Shortcuts I Live By...

Sometimes I take for granted the things I've learned from my mom, from my friends, from my extensive watching of Food Network. So I thought I'd share a few of these tips (at the suggestion of my brilliant, beautiful friend, Kara).

• Are you scared of chicken unless it's a boneless, skinless breast? (I am. I admit it). So here's my shortcut (learned from Kara): buy organic chicken already roasted. I can buy mine at the Natural Foods Market I work for, Georgetown Market, Kara buys whole rotisserie organic birds at her Whole Foods in downtown San Fran. I'm pretty sure, if you do some research, you'll find some in your area. This pre-cooked chicken can be shredded off the bone and kept in a neat storage container and used for chix salad sandwiches, chicken and pasta, chicken soft tacos, chicken enchiladas, etc. etc. without having to cook the chicken.
• Keep cut up veggies in your fridge. It reduces waste (because I feel guilty if I let them go bad) and it makes them easier to use. Plus they're always there if there's nothing else in the house to snack on.
• If you have to buy frozen meals to fall back on for those crazy nights, buy all natural, organic ones. They're more expensive, so you'll buy less of them.
• Learn how to cook fish and chicken in a packet of foil or parchment paper. It's an incredibly easy technique that is so impressive and is relatively foolproof. My fave chix dish is so simple, it's just boneless skinless breast, white wine (good enough to drink), olive oil, salt and pepper, mushrooms, leeks or onions, fresh herbs and lemon. I like to add thin slices of Yukon Gold potatoes, too. You just combine everything in a foil or parchment packet and cook it on 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. Try it, I promise, once you get the hang of it, you'll be improvising all over the place.

Okay, that's enough for now. More tips to come!!

The ideal snack (aka my lunch)...

Today I decided to care about my lunch. And since I'm feeling so blah, I decided that I'd fix something I love.

You know how a taste, a smell has the ability to transport you somewhere else?

Well the first time I ever had gorgonzola and honey was at Zuni Cafe in San Fran. It was our last course, and it was (literally) heavenly.

So here's the plate...

Stella gorgonzola with Marshall's East Bay Wildflower honey, Breton whole wheat crackers, organic Granny Smith slices, organic strawberries.

The only thing that could have improved this heavenly lunch would have been a fab sparkling wine...Chandon would be nice.

Today...

I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately about how to balance life, you know? Sometimes it seems like it's so difficult to do it all right, but not "too" right. Sometimes I do a really fab job making healthy food for my family, sometimes I'm a really good friend to my friends, to the environment, to myself. Most of the time I am marginal at best at all of these things.

With all of the research I do about how to live healthfully, most of the time it's about the health of my body, not the health of my soul. I wonder why I tend to think that "body" health is more important????

The book, "The Schwarzbein Principle" talks about making an effort to take care of the emotional self, too. At the risk of sounding like a 14 year old, "Duh!!" How can we not think about how our minds impact our bodies...about how stress impacts our adrenal system, for example.

A friend asked me the other day about how to support herself during her pregnancy so she wouldn't have thyroid issues after having the baby. That's a tough question! What part of our lives isn't connected to our hormones, to our adrenal system? The really tough question...once it's broken, how do we fix it?

I guess I'm in a rut lately. When do I take care of myself? I take care of my kids, I try to take care of my job, I try to take care of my friends, and I do a lousy job taking care of my husband...and then there's me. Wow. And I expect my body to work perfectly?

I guess the challenges of having a part-time husband are taking their toll, too. Where's the guide book? The secrets?

I always hesitate to talk about my emotional self. I feel uncomfortable doing it. In fact, this whole post is awkward. Yet, how can I ignore an entire portion of my being?

Maybe today I'll try to take a moment for myself. I'll try to stay away from e-bay, from my message boards, from my e-mail, from my research, from my kids, from my husband on the phone, from swim lessons, and friends I should call. Maybe I'll just listen to some music I really love and be quiet.

I'll tell you how it goes.

Kids and Vegetables....growing them up right

At the risk of being incredibly politically incorrect, I'm going to get up on my soapbox. So here goes...

I have 3 little boys, ages 6 down to 1. So I'm in a lot of places where other little kids are. Lately, I have been shocked at the number of overweight children. Yes, the news talks about it all of the time, but to actually see it with your own eyes is a bit different. On my son's t-ball team there are 3 incredibly overweight children. 3 out of 10??? Those are some crazy statistics.

So I am left to ponder...can Mickey D's really be held responsible for fat kids?? Of course not. Can parents? Of course. But lets dig deeper into the issue....what about schools?? You know, the places where most kids spend the majority of their lives? What exactly are school lunches? Are they whole grains? Are they fresh fruits and veggies grown in an environmentally responsible way? Are they pesticide/antibiotic/growth hormone free? Do they have quality sources of protein?

The answer to all of these questions....ABSOLUTELY NOT. And now I'm yelling.

pause...deep breath.

Growing up, I was the kid with the rice cakes, slathered with almond butter, carrot sticks and raisins in my lunch box. No milk money for me, no disgusting school salisbury steak. I must admit, I hated being that kid. I threw away those quality lunches some of the time because they were so incredibly embarrassing. I longed for Twinkies and PB&J on white bread.

Now I face the dilemna my mom surely had...How to pack a lunch for my soon to be kindergartener without ostracizing him. Hmmmm.

But back to veggies...people (correct that...other moms) are always asking me: How do you get your kids to eat such weird stuff? (Usually they're talking about asparagus or artichokes). And I say -- Uh, they don't have a choice?? So I admit it, I'm the mean mom on the block. And I might be kind of obsessive about my kids getting at the very least, five fruits and veggies a day. But frankly, it makes me sleep better. So there.

Sustainable agriculture...to me it means teaching my kids where their food comes from. It means really helping them to learn how animals are grown for food, where different vegetables and fruits are grown, and elaborate on the journey they take to get to our fridge. Because that's how I think we can change our "childhood obesity" epidemic.

Food is how we fuel our bodies...our bodies hold our souls so really we feed our very deepest being when we eat. My soul does not want to be fed Mickey D's. It's that simple.