friends--Weight Watchers and non alike--I want to use this blog to to explore these topics. No, not everything will be points-friendly. No, not everything will be seasonal or local, or organic. Life is about finding balance and moderation. What would life be without the occasional M&M? The occasional red bell pepper in the spring? Bananas? Coffee?

I welcome your suggestions for questions and topics to address. Let's explore all of these questions together. I suspect more questions will be raised than answered, but what the heck. Bon appetite!

(Oh, and fear not--the occasional rant will be thrown in, too, just for balance.)

I Am Old, Part 23

So, I learn last week on the radio that Don Letts has a new documentary out on The Clash. Cool. Come to find out, it's airing on PBS over the weekend. PBS? The same channel showing Sesame Street? Okay.

Then I find out the show airs at 11pm on Saturday night. Thank goodness for DVR. I'll never be up that late.

We record the show, anticipating it all week. The Clash is one of our favorite bands, and according to our friend, Richard, "the only band that matters." Or, at least that's what his six-year-old son says he says.

Sunday evening (at a respectable hour--before 60 Minutes) we sit down to watch, to find that this is part of PBS's pledge drive efforts. Uh, where did Peter, Paul, and Mary go? The Clash? Are you shitting me?

Okay, so they're using The Clash--one of the most influential bands of the punk movement--to sell public TV. And it gets stranger. The two guys pimping them are a Suit and a Hippie. Is it any wonder I love Nigel when he says things like, "Pledge now or we kill the hippie!"? In 1978 and 79, when The Clash first appeared on the scene, punks would have kicked Hippie in a dark alley somewhere in rainy London. Now, Hippie is embracing The Clash and telling us how much we need this documentary on DVD for our very own collections. And for a pledge of only $150.

As for the documentary itself, it was a letdown. There was no documentary to speak of. What the program is, actually, is rare concert footage--some amazing stuff--but not what either of us thought it would be. And freaking Rocky Mountain PBS said the program was 90 minutes and we lost the last part (probably 15 minutes or so) because of all the blathering on to donate. I can't help but wonder what Joe Strummer, co-writer of White Man in Hammersmith Palais, would think if he were still alive, of the following lyric being used to fund raise for public television.

The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny
Turning rebellion into money....

When the Nirvana pledge drive concert is on, I hope they'll let me watch it at the nursing home.

There Are Few Things Cooler

than scoring a big interview for someone, or when you are the person to call someone and say, "Hey, guess who called to interview you?"

I've gotten to tell authors that they're going to be in the Guardian and the New York Times, or that they've gotten a starred review in Publishers Weekly. I've gotten to tell authors that they're going to be on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Hardball with Chris Matthews (I even got to escort one slightly-overwhelmed Frances Moore Lappe across Manhattan for a live appearance on Hardball--thankfully I had an emergency box of raisins and a kids' Clif bar...), and I got to call Naomi Wolf to tell her that the producer for the Colbert Report returned my call to book her.

All of that is cool. Wicked cool. But there is nothing cooler than telling an 11-year-old boy that a local TV station wants to interview him because of an academic scholarship he won, and that he has two minutes to talk about absolutely anything he wants to talk about, AND, they'll give him a tour of the studio. That is pure joy and I got to do it yesterday. You shoulda seen the look on that kid's face. He nearly burst.

Questions

How does Tilda Swindon win Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton and Tom Wilkerson doesn't win Best Supporting Actor?

How is it possible that yesterday it was 74 degrees out and sunny, and today it is 30 and blowing snow?