100 mile diet

So I have been inspired by Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle to only eat foods in my local environment. I have some frozen raspberries in my freezer – which I bought myself when they were in season and I cave every so often because my clients crave green. I try to stick to only what grows in the Northeast at this time of year – which these days is a lot of kale.

I’ve been shopping every Friday or Saturday at the union square greenmarket. I’ve been considering joining either urban organics or from farm to table to get things delivered so I don’t have to schlep – but so far – I’m a bit picky and I’m not sure if its a better value yet. Perhaps soon I will join.

I’ve been doing so much with root vegetables lately. Inspired by a meal I had last week at the Union Square Cafe: Earth and Turf – braised short ribs, roots and greens. It was a great plate. I’ve been eating things like it ever since. Everyone always wonders and asks me – are you a vegetarian? Well, I answer – I am in a normal restaurant, but if I know where the meat comes from – I definitely eat meat. I usually buy my meat from a local supplier through my CSA, Weston A. Price Foundation or at the market. There’s a new meat guy at Morningside Park on Saturdays – I keep meaning to try him out. I’m addicted to union square – I’m sure Morningside is cheaper – I should really check it out. I’ve heard great things about the Inwood market – but somehow I haven’t quite been able to haul ass up there. I’m waiting for spring and getting back on my bike.

But mostly I’ve been eating a lot of meat: lamb, venison, goat, pastured chicken (I never knew I could love chicken so much), turkey (same, until you’ve had a pastured turkey you haven’t lived…no dryness here!). There are some other interesting looking cuts – but I’ve stayed away. I tried Buffalo and did not like it. Too tough. Tried marinating it, even for two days and could not tenderize it. Oh well, I guess I still have a lot to learn about marinating or there are some cuts that just can’t be tenderized to the texture I like, but I don’t like sirloin either, so I’m just me with my own unique tastes and preferences. No disrespect to the Buffalo ranchers!

I’m waiting for that asparagus, god am I waiting. And the raspberries! But until then, I’ve been doing a lot with salsify, purple, yellow and orange carrots, and fresh eggs with all different colors – I’m amazed to learn that the only reason that white eggs are cheaper is that people think they are less healthy than brown ones.  In fact the truth is, different breeds of chickens lay different colored eggs.  Sometimes, I do wonder why grocery store eggs look so white and they don’t have any specs of any color in them, and if perhaps something happens to those eggs like bleaching – but I won’t turn down white eggs from the market. Some of the farmers actually bring chickens with them. That was  a bit unnerving, especially since they were also in a cage – so much for free range chicken!  I just keep trying different ones. I had eggs that were $7 a dozen. They were delicious and worth every penny – came from an Araucana chicken. Splendid.

Today, I broke down and got some chocolate from Ecuador. I don’t know quite where chocolate can grow in New York State…or coffee for that matter and I’m not sure if I am going to give up either of those any time soon. Its odd, I was off coffee for about 3 years and I just started drinking it again. I’m not sure why – I’ve become more of a morning person lately – till it snowed in New York today…but I was still up at 6:30 and I’ll be up tomorrow at that time too. There’s just something wonderful about getting up that early – but the smell of coffee and the taste – I just have one cup is just something I associate with those early mornings. Also, the caffiene tends to help focus me with my ADD. I’m taking some B12 in Ola Loa as well. We’ll see if I can wean off coffee and go back to just vitamins in a few weeks. I’m sure Ola Loa’s ingredients aren’t quite local either…but I am trying. 90% local, how’s that? Life is all about the 90:10 rule, isn’t it?

my vision for the world if money were no object

Someone asked me this question in an email a month ago and I just reread the email. I think its brilliant if I do say so myself and being the time of new years resolutions, here are mine for 2009…and it will happen!

If money were no object, I would want to prepare healthy food for people in their homes as a personal chef and also teach healthy cooking classes in people’s homes [for whatever they could pay] and lead classes as well as seminars on the health benefits of certain foods. I would maybe want a very
small cafe that I would hire a staff to cook at and I would design the menu.  I see myself more as a designer and a consultant. I’d love to consult to restaurants so that they use healthier ingredients -such as changing the oils, maybe that is something I should mention at BNI – does anyone here
know a restaurant owner or a caterer who needs a consultant to make their
menu or offerings healthier. Go from top down instead of individuals.

I’d love to transform entire organizations and corporate cafeterias as well as schools to only have healthy foods and make sure every airport had a healthy option for travelers.

I’d want to design some sort of healthy hot dog stand – like the dessert truck (http://www.desserttruck.com/) but with bowls of green vegetables and grains that were delicious, flavorful soups that were also healthy, an explosion of flavor – lots of ginger, garlic, tumeric, cilantro, lime, a bit of butter, coconut oil etc. Food that tasted GOOD but was also good for you…and get people excited about eating it because of how it is going to make them feel versus how they may feel now.

Eventually I’d like to be a partner (or two or six or 100) in a sit down restaurant like Alice Water’s Chez Panisse. A restaurant started by Alice and 100 of her closest friends. Who is with me. Let’s bring some Berkeley to New York City or at least to Long Island. I know just the place!

At the same time I’d want to design neighborhood healthy tours – to show people all the resources in their neighborhood to buy healthy foods and also the restaurants that have it. As well, even in a restaurant that is “not so healthy” there’s always a healthy option, but its a lot of pressure to go to a place and read a menu.  Its much easier to just know what to eat without looking at the menu. Something like – I’ll have whatever fresh fish is available, broiled with lemon and herbs, brown rice or wild rice if you have
it and any serving of steamed or lightly sauteed vegetables. For dessert – have the darkest, richest chocolate dessert and share it with 4 people, just don’t do it every day.

I know personally that for the past three months I have been neglecting my own diet and been so busy that I actually ate pizza a few weeks back. I am lactose and gluten intolerant and I ate pizza. I don’t know what I was thinking…but my body is so attuned to junky food that I actually have gotten sick again with my ADHD out of control. A few days of eating healthy again – eating only gluten free grains, no bread and as little cheese/dairy as possible (except last night) and no alcohol and I feel amazing…or at
least my digestion and my brain feel amazing.

One night in early December I made the following for dinner:
venison with coconut, peanut butter sauce with orange champagne vinegar (I just made it up, I don’t have a recipe, one day I will make it again and come up with a recipe to share with you all)
steamed asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower with a touch of herb butter
and quinoa/brown rice with mustard seed and a bit of curry
I had 3 squares of dark chocolate for dessert.

it was fantastic. not a drop of fat on the venison. the sauce was just the
right amount and mostly spices with a touch of coconut, stock and 1 tsp of
peanut butter for flavor, maybe I put an 1/4 of tsp of sesame oil in as well.

Last night I made grass fed lamb stew with sweet potatoes and carrots from the 4th street co-op.  The lamb was from whole foods…but I am starting to think that I want to get my meat from Dickson’s Farms which sells meat at Morningside Farmers Market. http://dicksonsfarmstand.com/ I am going to see if I can get some sort of account for the restaurant once I open it. There was some complicated recipe I didn’t have time for – so I modified it slightly slow cooking lamb with onions in water for 1 hour (boiling and slow cooking until the water evaporating and repeating this process) and then adding beef stock (2 1/2 cups) the rind of one blood orange, allspice and anise seeds (about 1 tsp each). I cooked the lamb for 1 hour and then added the carrots and sweet potatoes and some little blue potatoes at the end for 20 min – they got all soft and just incorporated into the stew. Best thing I ever tasted…delish!

These are the recipes I want to share with people and what I want to bring into their lives that healthy food is not boring and one doesn’t need to think of a diet as deprivation. Food should be good, strengthening, delicious but at the same time filling so that a smaller portion leaves you
just as satisfied. I had about 4 ounces of venison. Half the fat of a dry grilled chicken breast with a lot less of the cancer causing substances from the grilling time.

I am still struggling with how to work this into a 20 second elevator pitch.  If anyone has any suggestions I am open to them.  I just want anyone struggling with a food issue, intolerance or just simply wants to be healthier in 2009 to be excited about food and food that’s not only tasty but health supportive with all the great qualities that will keep me strong, lean, with high immunity and energy. This is the message I want to transmit.

I hope you are all having a great 2009 so far!

Digestive Wellness Part I

Acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, or worse diarrhea, nobody’s talking about it, but just about everyone is experiencing it. If one of these foods is high on your daily consumption list, read on: cookies, ice cream, taco bell, McDonalds hamburgers, tortilla chips, licorice, potato chips, hot dogs, sandwiches, yodell’s, orange and other fruit juices, bagels and cream cheese, soft cheese (cream, brie, fresh mozzarella, and other non aged processed varieties) cottage cheese or pinkberry/frozen yogurt treats. So why would these foods cause digestive problems? Let’s look at some of the major culprits of some of these foods.

White flour – in cookies, taco bell, hamburgers, hot dogs, tortilla chips (don’t have flour – but basically do the same thing upon digestion), licorice, sandwiches, yodell’s, bagels…white flour has no fiber. It takes no effort for the body to digest it and it causes our intestines to become lazy and in people who suffer from celiac disease – the gluten in white flour causes a whole host of malabsorption problems. The other wonderful thing that white flour causes in the body is an overgrowth of yeast or Candida. Candidaysis is one of the leading causes of absorptive and digestive related problems as well as in some people brain fog and ADHD symptoms. So what can you do – first thing: replace white flour with whole grains…not whole grain breads, but actual whole grains. If you suffer from Crohn’s, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis or any other major digestive problem – stick to gluten free grains like quinoa, millet, wild rice, brown rice teff,or amaranth.

White Sugar – sugar does what white flour does in the body. Its an addictive substance. It leads to candida overgrowth. It makes our digestive tracts lazy and we stop producing as much stomach acid if we eat too much of it. Try to get sweetness from natural sweeteners such as agave nectar, honey, succanat or stevia. Stevia is the only sweetener that will truly prevent candida, but the other ones can lessen its severity and are better for diabetics. Artificial sweeteners make you hungry. If only diet coke actually made us thin…dairy also leads to candida overgrowth.

Fructose – some people with digestive problems are actually fructose intolerant. Fruit juice and high sugar fruits such as mangoes, pineapple, melon and bananas cause the intestines to spasm and cause gas/problems with elimination. If you are suffering these problems try low sugar fruits in small quantities such as berries, apples or pears. Enjoy them a fruit smoothie with hemp seeds to lower the overall glycemic index and make them easier on your digestion. Cooked fruits also are easier to digest – cooked apples, peaches and pears make a wonderful dessert and are an excellent addition to a green vegetable stir fry.

Dairy – the process of pasteurization has rendered cow’s milk products indigestible. Besides the lactose that causes many people intolerance, pasteurized casein is virtually indigestible and nearly half as absorbable as raw casein. Sheep and goat milk are somewhat more easily digestible due to a lower concentration of lactose and protein that is more easily assimilateable. The problem with many goat milks is that they are ultra pasteurized which pose problems. Look for raw dairy or dairy from your farmers market that may have been pasteurized just enough to meet FDA standards – but aren’t ultra pasteurized. Also milk from pregnant cows (most of factory farmed milk, even some organic brands) which might not contain artificial hormones still has many many natural hormones in it because the cows are kept pregnant in order to ensure a large amount of milk production throughout the year. This milk may pose dangers to women either trying to get pregnant, control symptoms of PMS and polycystic ovarian syndrome and also those who are prone to women’s cancers (all women!) or those who already have had cancer or have precancerous growths.

What can I eat? Try an elimination diet where for two weeks you eat green vegetables, grains, fish and lean animal protein and avoid white flour, sugar, fruit juice, high sugar fruits such as banana, mango and pineapple, acid containing foods such as tomatoes and citrus, dairy products and caffiene.

After a week, slowly add in each of the foods you have been avoiding daily, one at a time and see which ones cause problems for you – you should be able to tell each day because you have cleansed your system. Sometimes a longer cleanse of two to four weeks is necessary.

Its best to avoid these problem foods for a little while or reduce but not eliminate from your diet, slowly you will realize which foods are causing the problems.

I encourage you to post questions and comments on this post and stay tuned for additional posts in this series.