Vegetating with Leslie: What's the Beef?

In early August this year, scientists held a taste-testing for burgers made from laboratory grown meat. This report came out just about a year and a half after the "pink slime" report of March 2012. 

For anyone who missed that story, pink slime is filler that was found to be present in 70 percent of the ground beef sold in supermarkets and at the time constituted about 25 percent of every hamburger.  It is gelatinous material made from the most contaminated parts of the cow formerly used only for dog food and cooking oil.  To make it USDA approved "safe" for human consumption, trimmings are simmered at a low temperature, fat separated from tissue by centrifuge and the result sprayed with ammonia gases to kill germs.  Safe and delicious.  Really? 

Now we have burgers created by extracting stem cells from the muscle tissue of a dead cow, nourishing them in a chemical broth and engineering them to produce something like muscle tissue.  Strands of tissue are compacted into pellets and frozen, then defrosted for cooking.  The artificial meat starts out white, so dyes are added to make it look more like the real thing.  And there we have it . . . tissue created in a laboratory from a dead cow's stem cells bathed in chemicals and dyed to the appropriate color.  Safe and potentially delicious when they get the chemicals right.  Really?

The arguments in favor of this "magic meat" are that it requires killing fewer animals, is more sustainable and vastly more environmentally friendly.  I get it.  But there are other paths to the same goal.  For me, at least, those paths are healthier, tastier and more spiritually satisfying.

Speaking of "magic meat," I was curious if the concoction would be considered kosher.  The Jewish dietary laws are centered primarily around meat, fish, poultry . . . and insects, in other words, living creatures.  I understand this body of laws as an expression of reverence for life.   

I did a little research and found that while there is as yet no definitive ruling on this question, there is an interesting Talmudic discussion about the status of "magic meat," meat that descends from heaven or is miraculously created by human beings.  The argument was presented (in the 16th century!) that this meat could be eaten without kosher slaughtering.  The meat could even be eaten live, limb from limb -- otherwise forbidden -- since normal laws do not apply to it. 

Biblical and Jewish dietary regulations express deep and important values about living creatures, the line between life and death and our place as human beings.  The discussion of "magic meat" along with the rest of the discussion about the status of this manufactured meat expresses those same values and lays bare the complexity of ethical dilemmas involved in meat eating.

I'm often asked why I'm vegetarian.  The assumption is that it is for reasons of health.  It isn't.  It also isn't environmentally driven.  Although I disagree with the agri-business model for meat production current in our country and believe it is dangerous for our eco-system, our health and our spiritual balance, I can see there is a way to include meat in one's diet that is healthy for ourselves and the planet.  For those who do eat meat . . . as Michael Pollan says, pay more and eat less.  There are options other than meat from factory farmed animals.

My own vegetarianism is driven by my spiritual values.  In that context, pink slime and "magic meat" are no more an option for me than supermarket plastic wrapped packages.  Meat from grass fed animals is also not an option for me.  I never eat or make meat "substitutes."  I make good food from plants, which offer a world of delicious and spiritually satisfying options. 

Here's one: Falafel.  When eaten in the traditional way with Tahina, Falafel are a complete protein package.  Along with protein, this combo packs essential fatty acids and high fiber.  Falafel were not created to substitute for anything and in their long history were never anything but Falafel.  The beans are not cooked, just soaked, so they retain a wonderfully crunchy texture.  They can be loaded with lots of green stuff and seasoned with some of my favorite seasonings.  Occasionally frying foods in good oils at the correct temperature is, in my opinion, much less likely to damage to your health than "magic meat" or pink slime.  Certainly it will do less damage to your soul.   

                                                                                                                         

FALAFEL     

Ingredients                                                          Amount

Dried split peeled fava beans  -        -        -        3.5 cups soaked drained beans
Garlic           -        -        -        -        -        -        2 cloves or 1 tsp. chopped
Onion           -        -        -        -        -        -        1/4 large Spanish onion
Parsley         -        -        -        -        -        -        3 oz. (about 1 bunch)
Sea Salt        -        -        -        -        -        -        1 tsp
Cumin          -        -        -        -        -        -        1 tsp
Allspice        -        -        -        -        -        -        1 tsp
Szeged hot paprika         -        -        -        -        1 tsp

Directions

1)   Wash and dry parsley. Cut off and discard stems. Pre-chop leaves.

2)   Place parsley and seasonings in processor bowl and run 30 seconds. Scrape down and run another 30 seconds. 
3)   Pre-cut onion, add to processor bowl and pulse 10 times.
4)   Drain fava beans thoroughly.  Add 3.5 cups drained beans to processor bowl with parsley onion mix. Pulse 10 times, then scrape down.
5)   Run processor until mixture holds together forming a tube around the blade.  It should remain textured.
6)   Use a 1.5" scoop to shape into balls.  Deep fry 2-3 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve with Tahina, salad and a good hot sauce.

Healthy, happy eating!

Moments to Remember with My Dad

My Dad died yesterday.  As I sat with him during these past months and especially during the last three weeks, I remembered so many special moments.  Here are a few, in no particular order:

My Dad was a Methodist minister.  One of my favorite times was at the end of services when I could go to join him as he greeted parishioners leaving the service.  I was so proud of him in his clerical collar and black robe.  He was very handsome with beautiful, black wavy hair, and he was so warm and friendly and caring with his parishioners as he spoke with them.

Bible stories were our bedtime reading when I was little.  My favorite book was The Golden Book of the Bible.  It was the pictures I loved best...dramatic and colorful.  My Dad would read to me from The Golden Book or tell me stories in his own words.  One day he gave me his pulpit Bible.  I used to sit on the screened front porch of our Medford, Massachusetts parsonage and read through the pages.  I still have that pulpit Bible here on my shelves, along with the hundreds of other books about religion and the many Bibles that I accumulated during my own studies, inspired by my Dad and these moments we shared.

My Dad was from Arkansas, and he was proud of the skills he learned in the Boy Scouts.  He loved to camp, and we camped a lot as I was growing up.  Some of my favorite pictures are from a summer camping trip in the Adirondack Mountains.  We set up and slept in those old, heavy canvas tents.  We dug trenches around the tents and cooked over open fires or Coleman stoves.  We hiked and fished. Fishing was probably my favorite time on these trips because I would often go out alone with him. We would sit together for many hours in a rowboat on an open lake or in reeds closer to shore.  I was always filled with the beauty of these quiet moments alone with him and am still filled with joy when I think about these moments today.

My Dad was one of the most kind and humble people I have ever known.  One of his  favorite biblical verses was from Micah: "What does The Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your G-d..."

Something happened during one of my Dad's visits to my West Rogers Park home that was forever after the quintessential image of my Dad for me: I had two beagles, Bree and Samantha.  Samantha liked to sit in the wing chair in my living room sometimes.  While my Dad was visiting, he sat down in that chair at one point and opened a book and started to read.  Samantha came over and sat quietly on the floor in front of him, looking at him.  After a couple of minutes, he glanced up and saw Samantha.  He barely hesitated before he said, "Oh, excuse me, Samantha.  Did I take your chair?"  He moved to the couch, and Samantha jumped up onto the chair.  He was a kind and humble man, and he loved animals.

Three years ago after I lost my beloved beagles, I got a new little Havanese puppy, Rafi.  When I visited my Dad the week before I got my puppy, I told him I was getting Rafi and that I would bring him to visit the next week.  I called my Dad on the way to visit him the next week to remind him I was coming.  Although he was already well into his dementia and his memories were very attenuated and unreliable -- and I'm not certain he even remembered that I was coming -- when I said I was bringing "a friend," he said, "Oh, your puppy!"  He remembered, and Rafi and my Dad formed a close bond over the next three and a half years of weekly visits.  Rafi always got excited when I got home from the Cafe early and got his travel bag out . . . and my Dad always got a great big smile when he saw Rafi coming.  When my Dad entered into his last weeks, Rafi recognized the change and became very subdued.  Since my Dad was then bedridden, Rafi took to climbing out of his bag to curl up by my Dad's feet.  The night before my Dad died, Rafi was in just that spot, and I took a picture.

Along with his humility, my Dad had a pretty strong stubborn streak.  My brother can make us all laugh until we cry telling stories about where that stubborn streak sometimes took him (and us).  Rafting trips without a guide that resulted in upended rafts, sailing with an insistence on using nautical language that no one understood that resulted in family members landing in the "drink" when the boom swung around . . . or stalls in the middle of the lake.  Losing a fully loaded trailer along the road, insisting that it was indeed still attached to the car as the other occupants of the car watched it drift backward while the car continued to charge forward.

I think my favorite memory along these lines, though, is from the time he took me water skiing on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma.  My sisters and brother were in the (borrowed) motorboat with him, and I was behind the boat on skiis.  My Dad was fully dressed in a suit, and his pockets were filled with his pipe and tobacco pouches and pipe paraphernalia.  At one point, the rope got tangled in the motor, and while I dog paddled, he leaned over to untangle the rope.  Unfortunately he leaned too far, and whoops . . . tumbled right into the water.  His jacket, still on, floated up around him, and the pipe and tobacco and other odds and ends floated away from him across the water.  My brother and sister and I were trying to remember if that was the same trip when he was straddling between the boat and the pier while my mom was guiding the boat gently out into the lake -- and the keys dropped into the water.  What do they call those splits? Chinese?

My Dad was brilliant, an academic, and he had a varied and fascinating career.  He was Arkansas state typing champion, he was a Naval Academy tumbler, he completed a degree in engineering and was a champion -- if unorthodox -- do-it-yourselfer in our home.  He could build cabinetry, handle plumbing and electrical work and paper walls.  He was incredible with math and science, as are my two sons, and he spent many frustrating hours with me when I was in high school.  I missed that gene.

My Dad completed his seminary training at Boston University and his doctorate at Northwestern University, a doctorate that started out in political science, passed through Garrett Evangelical and ended up in education.  He was for many years the Midwest Director for a Carnegie Foundation sponsored organization called the Church Peace Union, later renamed The Council on Religion and International Affairs (CRIA).  When I was in junior high and high school I attended many seminars with him on ethics and foreign policy that featured high level government officials and clergy of all faiths.  I have a picture of him at a dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt.

At a later time, his Evanston offices were bombed by members of the John Birch Society, and he was verbally attacked by leftists when he organized seminars.  I well remember an occasion when I was in college in the early 70s when we had a party in our home during an Israeli-Arab seminar he had arranged at Northwestern University.  In the Middle East, Arabs and Israelis were at war, but in our home, they enjoyed drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  My mom recalls sitting next to King Hussein at a dinner hosted at the University during the same conference.  We also had the Thai crown prince for drinks and hors d'oeuvres one summer in our backyard . . . and I believe in the same summer, we hosted the Northwestern University cherubs.  I can't quite remember how or why that happened, but it was fun.

One of my most proud moments came when I was working on my own doctorate and gave an academic presentation to the Catholic Student Union at the University of Illinois.  My Dad happened to be in town. He read my presentation beforehand and made a few helpful suggestions.  He didn't say so then, but he confided later that he had doubts whether I would be able to carry it off because it was somewhat esoteric, complex material, and I was no public speaker.  After the presentation, which was well-received and was the one and only time he ever heard me teach or speak, he told me how proud he was of me, and I thought I would burst!

After my Dad completed his doctorate and moved on from CRIA, he was assistant superintendent at New Trier High School for a time during the late 60s, a time when schools were volatile places to be.  He always seemed to find those hot spots, as he did in the last position he held during his career as the Director of the Navajo Education and Scholarship Foundation in Window Rock, Arizona.  Newspaper reports from Arizona at that time indicate a great deal of political turmoil in the Navajo nation.  Nonetheless, he succeeded in getting a Community Hall built for the Navajos, for which he was honored at a sing.  Tomorrow I will hang the plaque commemorating that event on the wall in my Cafe.

My Dad was not a cold academic.  He was a very emotional man.  One of my most powerful memories is when I was in high school, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  We left school early, and I walked to downtown Evanston to catch a bus home as I usually did.  On this occasion, I was crying.  I bumped into my Dad coming down the street, openly weeping.  We hugged and walked the two miles home together.

My Dad's emotional nature -- and impulsivity -- could and did cause considerable difficulty in his life . . . and considerable difficulty in ours, even while these characteristics also made him very loveable. Invariably he would announce that we were leaving for Fort Smith, Arkansas (from Evanston, Illinois) in one hour, and we should pack. This never happened during spring break, always before or after.  He sometimes lived his life that way, so stability wasn't always the most prominent feature of the way we grew up.

My Dad followed his pastoral impulses and heartfelt emotions even when he was in the nursing home suffering from and living with others who were suffering from dementia. One day when I came, an agitated woman was roaming the halls crying out repeatedly, "Where am I? Where am I going? I don't know where I am going!" She was inconsolable, and no one was able to calm her. My Dad stopped and put his hand on her arm, looked right into her eyes and said, "I don't know where we're going either, but I know they will tell us soon. Don't worry -- you will be ok." And she was.

He was always enthusiastic about wherever he was and would take us around to examine every detail as if he were a tour guide. In his enthusiasm, he always impressed upon us the amazing nature of being alive and being human . . . whether by taking us out in the middle of the night to witness the flight of Sputnick overhead or the northern lights . . . or visiting one of the early McDonald's. Everything was a remarkable achievement, an extraodinary sight or an amazing discovery, no matter how high or how lowly, and everything was worth exploring, experiencing and commenting on.

One of the most wonderful experiences I had with my Dad was yesterday, while my brother and sister and I sat with his body after he died. So many people from the nursing home stopped in or called to tell us how much they loved my Dad, how he was so kind and never complained and how much they enjoyed caring for him.

These last weeks my Dad was in a very Zen space.  He was neither rushing toward death nor struggling to remain in life.  He was exactly where he was and was content there.  I imagine that now that he has moved on to his next destination, he is eagerly exploring and preparing to give the rest of us an enthusiastic tour.

I loved my Dad so much, and I will miss him terribly.  Although I have had some pretty difficult patches in my own life, the shimmering, beautiful, joyful moments always predominate -- and always will -- because of the ways my Dad taught me to see.

When I converted to Judaism many years ago, my Dad said to me that he probably would have made a better Jew than a Christian.  These words from the Jewish memorial prayer, El Malei Rachamim, feel so right for me to say for him now:  yitzror bitzror hachayim et nishmato, "May his soul be bound up in the bundle of life."  Dad, you lived fully, and you lived well, and I know you will continue to live. I will always be grateful that I was blessed with "the best Dad in the world."



Real Foodies: Session III

This week with Real Foodies was less information intense and more oriented toward checking in with participants on their experiences with a one-week de-tox.

Most participants had some difficulty for one reason or another excluding all required elements from their diet during the week, and several who did exclude most or all of the items commented about experiencing cravings.  I attempted to engage in the de-tox myself but also had limited success.  I was not properly prepared for moments of hunger and experienced cravings because the foods on which I normally rely for satiety and which I consider good foods were not part of the program.

My evaluation of this short experiment is that while a de-tox is definitely a worthwhile project as the first step in an effort to determine specific food items that may be interfering with one's health and/or ability to lose weight, it can also be a detriment as one attempts to forge a lifelong plan for a healthy, sustainable eating style.

I shared with the group an earlier experience I had with a partial "elimination diet" in which I found no reaction to wheat but did discover that dairy products caused some congestion, which cleared quickly when I refrained from eating them.  Yoghurt and Labne (fermented milk products) do not seem to have the same effect on me. For those who are interested in experimenting more with a detox or an elimination diet, I suggest Dr. Michael Hyman's book, UltraSimple Diet, or several books, including a recipe book, available on Amazon .com with a search on "elimination diet."   

We considered briefly one of the primary potential allergens and inflammatory agents which is generating a lot of discussion right now: wheat.  I shared material from Dr. William Davis, cardiologist, who wrote the book Wheat Belly, in which he cites modern wheat as the cause of many of our modern diseases of aging beginning with diabetes.  We did not take time to review arguments against Dr. Davis' presentation, but I promised to include one in these notes: Analysis of Wheat Belly Hypothesis.  My conclusion: my goal with our group is to find a sustainable healthy eating style. From my perspective, it doesn't make sense to exclude whole grain bread from our diet unless there is a demonstrable reaction to wheat or other grains. This can be determined by using the elimination diet technique. I prefer a diet with fewer exclusions and a focus on real food.

Additional resources on the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load requested by participants are available via links from my website: www.expresslyleslie.com/resources.  Among other things, we can see in this list that while whole grain breads may be as high as white bread in the Index, they are lower in glycemic load due to their fiber.  Similarly the carrot soup we enjoyed -- carrots are high in the Index but have a low glycemic load due to their fiber.

In conclusion, a diet of real foods, high in fiber and low in sugar with high quality protein and good fats (including saturated fats in moderation) is the best lifelong diet.  During our next session, we will spend some time label reading to sort out meaningful from meaningless information and we'll take a look at some non-extremist "rules" going forward.  Assignment: browse labels in your pantry - or the products you removed from your kitchens three weeks ago.

Our dinner included our usual salad of mixed greens, which participants dressed themselves at the table with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a squeeze of Fresh Lemon, Salt and Pepper.  Lemon lowers the Glycemic Index of any meal.  A good goal is to strive for an eating style which results in an average below 55 on the GI and below 10 on GL. 

We enjoyed Carrot Soup as our next course.  The main meal was Kidney Bean Jambalaya, an example of taking two basic ingredients (kidney beans and rice) which can be prepared at the beginning of the week and made into something different each evening of the week. For a video of seven different ways to prepare Kidney Beans and Rice, go to my youtube page, www.youtube.com/expresslyleslie.

   

Real Foodies: Session II

During the second session, we focused more attention on the issue of sugar in all its forms, but particularly fructose, and on the connection between sugar and metabolic syndrome.  I shared with the group Dr. Lustig's review of several popular diets, and we saw that the common denominator between all these programs is that they are high in fiber and low in sugar.  The most highly recommended program specifically avoided fructose.

These features of the most popular diets correlate well with my own experience.  Recent research on nutrition, particularly with regard to causes of the current obesity pandemic, provide the scientific and statistical foundation for what I intuited and found to be true over 40 years.

We talked about portion control.  I am somewhat on the fence about this issue.  I don't like to count calories.  Counting carbs is . . . well, it doesn't work for a vegan since a vegan diet is 100% carb.  I like to go by the quality and type of food.  In class, we have talked about the best plate for metabolic efficiency: 1/4 good quality protein, 1/4 higher starch, more calorie dense veggies and 1/2 (or unlimited) higher water content / low glycemic index veggies.  I recommend these ratios, as much as possible, for snacks as well.  Plates for meals can be 9" plates and plates for snacks 5" plates.  I think the plates are kind of self-limiting.  It's true, you can pile a lot of beans and rice onto a 9" plate -- but you can eat a lot more when your diet is very high in fiber and low in sugar, and you will probably feel satisfied more quickly.

Several current researchers and writers say eat only until you're satisfied, not full.  Some say eat 80% of what you want.  Here's what I say: if you are eating a very high fiber diet with plenty of good fats, you will find it very satisfying.  Just eat slowly enough that your satiety signals can reach your brain and register, and quit eating when you're satisfied.  You don't have to clean your plate! Don't ever starve yourself.  It sends the wrong signals to your brain and body, and in addition you have a tendency to eat more quickly.  I think over time, with correct eating, portions will take care of themselves.

For dinner we had Zucchini and Leek Soup with Fennel (a variation on the recipe provided for last week's soup), a salad of mixed greens with berries and walnuts dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and Quinoa with Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas and Cauliflower.  Since it was Valentine's Day, we had a special Valentine's Day treat: Strawberries 'n' Cream (Labne):

I asked participants to continue to avoid food items we removed during the first week of our program, including all sugars and sugar alcohols, white flour, refined carbohydrates and all processed foods.  This week, in addition, I recommended a one week de-tox.  The de-tox is basically a shortened version of the elimination diet, used to find food allergies and sensitivities.  The recommended foods to remove are potential allergens and foods which may otherwise generate inflammation.  The foods to remove include: Citrus fruits and juices, Yeast including vinegar, Dairy products, Eggs, Gluten, Corn, Beef, Pork, Lamg, Nighshades, Peanuts, Refined oils and hydrogenated fats, Stimulants, All flour products, Processed foods or food additives, Fast food and Junk food.  Any foods that come in a box, package or can or are commercially prepared are likely to contain chemicals, preservatives and other unnatural ingredients and should be avoided.  These are instructions from Dr. Mark Hyman's program.  I am not including Nightshades in my own program but told participants they could make their own decision about that.

So what can we eat? Fish, especially those less likely to be laden with toxins and organic lean white meat (if you are not vegetarian), non-citrus fruits, fresh veggies, legumes, brown rice, quinoa, nuts and seeds, flaxseeds, lemons and clear broths.

There is not time in our few weeks together to do a complete elimination diet, but if participants try this limited de-tox for a week and discover something of interest for themselves, they may wish to pursue a project like this more fully at a later time.  In the meantime, we will begin to add foods back during the next two sessions so that by the end of our four sessions together, participants will have a good idea of how they can eat going forward to enjoy best health and find their correct natural weight.

Following is a recipe for Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas and Cauliflower, adapted from an internet recipe published by Emily Todd of Habitually Hungry:

1 lb. dried chickpeas, cooked
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, diced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground tumeric
3/4 tsp hot paprika
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 TB fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cups cauliflower florets
12 plum tomatoes, petite diced
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1.5 tsp salt

Add olive oil to a pot, and saute the diced onion, ginger and garlic.  Add the diced celery and saute a little longer. Add the diced tomatoes, lemon juice and all remaining seasonings and bring to a simmer.  Add cauliflower and simmer for a few minutes.  When cooking is complete, add chopped parsley and cilantro and cook very briefly.  I liked serving this as a stew topped with an ice cream scoop (one cup) of quinoa.

Tip: Prepare your seasonings before you begin cooking.  Simply measure them all out into a small bowl and set to the side until you are ready for them.  This seasoning mix is spicy and delightful! 

Real Foodies: Session I

During our first session, I reviewed the development of my own passion for healthy eating, beginning with an organic garden in the early 70s.  When I first began reading about health, shortly before the birth of my first son, my focus was on pesticides and food additives and the lack of fiber in our typical diet.  In the 90s, my attention turned to the glycemic index and eating in such a way as to keep blood sugar levels constant.  During the last two years, I have been most concerned with sugar and have conducted an extended experiment with myself.  Throughout my 40 year study of nutrition and health, my primary focus has been on real food.

Two recent authors discuss the disastrous negative consequences of a typical American diet, with a particular focus on the volume of sugar that comes to us via packaged and processed foods: Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Robert Lustig.  I'm still reading Dr. Lustig's book, Fat Chance, and it is a strong statement for reducing or eliminating sugar from our diet.  We reviewed some statistical information from both books.  Most striking is Dr. Lustig's statement that “In 2005 one study showed that despite the increased availability of medical care, our children will be the first generation of Americans who will die earlier than their forebears.”

For dinner, we enjoyed a green salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil and lemon, Square Tomato Soup, red lentil kefta and salad options (1/4 of our plate was good quality protein (the kefta), 1/4 of our plate was starchier veggies and 1/2 of our plate was high water content / low glycemic index veggies.  Recipes for the Red Lentil Kefta and Square Tomato Soup are provided below.

Red Lentil Kefta
4 Cups Lentils
8 Cups Water
2 Cups FINE bulgur

Cook lentils to just done, and stir in bulgur.

2 Lg Onions
5 TB Tomato Paste
4 tsp Salt
2 TB Cumin
2 TB Harif
Juice of 2 Lemons

Saute the onion, and make a paste by adding remaining ingredients.  Add to cooled lentils, and mix.

1 Bunch Parsley
6 Green Onions

Chop parsley and green onions finely.  Add most of the chopped greens to the mix keeping some out for garnish.

Form as required.

Square Tomato Soup
ExtraVirgin Olive Oil
5 LB Plum Tomatoes
1 Lg Spanish Onion
1.5 tsp Salt
.5 tsp Hot Paprika
Fresh Basil

Wash and cut tomatoes in half.  Peel and cut onion into 1-2" chunks.  Add extra virgin olive oil to the bottom of a 2 Gallon pot. Add onion and tomato to pot and saute briefly.  Add seasonings except the basil, and saute for a moment.  Bring contents of pot to a boil, and immediately reduce heat to low.  Let simmer until soft.  Add mixture in small batches to a blender or VitaMix.  Pour into serving or storage container, and adjust seasoning.  Add chopped fresh basil to the top.

Several pureed soups can be made this way using a variety of veggies.  Seasoning can be varied with garlic, ginger or other.

Assignment for Session II: Remove from your kitchen -- and do not eat -- any kind of sugar or sweetener, white flour, caffeine (except green tea), refined or processed foods, junk foods, alcohol, high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats.  These foods are addictive, and it is important to remove them from your surroundings for the duration of this program.  At our next session, we will begin a one week detox.

Weight Loss for Some Becomes Health Gain for All

I will start our next Real Foodies (Living Lighter and Healthier) series on Thursday, February 7.

We will meet four times: Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. The fee for each session is $25, which includes the content of the session, resources and recipes distributed in class or via email, dinner, new friendships and hopefully fun.

Please plan to sign on for the entire series, although you may pay on a per session basis ($25) or for the entire series ($100). If you are required to miss a session, just let me know in advance so I won't set a place for you at the table. You need not pay for that session. If you would like to bring a guest to one or more sessions, please give me a heads-up and add $25 to your payment for that session. I will set another place.

The name Real Foodies indicates a broadening of our purpose: We are focused on how to eat for vibrant health. Weight loss follows for most people fairly naturally.

Eating joyfully is part of great health. It's hard to eat joyfully if you feel as though you are struggling to control yourself or are feeling deprived. We will focus on how to eat to eliminate cravings and feel satisfied based on body chemistry not will power.

Our four sessions are structured as follows:

Week I: BYOP - Build Your Own Palace: Prep for Week II
Week II: The Clean Plate Club - Detox
Week III: What's In, What's Out - Going Forward
Week IV: Your Life on a Plate - How to Eat What You Eat

At each of our four sessions, we will enjoy a delicious (and exemplary) meal together.  Recipes will be provided.

In order to reserve a place for you at our first session, I will need your payment, $25 for that session or $100 for the entire series. Please make your check payable to Expressly Leslie LLC, and drop off or mail to Expressly Leslie, 110 S. Johnson St., Woodstock, IL 60098.

During the series, I will refer to information from two recent books, and we will use some parts of the programs presented in those books: The UltraSimple Diet by Dr. Mark Hyman and Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig. If you would like to have your own copy of either or both of these books, they will be available at Read Between the Lynes. Identify yourself as a participant in the Expressly Leslie Real Foodies Group, and you will receive a 20% discount.

Thank you for your interest, and please let me know of your commitment to the full four weeks via return email.

I hope to hear from all of you and see you at our first session, February 7.

Vegetating with Leslie: Zen and the Art of Peeling Potatoes

"Avoid food that makes health claims. Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health." - Rule # 2 from Food Rules by Michael Pollan.

One food I have never much liked is Candied Yams.  It's hard to experience the glorious flavor and sweetness of the yam itself buried under those ubiquitous marshmallows.  Ah, here we are again . . . Real Food vs. Food Products.  I present to you the ingredient label on a bag of marshmallows:  corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, dextrose, water, gelatin, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (a thickener or emulsifier), artificial flavor and blue 1.  Hmmm.

It's hard to imagine opening a bottle of tetrasodium pyrophosphate to add to a dish I'm making.  And if our food had real flavor, we shouldn't have to add artificial flavor, right?

That doesn't mean I want to skip the yams or sweet potatoes.  Although not the same, yams and sweet potatoes are both satisfying, flavorful and versatile veggies with many health benefits.  Both are fiber rich and high in potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium, zinc and copper.  Both low on the glycemic index, they don't cause spikes in blood sugar like so many other foods we eat. Unfortunately those marshmallows pretty much obliterate the benefit.

Sweet potatoes and yams may impart a somewhat different taste and texture to recipes.  Due to their nutritional differences, it's worthwhile experimenting with both.  Sweet potatoes are extremely high in Vitamin A, supplying eight times the daily requirement in one serving.  Yams have a better balance of essential fatty acids, heart healthy Vitamin B6 and C, but sweet potatoes have more calcium, iron, Vitamin E and protein.  In addition, sweet potatoes are loaded with anti-inflammatory compounds.

I make a Sweet Potato Soup that is deliriously simple and amazingly delicious.  Without an ounce of dairy, it's oh so creamy.  A visiting vegan tasted it and determined she couldn't have it because it was loaded with cream.  I assured her it wasn't . . . but there you go.  That's the amazing thing about Real Food.  Its qualities may surprise you with great taste -- unlike tetrasodium pyrophosphate, which I doubt would surprise anyone.

Besides, unlike tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sweet potatoes and yams are good for "vegetating."

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes. - Alan Watts

Sweet Potato Soup
6 Sweet Potatoes (about 5 lb.), peeled and chunked
2 Large Spanish Onions, chunked
Fresh Ginger Root (peeled slices, enough to make 2 well-rounded TB if minced)
1.5-2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Hot Paprika
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Quarts Water

Directions
Peel and chunk sweet potatoes and onion.  Peel and slice ginger root.  Add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil to soup pot.  Add onion, ginger root and potatoes along with seasonings.  Add water barely to cover, approximately two quarts.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer until potatoes are soft.  Puree in batches in VitaMix or conventional blender.  Adjust thickness with more water if desired.  Adjust seasoning.

Healthy, happy eating.

Vegetating with Leslie: Salad for Breakfast

"The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it's the opposition" ...Nick Seitz

Finding a breakfast cereal without sugar can be challenging.  Finding one that doesn't taste like sawdust even more so.  I propose a solution to this problem: an Israeli-style breakfast.

I visited Israel for the first time 37 years ago in 1976.  Israel is one of those places that floods one's mind and senses with thoughts and images.  It resonates with the voices of its history and culture, voices which have become part of so many of us through biblical literature although we may have never been to Israel.

One of the most memorable experiences I had on that first visit was totally unanticipated: an Israeli breakfast.  Originally a very simple meal, Israeli breakfasts have become famous.  Many contemporary restaurants specialize in elaborate versions of it.

Israeli breakfasts originated with the halutzim (early pioneers).  Quickly prepared from local ingredients, the meal featured a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onion and perhaps avocado, dressed with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Other typical components of the meal were soft cheeses, hard boiled eggs, pickles, olives and bread.  Beans in the form of hummus (a chickpea "dip") or ful (fava beans) might also be part of the meal.  Ful is the breakfast food of choice in Egypt and is served up with lemon, chopped garlic, onions and olive oil.

When I returned home from that first trip, I began to make a simple version of the Israeli breakfast every morning.  Although my knife skills are unfortunate, I became proficient in the small dice typical of an Israeli or Jerusalem salad.  We sometimes enjoyed dicing contests to see who could make the salad most quickly and with the most precision.

I love making Israeli Salad.  Because of its precision (some would call it tedious), it requires focus, especially if you don't have great knife skills.  For me, it's "vegetative," that is, a meditative exercise involving beautiful vegetables:

Israeli Salad
(Serves four along with other breakfast items)
6 ripe but firm plum tomatoes
2-3 pickling cucumbers or 3-4 Persian cucumbers*
2 green onions
1-2 red bell peppers
1 ripe but firm avocado
Cilantro (opt.)
Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper

*Pickling cucumbers are preferable because of their finer grain and because they require no deseeding.  Persian cucumbers are even better where available.

Directions
Although not necessary if the salad is eaten immediately, deseeding the tomatoes extends the time the salad will last without drowning in its own juices. Cut all the veggies into a uniform 1/4" - 1/2" dice.  Chop the onions and cilantro.  Add extra virgin olive oil, the juice of a lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

For a demo of the dice, see the video my son created of himself preparing Israeli/Jerusalem Salad in my cafe (mandolin optional - I do it by hand): Israeli / Jerusalem Salad  (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEcBa9bzu0)

Healthy, happy eating.

Vegetating with Leslie: Feeding Your Soul . . .

I am interested in the spiritual value of rituals.

When my grandson was born, I said, "We need a ritual!"  Sunday breakfast became that ritual.  Over the years, details have changed, but the basic activity remains.

Sunday breakfast has layers of meaning, different for each of us.  Some meaning can be expressed in words...some not.  Therein lies the value of ritual as non- or pre-verbal meaning.

So it is with Cholent (Yiddish) or Hamin (Hebrew), meaning "hot."  Cholent is a stew prepared and put on to cook before the Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday and enjoyed as the midday meal on Saturday.  It is a way to enjoy warm food without violating the prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath.

Cholent has a very special meaning for me.  I am not a multi-tasker, yet I am usually doing at least three things at once.  I am distracted and hardly feeling nurtured.

When I sit down to eat my cholent with friends and family, though, I am in a different space.  Something miraculous happens while the cholent is left untended -- then this gift arrives effortlessly on my table. I am nurtured by it.  Enjoying cholent is a ritual that has layers of meaning beyond its taste and the fact that I eat it on the same day at the same time each week.

Making cholent has itself become a meaningful ritual activity.  I gather ingredients and put them together.  I anticipate the miracle that will happen overnight in that pot and the pleasure I will experience when I am able to share the miracle with others the next day.

This year my son gave me the gift of time by helping with some of the cooking in my Cafe.  In return, I gave him the gift of preparing cholent each week.  As I eat it, I can taste the layers of meaning it is taking on for him.  This is "cooking with love," feeding the soul while feeding the body.  Health food.

There are many ways to make cholent.  Here is my way:

Veggie Cholent
(Makes 2 Gal.)
1 TB Garlic
3 TB Ginger
2 TB Cumin
1 TB + 2 TSP Salt
2 Tsp Hot Paprika
1 Lg Spanish Onion cut in 1 in. chunks
2 Lg or 3 Sm Potatoes (Idaho), peeled & cut in 1 in. chunks
2 Lg or 3 Sm Sweet Potatoes
1 LB Dried Beans (Kidney, Pinto, White Pea)
1/2 LB Dried Chickpeas
1 Bunch Cilantro, chopped
1/2 Cup Barley
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Berries
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
12 Eggs in the shell

Directions:
Place eggs in bottom of a two gallon slow cooker.  Mix all other ingredients in a bowl.  Add gently to slow cooker.  Add water to cover.  Wrap foil tightly over top.  Put lid over foil.  Turn pot on medium. Cook 10-12 hours or more.  Spoon most of cholent into a bowl being careful not to crack eggs.  Remove eggs, rinse and shell.  Return cholent to slow cooker or other serving dish.  Arrange peeled eggs on top.

Healthy, happy eating!

Vegetating with Leslie: Let's Talk (No)Turkey

“Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless. 
Christmas dinner's dark and blue. 
When you stop and try to see it 
From the turkey's point of view." - Shel Silverstein

If you are vegetarian and the rest of your family and friends are not, you will likely come to that moment when you need to figure out how to serve an important . . . say, holiday . . . meal.

For many years, I prepared two meals.  Difficult.  I like to cook and take pride in good results.  Cooking without tasting is like, well, driving a car with your eyes closed.  Don't much want to go there.

One year I decided to bite the proverbial bullet.  I relented on my principle of no manufactured food and bought a soy "turkey", a brand which will remain unnamed.  Shaped like a ball with twine around it, it looked like a basketball.  It even had its own little package of (no)turkey gravy.

I made everything else my family loved: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberries, breads, desserts.  Then there was the (no)turkey.

Back in the kitchen, I arranged my (no)turkey as nicely as one can arrange a basketball on a platter.  It still had the appearance of a basketball but a nicely arranged and decorated one.  Everyone was waiting.  I brought it out and placed it on the table.  Stunned silence.  Finally one of my sons spoke.  "Really, Mom?"

Another of my sons, old enough to know better, did what one usually does with a basketball.  He "passed" it to his brother, who unfortunately missed it.  It landed on the floor, and my beagles, who would eat anything without even sniffing, rushed toward it...stopped, SNIFFED, and walked away!

OK, so that didn't work.  After that year, though, I was determined to find a delicious, festive vegetarian Thanksgiving entree.  These Stuffed Pumpkins sell out every year in my cafe.  The perfect entree for a veggie crowd, they are also an impressive side dish for people who require a real turkey.

STUFFED PUMPKIN
Pumpkin and Stuffing
1 Sugar Pumpkin
2 Cups (Pre-cooked) Brown Basmati Rice
2 Cups (Cooked) Chickpeas
4 Cups Almonds/Raisins/Craisins/Apple
4 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 TB + 2 TSP Sugar
2 TSP Cinnamon
Pinch Hot Paprika

Cut off top of pumpkin.  Cut stem to 2 inches.  Scrape out seeds. Season inside of pumpkin with olive oil and honey (unfiltered sugar for vegans). Rub outside of pumpkin with olive oil. Roast one hour at 350.

Cook two cups brown rice.  Set aside. Sauté almonds, raisins, craisins and apple slices with olive oil, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch hot paprika.  Add to rice with chickpeas. Stir together and re-season.

Apples and Cranberries
3 Baking Apples
6 Cloves
1 LB Bag Cranberries
Pinch Cinnamon
Juice of 1 Orange
2 TB Honey (Unfiltered Sugar for Vegans)
1/4 - 1/2 Cup White Sesame, Toasted

Halve and oil the apples. Bake with cinnamon and cloves.

For sauce, juice orange and add 2+ TB honey (or sugar). Reduce sauce.  Add cranberries and cook very briefly.  Remove cranberries.  Reduce sauce further. Recombine sauce and berries.

Assembling Pumpkin
Fill pumpkin loosely, replace pumpkin lid, wrap loosely in foil.  Roast one hour at 325.  Warm remaining stuffing and apples separately.

Plate pumpkin and surround with extra stuffing.  Place roasted apples on stuffing around pumpkin.  Top apples with cranberry sauce.  Garnish with white sesame.

Healthy, happy eating!

Vegetating with Leslie: Now That's Just Peachy Keen(wah)...

"I did not become a vegetarian for my health.  I did it for the health of the chickens... " Isaac Bashevis Singer

I am vegetarian for spiritual reasons, not for my health.  Coincidentally it turns out there are health benefits to eating a more plant based diet.

I will concede that meat eating is not a detriment to health if the meat is from animals raised in a healthy, natural environment on species-appropriate organic food; however, the requirement that meat come from healthy, organically raised animals introduces additional arguments for vegetarianism: cost and availability.

In some locales, it is hard to find organic grass fed meat.  If it is available, it may be cost-prohibitive.  Vegetarianism is cost-effective.  A family of four can enjoy a healthy dinner based on $1.00 worth of dried beans or quinoa. Dried beans are widely available and store without using excess energy.  Quinoa is increasingly available in supermarkets and, like beans, is stable on the shelf.

That plant based protein sources are healthy, inexpensive, widely available, and don't require expensive refrigeration makes them an ideal choice not just for vegetarians or people concerned about health or the environment -- but for the budget-conscious.  

Frances Moore Lappe, in her best-selling Diet for a Small Planet (1971), makes the point that vegetarianism is not only good for the physical environment but is the ethical choice for society.  Requiring far less of the earth's resources, vegetarianism ensures all can have food to eat.

What if "Beans on Every Burner" were our national goal...Chickpea Chuckles replaced Hostess Ho-Hos on snack shelves, and "Peachy Keen(wah)" were the entree of choice?

Peachy *Quinoa (pronounce: Keen-wah)
2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Large Spanish Onion
1-2 Peaches, cut up (2 Cups)
1/2 Cup Dried Cherries
1/4 Cup Slivered or Sliced Almonds
1 Cup Quinoa
1/2 TSP Salt
1.5 TSP Cinnamon
1/4 TSP Hot Paprika

Directions
Saute minced onions in olive oil until onions are caramelized.  Add almonds and saute a few moments more.  Cut up peaches and dried cherries, and add to saute.  Add Quinoa and water with salt, cinnamon and hot paprika.  Bring mixture to a boil, lower heat to simmer, and cover.  Cook for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Variation: For Savory Quinoa, replace cinnamon and fruits with 1 TSP minced fresh garlic and  TSP cumin.  Chop 1-2 cups spinach or kale and add to top of pot just before end of cooking time.  When Quinoa is finished, stir in spinach/kale.

Either version of Quinoa can be served with roasted veggies.  In my Cafe, I like to use Brussels sprouts and butternut squash.

Healthy, happy eating!

*Quinoa was originally grown in the Andes.  A gluten-free seed, it has a delicious, nutty flavor, is a complete protein and is a good source of B-vitamins, iron and dietary fiber. 

MSNBC Double Whammy

Today MSNBC aired a segment with Dr. Robert Lustig, whom I have mentioned before in this blog.  Dr. Lustig is a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California San Francisco, where he is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics.  He is known for his statements about sugar and toxicity.  The interview is a must-hear: Fighting Sugar Addiction.  When you arrive at the link, you will need to scroll down in the left column to select the segment with Dr. Lustig -- Fighting Sugar Addiction.

It has been well over one year since I began my own experiment with sugar.  I had the opportunity to see in a very direct and dramatic way the effect of eliminating sugar from my diet -- not just added sugar and sweets but the much more insidious sugars that unfortunately permeate commercial foods.

I have always been health oriented and have paid attention to my diet, but I had gotten a little lazy.  One week after eliminating all sugar from my diet, all aching which I had attributed to arthritis was gone.  You might say this experience was coincidental or even wishful, but my blood work suggested there might be more to the story  My blood glucose went from high to well within the normal range.  At the time, my overall cholesterol dropped significantly.  HDL, which had been consistently lower than the desired 50, shot up.  My LDL dropped, and my triglycerides dropped.  Over a period of a very few short weeks, I lost 15 pounds.  I was convinced.  Now in my second winter, I have continued to avoid my yearly winter weight increase.  My results from this single change in my diet were quick and dramatic.

Well into my experiment, I happened to come across a reference to Dr. Lustig.  I did a little internet research and read his articles and viewed videos of him teaching a class of medical students.  I believe we will hear more about Dr. Lustig and his ideas with regard to sugar -- and I believe we will hear from more and more medical professionals and researchers on this topic as research continues to find direct links between sugar, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's/dementia and some forms of cancer.

Dr. Lustig just completed a book, Fat Chance, which I am going to pick up.  People in my weight loss groups will have the opportunity to purchase the book at Read Between the Lynes with a 20% discount.

Since I began my own sugar project, I lost a brother-in-law to pancreatic cancer.  Another close relationship, who happens to be significantly overweight, has developed breast cancer.  A third was just informed he has stomach cancer.  As I mentioned, my passion for health, and in particular health as influenced by what we eat, was generated 45 years ago when my grandmother died of colon cancer.

I believe all of these preventable diseases are "foodborne illnesses," and my passion for eliminating sugar and, in particular, the sugar in commercial foods from my diet has deepened.  According to Dr. Lustig, the sugar in commercial foods is responsible for fully 50% of the weight gain represented in the obesity epidemic.  More importantly, it is associated with metabolic syndrome, the precursor of many of the diseases that plague us today.  Yes, I think we will hear more about this.

Studies show what we know...

MSNBC had a report this morning about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).   Prior studies of HFCS demonstrated that the practice of adding it to so many of our manufactured foods and to soft drinks corresponds to the dramatic rise in obesity in this country.  A new study provides the direct link between HFCS and obesity in that it explores the biology, that is, how HFCS works in the body, and found that it stimulates the hormone that causes hunger and cravings.  Yup, that demonstrates what we all suspected -- the rise in obesity is related to manufactured foods and is not a function of decreasing will power in our population.

Vegetating with Leslie: Food Products or . . . Food?

“You have a choice. You can continue eating the foods manufacturers want you to buy that are making you unhealthy. Or you can return to eating the foods God provided for you, already magnificently packaged in their own skins, rinds, pods and shells . . . Rabbi Celso Cukiercorn

Picture this: a five-year old watching TV happily munching a fluffer-nutter sandwich on something manufacturers alleged was white bread.  That was me, 60 years ago (OMG!).

I enjoyed fluffer-nutters and many other American favorites for the next 15 years.  Then in 1968, my Fort Smith, Arkansas, grandmother died of colon cancer at 65 years of age, just one year older than I am now. I had a vague sense her disease was what some of us call "a foodborne illness."

I began a lifelong research project with a consistent theme: "real food." I campaigned to bring real food back to the center of my table.  I raised a family on real food, much of which got its start in my organic garden.  Today I own and operate a five-star vegetarian cafe featuring real food.  I never ate another fluffer-nutter.

What is real food?  In Food Rules, Michael Pollan says: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”  Food choices I make for myself, my family and my cafe are guided by the real food principle.  I cook my own food and choose the least processed ingredients -- plant food, organic when possible.  I stick to the produce section of the supermarket.

Healthy vegetarian foods can be a tough sell, easier in recent years as research supports what was anecdotal 40 years ago.  Finally, though, healthy eating has to taste good and satisfy.  You be the judge:

Veggie Chili

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 TB Garlic
2 Bell Peppers
1 Large Yellow/Spanish Onion
1 Poblano Pepper
1/2 LB Dried Small Red Beans
1 LB Dried Dark Red Kidney Beans
10 Large Plum Tomatoes
6-12 OZ Tomato Paste
1TB + 1 TSP Salt
1TB + 1 TSP Cumin
1 TB Hot Chili Powder
2 TSP Hot Paprika
1 LG Bunch Fresh Cilantro

Prepare Beans. Rinse and soak beans overnight.  Place drained beans in a 4 quart pot, add water to 1/2" over top of beans, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until done.  Check water level periodically.  When done, the beans should have absorbed most but not all water.

Prepare Veggies. Cut bell peppers and onions into 1" dice.  Mince poblano pepper.  Cut tomatoes into 1/2" dice. Mince cilantro.

Make Chili.  Add olive oil to bottom of a 1-2 gallon pot.  Saute garlic, peppers and onions until slightly soft.  Add diced tomatoes, and heat until entire mixture is simmering.  Add remaining seasonings, and simmer a few minutes.  Add cooked beans and remaining juices (unless too much liquid remains, then drain some).  Bring to a simmer.  Add tomato paste until it reaches the thickness you prefer.  Add cilantro. Adjust seasoning.

Healthy, happy eating!

Vegetating with Leslie: When Life Gives You Lemons...

"We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons."  - Alfred E. Newman

I squeeze a lot of lemons every day.  After five years of daily lemon squeezing, I finally purchased a professional lemon squeezer, the kind they use in fairs.  It's an incredible technological advance in my life.  I love it!

Still, my lemon squeezer is a single function tool. It squeezes lemons for salads I make every day in my vegetarian cafe.  It needed a larger purpose in life.

One day I put a little unfiltered sugar in a cup, squeezed a half lemon over it, tossed in the rind, swished it around, filled the cup with ice, added water, clapped a lid over the cup and shook.  I handed the result to my employee.  She drank, looked stunned and said, "Amazing."  She shared her drink with friends, who performed similarly.

This employee is 40 years younger than I as are her friends.  Noting her ecstasy over the drink, I wondered if it was possible she had never had real lemonade before?  Sure enough, prior to this moment lemonade for her was something made with water and canned powder.  She had no idea you could just make lemonade from . . . well, real lemons.

Have you ever compared the ingredient list on a lemon with the ingredient list on one of those cans of lemonade mix?  Here is a typical powdered lemonade mix ingredient list: Sugar, Fructose, Citric Acid, Less Than 2% Of Natural Flavor, Ascorbic Acid, Maltodextrin, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Calcium Fumarate, Artificial Color, Yellow 5 Lake, Tocopherol.

Compare that list to: Lemon.  A lemon, with its nutrients, micronutrients and phytonutrients, with its fiber and its ability to lower the glycemic index of accompanying foods. Most of all a lemon with all of its taste.  A plain lemon, packaged in its own beautiful (integrated) yellow self.

It turns out real lemonade is not only more nutritious and about as easy to make as lemonade from a powdered mix -- but tastier.  According to the 20+ set, it is "Amazing!"

Forty years ago, I began a campaign to bring back real food.  I raised my kids on it.  Today I feed it to my customers.  Everybody loves it!  Why did we ever give it up?  What did real food ever do to us but keep us healthy and happy?

Real Lemonade
0 - 2 TB Unfiltered Sugar
Juice of 1/2 LG Juicy Lemon
1/2 Lemon Rind
Ice
Water

Wash one lemon.  Add sugar to taste to the bottom of a drink mixer or cup with a cover.  Squeeze over it the juice of 1/2 lemon, reserving the rind.  Swish sugar and lemon juice until mixed.   Add ice to the top of the shaker or cup.  Fill shaker or cup with water.  Secure the lid, and shake.  Enjoy your lemonade!

Healthy, happy eating!

Finding Your Natural Weight...A Beginning: II

One of the people in our first weight loss group shared a link to an article that I really appreciated: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/10/sugar-industry-lies-campaign?page=2

In response to a request for quick and easy (and appropriate) main dishes, we enjoyed kidney beans and brown rice 5 different ways.  My son, Jeremy, made a video presentation that we hope will be helpful as you learn to eat the Expressly Leslie way: http://www.youtube.com/expresslyleslie (select 7 Easy Vegetarian Recipes from Expressly Leslie)

Here's a brief summary of what we talked about while we enjoyed dinners together:

Once we looked beyond the mere cosmetic rationale for weight loss and removed some of the obstacles to a successful outcome, our group, which I am thinking of naming "Lifers," began to look at all the wonderful possibilities of what we can eat for optimum health. 

In Sessions 3 and 4, we considered not only what to eat but how to eat it.  We looked at several alternatives to calorie counting and why other ways of monitoring what we eat are likely to work better for us and be easier to maintain over a lifetime.

Our first stop was basic body chemistry and old-school diet wisdom.   Food contains 3 sources of energy:

• Carbohydrates, the quickest source of energy  - 4 calories per gram
• Proteins, needed for repairing damaged tissue and building new cells - 4 calories per gram
• Fats, the most efficient energy but the slowest to break down - 9 calories per gram

These simple facts suggest right away why the focus for weight loss and disease prevention has been so heavily on decreasing fat content in the diet and decreasing the fat content in foods that contain fats.  Fats are higher in calories and so should be highly restricted.  Or should they?

Old school nutrition recommends for a 2000 calorie "balanced" diet the following:

• Carbohydrates - 45-65% of calories, 900 - 1300 calories
• Proteins - 10-35% of calories, 200 - 700 calories
• Fats - 20-35% of calories, 400 - 700 calories 

It is not quite so simple, as it turns out.  Fat does not make one fat, nor is good fat the culprit in the battle against heart disease.  In fact, the right kind of fat helps burn fat faster by increasing the metabolic processes that burn fat.  What are the right kinds of fat? Butter, eggs, cocnut oil, nuts, and avocado are among them.  Surprised?  Seem like lot of foods that you thought you couldn't eat or that you needed to replace with more processed items like . . . mmm, margarine?  Isn't it nice to know that you can skip the foods marked "low fat," generally more processed, and go for the gold, full fat yogurt? Butter? Nut butters?  This isn't a free pass to eat all those high fat foods out there, but it does make us feel less deprived when we contemplate a lifetime plan for eating.

With old school nutrition, you might be able to enjoy 5 or 6 walnuts before you reached the outer limit of your fat content in a day.  I don't know about you, but that would leave me starving and obsessing about food all day long.  In addition to its other wonderful properties, fat provides a feeling of satisfaction. I try to make sure I get some fat content each time I eat, and 5 or 6 walnuts just won't take me far into my day. 

In addition, all calories are not created equal.  A 2000 calorie diet plan suggests that they are...yet we now know that foods work together in different ways.  How you put different kinds of foods together and when you eat them ... and what foods you exclude from your diet ... have at least as much impact as the number of calories.

So here's another way to look at how we eat:  blood glucose levels. 

• 120 is the weight gaining zone.  Insulin must be released at this point, which causes fat storage.
• 90 is the fat burning zone.
• 60 is the zone in which you will experience constant hunger, cravings and fatigue.

Our goal is to stay in the fat burning zone, 90.  One way to check that we are accomplishing this is with constant blood glucose level checks using a kit like those that diabetics use.  Since that requires an understanding of how food works in the body anyway, it's just as easy to simply eat correctly and feel confident that your blood sugar level will end up where it should be.  What does it mean, to  "eat correctly?"

• 50% (or as much as you would like) low starch, low glycemic carbs / high water content veggies like spinach
• 25% lean protein / fish, chicken, meat, eggs, beans
• 25% complex, slow burning carbs / whole grains, starchy veggies like sweet potato

I like this way of eating because it is visual.  Who wants to pull out a calculator to count calories every time you sit down to eat?  While a quick glance at the glycemic index is useful just to get a feeling for what kinds of foods fall into each category, this way of eating is basically maintained by looking at your plate almost like you would a work of art. 

I recommend three meals and at least two snacks in the course of a day so that you are never more than 3 hours from being able to eat.  If meals are on 8" or 9"plates and snacks on 5" plates, and each meal or snack is arranged on the plate with 50% low glycemic carbs (or as much at you would like), 25% protein and 25% complex carbs, you won't need to worry about counting calories. 

You also won't need to worry about how much fat you're getting in your diet.  If it is part of the portions on your plate or is used to season your meal along with acidity -- as well as to provide satisfaction -- it will naturally end up being a reasonable amount. You are not likely to put a full stick of butter on a plate already filled with good foods.  You are also not likely to pour an entire bottle of olive oil onto a full plate. 

In the course of our sessions together, I presented a number of tips and tricks based on my own experience and my reading.  I also learned a great deal from the group, whose questions stimulated me to research.  My research caused me to modify some of my thinking based on new information that has become available. 

My next group will begin soon and will once again be four sessions.  I will make some changes based on my experience with the first group.  Congratulations to those who completed the first Expressly Leslie Four Week Weight Loss Group...and I hope you will all on the road to becoming "Lifers."