Category: Health Soap Box

I have spent a lot of time working on recipes.  I pride myself on being able to convert a “regular” recipe into a healthy one and making meals under 30 minutes.  However, I have come to realize that I could have millions of recipes but getting people to actually use them is the challenge.  Some people are just so intimidated of cooking, so unmotivated to cook, or just plain don’t want to.  My new focus is on preparing short how-to videos on HOW to cook, not what to cook.  Seeing someone do it is often much easier than reading it on the page.  I hope to have about 100 videos in the next couple of months. 

Rather than have them look like something from the Food Network, I have decided that if I want to get them done, I will have to fit the filming into my regular life.  Therefore, the kids, their friends, the dog, the phone, the doorbell, etc.  all make appearances.  I don’t dress up, I don’t put on extra make-up, I just keep the camera set up in the kitchen and hit record.  Hey, this is real life, right?  I think it is important that people can relate.  I know when I watch some of the cooking shows, I think to myself, they have a studio, hundreds of people working for them, no kids, no distractions- must be nice.  What I want to show is that healthy eating IS possible even for crazy busy people.  It’s not hard, it doesn’t take forever, it can please all family members, and it can be fun.  Even though I have to get over the fact that I think I look like a big dork…my goal is to help other people get in the kitchen.

I am inspired to write about this topic today becasue we just got back from a business trip and I was confronted with the daunting task of finding something on the menu I could actually stomach at several different restaurants.  Now that I have adopted the principles of healthy eating, it has become almost impossible to eat out and feel good about what I’m eating.  I typically have to compromise and choose the lesser the evils on the menu.  I have truly become Sally from “When Harry Met Sally” which is highly unusual for me.  I am a very low-maintenance, feather-ruffling avoider.  So to become this high maintenance orderer is difficult for me.  However, I have become very adept at it.  Everyone must do the same. 

I guess I should back track and say that you should avoid eating out at all costs.  Save restaurant trips for special occasions or TRUE emergencies (getting home late from work and having to pick the kids up from soccer practice is NOT an emergency).  Let’s face it, if I or you want to be healthy and eat healthy meals, we must get our butts in the kitchen.  Even with time constraints, it is possible to throw together a healthy meal.  The fact of the matter is that more and more restaurants are falling into the American way- quick, cheap, and man-altered.  Less and less are cooking from scratch and using the best ingredients.  Even most of the sit-down restaurants are nothing more than glorified fast food restaurants. 

Have you ever stopped to think about how it is possible for a restaurant to have 50 million things on their menu and have it out to your table in under 15 minutes.  Think about it…the only way is for them to rip open a frozen package or a can and nuke it or throw it in a pan for a couple of minutes.  Taking it a step further, you should be ticked off that restaurants can charge you out the wazoo for let’s say a mile-high quadruple layer of chocolate cake that they merely defrosted and sprinkled some powdered sugar and strawberry syrup on.  Are you kidding me?  It infuriates me when people say they can’t afford to buy organic food or because it costs too much but are willing to take their entire family out to eat almost every day of the week.  The amount of money that could be saved by eating at home is staggering.  Eating healthy, organic foods would still leave a lot of money left over.

I’ll leave you all with these staggering tidbits that appeared in a Men’s Health article by By David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  (Additional research by Lauren Murrow) about some of America’s favorite restaurants.  Feel free to be outraged!

1.  Outback Steakhouse- An order of Aussie Cheese Fries has 2,900 calories and an Ayers Rock Strip has 60 grams of fat.

2.  Applebee’s- Many of it’s low fat items have more than 500 calories.  For example, the Low Fat Chicken Quesidillas have 742 calories and 90 grams of carbs per order.

3.  IHOP-   That its Omelette Feast has 1,335 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat. (By the time you finish eating this behemoth breakfast, you’ll have consumed 150 percent of your daily fat requirement and 300 percent of your suggested cholesterol intake.) Said IHOP’s director of communications, “We do not maintain nutritional data on our menu items, so I am unable to assist you.”

4.  Hooters- Our own investigation revealed that the chain’s wing sauce (which consists primarily of butter, sweet cream, and partially hydrogenated margarine) also contains such unappetizing additives as maltodextrin, propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, calcium disodium EDTA, and potassium sorbate.

5.  Arby’s- The FDA has no definition of “all natural.” Thus, chains like Arby’s can say they serve “100 percent all-natural chicken,” despite using artificial flavoring. Even worse, the “all-natural” smoothies at chains across the country may contain high-fructose corn syrup.

6.  Dunkin Donuts- Each of its medium-size fruit-and-yogurt smoothies packs at least 60 grams of sugar—more than four times the sugar in a chocolate-frosted cake doughnut. The fruit purees used in the smoothies are mixed with liberal doses of sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup

7.  Burger King- It’s French Toast Sticks, which deliver more than 4 grams of fat per stick) share a deep fryer with the pork sausage, pork fritters, Chicken Tenders, chicken fries, Big Fish patties, hash browns, onion rings, and Cheesy Tots—and that all of those items contain harmful trans fats.

8.  Panera- That the synthetic food colorings in its pastries have been linked to irritability, restlessness, and sleep disturbance in children. And British researchers found that artificial food colorings and preservatives in the diets of 3-year-olds caused an increase in hyperactive behavior. (The same ingredients appear in fast-food items such as mayonnaise, M&M Blizzards, and McDonald’s shakes.)

9.  Maggiano’s- In Italy, a standard pasta serving means 4 ounces of noodles with a few tablespoons of sauce. At Maggiano’s, a large order of pasta translates into 2 pounds of noodles piled high on a hubcap-size dinner plate (15 1/2 inches in diameter)

10.  Baskin Robbins- The top four ingredients in its Blue Raspberry Fruit Blast are Sierra Mist soda, water, sugar, and corn syrup.

11.  Sit-Down Chains- That their food is actually considerably worse for you than the often-maligned fast-food fare. In fact, our menu analysis of 24 national chains revealed that the average entree at a sit-down restaurant contains 867 calories, compared with 522 calories in the average fast-food entree. And that’s before appetizers, sides, or desserts—selections that can easily double your total calorie intake.

Source:  http://www.menshealth.com/16secrets/index.html

Let’s order takeout!  (Just Kidding!)

So I am sitting here in a cabin in the mountains of western North Carolina.  Here is a true vision of natures magesty!  Looking out over the mountains and above are millions of twinkling stars.  Stars like I’ve never seen before.  I guess because I am closer to them.  It is absolutely breathtaking. 

I am on a mini-vacation after pulling off an awesome charity event with my husband.  We raised over $7,000 for a local charity and had a huge turnout with lots of families there for the whole day.  Besides the reward of doing something good for the community, I am basking in the glory of feeding a large number of people some healthy food.  Normally at these types of events, you will see pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, pulled pork, tons of soda, etc.  We actually had grass-fed hamburgers, grass-fed beef hot dogs -with NO nitrites and no additives/preservatives, salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, veggie trays, fruit trays, watermelon slices, whole grain bread, and whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (made by yours truly), and ONLY water and organic juice boxes to drink.  NO sodas to be found anywhere!!!

It can be done!  The money we saved on sodas and other crap was budgeted for the organic beef.  It was a huge hit and the grill masters couldn’t even keep up with the demand.  I can only hope that more events follow suit so I don’t have to pack a mini-cooler with food everywhere I go.

Well, I’m going to relax and take in the mountain air.

Blessings!

I loved cooking from an early age.  I’m sure part of it was from watching my mom cook but I definitely think it was in my wiring.  I remember making my own signature sandwich at age 9- a Kim Sandwich which consisted of a hot dog, cut in half and split down the middle, fanned out onto toasted Wonder bread with american cheese (you know, the kind wrapped in individual wrappers that had that shiny, plasticy look once it melted a little)  and mustard.  I would probably throw up if I tried to eat that today (seriously!)  However, looking back it was a pretty good attempt using what was always available.  I would venture to guess that most Americans could find those exact ingredients right at this very moment in their pantries and refrigerators.  My new specialty sandwich is a curry chicken salad sandwich- organic chicken, grapseed oil veganaise, curry powder, celery, onion, pecans, and gomisaio with lettuce and tomato on Ezekiel bread…wow!  That’s quite an evolution. 

I would often ask if I could help make dinner- my favorite was browning the ground beef for spaghetti.  I vividly remember making lasagna roll-ups with a friend for our boyfriends on Valentines Day.  

When I went off to college and moved out of the dorms into a house with 4 other girls, one of my first stops was the grocery store.  I stocked up on staples, and items I wanted to eat for the week.  I was surprised to learn that none of my roommates were as excited to be rid of the dorm cafeteria.  My food disappeared a lot which was somewhat annoying but I really did enjoy impressing my roommates and other classmates with my fancy dinners.  When I met my boyfriend, now husband, I would enjoy going to the bachelor pad full of men and whipping something up.  

When I got married, I took the challenge of cooking for my husband to an extreme.  He was a very finicky eater- a meat and potatoes guy.  I think he was over my fancy meals and gourmet dinner attempts.  He just wanted steak and a baked potato.  I used to get frustrated that he wouldn’t get excited about the meals I put so much time and effort into.  We have both come a long way, he is more willing to try different things and I realizing that I didn’t need convoluted recipes and fancy ingredients to make good meals.  

Early in our married life, we had friends of my husband as roommates.  4 total, 2 overlapping.  I was constantly surrounded by testosterone.  I came to realize first hand that men love to eat but typically don’t like to cook (I know there are men out there that cook but I have yet to meet one).  I was always cooking for a crowd and it was fun.  Our house was always (and still is) always buzzing.  

The next venture was having kids (yes all the roommates had vacated by this point).  Still passionate and determined to keep on cooking, I even made all my own baby food.  Just steamed veggies and pureed them with a little filtered water.  I remember going on vacation and sucking my sister in law into making baby food with me- her daughter was older and out of the baby food stage at the time.  

To this day I make cooking a priority.  Even though most of the time I am totally exhausted and emotionally drained- I still make it happen.  I own a business with my husband, have three kids with several different activities daily, I volunteer at their schools, and I am taking classes in holistic nutrition, not to mention the half dozen other projects I am embarking on (including this blog).  

It’s funny…I never really thought about all this stuff together like this until I sat down to write this.  There was a definite progression and a constant thread throughout my life.  I am proud to report that I am still evolving even without formal training.

As with any blog…I am writing about something I am passionate about.  Writing is not only therapy it is an avenue to help people improve their lives, whether in mind, body, or spirit!  I don’t have a degree…I am not trained in culinary arts…and I am somewhat sloppy in the kitchen.  I do, however, have experience in the field as a wife, mother of three, and the one who plans, shops, and prepares the meals for my family.  I also heard somewhere that if you read 5 books on a subject, you are an expert.  In that case, I am a certifiable expert.  I have an unsatatiable appetite for information on health, cooking and recipes.  My idea of a good read is a cookbook!  

I hope to help others out there on a quest for better health add to their tools to make that dream a reality.