My Composting Conundrum - GARDENERS I NEED YOUR HELP!

Yesterday it rained, the day before I spent writing for three different blogs, so Tuesday must have been the last time I ventured into my backyard.

Spring Has Sprung
 
As I stepped out about an hour ago, I noticed that life had spring up all over - I was overcome with weeds throughout the walkway, at least three baby maple trees  springing up within the weeds (how apropos for Arbor day!), the peach tree is in bloom, my tiger lilies have grown up to my knees and the wisteria is readying to climb all over the back fence again this year. After witnessing all of that I don't know why I was surprised when I opened my compost bin, but having visited it and layered it only three days ago, I was. The last thing I expectd to see in my compost bin was this:

 It's beautiful. It's exciting. However, I have no idea what it is!

And one more thing - it's not alone!

Here's another baby one

And the other corner...

A couple of weeks ago I gave up my hopes of having a hot compost pile when I discovered that all of the "brown" materials I had been using were among the slowest to decompose. Alas, without steam emanating from my pile I simply had to trust that I was doing the right thing and that, in time, my rich soil would be produced. One issue with a compost pile that is not hot is that any seeds added to the mix will not be killed with the heat. ...Although I consciously understood I there would be no hot compost, I seemed to have forgotten that very important detail about the seeds until seeing my beautiful new babies.

The Good News

As an insatiable optimist, I am always looking for the positive spin on things. So here are the pluses:

• The soil in my bin can support life, perhaps even better than I can! (I am never very good at growing anything from a seed.)
• My goal this summer has been to grow food in my backyard, while I am still waiting for my tomato and asparagus plants, potato and pepper seeds to arrive (along with a nectarine tree!!) some food has already started growing! I am on my way!

The Puzzling Part - Gardeners WHAT DO YOU SEE?

I called this post "My Compost Conundrum" for a reason - I am completely confused. I have no idea what I am growing back there and I am afraid I might kill it if I just start digging it out to find out! Here are some of the things that I have put in the compost bin that may have had seeds with it:

• bell peppers ~ this would be awesome since the bell pepper plants were all sold out and I am relying on my ability to grow something from a seed (see above for reference to my lack of confidence in this area) to get my bell peppers going in the back.
• pumpkin ~ while cleaning out my backyard I noticed someone simply moved a jack-o-lantern from the front of the house to an ignored corner of the backyard after Halloween. I shoveled the orange goo (which did include seeds) up and threw it in my compost bin.
• apples ~ I have been eating apples like crazy lately and I have been chucking the whole cores right into the compost. Could I have an orchard growing in my bin?
• potatoes... maybe? ~ I have put potato skins/peelings in the compost. They might have included "eyes." I worry about this possibility because I know if you grow potatoes in a patch of soil, then that soil should not be used for potatoes or a number of other plants in the following growing season. If they are potatoes is my compost ruined?? 
• zucchini ~ I feel like I had to compost a part of a zucchini that got gross because I didn't use it in time. It was either a zucchini or a yellow squash - something like that. I was sad about it, but flt a little bit better about it knowing I was composting it and not just throwing it away.

Beyond that, I am stumped. I am sure I will be thinking of new things every hour, but those are the biggies. I know one of you fabulous gardeners took one look at those pictures and knew INSTANTLY what we are looking at here - so let me know!! Even if it is not on my list above, that probably means I just forgot to list it!

My Questions for ANYONE to Answer

• What the heck am I growing in my compost bin?
• How did this happen? Is my compost too wet? Is it because I didn't turn my compost? 
• Is this good news or bad news for my compost?
• How and where should I transplant these plants? Should they go in a pot/container, or into my garden?
• Did this ever happen to you?
  

Food Safety Bill Passes

UPDATE

The Food Safety Bill (S 510) I wrote about in yesterday's post, passed the Senate today. It needed 50% of the "aye" votes and received 73%. It still has several steps to go before it becomes law, so if there is something you don't like about it, there is still time to let your Representative in the House know about it.


My Take

As for me, I will continue to attempt to read it through (lord help me!), but I do believe I am in support of this bill. When asked today, in the comment section of a CNN article about the passing bill, why I was in support, this is the response I gave:

...As for why I am in support of this, well, that's a really good question. I've gone back and forth for awhile, but when I sat down to actually blog about this yesterday (searching for sustenance) I finally decided I was a "yay".

The funny thing is I am in support with the same opinions as many of the commenters here who are not! Our laws and regulations are out of date and not working - too many infected foods are making it to our plates. We DO need to become more educated consumers, but in the meantime shouldn't there be some sort of protection? I fear, although reading through this small unrepresentative sample of Americans commenting here you would think otherwise, that there is still an INCREDIBLE amount of trust placed in the food industry by the public as a whole. The food industry's job is not our safety, their job is to make money for their company - those are the facts. We need an UNBIASED group to come in and regulate.
I emphasize "unbiased" because I, too, have fears that the FDA may not live up to this lofty ideal, however, does that mean we should leave NO ONE to watch our backs for this lack of trust?? I say NO. I say we demand better of the FDA. I say we make sure that they are TRANSPARENT and understand that they work for us, not for big business.

So, in short, I support it because I think it leans in the right direction. I know, however, that there is still more to be done!

Let's Get To Work!

To continue briefly on that point, I believe one of the places that work needs to be done is on Farm Bill 2012. I got to the game on this Food Safety Bill a little late and have been playing catch up, but this Farm Bill will be getting its update soon. I think it is really important to stay informed and make sure that our representatives and President know exactly how we believe this money (OUR money) should be divvied up to support farms, nutrition programs, forestry, etc. I worry that so many people are going to get caught up in the food safety argument that they might unknowingly turn a blind eye to where the money goes!

I like to pay taxes.  With them I buy civilization.  

~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

I like this quote. Let's just remember that we can control the type of civilization we live in by participating in government when it is something that we hold near and dear to our hearts. To that end, if you did not have the opportunity to check out the website OpenCongress yesterday, I think it is worth a look. It is a non-profit, non-partisan public resource run by the Participatory Politics Foundation. It is truly difficult to get unbiased information these days, even if you are reading my blog you are getting my view of things, so why not check out the primary sources? They aren't always the easiest reads out there, but isn't it better to question primary sources than second and third party interpretations?

Well, I guess without intending it, this post turned into another Take Action Tuesday post! Think about it, share it and get in on the action of the world around you!

Food Safety Day: S. 510

At around 4:00pm (EST) today, the Senate will resume talks about S. 510, more commonly known as The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. It seems, upon hearing about this bill and what it aims to do, that it should get a very simple thumbs-up. I do not think I am speaking out of turn if I say that we can all agree that something is amiss in food safety regulation in the United States and that whatever litmus test has been used in the past by the FDA is simply not cutting the mustard anymore - it needs modernization. However, the feverish debate over the passage of this bill shows that this may not be as cut and dry as it should be. Those who are in favor of the bill seem to take a stance of, "If this is the best we can get for now, I'll take it," and those who oppose are up in arms about the dramatic effects it will have on small and local farms, saying things like, "This is the end of food as we know it."

From my perspective, at the center of the debate are two virtues that always find themselves amidst all types of turmoil of the human condition: Trust and Money. One is so subjective and personal and the other, well... selective and often discriminatory.

Money

Let me begin with what has been often claimed to be the root of all evil: money. Whether you are talking about big agri-businesses or small local farms, one issue at the center of the debate is cost.

• How much will it cost those subject to this regulation to bring their business up to snuff with the new hoop they have to jump through? 
• Will they have to redesign their facilities, hire more staff or purchase different products in their production? 

Obviously, this is something that is going to be a larger burden on a smaller business. Many farmers opt not to be "certified organic" simply because of the cost, even though their product is just as organic as one with the label. This is a choice farmers knowingly make and hope that customers will understand. In terms of an FDA regulation, these same farmers will not be able to opt out of add on costs and hope for understanding... they do it or they are out of business. The evil side of money: IF they do it, they may STILL go out of business due to expense. 

Trust

The other 3,000 pound tomato in the room is trust.

• Who is the FDA?
• Will the FDA play buddy-buddy with old big-business pals?
• Has this bill been designed with loopholes for the big businesses to squeeze through in the guise of small business support?

Over the years, I have learned that many of the people behind the acronym FDA were folks who seemed to have a major conflict of interest in their past. Whether they were former employees, current shareholders or just taking a sabbatical from a food industry giant, it seemed once their past was unveiled my suspicion was engaged. So I understand the lack of trust in the FDA. I decided to see if that writing was still on the wall. Upon checking out the current organization of the FDA (this is really a light-handed investigation) I decided to focus on two positions: Director of Food Safety & Nutrition, and the current Commissioner.

Michael M. Landa, J.D., Acting Director of Food Safety & Nutrition Mr. Landa has spent at least the last ten years in the FDA, and many of them focusing on food safety. It seems as though he was a lawyer before that time. I have not been able to find any specific information on the work he did as a lawyer, but on his FDA profile page it does say that he spent at least some of that time as a council for them.

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of Food & Drugs Could I biased because she spent some time here in New York? Sure. Anyway, I can't find too much to scrutinize here. She's young and she has a background in medicine. This is helpful for the "drugs" end of the title and when there are outbreaks, but hopefully she is gaining all types of on the job food experience. She also worked in bioterrorism and seems to be quite a go-getter. The fact of the matter is, I don't see any history with any big food businesses!

I am sure there are a ton of other players in the game here. I don't know enough about the food politics to even know what to worry about in terms of who could be the problem, but I feel a little bit better knowing that the coaches of this team weren't trained in some other sport.

As for the loopholes in the bill... well, the real problem is I don't know how one could fix that. It seems as though the amendment to the bill has allowed for some leeway for smaller farms, so one issue being raised is: What's to stop a bigger farm from breaking itself into smaller farms just to take advantage? I don't know - vigilance from the regulators? Educated consumers?  I mean if we make up an amendment for every single "what if" then we will never get passed go on this one.


It is not perfect. I don't think it is horrible either. I think the  new amendment with considerations for the smaller businesses was needed. I think this is a step in the right direction... I hope.

The REAL Problem 
 
Let's think about it this way. Every single business - big, small, local, whatever - that is in operation right now has some way of making their ends meet (that's why they are in business right now). They each have a system that is working for them to hopefully be making a profit of sorts. Some of those businesses are operating in a way that you or I may completely agree with and some may not - we can agree on that. However, where we may disagree is on which practices are "right" and which are "wrong."

This bill is trying not to determine what is "right" or "wrong," but instead what is safe, but they have to find a way to regulate it. The real problem is uniform measurement/regulation/assessment. I see this problem in education all the time: someone has to decide what to asses, how to asses it and then determine what the consequences are. It is an impossible task to get all parties to agree on what is fair. The food industry is as diverse as the United States' student population and every group has their advocates. I understand this disagreement, but isn't it obvious that our current assessment is failing us?


I think I am leaning toward the "yays", hoping that those farmers in my Farmers Market can make it through, especially those who have bakeries on their premises. However, I will be watching this debate... perhaps amidst the furious comments, name calling and dismissal of opposing opinions a diamond in the rough, a person with the perfect solution will emerge!

Some Further Reading About S. 510 (make sure to check out the comments to feel the full fervor of the debate!):

• Food Politics blog on S. 510 by Marion Nestle
• NYTimes Op-Ed by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser
• S. 510 Hissing in the Grass on the Food Freedom blog & Update: Senate must vote on S 510 in the next 60 days
• S. 510: A Study in How Much You Trust the Government on Food Safety News and also S 510 Opinion: No Free Passes
• S 510 Food Safety Update by Slow Food USA
• and below, if you love legalese, is a widget to take you to OpenCongress, where you can actually read the whole bill!

Are you interested in taking action when it comes to your food? If so, here is some further reading for you!

• the fight against genetically modified salmon 
• safe food organizations and resources
• my favorite places on the web for food activism

UPDATE: Food Safety Bill Passes Senate

Remembering that Animals Aren't Human

If you watch enough Disney animated films and live with pets that are, inarguably, a part of your family, then you are probably a lot like me, suffering from a major case of anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is the term given to the act of giving human attributes and/or characteristics to animals (or any non-human entities such as plants, deities, etc.). I know I can't help it, I truly believe at times that my dog is being spiteful, or that the hungry birds outside are actually happy when I put out extra seed on my windowsill. 


I grew up adoring The Muppets (furry creatures that walked, talked, sang and did everything I did), and while I visited zoos and farms, and have lived right next to a nature preserve, in all my observation of animals in the wild, or in their natural habitat I would say that those times could probably be described as pseudo-wild, at best. The "wild" animals that I have learned about in my environment are those who have adapted to the herd of cars, have traversed asphalt to gain access to their major food sources: the discarded scraps of their human neighbors. They live with us, they live near us and live off of us... why wouldn't I begin to think that they live like us?


I am playing my role a bit too obtusely, because I know, in my heart of hearts that this is not exactly true and, to be honest, the more and more that I continue my search for sustenance, the more I see and feel the great divide. When, at the beginning of the month, I read a blog about sustainability as a very, very old idea in ..:recycled minds:..: Wade Davis on Sustainability and the Environment , the idea stuck with me. Throughout this month, I have often thought back to the ancient civilizations Mr. Davis spoke about in his talk and then, after watching The Cove, it occurred to me that we should not only learn from ancient civilizations, but also from animals. Animals can teach us to be kinder to our Earth because they are so "un-human." 


So I am learning. 


Then, last night, an article on the Internet caught my eye about animal cruelty. It was especially surprising when I caught the intro:

What's this? Joel Salatin, the most famous organic farmer in America, star of Food, Inc, the Academy Award- nominated polemic against factory farming, is being investigated for animal cruelty? (Full article: Organic crusader shares radical ideas)

How could this be? Joel Salatin was the perceived golden child of the farming community, was he not?! So I read on and found out that he still is. Animal control informed Mr. Salatin that he had a "people problem" - people who, like me, thought about animals in human ways. I am not sure if it was merely the tone of the article, or the tone of Joel Salatin, but it seems that the farmer was all too understanding of this misunderstanding. In fact, he even seems to turn it into a teachable moment, with a touch of humor. After noting that the misunderstanding is from misplaced anthropomorphism, the article continues:

The logical extension of that is the view that animals should not be killed for food. "Those people, they say 'Come on, isn't that really a barbaric act, haven't we evolved past eating animals to a new place of cosmic nirvana'.

"The truth is, everything is eating and being eaten. If you don't believe it, go lie naked in your flower bed for three days and see what gets eaten." (Full article: Organic crusader shares radical ideas)

And, as I read this last statement, I was reminded, once again, that animals aren't human. At it gave me pause. I find myself in a state of disequilibrium on the precipice of truly learning something new. (Disequilibrium, as defined by Piaget in educational psychology: When a child experiences a new event, disequilibrium sets in until he is able to assimilate and accommodate the new information and thus attain equilibrium.) That is literally one of my favorite states to be in... it is very exciting.

What I know:

• Animals are not human
• Animal behavior is quite distinct from human beings
• Humans do have the responsibility of treating animals under their care humanely
• Many animals raised for food in this country (and probably the world) are not treated humanely

Where my disequilibrium lies (I realize some of these questions can not be answered):

• Is it inhumane to eat animals that are raised humanely?
• Is it inhumane to keep pets when there is no one home for most of the day due to work obligations? (My husband and I have spoken about this one a lot.)
• Can beagles be spiteful? (hee... hee... I still suspect this after living with two!)
• What kind of emotions do animals feel?
• Do dolphins experience joy when they surf?
• Will I ever have a turkey-less Thanksgiving?

As in all aspect of life, there are always more questions than answers. My search continues and my learning curve is steep.

Gluten Free & Dairy Free Transforming Traditions

Since Thanksgiving of 2006 I picked up where my mother left off and, as her former sous-chef, continued to prepare a Thanksgiving feast just as she did for the family that survived her. The meal is simple and has an expected menu year after year. Our feast includes, but is not limited to:

• Roasted Turkey
• Stuffing (it is really dressing, since I don't stuff the bird, but over the years we have all become accustomed to calling it "stuffing")
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Green Bean Casserole
• Broccoli
• Mashed Potatoes
• Yams
• Cranberry Sauce
• Giblet gravy

Having worked alongside my mother for most of the 29 Thanksgivings I shared with her, I picked up most of the recipes, or at least where to find them when my time came. When Thanksgiving 2006 arrived, engorged with emotion, I was terrified I would not be able to deliver. Luckily, all went well, and due to that, the tradition has stayed alive and I am amidst preparations for another Thanksgiving with a menu I have practiced and refined over the last four years.

However, this year is different. As I looked down my list of items to prepare for my family, I realized that as fabulous as this may all turn out to be there are only two-three items I can realistically eat this year. You see, with my gluten and dairy sensitivities I can only eat the broccoli and cranberry sauce as they are currently prepared and maybe the turkey if I do something about the butter that I use in its preparation. I knew I would have to sacrifice some of my holiday treats due to my new dietary restrictions, but looking at it on paper, item by item, recipe by recipe, this was a lot more than I had accounted for!

It is an intriguing predicament to be stuck in. I have been very good about changing my habits thus far in order to follow that which has helped my health in ways I never would have imagined before, but this meal is different. This meal is about so much more than just food. This tradition is something I shared with my parents, both of whom are gone. I felt blessed in 2006 when I realized that I could somehow still capture the essence of those memories through my own abilities in the kitchen. I have felt that this meal, this ritual, this ceremony of sorts was a day to keep my family alive. I know it is silly and yet I know, now, for the first time as I write this, that this has been the reason I could not change Thanksgiving in my home.

And now I have to not for anyone else, but for me. Unfortunately, it seems I could not come to this realization any earlier than Thanksgiving Eve.

So the question arises: What will I do for myself this Thanksgiving? As it occurred to me a little earlier today, I have had this thought bouncing around in my head for a couple of hours (it was actually more like, "What the heck am I going to eat on Thursday?!"). Here are some things I think I will do:

Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
Now, I am not suggesting that I serve this to everyone (there seriously might be a coup!), but after all the potatoes are boiled, I will set aside a serving for myself and prepare them without the butter and milk. It is simple enough (I got this from Lidia's Italian American Kitchen):

1. Drain the potatoes, saving some of the liquid.
2. Put potatoes in a dry pot and heat to ensure any liquid evaporates.
3. Add the olive oil. (About 1 tablespoon per large potato.)
4. Mash and mix until almost smooth.
5. Add potato water to moisten.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Reheat if necessary.
8. Transfer to a large bowl, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top.

 Beets
I bought a bunch of beets on my last trip to the Farmer's Market because they are just about my favorite things out there. I am tossing and turning between two different recipes in my Jack Bishop cookbook - either Roasted beet salad with Sherry Vinegar or Roasted beet salad with lemon and olives. Ooooo I don't know... they both make my mouth water! Whichever one I go with though, I am definitely roasting those beets. If you haven't done this before, it is a ridiculously easy thing to do.

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Trim all but the last inch of the stem off the beets. Wash your beets really well (I use  my super awesome OXO veggie brush that my brother got me for my birthday) and cut off any dangling roots.
3. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil. Place them in the oven and roast until a skewer goes right through them (about an hour).
4. Remove the beets from the oven, open the foil and let them cool. Use a paper towel to rub the skin off of the warm beets (I am always amazed at how it just comes right off!).

Other Greens
I know I will have green beans left over after preparing the green bean casserole (I bought extra) and I also bought some frozen spinach (I haven't had frozen spinach in nearly a year!), so I might make those so I can veggie myself to death.

Stuffing?
I recently bought Glutino gluten free and dairy free bread crumbs. Glutino is a company that has always come highly recommended, so I thought, "Let me grab this and try it out!" I haven't had the opportunity to open it up yet, but when I was trying make room in my cabinet this week, I noticed a recipe for stuffing on the back of the bread crumbs. I might try this one, although it has sausage in it and I haven't had much luck with sausage lately (I can't seem to find one that my tummy likes!). I noticed, after a quick web search, that I am not the only one that is considering this particular gluten free Thanksgiving option.


That's all I've come up with for now, but this day isn't through! It is funny, now, at the end of this post, I am excited about the idea of doing something new this Thanksgiving... I guess this really is a transformation of sorts.

5 Habits To Becoming A Healthier Eater

We all want to eat healthier, be healthier and most of all feel healthier as soon as humanly possible. This is a fantastic goal to have, however there are so many things to do to get there that sometimes it seems impossible to figure out where to begin. What I am learning more than anything is that this is a process, so beginning anywhere is a step in the right direction!

Here are five things that I have learned are truly important habits to cultivate on my path to supreme health and wellness:

1. Hydrate Properly 

According to WaterInfo.org, "The human body is more than 60 percent water. Blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water."If we don't do our part to keep up these water levels, our body simply will not operate correctly. The best way to do this? Consume WATER.

You can consume water by drinking it or eating it. Fruits, vegetables and even meats (just like us!) contain water. Keep in mind the more you cook something, the greater the chance you are cooking the water out, but for the most part, if what you are eating was actually alive at some point in its existence, you will be getting some water out of it.

There is plenty advice all over the Internet concerning how much water one should drink in a day, but I learned of one approach that made sense to me because it was not a one-size-fits-all approach. It was based on weight - you should consume half of your body weight in ounces. In other words, I weigh about 150lbs right now, so, dividing that by 2 gives me 75. Therefore, I should consume about 75 ounces of water per day (that's drinking + eating!!).

Here is the bad news: caffeine is a diuretic. According to the WellnessBreakRadio.com podcast for every cup of a caffeinated beverage you drink, you must drink TWO cups of water, just to make up for the lost water. I thought this was a very good rule of thumb as I am always left thirsty after drinking caffeinated beverages.
(Beginning to see how vital water is? You don't even know the half of it! Here's another post about how precious water really is.)

2. Eat Your Veggies

Forget Skittles - this is where you can really "taste the rainbow"! As soon as I stopped thinking of vegetables as an afterthought, and, instead, started thinking about vegetables first I felt a complete shift in the types of meals I was preparing and eating. I wanted to try different things, different colors, different textures in my meals.

Of course, having a weekly Farmer's Market helps with creativity - you cook what is available, even if you never tried it before - but even if that is not a possibility, try experimenting on your own. If you don't know where to start, maybe just go for colors - pick a color palate for your dinner plate. Once you've selected your color and then your vegetable, there are a number of resources on the Internet to help you with finding recipes

• Food.com is one of my favorites, with recipes being shared from people just like you and me from all over the Internet
• Foodista is also quite expansive, aiming to be the largest food encyclopedia on the Internet, or 
• if you want a virtual recipe search engine, try SuperCook  where you type in the ingredients you have and it will spit back recipes from all over the Internet that can be made with them. 

If, on the other hand, you prefer a cookbook, then I highly recommend the one that showed me the path to yummy vegetable preparation and consumption, my veggie bible,  Jack Bishop's Vegetables Every Day.(Here are two posts filled with my über-joy after finding Jack Bishop's book: Searching for Sustenance: Jack Bishop is my New Hero! and Searching for Sustenance: From Pod to Plate).

3. Watch Out for Bad Oil!

This is another tip I picked up from WellnessBreakRadio.com from one of their guests: buy oil in dark glass bottles or containers that do not allow the light to permeate them. Essentially, Olive Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oils are touted as having multiple health benefits because they are live oils. They are not supposed to be exposed to light. While you may know this, and you may keep your oil stored in a cupboard like I do, what about all those hours, days, weeks on the grocery store shelves under the fluorescent lighting? It is a simple enough fix, the next time you need oil, just look for a different package - they are there (oil in a tin, for example).

4. Think Raw

Hopefully, since my first tip,  this idea has already started to creep into your mind. The Raw Diet movement is gaining momentum all of the time and while I think it is unlikely that I will convert to a completely raw diet, the benefits of eating raw can not be denied. The fruits and vegetables of this earth are packed with the vitamins and minerals our bodies crave. Left alone and eaten raw we can consume these benefits in their purest and most potent state.

One of the reasons we cook things is so that we can ensure that all bacteria is killed. We know that works, however, the cooking also kills off some of the benefits as well. I am no fan of bacteria, and I do like the richness of flavor that cooking often brings, but one habit I have begun to cultivate is thinking  more about where I can fit raw into my daily eating schedule - more fruits, salads, snacks, et. cetera. Once you make something a focus of thought, action isn't too far behind. So start thinking about it -  

• How can you eat raw? Full time, one meal, snacks and sides only?
• What are you willing to eat raw? Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.  
• Where will you fit it into your eating? I try to get three fruits a day (I keep forgetting this one, so I am lucky if I get two). I make my own trail mix as a snack. Also, I am trying to make salads with every dinner.

5. Read Labels

Food shopping is filled with reading. You are reading your circular, you are reading the price tags, you are reading your coupons... well, I am here to add to your reading list, if you haven't started doing this already: start reading your labels. If you are a beginner, I recommend you just start taking a mental inventory of certain ingredients and nutritional facts:

• high fructose corn syrup (Princeton University study on HFCS)
• soy (article on GM soy plus an article from VeganHealth.org "Is it safe to eat soy?")
• sugar or ingredients that end with "-ose" (article "Is Eating Sugar Really That Bad For Us?")
• aspartame (Wikipedia article on the Aspartame Controversy, so you can make your own call)
• sodium content (Mayo Clinic on sodium)
• monosodium glutamate or MSG (article from Natural News)

Once you see how much of this you are consuming, you can decide, for your own health, which foods need to go and which you can keep (in moderation).

If you have passed this beginning level of label reading, then perhaps it is time you start looking for organic and certified humane products. I recently wrote a post about my own experience with these labels and how even they, too, need to be read carefully in Searching for Sustenance: Greenwashing - Am I a Victim?.


Pick one of these five habits to start to cultivate today. Some are easier than others, but over the next couple of weeks you should at least have tried out all five. Good luck, welcome to the journey, I hope your search for sustenance brings you to a healthier tomorrow!

Diversifying The Menu

In a quiet moment today (I think there might have been two all day, since this one now), I was thinking about, you guessed it: food. I was thinking about tomorrow being meatless Monday and, therefore, being something I need to think about and plan for. Then my mind drifted... What am I doing the rest of the week? I, personally, could probably go mostly meatless, but my husband will ask almost every night, "But what meat are we having with that?" and I would have to say at least 8 times out of 10 my answer is, "Chicken."

We didn't start out this way. We discovered not too long ago that we actually love fish and so I started experimenting with all types of fish. Red meat, in the form of burgers, steaks, london broils have also been a part of our fare. We, on occasion, would even have pork in the form of a sausage dish. However, as of late, it just seems like everything, except on Monday tastes just like chicken.

I don't like this at all. I was not raised this way and I don't think this can be healthy. Here are some of the things that I think happened:

Fish Fear

Our newly developed love of fish slowly transformed into a fear of fish the more and more we learned about fish farms. I, being a slave to convenience, was shopping for large packages of fish from CostCo to then use throughout the weeks that followed my shopping trip. We had salmon, Ahai Tuna steaks, flounder and scallops - but as I started to learn about all of the toxins in the fish from fish farms I thought, "I need to stop buying fish from CostCo." A reasonable and rational thought, but I have yet to find a replacement.

Where's the (Grass-Fed) Beef?

Beef is something that I often bought in my grocery store, on sale, paying less attention to the cut of meat than to the price. As I began to learn more about beef I decided, and my husband agreed, that we should be eating grass-fed beef. This would now mean shifting my view from price to label and looking for the grass-fed beef, which, not surprisingly, is not sold in my grocery store (not that I have found yet anyway).

Previous Experiences

I never really was that crazy about pork on a day to day basis. I also never acquired a taste for lamb. These two meats simply never even crept into my mind when thinking about meals I would cook.  I would never have a problem eating it somewhere else if someone made it, but neither would be my first choice.

Indolence

Doesn't indolence sound better than laziness? It doesn't matter if it does though, because THEY ARE THE SAME THING! I know how to cook chicken a ton of different ways. I understand the flavor of chicken and can imagine how other flavors will blend with it - not just in terms of its preparation, but also in thinking about what dishes to serve with it. I don't have this same feel for other meats. I could find out, but (enter laziness voice here:) why bother when I already know about chicken??

I never really had a reason for that before... but I think now I finally do. I will bother to learn about other meats because if my husband is going to insist that there must be meat every single night, then I will go completely mad and probably grow a comb (red thingy) on my head if I keep making just  chicken!!

MY PLAN
 
So here is what I am thinking: This is only going to work if I really make up some sort of schedule of things. Also I am not going to worry about it this week - this week is all about growing a wattle since it is TURKEY TURKEY TURKEY on the brain. However, when my wattle recedes, and life goes close to back on track I want to diversify my weekly dinner menu. Since I am such a fan of alliteration, I am trying to come up with some cool sounding days that I can remember. Here is what I am thinking about:

• Meatless Mondays With all the meat-thought I am putting into my entire week, I am truly hoping I can convince my husband to keep the meatless Mondays alive for more than just November.
• Turkey Tuesdays I think a lot of different things can be done with turkey, so I don't think it is too nuts to give it its own day, but, honestly, this came to me because of the alliteration.
• Wilbur Wednesdays Is this too cruel? I was thinking Wednesdays could be my days devoted to pork. 
• Thrilling Thursday This could be the most EXCITING day of the week! Or the most mundane, depending on my mood that week. Maybe we'll try smething completely new or maybe I shock my husband to the core with some exotic chicken dish (hee hee). He'll never know what's coming!
• Fishy Fridays The alliteration works and this works out great for when Lent comes around (we're Roman Catholic). If I get this going I won't ever be stuck saying, "Oh NO! I forgot it was Friday! I made CHICKEN!" (chuckle, chuckle... I said, "chicken" furthering the thought that I ONLY cook chicken).
• Cattle-day Saturday This day can be devoted to red meat. 
• Super Salad Sunday I love this idea and I just know, in my gut, that my husband will veto this one. However, I hope I am wrong, because salads can be fun! And, yes, dear husband, even they can have meat in them (rolling my eyes).

So what do you think? Have I missed some truly inspired menu opportunity? Is anyone else out there doing something similar?

Closed for the Winter

An Odd Post On An (So Far) Odd Day

I woke up today knowing that November, 20, 2010 was an important day: the last day of my über local farmer's market. I had to get there to scrape up what I could, especially since Thanksgiving is this week. Simple enough, I've made it there most other weeks, but today was going to be different.

This was going to be a long and difficult goodbye.


Transportation

A week or so ago my husband informed me that he was going to partake in a Professional Development opportunity in Manhattan for a couple of Saturdays. I thought, "Great opportunity. Go for it and Lord knows we could use the money right now." Then he said, "First day is the 20th." Ugh. OK, no problem. I'll walk. That just means I need a more time for this trip.

So, I woke up, got ready, let the dogs out and was gathering my stuff to leave at around 11am. It was a little later than I wanted to get going, but I still had enough time even if it took me an hour to walk there (I figured it should take 30-40minutes).

The Issue of The Jerk

Champ, my ShiTzu, came inside and was going nuts while I was putting my shoes on. I explained, "It is not a pet-friendly market, Champ, I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can. You've got to stop jumping on me!" And, yet, he did not stop. You would think I would realize it by now that this dog is my version of Lassie - when he is going nuts he really is trying to tell me something - but I simply got frustrated and said, "Alright! Enough! Where's Buffy? I really have to go now!" and took Champ with me out in the backyard.

Buffy aka "The Jerk"

As soon as we got outside Champ started spinning all around, which I mistook for Champ thinking I was going on an adventure with him. "Buffy! Let's GO! What are you doing?" and then I reached, with Champ on my ankle, the open gate... The Jerk, who has currently been running around naked (my husband nor I can find her collar with license ANYWHERE) decided she should just TAKE A STROLL around the neighborhood. I turned, apologetically, to Champ, I finally understood him, "She left us again, Nicole. We have to find her!" was all he was trying to say.

I was torn between worry and aggravation. I wanted to just be angry with her for being a jerk, but, of course, without a collar and no real idea of cars and streets, my mind raced. I ran around one corner yelling her name, thinking, "If she's having fun, will she respond to me?" then I thought, "sometimes she likes to go the other way to see the dogs in back of the house, so I went around the other corner. Then I remembered I left my back door wide open, I had no keys, no phone and was just about helpless with my stupid, stupid horrible vision! I went back home thinking, "Forget the market. This is going to take me all day. My furry baby is out having a blast, I am worried sick and I am going to have to go to the insane supermarkets before Thanksgiving!"

When I grabbed my phone I saw that Frank, from across the street had called while I was out. I called back as I was basically tripping out the door wondering, "How long ago did he call? Did he just see her? Did something happen? Why is this phone taking so long to dial? Why won't it ring??" And when I opened the door, Frank was there and so was THE JERK. Evidently she was just walking in front of my neighbor's house! She probably came out from behind the bushes where "Fat Cat" lives when I called her, but because of my stupid vision I didn't see her!

"Fat Cat" is a stray cat in my neighborhood that sometimes gets confused and thinks he owns my front step.

 The Walk


It is a one mile walk to the Farmer's Market at the Mall from my house.

Such a pretty day.

It was a beautiful day and dragging my "old-lady" shopping cart with me I thought this was the greatest thing I have done for myself all week. Since I was all caught up in the dog drama as I left, I had no time to plug myself into my iPhone to listen to a podcast or an audio book, which both have benefits of their own, but the walk with my thoughts was so much better today. Sometimes I find myself a pretty cool person to hang around with.

Me, my cart and a tree.

And FINALLY The Market

We do not have a large market, and not all of the farms were there this week, but I decided to walk around to everyone first before purchasing anything. I gathered recipes and handouts from the grownyc.org stand and then went over to my produce guy.

Only stand left that sells veggies.

I grabbed onions, potatoes, broccoli, green leaf, parsley and, of course beets (my favorite!).

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

 Before I left, I ventured over to another farmer's/baker's stand. It is a local orchard from New Jersey. I bought a bunch of apples and some sweet treats (small pies: pumpkin, apple and apple crumb) for my Thanksgiving guests.

The Goodbyes

I spoke with a couple of the farmers and thanked them for coming out to us every week. I told them to have a great year and they wished me likewise. And I got some great news: rumor is that this market will be coming back EVEN EARLIER  next year! The first year it didn't start until September, this year, until mid July and now one Farmer said June and another said that he heard it may even be as early as MAY! Like a normal NYC Seasonal Farmer's Market!! So Exciting! So although I am heartbroken and confused about what I will be doing in the months to come (I have not yet learned about canning, preserving and the like), I left the market feeling hopeful for next year's flourishing market.

Until next year, Greenmarket!

**Dedication**

Today's post is dedicated to Frank who, in dealing with "The Jerk", actually made my fabulous Farmer's Market trip possible. Besides being a superhero to pet owners everywhere, and in competition with me for the "I've Spent The Greatest Proportion of My Life Living In This Neighborhood"Award (although I am winning!!), Frank is also a photographer. You should check out his site!

 

Thinking About Eat-ucation

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for his entire life.

~Chinese Proverb

  
As a teacher, these words always hold a great and deep truth for me, but as an eater, I have always thought they missed one really important point: did anyone teach the man to cook the fish? The art of cooking is one people often think of when they say they want to "learn how to cook," but what of the skill of cooking? Where does one learn that?

I have often written of my own experiences with learning to cook from my family, but I am often intrigued by an even grander plan. On reading a fellow blogger's position on her blog Cooking in Stilettos, I was called back to my cause: cooking in the classroom! This is something that simply must, in my opinion, begin to take shape in our schools in a very real way.

My husband knows that when my brother and I get on the phone that I could be trapped for hours rapt in conversation. Many times we will wax philosophical on what should be taught in the schools. My brother, a former Marine (err.. um... apologies: once a Marine, ALWAYS a Marine! But I think you know what I am getting at here),  didn't hit his true learning stride until he got to the Marines - until his learning meant something to him, until he knew he would need it. He often says, "I wish school was more like that. Not that we shouldn't learn all that other stuff, but what about the stuff we can use right away and know we can use forever." I, the education expert in the family, have no argument. So, without much delay we hypothetically create our new school system where active learning  is central and I explain to my brother that "all that other stuff" can actually be taught through that. We dream big...

And yet, with feet planted solidly on the ground, I ask you Why not? 

If you watched Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution this last Spring, then you saw, with me, one way it could be done. In another blog, Life With A Possum, it is noted that Gorden Ramsey, too, has spoken up about the great importance of hands-on food learning. We can look to the state Connecticut for yet another. In episode 10: "You Are What You Eat" of My Life in Food on the Cooking Channel, the New Haven Public Schools showed their commitment to food education in their involvement in the Farm to Schools program.

The Farm to Schools program seems like a really good one because it gives students a thorough exposure to food from seed to plate and has far-reaching benefits. However, it is not the only organization and/or method for going about this. Slow Food USA did an amazing job of giving a brief overview of over 20 different programs going on all over the United States to yield these same results: students getting what I like to call a good eat-ucation!

The fact of the matter is, no matter where you go as of late, people are talking about education. The documentary Waiting for Superman has shone a light on the state of our current system and many, many people are saying they don't like what they see. I couldn't agree more. In March of 2008, Bill Gates addressed the Congress concerning education and immigration, here is an excerpt from his talk:

"As a nation, our goal should be to ensure that ultimately every job seeker, every displaced worker, and every individual in the U.S. workforce has access to the education and training they need to succeed in the knowledge economy," Gates said. "This means embracing the concept of 'lifelong learning' as part of the normal career path of American workers, so everyone in the workforce can use new technologies and meet new challenges." (quote copied from Information Week)

I know Bill Gates was not necessarily speaking about implementing cooking into the educational system when he spoke, but I simply can not think of a subject more attuned to lifelong learning than that. In a curriculum of cooking, students would be engaged in critical thinking, application of knowledge from a number of their "basic" subjects (as a math teacher I am all a-flutter with the idea of students' true comprehension of fractions given a realistic context!!) and will have to learn to think both flexibly and realistically. The potential for true, deep learning that would extend to other subject matters is one I relish in. 

There are so many reasons this makes sense, but, for some reason, there are still thousands of schools that have yet to embrace it - our nation has yet to embrace it. And so, once more, with feet planted solidly on the ground, I ask you Why not? 

My Case Against Frankenfish

For years I have consumed genetically engineered foods. I was a victim of my own ignorance as I ate soy and corn filled foods that were created from the fruits of Monsanto's technological miracles. I didn't realize what was going on when I heard the news about the scientists hard at work on the crops. I thought they were doing good, I thought they were helping out the farmers... and in a way, for awhile, I guess they were. I believed they could help advance the earth with the wonder of technology.

I had forgotten one very clear lesson my father had taught me about the ocean. We were at the beach, running in and out of the waves, my father was a fierce and fearless swimmer while my mother was always terrified - I never understood it. I must have said something about it being silly to be afraid, or I must have done something reckless, I honestly don't remember what triggered it, but my father got very serious with me right away. When this man's smile went away it was analogous to the sun being ripped out of the sky. He stopped me and made me look out at the water, "Nicole, it is beautiful, it is fun, but it is powerful. You see those waves?" I nodded quietly, there was no place for my words here. "They'll take you down and take you out to sea. And they can do that to me too. It doesn't matter how big or how strong you are, nature is stronger. We should love it and enjoy it, always, but always, always respect it." His smile returned, we continued to play, but I understood. I have maintained my awe of nature since that day, especially when it comes to the ocean.

So when I was faced with technology versus nature I still maintained my awe, but thought to myself, "Daddy died before he saw how powerful we really could become with technology. Maybe he was wrong..." After a number of years of deep thought on the topic I am beginning to think, maybe, in fact, he was not. As more and more farmers have the issue of Monsanto crops on their field even though they didn't plant it, as Monsanto has to create newer and newer technologies to keep up with the new mutations of the crop it has created, I can't help but think that in this fight too nature is stronger. Perhaps it is not our place to amend life around us.

It is with this thinking that I continue to fight against the newest scientific feat against nature: Genetically Engineered Salmon, or "FrankenFish". In the United States, the company AquaBounty is currently attempting to get its GE salmon approved. Check out this picture below from an Associated Press article on this issue of AquaBounty's new creation:

AquaBounty salmon (back) versus an Atlantic salmon of the same age.

Is bigger always better? What if I told you that this fish was still not proven to be safe for human consumption? What if I told you the FDA has no intention to regulate this fish as food, but instead as a veterinary drug? What if I told you that the ultimate plan is to approve this fish and not label it? Are you OK with that? Would I need to tell you more? Well what about the issue of putting a patent on life? We saw Monsanto do it, we have seen the horrors - both environmental and economic - what could happen with AquaBounty's 14 year patent on fish? I'll tell you one thing: nothing much will happen if this fish was not  approved!

My current resurgence of rage against the fish came from another e-mail from Food & Water Watch that somehow this fight still rages on. If you are interested in more information about the GE Salmon fight from Food & Water Watch, check this link out which has all of their blog entries concerning the topic.  Here's a quick recap in an entertaining video:


So now you are ready to TAKE ACTION (I hope!!).

• Step 1: Drop a little note to President Barack Obama about your concerns. Here is what I added in the personal note section, although, you can just send the form letter provided by Food & Water Watch if you are in a rush.

President Obama,

I beg of you to reject AquaBounty's GE salmon. This is a difficult issue to see the true future of. I feel that we are only now beginning to discover the maledictions of the GE soy and corn we have exposed ourselves and our families to over the years. Can we not take these lessons learned and apply them when it counts?

I am also concerned about the monopolization of our food industry and wonder what the ramifications of a 14 year patent on GE salmon owned by AquaBounty will be in that business. Our country strives on healthy competition - I, personally, don't think genetic engineering our food and the patenting of LIFE has helped us reach that end.

With all due respect to the extreme number of requests you must receive in a day and the issues you must balance and weigh in upon, I thank you for your time and attention to this extremely important matter.

Sincerely,

Nicole Rivera
http://SearchingForSustenance.blogspot.com

• Step 2: You can drop a little note about all genetically engineered animals not coming to your dinner to your local government using this link.

The time is now, because the clock is ticking and if we sit idly by then we are letting it happen. Call this another TAKE ACTION TUESDAY if you have to, but take some action!!!

"If there is something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action."

~Abraham Lincoln  

How to Cook an Egg... Really

I have been, once again, tormenting my husband with one of my personal curiosities. Today, when he comes home I am bound to say, as I have very often said in the past, "You know, I really don't think I have any idea how to really cook an egg." Since I am pondering this right now, I thought, perhaps, I could save him this conversation that goes no where and see, instead, if I could open up the conversation a bit to those who may actually help us out of this one!

For years all I have ever eaten in terms of eggs would be scrambled eggs, and that would only be very rarely. I have mastered the preparation of scrambled eggs (I think...) at least to the point that if I have house guests I feel safe offering them up as a morning treat. However, very recently, I have become more and more enamored with your basic sunny-side-up egg, or, as my preference states, an egg over well. It is the "over" part that often upsets me so and also stops me from ever even dreaming of making any type of attempts to make my own omelet.

Problem #1: I do not have a non-stick pan. Is this a requirement in appropriate egg-making? I do not want to use Teflon due to the toxic effects, so is there a suitable replacement that anyone out there has tried yet?

Problem #2: What do you cook an egg with? Before finding out about my dairy sensitivities I always cooked my scrambled eggs in butter and, therefore, had a very simple equation in my head: cooking eggs = butter in the pan. Then I met my husband and the first time I made him eggs he asked me what the heck I was doing. His equation was very different: cooking eggs = oil in the pan. Which do you use? Do you use something else entirely? (I tried cooking spray for a little while, but the eggs had a metallic taste which completely freaked me out.) Is this question not necessary if I have a non-stick cooking surface?

Problem #3: Is there a standard egg seasoning when cooking, or do you just leave it alone until after they are done cooking? I, personally, like to put salt AND pepper in my egg as it is cooking. My husband likes to put salt in as it is cooking and save the pepper for later. This makes me feel like there is no "standard", but I was just wondering.


Problem #4: This is not as simple as it seems it should be. A couple of years ago I saw an episode of Top Chef (I think... it was some chef reality show) where the challenge was to cook an egg. There were moans and groans from all of the contestants. I didn't know what was up, but it seemed that they all knew that if that was all they were being judged on, it wasn't going to be so simple. I was surprised, before seeing that I thought I was the only one who felt intimidated by this small little food thing!


Here is my call to any readers out there:

• WHAT ARE YOUR EGG COOKING TIPS? 
• Do you actually have a recipe? 
• Would you be so brave as to make a vlog for us so we can watch you in action? (Or at least so I can?!) 
• Can you explain how you can guarantee that you will not break the yoke???
• Is there really only ONE WAY to cook an egg?

I think I have the potential to make a good egg. I would like to feel no fear if a house guest asks, "Can you make me a sunny side up egg?" or, god help me, "...an egg over easy?" Of course, I will do my part and actually research this, but it would be great to hear about your experiences as well!

Thanks!!

Fast Food with Integrity?

Back in 2006, I began my graduate degree in uptown Manhattan. The program I was in was designed for teachers, so it was intensive - we gave up three Julys of our lives to dedicate to school, classes ran from 8 to 5 on most days and one day of the week was 8 to 8 - we needed a place to eat, other than the cafeteria. Almost directly outside the doors of our school was a place called Chipotle that was, according to my classmates (who were from all over the US), the place to go for burritos and Mexican food. I had never seen one before, or even heard of one before, but after one quick dinner pick-up, I was hooked! Throughout the three years in the program our evening professors became very accustomed to the smell and sharing of Mexican foods in the classroom and, on occassion, joined in the ordering fun!

My obsession with Chipotle did not end with my time in grad school, it continued, and I then introduced it to my husband, so it became a family obsession. As I became more concerned with my food choices as a whole, I wondered if Chipotle was a typical fast food place and, therefore, have to be reconsidered as a suitable form of sustenance. So I decided to look into it and kept running into this one intriguing point: Chipotle kept referring to their food as "food with integrity." I felt this point might actually hold some potential, so I dug a little deeper.

Although Chipotle has been in business since the early 1990s, it wasn't until the close of that decade that the founder and owner of the franchise, Steve Ellis, learned the extent of the horrors in the factory farming industry AND decided to do something about it. This "food with integrity" tagline that each and every Chipotle  carries with it is not just a good PR slogan - this company is FOR REAL. In this NIGHTLINE interview from 2009, you can hear Ellis describing his passion and work to earn this badge of "integrity":


Chipotle's website also gives a great taste of the company - from their menu, to their food philosophy, their interesting time-line and a bit more from Steve Ellis. There is also a store finder where you can locate the closest Chipotle to you and then, maybe, you can even order online (I haven't tried that feature yet, since it is a bit of a trip for me to get to any Chipotle!). I highly recommend checking out their "Food With Integrity" tab to find out not only what this company is doing for animal welfare and the environment, but how it also extends itself to its people - those who work for and with the company, I thought that was some really good stuff!!

Steve Ellis, the founder and owner of Chipotle, has definitely become another foodie-hero of mine. He has balanced ethics with economics in a country where too many have argued that one must always be compromised. While this is a pivotal part of Mr. Ellis' business, customers are not beat over the head with it - you can find the tag-line "food with integrity" on the menu, but, to be honest, it is easily ignorable - Chipotle is about good food, beginning to end, plain and simple. In fact, while getting together with a group of friends to take a Chipotle Trip to The City (this is what we call Manhattan, even though there are 5 boroughs in New York City, our home being in one of them), I started discussing the reasons why this was such a great place to support - most of my friends had no idea, they just thought it was a great place to go because it had tasty food (which is also a very compelling reason). The establishments themselves also feel like they are somewhat "responsible" as you can see the food being cooked, you select from fresh ingredients, all the packaging does seem minimal, and there is a disposal system in place for recycling beverage containers.

This September, while visiting my grandmother in the nursing home in New Jersey, my husband and I needed to run out quick to get something eat. We found a Chipotle. I was elated and then suddenly saddened - my diet had changed to gluten-free and dairy-free since the last time I had been to a Chipotle. I wondered, "What are the chances of this place, with flour tortillas and cheese and sour cream all over the place, being a safe place for me to eat?" I decided to check it out. I found, upon entering, right next to the menu, I smaller menu-looking pamphlet, with Allergen Information on it! When I looked up, smiling, from it I saw my husband asking for a manager to ask about gluten so I stopped him, "Don't worry about it. It's already covered." Such a simple thing to do, but I was grateful for it. And über-grateful that I could still have CHIPOTLE!! WOO-HOO!


So you might be asking yourselves right now, "What brought this up today?" Very simple. Last night I had the most delicious chicken burrito bowl in a Chipotle in Brooklyn. That was my dinner. It was yummy, it was satisfying and I was just thinking... everyone needs a little burrito, or taco, now and then, why not share the good news about a good company doing right by its employees, the animals, the produce and the farmers that all come together to make the meal?

I am now left wondering, who else in the food industry is moving in the right direction? If you know of any other dining franchises that you think deserve a shout-out or some recognition for their good deeds, please let us know who they are. I think it is extremely important to support those who are fighting for what we believe in - it builds on the competitive spirit in others, forcing them to ask, what are those companies doing to get all of that attention? Maybe we should do it too...

Sharing Sustenance - A Gift For Your Soul

There are just over two weeks left until Thanksgiving arrives. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving, for me, is about family, food, sharing, and reflection. Every year, as the day approaches, I can not help but become consumed by this idea of "thanksgiving". I can't help but focus, not on the stresses of holiday living, but, instead, on what I am thankful for. Perhaps this is because my father passed away on Thanksgiving morning when I was 12 years old. I had eleven fabulous Thanksgivings with my father. I will always have them, and I am forever grateful for every moment.

I am also extremely appreciative of the miracles my mother performed for all 29 Thanksgivings (and years!) I had with her. She was on disability, with two children, paying a mortgage, feeding us wholesome meals, and still somehow always made Thanksgiving feel as close to a Norman Rockwell painting as could have been possible with all our family to boot: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and, very often, visiting guests!  When I was younger I never truly understood how difficult this must have been for my mother. As I grew older the finances started to become clearer, and I as I worked I contributed to the house income, but I have to say it was not until my mother passed away and we had to settle the estate that I understood, for the first time, how close we could have been, any number of times to simply not making it.

Food was the key, I realized. We didn't always have all the newest coolest stuff, but we always had food on the table and we always had enough to share.

I want to continue this tradition of sharing and I want to try to do it virtually. You may have noticed a FOOD BANK icon on the blog.

Sharing sustenance feeds our souls.

This is our virtual food drive for the Food Bank of NYC.  I have set up a Searching for Sustenance Team goal of $500. I found out that $500 will sponsor 2,500 meals!! I think that is a pretty awesome deal (...of course, if we bust through that goal, that would be awesome, too).



The Food Bank has been around for 27 years and is an amazing local organization. I know many of my readers are not local, but I am personally following one of my mantras here of "Think Global, Act Local" with the hopes that we can make little changes here in New York, and then maybe you will be inspired to do something similar in your local community!

This is a new type of call to action. It is one that asks you to open your wallet. I'll understand if you feel it is too much to ask, but before you decide THINK FOR A MOMENT - will $20 really leave you destitute? What about $10? What about $5??? I am not asking YOU to reach the $500 goal alone, I think we can do it TOGETHER!!
 

If you would like to make a donation or just check out our team page to see how we are doing so far, here is the link:

http://help.foodbanknyc.org/goto/searchingforsustenance

Thank you :)

My Gluten Learning Experience

After being gluten-free since the end of June 2010, I accidentally consumed a 110 gram (just under 4 ounces) piece of soy-protein by gardein that has "vital wheat gluten" listed as its third ingredient. I haven't been perfect since June, I made mistakes, especially in the beginning, but I knew after a bite or two something was wrong and stopped. This was not the case last night. Last night, I consumed the whole thing.

This is not to say that I did not feel the effects right away. When I was eating I felt stomach pain and the onset of some of my Crohn's symptoms. I was cognizant of this, but attributed it to stress. I had a ridiculous day and the stress was bound to affect me at some point. I self-diagnosed the symptoms as stress-related aftershock.

Have I ever blogged about my medical degree? I haven't? Well, that's not surprising at all because I DON'T HAVE ONE! This has not stopped me, however, from years of "figuring out" exactly what is causing my ailments and settling on whatever ridiculous diagnosis I come up with. My area of expertise - the mind/body connection -  stress causes everything, I'll feel better when this stress passes. So that was the state of my dinner last night. I was enjoying the taste, but since I had to deal with a bunch of stress for the first time since being on medical leave, I was having an uncomfortable dinner for the first time since being on medical leave. (I guess it escaped my mind that my grandmother passed away in the beginning of September and I had to organize a wake, funeral mass, and burial while housing and hosting two house guests. That wasn't stress. Why would I get sick then...).

Then I sat down to blog last night and brought the gardein box into the office so I could more appropriately describe it here. That's when I read "GLUTEN" and there was a complete paradigm shift. It was not the stress, it was not even my Crohn's disease! It is this stupid gluten!! What a relief and what a DOPE I am.

My last concern then was how long would I pay for this one infraction. I can deal with tummy gremlins (I am like an expert), but not when I have to travel using mass transit which is what I need to do today. I readied for bed considering my options and trying to figure out how to best plan my trip for the day thinking about all the places I scoped out on the route yesterday that have bathrooms (this is an unconscious habit of all people with Crohn's disease).

And then I tried to go to sleep...

But my face hurt. My face. I felt like some invisible hands had reached inside my head and just started squeezing everything hard. I had sinus pressure, then my nose started getting all congested. Now this was starting to feel like my IIH (Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension). I couldn't believe this. I had already destroyed the silly "Dr. Nicole" in my head earlier that evening, so I looked at the facts, told to me by an honest-to-goodness medical professional:  

I have a sensitivity to gluten. It causes inflammatory responses in my bowels and cause my body to create histamines like crazy. My body always thinks it is battling some allergen while I am eating gluten. 

BOOM

This incredible pressure in my head was from GLUTEN.

I know the doctor told me this. I obviously believed her, but this is so difficult for me to understand. I understand having digestive reactions to something I eat, but for it to affect my head? That just seems completely nuts.

Our bodies are fascinating objects of nature. I am in awe of all that is accomplished within them every minute of every day. It is no wonder that when things go "wrong" it should be just as awe-inspiring. I am grateful that all I have is a gluten sensitivity - last night, as I was trying to sleep while breathing through my mouth instead of my clogged up nose my mind wandered to those with Celiac disease, they would dream of only having a sensitivity! Then my mind wandered to the girl my mom used to babysit that had peanut allergies and how terrified my mother was the day she made the discovery.

My life is considerably better without gluten, but I don't think it would be threatened with it. My two diseases (Crohn's disease and IIH) were aggravated by gluten, but again, I don't think either can lead to my death.  However, I am on a quest to live the best and healthiest life that is possible in this mysterious body of mine and without question that life is one without the complications of gluten. I now wonder how different the last couple of years might have been if I was gluten-free sooner.

Something to think about:
Is there some food, food additive, chemical or otherwise that you consume on a regular basis that may be holding you back from living your best and healthiest life? Are you tired all the time? Battling the constant cold? Run-down? Overweight? Underweight? Depressed? Anxious? ... Maybe it is time to go see a nutritionist (most medical doctors don't have a lot of nutrition training, just pharmacological) to examine your food profile.