Lori, Author at Fake Food Free

Giving Up Soda: Lack of Access Makes It Easier

May 8, 2009

If you follow me at all on Twitter you know that I’m back in the US spending some time with my family. It is a wonderful time of year to be back. My Dad’s garden is green as can be and the strawberries are bright red just begging to be eaten right off the plant.

Every time I’ve returned to the US since living abroad for the last 20 or so months I learn a bit more about how my eating habits have changed for the better. One area in which I’ve made huge improvements is soda consumption, specifically diet soda, and I’ve talked about this some before.

I always considered myself one of those people who would never give up my diet soda. I had the attitude that even if it wasn’t the best thing for me, at least it wasn’t adding calories to my day and extra pounds to my thighs. I could live with that choice.

As my knowledge of the effects of aspartame and the ingredients in sodas grew I was continuously faced with the fact that this was a habit I needed to break. When I made the move abroad the opportunity to reduce and eliminate diet soda from my daily routine had arrived.

Don’t let me mislead you. Soda is being consumed in mass amounts in Brazil. In some areas, I dare say as much as it is the US. The only difference where we live is that there aren’t any fountain drinks; the locals in our area – mostly teens and children – share two liter bottles during their meals and snacks.

What has changed for me is my personal access to it. My habit when living in the US was to buy a 12-pack each time I grocery shopped, once a week to once every two weeks. I averaged about two a day – one mid morning and one late afternoon. Add that to the fountain drinks I had with me each time I took a road trip for work (about once a week ) and that adds up to a lot of diet soda.

Now, I’m in a place where soda is more expensive. Cans are sold individually or in six-packs at the very most. Two liters are available, but I’ve never liked them anyway. After a few months in my new home I found myself only occasionally buying a 20 oz bottle to drink and getting a can when I ate out. (The only place I’ve seen fountain soda is at McDonald’s and it’s not free refills.)

As I drank it less and less I began to truly feel the affects all those chemicals were having on me. It seemed each time I had one I felt sluggish, groggy and a little sick to my stomach. I’m thinking this is likely because my body had a chance to get everything out of its system before my next soda. It wasn’t constantly swimming through my veins.

I finally reached a point where it wasn’t worth feeling bad for a drink and I’ve not only reduced it, but pretty much eliminated drinking soda all together. I can’t say I won’t ever have one again, but if I do, it will be rare occurrence.

So now that I’ve made this change I find myself back in the US. From the second I enter the terminal of the airport I am surrounded by soda of some form and everyone is drinking it. To be honest it is almost difficult not to drink it.

As bad as I know I will feel, the pressure of advertisement and availability are hitting me in the face. I think about all the things that went so well with it before – pizza, Mexican food, salty snacks. I have been tempted multiple times after being home just two days. I’ve had to make a conscious effort not to turn to a soda as my beverage.

This experience makes me realize why many people can’t give it up. I consider myself darn lucky that I was put in a position where I was pretty much forced to reduce my consumption which allowed me to realize the physical effects of my addiction. Had I stayed in the US these past 20 months I may have reduced my consumption a little bit, but it would have been a lot harder.

Even when you know the risks associated with eating or drinking something unhealthy or unnatural it takes an incredibly strong person to resist the pressures of this society we live in, and the constant availability and advertisement which result in cravings. I think this goes for most unhealthy choices. It is not an excuse, it is reality.

I have learned a lot about myself and my eating patterns by giving up soda. I once had the idea that if I gave it up the aspartame would stop affecting my metabolism and weight loss would be easier. Wrong. I now realize how much I used diet soda as an appetite suppressant especially during the afternoon. While I’ve replaced that non-calorie, chemically laden drink with real food containing nutrients, I’ve also replaced it with calories. Yes, I’m better off, but weight loss has become even more difficult.

I won’t lie and say that I notice a major difference in energy levels or vibrancy since giving it up. In those areas, I feel the same, however, now I can identify when I have had one and it does affect how I feel at the time of consumption. Because my system has rid itself of all those substances it now recognizes them as foreign. This is a very good thing because it is foreign. I finally gave my body the opportunity to tell me this instead of suppressing the warning signs by pumping it full of diet soda after diet soda.

Overall, am I happy I gave them up? Of course! Whether or not I lose weight or have increased energy isn’t the important issue in this case. Diet soda was my main source of chemical sweeteners and it is now gone. I know without a doubt I am healthier for it. I want to fill this body with real food and soda is definitely not a real food.

What foods or drinks have you worked hard to give up for improved health, but find that the pressures of society (however you define them) make it a difficult task to accomplish? Have you ever been in a situation similar to mine where lack of access made making a healthy choice easier?

This post will be submitted as part this week’s Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

#5 Croissants

May 7, 2009

I love a good croissant, almost as much as I love scones. A few years ago, I read the book French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. At that time I was just getting interested in real foods made from scratch and putting in the time and effort to make them.

I’m sure many of you have read the book and will remember that there is a croissant recipe featured. I was really intrigued when I came across the recipe. I guess I always knew you could make them at home, but a croissant was something I always associated with a bakery…as in for purchase.

I was motivated at how simple the recipe appeared and after reading the book I copied it and filed it away, knowing one day I would try my hand at making them. Well the day finally arrived a few weeks ago! The croissants made their appearance at our Easter breakfast this year.

I was pleased considering this was my first attempt. They came out flaky and buttery. I do need to adjust the baking time on the next batch as they got a little too brown on the bottom. That’s okay because it only means I get to make them again!

At first it appears to be a complex process, however, there really are very few ingredients involved. Although the steps are spread out, each one is fairly simple. It got a bit confusing while reading the original recipe because I wasn’t sure when to use what, so I’ll split it up according to the day.

The croissants take three days to make and are ideal for a weekend treat on Sunday morning. To do this you’ll need to start on Friday.

Croissants
Recipe from French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

Friday Night

1 cup milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 ¼ cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm milk. Measure out 2 ¼ cups flour and add 2 Tbsp of this flour to the milk and yeast. Whisk until smooth, and then cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 20 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Meanwhile, mix the sugar and salt with the remaining 2 1/8 cups of flour. Prepare you mixer by putting on the dough hook attachments.

Next, transfer the raised dough of milk, yeast and flour to the mixing bowl. Warm the remaining ¾ cup of milk and add it to the bowl. Turn the mixer to high and gradually add in dry ingredients of flour, sugar and salt. Reduce the speed to low and allow it to mix until the dough is sticky and soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Saturday Morning

12 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
3 Tbsp flour

Using your hand and a plate or a clean surface, knead the flour into the softened butter until fully incorporated. Shape into a square.

Cover your work table with flour. Remove the dough from the fridge and begin to shape it into a 6 inch x 15 inch rectangle. Spread the butter on the top 2/3 of the rectangle of dough leaving a ½ inch border around the outside.

Fold the dough like a letter, folding the bottom 1/3 up first and then the top 1/3 down. Turn it counter clockwise so the open flap is to the right.

Roll it out again to a 6 inch x 15 inch rectangle and fold again. Transfer to a baking pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge for about 6 hours.

Saturday Afternoon

Remove the dough from the fridge, place on a floured work surface. Roll out the dough and fold just like during the morning. Do this two times, wrap it again and refrigerate it overnight.

Sunday Morning (You’re almost done!)

2 Tbsp milk for brushing
1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp milk for glaze

Plan to start this process about 2 hours before you want to eat the croissants. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll it out to a 16 inch circle. Cut the dough into quarters and each quarter into 3 triangles.

To make each croissant, roll the wide base of triangle toward the corner. Transfer each one to a baking sheet. Brush with milk and then let them stand for about 45 minutes. They should double in size.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Brush each croissant with the egg, milk glaze. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If they brown to quickly lay a piece of foil over the top during baking. Let them cool 20 minutes before serving.

Croissants also just happen to be #5 on my 30 Foods List!

Last Stop Blumenau: German Food in Brazil

May 5, 2009

On our drive back from Floripa we took the opportunity to spend the night in the city of Blumenau, Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina. We had heard so much about it since moving to Brazil especially about the Oktoberfest there. The one here actually does take place in October, usually the first two weeks.

This part of the country is in an area called the European Valley. Here there are towns with residents which have held tight to their strong European roots. The area reflects the cultures of Italy and German and in many places Italian and German are spoken as much or more than Portuguese.

Blumenau still has some remaining German touches within it. The main street through the city has a German feel and there are some buildings that look like they are straight out of old Europe, however, it has changed a lot. We’ve learned that you really have to go to some of the smaller towns to experience the strong German influence and unfortunately we didn’t have time this trip.

Despite the lesser German feel of the city, the food was top notch. The best part about the area was the beer. Microbreweries are all over the area some featuring selections we can’t get anywhere else. We stopped for beer and snacks in the center of town to get some Eisenbahn which is brewed in Blumenau.

We can also get this beer in Curitiba, but I it was incredibly fresh from the source and tasted amazing. My favorite is the Weiss. Our snack was fried mandioca wrapped in bacon. This was something different for us and I’m so glad we tried it. Mandioca (manioc, yucca) is a really unique root vegetable for me and it was excellent prepared like this.

Aside from all the seafood on the rest of our trip, the other meal we couldn’t wait to have was at the restaurant Frohsinn which sits atop the city offering some great views. We were really expecting more of a beer garden, but this place turned out to be a bit of an upscale restaurant. Good thing it is hard to be underdressed in Brazil! Jeans are pretty much accepted everywhere.

We couldn’t resist the Oktoberfest Platter. Of course they said it was for two people, but four could have eaten it. Look at this thing!

It featured stuffed duck, sausages, pork knee, some other random pork meats, spaetzle, pureed peas with bacon, sauerkraut and potatoes. It was quite a feast! I think the pork knee was my favorite. It was actually a little better than the one I had in Vienna last summer.

Another highlight is that we got to try a beer called Schornstein from a small town nearby called Pomerode. This is one of those varieties we can’t get elsewhere and it was excellent. It was lighter than a traditional Weiss and had a lot of the same qualities as a Pilsen, but with more flavor.

Unfortunately we were too full for dessert that night. Don’t you think we should be! You’ve seen all this wonderful food from our trip and now it has finally come to an end. From pastries to seafood to German fare it was quite a food-filled adventure!

Mango Caprioska & Challenge Reminder

May 4, 2009

I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of Brazilian cocktails. This is simply because, in general, the quality of liquor here isn’t top notch. Well, unless you are drinking Johnny Walker, but that is because it is among the varieties that are imported.

There are a lot of name brand liquors here, but if you check the back label you find they are manufactured in Brazil. To put it nicely, let’s just say that the country does rice, beans, red meat and a myriad of desserts much better than it does alcohol. Of course, limited quality alcohol is a small price to pay for all those wonderful things the country does do well, but it is for this reason that I often stick with beer.

This brings me to that ever popular drink, the Caipirinha made with the sugarcane liquor, cachaça. (Note, it is nothing like the rum of the Caribbean, also made of sugarcane, because it typically isn’t aged). I’ve had a couple of these drinks and I have to say I enjoy the variety of fruits you can add. Both the kiwi and the passion fruit options are great. The one thing I don’t like about the drink is the cachaça.

Before we moved here I enjoyed it, but now I really can’t stomach the smell. You see, the smell of this liquor is the same smell you get when you open a bottle of rubbing alcohol often used to clean the equipment in the gym. It is also the same smell you get when you pull up to a filling station to top the car off with alcool instead of gasoline. So needless to say, I’m not a big fan of sitting down to a drink with the same aroma as all of these things.

Not to put a damper on the Caipirinha, or its rich history, it just isn’t my thing. My advice is that if you drink cachaça go for the high quality (read: more expensive) stuff.

If I do order a cocktail, I lean towards the Caprioska. This is the same drink, but made with vodka instead of the cachaça. During our time at the beach, in honor of the all the mango business going on around here, I treated myself to a Mango Caprioska.

They are easy to make yourself and you can substitute any fruit for the traditional lime. Pineapple, passion fruit, kiwi and mango are all popular here.

Mango Caprioska

Half of a ripe mango, cubed
1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar
Crushed ice
Vodka

Add the fruit and sugar to the glass and mull together. Fill the glass with crushed ice and top off with vodka.

Speaking of mangos, have you entered the Mango Challenge yet? I’ve gotten some great entries so far and it is going to be a tough competition. I can’t wait to see what you can do with mango! The deadline is May 22nd.

I also wanted to address the comments of disappointment I have received and I sincerely apologize that I can’t make this challenge worldwide. If it were simply a book I was giving away or a small item, I would certainly change the rules, but this box is going to be quite heavy to ship. I hope sometime in the near future I can offer an international competition, but right now I have to keep this one for participants with a US address.

You can check out the original announcement for full details, but here are a few highlights.

Be sure to email your submission to lori(at)fakefoodfree(dot)com (I will respond that I received it) and include the following information:

First Name:
Recipe Name:
Blog url:
Blog post url:
Picture: (about 450 x 340 px)

Feel free to use the logo above in your blog post. (If you don’t have a blog, just send your name, recipe and a picture.)

All entries are due by Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 12:00pm CST.

Links to a Healthy Weekend!

May 2, 2009

Happy Derby Day!

I’m not in Kentucky to celebrate this year, but I can feel the excitement of this day all the way down in Brazil. I’m not a big gambler and I’m only a moderate horse race fan (I close my eyes during the start because I don’t want to see any horses get hurt), but there is something about the history and excitement that goes along with the Kentucky Derby that I love.

Maybe it has something to do with the Mint Juleps made of simple syrup, fresh mint and Kentucky bourbon, or perhaps the Derby pies with pecans, chocolate chips and more Kentucky bourbon. Around the Bluegrass there is a thrill in the air on this day that makes you want to celebrate with local foods and flavors.

My links for the weekend are a bit of a hodgepodge of things I’ve collected over the past two weeks. My reading has been limited with my travel, but I’m finally starting to get around to all your great blogs again.

These are my recent favorites. I hope you enjoy them!

Eating Well Anywhere had a recipe for making your own pork sausage. I really enjoy sausage, but I dislike overly fatty varieties. I’m so glad to have this recipe and an idea of what kind of spices to use to create my own, lean version.

Discover the World of Artisan Beef had a helpful post if you are confused about grass-fed versus grass-finished beef. The more I have been reading about the topic the more confusing I have found the information so this post and the provided links really help to clear things up.

Our Best Bites had a great recipe for a healthier, baked version of Chicken Taquitos. I can’t wait to try these as soon as I get my hands on some tortillas.

Keeping with the Mexican food theme, Mexico: Food, Drinks & More provided a culturally rich post about the different varieties of bread common in Mexico. I’ve really enjoyed learning about breads in Brazil so all this info quickly caught my attention.

This yoga resource from Women’s Health came to my attention via Twitter last week. It is so helpful! It lists several varieties of yoga, what they are, who they are ideal for and things you should know before trying them out. If you find the world of yoga a bit overwhelming like I do you have to check it out!

Hot dogs and spaghetti? Here’s a little freaky food fun from a link my BIL sent me last week. You have to give them credit for creativity for sure.

Photo taken at a morning exercise session, Keeneland Race Course, Lexington, KY

Shrimp and More Shrimp: Food in Florianópolis

May 1, 2009

We’ve only been to the coast of Brazil about three times now and when we go we overdose on shrimp and seafood to get us through until the next trip. It is possible to find salmon and some fish where we are in the interior of the country, but many shrimp dishes consist of those tiny little salad shrimp and really don’t satisfy.

I love eating shrimp in Floripa because I know it is so fresh. If you drive around the island to some of the beaches in the early morning you can see the shrimp boats out collecting the daily catch. There is nothing quite like shrimp and cold Brazilian beer.

They get really creative with shrimp on the island – steamed, fried, sautéed with garlic and oil, in a sauce over fish. My absolute favorite dish in Brazil has been Camarão na Moranga which is a shrimp and cheese stew baked in a moranga. Moranga, not to be confused with morango (strawberry), is a variety of pumpkin. Unfortunately on our first trip to the island I didn’t have my camera with me to get a picture and this time we didn’t get to have it, but I am searching for a recipe so hopefully I can feature it for you soon.

My other favorite is the siri – a version of crab usually stuffed in the shell or in the form of a fried bolinho or ball like a hush puppy. I had plenty of that this trip and the pictures to prove it!

As I mentioned in my last post you tend to sacrifice restaurant availability by traveling to Floripa in the off season, but fortunately we stayed at a hotel that was more of a resort. They had fantastic food and wonderful service all at great prices. So we ate at a local restaurant one night and had the rest of our food at the resort restaurants.

We started our first meal out with some bolinhos de siri served with a delicious homemade sauce similar to a tartar sauce, but much more flavorful.

The main course was a moqueca. This time we had it with shrimp and calamari. It was fantastic and as delicious as the version our friends helped us make at home. It was served with seasoned rice, farofa (toasted mandioca flour) and a pudding made out of mandioca flour that was almost like a polenta.

Lunch at the pool consisted of huge baked oysters. They were filled with a cheese and baked off until warm and crispy on the outside.

This was followed by my very favorite casquinha de siri, or crab mixed into a stuffing and baked into the crab shell.

The last time we were on the island we enjoyed sequência de camarão which is about seven courses of shrimp and seafood. We weren’t in an area of the island where this dish was popular so we had to settle for the Festival of Shrimp instead. It was tough, but someone had to enjoy this feast of differently prepared shrimp, fish in shrimp sauce, bolinhos de siri, potatoes and rice.

Waiters often serve you your plate at restaurants here, so I had to get the full plate shot and then a half empty shot of the whole dish. They kept the clay dish under a flame to keep it warm while we were eating.

All of the food was fantastic! They do seafood so well in Floripa.

I hope you aren’t quite full yet. We made a stop in Blumenau on the drive back. It is a city known for its rich German influences and resides in an area known as the European Valley in the south of Brazil. There is stuffed duck, spaetzle and German, well, German-Brazilian, beer to come.

A Trip to Floripa Part 1: Fitness & Desserts

April 30, 2009

Thanks so much for all the well wishes regarding my trip. It was a wonderful holiday filled with lots of excitement and equal amounts of relaxation. I have so much to share that it was hard to decide where to start. I thought I would tell you a little bit about the event that took us to Florianopolis and then finish this post off with some food highlights by having a little dessert first.

Floripa (the local nickname) is an island off the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. It is an area that combines a major city with secluded beaches, and is a very diverse place for travel. South American tourists flock there in summer months, usually from December until Carnival in February.

Not being one for huge crowds I really like the off-season there. Last time we traveled in November which was closer to tourist season than our trip this time. Unfortunately you do sacrifice a bit for the peace and quiet this time of year can bring. Many restaurants close up for the season or are only open on the weekends. However, as you will see, we didn’t have trouble finding some amazing food.

The reason for our travel was that my husband participated in the Volta á Ilha, a 150km relay around the island. It was an exciting event! The company he works for had one team of seven (which my husband was on) and one team of eight to run in the race.

The course goes from road, to sand dunes, to beaches, to mountains. It is certainly an adventure and last Saturday it became more of an adventure than most of the participants were expecting. The day started out in pouring rain, but my husband managed to finish his first leg in record time. The team was doing really great overall until early afternoon.

The rain and rising tide caused water to collect in the dunes along the course and wash out the check points. At certain places along the way the runners had to wade through waist deep water! This slowed them down, of course. Actually the second company team had to drop out. Things got pretty stressful for those of us waiting at the finish line at the end of the night.

The event was started at 6:45 am (earlier by others) and had to be finished by 8:00 pm. This meant the last three runners, including my husband, had to make some great times on their final legs. The excitement was amazing as we saw them coming down the finish lane. They completed the race with 7 seconds to spare!! How awesome is that? I was so proud of him and the rest of the team. They worked so hard!

Here are a few pictures of the event. First, my husband finishing his first leg in the pouring rain, next a check point on the beach and some runners completing the beach portion of the 12th leg, then another check point on the beach. I don’t have any great pictures of the finish line because it was dark, but I assure you there was plenty of celebration. Many teams crossed the finish line with Brazilian beer in hand!

I have so much great food to share with you along with details of our vacation portion of the trip. I thought I would kick it off with dessert. I think you can tell by my blog that I’ve come across some great desserts in Brazil. This trip I encountered some that have quickly become my favorites.

This tart is from a French bakery in Curitiba. We spent the night there to break up our 11 hour drive. At first, this may not seem too rare, but chocolate chips are really hard to come by. I have never seen them where we are living.

This tart had a chocolate cookie crust and was filled with a banana cake topped with walnuts and chocolate chips. The best part was that it wasn’t overly sweet. The banana wasn’t strong at all which made the nuts and chocolate really shine through.

Next, was the refreshing Crème de Morango. This is a spinoff of Crème de Papaya which is very common in Brazil. The papaya version includes the fruit mixed with ice cream and topped with Crème de Cassis liqueur.

We chose to branch out and try morango (strawberry) this time and were not disappointed. It tasted like a fresh, homemade strawberry ice cream straight from an old-fashioned bucket with a hand crank.

My husband and I agree that this final dessert may be the best and most creative we have had in the country thus far. The combination of passion fruit (maracujá) and chocolate is a delicious one and we ordered this dessert knowing it came with passion fruit sorbet and a brownie. This is what we got…

A passion fruit hallowed out and filled with a creamy and tart sorbet. Next to it and incredibly rich and fudge like brownie with nuts. Along the outside is the sweetened pulp of passion fruit with the crunchy seeds. Both the flavor and the presentation were impressive!

I still have a lot left to cover including the seafood feasts we enjoyed, pictures of the island and some German food and beer right out of southern Brazil. More to come tomorrow!

Beaches and Seafood

April 23, 2009

I’m headed off to do a little traveling in this diverse and interesting country. I had hoped to get some more posts up this week, but I simply ran out of time.

Next week, I will be back to blogging and will share with you some adventures of beaches and seafood from Florianópolis, Brazil. You will likely get a few fitness related notes too, as my husband is all set to run in the Volta á Ilha – a 150 km relay around the island. In addition, I’m looking forward to experiencing some of the German culture that is so prevalent in the south when we stop in Blumenau.

We took a trip to Florianopolis in 2007 so here is just a little preview of the reports and foodie fun you can expect next week. See you then!!

Praia Brava – Where we stayed on our first trip.

Sequência de camarão (Sequence of Shrimp) – A seafood feast!

Chocolate Shop – We stopped by on the drive. They had soccer balls made of chocolate. Big surprise in a futebol loving country.

Praia Mole – A great place to climb off all the food.

Setting My Own Guidelines

April 21, 2009

Lately my leisure reading time has been focused on the book Food Politics by Marion Nestle. The book is incredibly informative and revealing which is why I tend to cringe a bit each time I pick it up and progress through yet another chapter.

I have to admit that learning more and more about how food companies influence our government and the research which guides our nutritional guidelines as a country is discouraging. I would argue that it is even more discouraging to someone like me.

Why? Well, because I spent seven years of my life studying this very information; learning it backward and forward so that I could guide others in eating well and improving their personal wellness.

I wasn’t oblivious to the influences of corporations and food producers while in school. To be familiar with the USDA or work for them (indirectly) like I did, you know that food is an incredibly political topic which is influenced by many different powerful forces and talking dollars.

Marion Nestle’s book just takes things a step further for me and page after page I am continuously amazed by the fact that what we are told to eat is largely controlled, in one way or another, by food companies.

Don’t worry. I haven’t given up complete hope. I’ve known enough researchers at the university level to trust that there are people in this world who are focused on nutrition for the good of people despite the funding influences of companies.

I still think general dietary guidelines are a good place to start. I speak specifically of eating more fruits and veggies, whole grains and healthy fats. Those are all good things. What does bother me is the fact that some of the servings and suggestions of nutrients we need have ever so slightly been increased a bit to please the companies who produce such foods with those nutrients.

I’ve often felt that standards are bit high when it comes to nutrients. We seem to have reached a point where people feel they cannot get the nutrients they need without taking a fiber supplement or a vitamin of some sort. I get so disgusted with a certain fiber supplement commercial which suggests that the actor can’t possible get enough fiber from food alone or they would be forced to eat all day.

Aren’t we eating all day anyway? I think it is more the fact that we are eating the wrong foods.

I refuse to believe that we cannot get the nutrients we need from food alone. I don’t feel our bodies were designed to rely on artificial sources. It is about eating real food in the form and from the development that nature intended.

So I started thinking, since I’m having all these concerns about what other people are telling me to eat, perhaps I should come up with a set of guidelines for myself; things that I should strive to do when it comes to eating.

So here you have my personal dietary guidelines.

Reduce (preferably eliminate) all artificial and chemical sweeteners.

Use natural sweeteners most often such as honey and maple syrup.

Choose meats and dairy from humanely treated animals who consume the foods that nature intended them to eat. Don’t be afraid of the fats that come from these animals.

Choose local and in-season, naturally grown produce. Garden if you can.

Savor each bite. No excuses.

Celebrate food. It is meant to be enjoyed with others and represent family. There is nothing wrong with sharing in this practice together.

Make time to make your own food. Your health depends on it. Simplify your life to create more time for your health.

Eat from a variety of cultures and be adventurous with your food. Some countries have had it right for decades. Learn about their foods and see what you have been missing.

Avoid obsessing about guidelines. If you eat a variety of real foods from natural sources your body will get all of the nutrients it needs.

What are your personal guidelines? Have any to add?

This post has been submitted to Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade.

Photo credit goes to my nature-loving niece, Abigail

Links to a Healthy Weekend

April 18, 2009

I hope things are well where ever you may be this Saturday!

I have had a really great week. Thanks for such a positive response to Mango Week and I’m looking forward to all your great mango recipes.

I’ve been asked if the badge can be used to share the recipe challenge on your own blog and the answer is – absolutely! I appreciate anything you do to invite others to participate.

I came across so many great articles and posts this week that cover topics from gardening to travel to content theft. The food and health web-world was overflowing with informative stuff!

The Nutrition Data Blog posted an article about What Growing Your Own Food Can Do for You. Yet another reason to garden in any way you can. I also read the blog Gardner to Farmer which was mentioned in this post. It provides a wealth of helpful info for those who are looking to get started.

Veggie Trader is a site I found through Twitter this week. You can use the site to trade, buy or sell produce with other growers in your area. Such a great idea! You can get rid of the some of the extras you might have and also get your hands on a variety of veggies you may not be able to grow yourself.

Food Lovers Like Me took a trip to Panama and shared her experiences with us this week through pictures. The fish and corn soup with guava punch look amazing!

Bitchin’ Avocado is a blog written by Allen who also blogs at Eating Out Loud. This week he provided a very helpful post about How to Trace What’s Copied from Your Blog. He spreads the word about a content tracer he’s used to track who copies text and pictures from his food blogs. Very interesting stuff!

Photo of Iguazu Falls, Argentina