Slow Food Fixed Quickly

In my last post I mentioned fast food and the need for slowing down in our food ingestion. The thing that I find difficult is not so much the time to slow down the eating but the time to fix the meal in the first place.  

I love trying new recipes but generally I don't have the time to do so on a week night. After a full day of work it is tough to enter a lifeless kitchen and stare at an empty kitchen counter and an inactive stove.  If I have a plan for the meal it is a little bit better.  This summer I have gotten away from meal planning. I notice it must be a universal habit to forego any structure in the summer,  since many of the magazines run fall articles about meal planning. I guess when it is summer time, the living (and lack of planning) is easy.

So, in order to start the process of slowing down with our food so that we eat healthy, here are some suggestions that I have found for planning meals:

1. Google "meal planning ideas".  There is a plethora of resources.  100 Days of Meals, Everyday Meal Planning, (While I have found Real Simple's menus good with providing main dishes they are lacking in the veggie/fruit/side dish area- I always need to supplement)

2. Many grocery stores are selling pre-chopped, pre-measured, ready to cook food.  They also provide recipes either on line or through a store produced magazine. In our region, Wegmans is such a store. I use their recipes as starting points. Wegmans info.  Many times I feel that I can chop (and thus save some money) and prep myself. Buying the ready made food can be expensive but you will have to weigh time versus money.  Many organizers suggest prepping your ingredients ahead of time. Some suggestions.

3. A neighbor recently told me about Blue Apron.  It is a subscription-based food prep company which will send you all the ingredients, recipes and technique to fix delicious, farm to table, home made food.  You can order different meal plans each week.  It isn't cheap but it isn't as expensive as I thought it would be. Certainly it is less expensive than "picking up a bite to eat" plus you have the added benefit of farm fresh ingredients.   If, you have some time to fix your meal (the recipes aren't complicated or long) and want some variety using in-season, local food, this seems like a great option. (plus you don't have to do the planning or purchasing) 

4. Eating healthy doesn't have to cost more than eating unhealthy foods. Google "budget friendly healthy meals" for some ideas. Budget-friendly  I know some people who spend a couple of hours each weekend to prep/freeze meals for the coming week. Or whenever they make a meal if it is freezable, they will double the recipe and freeze one.  

I guess as with anything it comes down to planning.  Taking a little time each week to determine the upcoming meals is probably worth it in the long run.  

What about you?  Do you have a method of meal planning? What are your considerations? Finances?  Time?  Both? Do you have a go-to site for quick, easy meal planning? 

Fast Food

This summer while we were driving to our destination for vacation we stumbled upon a broadcast on the local NPR station. There was a very interesting program about fast food.   They talked about the history of American fast food.  The fast food definition being used- mass produced food served quickly.  Generally it is associated as nutritionally poor, calorie dense food. They noted that although White Castle was the first "fast food" it wasn't until Ray Croc purchased the McDonald brothers business that the modern era of fast food was born.  

Fast food is not a modern invention.   Ready cook food for sale has been part of the urban scene from the beginning of cities.   In Ancient Rome there were street stands- places where one could purchase ready made food.  With industrialization, there became a need for quick hot food for the factory workers. Productivity and time management was the driving force behind how we shaped our days.  The workers had to quickly eat in order to get back to work.  Over a hundred years later and we still have the same issues. 

Yesterday as I was walking the dogs, we walked past a stop light.  I found it amazing that almost every driver and passenger in every waiting car was eating something. In one SUV there was a couple- husband driving, wife in passenger seat and both were chowing down what obviously looked like their dinner.   It made me recall a commentary I heard on the radio many years ago.  The host was interviewing another journalist who had just come back to living in the US after spending many years as the Tokyo correspondence.  When asked what was his first impression upon returning to the U.S., the journalist noted that he had forgotten how Americans eat in their cars.  He said that he rarely, if ever saw that in Japan. 

I thought how sad.  What are we accomplishing here?  Is it really a time saver to eat on the run? 

I am the first to admit that I have eaten in my car especially when I was traveling for work.   And as a family, we have also eaten in the car.  I might be missing an occasion but I think the only times we have done a family meal in the car were when we were traveling and we either had our dogs with us and didn't want to leave them in the car or it was pouring rain and we had originally planned to picnic. 

I understand that there are times when it happens but as a routine outing I wonder what it does for us in the long run?  Certainly there are studies that suggest many benefits to sitting down at a table to eat as opposed to standing at the sink, sitting on the couch watching TV or eating while driving in a car. The act of sitting at a meal table generally slows one down in the eating process.  It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to register that you are satiated with what is in your stomach. Slowing down to eat, chewing more and savoring your food allows your body to process what is coming in.  Without shoveling as fast as one can, you don't mindlessly ingest unnecessary calories which can lead to extra glucose or salt laden food that can develop into diabetes or heart disease. If it is a shared meal, there is community building. For meals with small children, language development occurs, values transmitted, and habits are relayed.  For some, the process of preparing, serving, eating and cleaning up can be relaxing and a needed distraction to the day.  

Sitting down to a meal is a necessary and built in break to our day. In a way, what better use of our break time than to replenish our bodies with food? 

I know that I eat way too quickly even when sitting at the dining room table.  I sometimes look at the day-to-day process of meal planning and eating as a necessary but bothersome duty, kind of like taking CPR classes- have to do it but if there were any other way around it I would gladly participate.  I am ready to get on to the next thing but really I need to ask- why?  Why cannot I just enjoy a few minutes of food and conversation? 

I have been challenging myself this fall to chew slowly and to savor the colors, smells, taste of the food on my plate. 

What about you?  Do you find that most of your meals take place in your car or your couch?  Is there a way you can try to eat one of those meals at a table?  Do you gulp down your food in order to get on to the next thing?  Can you slow down, maybe adding an extra ten or even twenty minutes to your meal time?  

Are you subject to fast food? 

Welfare Challenge

This week I decided that my husband and I would try the welfare food challenge (see post Up For A Challenge? February 25, 2016).  Our challenge was to eat $57 (allotted $4/person/day) of food for the week.  This was our grocery list: ground beef (1 pound);  1 dozen eggs; 2 lbs bags of whole grain pasta; butternut squash; potatoes; onion; celery; strawberries; grapefruit; apples; grapes; red peppers; grape tomatoes; black olives; yogurt; oatmeal; milk; cream; homemade bread; frozen green beans; peas; tea; coffee (using a gift bag); spaghetti sauce; mayo; butter; olive oil.

Our menus consisted of breakfast:  yogurt + fruit or stovetop old-fashioned oatmeal or poached eggs, toast, grapefruit.  lunch: egg salad sandwiches, any dinner leftovers + grapes or apples  dinner: homemade butternut squash soup; spaghetti with meat sauce; pasta with sautéed vegetables (using up any vegetables from the fridge).  Some of the staples we already had in the pantry- olive oil, mayo, butter, etc.  Actually, I had most of the food already in the fridge- was using up what we had in a different way-  I ball parked the cost of the different foods to try and keep under the $ amount. 

Of course as we conduct this challenge I am aware that we have a safety net.  There is food in our pantry, money in the bank and time to plan our meals.  Many of those on welfare have none of those extras.   I also know how to cook especially making things from scratch. 

This week we also had a few unexpected and un-budgeted expenses.  One such occurred while I I was doing my spring cleaning, I broke a glass shade in our kitchen.  I can replace it but not everyone has the money for the "extras". Those who are on a tight welfare budget most likely would have to make choices between eating, household repairs, medical expenses, car repairs, etc.  Even though  food was the only part of the challenge, the extra expenses this week made me mindful of how tight some budgets may be. 

It is difficult to eat healthy meals with a limited budget.  This time of year we don't have the advantage of farmers' markets or growing our own food. Even if it was harvest season, it takes time and money (purchasing the equipment) to can or freeze food for the future. One can see why some of the working poor have unhealthy eating habits.  In order to stretch the budget, sometimes people choose the calorie dense, nutritionally poor choice. 

I am glad that we tried the challenge.  I would like to practice it again.  It provides a tangible reminder of those less fortunate around us.  It also is good to assess our eating habits, bills and grocery lists. 

Interestingly that this week I came across an article about The Food Project organization. What a great organization- they combine youth, food and community.  "Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture."  Young people from a variety of backgrounds come together to learn about sustainable agriculture and the practicalities of farming, harvesting, and selling their produce. Part of the food grown is given to food pantries. The program, through the education of agriculture, is bringing people together while giving them information and skills to practice a healthy, simple, relatively inexpensive lifestyle. The program, through the education of agriculture, serves and builds a greater community.  What better way to get to know others, especially those who are different from ourselves, through the working together to provide and share basic resources with one another. 

What Is On Your Kitchen Counter?

A couple of years ago I was attending a professional conference.  One of the speakers was Dr. Brian Wansink the director and researcher at Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.  He and his colleagues study the behavioral science of eating behavior, behavior economics and behavior change.  His research is fascinating and once explained, makes sense. Click here to read about their exciting discoveries.

The "ideal' setting on our kitchen counter. 

One thing they discovered is that the people who kept a  bowl of fruit on their kitchen counter were likely to be eight  pounds lighter than their neighbors.  Not to say that the bowl was warding off the poundage or that it was a talisman for ideal weight.  The bowl of fruit was a reminder to eat a healthy choice.  They also suggest that snacks should be kept on a low shelf (out of line of vision, out of mind) in the pantry.  “It’s your basic See-Food Diet – you eat what you see”, says Dr. Wansink.

To me it is a reminder of how mindless we (or at least I am) are in eating.  Seems as if there is any bowl of anything on the counter I will eat it.  Of course, eating from the bowl is better than eating from the bag or box but it is mindless nonetheless.  I do find that many times I reach for a snack when I really am just thirsty.  Dr. Wansink's mantra is to make the healthy choice the easy choice.  He suggests when choosing the healthy choice to make it Convenient, Attractive and Normal.  (CAN)

How is your kitchen?  Do you make the healthy choice the easy choice?  For you, your family, your friends?  What small step can you do to make over your eating habits?  Check out the Cornell website  for simple ways to change your eating habits.