While the Midwest and other parts of the nation are in the throw of winter,take some time to look at what community farms in your area are offering. You may find that organic, hormone free products can be deliveered near your home for a fraction of the cost of what you pay in the grocery store. Why joining a CSA, you will also support your local economy and small businesses!
Here's a convenient search engine to find CSA's in your neck of the woods.
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Bad Food Day--October 4
The Bible says "in all things give thanks". And I am thankful for every meal--even the not so good ones. This probably sounds like whining, considering that everyday, people go to bed hungry. So let's see...what is the best way to say that you had a "bad food day"? I had a bad food day.
It started off well--fried eggs with feta cheese and kalamata olives on whole grain bread (and a little mayo) for breakfast. Water and a cup of joe to wash it down.
Lunch was pushed late in the day due to a busy schedule. I had a taste for a burrito so I found a plaza with two options--Rio Wraps and Taco Bell. I decided to try the Taco Bell. It was newly built--a very modern looking building with southwestern architectural details. As I looked at the drive through menu, I was amazed at the number of ways it was possible to spin the same basic ingredients--beans, tortillas, beef/chicken, rice and more beans. Like every other fast food place, they offered multi-fruit drinks that promised to satisfy the thirsty.
I ordered two bean, rice and cheese burritos with a limeade and had food in my car in about 26 seconds. I'm sure someone measures these things.
I added one of their new hot sauces to my steaming burrito. As I unfolded the tortilla to apply the sauce, I wondered how they were able to make the cheese look like Elmer's wood glue. I was hungry and quickly ate one burrito. I took a sip of the once tantalizing limeade. My stomach began to hurt. The drink tasted like lemon lime soda pop with a touch of lime Kool-aid.
What? You say I'm harsh? Well, tell that to my digestive system! I didn't feel that great for the rest of the day.
For dinner, the really gorgeous chef prepared cured collard greens and pasta with white sauce. Dessert was two artisan roasted frosted cherry pop tarts. By the way, cured means "a lot of salt".
The following morning I woke-up with a fuzzy head. Not fuzzy due to not shaving but rather, fuzzy feeling. I deduced that this was due to a sodium overload the day before. As the day wore on and after I drank a few glasses of water, the fuzziness went away!
Summary:
Breakfast--two eggs over easy with Kalamata olives and feta on whole wheat with mayo
Lunch--Taco something burritos and toxic lemonade
Dinner--cured greens and bow tie pasta with white sauce.
It started off well--fried eggs with feta cheese and kalamata olives on whole grain bread (and a little mayo) for breakfast. Water and a cup of joe to wash it down.
Lunch was pushed late in the day due to a busy schedule. I had a taste for a burrito so I found a plaza with two options--Rio Wraps and Taco Bell. I decided to try the Taco Bell. It was newly built--a very modern looking building with southwestern architectural details. As I looked at the drive through menu, I was amazed at the number of ways it was possible to spin the same basic ingredients--beans, tortillas, beef/chicken, rice and more beans. Like every other fast food place, they offered multi-fruit drinks that promised to satisfy the thirsty.
I ordered two bean, rice and cheese burritos with a limeade and had food in my car in about 26 seconds. I'm sure someone measures these things.
I added one of their new hot sauces to my steaming burrito. As I unfolded the tortilla to apply the sauce, I wondered how they were able to make the cheese look like Elmer's wood glue. I was hungry and quickly ate one burrito. I took a sip of the once tantalizing limeade. My stomach began to hurt. The drink tasted like lemon lime soda pop with a touch of lime Kool-aid.
What? You say I'm harsh? Well, tell that to my digestive system! I didn't feel that great for the rest of the day.
For dinner, the really gorgeous chef prepared cured collard greens and pasta with white sauce. Dessert was two artisan roasted frosted cherry pop tarts. By the way, cured means "a lot of salt".
The following morning I woke-up with a fuzzy head. Not fuzzy due to not shaving but rather, fuzzy feeling. I deduced that this was due to a sodium overload the day before. As the day wore on and after I drank a few glasses of water, the fuzziness went away!
Summary:
Breakfast--two eggs over easy with Kalamata olives and feta on whole wheat with mayo
Lunch--Taco something burritos and toxic lemonade
Dinner--cured greens and bow tie pasta with white sauce.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Quick and Simple--October 3
I don't like cooking on Sundays and neither does the gorgeous chef. We're always in a tremendous rush in the morning to get everyone up, dressed and out of the door. Breakfast is usually quick and simple. This morning it was instant oatmeal with some added raisins, juice and coffee. After attending church, everyone wanted to go to McDonalds. I have nothing against McDonalds but I'm not crazy about fast food. That was especially true today. I turned down an extra big mac that we got with a coupon. I decided I wanted to used those 550 calories on something else. I don't count calories but perhaps I consider them every now and then. The gorgeous chef pulled a wee piece of cheese out of her purse and graciously offered it to me. It looked like a dog treat (it wasn't). I graciously accepted it.
Once we got home, I heated-up some beef and vegetable stew the gorgeous chef had prepared the day before. I had a taste for fruit so I looked in the fridge and saw some "picked too soon peaches" and watery apples. What do you do with tasteless fruit? I usually make it into something--in this case, a peach milkshake!
Later in the afternoon, I had a couple of pop tarts. Remember what I said earlier about junk food. That doesn't apply to pop tarts.
I may have some popcorn before going to bed. Goodnight.
Breakfast--oatmeal, coffee
Lunch/Dinner--beef & vegetable stew, peach milkshake, pop tarts
Once we got home, I heated-up some beef and vegetable stew the gorgeous chef had prepared the day before. I had a taste for fruit so I looked in the fridge and saw some "picked too soon peaches" and watery apples. What do you do with tasteless fruit? I usually make it into something--in this case, a peach milkshake!
Later in the afternoon, I had a couple of pop tarts. Remember what I said earlier about junk food. That doesn't apply to pop tarts.
I may have some popcorn before going to bed. Goodnight.
Breakfast--oatmeal, coffee
Lunch/Dinner--beef & vegetable stew, peach milkshake, pop tarts
Michigan's Best Pizza--October 1
I've started to receive some feedback from this blog. Some have asked "Why are you doing this?" The answer is simple and uncomplicated. I've had many food conversations with strangers and friends that I considered as daily jibber jabber, only to discover later that something I said really helped someone. I remember telling a friend about all of the health benefits of eating flax seed. When I saw him a year later, he said he had been eating flax seed for a year and that it really helped him. I didn't even remember that I had told him about it! Others have made comment about the fact that I haven't put on weight as I've aged, noting that it must be due to heredity. That could have something to do with it but I know it is more than heredity. There was a time when I ate a lot of the prepared foods available at stores like Costco and Sam's Club. Although tasty, these foods are laden with fat, salt and sugar. At the same time I was shorting myself of fresh vegetables. Finally, I was drinking a fair amount of soda pop and fruit juice. This was before the escalation of excitement around corn syrup sweetened juices.
If I had counted calories back in that day, I would have discovered that I had too many coming from fats and sugars and not enough coming from grains and vegetables. I was eating too much meat and too many sweets. But wait, these foods are enjoyable to eat. That's why we eat them!
So...what to do?
Ahhh, this is the reason I'm writing the blog. To share my food journey--which is the way I've learned to eat to keep the pounds off, to keep the blood pressure and cholesterol low. I have taken this food journey with my wife, who I refer to in this blog as the gorgeous chef. I gave her this name because they does most of the day to day cooking that helps to keep the family healthy.
Today I had the pleasure of eating an excellent pizza in my friend's restaurant, Mancino's Pit Stop, in Oscoda, MI. You may know that several pizza empire entrepreneurs--Dominoes, Little Ceasers, Hungry Howies, Buddy's. Well, my friend's restaurant, though co-located with a gas station, has the best pizza I have tasted since I had Ray's pizza in New York city many years ago. I also had a small cup of Manhattan clam chowder and a root beer. I ordered a 10" personal size pizza of which I ate two pieces. I've included a picture of it below and was told that I needed to mention that the pizza had been sitting 20 minutes (it was still hot and tasted great).
My friend's son shot a doe earlier in the week so I went home with a few pounds of venison steaks and about ten pounds of smoked venison sausage links. Yum!
Breakfast--fried egg, fresh parsley, orange juice, coffee
Lunch--couple of slices of pizza (pepperoni, green bell pepper, sauteed onion), Manhattan clam chowder, root beer
Dinner--couple of sausage links with shredded cabbage and whole wheat pita bread.
If I had counted calories back in that day, I would have discovered that I had too many coming from fats and sugars and not enough coming from grains and vegetables. I was eating too much meat and too many sweets. But wait, these foods are enjoyable to eat. That's why we eat them!
So...what to do?
Ahhh, this is the reason I'm writing the blog. To share my food journey--which is the way I've learned to eat to keep the pounds off, to keep the blood pressure and cholesterol low. I have taken this food journey with my wife, who I refer to in this blog as the gorgeous chef. I gave her this name because they does most of the day to day cooking that helps to keep the family healthy.
Today I had the pleasure of eating an excellent pizza in my friend's restaurant, Mancino's Pit Stop, in Oscoda, MI. You may know that several pizza empire entrepreneurs--Dominoes, Little Ceasers, Hungry Howies, Buddy's. Well, my friend's restaurant, though co-located with a gas station, has the best pizza I have tasted since I had Ray's pizza in New York city many years ago. I also had a small cup of Manhattan clam chowder and a root beer. I ordered a 10" personal size pizza of which I ate two pieces. I've included a picture of it below and was told that I needed to mention that the pizza had been sitting 20 minutes (it was still hot and tasted great).
My friend's son shot a doe earlier in the week so I went home with a few pounds of venison steaks and about ten pounds of smoked venison sausage links. Yum!
Lunch--couple of slices of pizza (pepperoni, green bell pepper, sauteed onion), Manhattan clam chowder, root beer
Dinner--couple of sausage links with shredded cabbage and whole wheat pita bread.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Fooled by Food
What did you eat today? Did you enjoy it? Did it make you feel good mentally, physically? What drove you to make the food choices you did? Sorry. I've just started this blog and now I'm interrogating my audience. That's not my intent!
I do want to challenge you along the way. And I'd like you to challenge me. Hey, I'm no expert. I just like to make observations--lots of them--and draw conclusions. I've learned to listen to my body. It has a language and it speaks. You can ignore it or listen and be the better off for it.
Today I started with a couple of glasses of water. I always drink water first thing in the morning. You see, the body has been fasting while resting.
I found myself at Panera again. Hmm, that sounds mystical! Actually, I drove myself there. I had a medium coffee--yes with nutmeg. This time I also purchased an egg and cheese on ciabatta sandwich. My daughter can make a better one, albeit with much more grease. No breakfast sweet treats today.
At lunchtime I strode to the cafeteria. While I was striding, I decided what I wanted--pizza with whole grain crust. Our foodservice provider recently relinquished their white flour stronghold on us and started offering whole grain foods. My opinion is that you should minimize the amount of nearly nutrition-less white flour you put in your body. I grabbed a slice with four cheeses. I also opted for a cucumber and red onion salad. I strode back to my desk to eat it because I had to join a conferenc call.
My gorgeous personal chef prepared dinner--kale simmered in vegan broth, sweet and sour eggplant and grilled beef rib tips. Yes, you read it right vegan broth seasoned to taste like meat and real meat all in the same meal.
I read somewhere that 40-something males should have about four ounces of protein a day. If you know where I can find that study, let me know so I can burn it. Anyway, I think I had about 3.5 ounces of protein in this meal--about two small beef ribs.
Tonight was date night with the gorgeous chef. We went to see a movie of her choosing. It was pretty good. We shared a very short bag of popcorn and a slushy. She brought two macaroons she purchased from the health food store. I ended up eating both of them! She thought they were too sweet. They were but that didn't stop me. I read the package afterwards and learned that each cookie had 300 calories. Well, I guess those cookies fooled me. They didn't taste like they had so many calroriess. Anyhow, I don't count calories. Good day and good night.
I do want to challenge you along the way. And I'd like you to challenge me. Hey, I'm no expert. I just like to make observations--lots of them--and draw conclusions. I've learned to listen to my body. It has a language and it speaks. You can ignore it or listen and be the better off for it.
Today I started with a couple of glasses of water. I always drink water first thing in the morning. You see, the body has been fasting while resting.
I found myself at Panera again. Hmm, that sounds mystical! Actually, I drove myself there. I had a medium coffee--yes with nutmeg. This time I also purchased an egg and cheese on ciabatta sandwich. My daughter can make a better one, albeit with much more grease. No breakfast sweet treats today.
At lunchtime I strode to the cafeteria. While I was striding, I decided what I wanted--pizza with whole grain crust. Our foodservice provider recently relinquished their white flour stronghold on us and started offering whole grain foods. My opinion is that you should minimize the amount of nearly nutrition-less white flour you put in your body. I grabbed a slice with four cheeses. I also opted for a cucumber and red onion salad. I strode back to my desk to eat it because I had to join a conferenc call.
My gorgeous personal chef prepared dinner--kale simmered in vegan broth, sweet and sour eggplant and grilled beef rib tips. Yes, you read it right vegan broth seasoned to taste like meat and real meat all in the same meal.
I read somewhere that 40-something males should have about four ounces of protein a day. If you know where I can find that study, let me know so I can burn it. Anyway, I think I had about 3.5 ounces of protein in this meal--about two small beef ribs.
Tonight was date night with the gorgeous chef. We went to see a movie of her choosing. It was pretty good. We shared a very short bag of popcorn and a slushy. She brought two macaroons she purchased from the health food store. I ended up eating both of them! She thought they were too sweet. They were but that didn't stop me. I read the package afterwards and learned that each cookie had 300 calories. Well, I guess those cookies fooled me. They didn't taste like they had so many calroriess. Anyhow, I don't count calories. Good day and good night.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Day 1
It's been on my heart for a while...to start a blog about what I eat and why I eat it. Why would anyone care? Well, I'm not sure but I do know that people like to talk about food. Food evokes memories, feelings, passions. Okay, let me say that this blog is not meant to be an emotional discussion about food. I think that by sharing what I eat with you and learning about what you eat, and discussing why we put certain things in our stomachs, that we will both learn how to eat great food that is good for our bodies and that helps us to accomplish our purpose. Wow, that was a really long sentence!
What I ate today
This morning my wife prepared refried beans with cheese. I don't recall what type of cheese she used but it was white, like farmer's cheese. The beans had been prepared from dried beans earlier and were already mashed so it was a quick meal. I had some orange juice with it. On the way to work, I stopped by Panera and purchased a medium coffee and a cobblestone muffin. If you haven't had a cobblestone muffin, it's one of those muffins that leaves you with sticky fingers that you'll probably lick clean. This is especially fun to do while driving. I like Panera's coffee because it is low acid and has a bright flavor. They also have nutmeg in a shaker bottle and I like nutmeg in my coffee. I'm not sure when I started this. Try it sometime!
I was able to get something for lunch at about 3:30 PM. Some days I work through lunch to get necessary things done. I find that this is easier to do when I eat a good breakfast.
For lunch, I had a Wendy's fish sandwich. Among the fast food chains, they have the best! I think it is also the most expensive. Mine was made fresh so it was especially tasty. I asked for a slice of tomato to add some more nutrition. I also ordered one for my lovely wife but I ended up eating half of it. Sorry honey.
My wife made dinner--baked sole from Trader Joe's, iceberg lettuce salad with balsamic dressing, black rice with lentils. We went to a boy scouts meeting and afterwards I had a small piece of cake with creme filling. Yum! The heart is never satisfied. When I came home, I had a smaller piece of cherry pie with some melted and refrozen ice cream. Yuk!
Well, that was the day in food. No overeating. No digestion issues. A little heavy on the sweets. Calories? I don't count those!! Time for bed.
What I ate today
This morning my wife prepared refried beans with cheese. I don't recall what type of cheese she used but it was white, like farmer's cheese. The beans had been prepared from dried beans earlier and were already mashed so it was a quick meal. I had some orange juice with it. On the way to work, I stopped by Panera and purchased a medium coffee and a cobblestone muffin. If you haven't had a cobblestone muffin, it's one of those muffins that leaves you with sticky fingers that you'll probably lick clean. This is especially fun to do while driving. I like Panera's coffee because it is low acid and has a bright flavor. They also have nutmeg in a shaker bottle and I like nutmeg in my coffee. I'm not sure when I started this. Try it sometime!
I was able to get something for lunch at about 3:30 PM. Some days I work through lunch to get necessary things done. I find that this is easier to do when I eat a good breakfast.
For lunch, I had a Wendy's fish sandwich. Among the fast food chains, they have the best! I think it is also the most expensive. Mine was made fresh so it was especially tasty. I asked for a slice of tomato to add some more nutrition. I also ordered one for my lovely wife but I ended up eating half of it. Sorry honey.
My wife made dinner--baked sole from Trader Joe's, iceberg lettuce salad with balsamic dressing, black rice with lentils. We went to a boy scouts meeting and afterwards I had a small piece of cake with creme filling. Yum! The heart is never satisfied. When I came home, I had a smaller piece of cherry pie with some melted and refrozen ice cream. Yuk!
Well, that was the day in food. No overeating. No digestion issues. A little heavy on the sweets. Calories? I don't count those!! Time for bed.
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