Let them eat... candy!

Hello! I'm back to writing after a long absence complete with plenty of changes and new adventures in the world of nutrition, food and wellness.  I am starting this blog up again with some short posts starting with this excellent article on how to handle Hallowe'en candy with your kids. I think there are lessons in here for all of us - what stands out for me the most is giving ourselves permission vs. restriction - which quickly amplifies our desire! I've been experimenting with this lately and find just telling myself I can have as much as I want of whatever it is I'm eating, or want to eat takes away the 'charge'. I find myself actually forgetting about whatever it was that was dancing around in my brain distracting me from my work a few minutes before.

click here for Ellyn Satter's article on the Sticky Topic of Hallowe'en Candy.

Beans – How to Eat Them… Quietly

Beans are a supremely valuable, nutritious food. They are delicious, versatile, easy to use, cheap, convenient and pretty much last forever.
Some people, however, have bad digestive experiences when they eat beans and understandably shy away from them. Beans can cause gas and digestive distress because of the resistant starches (carbohydrates) they contain, which are broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. These bacteria produce methane and sulphur compounds, i.e. gas, in the process. This can be really uncomfortable and well – unpleasant for everyone. But there are things you can do:

1) Experiment: Some beans are less ‘offensive’ than others and are better tolerated/more digestible. If one type of bean caused you distress, try others until you find a better match for your digestion. Here are a few tips to guide you: Soy- edamame and tempeh are usually better tolerated than other soy products (common offenders to avoid are TVP, soy grits and soy flour). Pink beans have higher concentrations of resistant starches than black beans, anasazi beans and apparently chickpeas. I find chickpeas, red kidney beans and lentils hardest to digest and I take the steps below so that I can eat AND enjoy them. 

2) Soak’em! : Soaking dried beans allows time for the carbohydrates to absorb water. Cooking speeds this process and softens them at the same time, however it is not a replacement for soaking. Many of the resistant starches are dissolved out of the beans and into the soaking water as well, which reduces the amount consumed. Soak beans overnight, discarding the soaking water and then simmer long and slow in fresh cooking water or use a pressure cooker. For this same reason, always rinse canned beans. The thick liquid they are packed in is full of resistant starches. So give them a good rinse before eating. 

3) Cook them properly: Bean are often undercooked and/or cooked too fast. A properly cooked bean should easily mash on the roof of your mouth with little tongue pressure. Cook soaked beans with Kombu – a sea vegetable that helps tenderize the resistant starches. Drop in a 2 or 3 inch piece to your beans while they are cooking. It may dissolve or you can fish it out once the beans are tender and discard the kombu. Eden Organics brand canned beans are soaked and then cooked with kombu.

4) Chew more than you think you need to: Digestion of starches starts in the mouth with salivary enzymes. Most people eat quickly and wash down chunks of food with drinks instead of chewing. The result - food passes to the stomach in large pieces with little effect from salivary enzymes. While beans do contain carbohydrates resistant to these enzymes, chewing ensures the beans are mixed with salivary enzymes so they can get a head start on these carbohydrates and also ensure that the beans are ground up to have more surface area so pancreatic enzymes released into the small intestine can do their work. Smaller bean pieces also mean that bacteria that finish digesting the resistant carbohydrates in your intestines can do so relatively easily and cause less digestive distress in the process. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference it makes to my digestion when I chew my beans very well vs. eat in a hurry and swallow larger pieces. Try it. You’ll be surprised. 

4) Grow happy gut bacteria: One of the reasons people get such smelly gas when they eat beans is that they dont' have many of the bacteria that readily digest the resistant starches in beans (and don't produce much sulphur in the process).  This makes sense, they aren't going to grow where there's no food (i.e. resistant starches). Other bacteria take over the job, and well, they stink at it! ;).   If you feed them, they will come... Building up a strong, healthy digestive system with a healthy, diverse gut bacterial population takes a little time, but is one of the most important things you can do for your health in general and you will magically be able to digest beans with little effect. Ways to promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria include: eating unpasteurized fermented foods (sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kimchee, miso, tempeh etc.), eating pre-biotics: foods that act as food for beneficial gut bacteria (bananas, artichokes, garlic, onions and... beans), avoiding anti-biotic sources (many factory farmed meats and farmed fish) and finding ways to manage stress levels which greatly affects digestion and bacterial populations (see my link to Relaxation Resources).
 

5) Start slow: If you are sensitive to beans try introducing them very slowly. Eat tiny amounts of beans (a spoonful of hummus, a swallow of soymilk, a few kidney beans) every day for a couple weeks then gradually increase the amount. You should be able to increase your tolerance this way and enjoy this delicious protein source . 

New Years Resolutions - A Better Way

An excellent article from Maya Naumann on how restricting foods just doesn't work. I love her slogan - All Foods Can Fit. Making space for the foods you love, whatever they may be, takes away some of their "power" or their forbidden appeal. When you know you can have more tomorrow, you're much more likely to notice when you've had enough today. Check out her website here for more on the non-diet approach.

January 2010 edition of Maya’s Sound Bites
15 Years ago, when I was 19, I had my first serious boyfriend. John was an American. He spent a year in Cape Town, then went to the US for a few months to work, back to Cape Town for a further year, then he returned to the US to study. A few months later, I went to visit him. This relationship gave me several opportunities for goodbyes, where I didn’t know how long it would be before I saw him again, if ever.
Those days, before the Big goodbye, we behaved strangely. Part of what that involved, has helped me to understand why dieting does more harm than good.
____________________________________________________________
Ignoring or listening?
The night before a looming goodbye, at around 22:00, my eyes would get scratchy and I would start yawning and feel a dip in my energy level- my body indicating to me that it needed sleep. I would, of course, fully ignore my body and stay up all night talking to John, because I knew that the hours were numbered and that I would not have the opportunity again for some time. A higher objective allowed me to tune this subtle prodding from my body out completely. Now, many years later, my husband sometimes tries to start a conversation with me at 22:00 (when I am really sleepy) I can tell him to hold the thought till morning or another day, because I need to go to bed. There is no urgency. I see him every day, and he is with me to stay. I am able to follow the lead my body gives, most of the time.
____________________________________________________________
Saying goodbye to favourite foods?
This is the time of year when the end of the festive season often prompts people to swear off all sorts of favourite foods. I’ve heard several conversations, read blogs and new year’s resolution articles to the effect. No more chocolate, sugar, dairy, meat, bread, beer, wine, fast food- or whatever the individual deems as damaging to his or her trim waistline – until an acceptable weight is reached. The forbidden food is shunned- kitchen cupboards are cleared, the food-chains come back on and the holiday excesses are replaced by restraint.
What my experience in a long distance relationship taught me is that the restraint causes (or at least contributes to) the excess - not the other way around!
Try noticing and responding to the subtle message from your body as you are eating your favourite ice cream – it starts with “wow, that’s really delicious, I’m really enjoying it”. Then, after a while it changes to “it’s getting a bit sweet now, I think I’ve had enough of that vanilla flavour, not much more space in here, please stop eating!”
If you know you can have the ice-cream again when you want to, it’s not hard to stop here, completely satisfied.
Try that again when you know that you will not be seeing ice-cream again for who knows how long. It is virtually impossible to hear (not to mention respond to) these communications when there is the knowledge that this will not be available again in the foreseeable future.
Instead of cutting these foods out completely, setting yourself up for another trip on the dieting merry-go-round, how about trying some more reasonable resolutions for the new year?
____________________________________________________________
New Years resolutions that stand a chance:
Instead of spending time trying to prevent yourself from eating certain foods, spend time learning how to do it really well when you do.
The key word here is “when”. If you accept the fact that there will be times when you eat chocolate/ice-cream/pizza etc, then you understand that it is necessary to be a competent chocolate/ice-cream/pizza eater. If, in the back of your mind you think that you ought not to be eating these foods anyway, and that the perfect version of yourself never touches them, you don’t bother learning how to eat them, because you have the expectation to stop doing so in future (when you become the perfect version of yourself) and don’t see the point in learning a skill you won’t have to use in the long term.
Try to let go of the idea that the ideal diet does not contain certain things, and accept that all foods can fit.
All foods can fit is the slogan of the South African Dietetics Association, so I’m not alone in preaching this! The question is, when you eat sweets, what is the “right” way of eating them? A few tips to get you going:

1. Don’t eat sweets instead of food. If you meet your appetite needs regularly throughout the day with balanced meals, it doesn’t take much to satisfy a sweet tooth.
2. Savour each bite. Eat slowly, take pleasure in the texture and flavour of what you’re eating.
3. Make a point of giving yourself permission to eat before you do.
4. If you are feeling ambivalent about a food choice - i.e. you feel torn between the part of you that wants to eat and the part of you that judges it as “bad”, you’ll have to ignore part of yourself when you eat. You force yourself to be fragmented, not the intuitive, attentive person you need to be to really tune in to your body. You’ll eat fast and you’ll eat guiltily, and it won’t be a good, satisfying experience. Because it is not satisfying, you’ll have to repeat it or have more to get the feeling you are after and end up overeating.

Family Dinners

The pace of life today can make family meals feel difficult, but with a bit of planning, a look at priorities and an understanding of just how beneficial they are, most of us can find time for at least one or two a week. If you live alone or with roommates you can take part as well... perhaps by having a friend over for dinner once a week or sharing a meal with your roomie. However you do it, and no matter what you serve, taking time to sit down to a meal at the table tells your family and friends (and yourself!) that you are worth the time and effort. It's a very nourishing act.

Here is a great post on the importance of family meals and making time to sit down together from my friend Amy, mother and full time worker.

Ellyn Satter is also an excellent resource for feeding families. See the side bar for links to her website.

Enjoy!

T'is the Season

It's that time of year. Everywhere you turn there is a party platter loaded with tempting delights and sugary treats... T'is the season of indulgence and decadence. Unfortunately, it often comes with strained family dynamics, loneliness, expectations and money pressures... and leads us to that all too common side dish: post-indulgence guilt.

Here are two articles I'd like to share with you. They are from slightly different angles but ultimately give the same message - EAT! Enjoy. Nourish yourself. Practice letting go of fears and shoulds and tuning into what you really, truly need. Celebrate! Here's to a supremely nourishing, decadent feast this Holiday season. Have fun, explore and send me a message about what you find out!


Marc David, The Institute for the Psychology of Eating

Every year since my first book came out in 1991, I am approached by at least one magazine to be interviewed on holiday eating. Generally, they're writing an article on how people binge and overeat and go crazy with food during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. "How to stop people from gorging themselves" is the basic theme. What are the tricks to harnessing our willpower, and preventing the horror of weight gain?

Every time an editor at some magazine or newspaper asks me these questions, they're so sincere, so looking for answers, and so dumbfounded as to why America can't seem to get it's collective appetite under control.

Truthfully, I'm absolutely finished answering such questions with "people need to eat more mindfully" or "put down your fork between bites" or "eat lots of fiber rich foods so you'll feel filled up."

Here's what I'd really like to say about holiday eating:

Go for it.

Eat, gorge, imbibe, let loose, express yourself, give in to your food fantasies, and let me know what happens.

The holidays are for celebrating. It's a time to open up. "The Feast" is a theme in life, and virtually every culture with a written record and a long history has its feast times when they celebrate full force with food, with music, with dance, with pleasure . . .
Oddly enough, without times in our year when we can "let go," it actually becomes more difficult for us to be "in control" during day-to-day life. Control and let go are two sides of the same coin, and each needs the other. For many people, once you give yourself the inner permission to feast, something can relax, and it's easier to feast in a "healthy" way.

The more we fear the gorging, the food, the pleasure of it all, the more we live in fear. And fear is perhaps the most unsavory and anti-nutritious ingredient in any meal.

Wishing you a relaxed, nourishing, and pleasure-filled Thanksgiving . . .

Enjoy the holidays,

~ Marc

Mindless Eating or Mindless Not Eating?

Nourishing Connections

Karin Kratina, PhD, RD, LD/N

Amy Tuttle, RD, LCSW

We've all heard about "mindless eating" and how it contributes to weight gain. But we don't often hear about mindless not eating and how it impacts our struggles with emotional eating. And yet for many of us, especially during this hectic time of the year, mindless not eating is one of the major reasons we end up eating past comfortable fullness.

Having too much to do and not enough time to do it, we find ourselves saying "yes" when we wish we had said "no," showing up when we really needed to lie down. As a result, we unintentionally ignore or delay meeting our needs. Though we are exquisitely tuned in and responsive to the needs of others, we become disconnected from the signals from our own body and spirit. We rush out of the house in the morning with no time for breakfast. We skip lunch to run errands. We get home later than usual, hours after our body has tried to tell us it needed fuel. Mindlessly not eating.

Inevitably, when we slow down after mindless not eating, and when we are no longer distracted by others' needs, our body naturally responds to our low blood glucose by letting us know, "Eat! Eat as fast as you can!"

When we combine this natural end result of mindless not eating with the challenges around this time of year that bring on emotional eating-missing loved ones, loneliness, worries about finances, and dysfunctional family dynamics, we increase the likelihood that we will end up eating emotionally.

It's easy to lose our mindfulness during the holidays and to mindlessly not eat. But if we can remember to include our needs on our "to do" list, stopping every couple of hours to eat, to breathe, to receive, to be, we allow ourselves the opportunity not only to avoid an emotional eating episode but also to be more fully present with the people we care about at this time of the year.

Stay Attuned Tip
Treat yourself like a little child. As you head out to each busy day this week, take time to prepare and pack meals and snacks. Stop to rest and feed yourself before you get cranky. Enjoy!

Don't save the good stuff!

I eat dark chocolate just about every day. I love it. Especially the way it melts into a creamy puddle on my mint tea-warmed tongue. Sometimes I eat a square. Sometimes 3 or 4, but rarely more than that. It's not a matter of willpower, but rather tuning in to when I feel satisfied vs. a little bit sick.

I follow a few simple quidelines when it comes to food and one of them is to choose the highest quality I can of the foods I enjoy.

My roommate found this one out the other day. She is young, on a working holiday visa from Germany and definitely a fan of chocolate. I find various wrappers around the house, usually of the sugary, milk chocolate, cornerstore variety (with very little actual chocolate in them). She was on a chocolate hunt the other night but the neighborhood corner store was closed so I handed her the remainder of a bar of Lindt 65% dark chocolate from my stash.

She walked in yesterday with her own bar in hand saying, " Wow - this stuff is amazing! I can only eat 1 or 2 squares, it's SO good! Normally I'd eat a whole chocolate bar but I only want a bit of this!"

So much for willpower and moderation. Here's to the power of pleasure.

Not only did she get more satisfaction from less, that little bit she did eat was packed with magnesium and antioxidants and lacking the additives and strangely processed milk ingredients and sweeteners of the convenience store variety. I appreciate getting some nutritional value along with some nourishing delight. Small acts add up after all.

Overeating - how we compensate naturally

One of the most fabulous things I've learned in my nutrition career so far: When you tune in and eat with awareness your food intake will naturally balance over time. Your body doesn't "forget" the calories you eat.

If you overeat at one meal - don't fret! Your body will naturally compensate at the next meal - you will be less hungry.

Tuning in is the best way to take advantage of this innate mechanism. Eating with awareness to the point when you are 'done' - when you feel satisfied and have had enough food vs. when you 'should' - is the key.

I used to eat 'quick and distracted' almost all the time. It felt great in the act but about 20 minutes later I would feel uncomfortably full and guilt would start to set in. Then strangely... that guilt would make me feel like there was no point in even trying to "eat healthy" that day because I had already "messed up", so I'd often eat again when I wasn't even hungry yet and eat more than I needed - again. This cycle of overeating and guilt and 'shoulds' continued and it was not fun. There was little pleasure here. I was forgetting something important - it's not one meal that dictates your entire diet. It all balances out over time, if you let it.

Guilt and judgment are the best ways to override those natural, intuitive signals from the body. Plus they just aren't all that fun to experience.

Through practicing eating with attention and trusting my body, I discovered that when I ate a rich meal or ate more than I "needed", I wouldn't be as hungry at the next meal or snack time. I noticed, (profoundly), that my body would just naturally regulate my hunger so that I always seemed to want just enough food. It's really fantastic. Whenever I feel "off track" with eating - I never think about what I should eat, I focus on relaxation and tuning it. It works.

Eat whatever you want, just eat it with attention. Seriously - anything you want.

It can be difficult to tune in and eat. It takes practice. But it is worth it. (Imagine eating and feeling good after, no matter what you eat..!). Taking a minute to calm down and relax and eating with pleasure all help tuning in happen naturally.

Try it out. Aim for two minutes of exquisite attention at each meal. Just two minutes. Be a hedonist. Relish every bite of that rainbow-sprinkled donut. It will likely taste better or perhaps you'll notice you'd actually rather save it for later. You'll also start to notice naturally when you feel like you've had enough.

Will power has nothing to do with it. Tuning in does.

For more information on eating with awareness - here is an article on mindful eating.

Sometimes we eat to cope with emotions (which is perfectly valid) - here is a great article from Ellyn Satter, RD discussing emotional eating and overeating.

I'd love to hear your experiences with tuning in!

Vegetarianism - with a side of meat.

If you choose to eat meat, adding it as a component of a dish instead of as the main course makes a lot of sense - nutritionally, economically and environmentally.

Meat is a nutrient rich food, containing heme iron and B vitamins as well as plenty of protein.

Meat has some fancy little tricks to it too - like MFP Factor (Meat, Fish, Poultry Factor). This compound is present in yes - meat, fish and poultry and actually makes non-heme iron (the kind of iron found in plant foods) more easy for the body to absorb and use. So not only does meat add some readily absorbable heme iron, it makes the non-heme iron in the rest of the dish more usable as well. Pretty neat.

Meat is a rich food that doesn't need to be eaten in large quantities, so adding a little bit to your meal adds a lot. In our culture, meat tends to push other foods off the plate. This is likely the reason that vegetarians do better on almost all health indicators. It's what they DO eat, not what they DON'T that is the key. Meat is missing a lot of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all of the fibre we get from whole grains and vegetables. Again, just another reason to enjoy lots of different foods, not to worry about what to eat.

Think of the cuisine of Thailand, Malaysia and China. Noodles with bits of shrimp and pork scattered throughout... Or Latin and Italian cooking, where small amounts of flavourful meats are added to bean dishes such as my favourite Kale and Chorizo soup (below). Just one or two sausages flavours and ups the nutritional value of an entire pot of soup. This is your varied diet in a bowl, and it's economical.

Adding something you LOVE to some foods you maybe aren't quite as jazzed about is a good strategy for increasing your variety but doing it from a place of enjoyment. Now THAT's sustainable.

Read more about choosing meat and how reducing your meat intake benefits the environment here.

What's your favourite "meat as a flavour component" dish?

Portuguese Kale Soup with Chorizo and White Beans

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium sized carrot, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound chorizo or other smoked pork sausage**
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups diced Yukon Gold potatoes or waxy potatoes OR sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or chop a handful of fresh rosemary, thyme and basil leaves
1 bunch kale
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes
2 cans (18oz) white beans such as cannellini, drained
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
fresh lemon

1) Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Saute the onion and carrot until soften - 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook stirring frequently, about 2 minutes.
2) Add the stock, chorizo, herbs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15minutes.
3) Rinse the kale and lay leaves on top of one and other. Slice crosswise into 1 inch ribbons or tear into bite sized pieces. Add the kale, tomatoes and beans to the soup and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.
4) Season with salt and pepper and lemon to taste.

** for a vegetarian version - omit chorizo and add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
This soup freezes well!

Recipe adapted from Myra Goodman's Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook: Food to Live By.

I hate strawberries

Ok not really - I love them - but I do dislike those monster sized, hard, white on the inside, strangely shaped, available all year round strawberries that get shipped in from California or wherever. But thankfully it is, (finally!) right now, in BC - strawberry season! Hooray!

That means perfect, little, juicy, red on the inside, strawberry shaped (yes! like in kids books!) gems - at affordable prices. sigh. Heaven. All they need is a little wash. Add some whipped cream to go over the top or my favourite - coconut milk ice cream or my new favourite - coconut sorbet! I've been buying BC strawberries almost daily because the season is short and I just can't bring myself to eat them at any other time of the year.

Strawberries are also one of the fruits with the greatest pesticide residue so buying local and organic is a good way to reduce your exposure. Both are more affordable now as well.

I think that a lot of people say they don't like fruits and vegetables because they have never tried them at the peak of their season, when they haven't traveled miles to their plate, haven't sat in storage, and haven't been picked way too early and under ripe so they never have a chance to develop their real flavour and texture.

Even me - who really dislikes raw tomatoes - actually enjoys a fresh tomato salad in the peak of summer when the tomatoes are vine ripened and bursting with sweetness. That gross, weird texture disappears and the pungent tomatoey-ness disappears under the juicy sweetness I just adore. I'm looking forward to August.

Why not check out your local farmers market and what's in season for a chance to try out what whole fresh foods really should taste like and then gorge on them while they are around?

Here is a very simple Italian recipe that highlights the extraordinary freshness of local strawberries.

Enjoy!

Positive Experiences

Here is a great article about how pleasure, enjoyment and positive associations create a healthy diet (by eating a wider variety of foods, especially whole ones).

It explains how our tastes are shaped initially, are very individual (by genes - i.e. the bitter "super taster", and exposure) and can change over time. I especially agree with the no-pressure approach mentioned - providing tastes but never insisting and the show-don't tell approach - if you truly enjoy fresh, whole and a variety of foods, your kids, spouse, friends etc. will be more comfortable trying them too.

I see this time and again in my kid's cooking classes with Sprouting Chefs. Just yesterday our 9 and 10 year olds cooked up a fabulous potato and arugula pizza and potato pancake lunch using spuds grown by Ms. Zimmerman's grade 4 class at Cherry Hill Elementary in Mission. One of the boys refused the potato pancakes, only to come back 10 minutes later claiming he "didn't get any potato pancakes". Watching his friends rave about them probably made him wonder what he was missing. He was the first to ask for seconds too. Positive peer pressure at it's finest.

I was also super impressed to see 90% of the kids eating their pizzas topped with the arugula - a peppery, slightly bitter green. Never assume kids will eat only "kid's food" - whatever that is. Kids are learning how to eat like adults - so let them have the experiences they need to do just that.

Here's the recipe for that fabulous potato pizza. You can use a store-bought base to save time. Look for a product with a short ingredients list. If you avoid gluten like me – try Pamela’s Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix. The bag has a recipe for pizza dough and makes 2 really delicious, chewy thin 6 to 8” crusts. You can freeze one for another day.

Finally - save prep time by using a mandoline. You can buy a cheap plastic one for around $10. I use mine all the time. It's super useful.

Rosemary Potato Pizza

Pizza Dough:

Starter

½ cup All purpose flour

2 cups Warm water

2 tsp Dry yeast

1 tbsp Honey

Combine the flour through honey in a bowl. When mixture begins to bubble move on to next step.

Dough

4 cups All purpose flour

1 cup Multi grain or whole grain or rye flour

1 tbsp Sea salt

4 tbsp Olive oil

In a large bowl measure flour and salt. Whisk to add air.

Add the starter to a large mixing bowl. Add the olive oil. Mix. Add dry ingredients 1 cup at a time and mix well with wooden spoon after each addition until mixture forms a ball and comes away from the bowl in a clean way. You may or may not need to add more flour depending on the weather (humidity)! When ball forms, take out of bowl and knead with the palms of your hands. Fold the dough in half towards you, press down with your palms away from you, fold over again, and repeat for 5 minutes. Add a bit of flour to keep the dough from sticking but do not add too much and make the dough too dry.

Let rest and rise until the dough is double in size. 1 to 3 hours.

Topping Ingredients:

2 handfuls Rocket or Arugula Leaves

50 Gr. Parmesan Cheese (optional)

4 stalks Rosemary

4 to 6 small New Potatoes

¼ cup Olive Oil

1 tsp Sea Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 450F.

Rinse arugula and dry well in a salad spinner or roll up the leaves in a tea towel. Keep cold in a fridge until ready to use so they don’t wilt.

Meanwhile, prepare the toppings. Set out the cutting board. Shave pieces of parmesan cheese, using either a grater or peeler. Strip rosemary needles from stems and reserve leaves. Slice potatoes very thinly using a mandolin. Add sliced potatoes to large bowl with rosemary, olive oil, salt and paper. Toss and mix together with hands until lightly coated in oil. Oil the pizza pans with olive oil.

Press out the dough, 1 batch per tray until the dough reaches the edges and is all the same thickness. Arrange slices of potatoes on the dough overlapping as you go and sprinkling with grated parmesan (optional) leaving some for the end.

Drizzle the pizza with the last of the oil and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are very crusty and golden and the cheese is bubbling.

Once done, transfer the pizza onto a large cutting board and cut into 8 to 12 pieces.

Serve topped with a handful of the fresh arugula. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil if you like.

I promise you this combo is a million times better than it sounds! Amazing. Seriously. I know what I'm having for dinner.

Recipe: Stephanie Alexander: Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids

The French Paradox

Heard of the French Paradox? It goes something like this: The French eat a lot of rich foods - butter, cream, fatty meats and luxurious desserts - adding up to more dietary fat intake than the average North American. They drink and smoke more and exercise less BUT they also have lower rates of heart disease. How is that possible?

American scientists boiled it all down to a polyphenol called resveratrol found in red wine, a staple of the French diet. First newspaper headlines told us to drink more red wine then, lucky for us, scientists created little pills of resveratrol to save us the bother of actually having to drink a glass to get the heart protective effects.

I think they missed the point entirely.

The French have a completely different relationship with food. In a study conducted to test different nation's attitudes towards food, (sample question: "The word I most associate with ice cream is (a) fattening (b) delicious"), the French rated the highest in pleasure associations (i.e. ice cream = delicious). Americans associated food most with health outcomes (i.e. ice cream = fattening) but were also the least likely to rate their own diets as healthy! I imagine Canadians are not much better off.

We are a continent of worriers carrying a lot of guilt around food and eating. All that food knowledge and nutrition info and we still don't "eat well". The French eat and make food choices based on enjoyment AND they get lower heart disease risk while they're at it? Sold!

There's a little more. The French also take time to eat. Lunches are commonly a few hours long and tend to be the largest meal of the day (right when your metabolism is most active - i.e. you use vs. store what you eat). They eat in a more relaxed state vs. eating little bits here and there between meetings and phone calls or behind the wheel. Food and time together at meals is celebrated and cherished. They value the quality and freshness of their food above all. They didn't even have a term for "fast food" until recently. All that pleasure leads to a varied diet - about the only thing nutritional science can confidently say consistently leads to better health.

A two hour lunch may not be a possibility in our culture, but taking even an extra 10 minutes to eat away from your desk or just stopping the car to eat by the side of the road will help you to relax and really enjoy what you're eating. This simple shift will do wonders for both your digestion, your metabolism and your feeling of satisfaction from your meal - you may notice less desire for treats or snacks later on when you really tune in and relish your meal. But most important of all - eating will be more pleasurable.

Let's all be hedonists for lunch - for your health.

Want to read more re: how we eat is just as, if not more important than what we eat? Here's an article I wrote about bacon, and my sexy French Canadian neighbour last year.

And here is a deliciously decadent and relatively simple French recipe to enjoy:

Tarragon Chicken

serves 4

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chicken (about 3 pounds/1.4 kg), cut into 8 pieces (a great how to video).
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 shallot, minced
1 cup crème fraîche (or full cream)
1/2 cup chopped fresh tarragon
Lemon juice to taste

Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over quite high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and fry in batches until well browned, about 5 minutes per side.

Put all the chicken back in the pan, add chicken stock and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm and reduce any leftover juices until sticky. Add the shallot and wine and reduce to a thickish sauce, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and half the tarragon. Boil down again to sauce consistency, 3 to 5 minutes.

Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Put back the chicken pieces, turning to coat, then transfer to a platter. Pour the sauce over, scatter over the remaining tarragon, and serve.

Recipe: Laura Calder, French Food at Home


Tarragon has a slightly peppery, mild licorice flavour and is extremely high in antioxidant activity - an added bonus. Fresh tarragon will keeps it flavour for 3 to 5 months if frozen in an air tight bag.

References:
Marc David - The Slow Down Diet
Ellyn Satter - Secrets to Feeding a Healthy Family

Fresh Herbs!

One of the things I love most about summer is effortless meals like BBQ chicken and simple salads packed with fresh herbs.

Herbs add lovely flavour and colour to easy dishes but they also add a surprising amount of nutritional value. Parsley contains 3 times more vitamin C than an orange! Herbs are dense in minerals too (like calcium and iron) and they top the charts in antioxidant activity, higher than any fruit or vegetable tested. Oregano has an antioxidant score 4 times higher than blueberries!

Herbs even contain potent phytochemicals shown to protect against cancer. For example, dill can help your liver detoxify carcinogens produced by charcoal grilling meats (as if my Ukrainian blood needed another reason to put a few handfuls of chopped fresh dill on my potato salad...).

Herbs have been used medicinally for centuries. Most act as digestive aids (mint, dill, basil) helping you get more from your meal. Others such as rosemary can reduce inflammation. The list goes on...

I always keep cilantro and flat leaf (Italian) parsley on hand. They will last for a week or more in the fridge if stored properly. Wash and dry, roll up in a dry tea towel or paper towel and pop into a plastic bag and seal. The goal is to control the moisture content. Herbs have all they need in their leaves already, so keep it there. Any extra moisture leads to decay.

Here's a great recipe from Jamie Oliver for trying your hand with fresh herb cooking.

And a great primer from Culinate.com on using and growing culinary herbs.

If you are looking for uncomplicated recipes using fresh herbs, one of my favourite cookbooks is The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor. Try the cinnamon basil chicken or the lavender lemonade!

For more information on using herbs as medicine, another favourite: Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health

Is this still ok to eat?

I live for leftovers. It's a smart way to feed yourself well, on a budget with a busy lifestyle. When I cook or eat out I want more than one meal for my efforts or my dollar, so I freeze portions and/or leave some in the fridge for another day's meal.

After a few days go by I start to wonder if that leftover shrimp fried rice is still ok to eat. I hate to throw out food but I'm not too keen on poisoning my friends (or myself) either...

If you often find yourself peering into the fridge wondering -- How long exactly does cooked rice keep? Is it safe to cook that chicken I defrosted on the weekend? Are those eggs really bad past the best before date? -- then check out this fabulous website:

http://stilltasty.com/

Type in an ingredient and choose a preparation technique (raw vs. cooked, egg salad vs. boiled eggs etc.) and you get a safe time frame for storing foods in the fridge or freezer plus great tips on how to do it.

What's Your Rat Park?

Rat park?? Yup. Reading an article recently, I came across this study by a researcher from SFU and it really hit home for me. The researcher noticed that lab rats almost always become addicted when exposed to drugs. Rather than assuming addiction was a predisposition in rats, he hypothesized that the rat's eagerness to indulge in morphine-laced sugar water had more to do with an attempt to 'escape' the miserable, boring, living conditions they endured.

To test this out, he created Rat Park - a rat paradise complete with toys, greenery, junk to explore and most importantly; other rats. When Rat Park residents were offered the same sugary-morphine solution, they were only mildly interested and most skipped it altogether.

Amazing no? Working on some non-nutrition work and sitting at my desk a lot more than usual this month, a very predictable thing happened to me: the cravings started. First it was chocolate and coffee then chips and salty snacks and crunchy things... edible stimulation.

Just as the Rat Park study suggests, this reaction from my body and brain is completely normal and expected. When life’s just not enough, when we aren’t getting enough stimulation, creative outlet, physical activity, fulfilling work, social interaction - whatever we need - we turn to ways we’ve learned to get that feeling of sensation and satisfaction quickly– food, caffeine, alcohol - you name it.

Food is an especially effective, available, and socially acceptable way to get that "ahhh" feeling.

Using food as a coping mechanism is completely valid and ok, but eating without awareness can be just like slapping a sugary band-aid over dissatisfaction because we aren't looking at what's bringing on the cravings in the first place.

When our lives are fulfilling and we're getting what we need (enough sleep, good food, sex, fun movement we enjoy, social time and ideally - work that energizes us etc.) we're much less likely to need a fix be it from morphine-laced sugar water, chocolate or chips.

So as much as those sugar cravings feel like an addiction, the remedy has nothing to do with willpower - it's all about loading up on pleasure (the inedible kind) and things that nourish and fulfill you.

What would your Rat Park be like? What can you do right now to make your life a bit more like it rather than slapping a sugary band-aid over your feelings of discontent?

Here's a simple recipe I made to feel nourished after that depressing first week...

Gingery Chicken Leek Soup

serves 2

3 cups chicken stock

1/4 of a yam (about 1/4 cup) - cut into cubes

1 leek

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 inch piece of ginger - peeled and grated or minced (try scraping the skin off with the back of a spoon)

2 green onions - minced

Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Leftover cooked chicken breast, shredded (or poach one**)

1 cup cooked rice

Ume plum vinegar

Black pepper

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan and add the yams. Simmer until the yams are tender, about 5 minutes (see ** below if poaching a chicken breast). Meanwhile, prepare the leek (check out this how-to video) trim the roots off the leek and cut off the darker green (tougher) top (great for stock - throw it in the freezer!), saving the lighter green and white parts. Slice lengthwise down the leek and rinse both halves under water to remove any sand and dirt that leeks are notorious for hiding in their leaves. Slice each half into 1/4 inch pieces or so.

Heat a frying pan with the olive oil and add the leeks and ginger. Saute over medium heat until the leeks are soft. Drizzle the sesame oil over the leeks. Add the leeks to the stock and yams.

Fill a bowl with half the cooked chicken and rice (preferably brown) and ladle the hot soup over top. Sprinkle with green onion and cilantro. Add ume vinegar - a delicious Japanese salty/sour condiment that is the leftovers from pickling plums - and some fresh ground black pepper, and extra sesame oil to taste.

Enjoy!

** - to poach a chicken breast - place the breast in a saucepan and cover with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. Barely simmer (the top of the water should just "shimmer") for about 15 minutes (you can add the yams after 10 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pan, saving the stock and yams for the soup. Let the chicken cool enough to handle them pull it apart into shreds with a fork.

Eat Happy

If you're like me and your science-brain still craves some hard data to back up the fact that you feel better eating more real, vibrant food - here's a study out of Australia...

Researchers found that eating a traditional Western diet (high in processed foods, refined sugars, poor quality beef and animal foods (ie - factory farmed/corn fed)) lead to a 50% increased likelihood of depression vs. eating a whole foods based diet (including a good variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts/seeds, grass fed beef/dairy and free range chicken/eggs).

Read the article HERE.

So, as my brother likes to say: here's to feeling good all the time!
Try this simple, delicious way to get some of that variety onto your plate...

Honey Lime Roasted Butternut Squash

1 x 3lb butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lime***
1 tsp. honey, maple syrup or agave nectar
sea salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Peel the squash - this is about the hardest part of this recipe. The safest way I have found to do this without dismembering yourself - is to take a chefs knife and cut each of the lengths into 4 pieces. Then take a piece and place firmly on the cutting board and slice down and away from you removing the skin and as little flesh (both yours and the squash's) as possible. Move around the piece until you've got all the skin off. Go slow and you'll get the hang of it. A vegetable peeler doesn't seem to work on that thick skin and a small paring knife felt treacherous to me.

Once the squash is peeled, dice into 1 or 2 inch cubes.

Grab a metal or pyrex baking dish big enough to spread the squash in one layer. Toss the squash with the olive oil, lime juice, honey/maple syrup or agave nectar, and add salt and pepper to taste. I gave some quantities as a starting point here, but I usually just eyeball it and taste as I go.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the squash is fork-tender, stirring once during baking.

Serve as a side dish, add to black beans and rice, or to top a spinach and quinoa salad, drizzled with lime/olive oil/garlic dressing with a pinch or two of ground cumin. Delicious...

** The juiciest limes and citrus fruits are the ones that are heavy for their size, glossy and vibrant in colour and still have the calyx (the little stem bit) attached to the end. When this is gone, the lime is older and likely dried out. Avoid limes with lots of dark patches, a few is fine but more can indicate an undesirable mouldy flavour. To juice a lime, first roll it back and forth on the counter while pushing down with the heel of your palm. This breaks up the tiny juice vessicles so you'll get way more juice out. Cut it in half crosswise (between the stem ends), push a fork into the cut side and twist it while squeezing the lime half against the fork.

Hidden Gems

More on burgers.... here's my favourite burger recipe - inspired by my best friend Amy - who stuffs her patties with greens both as a way to make them incredibly juicy and tender and to get some greens into her 5 year old.


Hidden Gems Burger Patties
makes 4 patties

1 lb - 100% grass fed ground beef (18% fat/medium works best)
1/4 small onion, minced
salt and pepper
1 or 2 leaves of kale - washed and chopped fairly fine
and/or small handful of flatleaf parsley or cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme or oregano or other herb you like the smell of
1 tablespoon salsa (optional)


Put the beef into a bowl. Use your washed hand to squish in the remaining ingredients (I love and hate this part at the same time), but add the greens slowly to be sure the patties can still hold together. Mix just until combined so the beef doesn't get too tough.

Shape into 4 patties. Press a divot into the centre of each patty (which prevents the burger from puffing out too much and helps even cooking).

Grill or pan fry the burger patties until a meat thermometer reads 155F in the centre.
Serve with all your favourite fixings. My favourite is good old yellow mustard, ketchup, a smear of mayo and a hefty scoop of my homemade sauerkraut.

here is a link to a visual burger making guide...

Enjoy!

Eat like a princess

Whatever you eat, eat the best quality you can...

I have been craving burgers like crazy this week. I eat some kind of read meat once a week, but once hasn't been enough - maybe it's because I've been more active than usual, or maybe it's the meaty juices vapourizing on the neighbour's BBQ into frequent aromatic reminders... whatever the reason, while I was frying up another succulent onion spiked beef patty yesterday, I realized that there was something greatly different about this meat. When I lifted the patty out there was nothing left in the pan. i.e. no pools of grease.

This was 100% grass fed beef. Raised in a pasture, on nothing but grass. No corn. No M&Ms.

As a kid, I remember cooking ground beef to make tacos from that Old El Paso kit - step 1 - fry the beef, step 2 - pour off the fat, step 3 add seasoning mix. There was always a good 1/4 cup of grease or more to pour off. But my 1/4 lb 100% grass fed burger patty left nothing more than delicious deep browned bits on the pan, and barely a drop of fat.

**I want to be clear that I'm not saying fat is bad. We NEED fat in our diets. It is an absolutely essential part of cell walls and many body functions. However, getting each type of fat in healthy proportions is important. To do this, focus on getting lots of omega 3 fatty acids (walnuts, flax seeds, wild salmon) and omega 9 fatty acids (olive oil), some omega 6 fatty acids (safflower, sunflower, most seeds), a bit of saturated fats (animal products, coconut/palm oils) and avoid trans (hydrogenated) fats like the plague)**

Grass fed beef is very lean. True, meat is still a calorie dense food -much more so than the same volume of vegetables or grains - and meat is a resource intensive and environmentally costly product to raise (with ethical concerns as well). But meat also offers a hefty dose of iron and B vitamins (notably B12) and 100% grass fed, pastured beef (i.e. not corn "finished") actually has an omega 3 fatty acid content that rivals that of wild salmon and has less saturated fat than it's corn fed cousin.

I feel like my burgers are a super nourishing treat.

I had my burger with a side of broccoli and kale sauteed with garlic and a little balsamic vinegar and a few handfuls of Salt and Black Pepper Kettle Chips... Bliss. Adding a few vegetables is important because for all its mineral potency, meat has no fiber, few antioxidants and all that protein can be a burden on the body. Animal proteins are very high in nitrogen, which is metabolized to ammonia. The kidneys then have to process this into a much less toxic compound - urea - which is then excreted. This uses up precious resources that are also needed to handle environmental toxins and detox other compounds we ingest - so meat is something I enjoy less often.

But enjoy it, I do.

When you eat your burgers, when you eat anything - eat the best quality you can afford. And consider it a long term investment that will save you in prescription medicine costs or sick days down the road. Also consider it a chance to nourish yourself. Something I am very fond of.

For more info on pastured meat check out Michael Pollan's book- In Defense of Food. He sums it up with the motto - Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

For a delicious 100% grass fed beef burger check out the Natural Burger at Vera's Burger Shack. To buy 100% grass fed beef try Choices, Capers, Whole Foods, or your local butcher. I got fantastic 100% grass fed, organic beef for a great price at Windsor Meats on Main near King Edward.

Nourish nest bound...

Life took a different course over the last few weeks... graduation, followed by decisions and house hunting and many hours of contemplating my belly button... I'm making the move back to Vancouver at the end of the month into an absolutely perfect little cozy cottage nestled in the city, full of ideas for new posts and things I'd like to explore/learn about. I'm excited to start writing again.

Can't wait to share.

Power Peas!

Kids are so weird. An actual study (described in Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink) showed that kids who wouldn't touch a plate of green peas happily dived in when they were presented as "Power Peas".

ha. I love that. Maybe I just like alliteration a little too much or maybe it was my bobbly-headed teacher saying "Power Peas", but I got pretty severe giggles that class... anyway - that's not the point...

Sometimes kids (and adults for that matter) just need a little push to help them love their veggies.

I remember going on a broccoli strike as a child. I had always loved those little spongy topped trees- perfect for mopping up puddles of melted butter or cheese sauce - until I saw a cartoon character dis them on a TV show.

My mother was exasperated. I was motivated to find new ways to get it off my plate - like sneaking chewed up mouthfuls it into my napkin. (I got busted of course).

Parents are up against some challenges for sure . One of the best ways to convert the anti-vegetable is to get your kids involved in growing some. Before my brief stand off with broccoli I had no issue with vegetables (except raw tomatoes, which challenge my taste buds to this day). I can confidently say it was growing up with a backyard veggie patch that did it for me and my brother.

There is just some magical connection that makes kids and adults alike excited about eating something they sprouted themselves from a tiny seed.

Funny too how different kid's tastes are. My friend Jannae told me her favourite dish growing up was mac and cheese with broccoli and tofu. (My response -- You ate tofu as a CHILD?!). My favourite foods were vegetable tempura and seafood crepes (hm ok maybe we're a bit strange).

But it's most often how we present food that determines if kids will eat it. My god son Davis for example... His parents offered him everything they ate (age appropriately of course) with no pressure and no reaction to whether he ate it or not. He was scarfing down sushi and spicy Thai dishes by the age of 3. He would stick out his tongue and pant - Hot, Hot - then quickly smile and say - More!

Of course he has gone through many challenging spells of hating this and loving that. Recently asparagus has returned to favour after about 2 years of being blacklisted. So who knows.

The key is not to freak out.

There is excellent information available on raising veggie lovers. My favourite resource is Ellyn Satter - a dietitian who has spent most of her 40 plus year career figuring out how to convert picky eaters and get kids to eat their veggies. Best of all her approach is about not worrying so much! For tips on creating "eating competent" kids - visit her website.

Another great resource is Feeding the Whole Family from my teacher at Bastyr - Cynthia Lair. It is full of tips and really wonderful recipes. I use it all the time.

and finally one of my own recipes that might be tempting to the little ones too...

Green Omelet with Power Peas!

eggs (preferably free range with access to real grass so they can eat bugs and be full of omega 3s)
2 tsp milk or water per egg
chopped fresh herbs - (Basil is my favourite. Tarragon is also good).
cooked spinach
extra virgin olive oil
chopped onion
frozen peas
sea salt and pepper to taste

Put the eggs and milk with the herbs and cooked spinach in the blender and puree until smooth. It will make a nice green, frothy batter. Blending also incorporates air which makes the eggs cook up fluffier.

Saute the onions in the oil until translucent. Add enough peas to loosely cover the bottom of the pan, cook until they are thawed. Pour the green egg batter over top.

Reduce the heat and cook on med-low until set in the middle. I usually either cover it with a lid part way through or pop it under the broiler so it sets in the middle. Technically this is a frittata (filling IN the egg and cooked slowly, finished in the oven) vs. an omelet (folded over filling).

Whatever you call it - it's easy, tasty and looks amazing with ketchup!

ED says - Eat your beans

In the face of a recession you can either hunker down with a Costco-sized case of Top Ramen or learn to cook.

The Economic Downturn, or ED as my friend Stan and I like to call it - can have some unexpected perks. For example - learning to cook and specifically, learning to make food from scratch. I'm already a convert of course, but what better way to save money and get better quality food for your buck? I'd rather not buy my vitamins and minerals separately, when I can get them in my food. It's also empowering, a creative outlet and a social opportunity too.

Plus you get to EAT what you make...

I'm writing a magazine article for my Writing About Food and Health class on just this topic. It goes into how whole foods like vegetables, beans and whole grains are the original budget food - La Cucina Povera (poor people's food). What better way to make one chicken breast stretch into a meal for 4 than by making a succulent stew beefed up with creamy white canellini beans? Sounds like a way to try the "little bit of this, little bit of that" approach again too...

I made just such a dish for my Culinary Skills class exam yesterday after pulling "Chicken Stew" from the hat. I took the leftovers home and added some canellini beans that my kitchen station partner hadn't used up in her dish. I actually like it better with the beans.

My new favourite beans are Cranberry Beans - aka Pink beans or Borlotti or Romano beans. They have a lovely creamy texture, almost nutty flavour and they don't fall apart in cooking like Canellini beans seem to. And talk about budget food... I bought a little tub of dried beans for 99cents. It held 4 cups of dried beans, each cup making 3 cups cooked - so 12 cups of cooked beans for 99 cents! I have a feeling that rivals Mac and Cheese on economical... not to mention filling...

Since I should be studying for finals right now, I'll leave the info on cooking and loving beans up to Culinate.com today.


Culinary Skills 2 Chicken Stew

1 -2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced

1 boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch chunks
2 chicken wings, tips cut off
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 baby zuchini, in 3/4 inch slices
1 baby crook neck squash, in 3/4 inch slices
1 clove garlic, minced
6 Crimini (brown) mushrooms, 1/4 inch slices
3/4 of a small can of fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves removed, stems discarded
pinch of dried oregano
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 cup of cooked Canellini or cranberry beans

Crispy Capers, to serve (below)
Brown Rice, to serve


Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the onions and cook until translucent. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the chicken wings, sprinkle with smoked paprika on both sides, turning once. Add the cubed chicken breast, sprinkle with remaining smoked paprika and brown on all sides. Remove the chicken breast (leave the wings in) and set aside.

Add the vegetables, mushrooms and garlic to the pot. Cook until lightly browned and starting to soften a bit.

Add the tomatoes, stock, tarragon and oregano. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat to low-medium, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the browned chicken breast, cover and simmer on low for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, testing a piece to ensure it is cooked but not overdone. The goal is succulent, moist chicken.

Stir in the vinegar and add salt and lost of black pepper to taste. Simmer a minute or two.
Serve over a bowl of brown rice with crispy capers (below).

For the crispy capers - drain 1 or 2 teaspoons of capers well. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the capers to the hot oil (be careful, if they aren't dry they will spatter), and let them brown and crisp, stirring occasionally. They will be crunchy and lightly browned when done. Remove from the pan, drain on paper towel. Serve over stew (or salads!).

If you need more than just taste for encouragement....
Beans are packed with fiber (naturally cholesterol-lowering, filling, blood sugar stabilizing and much more), anti-oxidants, magnesium, folate, and vitamin B6. Bean consumption is linked to lower cancer and heart disease rates too. Bastyr is even completing a research study that has demonstrated eating beans leads to weight loss - not surprising with their amazing satiety factor...

Enjoy!