On Life As A Picky Foodie

Have you noticed that when you feel like crap, it’s sometimes easier to keep falling down that rabbit hole rather than picking yourself up and going in the direction of feeling better?

As the Holidays strike, I’m flabbergasted at how different this time of year is in New York from London.  First of all, only one – yes one – person has told me about being hungover this entire month!  This is quite a change from last year’s December, which I affectionately dubbed National Hangover Month in the UK. 

Then there is the shopping/gift giving extravaganza which, while manic in both places, seems just ever so slightly more absolutely over-the-top insane in the US. 

No matter where you are, however, ‘tis unavoidably the season to reflect on the year that’s past and project onto what’s to come.

Which brings me to this: today sucked.  It did.  Not a little bit, not could have been better.  No.  Today was just crap.  It happens.  And the trick, I find, is to hall my buttocks out of it as quickly as I can.

What does this have to do with the Holiday Season?  Well, in my experience, people complain about how much they eat, how little they move, how irritating family is over the holidays.  And they vow to change everything from their fitness level to their marital status to the circumference of their waist in the coming year. 

By the time January rolls around the salespeople at your local friendly gym are ready to embrace you with open arms.  And for a few weeks, everyone’s resolutions are steadfast.  We eat only greens and (for non-vegans) poach our eggs instead of frying them.  We head to the treadmill with religious zeal.  And we make up with everyone we hated just two weeks before.  Why not, right?  It’s a new year after all!

Then February hits… And come March, we’re back where we started only without a big milestone like New Year to declare the first day of the rest of our lives.

Today was a bad day.  If tomorrow is one too, chances are the next day will be more challenging than if tomorrow is better.  So how to stop this from spiralling further downwards?

Start by taking stock, face what sucks: the pain, the fear, the sadness, the crap.  Try to take just a few minutes to look back and realize what went wrong, what felt wrong, and how wrong wrong actually was.

Then try to forget about it, go do something you love – recharge those batteries.  For me, this is writing.  I sit at the computer and… well, I could write a blog post, for example.  Or email someone I love.  Take a bath, sip something soothing, go for a walk. 

Take a moment to set an intention for the next day.  This could be esoteric and vague or super concrete: you can simply hope for laughter or you can plan hour-by-hour – whatever works for you and in your circumstances.  For example, tomorrow, I’m planning to enjoy a long bike ride.  The thought of breathing in all that fresh air and cycling over the Brooklyn Bridge is already lifting my spirits. 

Lastly, try not to take it out on the people closest to you.  For me, this is DW.  DW who came home early to help, DW who is doing the dishes as I type, DW who wants, more than anything, for me to be happy.  Never forget, the people who love you are on your team, they’re on your side.

So as the Holidays approach and the family closes in, or the loneliness stings a little more, how about taking a moment to plan how NOT to fall off the wagon by starting to treat yourself well NOW? 

And with that in mind, here’s some seasonal green smoothie greatness to savour and enjoy. 

Cranberry Parsley Green Smoothie

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 banana

1 cup apple juice

½ bunch or a handful of parsley

1 t pumpkin pie spice

1 date

3 t freshly squeezed lemon juice

Start by blending the first three ingredients until smooth.  Then add the rest and blend, once again, until smooth.

To your health!

The past couple of months have been a blur of boxes – packed and unpacked – shifts – mental, physical, emotional – and searching, looking, yearning for some kind of stability and, dare I say it, routine.  It’s funny that two adults needed a baby in order to have, and learn to cherish, routine.

The past couple of months have also, unfortunately lacked any kind of proper time to devote to me, my work, my writing, my Picky Foodie world.  Every night, when I sit at the computer it is to get things done so we don’t drown in administrative tasks.  And by the time I’m done with those, every part of me is completely shattered.  As a Holistic Health Consultant to myself, at that point, I recommend sleep. 

Still, so many moments that would have been wonderful to share here, have gone unrecorded.  However, today I knew I would be writing this down no matter how late it was or how tired I got.  Full-time motherhood is the hardest, most exhausting, most time-consuming job I have ever done and probably will ever do.  I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again: kids don’t come with a pause button.

But for all the challenges…

Today was a rough day.  Vida Lev didn’t sleep very much or very well and kept me up most of the night with constant demands to nurse.  It was also a day packed with activities, play dates and I needed to cook dinner to take over to a friend’s house.  When Vida doesn’t sleep, she can get grumpy (who doesn’t?).  When neither of us sleeps, well, it can get pretty trying.

I decided to take her to the park in the hopes that a little fresh air and a good run around might help.  She took off after the ball but then stopped and came running back to me in tears.  She demanded to be picked up but wanted to be let down again immediately.  Exhaustion coupled with an inability to verbalize what’s wrong.  Eesh!

Finally, she lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky.  A small smile appeared on her face.  She pointed at the airplanes, the birds.  “Ooooo” she whispered in awe of a falling leaf or a cloud.  Then she turned to look at me and patted the spot beside her. 

There we lay, staring up at the blue sky, the flutter of cotton candy clouds, feeling the chilly wind on our runny noses. 

“La la la,” she sang softly beside me.

“La la la,” I replied in a similar tone.

“La laaa,” she sang and waited.

It was my turn: “La laaa.”

“Laa laa.”

“Laa laa.”

“la la la la.”

“la la la la.”

For a magical moment, all that existed was the blue sky, the clouds, and my daughter and I singing a song together that had no words but felt like the clearest, truest love song.  Her voice went as high as it would go and then low low low.  And I followed, happy.  I felt her little hand grab my thumb.

La la la

Easy Easy Quinoa

These days, there is no time for fuss.  There is less time for dishes or planning or complications.  I thought I’d share one of our autumn favourites. (Although I’m currently no longer eating grains but that’ll be a post for another time).  It’s got greens, sweet seasonal root veg, protein-rich quinoa – this is truly a perfect meal-in-a-bowl or a fantastic nutrient-dense side dish.   And, it’s super versatile: make it with leftovers, change up the greens or grains you use, add different spices.  Or, do the whole cook once, eat three times thing.  It works, and best of all, it will keep you from missing magical moments because you were too busy in the kitchen.  

1 ½ cups quinoa

1 medium squash of choice, preferably one with edible skin (I love kabocha)

1/2 T coconut oil

4 onions

1-2 bay leaves

1 T balsamic vinegar

½ t cinnamon + ¾ t cinnamon

½ t ground cumin

pinch chilli flakes or to taste

1 bunch kale

 ¾ c raisins

water

salt to taste

Soak the quinoa overnight or throughout a work day.  Make sure you cover with enough water so it doesn’t get all soaked up. 

Drain and rinse well.

Bring to a boil in 3 cups of water.  Once it’s proper boiling, lower the flame and cook until the water is gone (around 45 minutes).

Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C

Chop the squash into bite-sized pieces. Combine with the coconut oil and mix well to ensure pieces are ever so lightly coated.  Sprinkle with salt, ½ t cinnamon, a sprinkle of rock salt and a pinch of chilli flakes.  Roast for 45 minutes. Pull out of the over and give the pan a good shake/ stir and return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes.  The squash is ready when it is easily pierced with a fork (but not mushy). 

Chop the onions into thin strips, put in a pan along with the bay leaves and balsamic.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Allow to simmer, topping up the water as needed until the onions are well-cooked (around 45 minutes).  There should be no water remaining in the pan. 

Finely chop up the kale. 

When the quinoa, squash and onions are ready, combine in a big bowl.  Stir in the kale, which will be slightly “cooked” by the heat of the rest of the ingredients.  Then add the additional 3/4t cinnamon, the cumin, an additional dash of chilli flakes and lastly, the raisins.  Adjust the seasonings to taste.  

Serve warm or at room temperature.

“My children / partner won’t eat that” is a response that I often get from clients. It’s not that they don’t want to make dietary changes, but the other people in their household will not agree to or go along with such things.

Wives fuss about their husbands’ eating habits. 
Mothers fret about getting vegetables into their children. 

Women spend hours in the kitchen making three, four, five different meals to satisfy every palate, and then worrying about getting missing nutrients in somehow.

There have been entire cookbooks written about how to “hide” foods – most notably by Jessica Seinfeld (the wife of the famous comedian) and Missy Lapine (who sued Mrs Seinfeld for plagiarism a few years ago).  Both of them advocate stealthily pureeing vegetables into every recipe so that kids (and fussy adults) won’t know they’re actually consuming healthy ingredients. 

Marion Nestle, food policy and nutrition guru rightly points out that, on the flip side, there is a trust issue involved.  How can a child (or an adult for that matter) keep believing the person making the food after they discover that ingredients they hate are being forced upon them anyway?  Personally, I would feel done over.

I’m thinking about recipes that involve beets in brownies, squash in pasta sauces, spinach in burgers.  And while these are wonderful and creative ideas, I think it is about how they are presented -- or whether they are mentioned at all.  I find the sneakiness problematic. 

When kids are involved, what is more important: nutrition or trust?

Where allergies are concerned, I think the dilemma is non-existent. And so too with food choices made for ethical reasons:

A few years ago, I went to dinner at a friend’s house.  They had my list of allergies and knew how sensitive I am to certain foods.  We enjoyed a great meal and had a lot of fun but on my way home, I started to feel ill.  I was dizzy, my stomach was upset, and a migraine soon set in.  DW called our hosts to find out whether they had mistakenly put anything in our supper that I might be having a reaction to.  The wife admitted that she had, in fact added a teaspoon of bouillon (containing yeast, gluten and sugar) to the soup.  Instead of apologizing, she remained incredulous: “It was just a teaspoon!  How much harm can that cause?” was what she said.

Other people I know who are a stealth vegans were at a dinner party once where the host proudly announced that the dinner they had eaten contained beef stock.  “But you liked it, didn’t you?” he demanded as if that was the point!

I don’t think I need expain how harmful these two events were to the friendships involved. 

There are great ways to enjoy healthy fare – it’s simply a question of figuring out how you like it. 

This week I made kale chips. It seems everyone is into kale chips these days.  Food bloggers have been raving about them ad nauseam and the market is exploding with packaged versions.  Still, the store-bought ones are never as good as the homemade version.  The first kale chips I enjoyed were whipped up by my friend, Ella from the The Regal Vegan.  They were crunchy, savoury, tasty, satisfying.  And healthy. 

Speed and ease have become of primary importance these days and these little gems are both.  (not to mention easy on the wallet!)

Kale chips are ridiculously delicious and if you google them, you’ll find that there are a million ways of flavouring them.  I kept things simple: a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, a smidgen of spicy smoked paprika.

If your partner or family has a hard time with things like kale, I dare you to whip up a batch.  Chances are, everyone will start thinking of this famous leafy green – symbol of all things terribly healthy – in a whole new way.

They’re kale, they’re crunchy, they’re in your face delicious – no need to hide anything anywhere (except maybe an extra batch for yourself before grabby fingers polish them off)

Kale Chips
(this recipe is for a baked version.  They are also a great raw snack if you have a dehydrator)

You’ll need:
-  a bunch of fresh, raw kale
-  any flavourings (options include soy sauce, salt, vinegar, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika – I recently read a recipe using cinnamon!)
-  oil (olive, toasted sesame)

*** the options are endless ***

Preheat the oven to 176 Centigrade (350 Fahrenheit)

Rip washed  kale off the stalk into large bite-sized pieces

In a bowl, mix the raw kale and the flavourings until the leaves are well-coated.

Spread in a roasting pan

Bake for 8 minutes.  Allow to cool before eating so they get nice and crispy.

Note: although these kale chips can happily be eaten on their own, they also make a great garnish in soups.  If you're missing some crunch, sprinkle some of these guys on top of a creamy potage!  For example, the spicy heat of smoky paprika provided a wonderful topping on sweet winter squash soup. 

Hello, "DW" here.  Lover of all things cappuccino, Pad Thai and Picky Foodie (I’m her husband). I’d like to discuss something today very close to my heart: time, or rather, the lack of it (and how I recently discovered a way of getting more out of the little bit that I do have).

We’re a busy family, and time is at a premium.  I’m a professional writer.  This means that theoretically, I’m the master of my own destiny.  Every day I count my lucky stars that I have no boss, no commute, and any timetable I’m plugged into is usually of my own creation.  

However, on a recent business trip to Los Angeles, that was not the case.

Morning, noon and night, I attended meeting after meeting on a crazy schedule that was dictated by others, planned in exquisite detail.  It felt like boot camp.  Each day had a metronomic regularity to it -- driving, meeting, driving, meeting, looking for a bathroom, driving, meeting, and so on.  At night, I would Skype my much-missed family, collapse into bed, and set my alarm for 6am so I could do it all over again.  

What’s more, I needed energy to be constantly “on,” all day, every day.  There was no margin for error.  

For the first time, the reality of “you are what you eat” made sense to me.   

Eating well while being constantly on the road can be a tall order.  Nutrition often falls by the wayside and in the past, I would more often than not give in to convenience. I had neither the headspace nor the time to plan ahead.  

A typical U.S. gas station sells petroleum products, chewing gum, and high fructose corn syrup in a variety of flavours and temperatures.  It being L.A., taco stands, fast food joints, hot dogs, noodles and burgers beckoned from billboards and signage on every street corner.  Try finding a sandwich that’s not laden with every E number in the additive alphabet, even in ‘upscale’ supermarkets.

Previously, I would have succumbed to these quick fixes.  If I needed a boost before a meeting, I’d have munched on a muffin in the parking lot.  But this trip felt different.  

Over the past few years, with my wife’s help, I’ve started trying to eat more healthy, green foods.  Although I still can’t say that greens are a natural choice for me, I have -- slowly – become aware of the effect they have on my wellbeing.  Last year, on a family trip to California, I found my desire for them had taken a leap forward.  I’m not sure why.  I think a lifetime of food habits don’t disappear overnight.   

This latest business trip proved to be some kind of tipping point.  Suddenly, energy was the premium. So I trusted my instincts, and took a first step.  I had a 'green' day.  Berries and an apple for breakfast, followed by a kelp noodle salad with mixed greens for lunch, a "green power" juice in the afternoon, a salad in the evening sprinkled with nuts, seeds and dried fruit. Even though I knew deep down what would happen, the results surprised me -- I felt fantastic. All day.  I sailed through a tough schedule and negotiated frantic freeway traffic with tons of energy and a clear head.  

For the rest of my stay in L.A., I made it my priority to choose green, veggie and raw as frequently and as plentifully as I could.  

As the days passed, I started to feel what my body needed for consistent, optimum energy. Salads, vegetables, and those amazing raw kelp noodles (they really are insanely delicious) filled me up and kept me alert, satisfied and powering through my day.  I made sure I was sipping lots of water, I put together a healthy trail mix for the car. In fact, I often took a detour in my already car-heavy travel plans to ensure I got a good, green meal.   

And it wasn’t just on the road.  I filled the fridge of the place where I was staying with green juices just in case I was running late in the morning and didn’t have time for a proper breakfast. 

If I'm sounding like a saint here – rest assured, I wasn't. I still had my morning coffee, and I had moments when I simply didn't have the option of eating what and where I would have wanted.  But the equation for me was simple: 

me + more veg = better day all around

Why this change of gear?  It’s my belief that these nutritional upgrades came slowly, through a long-term and continual process.  My life has recently filled up with these tentative steps towards healthier choices.  What I have not been is consistent.

It's not like I don't know the downside.  I know full well that no matter how much I desire a rich, cheesy burrito at lunch, twenty minutes later, I’m exhausted and reaching for an espresso to get me through the afternoon.

It’s taken me months, if not years, to internalise that when I eat more greens and more vegetables in general, I don’t just avoid exhaustion -- I feel positively great.  I’ve known in theory what’s “best” for me, but it’s quite something to actually experience it so profoundly.  

In L.A., I asked myself the same question at every meal: how will this food make me feel afterwards?  How will I feel for the rest of the day?  My choices weren’t about “being good”, or even “eating right”.  They were about “eating smart” and powering through. Finally.

The trip was a great success.  After two weeks, I returned home without the usual fatigue and flu-like symptoms that normally accompany me after periods of stress.  I put that down to my food choices.  (I have to admit that it also helped that, being L.A., the produce was exquisitely delicious.)  

Then, on my return, something began to bug me.  Why don’t I eat this way when my schedule isn’t as tight?  Why can’t I eat such supportive foods when it’s just me? Why don’t I go for greens more often?

Perhaps, the answer is: time.  You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it eat watercress.  Not until it knows, from first hand and consistent experience, what that watercress will do for it.  It took me time to realise how good I feel after eating greens and how that affects everything from my ability to concentrate to my relationship with my family, to the smell of my breath and the quality of my sleep.  It has taken me time to actively start seeking out healthy food.  It will take me more time to integrate these changes into my daily routine. But every choice I make, I still ask myself the same question: how will this food make me feel? 

Playing with our little girl every morning, I wish these moments would last forever.  As time goes by, I see how little of it there really is.  This only makes me appreciate the hours I do have and I for one want to squeeze every minute out of every day.  So today, as I go to work, I’d like to make use of the food that I eat to support that goal, make choices that will help me get the work done, live a longer and more vibrant life, so I can be with my family, and play with my daughter some more.    

DW’s Green Breakfast Smoothie
(serves 1 hungry writer – should easily keep him humming until lunch)

-  1 ½ cups liquid (coconut water or homemade hemp mylk*)
-  1 banana
-  1-2 pitted dates, depending on size and sweetness
-  ½ pear (optional)
-  1 T cashew nut butter or a handful of cashews
-  large handful of greens: watercress (a favorite), spinach, butter lettuce, kale (3-4 leaves, stalks removed) – use one kind of greens at a time and be sure to rotate them.
-  1T (rounded) raw cacao
- 1T mesquite
- 1t ionic minerals
- 1t supergreens powder (we use this one in the US and will try this one in the UK when we run out)
- 1/4t ashwaghanda (optional)
- dollop of Omega 3/6/9 oil (optional)

Briefly blend the mylk, fruit and greens.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend WELL (there’s nothing worse than a gunky smoothie).

Serve immediately.

*  to make hemp milk, use ½ cup hemp seeds to 1 litre of water.  Blend well.  Keeps up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  You can do this with pretty much any nut or seed.  You can also strain the liquid, depending on personal preference.  I keep it as is so we get the extra fibre.  

DW’s favorite Green Juice
(serves 2 as a non-alcoholic aperitif or a great afternoon pick-me-up)

Juice:
- 3 cucumbers
- 1 lg head of lettuce
- 4 pears
- 1 knob ginger

Drink immediately

Dear Friends --

Well it’s official – Spring has sprung; and with it -- alongside the flowers -- come bunches, bushels and forests of green.

Green, green and more green!

What do you think is the number one food missing in most people’s diets?

Yup, you guessed it – greens!!!

Green is the colour of spring, it is the colour of life, the colour of renewal.  The green in plants comes from chlorophyll – and the greener the plant, the greater the amount of chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll purifies, rejuvenates, it stops bacterial growth, eliminates odours and bad breath, and de-activates carcinogens, combats inflammation, builds blood, promotes a healthy gut, improves liver function, aids in the production of Vitamins E, A and K -- and that’s only a fraction of what Chlorophyll can do.

But mother nature ain’t no fool: every green plant offers its own unique range of benefits and properties.  In addition, all greens contain a minute amount of toxic alkaloids – and each green plant has its own variation.  So instead of having that same spinach salad for lunch every day, consider rotating your greens.  And there are so many to choose from!  Try some steamed chard, sautéed kale, tangy watercress with avocado, couscous and rocket, romaine on your sandwich. 

Still on the fence?  Well, one tried and tested way to get your greens is to blend them.  Combining greens and fruit can really help soften the blow for even the most reluctant green imbibers.

Need more proof of how amazing greens are?  My husband doesn’t need his cup of coffee on mornings when he has a green smoothie.  You may not know him, but trust me, that’s saying something. 

To get you inspired, here is my current favorite:

Blue Crush

(adapted from “Becoming Raw” by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD with Rynn Berry)

1 ¼ cups water
1 tablespoon almond butter
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1 cup frozen blueberries
½ bunch watercress or 1 bunch rocket
1 banana

Blend thoroughly and drink immediately.  

With love and crocuses,

Gabriela

P.S.  Have you secretly been lusting after a casserole for decades now?  Well lust no further!  That elusive nineteen fifties icon is back in style!  Check out my recipe for a white bean and parsnip version in this week's happily-ever-after Friday Night Dinner Blog.

P.P.S. Thanks to all of you who sent along friends.  Keep 'em coming!  The free Picky Foodie one-on-one counselling session offer is still valid for the next little while.  Here's a reminder of how it works: get five friends, co-workers, family members or strangers to sign up to the On Life As A Picky Foodie newsletter, and you will receive a free forty-five minute consultation with yours truly.  Simply ask anyone signing up to email me and let me know your name.