What I Eat

People often ask me what I eat. I've been reluctant to share, because it feels egocentric and I'm a private person by nature. I also don't want people to view my diet as a universal prescription for others. But in the end, as someone who shares my opinions about nutrition, it's only fair that I answer the question. So here we go.

In my food choices, I try to strike a balance between nutrition, cost, time efficiency, animal welfare, pleasure, and environmental impact. I'm the chef of my household of two, and I cook two meals a day, almost every day, typically from single ingredients. I prefer organic, but I don't insist on it.

Eggs from my hens

My diet changes seasonally because I grow much of my own food. This started out with vegetables, but recently has expanded to staple foods such as potatoes, flour corn, and winter squash. I also have a small flock of laying hens that turn table scraps, bugs, grass, and chicken feed into delicious eggs.

The primary guiding principle of my diet is to eat somewhere between a "Paleolithic"-style diet and a traditional agricultural/horticultural diet. I think of it as a broad ancestral diet. Because it's partially inspired by agricultural/horticultural diets, starch is the main calorie source.

My meals are organized around three food groups: a protein, a starch, and vegetables/fruit. If any of those three are missing, the meal doesn't feel complete. I'll start with those categories and move on from there.

Read more �

Hot Cereal, Hot Coffee

Cold cereal was crispy, flakey, or puffy, and served with milk. It was this reason, the splash of milk, that I avoided cold cereal (and still do), aside from a handful of clusters popped into my mouth as a crunchy dry snack.

Hot cereal was Cream of Wheat, simmered on the stovetop, and served with a pat of country crock margarine and a shower of granulated white sugar. On weekends, when dad was home for breakfast, our hot cereal was topped with a generous, scalding hot, sugary sweet splash of black coffee. 


It was my dad�s idea� something my Oma used to make? The coffee had to be extra hot, and extra sweet. Amanda and I loved coffee when we were kids, and this was one of our favorite ways to have it. We�d gather around the kitchen counter, which was where we sat for casual meals, and wait with excitement while he placed the steaming carafe of coffee in between our bowls. We would all start with a small pour, which pooled around the edges of the Cream of Wheat. As we ate and the sweet dark coffee mixed in with the cereal, we�d add more and more, until in the end, we were lapping up spoonfuls of coffee flecked with grains of wheat. 

I hadn�t eaten or even thought about hot cereal in years, until the other day Amanda said she had some for breakfast. I instantly remembered the aroma of sweet black coffee, the giddy anticipation as we waited for the liquid to cool enough to take a bite, the way everything in the bowl turned a creamy light caramel color after it all started to mix together. And then, of course, I ran out and got a box of Cream of Wheat.

There�s no recipe. Just make Cream of Wheat according the instructions on the box. Make it a little thick. Brew your coffee a little stronger than normal, and pour, a little at a time, over the cream of wheat in your bowl. This time I added the coffee plain, along with a swirl of maple syrup. When I was a kid, the coffee would be pre-mixed with white sugar. 

Valentine's Day and Food Security

Happy Valentine's Day! I cannot think of this day without thinking of chocolates and specific foods that we "share" with our loved ones!



So, why not break with tradition and send out valentine cards with seeds? It is almost time to start your seedings! Plus USC Canada, an organization that promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities and healthy ecosystems around the world, has a really cool and nifty idea to tie Valentine's Day with food security...so, rather than saying it with roses, why not try seeds?

Source: USC Canada's Valentine's Day card!

We want to help spread the message of food security, so why not download these cute Food Security Valentine's Day Card templates and spread the message of growing your own local (and healthy) food from seeds...it is a great opportunity to talk to family and friends about the importance of food:

• where it comes from (such as shipping lettuce from California),


• growing it yourself either in a community garden or on your balcony in a container, and


• community building through sharing backyards!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Punjabi Rajmah and Tuscan beans on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

Tomorrow, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Terry MacLeod, I'll be bringing in these two bean dishes.  It is the year of beans and pulses, enjoy!

Both the Kidney and the White (canellini) beans are grown here in Manitoba and are available at Saturday's St. Norbert's Farmer's Market by J. Berard Gardens.   

The Sausage for the Tuscan Beans is also available at the Market tomorrow at Wildfire Farms. 

Rajmah

2 cups red kidney beans, washed thoroughly, soaked and cooked
1 medium yellow or red onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tbs + olive oil
2 medium-sized tomatoes diced (about 1 cup)
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped or grated (2 tablespoon)
3 cloves garlic, chopped or minced (1 tablespoon)
2 � 4 green Thai, Serrano or cayenne chilies, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon whole cumin seed
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp red chili powder (cayenne)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 - 2 tbs tamarind paste
good pinch or two of salt
6-8 cups water (less if you want more of a chili effect)
1 bunch fresh, chopped cilantro (1/2 cup)

Saut� onions over medium heat in olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes, chilies, ginger and garlic. Add dry spices and cook until soft. Add beans and salt and tamarind and cook until the beans break down and become thick and somewhat creamy.

When finished, take an immersion blender and press it about four times to break up some of the beans. If using a blender, take out about a cup and process in the blender, then put this back in the pot. Be careful not to process all of the beans. Most of the beans should remain whole.

Stir in the cilantro.

Serve over a bed of rice with yogurt. Some enjoy a dab of butter on each serving.


Tuscan beans (Fagioli all'uccelletto)

This is perhaps Florence's most famous dish. Some include Italian sausage.  I used the sausage from Wildfire Farms. 

1 pound small white cannellini or great northern beans, soaked overnight
1 large sausage (optional)
2 sprigs of sage
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic
5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1 14 oz can Italian plum tomatoes

DRAIN the beans and simmer in fresh water to cover, with 1 sprig of sage and 1 tablespoon olive oil, for about 1 1/2 hours, or until tender, adding salt when the beans begin to soften.

IN a separate pan (large enough to hold the beans) heat the remaining oil on low heat with the garlic and the rest of the sage so that the flavors infuse, but do not brown

ADD the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the drained beans, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 15 minutes or so. There should be a good amount of sauce.

Enjoy!

Is the "Obesity Paradox" an Illusion?

Over the last two decades, multiple independent research groups have come to the surprising conclusion that people with obesity (or, more commonly, overweight) might actually be healthier than lean people in certain ways. This finding is called the "obesity paradox". Yet recent research using more rigorous methods is suggesting that the paradox is an illusion-- and excess body fat may be even more harmful to health than we thought.

Introduction. What is the obesity paradox, and why does it matter?

Read more �

Knowledge Network: Just Eat It Film on Food Waste

Hello Food Firsters!



One of our past bloggers suggested that this may be a great idea for the blog! Here at Burnaby Food First, our passion is about ensuring that everyone has access to healthy and local foods.



A part of food security that does not get a lot of attention from our workshops, is food waste. How much of our food ends up in the trash. MetroVancouver has a Love Food, Hate Waste campaign which has some great resources on how to reduce waste as well as opportunities to share ideas or to discuss this very important topic.



This 74 minute movie follows Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer, in their  efforts to live a zero-waste lifestyle, take on a new challenge: to eat only rescued food for six months.

 

The movie shows the Vancouver couple as they forgo restaurant meals and
quit grocery shopping cold turkey. What they find is shocking:
truckloads of perfectly edible food destined for the landfill.



Access the movie: https://www.knowledge.ca/program/just-eat-it or visit http://www.foodwastemovie.com/ for more information.



For Canadians, access to the movie is unlimited and free. Consider donating to help raise awareness of food security and support the movie.



4 Feb 2016 - Just posted online: French supermarkets banned from throwing away and spoiling unsold foods.

Kale Caesar Salad

So I finally finished this season's Homeland, and I was depressed about it all weekend.  Not only because of the ending (no spoiler alerts, don't worry), but because it was OVER, and now I have to wait however long for more of it.  Does anyone else experience this type of TV-related depression?  Don't even get me started on the finality of Breaking Bad ending...

Ok, I don't really know where I'm going with this.  I'm tired.  I've had insomnia for two nights in a row, and I'm not sure why.  Is it Homeland related?  Maybe.  Am I pondering that I'm about to turn 35, which seems like a really big number?  Probably.  It's a good thing I had yummy food to eat this weekend, otherwise I'd be a zombie.  Like this Kale Salad with the most delicious and HEALTHY Lime Caesar Dressing.  It's made with greek yogurt and Parmesan cheese and anchovy paste for that familiar, salty Caesar flavor.  It was so good and very easy to make.  I topped my salad with shredded Parmesan, sliced tomatoes and homemade croutons (and followed this recipe for everything else).  

Ok... Monday, let's do this.