New Years Resolutions

It’s that time of year again. You know, the time when we are supposed to cut down and shape up. Too many holiday cookies, too much late night fun. Time to get your act in gear! Join the gym! Start a diet! Set some unreasonable goals!

January is often considered one of the crappiest months of the year. Sure it’s partly the weather, but most people hate January because of the guilt and pressure associated with the above mentality. Now I’m certainly not blasting the idea of getting in shape and losing some weight, but it only works if it feels good to do so. Yet the guidelines and suggestions set by the experts almost always lead to dissapointment.

This year why don’t we focus on a new ancient method. Counting calories and analyzing labels has become second nature but what if you ate foods that weren’t plastered with such information? Do you ever stop and wonder how many carbohydrates are in your orange? Or how much sodium is in your egg? Or what about the calories in your roasted chicken? Sure this information is available, and some of you may even seek it out, but is that what really matters?

This mentality has often been dubbed the “whole foods” movement where the focus is on unprocessed, unmanipulated, nutritiously packed ingredients; fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, nuts and seeds. The suggestion is that our diet has become so calorie driven that we have forgotten about nutrition. You know, those vitamins and nutrients that are so crucial to our health that are found most readily (and most effectively) in “whole foods”. And whether or not it’s because of Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” (and now his “Food Rules”), or because of an overall frustration with the current status quo of our “super” markets, this movement is attracting plenty of followers all raving about it’s benefits.

But quite frankly, let’s not bother labeling it. Despite believing that eating this way can be healthier and way more excited (not to mention better for sustainability and the environment), part of me knows that once it’s labeled for many of us, it’s just another set of unreasonable guidelines. As soon as there is an eat this, not that mentality the “guilty pleasure” syndrome creeps in. So what are we supposed to do?

Here’s a few novel ideas. 1) Eat what makes you feel good. And be honest: I’d be a liar if I said McDonald’s french fries tasted bad. But I’d be kidding myself if I said I felt good after I ate them. 2) Stop eating, and start dining: Eating has long been a cultural time for conversation and sharing. Sure it may be rude to eat with your mouthful, but at least your trying. And lastly, 3) gauge your health without a scale: Losing weight may seem like the surest way to monitor progress but what about all those intangibles. If only our scales spit back energy levels!

So what’s the point of my little rant? Well from day one I’ve tried to share with you my passion for all things food, believing that above and beyond, food is the greatest connection we all have. But this year, 2010, my second full year with the blog (yikes), I want to go even further. Acting as both a resource and a forum with a focus on the above 3 ideals, I plan on sharing more and more content, adding recipes and tips, and even creating a few more challenges (remember the $15/15).

So throw out your unreasonable goals, and make one New Years Resolution: Keep reading this blog. I mean…

$15/15 meals: The Week that Was

What a weekend! It was so nice to catch up and really break down the week that was $15/15 meals. Despite the fact that we all attacked the challange in slightly different manners, the results were very consistent. But before I get into the details lets go back to the beginning.

The $15/15 challenge started as an experiment to see how healthy we could eat for $1 a meal for five days. Rather than falling to the temptations and the mentality that the best way to fill up on a budget inevitably leads you to the McDonald’s dollar menu or the processed and packaged food aisles, we set out hoping to eat nutritionally balanced meals with as much variety as we could. Everything we consumed would be counted in the $15 whether it was from the pantry or from the store. The only exceptions being olive oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, coffee and alcohol. If the last two had not been included as exceptions, I imagine those around us would have gotten real sick of this challenge. Other than that, the rest was up to us. It was never a question of if? It was more a question of how. We knew we could have limited our caloric intake and essentially starve to make the five days but that certainly wasn’t the point. I wanted to feel full. I wanted to feel healthy. And most importantly, I was hoping to learn a bit about my food choices and eating habits…

So back to the results…As we discussed our experiences from the past week, the most prevalent topic was that of waste. It takes some creativity but it’s amazing how much you can get out of ingredients, much of which we waste on a regular basis. Whether its taking the ends of the carrots for the stock I made, or saving the ends of a roll to make breadcrumbs for meatballs, I was forced to be a bit crafty because of my budget. But this craftiness has implications far beyond a budget. The environmental impact of waste goes hand in hand with the economic repercussions of our decisions. But even beyond these important social issues, at the route of cooking, wasting ingredients is a waste of flavor.

One of the inherent problems with cooking for yourself is that flavor. So many people rely on restaurants and other sources because of a lack of confidence. But next time you are eating out, pay attention to the ingredients in your dish. Sure the composed dish may be well beyond what you think your capable of, but ultimately the best food is made up of a balance of flavors; flavors available in the same ingredients that have always been accessible along with those that have become more and more available to us. How many times have you bought boxed chicken stock? Or what about those seasoned bread crumbs? These are just two simple example of how you can take back your food! Trust me, homemade tastes better and the added bonus of exuberance of self accomplishment is well worth the extra time and effort.

The other factor we all thoroughly agreed on was perception of hungry. When’s the last time you felt hungry? If your reading this mid-day you may be feeling that hunger at this very moment. Snacking to make it through the afternoon? Loading up at lunch time to make sure you won’t give in to the snacking? I have a better idea, one that became increasingly clear over the course of the week. Fill up on essential protein and simple carbohydrates and listen to your body, not your boredom.

Our brains are pretty amazing! But sometimes we listen to them too much. As we eat and our bodies start to digest the food, we will burn what is necessary and store the rest. However, this system doesn’t work as well as we would expect it to; our brains neglect to remind us of that storage. Just because you stored up those leftovers, doesn’t mean your body will use it, especially if you continue to eat more. So the more your body gets used to eating, the more it craves. Now this may not be the most scientific explanation but if you break it down, this argument is not only valid but certainly prevalent. Why do you think those who are severely overweight have such a hard time decreasing their intake?

However, in our case we had no choice.  So as we focused more on providing our bodies with nutritionally packed food, we ate less and in return desired less. Rather than feeling hungry, we felt energetic. Rather than pining for our next meal, there was a patient excitement. I didn’t weigh myself before and after because weight is certainly not a direct correspondence to health (and I forgot) but there is no question I lost a pound or two. But with a shift towards those simple carbohydrates and lean proteins, this weight loss was achieved the right way. As Nancy suggested, maybe the best way to lose weight isn’t by counting calories, but rather by counting dollars and cents. Of course this assumes you are making good decisions…

So what next? Where do we go from here? There’s no way I could keep this budget going and expect to keep my sanity. But just because I plan on spending more than $1 a meal, doesn’t mean the impact won’t be evident. I hope you’ll continue to see these good decisions in my future posts as I promise to maintain the focus of healthy, affordable foods. But in the meantime, lets keep this conversation going. One of the interesting arguments we barely touched on was the importance of shopping organic and local. The stricter your budget, the harder this becomes and despite my best efforts, my purchases of these ingredients were limited. But as I mentioned previously, I hope to run this experiment again, with a few of you getting involved in the process. I know I have a few takers already but the more the merrier!

And if you were wondering about our celebratory feast? Would you believe me if I told you that the main component wouldn’t have cost us a dime during our week long challenge? That is unless you count the man hours it took us to catch all of these delicious clams!

$15/15 meals: We’ve made it!

We’ve made it! 15 meals have gone by and our budgets have not been overdrawn. It may have been close and we may have made a few estimates but I think you’ll all agree the three of us accomplished our goals. When we set out, 5 days ago, we hoped to show that healthy eating wasn’t out of the question on a tight budget. But honestly, I think we all had mixed expectations. I’ve discussed a number of times throughout the week that I was extremely concerned going into the challenge. $15 or $1 per meal is just about nothing. And I wouldn’t have considered this a success if I ended up losing a ton of weight and starving myself just to make it through. So as the week went on and I continued to eat as I normally have (minus the snacking), I became more and more passionate about what we were doing.

What was so rewarding about this challenge was the thought and additional questions that have been created along the way. In no ways will one five day experiment be the end all be all of rubrick’s on how to live and eat. But if these entries have shown anything, the more we think about these decisions and the more information we seek out, the better informed we will be. And on top of this, one of the most crucial components of cooking for yourself was emphasized. The creative process and the hands on experience you have to cherish and share, is worth the growing pains. Not everything I cook meets my expectations (I have always been my toughest critic) but that doesn’t mean the meal was a waste. Creating my dinners this past week on such a tight budget was made easier by the tool box of cooking experiences I have gathered. It may seem daunting at first but trust me when I say, everyone can cook…

So enough with the uplifting and preachy portion of the experience. What about the negatives! You guys wouldn’t believe me if I only shared the greatness that was this 5 day event. Not to mention it would completely take away from the “challenge” portion of our goals. So what did I miss? How do I feel? Besides the repitition of the meals, my biggest issue along the way was the lack of certain components of my regular diet. Last night, as I contemplated my dinner, I had burning cravings for two things!

I would have done anything for an apple. I don’t even love apples like most do, but last night I would have sacrificed it all for a pink lady. Hell, I would have even considered a red delicious. This makes a decent amount of sense on the nutritional level but also when you consider what my diet was missing in terms of flavor. It was tough to develop sweetness in any of the meals I ate and therefore I craved some sugar!. So now you know the first thing I’ll be eating after the challenge.

The second craving came about when I was making my dinner last night. I wanted to use up what I had purchased so I created a dish that had two of my favorite foods on one plate together! Although I didn’t have large cabbage leaves remaining, that didn’t stop me from taking my remaining ground beef and making stuffed cabbage (more like cabbage roll-ups). I made the sauce out of the remaining diced canned tomatoes and the result was really great. Simple and delicious. But I knew this wouldn’t be enough for dinner. Realizing I had one end of my roll remaining I decided to add some breakfast to my plate. One fried egg with a runny yolk over two pieces of toast acted as a perfect compliment to the cabbage roll-ups. If you look at this plate of food however, just like all the rest, there is something missing. All week as I developed my dinners I pined for just a bit of basil, or a bunch of spinach. Something, to add some green to the plate. I became borderline depressed last night when I knew it was out of my reach. Isn’t that proof we eat with our eyes first?

So what next? Where do we go from here?, Well, tonight we’re celebrating. Celebrating with a large feast! Although it will be interesting to see how much I end up eating. I’m so looking forward to our dinner to discuss the individual experiences we have all had and to think about the implications of this challenge. It is clear that these issues are prevalent throughout the country and more and more people are jumping on board for the discussion. A fellow blogger (one of my favorites) just recently posted about the cost of cooking. Also in the Times online “cheapskate blog”, there was a discussion on eating well for $50 a week. I know I said the same thing. Is $50 a week really that difficult? Either way, the discussion is important. Lastly, I’d just like to say thanks to all of you who have made this even more rewarding. I never imagined how many people would be interested in something like this. The interest and support have been really uplifting! I’ll be sure to update you on the celebration dinner soon and check out Sarah’s blog to see how her week ended up…

$15/15: You can get a good look at a butchers…

3 meals to go! I couldn’t bare to have the same old chicken soup for lunch today. So rather than scrapping the soup altogether, I used my left over fried barley and made my soup a bit more flavorful. Plus I managed to get a few more veggies in there along with some bonus protein from the egg. Your probably surprised I even have leftovers but like I said in the last post, its amazing how much we have tricked ourselves into feeling hungry. Once you cut back, you need less. Seems counter intuitive but the more you eat, the more you need to eat…

In the “think about that for a minute” department, my good buddy sent me an article today that I found fascinating. Why do you buy organic groceries if you do? Lets say you walk into the store and there’s a organic banana versus a conventional banana. Assuming you picked the organic what was the driving force? Many people purchase organic produce assuming there is a nutritional advantage. There must be more nutrients and vitamins in the organic. Right?

This article discussed the findings of a study done at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (I laughed as well). The findings they claim to have shown is that organic produce shows little to no nutritional advantage over conventional produce. You might be shocked and you might think you’ve been wasting your money but let me try to convince you otherwise.

First off, this shouldn’t surprise you all that much. The produce is grown essentially the same way with just one key difference. Organic relates to the conditions the produce or meat was grown/raised, without pesticides, without antibiotics or growth hormones. So the argument for organic isn’t simply routed in nutrition. Remember, it isn’t just about the carrot you eat, it’s about the environmental impact that carrot made. Organic farming is widely considered more sustainable and promotes a healthy working relationship with the environment. The nutritional impact may be more readily seen within the meat production component of our farming system but that doesn’t mean we should ignore remaining aspects of our agriculture.

I think what really bothers me about this article is how little of the story they decided to tell. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not claiming to be an expert nor am I trying to deny the results discussed. But how can you or I make informed decisions with just a bit of the information. Luckily, there is a lot of information out there. We just have to go find out.

“Course, I could get a hell of a good luck at a t-bone steak by sticking my head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take the butcher’s word for it” -Big Tom from Tommy Boy

Can we trust the butcher?