The Sweet Beet

I’ve been off sugar for a week now – not the naturally occurring stuff found in bananas but the added stuff found in, oh say chocolate bars – chocolate bars that you’ve bought because you rationalize the fact that if they’re DARK chocolate then they’re a health food and if you only eat one piece of this health food then it barely even registers. Problem is you (ok, I) don’t only eat one piece.  I start with one piece and then when it’s gone, I have one more piece and so on and so on until what began as one not-too-bad-for-you piece of chocolate, very quickly spirals into one half a chocolate bar  - gone. Demolished. Delicious.

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{A post I wrote for Attune Foods}

I finally cleaned out my hall closet and gave away/tossed away half the stuff. I have no need for running shoes that will never be anything but a size too small, and a single mitten whose mate I called off the search for years ago. Even though I open this cupboard daily, I never even noticed most of this stuff as I had gotten so used to seeing it.

I’m starting to feel similarly about a lot of ingredients/additives in my food. When we think about “additives” we usually think about things like MSG, corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives etc, but many of the ones that I’m now more aware of are found in high quality food sold in Whole Foods, or health food stores. Even in “good for you food” there is simply a lot of “stuff” that gets shoved into the corners that we either don’t notice or if we do notice, think we need.  And sometimes we DO need them, but that’s often because the food is lacking, and these additives are there to make up for it.

Read the rest on the Attune Foods blog, here.

There are two kinds of people: those who want to know everything that is possible to know about the food they eat (the ingredients, nutrient levels, place of origin, first and last name of the farmer that grew it), and those who, as long as the food is safe, just eat it.

Which are you?  Because whichever camp you fall into, likely dictates whether you care if GMO foods be labeled “GMO foods”. Whole Foods has just announced that by 2018 all their stores will label any foods that contain GMO ingredients and many other stores are likely to follow suite. This has the makers of GMO foods in a tizzy.

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{A post I wrote for Attune Foods}

When I walk through my farmers market in the winter months it’s hard to get excited by stocky carrots, thick cabbage and weary apples. Maybe it’s in part because these produce are nearly non-perishable that they seem less desirable – I don’t know, but there is something about the short, fragile, unpredictable life of a pint of raspberries in the August sun, that makes them irresistible. (I think one could extend this theory into other forms of life, but I’ll leave that for the relationship bloggers.) Even the farmers look a little worn down by the sub 30 temps, and a little foggy-headed from the propane heaters…

Read the rest on the Attune Foods Blog, here

“You can’t have it until the baby goats are done with it, and they will be weaned in April.” That was the message I was given by the goat-milk lady at the farmer’s market when I asked whether she was selling any goat milk. (She was selling cheese, so thought I’d ask). It was a stark reminder that we humans are the only mammals to drink another mammal’s milk.  The baby goats, cows and sheep are done after a few months, but we fully grown adults – we just keep on going.

Maybe we shouldn’t….

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{A post I wrote for Attune Foods}

A year ago, breakfast was often a kale and shitake frittata, farm-fresh goat cheese crumbled on top, still warm from the pan….Though I’ve kicked my coffee-shop-muffin habit that had crept into my routine, the just-cooked eggs are frequently “just-cooked” two hours ago.  At 9 am I often find myself eating the remains of Finn’s scrambled eggs – cold, picked over, and in some cases “pre-mouthed” (but not chewed – I do have my standards).  If I never ate my child’s food remains (“leftovers” is too elevated a term once the food has sat on someone else’s plate – or high chair), I would be tossing away eggs, fish, applesauce – all partially eaten and 100% touched.  Since I can’t bring myself to throw them out, I instead throw myself into the role of scrap-eater.

Please read the rest on the Attune Foods blog, here.

I was struck by a recent New York Times article (see link at bottom of this post) about a 3 year old who was diagnosed with arthritis.  The drugs he was put on did little to help and it was not until his mother radically altered his diet, eliminating gluten, dairy, and refined sugar among other adjustments, that his arthritis went away.  She is quick to point out that the meds may have played a role in his recovery, but she is convinced that it was the diet that not only cleared things up, but that brought on the arthritis.

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Finn eating – ok playing with – roasted carrots

{A post I wrote for Attune foods}

Do you remember the first time you ate junk food?   I have foggy memories of eating Arrowroot cookies (a gentler junk food but lets be honest) and I recall pizza parties around age 6 but I can’t really recall “The First Time”.  Well I know when it was for Finn (my 10 mos old).  He ate his first chocolate chip cookie (well half of a chocolate chip cookie but the “half” was the size of many “wholes”) last week.  I have to admit I felt a tinge of guilt, polluting his virginal digestive track with double chunk chocolate chip cookies, but I was eating it and his hands are fast and his desire strong. And what was worse was how much he loved it. And how much I hated the fact that he loved it. With most foods he smells it, takes it to his mouth, tentatively tries it and then might proceed with the rest. With this, he spotted his goal, pulled it from my hand, and did not remove it from his mouth until it was well inside his belly. The cookie was conquered.

Read the rest on the Attune Foods blog, here.

I don’t know whether it’s because I just have less time now to remember to take them or because half my fridge is being occupied by baby puree, but I just did a thorough cleanse of the supplement section of my refridgerator and only one’s left standing – the fish oil – old habits die hard (not to mention old recollections of how much the stuff cost). But to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to replenish the bottle once it’s done (which at the current rate of consumption will be next year).

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{A post I wrote for Attune Food’s blog}

Now that Christmas is wrapped up, Hanukah’s passed, Thanksgiving has come and gone, is there anything left to say about food?  Is there anything more to eat? Anything more to cook?  What’s left?

Read about this creative way to use what’s left on the Attune Foods blog …