Rachel's Vegan Taco/Chili

I was working on trying a raw veggie/fruit week and the cold weather got to me. I'm pretty sure  I was born in the wrong state. And somehow I have yet to leave this frozen tundra. 
So I made tacos because what else warms up a cold body better? Okay, I could think of a few other things, but I am not spending my whole day at the gym (as much as I would like to). A spicy taco made life a little bit warmer for a few minutes. 

Note: this could also be put in the slow cooker in the morning and you can come home to a chili in the evening.

Veggie Taco (or Chili)

1 chopped zucchini

1 chopped yellow squash

(Chopped carrots optional – cook longer if adding carrots)

3/4 to 1 cup of fresh salsa

¼ a cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 can of rinsed and drained red kidney beans

1 can of rinsed and drained black beans

½ packet of Trader Joes taco seasoning or equivalent seasoning packet

¼ - 1 cup of water or vegetable broth – use your judgment if your making chili or taco's



Throw everything in a pot, stir occasionally over medium heat.

NOTE: Eyeball the water (or broth) to make sure you have enough so nothing burns.

Cook on stove top for approximately 15 minutes or until it seems done to you.

I add Agar-Agar to thicken it towards the end.



Oh – almost forgot

This is the vegan 'cheese'. It is soy and casein free.

 

When Love and Determination Wins

This morning I was listening to an iTunes U podcast about Democracy. The Yale Professor was discussing Rousseau's social contract and it had me thinking about all of the crazy messages we all get blasted with at election time, especially all the talk about the constitution lately. And, I did think about writing a personal analysis of history.

Then my afternoon happened. Shortly after lunch my ex-husband and I had a meeting at the school to go over our son's I.E.P with his teacher and resource room teacher. His IEP (Individualized Education Plan) was put in place upon his return from cancer treatment. It is a plan that has acted as a vehicle to help him with the cognitive problems and deficits resulting from his brain surgery and treatment. Kevin missed all of 2^nd grade and the beginning of 3^rd grade.

I am not sure if I can even adequately describe the experience I want to share here.

The backstory before Kevin's diagnosis:

Kevin's dad and I started the divorce process when Kevin was 6 months old. We both have had to make compromises to give Kevin the best that we can. We have had to learn to work past hurt feelings and learn to work together in our own ways. It isn't always pretty but we have figured it out. When I married Kevin's stepfather, Mike, he was happy and eager to accept responsibility for sharing in the effort to raise Kevin. We all have our quirks, we all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses.

So fast-forward to the time shortly after Kevin's diagnosis and brain surgery. I was an emotional wreck, as probably most mom's would be finding out that their child has cancer and requires some pretty scary treatment. I was busy negotiating and learning the hospital system as quickly as possible while trying to still care for an infant and trying to spend each moment I could by Kevin's bedside. Kevin's dad still had work to balance and he did the graveyard shift majority of nights while Kevin was at the Children's Hospital. Kevin's step-dad and I shared daytime duties some overnights when Eric needed a break, typically overlapping. As we fell into our groove, as the shock wore off, one afternoon I watched Kevin's step-dad reading to him and saw how it calmed him down. His aunts read to him when they came to sit by his bedside, his grandmothers, his grandfathers. Kevin starting going through book after book, probably enjoying the familiar voices carry his thoughts far away from a strange nightmare of a situation into whatever make believe world resided in those books.

Kevin doesn't remember much from the 9 months of treatment and he doesn't remember much from the months shortly after that. Even though we tried to continue his education the best we could – with weekly visits from a private teacher – I don't really think much stuck. But Kevin hasn't been a wimp either. He has worked hard to overcome and catch up. His dad and I have spent hours working with him, we've hired tutors. The same that we are doing still with the motor coordination we are still working on with him.

At Kevin's I.E.P. today Kevin's teacher pointed out something I had never grasped in my somewhat frantic effort to try to make sure Kevin still had a future – now in 5^th grade Kevin is doing grade level work - amazing! The only thing he requires is a trip to the resource room to take some tests, at his discretion. He is allowed extra time for his tests, but from the report today he isn't requiring the extra time as much. The teacher pointed out Kevin basically skipped all of 2^nd grade and apart of 3^rd and caught up by 5^th grade. That took my breath away….. because he has.

In my score sheet for Kevin, love and Kevin's determination gets a million points and cancer gets 1. Take that cancer!

In my Danish-heritage induced tendency toward optimism, I have to think that if a bunch of adults (ex-husbands, ex-in-laws, new in-laws, family, friends, teachers, strangers, etc.), some of who according to society norms are supposed to dislike each other, are able to shun "normal" and work amazingly well together (I think my ex-husbands dad is one of the best peacemakers I know) to take care of one sick child – I ask what could our country do if we only lived up to our capability to look out for one another?  

I also can't help but mention, if we can all put our differences aside to help one child overcome a terrible disease, I know its on a much larger scale, but why can't our country do a better job of coming together for the good of those still unemployed? How about for those facing cancer without health insurance? For those who lose their health insurance in the midst of a health crisis?



I see such contradictions in some groups where they are the first to volunteer and help; sometimes those groups are the first to vote down legislation that would allow everyone access to health care and help make our country much more economically competitive with majority of developed countries.
I may see the world differently than most; I have seen kids suffer terribly, I've watched parents lose their children in very painful deaths that can take months, I almost lost mine this way. I also have seen the amazing power of  community spirit.  In honor of what those children have to go through, it is with their fighting spirit in mind,  I hope to leave this world a little better and bring a different perspective to the conversation.

Your Brain’s Capacity Limits, Dopamine, and Food

I am fascinated by the marvelous transmission system that our  nervous system, including our brain and neurotransmitters, is. Typically, the internal processes seamlessly forms that which we are throughout our daily lives are.  The orbitofrontal cortex, located just above your eyes (light blue in the graphic below), is an important brain region for the processing of rewards and punishments,  a qualification for the complex yet flexible emotional and social behavior which has contributed to the evolutionary success of humans.

But first I have a complaint. While reading science and psychology articles this week about dopamine and how our bodies have been made to signal pleasure to our brain I detected a removed tone about the "other". It is often "the obese" or "the addictive" people that are referred to. To me, it sounds dangerously elitist. Perhaps it is the style to which science is written for journals and publications; but I take issue with it because it also pointlessly segregates. 

Biologically, it is this, our attraction to sex and high calorie foods that has kept our species going through the ages. Some of us are more susceptible than others but, especially when it comes to food majority of us are prone to over-indulging. (Typically, people with damage to the orbitofrontal cortex have a harder time disengaging from impulsive behavior.)




And these statistics suggest we are all susceptible:

Cancer deaths are projected to double in the next two decades. A report issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) says that by 2030, there will be almost 21.4 million new cases diagnosed annually and that there will be over 13.2 million deaths from cancer. (Science Centric. Web. 2010)




In the 2006 American Cancer Society (ACS) Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity one third of more than 500,000 cancer deaths each year can be attributed to diet and physical activity habits. (Kushi, et al 254) …hum…seems like we need a wakeup call…that "other" person is the majority of us.



What about the alarming rise in instances of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. (HELLO!?!?!)

The Invisible Person

not pregnant

pregnant

Well, I am done talking about the invisible person.  I am going to throw myself into the group of "other". I love my chocolate chip cookies and controlling food impulses can be challenging for me. I have been known to eat a whole plateful of cookies on days I feel overwhelmed and lack impulse control. I gained 60-ish pounds with each of my 3 pregnancies. I was also raised with a mother who told me that it was highly likely I would someday be overweight too. And  she was right. The genetics for being overweight lie within my DNA.  I got to experience it for the 9 months my weight went up and the 9 (or maybe more) months I worked to get it off - three times. One side note about each of my pregnancies, I did eat more meat and processed food during those times. I wonder if my brain was low on dopamine during this huge hormonal shift?

Programed to be Open to Change

There is hope.  We do know that just because the genetic code for something such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, etc. lie within our DNA molecules does not mean that our bodies will express (or turn on) that gene. It is about choices, sometimes our choices and sometimes our reaction to other people's choices that affect our lives. 


One somewhat new science finding  - one that gives me hope -  is neuroplasticity (aka cortical re-mapping) which is the thought that the brain is malleable; that the brain has the ability to change as a result of experience. It takes place in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. It is here we evaluate negative things, which may lead us to a change in behavior.


The realization that preferences are something that can be hard to free ourselves perhaps is the first step to making better choices in the long run. Likewise, understanding that our brains have a capacity limit is also important.

The Limits of Self Control

Science journalist and author of How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer, during a 2009 interview on NPR told Terri Gross:

"…. we should definitely be conscious of the fact that we have limited machines, that our brain isn't omnipotent and that it can only take in so much information at any one time.

One of the studies I talk about in the book concerns a study done by a Stanford psychologists who - they had two groups of people. One group they had memorize a two-digit number; the other group they had memorize a seven-digit number. Then they marched these two groups down the hall and gave them a choice between two snacks.

One snack was a rich, gooey slice of chocolate cake. The other snack was a responsible fruit salad. The people who memorized a two-digit number were twice as likely to choose the fruit salad as the people who memorized the seven-digit number, who were twice as likely to choose the chocolate cake. And the reason is that those extra five digits - doesn't seem like very much information at all, just five extra numbers - so overwhelmed the prefrontal cortex that there wasn't enough processing power leftover to exert self-control.

So that gives us a sense of just how limited in capacity our brain actually is and I think points to the fact that we should absolutely be aware of these limitations.

So that doesn't necessarily mean, you know, you have to block out information and never use Google. I think it just means that we should be aware of this and that if you've had a hard day at work or if you're trying to - you know, if you just spent all morning on a crossword puzzle, then be aware that your willpower's going to be a little bit weaker, that especially these rational faculties of the brain are very limited in capacity."

 

For me, it helps to understand the biology of what is causing me to go back for yet another chocolate chip cookie even when I am full.


In May of 2009 host, Terri Gross, of NPR's radio show Fresh Air interviewed Dr. David Kessler author of The End of Overeating, pediatrician, former FDA commissioner, and former Dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California. 


During the interview Dr. Kessler explained. "We used to think of - food was something we ate to fill us up, to satiate us. But in fact, much of the food that we're eating, this trifecta of sugar, fat and salt, stimulate us. And what we now see is the science that shows that much of the food that we're eating, this very highly palatable food, is excessively activating the neurocircuitry of many of our brains. We used to just think that, you know, food tasted good, but we now know what's behind that, and for many of us the reason we keep on eating is because of this sustained stimulation."


 
So what is happening when we bit into something sweet, salty and with a good chuck of fat within it?
 

From the PBS show Moyers on Addiction:

"Different parts of the brain govern different functions. Here, you can see the areas of the brain that control such things as movement, thought, judgment, memory, and "reward," or the feeling of pleasure that comes after one does something enjoyable (tasting a piece of cake, receiving a compliment from the boss)." (See this link for an animation)


On the same website dopamine is explained as:

 "One important neurotransmitter involved in the experience of pleasure is called dopamine. Here, dopamine, shown in yellow, is produced in the neuron shown at the top and packaged in containers called vesicles. As an electrical impulse arrives at the neuron's terminal, the vesicle moves to the neural membrane and releases its load of dopamine into the synaptic cleft. The dopamine crosses the gap and binds to receiver sites, or receptors, on the membrane of the next neuron. When dopamine occupies a receptor, various actions take place in that neuron so that a new electrical impulse is generated in this neuron, and the "message" continues on. After the dopamine has bound to the receptor, eventually it comes off again and is removed from the synaptic cleft and back into the first neuron by reuptake pumps. (For normal nerve transmission, it is important that the dopamine not stay in the cleft.)" See this link for an animation.


Many of our key bodily functions have evolved (or were designed; depending on the belief system at hand) to help us to survive and continue our species. Dopamine is released while consuming rich, salty, fatty food. Being attracted to high calories foods has helped our numbers explode into an estimated 6,872,597,995 humans walking this earth (estimate as of October 2, 2010). But this is what is starting to kill us now because "food" companies have figured out that if they process fruits, grains, vegetables, even meat (think chicken nuggets) mixed with salt and fat enough we will become addicted to their products. And those products affect who we are, who we become. They affect our moods, our weight, and our lives.


Author, Gary Wenk, points out in his 2010 book, Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings, that "the drugs you take, the foods you eat – can affect how your neurons behave and, subsequently, how you think and feel."


An interesting fact also is the power of human touch. Touch can light up the same area of the brain. But I think I will leave this topic for another day or you can learn more here.


One last thought. Almost every time I open "food" that is in a package I consciously know what I am doing to myself. And for me, that is half the battle….on most days.


As I finish writing I find I am reaching for the chocolate pie in the fridge (I'm only having one though!). I think my brain has reached capacity and impulse control has become questionable; and I still have lots of studying for midterms to do!

Easy Grilled Veggies

Labor Day weekend; the turning point to the end of summer; summer toys start to get put away while temperatures start to fall  and we prepare for falling leaves. 

The last month or so I have pulled out an old college memory  -  how I learned to grill whitefish -   and am working it into a way to easily grill veggies (with minimal  mess). There are things about this that still need to be perfected, but I will give you the pictorial overview with a few written instructions below, if you find variations that work better - I'd love to hear. 

One last thing before I start, this is my favorite way to make fajita's for a crowd. You can make everything individually and everyone can pick what they want to put in their custom fajita. I didn't do fajita tonight. I have been out of town for 13 days and just used veggies from my garden to make a simple veggie dinner.

 

 

 

 

So here we go.

You will need:

 - parchment  paper, 

 - aluminum foil, butter (or, in my case, vegan butter or olive oil),

 - some spices. I like (no, LOVE) Traders Joes 21 Seasoning.  It has no salt in it and no preservatives.  

1. Chop your veggies.  (However you want; I'm not a control freak.... most of the time - if you can handle a knife, you can chop your veggies however you want.) Just keep in mind the thicker the slice the longer it will take to grill.

2. Prepare your first 'bag' by placing a sheet of aluminum foil down first, then place a sheet of parchment paper on top.  The parchment paper is going to be enclosed by the aluminum foil when this is complete.

broccoli, butter and seasoning

green peppers, onions, olive oil and seasoning

sweet potatoes with cinnamon, butter and a little bit of sugar

fold parchment paper around your veggies

fold aluminum foil around parchment paper

close ends and you have a bag!

place on grill and flip about every 4 minutes

So far I have found that sweet potatoes take the longest to grill - about 20-25 minutes if the grill is pre-heated.

Everything else seems to take about 15 minutes, but carefully check (without burning yourself) before removing from the grill. Each grill can be a little different.

Note: I boiled the corn tonight - that I haven't experimented with the bag concept for corn on the cob....yet.

 

 

Meatless Monday...A Meal Idea and Elvis Peanut Butter Bananna Sandwich for dessert

Even going meatless for one day will make a difference, for you and the earth. If you click on the title above it should take you to a cool video on Treehugger.com that inspires how one day can make a difference.

Lately, my favorite quick veggie meal to make is a Thai style stir fry.  I put the frozen veggie in a skillet with just a little bit of water (maybe 2-3 Tablespoons) and let warm on medium heat for 3-4 minutes (make sure there is just enough water to keep it from sticking but not too much, you don't want a rice/veggie thai soup). I then add Trader Joes frozen brown rice.  I just open the bag and place it in a skillet. I then add some of the sauce. I do it different combination's; sometimes I add the Peanut Sauce and Szechuan Sauce (careful - its spicy and will kick you in the pants). Other times, I just add Tamari and a little bit of Agava Necter to make a traditional Soy Sauce stir fry. Sometimes I mix all three.  I typically only have to add about 2 Tablespoons of each sauce. I'm not very good at measuring when I am making recipes up on the fly. I just try to eye ball it.  Remember, you don't want soup! Stir often.

In honor of Elvis's life and the 33 years since his death, why not aa after meal treat Peanut Butter Banana Grill Sandwiches...these are kind of healthy....click here to see recipe

What to Serve When Company is Coming Over?

Yesterday we celebrated my oldest birthday with a party of our friends and family. I have wrestled with what I serve in my house when we have company over. (Heck, I struggle with what to feed my family on a daily basis.) So finally, this past month, I have settled one of my struggles. I decided that I will not prepare meat when company comes over.  This is not an easy decision for me because I don't want to push my choices on others. My purpose is to set an example, to show it can be done. Because if we could cut into some pharma profits by getting healthier I'd be happy.


I can only think of two people over the age of 55 that are not diagnosed with some chronic disease in my life. I've started to realize that the change needs to start somewhere. That change needs to start with me. If I really love those around me I will do my best to provide the healthiest opportunities for them I can while still enjoying the fruits of life… so to speak. It started a couple of weeks ago when I had a couple of the girls from my soccer team and their families over. I tested the waters with my idea that I could provide a plant based meal for more than 15 people and have everyone enjoy it. The feedback I got was positive, so I repeated most of it for my oldest birthday celebration. I did bend and get pizza along with the roasted vegetables I served make-your-own fajita style. And of course there was birthday cake. I choose not to do goodie bags because I honestly was lacking creativity this year. I did not want to fill bags full of candy and hand them out to the kids, and I didn't want to buy a bunch of cheap, lasts-only-for-a-minute toys. The later because I feel it is wasting the resources and money. I typically throw the stuff out within hours that it arrives in my house.

Chronic disease is an umbrella term that encompasses: obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, diabetes mellitus. There are other chronic diseases such as different types of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, even some mental disorders which are thought to have a diet/lifestyle connection.

According The World Health Organization (WHO) report of Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Disease, "79% of all death worldwide that are attributable to chronic disease are already occurring in developing countries." (WHO 4) WHO also projects that by 2020 "chronic disease will account for almost three-quarters of all deaths worldwide…The number of people in the developing world with diabetes will increase more than 2.5-fold, from 84 million in 1995 to 228 in 2025." (WHO 5).

Most experts agree that chronic disease is largely preventable (WHO 5). "Modern dietary patterns and physical activity patterns are risk behaviors that travel across countries and are transferable from one population to another like an infectious disease, affecting disease patterns globally." (WHO 5)


 

 

Cause of Death	Death
Diseases of the Heart	710,760
Cancer (Malignant Neoplasms)	553,091
Medical Care	225,400
Stroke (Cerebrovascular Disease)	167,661
Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases	122,009
Accidents	97,900
Diabetes Mellitus	69,301

Table 1 - Leading Cause of Death in the United States (Campbell & Campbell 16)

 
According to Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell,

Both diabetes and obesity are merely symptoms of poor health in general. They rarely exist in isolation of other disease and often forecast deeper, more serious health problems, such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. Two of the most frightening statistics show that diabetes among people in their thirties has increased 70% in less than ten years and percentage of obese people has nearly doubled in the past their years. Such an incredibly fast increase in these "signal" diseases in America's young to middle age population forecast a health care catastrophe in the coming decades. It may become an unbearable burden on a health system that is already strained in countless ways. (Campbell & Campbell 14)

 
In 1972 a community based CVD prevention program began in the province of North Karelia in Finland due to their high CVD mortality rates. The initial goal was to achieve a substantial decline in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality, especially among middle-aged men through promoting cholesterol lowering dietary changes and a stop smoking campaign. A massive community approach was initiated through health services, voluntary organizations, local media, businesses and public policy. There was a considerable decline in CVD (and cancer) mortality (over 60%) among the male population in North Karelia throughout the program and beyond. "The experience of the North Karelia and Finland as a whole is a major demonstration that premature mortality from modern epidemics of CVD and cancer can be greatly reduced" (Puska et al. 424).


 
Reference:

Campbell, T. Colin, and Thomas M. Campbell. The China Study: the Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. Dallas, Tex.: BenBella, 2005. Print.

World Health Organization. Diet , Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Rep. The World Health Organization, 2003. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.

 

 

The Importance of Love -- for our Health

I have this powerful memory of my (then) 7 year old son, in a hospital gown, with blood still stuck in his baby-fine sandy blond hair left from brain surgery earlier that week.  It was dark outside and our family was gathered around him, trying to keep his spirits up as he fought the pain.  Along with the monitors, creamy white walls and pastel privacy curtains, we were also surrounded by a ton of little stuffed animals and gifts from family, friends, church and even strangers.  There, in the middle of his 5th floor hospital room, in a uncomfortably hard, but sturdy, chair I watched as my son struggle to sit upright for the first time since his surgery. He sat and started to read the cards his classmates made for him that someone had dropped off while he was sleeping.  I will forever remember the happiness, love and the warmth I saw fill his tired soul as he read those simple handmade cards from his second grade classmates. One of the little girls even signed her name with 'Love, so-and-so'. In that moment the struggle to sit upright got a little less as he went on to read the jokes (and giggled at) the boys wrote and the kind words from the rest of the girls. 

The cards and all other little mementos of positive thoughts, letting him know he was surround by love, were just as important to his healing as anything else we were doing. They gave him power I couldn't alone; the doctor's couldn't, nor could his dad alone. It was almost a years' worth of months that accumulated a collective effort to not just heal Kevin through modern medicine, but also through love. I believe it worked.

Since then, I have believed strongly that love can heal physical ailments and mental anguish. And science is proving it (love it when really smart people prove me right). An article in Scientific American this past July talks about how healthy relationships increase survival up to 50%. It mentions that, "Social support has been linked to lower blood pressure, and a diverse collection of contacts is associated with better immune system functioning. The list continues to grow, she says, now encompassing other bodily processes such as wound healing and inflammation."  

In a 2005 Newsweek article, Dr. Dean Ornish, author of The Spectrum also the founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute said, "… love and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well. If a new medication had the same impact, failure to prescribe it would be malpractice. Connections with other people affect not only the quality of our lives but also our survival. Study after study find that people who feel lonely are many times more likely to get cardiovascular disease than those who have a strong sense of connection and community."  

There is little control to how your social structure holds up in times of crisis. But what we do have control of is who we decide to be when someone we know is faces a crisis. The outreach and kindness of the community that we live in was also a huge lesson in how to react when I see others facing their times of trial. It is my tendency to want to keep to myself, mostly out of fear of saying something wrong or offending and a bit of fear of having to endure another painful loss. But it is also so hard for me not to be the shy girl. It takes every ounce of confidence I have to overcome the decades of being initially shy. Now more than ever I see the importance of overcoming this. Love is complicated.

In Monday's newspaper, within the Sexetera advice column a person wrote in asking if they should end a relationship that had just begun because in the fall the guy returns to school. Mia's response I thought was adroit, "Let the relationship play itself out. If you two are meant to be together, it'll last and if you're not, well, at least you saw it coming. If you're smart, you'll enjoy getting to know this guy but not invest too many emotions until you see where things are heading. One way to do this is by investing in your own future as well as a potential love affair. Why not? He's looking out for himself by furthering his education. I hope you're doing the same." Steve, the other writer for the column asked, "What is wrong with getting hurt?"

The point is that healthy, good, complex friendships and relationships are collectively a part of the happiness formula and a healthy life. There is a challenge and an art to balancing and blending a life with other adults. Throw in some kids and we are knitting a complicated design. It seems to me, if it all is handled enough compassion and understanding, sprinkled with just the right amount of independence and dependence that our relationships with others have the capability to extend our lives, to keep us, and our loved ones, living healthy…. maybe even greater than anything else we do to improve our health. 

I recently had a nightmare about one of my children drowning. I woke up still feeling the loss even though that child is the one who woke me up from that dream. (I can't say he isn't wearing a life jacket even when he takes a bath.... Just sort of kidding.)   Loving anyone, even our own children, can make even the strongest of people feel vulnerable.

There is an inherit risk when we give something  (or fear the loss). But most especially when what is given is something as precious as the influential emotion, love. I think it is interesting studies show when we don't (wisely) take that risk and say, "What's wrong with getting hurt?" we actually hurt ourselves more in the long run. How ironic.     


  
Articles referenced in this post: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=relationships-boost-survival
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9466931/site/newsweek/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080102508.html?sub=AR
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/07/29/1231774/sexcetera-take-a-chance-on-love.html#ixzz0vW36mmep

Going through Grandma's Recipe Box

I am almost done reading/ listening to the audio of In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen. It is a good book, though I struggled with his struggle with "nutrition-ism". He went back and forth about if we should stress so much about what we eat. But in the end, his conclusion echoed a similar conclusion I came to writing my research paper last semester.

One of his suggestions, to eat foods that our grandparents would recognize as food, peaked my curiosity.  So I pulled out my grandmother's recipe box and starting going through the recipes. And there, in the little boxes, was the evidence of what has caused the diabetes and CVD in my family. Upon first run through of the little boxes, it looks as though 80% of recipes I inherited are desserts.  I always did associated my grandmother's house with cookies and sweets.   I have fond memories of her making a point to have special days with just me and her in  her kitchen. She showed me how to make her famous Peanut Brittle and Aunt Julia's (her sister) Divinity.  I really do appreciate that she made time for me, and showed me the things she knew how to do well. But it is clear where my sweet tooth came from.

As I dug through the box I did come across a couple of non dessert recipes but there was hardly a recipe in there that had more than one fresh vegetable. So I think I am going to have to look back at least another generation to find some whole food recipes.  More than likely I will be comprising my own collection of more modern whole food recipes. Hopefully, a generation or two from now, when (or if) my grandchild goes through my recipes, she will be able recognize that her grandmother's vegetable stir fry is still a healthy meal.  It is my hope that the family history of chronic disease will truly be history by then.