FOOD, NOSTALGIA, AND ONE STEP

Last night I had dinner with some of my favorite women and as always our conversation turned to
food. We talked about recipes, blogging, and then dropped into pizza. For a while.

Pause.

Confession, I don't like pizza. I never really have.

WHAT THE?!

I am consistently amazed by the response when people learn this fun fact about me. It happens every time. Shock. Disbelief. Near rejection.

But for whatever reason, my taste buds have never been tempted by cheezy pie dripping with tomato-y sauce.

In a desperate attempt to reel myself back into the "we can be friends" box I'd just catapulted out of, I racked my brain for some other mouth-watering, pre-food allergy, "still don't care, I'd eat it anyway" food.

I couldn't come up with anything.

Not one thing came to mind.

For the remainder of the evening I sat troubled with why there wasn't a food in my past I still longed for - a nostalgic reminder of what was.

Here's what I came to realize: my history with food, my memories and longings, have been papered over with diets, information, the shoulds and shouldn'ts, loathing, denial, anxiety and restraint. I'd never really loved food. In fact, food was something to be controlled, ordered, categorized, binged, ignored, too important or not important at all.

Prior to a few years ago, I'd never known what it was to savor, to enjoy, to revel in the tastes exploding in my mouth. To say a sincere thank you to the nutrients that would nourish my body and the hands that had tended them.

I was completely disconnected from this vital source of life.

And then I was forced to acknowledge it. My body and mind and soul found itself in crisis and I had to take a good look at this friendship with food I'd so disastrously neglected.

I began to pay attention. To ask my body how it felt. To watch and observe and slow down. I started to connect emotion with physical sensations, quality with health, and stillness with wholeness. Rather than falling haphazardly into my next meal [or skipping it completely], I slowly and intentionally began to build space into my day and week to plan and to cook. I planted a garden and learned what it meant to eat seasonally. I practiced yoga, restoring the connection between my mind and my body. I started sitting down to eat. I learned what I liked, I mean really truly liked, and I made it.

I entered into the dance, re-writing my perception of healthy and whole. 

It took time, effort, an increased portion of our budget, and the willingness to experiment and fail.

Last night I realized something else: I'm so grateful for the journey I've been on. So deeply thankful that I've come from there to here, on my way to somewhere, that I can't help but dig into what I have now. The plate in front of me, heavy with good food and immense growth.

I look back now only to say thank you.

Maybe you've been where I was. Maybe you're there now. My invitation to you is to take one step, one step towards opening yourself to a redemptive conversation with food. Maybe you stroll the farmer's market and ask some questions. Maybe you put the diet books away. Maybe you call someone and ask for help. Perhaps you sit at the table, one local strawberry on your plate, and bite in. You chew slowly, close your eyes, and observe what it really tastes like.

There are a host of beginnings, it just takes one.

This morning the question still plagued me. Was there not one food, just one!, from my childhood that still caught my attention?

Potato skins. Twice baked potato skins packed with colby jack cheese, drowned in sour cream.

Our friendship lives on.

Photo Credit: My husband's homemade pizza.

HOW TO DO FOOD WHILE TRAVELING

Traveling with children is challenge enough. Add food allergies with food values and traveling can feel next to impossible.

However, there is a way around all this food chaos. A bit of planning ahead can save money, belly aches, and guilt. Having enough snacks on hand will also come in handy when travel plans don't go as expected and food options are few.

Fresh vegetables, fresh and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, whole food baked goods and crackers, and a couple sweet treats are easy packing fare that can sustain and satisfy even the most metabolically accelerated kids out there. Although not shown here, I also tuck away GoMacro bars and That's It! bars just in case.

Each of my kids get an insulated lunch bag of such goodies [with small ice pack] tucked inside their backpacks and are able to snack at will.

Travel on!

SOME NOTES: 

An Amazon search will prove there are a number of excellent reusable snack bags and containers out there. For air travel, we chose to forgo the reusable bags in lieu of disposable as it seems history repeats itself and these things seem to accidentally get thrown away. However, we did use reusable containers so we'd have them over the course of our trip and rinsed out the disposable bags to reuse them a few times over. 

It's also worth noting that pretzels and crackers are reserved specifically for trips or when called for as a school snack, not mainstays on our plates. Choose pre-packaged snack foods with the least amount of ingredients listed, unless those ingredients are whole foods like nuts and seeds.  

Of course there are ways to do this more seasonally [and I'd love to hear your ideas!], but we have embraced a bit of grace around this topic. We do what we can and then enjoy all of the local fare available at our destination. 

ONE WEEK OF MEALS CROCK POT STYLE

This past year I've found so much beauty and healing in slowing down, demanding less, giving up pushing and pulling and worrying and controlling, and instead quieting my mind in an effort to really feel my body and hear my soul.

When you're in the "health world" or routinely pick up a health-based magazine or see a fear-based health post or wonder which diet is actually the best, it's so easy to quickly become immersed in food-based fear and anxiety. Most of us want to feel good and live healthfully and we educate ourselves and change our diets and start working out. All good things. And yet there comes a point where the line between making some healthy lifestyle choices shifts to wanting to control it all and simply caring turns to obsessing. And fear of whatever the opposite of health is, or could be, becomes the driving force.

Here's what I've learned: no matter how healthy we eat, how much knowledge we gain, how many supplements we take, how much we care and do and give up, if "being healthy" causes anxiety and stress and fear, health will continually allude us.

Here's what I've also learned: it's okay.

It's okay to release all of the fear. It's okay to release all of the stress. It's okay to say no to the worry. It's okay to get to a point where we say enough is enough. It's okay to think we've failed. It's okay to not feel our best every minute of every day. It's okay to sit in the discomfort of life and experience the emotions that come with. It's okay to get sick from time to time. And it's okay to ask for help when being okay seems unbelievable.

So close the diet books. Discontinue the health magazines. Turn off the sound and chatter of the voices out there and begin to listen to the voice within. I know from experience that the voice of our true, honest, ego-less, projection-less self is infinitely wise and grace-filled and honest and compassionate and vastly inclusive and forgiving. Find someone who can help uncover this voice.

Give up the chatter and noise and meditate. Practice mindfulness. Breathe. Listen to really awesome music. Completely loose all sense of time doing something you love. Go outside. Seriously, even in the winter go outside. Connect with people you care deeply about. Be open and honest and vulnerable. Laugh. Laugh a lot. Let yourself stay up too late and sleep in too long from time to time and don't for a second regret it. And be present. Take all of the energy wasted on worry and fear and being anxious and focus on just being present. Right now. This second.

And forget about food. And health. And whatever you think you should be doing.

Because food matters. But it only matters as one small piece of the great big, beautiful, unique puzzle that makes up you.  


So Crock Pots.

And dinner.

Let's be honest, Crock Pots are one of mankind's most amazing inventions. Well Crock Pots and electricity. And air travel. And indoor plumbing. And pacifiers. You get the point. I affectionately think of ours as Ms. Chef, getting dinner done when I don't have the energy, motivation and/or time to do so. For me, there is something about having dinner prepared before 9am that brings a sort of ease to my day. Feeding my family well demands a decent amount of my time and using a Crock Pot allows me to spend elsewhere the time I would be standing at a stove - hopefully on things that fill me up and give me life and allow me to be present.

Here is a week long meal plan using just the Crock Pot. Some meals are meat-less, some use meat, and all are based on whole, un-processed foods. You can choose to serve with the sides listed, create your own sides, or stick to whatever is in the pot. These recipes are great for cooler temperatures and the winter season.

May you find a little extra space in your life to slow down, take in beauty in whatever way you find it, and forget about food. 

SUNDAY
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
*prepare lentils for Monday by placing dried, uncooked lentils in a large glass bowl and covering with double the amount of water and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar.

MONDAY
Lentil Soup
Serve with oat baguette, seed bread, seed crackers, or bread / crackers of choice.

TUESDAY
Whole Chicken
Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.

WEDNESDAY
Butternut Squash Risotto
Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.
*prepare black beans for Thursday by dried, uncooked beans in a large glass bowl and covering with double the amount of wate and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar.

THURSDAY
Black Bean Soup
Serve with fresh cilantro and roasted sweet potato or parsnip chips.
Modifications: Rather than cooking over stove, simply put all of the ingredients [including uncooked, pre-soaked black beans] in Crock Pot on high for 6 - 8 hours.

FRIDAY
Creamy Chicken Soup using leftover chicken from Tuesday [click on link and scroll to "Meal 6"]
Serve with roasted cauliflower [click link and scroll down for recipe].

SATURDAY
Fish Tacos
Serve on a bed of quinoa or rice and top with fresh cilantro, avocado, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Recipe modifications: I used Cod in place of Tilapia and seasoned with freshly ground cumin and coriander seeds.

A NEW YEAR: ON DETOXING AND RESOLUTIONS AND HABITS

Last year about this time I wrote about detoxification. In fact, you may find most health-minded blogs, magazines, and news articles will bring up the big "D" word come January 1 and the week leading up to it.

I have to admit, I too have been consumed with it all, over the last week mapping out a herb and food-based detox of my own.

As I put together the plan, I got to wondering why we many have the insatiable desire to detox in January when much of the fresh foods needed for such cleanses come around in August. Any good locavore would say, pass on [wheat]grass unless it's in summer. Of course there are local greenhouses and ways to grow sprouts, wheatgrass, even greens while a frozen tundra encases the outdoors, but for the most part the stuff in our detox juices, smoothies, salads, and stir-fries are all but extinct on January 1st. Unless, of course, you traverse the ice to the local grocery. California, Mexico, and Brazil have us well supplied.

And thus the uncomfortable rub for me - if I'm going to do a fast, wouldn't I want to have the best, most nutrient dense, freshest [I mean with dirt still on it] produce? Why am I so drawn to detoxing when there is nothing like said fruit and veggies around?

I've come to a couple conclusions:

First, the over abundance of heavy foods and sweets during holidays automatically causes our bodies to crave simple, fresh, whole foods easy to digest and packed with the vitamins and minerals we've missed out on in the weeks preceding the new year.

Second, there is something undeniably powerful about each new year. It's a fresh start, a clean slate, a time to build habits we've wanted but just haven't had the motivation or time set aside to put in place. It's an annual new beginning - a beautiful picture of grace.

And so we diet. We detox. We work out. We list our goals. We forgive. We restore. We dream.

For about a day.

And then we realize just how hard all of it is. How it takes intention and patience and diligence and discipline.

And we give up.

We succumb to guilt and self-depreciation and poor habits and a life we know is not the best life we could be living all the while knowing we are made for more.

And we live in this until next January when determination consumes us for another brief moment.

But maybe this year can be different. Maybe we start small and enjoy fully each step we take. Instead of grandiose plans doomed to fail, perhaps we take one thing we can realistically achieve and actually do it. We follow through to completion and relish the success.

So, and this new year unfolds, choose one thing and do it with intention. Take on this new beginning in a less ambitious way knowing more will be achieved. Set time aside to rest and reflect and take in the past year, grieving what needs to be grieved and celebrating what needs to be celebrated. Then bask in the freedom to live in the present.

Happy 2014 - may you be so blessed this year.

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO FOOD & THE CHOICES WE MAKE

I frequently get asked the question, "What should I eat?"

Of course this inquiry has many answers depending on who you are, your specific needs, and a host of other factors. But what I'm finding is this question is generally a plea in disguise. Most of the people I run into are so confused by the mass-information found thoroughout the media they are desperate for someone, someone they trust, to give them the answer.

Eat grain! No, don't eat grain! Eat meat! No, don't eat meat! Eat local rather than organic! Eat organic rather than local! Juice! Don't juice! Only eat certain foods in combination with other certain foods! Take vitamins! Don't take vitamins! Drink a lot of water! Don't drink too much water! Eat raw! Cook your foods! Drink green smoothies! No, don't drink green smoothies! Vaccinate! No, don't vaccinate! Go out! Eat in! Eat whatever the heck you want! Don't eat ANYTHING!

My head is spinning. You?

This onslaught of contradicting information can be crippling. It's such an unfortunate by-product of the info-mania we live in today and I'm thinking it has robbed [well that and the golden arches] many of us of the ability to think critically. The media and over-zealous dieticians / doctors / nutritionists [yes, they are out there] have convinced us that we need their help, their direction, their books and websites and blogs and trainings. Their clothes and blenders and cars and hair styles and personalities. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration [maybe] but I think you know what I mean.

The food system has so sweetly stepped in to rescue us from this barage. "Don't worry, I'll take care of dinner [and breakfast, and lunch, and snacks, and coffee break, and midnight snacks...]. I have the answer and it comes in a box with instructions for microwaving and scooping and crunching."

Somehow, we've bought into this and taken the plunge, shedding the intuition and mindfulness necessary to tune into our own bodies, needs, and the needs of our families on the way.

But deep down, underneath all this noise, is a small voice that urges us to do the right thing for our bodies, for our children, and for the world. It is cheering us on saying "You already have the answer! Your body is designed to know what you need!"

This is all great Tina, real inspiring. But I'm still confused. What is the "right" thing? Where do I start? Is there a diet that works? How do I know what to eat? What to feed my kids?

I get it. I'm a tactile, visual, "give me a plan" person too.

First a little secret the food industry and all those diet-crazed people don't want me to tell you.

One diet doesn't fit all. 

Really, at some level we all know this. How can one-size-fit-all when our bodies are designed so uniquely? We want to believe there is one solution, one pill, one diet, one life style. We try to convince ourselves "This will be the one that works!", so we hop from one diet to the next until, once again, we are completely let down and out some more money.

But we keep searching because, come on, there must be some diet out there that will actually make us thinner, better looking, more employable, date-able, marry-able, happier, and content. Essentially make our lives easier.

And let's be serious, most of us enjoy a little easy.

But where's the fun in that? Where's the growth and journey and excitement and challenge and accomplishment and health in easy and same-ness and boring?

I enjoy the choices I have, the way my body changes from day to day, week to week, month to month, season to season. I love that my body screamed for meat when I was pregnant and begged for beans and greens following the birth of my child. I look forward to the craving for fresh-picked food when spring comes to call and the warmth of soups when winter closes in. It begins to feel a bit sacred - like food is bigger than the next bite or meal or diet. Almost like my food choices really, really matter. And if they matter, then they have meaning. And if they have meaning, then food is special and holy and good.

And that's exciting.

So. A plan.

Well, to begin, disregard any book or advertisement or person telling you they have the answer for everyone. Smile, clear your shelves or wish them well, and run the other way.

After you've made some space for your own voice and thoughts and preferences, set the intention to learn.

Learn to cook, learn about new foods, learn new recipes, new flavors, new restaurants [yes, new restaurants], new drinks, new ways to eat and gather and decorate the table, new routines, even new people.

Clear your mind of all your preconceived ideas of the "right" thing to do and start with a blank slate. You know the answers you just haven't been given the space to think about them. Remove the shoulds and have-tos and give yourself a moment to enjoy the freedom of choice and adventure.

[SOME TIPS ON FOOD]

1) Start with what you already like and go from there. If you like Mac N' Cheese, try making it from scratch. Once you've done that, add some veggies or different flavors or try a different recipe. If you like burgers, try a turkey burger or a veggie burger or find some pasture-raised, organic beef. It doesn't matter what you start with but start somewhere.

2) Eat mostly plants. Yes plants. If you can pick it or dig it up, most likely it will fall in the fruit or vegetable category. This doesn't mean canned fruits or veggies or cakes with fruit topping or pies or take-out Chinese food. This means fresh fruits and vegetables. From a farm not a factory.

3) Make friends with a farmer or two. Farmer's Markets are in full swing and are not only the most happenin' place to be on a Saturday morning [obviously] but are also a place to find great produce, in season, at awesome prices.

4) Purchase organic if you can but don't sweat it if you can't. The important thing is to get fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. A non-organic vegetable is always better than a Big Mac. Buy local, in season produce whenever you can - it'll taste better and save you some cash.

5) Don't buy or eat products you see on TV. You don't see a lot of real farmers sporting their wares across the media. Generally it's packaged, chem-filled, franken-food annoyingly popping up every ten minutes interrupting your show.

6) Make a plan. If you plan out your meals for the week, in general you will feel less stressed about food because, hey!, you've thought ahead and have a plan!

7) Double the recipe and make friends with the freezer. I almost always make more than I need, jar the leftovers, throw on a label, and stash in the freezer. This allows me the freedom to not cook, and not rely on take-out, on those days.

8) Look at the ingredients list on any packaged foods. If there are words that take more than a second to comprehend put it back. If you have no idea what any of the words are, run.

9) Do your best to pay attention to how foods affect you. A food diary is a great way to do this but if that seems overwhelming at first, begin by noticing each time you have a headache or stomache or inflamed muscles. Ask yourself, "Is there something I ate that could have given me this headache or feeling of being bloated? Have I drank enough water today? Did I eat something out of the ordinary? Am I eating something too much or not enough of something?" The more you ask these questions, the more you will become aware of the food-health relationship in your own body.

Now the most important tip of all,

10) Enjoy your food! Don't eat food just because it's "healthy" or you think you should. This is not sustainable and one of the primary reasons most diets fail. Hunger does not equate to success and blah does not mean it must be working. The more you enjoy your food the greater respect you will have for it. The more you look forward to your meals the greater the chances you will slow down and enjoy each bite. The more fun you have making your food the more likely you are to return to the kitchen to do it again, and again, and again.

So may you find ways to take food seriously but not too seriously. May you find choices that meet your needs and the needs of your family and care for them well through those choices. May you find yourself taking a step towards healthy habits and celebrate that step without thinking about the next one.

Above all, may you find that food is fun and a gift and exciting and something to be enjoyed. Every day. Over and over again.