Jan 26, 2013

Breakfast: despite the cold, decided to eat a cold breakfast of plain yogurt with 1/2 banana sliced, 2 spoonfuls pecans, sliced dried pear. 1 oatcake with slice of cheddar cheese
Snack: Active Greens food bar, a great snack but for the sugar from the agave syrup. Would have been sweet enough with just the date paste...
Lunch: babybel cheese, 1/2 gluten free sausage, fresh green salad with leftover broccoli and whole pistachios.
Dinner at "Au Pied de Cochon" was lovely on so many levels but very very bad for my digestion. Red wine accompanied a butternut squash soup thick with cream and laden with cheese. Took 5 bites of foie gras poutine smothered in some very creamy gravy. At this point I was full,  up the main course arrived. Boar spare ribs on a bed of roasted vegetables (spinach, cauliflower, eggplant and carrots) sprinkled with sea salt.  I ate almost half and felt horrible, like the snake that opened its jaws too wide to swallow a large rodent. Needless to say, no room for dessert.

Foxes in the henhouse: toxic chemicals in our environment affecting your health

If I had a dollar for every time I read an article that included the line "organic foods are no healthier than conventional", I'd be rich. If you know how studies work, you know they are the stuff of big business. They are very complicated and costly to run. Depending on how they are structured, they may not show clear proof of anything. I'm also taken aback at the very idea that such studies need to be held. Organic farming puts fewer chemicals into the earth, our general environment, and the mouths of those who eat their yields. Not to mention, fewer chemicals is a better choice for those who touch, tend to and harvest the produce. Organic animal farming practices benefit the animal and those who consume it later. Running a study to prove that organic farming doesn't result in foods with more nutrients seems besides the point. Kind of like doing a study to prove that treating people politely doesn't make anyone live longer. Does that therefore mean we should immediately stop being polite?

Furthermore, who are these folks paying for the expensive studies to find out if organic is "better" for us? They're not my local organic farmer that's for sure; he's not rich enough. I wonder though, might a corporate giant like McCain Foods have the money for that sort of thing, especially if it showed that its products are no different from organic products? But I digress...

Take a look at Nicholas Kristof's article about some fat mice who helped scientists understand that some of the typical toxins in our environment are wreaking havoc with our immune systems and potentially contributing to obesity. "Among chemical disruptors identified as 'obesogens' are materials in plastics, canned foods, foam cushions and jet fuel." Take note: we're not talking about industrial chemicals that normal people aren't exposed to. Rather these are chemicals present in our every day life. As for their effects, they are numerous, for example: "women with a pesticide residue in their blood bore babies who were more likely to be overweight at 14 months of age".

When I say that I think we should choose organic foods more often, I'm not suggesting that doing so will stave off cancer or make you live longer.  However, when you understand that today's non-organic farming practices are so focussed on increasing production and maximising profits, you realize that you cannot depend on conventional grocery store food to keep you healthy. To the contrary, most of that food is exposing you - and thousands of poor migrant workers - to potentially harmful chemicals. It's a much better solution to give your money to folks who are doing what's right for the environment and our collective health: the small-scale organic farmers. They're not doing anything extraordinary; just farming the way it used to be before profit became the main criteria for success. But I'm betting that our local organic farmers will be the ones to bring us all back to health.

Jan 23, 2013

Breakfast: gluten-free toast with peanut butter and half a banana. 1/2 cup blueberries
Snack: mixed salted nuts (2 Tbsp)
Lunch: homemade cabbage soup, liver pâté with 10 rice crackers
Snack: 1 mandarin orange, 2 squares 70% dark chocolate
Dinner: 1/2 cup brown rice with tomato sauce, fried egg, 1 sliced avocado and cucumber spears

Assorted meals for week of Jan 14-18

Breakfasts: toast with egg, fruit and veggie smoothies
Lunches: Palak Paneer* (spinach and cheese) with brown rice tortilla chips, sushi and Japanese salmon salad (brought my own gluten-free tamari sauce), leftover soups with crackers and gluten-free sausages.
Dinners: Baked trout with butter and herbs with side of brown rice and broccoli, Angus beef meatballs in spaghetti sauce

* For convenient lunches, Indian prepackaged meals are a great option. Most do not contain gluten.  Choices that include chick peas or cheese have a good serving of protein as well. Check the label on the "heat and serve" meals at your local grocery store.

January 15, 2013

Breakfast: plain yogurt with 5 drops liquid stevia, homemade granola, 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
Lunch: corn pasta, meatballs and chopped cooked kale, 1 square 85% Lindt chocolate
Snack: mandarin orange
Dinner: meatballs in sauce, steamed broccoli

January 13, 2013

Breakfast: Glutino gluten-free pancakes with blueberries and bacon
Lunch: free-range chicken sausage, carrot soup
Snack: handful of cashews
Dinner: beef meatballs with sautéed kale and brown rice crackers

January 11, 2013

Breakfast: Poached egg on Food For Life gluten-free English muffin
Snack: Handful of raspberries
Lunch: Green smoothie (kale, pineapple, banana), salmon and 10 rice crackers
Dinner: Cauliflower-leek soup, slices of turkey and cheese
Snack: Fibre bars