On Life As A Picky Foodie

Hello Peeps --

I simply can't believe it's March already.  It's madness, I tell you.  

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Liz, the winner of our giveaway!  Liz, please send me your email address via The Picky Foodie Contact sheet and we can take it from there.  I do hope you enjoy Parents Need to Eat Too -- let me know.

Secondly...  hmm... OK... well...

I have something to tell you...

There’s this thing, you see...

I make it thick and dip caramelized sweet potato wedges in it.

I thin it out with lemon juice or water and it dresses my salads well enough to conquer New York by night.

Or I grab my spoon and snack on it straight out of the jar.

The thing with this thing is that I can never make enough.  It seems I am constantly whipping up a batch only to make another because, well, this stuff goes fast around here. 

In case you’re wondering, the family doesn’t eat this quite like I do.  It’s just me, alone, with a spoon and this stuff, or a knife to spread it nice and thick, or a big big bowl of beautiful greens, ready to get gussied up.  Or a sprouted corn tortilla, a sheet of nori, a celery stick. 

Tahini is its nutty, wonderful self.

Miso adds a touch of earthiness.

And apple – cider and vinegar – make it sweet and tangy.

Then we wrap it all up with a nice green cilantro bow for a little left-field depth.

And Bob’s your uncle (or Eric in my case, and I think he’ll like it too)

This isn’t your average little concoction.  It’s rich as an eighties Wall Street Banker, and comforting like when you come home from a long winter hike and someone’s gotten the fire going in anticipation of your return.  It might seem a little strange at first, as if the tastes don’t quite know what to do with one another, but I dare you to stop after a few tastes.  My friend tried it, and while she declared, “this is weird,” she did so while helping herself for the third or fourth time.

Spread it, pour it, drink it.  It’s healthy enough to indulge in and decadent enough to enjoy regardless of how normally eat.

Then comment below, tell me what you think.  And please, be honest.  I’d love to know. 

Tahini Miso Spread

Ingredients:

½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (or ¼ cup dried – leaves, not seeds or powder)

1/3 + ¼ cup tahini (I know, weird, but it works)

½ cup apple cider

2 T miso

1 T apple cider vinegar

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 T water

Directions:

Start by combining 1/3 cup tahini with the apple cider, the vinegar, the lemon juice and the water.  Stir it all together with a fork until the mixture is creamy and smooth.  Then add the miso and the additional tahini and repeat.  You can thin it out until the desired texture is obtained.

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!