seriously, bluecross?

Those of you who live in the United States might recognize this. Those of you who don't might get a good laugh out of it. My health insurance offers a health rewards program- an incentive to make healthy changes in your life in exchange for cash and prizes better health and a longer life. Or that's the idea, anyway. I feel that I eat pretty well and am in pretty good shape, but I don't want this to stop me from all the cash and prizes health benefits that this program has to offer, so I have signed up. The exercise portion was fairly straightforward- I tell them how active I am and they give me tips for exercises to do every day. So far so good.

Then, I got to the nutrition section. Here, they ask you to enter your weight, and then tell them whether you would like to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your weight. They then design an optimal menu for you, which they also promise will be "heart healthy." Well imagine my horror upon being presented with this suggested daily menu: (click on the photos to enlarge)

For breakfast, they want me to consume calcium fortified orange juice, fat-free fruit yogurt (ack! the yuck factor of dairy aside, don't they care about the sugar or chemical sugar substitute in those things?), some lowfat milk (more dairy?!), an egg-white omelette with cheddar cheese and imitation bacon bits (come on, now!) along with an english muffin. (Oh, phew! They recommend a wheat english muffin! no word on if that means whole wheat or not) Knowing what I know about eggs and dairy, not to mention what I know about packaged foods, that breakfast sounds like a nightmare.

But that is nothing compared to dinner! Keep in mind, these suggestions are supposed to be healthy and contribute to weight loss, and this is a health insurance company making the recommendations! You would think they would have a vested interest in me not dropping dead (or worse, developing chronic illnesses necessitating prolonged health care, medicine, hospitalization, etc.). Here we go: they want me to eat frozen boysenberries (unsweetened- woo!) with powdered sugar (d'oh!), some yellow wax beans (a wonderful vegetable, but not a nutritional powerhouse), some more lowfat milk (ew! I mean, seriously?), and some pasta and meatless (phew) tomato sauce with cheesy meatballs. (d'oh, d'oh, d'oh)

As if this meal weren't enough to wear you out, you get a snack! A parfait made from fat-free frozen yogurt, frozen strawberries, peanut M&Ms, and, oh! two tablespoons of Kashi Go Lean cereal. I don't care if you're vegan or not, consuming that much dairy in one day is not good for you. If I ate their suggested menu, I'd be sluggish, over-sugared and under-nourished. And frankly, a little grossed out.

What about my breakfast? How could I enter things like this rice pudding made with organic brown rice, unsweetened hemp milk, cinnamon, cardamom, raisins, walnuts, and a dash of agave nectar?

Or this hearty brunch of marinated grilled tofu, roasted spicy potatoes, swiss chard, tomatoes, and rye bread?

It turns out you can customize your menu, but your only options even there are preselected brand-name packaged items. For example, I tried picking "smoothie" but the only smoothies they would recognize were Dannon Light 'n Fit-brand "smoothies." (light on the smoothie, heavy on the sugar and crap). Why, if I were the suspicious type, I would think that my insurance company has product placement agreements with major food brands to pimp their products as healthy...? No...

Well, the promise of being rewarded for health is enticing, but I can't even lie and say I'm eating that stuff! I better re-double my exercise program - and go munch on a carrot stick while I'm at it.

seriously, bluecross?

fighting the sniffles: elderberries

We just got home from a very enjoyable local food potluck (more about that later!) but all I could think about was that I had to get home and VeganMoFo! Tonight, I want to blog about one of my favorite discoveries from the last few years- elderberries! When I first moved to Syracuse, there was a magazine article about the power of elderberries and elderberry extract to treat the flu and the common cold. Well, we bought some in bulk from our local health food store in the form of dried berries. We made a simple tea with them- and guess what? They totally work! If you drink elderberry tea within the first day or so of sensing a cold coming on - you know, scratchy or sore throat, heavy head, headache, etc. - it lessens the impact of the disease, or eliminates it all together! We gave it to my aunt one day when she was visiting our house and had a cold- she drank a cup in the evening, and by the next day was markedly less miserable. Our whole family witnessed this, and now can't get enough of the stuff!

In addition to making the tea from the dried berries, you can also find elderberry extract at health food stores (although it's substantially more expensive.) Daiku and I try to remind ourselves to drink a cup of the stuff as frequently as possible, to boost our immune system. It's natural, it's inexpensive, and it's more effective than any other cold remedy that I have ever come across, so I recommend it to everybody! How does the tea taste? To me, it has a kind of prune/raisin taste, although it is not sweet like those fruits. It just has a very mellow, dried fruit kind of flavor.

Here are two articles that go into more precise detail about the nutritional benefits of elderberries:

From Article #1: "The edible berries are rich in vitamin C and get their dark color form their high anthocyanin and bioflavonoid content. They are primarily used to treat flu symptoms and as an immunostimulant."

"Acting as an antioxidant, elder may protect the body against damage from free radicals. Flavonoids, including quercetin, are believed to account for the therapeutic actions of the elderberry flowers and berries. Anthocyanins are special class of bioflavonoids, which offer powerful antioxidant protection against cellular aging. Elderberry extract reduces the damaging effects of LDL, or bad cholesterol, and serves as an antioxidant for the body."


From Article #2: " Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) has been used in folk medicine for centuries to treat influenza, colds, and sinusitis. Elderberry extracts have been found to have anti-viral activity in preliminary laboratory studies. A Norwegian double-blind, placebo controlled study found that elderberry syrup (15 milliliters four times a day for 5 days) was more effective than placebo at relieving symptoms and decreased the use of rescue medication."

**Warning- you should only buy commercially prepared elderberry products, since the berries, when unripe and/or raw, and much of the plant (leaves, etc.) can be poisonous.**

So go out and find some elderberries today! (Or elderberry jam, wine, syrup, candies, etc. Did you know that Sambuca is made with them...?)

And with that, yet another VeganMoFo post right under the wire- woo!

fighting the sniffles: elderberries

Take this trend... and eat it.

black tea brewed with jujubes

Recently, I was inspired by Susan's post about fickle food trends. It got me to thinking how crazy the world of food is. Remember when it was "discovered" that cherries were the best fruits you could eat? Except then it was blueberries. Which were supplanted by pomegranates. Only now we're finding out that kiwis have more antioxidants than all of those fruits put together. Each time some new ingredient is "found", the wheels of the commercial food machinery go into gear to market the superfood du jour. 10 years ago, you couldn't have found pomegranate juice, pomegranate vinegar, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate smoothies, pomegranate cereal, pomegranate tea, pomegranate supplements, pomegranate face cream... etc. in every market the way you can now. It's the same with white tea. Or was it red tea?

My point is this- there is nothing new under the sun. We should not fall into the trap of thinking of some foods as superfoods and others as worthless. The fact is, all fruits and vegetables have their benefits, and our goal should be to consume vast quantities of them all, preferably in combination. Your diet should never depend on only one source for its nutrients, and besides, most nutrients work best in combination with others.

But, it is also fun to think of trendy foods. I remember "discovering" balsamic vinegar and pesto in high school, but my friend who had grown up in an Italian household had been eating them her whole life. Similarly, I'm pretty amused by the mad rush for all things pomegranate, since I grew up in an Iranian household where the fruit was ubiquitous.

So, just for fun, I thought I would show and tell some Iranian health foods that are ripe candidates for becoming the next "superfoods." When you see them on the shelf at your local market, let me know!

Exhibit A: roasted hemp seeds

I remember a few years ago, I "discovered" the health benefits of hemp seeds, how they are high in essential fatty acids, and nutrient-dense. I called my mom to tell her about them. She didn't know what hemp was, so she asked me to describe it. Finally she said, oh hemp seeds? I've been snacking on those since I was a kid. It turns out that hemp seeds, along with sesame and poppy seeds, are one of the most popular snacks in Iran. The omega-3's are probably better preserved by eating raw hemp seeds. The roasted salted ones are fun to snack on or include in trail mixes, though!

Exhibit B: jujubes

These fruits, (not to be confused with the candies of the same name!) are popular all along the silk road, especially in China, where they are made into candies and pastries of all kinds. In Iran, they are most often eaten dried, and it's traditional to brew black tea with them. (You can see a photo of this at the top of this post) They give the tea a subtle sweet flavor, and when you're done drinking, you can eat the reconstituted fruit. I wonder what their antioxidant counts are?

Exhibit C: apricot kernels

When we were kids and we would eat apricots, my mom would get out the nutcracker and crack the pits, giving us the bittersweet almond-looking nuts on the inside to munch on. Little did I know then that apricot kernels are packed with good fats and nutrients- I just liked the way they tasted! I was very surprised back in March when Daiku and I went to a health fair and got sampels of "the newest thing" a trail mix consisting of goji berries and... apricot kernels! Mom, it looks like you were right again. You can try this at home next time you have fresh apricots- just crack the pits like a nut! (Caution, don't try this with peach or plum pits, they are bitter and probably not good for you.) You can also buy apricot kernel oil in health food stores.

What about you? What are the foods of your childhood or your heritage that are now marketed as "hot" or "superfoods" or "fancy pants"? Leave a comment and tell me all about them, I don't want to be left out of the trendy loop!
.

Take this trend... and eat it.

artichokes and abrasions

Well it looks like I tempted fate. Just when I promised to blog every day, life got in the way, big time. Yesterday, Daiku and I took our bikes out for a spin. We hadn't even gone one block when I had a major spill. I don't even know what happened, but...

I got cut up pretty badly. I realized that my doctor had admonished me to get a tetanus shot over 2 years ago, and I hadn't gotten around to it yet. So we went to the hospital to get my cuts cleaned up and to get a tetanus shot.

A few hours later, I came home looking like a burn victim, as you can see above. I could barely move my hands, and my wrists, elbows, and legs were in loads of pain too.

And all I wanted to do was blog about artichokes! So enough about injuries and hospitals and trauma. On to artichokes! These beautiful vegetables are one of the many signs of Spring's arrival that I have gotten to enjoy in the last week or two.

Daiku and I decided to simply steam them in water with a bit of lemon juice. Now artichokes taste just wonderful on their own, but it is fun to dip the leaves into something delicious every once in a while. Most dips, like melted butter, however, are too runny for me. I like something to really cling on to the leaves.

So I came up with a recipe for a sublime artichoke dipping sauce:

The picture is not too great, since my camera batteries died right before I could get a good shot. But make this sauce next time you're enjoying artichokes, and you will not regret it:

(makes enough for 4 large artichokes, the quantities can easily be increased or decreased according to need and taste)

• Melt 1-2 TB vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance) and 1-2 TB extra virgin olive oil together over medium-low heat
• Add 1-2 sliced large garlic cloves, and allow to heat through until fragrant
• To this mixture, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of dry white wine, increase the heat a little, and stir, allowing some of the wine to reduce, about 5 minutes
• Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of very fine breadcrumbs, stir until heated through. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and up to a teaspoon of lemon zest. Serve warm with artichokes.
• Dip away and enjoy!

Don't forget to remove the thistles when you are done with the leaves- they expose the succulent artichoke heart!

The inner workings of artichokes- what a work of art...

Since we had made 4 artichokes, we had 2 leftover to take to the office the next day for a picnic lunch. (Along with some leftover hummus, veggies, and bean soup)

Here's Daiku enjoying his artichoke.

And here's me, pre-injured hands.

Later that day, we bought my new bike.

My bike and me, in happier days. (Don't worry, this was just a display ride, the first time I brought the bike home. I always wear a helmet!)

So that's my story. Eat artichokes. Stay up-to-date with your tetanus shots. Be careful on your bikes. And, as cheesy as this sounds, don't take anything or anyone for granted, because life comes at you fast.

artichokes and abrasions

2 dinners, 1 dessert, and random thoughts

So, TV turnoff week is coming to an end. I survived it just fine. I do admit to going through some withdrawals, but it's amazing how quickly you can distance yourself from t.v. Usually, a new episode of a favorite show would be much anticipated, but if you don't watch it, it starts seeming pretty unreal! What did I get accomplished? I did some major filing and organizing. The house is pleasingly clean and clutter-free. We took a really nice road-trip to Massachusetts (more on that later). I got to enjoy the newly warm weather with walks around the neighborhood and just sitting in the back yard.

What I thought was especially fun was that Daiku and I sat down at the dining room table and had really nice dinners. Usually, we time our dinner to coincide with t.v. and eat while watching some show. This has a double negative effect: the eating distracts from the show and the show distracts from the eating. So this week, we tried some new recipes, had some old favorites, and got the luxury of getting to really savor what we were eating. I'll share two of those meals with you in this post.

Dinner #1:

Menu: Cypriot lima bean soup (I subbed cannelini beans, cooked quickly in the pressure cooker), Moroccan carrot salad with cilantro (because we had a bunch of cilantro that we needed to use up!) and homemade pita breads.

The soup and the salad were from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I was weary of the salad at first- when I mixed all the ingredients together, it gave off a pungent smell. But it got better as it sat, and it was especially good the second day, when the flavors had melded together. I made Cypriot soup because... well, I won't tell you yet, it's a surprise! The pita bread recipe came from Nava Atlas's blog. I used 1/2 white bread flour and 1/2 white whole wheat flour. They were really good. I had previously baked pita bread using a no yeast recipe, and this one, with yeast, was definitely more fluffy. As much as I liked them, I can't help but think that our local Egyptian market sells fresh baked pitas, fluffier than I could ever make them, white or whole wheat, for only $.69 for 8. How can I match that?

Dinner #2:

Ok, it's confession time. Ready? Daiku and I love baked beans, and often make huge batches in the crock pot. (I've posted the recipe on this blog). But sometimes, we just want store-bought baked beans (vegetarian, of course.) Yes, those baked beans- jacked up with sugar and corn syrup and all manner of things that don't belong in beans. There is just something in canned baked beans that reminds us of childhood and we succumb and buy a can every now and then. To eat them, we doctor them up with blackstrap molasses, sriracha, cayenne, paprika, and some other spices.

We had the baked beans (in the top photo you see the molasses swirl) with a side of Susan's cajun tempeh bacon. I had read on Amey's blog that when she made the bacon, she found it too salty, so I took that into account (I have a pretty low salt tolerance.) I cut the soy sauce in half and increased the water, decreased the hot sauce, and only used cajun seasoning salt on half the batch. The result was delicious, but still a bit too salty for my taste. However, the tempeh bacon (salty and smoky) played off of the sweet and spicy baked beans really marvelously. We had some leftover pita breads with the beans 'n bacon.

To round out the summery feel of the meal, we had a fabulous salad of organic spring mix, organic strawberries, cucumbers and mandarin slices with a balsamic vinaigrette. Yum!

Finally...

Dessert:

Ok, I have another confession to make here! A couple of months ago, I got sick. Very, very sick. I'm not sure exactly what I had, but it knocked me out for more than a week and was stronger than any other flu I can remember having. While I was sick, I lost my appetite, big time. I couldn't even drink water. Everything tasted really weird- too metallic, acidic, just wrong. For the first time, I realized how it must feel to be a picky eater, someone for whom most foods just don't taste good. This was actually a psychologically and emotionally stressful time- for someone as in love with food as I am, suddenly losing all interest in eating was pretty alarming. By the end of the week, I could tolerate only one thing: coke. For 2-3 days, it was my only source of calories and hydration. How sad, right?

Well, I got better of course, and once again, slowly, tentatively, could eat. Coke was again banished from my house, and all was as it should be. Everything was right with the world again. Except for one thing. I realize now that this might have been residual psychological dealing with the illness, but something inside of me snapped and I started hating healthy foods. One day, I made some scones with white whole wheat flour. When I tasted them, they were so flour-y and heavy, so not like scones, that I actually said "fuck whole wheat!" I went crazy baking everything with white flour, white sugar, the works. This was a passing phase, but I think the result is that I no longer think that whole grains can be substituted into any recipe, willy nilly. I respect the texture and flavor that white flour brings to foods, even though I also respect that for health reasons, I shouldn't eat that way all the time. I have learned to experiment and not be so dogmatic.

Ok, that was a long introduction to one of my favorite discoveries this week. You might remember these "banana chocolate chimp" muffins that I posted about back in November. The recipe was from VegNews magazine. This week, I had a lot of ripe bananas to get through, so I decided to make some more of these muffins, which are just amazing.

I made one batch using half white flour and half white whole wheat flour. I thought they were ok, until I made another batch- and hit pay dirt! Surprise, for the second batch, I used 100% whole spelt flour. And guess what? These were so much better than the first batch, even though the first only had 1/2 whole grain flour and the second had all whole grain flour. The spelt made the muffins tender, light, and delicious! So that was my real learning experience this past week: experiment, experiment, experiment. I still don't think 100% whole grain flour is always an appropriate or tasty substitute, but in this case, it was just perfect. I think the key is finding recipes where whole grains work perfectly, rather than automatically subbing whole grains in everything.

So I bring you the recipe for:

Bazu's Whole Grain is O.K. After All Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter muffins. (Ok, the title is a joke, but these muffins aren't!)

(adapted from recipe in the October 2006 issue of VegNews magazine)

Ingredients: (makes 6 muffins)

2.5 TB Earth Balance margarine, slightly softened
1.5 TB all natural peanut butter
1/4 Cup unrefined sugar (I used Florida Crystals)
1 Cup whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1.2 oz. dark chocolate bar, smashed to pieces (or 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 very ripe banana, smashed
1/4 Cup soymilk (I used unsweetened)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. (I used a toaster oven, since I was just using a 6 cup muffin pan)
  
• Using a fork, mix margarine, peanut butter, and sugar until well incorporated
• In a seperate bowl, mix banana, vanilla, and soymilk until well blended and set aside
• Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda to margarine/PB/sugar mixture and mix
• Add liquid mixture to this, mixing until well incorporated
• Gently fold in chocolate pieces
• Divide batter among 6 muffin tins, and bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool on wire racks.
• Enjoy!
  

2 dinners, 1 dessert, and random thoughts

TV turnoff week

image courtesy of: http://adbusters.org/metas/psycho/tvturnoff/

Yes, it's that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen, time to turn off your t.v. for a week. This annual event asks us to tune out and step back for a week to reflect on the role that television plays in our lives. Whether you watch for one hour a week, or 10, or 50, television is innundating your psychic space with commercials and other ideological goodies. The result is a profound polluting of mental space and subtly increasing urges to consume.

In the continuing spirit of Earth Day, turn off your t.v. (and DVD player and on-line t.v. shows, etc.) from April 23-29 and see how it feels. How will you feel when you miss your favorite show's new episode? How will you feel when you don't have the t.v. on as background noise? How will your children react when deprived of televisual stimulation? For the past 6 years, I have participated in t.v. turn-off week every year that I have had a t.v. It's always caused some frustration- what do I do when my roommate wants to watch t.v.? What about the third-to-last episode of "Friends"? What about the t.v.'s in the gym?- but it has always been an intriguing and meditative frustration.

Think of it as a detox for your mind and psyche. Take all the time and energy you would have spent in front of the t.v. and focus it into another activity- exercise? cooking? getting together with a friend? hiking with your mom? finally tackling that long-neglected knitting project? writing a letter to your representative? staging a protest or boycott? organizing your files? taking those boxes to Goodwill? trimming your kitty's nails? writing another chapter in your novel? leafletting? It's fun!

Oh, and for you people who don't have t.v. to begin with, you have my admiration. Take this week to lend a hand and drag someone you know away from their televisions.

Who knows? You just might see an unusually large number of blog posts from me this week!

Links:

TV turn-off week main page

Adbusters.org

Something fun to ponder with all your extra time: True Cost Economics

image courtesy of: http://adbusters.org/metas/psycho/mediacarta/

SPREAD THE WORD!

TV turnoff week

Last March post- a mishmash and a giveaway

GIVE-AWAY UPDATE (4 April 2007, 12: 10 a.m.): Thank you, everyone, for trying to guess the object in the picture! Some of your more creative guesses made me giggle- you guys have imagination!

Some of you did guess correctly! I entered everyone who mentioned the word ... (drumroll, please) are you ready for this... TAMARIND in their response into a drawing. These included Aiyana (congratulations on having the first correct guess!), Nikki, Brooke, Kati, and Village Vegan.

And the winner is... Nikki! Congratulations! I will get your address and send you the package of goodies ASAP.

I have to say, I love tamarind, especially straight out of its pod as a sour-sweet-tangy snack. Of course, there are tons of recipes using Tamarind in sauce, paste, or liquid form. There are even tamarind candies. Try some today!

***

I have minutes before the clock strikes midnight and I have a lot of random pictures and things that I want to blog about. So this post lacks coherence or unity, but I hope it makes up for it with fun things to see!

A romantic dinner for two. As you all might have realized by now, I've absolutely fallen in love with fennel this past year. Here was a really simple, but very delicious meal: whole wheat penne pasta with a sauce of sauteed fennel, diced tomatoes, and black olives. To accompany it, some candlelight and a nice chianti. (No liver of fava beans, though- ha ha!) Although I like fennel raw (and it's a great digestive that way), the mellow, caramelized flavor it takes on when gently cooked is incomparable.

I don't know what to call this dish- not quite chilli, not quite soup or stew, but delicious. We took some homemade pinto beans, added crushed tomatoes, chopped onion, bell pepper and carrots, a chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, bay leaves, coriander, and a few other spices, cooked them together and got something that is difficult to categorize, but easy to eat! The combination of spicy and earthy flavors came together well, and the ground coriander added a nice tang.

Here I am with Bijou... we were both feeling a bit silly on this day!

** GIVEAWAY!! **

Finally, last Sunday, Daiku and I went to the annual health fair, put on by our local health food store, NaturTyme. This was my first visit to the New York State fairgrounds! Yes, the state fair is held minutes from where I live, but I've never had an interest in visiting the "let's gorge on sausage and glorify the dairy industry" crap-fest that is the State Fair. Blech. The health fair was much more fun. There were talks, cooking demonstrations, even makeovers and massages! But best of all, there were hundreds of companies giving out samples of food, vitamins, and health and beauty products. Did I mention all the free food? Not only did Daiku and I get to munch on the spot (breakfast!), but we brought home an embarrassingly large stash, some of which you can see above.

Since we are up to our ears in vegan items- teas, shake mixes, supplements, chocolates, lotions, drink mixes, vitamins, power bars and more- I decided it would be fun to have a giveaway to share the wealth. To the winner, I will send a large package of fun little samples. If you want to participate, simply identify the subject of the picture below:

WHAT IS THIS...?

Once you know what this is, leave a comment, naming it and letting me know that you want to participate in the contest. On Tuesday, April 3 at midnight (EST), I will put the names of all the correct guessers in a hat and draw out a winner to send the samples to.

Ready, set, go. Good luck and happy April!

Last March post- a mishmash and a giveaway

chipmunk cheeks

image courtesy of : http://www.flashfire.com/

I just want to thank everybody SO much for their comments on my last post. I appreciated your wisdom and your support, and hearing about your own personal experiences! I really took to heart the advice about appreciating the subtlety of change, and of not expecting immediate gratification, which is just not realistic.

Unfortunately, all questions of food and detox are going to be on hold here for a little while. I had two of my wisdom teeth taken out today. I'm sure all the pain-killers I was injected with and I'm taking right now are not exactly detox-friendly! Nor are the soft things I'm eating: soy yogurt, pudding, and little fruit gels. But as soon as the bleeding and drooling stops, as soon as the pain goes away and the swollen chipmunk cheeks go down, I'll be back to eating and blogging like normal.

Thank you all so much for stopping by!

chipmunk cheeks

thoughts about the detox...

Hi Everybody,

I apologize for not having done the regular Friday food round-up this week. I decided at the last minute to come back down to Virginia to help my mom move into a new house. It has been a hectic few days!

I just wanted to share some thoughts about my on-going detox with everyone, and hopefully I will hear back from some of you about your own thoughts and experiences. At the beginning of this detox, I expected great things- a meteoric rise in my energy and activity level, a lightening of my mood, and noticeable improvements in my weight and appearance. As we completed the third week of the detox, however, I was beginning to get a little disappointed that nothing *major* was happening. I did not lose much weight, I was not overcome with any startling feelings of well-being or energy... things seemed pretty so-so.

And that put me in a bit of a funk. How could I be so strict and observant about what I put in and on and around my body and not see measurable results? These questions bugged me until I got to my mom's house. There I noticed a subtle change inside of me. Whereas the usual array of goodies and snacks usually lure me in, I have managed to go the entire trip so far without breaking my detox. Surrounded by candy, white bread, chocolate, chips, and other processed foods, I was able to calmly munch on my fruits and homemade trail mix.

This was not major, but it definitely marks a difference in how I approach food. This must mean that my blood sugar is pretty darn stable these days, I am neither attracted to nor haunted by sweets and other junk. The detox has allowed me to truly rid my body and mind of the need for foods that are not good for me.

And that is something to celebrate!

Click here and here for previous posts in this blog in which I discuss The Great American Detox Diet by Alex Jamieson.

thoughts about the detox...

Stop Lowering Organic Standards!

As consumers of organic personal care products, you have the opportunity to have your voice heard. Please take this survey and pass the message on!

From the Organic Consumers Association (OCA):

Organic standards for personal care products (e.g. lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, cosmetics, etc.) are currently being developed by a task force. The OCA is fortunate to have a staff person serving as a voting representative for consumers on this task force. Unfortunately, we are the only voice for consumers on this task force made-up almost entirely of industry representatives. Please take this short 19 question survey to help us know better how to vote in a manner that creates a standard that protects your individual needs and desires, as a consumer of personal care products. You can have an important and effective hand in helping to sculpt organic standards simply by taking this quick anonymous survey now.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/nsf-survey.htm

Please also forward this message.

(P.S. the OCA website is a great one to check out if you are not familiar with it- very informative, including information for activists: http://www.organicconsumers.org)

Stop Lowering Organic Standards!

What's on your skin?

For a while now, I've been concerned about the toxins and chemicals that are absorbed through the skin. Most commercial brands of toiletries and beauty products contain chemicals that are proven carcinogens or irritants, or that have not been fully proven safe. The skin, our largest organ, drinks in pretty much everything that we put on it, and what is worse, these chemicals stay in our bodies through a process known as bio-accumulation. The solution is to be as informed and dilligent as possible with the products (shampoos, conditioners, lotions, make-up, shaving creams, perfumes, moisturizers, sunblocks, etc. etc. etc.) that we use. This is especially important with small children, whose bodies are more susceptible to chemicals.

Here are 2 good websites where you can learn more, see how your favorite products rank, and find new options to use. You will be surprised at how little the government and the FDA do to ensure that everyday products are safe and non-toxic. You will become familiar with some of the most offending ingredients to avoid. I was so shocked that some of the companies I consider very responsible still have many questionable ingredients and practices that they use in their products.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Skin Deep

Happy October, everybody!

What's on your skin?

Slate ripped me off!

Slate wrote this article about Spinach and E. coli, may I add, days after I wrote mine! ;-) It has some good arguments about the state of food production and safety in our world.

http://www.slate.com/id/2150536/?nav=tap3

Slate ripped me off!

Conspiracy?

(an image of E. coli O157:H7)

For a while now, I've had a simmering resentment I can't put my finger on about this whole spinach/E. coli recall thing. What can it be? Let's see...

Tons of spinach and mesclun mix, much of it organic, getting tossed into the trash.

An air of bad publicity and suspicion surrounding spinach that might not be gone for years.

FACT: E. coli O157:H7, the strain associated with the latest spinach recall can be killed by cooking at 160 degrees for 15 seconds (Source: New York Times 9/20/2006)

FACT: The FDA's own words: "E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by thorough cooking." (Source: Well, when you search "beef safety" on the FDA website, you mysteriously get transported to the USDA beef "fact" sheet http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Beef_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp)

FACT: The FDA did not tell people to stop eating beef or to throw millions of dollars worth of it away a few years ago when there was an E. coli outbreak associated with tainted beef, merely to cook it more thoroughly

FACT: The FDA did tell people to stop eating spinach and to throw away all spinach, because it "wants to maintain a simple cosumer message" and "not confuse people by saying which circumstances are appropriate for eating uncooked spinach." (New York Times 9/20/2006)

FACT: eating spinach = good

FACT: eating beef = bad

FACT: Cattle lobby: rich, well connected, holds FDA in palm of hand

FACT: Spinach lobby: ???

So all this food is going to waste, when the problem could be taken care of by locating the source of the outbreak and in the meantime, buying locally grown spinach from trusted farmers and cooking it well. Meanwhile, people are told that it is all right to go around eating beef which is the source of E. coli contamination because major lobbies such as the cattle lobby financially control the public health mechanisms in this country.

So go ahead Jimmy, eat that burger- just make sure there's no organic spinach on it!

= Evil...?

Conspiracy?

Is this everything that's wrong with America?

Here is a quote from Eating Well magazine: "We are a big, fat, lazy, wasteful, gullible culture. We'll swallow anything. We'll sell our parental pride for $2.89." (Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun columnist, on parents buying premade, frozen peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for their children.)

What is wrong with Uncrustables? Let us count the ways...

1. They had to get a PATENT. For peanut butter and jelly sans crust. Here's the illustration for their application:
Apparently, their big innovation is using peanut butter and crustless bread to effectively entrap their world-famous jelly. (!)

2. Their...
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 1 Sandwich (58 g)
210 calories, 9 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat... (look for yourself)

You might be asking yourself how they crammed so many calories, fat, and salt into a tiny little sandwich, while leaving out so many nutrients... It might help to read their...

Ingredients
BREAD: ENRICHED UNBLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, YEAST, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: WHEAT GLUTEN, SALT, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: DIACETYL TARTARIC ACID ESTERS OF MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES (DATEM), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, ASCORBIC ACID, AZODICARBONAMIDE, L-CYSTEINE), YEAST NUTRIENTS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, AMMONIUM SULFATE), CALCIUM PROPIONATE (MAINTAIN FRESHNESS), CORNSTARCH, ENZYMES (WITH WHEAT). PEANUT BUTTER: SELECT ROASTED PEANUTS, DEXTROSE, VEGETABLE MONOGLYCERIDES (FROM PALM OIL), SALT. GRAPE JELLY: GRAPE JUICE, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE ADDED AS A PRESERVATIVE.

We all know that refined flour is bad, hydrogenated oils are bad, corn syrup is bad (and high fructose corn syrup is god-awful!), not to mention all the other unpronounceable ingredients.

But what is really bad is the economics:

Here is how much one would pay for an Uncrustable (~ $2.99/ 4-pack)= $0.75

Here is how much one would pay for a similar peanut butter and jelly sandwich: (~ $2.59/18 oz. for a jar of Jif peanut butter, with 16 servings, ~ $2.45/18 oz. for Smucker's grape jelly with 32 servings, and ~ $2.39/20 slices for a loaf of Wonder Bread with 10 servings)=~ $0.17

Here is how much one would pay for a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich (whole grain bread, natural peanut butter, organic jelly) (~ $3.89/18 oz. Crazy Richard's all-natural peanut butter, with 16 servings, ~ $3.49/10 oz. Cascadian Farms organic grape jelly with 1 servings, ~ $3.00/20 slices of fresh-baked whole wheat bread at my local grocery store with 10 servings) =~ $0.74

These are prices I found on the Internet, so I'm sure everyone can find even better prices at their local co-ops or grocers, not to mention the added savings of, say, buying in bulk, making your own jam, peanut butter, or baking your own bread. What this demonstrates is that parents are willing to pay a hefty premium to stuff their kids full of chemicals, artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils (of which you should eat none), refined white flour, GMO's, etc.

The great thing is, the convenience article doesn't really work here, because what is easier than making a PB & J, for crying out loud??

Start the revolution, folks! Refuse the junk being marketed to you and your kids. Reading an ingredient/nutrition label is one of the most enlightening and potentially empowering things you can do.

Is this everything that's wrong with America?