Food Fog

Five Years of Dietary Sobriety

Thursday, 31 December 2009

As the year comes to a close, I'm reflecting on a bit of a milestone; five years of dietary sobriety. That's about the only term I can think of that reflects the changes in my relationship with food over the past five years, when I first embarked on this quest to improve my health and bring a better balance to my life with food. I started on January 3, 2005 with some baby steps, and five years later, I'm in a much better place. This new place isn't THE place, though. It's just a stop on a lifelong journey. I've really internalized that now. There is no "arriving" at weight loss or good health. There is only living the behaviors and being in the mindset that support it every day.

So, as a creative venture and indulgence in self-reflection, I'm going to try video blogging (vlogging?) this year. I hope this lends to some personal revelations, as well as, hopefully resonates with a few of the random souls that stumble across it on the Information Super Highway. There's something a little risky about putting yourself out there, both literally and figuratively. But, it's been my experience that when I do, new opportunities unfold. I don't have much "alone" time these days with a toddler, so my video entries are likely to be random and unpredictable, but that's okay.

My only New Year's resolutions this year are to "feed" my creative self more and to be focused on being in the moment, especially with my kids. So, I move forward, taking little steps towards self-awareness by just continuing on the journey I started five years ago.

Happy New Year!

Eating... the Journey Continues...

Thursday, 10 December 2009

The past week or so has been busy, as usual. Days are filled with long to-do lists and action-packed adventures with the kids. And, accordingly, our food adventures continue.

The cold weather has set in, and with it comes that craving for warmth that requires a bit more forethought on a raw food diet. Darren and I actually continue to do mostly raw food, though we've agreed we need to integrate a few healthy cooked vegan meal options back into our routine, just to facilitate a little more mealtime unity with our family, and minimize the stress with regards to meal prep. Simple steamed veggies or cooked beans with spices make a quick meal for the kids, and sometimes it would be nice to not then prepare something separate for myself and Darren. That said, I haven't really felt a draw to any particular cooked food thus far.

However, today I made the kids some mung beans and rice from the TruRoots company. They have sprouted and germinated products, and I got them from our co-op awhile back, thinking I'd try them, and forgot about them in the back of the panty. So, today, while foraging for meal options for the kids I came across them. The directions on the package of mung beans excited me, because it was only a five minute cooking time! Beans... fast! No soaking necessary! Joe is allergic to lentils, so I can't do those when I'm in a pinch for a quick meal. I'd never been excited about cooked mung beans before, but these looked appetizing, and I wanted to try them.... so I did. They had a crunchy, nutty consistency. I just sprinkled a little olive oil, sea salt, garlic powder and pepper on them, and served them with the rice, and the kids gobbled them up. Darren and I had a scoop or two on a chopped salad of raw kale, spinach, romaine, red onions, and carrot, topped with a "honey mustard" dressing I devised from chia seeds, stoneground mustard, coconut amino acids, vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, garlic and a dash of chili powder. Bravo!

In the last couple weeks, we got a nice supply of yummy organic produce from our buying club. We had two cases of lovely organic Lulu avocados. So, we've been adding them to salads, making raw chocolate pudding by blending them with raw cacao powder and banana, and freezing some with lemon juice for later use. The kids don't like avocado, but have eagerly consumed the pudding and smoothies I've made with them. Undercover avocado. Ha!

We've also had a fair share of citrus available, including oranges, grapefruits and tangerines. We've created some yummy fruit salads, salad dressings and smoothies with them. But, mostly, we've been adding them to our green juices. We've been doing a lot of juicing, giving our GreenStar juicer a good workout. I really like a green juice in the morning, with just enough fruit to take the bitterness off the greens, and I add a good chunk of ginger. A zesty wake-me-up!

My food success of the week was with Joe, who hates raisins. I ordered 5 pounds of Hunza raisins from a company called Blue Mountain Organics. Darren really likes them and told Joe they tasted like nature's little gummy bears. Well, Joe just had to try one then. Now I can slip them into salads and oatmeal, and there's no complaints!

The other night, Darren and I watched the DVD entitled "Eating." Though we knew most of the information, it was very reaffirming. It talks about the major diseases in our country and how we're basically eating ourselves to death with our standard diet. It discusses the "business" of food production, and the societal brainwashing we've all bought into over the years regarding what's healthy and what's not. But, it also touches on the environmental and ethical ramifications of our food choices and, for me, clearly articulates why I've been drawn to vegetarianism and more whole foods, conscious eating in my life.

We have a busy weekend coming up with Joe's birthday tomorrow. He's going to be seven! I just spent an hour trying to concoct a decent gluten-free vegan allergy safe cake for him. We'll see how that goes. On Saturday, Darren's got a coaching clinic down near DC and I'm taking Joe out to Reston, VA for a hockey game, then back home for Flo's skating show in the evening. Then we're up Sunday morning cleaning and preparing a dish for our vegan potluck that afternoon. So, I'm bracing myself to feel a bit overwhelmed, but looking forward to some fun events.