Don’t believe everything you read…. not even everything I say. Take a moment, think about it, do some research and draw your own conclusions.
I would like to believe. Really…. I would. But a magazine that seems to be ‘safe and sane’….. isn’t necessarily promoting the right things for your body!
Eating Well Magazine says: “Make a breaded-salmon pinwheel, it’s quite easy to do. This technique works best when you use “center-cut”salmon fillet. If you don’t have a center-cut fillet or want to simplify the preparation, leave the fillet whole, spread the mayonnaise over it, top with the breadcrumb mixture and bake”.
Really? REALLY? Mayonaise? As we come to realize that milk isn’t good for you, that it was just a ‘campaign’ done by the milk industry, that they are no longer allowed to tell you ‘milk does a body good’ because it doesn’t, it amazes me that they don’t suggest ‘mayonnaise or veganese’…. and that they are going for a breadcrumb mixture, but don’t give a gluten free option?
I guess we can do this for ourselves…. but really….what is eating well?
If we listen to movies like Forks over Knives, we find out that there is now proven information that if you limit your animal protein to 5% your body will remain heart disease and cancer free.
And yet, that doesn’t seem to translate to the public at large. The magazines are still mostly promoting animal protein.
I think my biggest disappointment is Sprouts… or Henry’s or Bonies. Call them what you will, but we have come to depend on things in that store being organic, or not hydrogenated, not GMO, etc. But I have to tell you, read your labels and only select the things you want, and don’t have the attitude that because it’s in that store, it’s ‘safe’.
On a more positive note, my biggest surprise I think is Ralph’s. In some stores, there is a complete wall of organic produce. Nice.
One of the projects I am working on is Echo Eden and the Eden Festival. This is a group that helps you take an empty lot in your neighborhood, or even your own front or back lawn and instead of growing nothing…. you grow food! Even add food baring trees! Check out their facebook page! You can join in the fun!
Well, perhaps we can’t change the world. But here’s what I can recommend: start yourself off with ‘Meatless Monday’….. Each Monday make a terrific Quinoa Salad, including caramelized sweet potato, onion, mushroom, etc., using mushroom broth (not the creamy mushroom soup). Put that on a big bed of spinach. It’s satisfying. It’s filling. And it’s a plant based protein. Best part? Takes about 15 minutes to cook. You can make a big container of it and keep it in the fridge for an ‘I’m so hungry’ episode. Get the kids to start liking and eating it? High fives all around!
I am just like you. I enjoy that kobe slider, those ‘fall off the bone’ ribs slathered in bbq sauce, that yummy chicken salad. And I know this one thing for sure: I can have that…. as long as the rest of the time, I am mindful and feeding myself plant based protein, fruits and vegetables eliminating (at least for my needs) gluten, sugar, dairy and soy, most of the time.
So, this makes me ‘not a saint’, and yet I get all of the health benefits of eating right, without ever denying myself. I see a kobe slider? I feel like a kobe slider? I have a kobe slider! (Not two, not three).
And I will tell you what happens with that. I fully enjoy the smaller portion of beef. Fully enjoy every bite. And fully get the satisfaction I am looking for. Think about it. After the 3rd bite, aren’t we just mindlessly eating? And surround that kobe in a salad, or 51% raw veggies on that plate, and you’ve just helped your body process that meal beautifully!
You can do it! I have faith in you. And as a side benefit? Just watch the pounds fall away!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian