Sunday, April 3, 2011

No longer unemployed and ready to detoxify!

First, the big news: I have a JOB!!! A full-fledged, full-time job. Even better, the job completely fell into my lap (thanks to the power of visualizing and networking), and they are actually going to modify the original description somewhat to take advantage of my mad writing and editing skillz. Holla!

Anyway, yipes! Has it really been almost a month since I last posted??? Well, what can I say, not only has life gotten in the way, but I also took a little tumble off the healthy eating bandwagon.

Triathlon training season has now officially been kicked off, which has given me a little kick in the pants to jump back into healthy eating. There is nothing worse than trying to move your body (let alone have it perform well) when you're loaded down with oil- and sugar-laden, processed, refined garbage.

However, despite my intent to eat healthy so that my body will perform at its best, getting back into good habits is not that easy. When I am confronted by inner rebellious teenager, I often try to find compromises: What am I WILLING to do?

In this case, I eventually decided that if I was going to eat like crap, the least I could do for myself would be to start my morning off with a glass of lemon water.

I never knew how good lemon water was for the body until I did the Two-Week Detox (well, one week, in my case). I could definitely feel a difference in the way I felt after drinking lemon water, and the more I read about lemons, the more I learned that they have some truly amazing properties.

For example:
  • Lemons have an alkalizing effect on the body, helping it to stay in balance, and feel and perform well. Unhealthy processed foods, caffeine, and alcohol make your body acidic, meaning you are more susceptible to getting ill and feeling like crap.
  • Lemons aid the liver in removing toxins (such as those from junk/fast food).
  • Lemons contain Vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium.
  • Lemons' digestive properties can help with heartburn and bloating
These days, I find that when I have been eating lots of junk food, the idea of lemon water sounds really really good to me. I take this "craving" to be my body's natural way of wanting to detoxify itself.

The recipe (if you want to call it that) is pretty simple: Squeeze half or a whole lemon into 8 or more ounces of lukewarm water, depending on your tolerance for tartness. I've found that my tolerance for more concentrated lemon juice has gotten better over time. Per the recommendation of the Two Week Wellness Solution, I drink it first thing in the morning, before eating my breakfast. That way, it gently "wakes up" my digestive system.

Please note, the lemon juice needs to be fresh—from an actual lemon, not from one of those cute little yellow squeeze bottles at the grocery store. Otherwise, you're cheating yourself out of all the good stuff.

For more fun reading about lemon water, check out this and this.

And please bear with me as I attempt to get back onto the blogging band wagon as well as the eating healthy band wagon! I will do my best!

Photo courtesy of this website.

Monday, March 7, 2011

I love cobbler

Several summers ago, I went blackberry picking with my then-boyfriend at a farm located around Elgin, Texas (I'd give you the name but I can't remember it, and a Google search isn't being very helpful, either).

As we wandered through row after row of bushes offering big, fat blackberries for the picking, we got so caught up in filling our cute (but gigantic) baskets that we didn't stop to consider what we were going to do with all of those blackberries once we got them home. It took my getting stung by a bee (they like blackberries, too) to finally snap us out of our blackberry reverie and wake us up to the fact that we had picked a lot more than we could ever eat.

Five-ish pounds of blackberries and am embarrassing amount of money paid to the farmers later, we were back at the house, trying to look up blackberry recipes. Both of us liked the idea of cobbler, but immediately dismissed it as being way too complicated to make, and neither of us particularly wanted to gain 50 lbs from eating it every single day.

If only Tess had already published her book back then, with its recipe for "Ultra Light Blackberry Cobbler." Super easy, super delicious, and a green recipe to boot (for more info about color coding, see this post).

I avoided making this recipe for a long time, mainly because I really love cobbler and was convinced that a "healthy" cobbler could not taste good. But my curiosity finally got the best of me, so I tried it out. And yum!

I think what makes this recipe successful is the fact that blackberries really are the centerpiece here. The doughiness is still there for those of us who love it (I am one of those folks), but there are so many damn blackberries (I'm not complaining) that it balances things out.

The ingredients are really quite simple: Whole wheat pastry flour combined with some baking powder, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and a touch of maple syrup. Once it's all mixed together, pour it into a pie pan, dump 2 cups of blackberries on top, and bake for 45 minutes. I'm not sure how it's possible to make a delicious cobbler without using butter, but somehow Tess managed to find a way. Yum.

I served mine with a little bit of almond-milk vanilla ice cream. It's no Ben & Jerry's, but was actually pretty good, and, more importantly, it didn't make me feel like I needed to go run 3 miles after eating it.

**Note: You really need to use good quality, organic blackberries. This will probably cost you around $4 for a 16-oz bag, but there's no comparison in quality between the frozen HEB version and the really nice organic farm version, in taste, appearance, and pesticide levels. Worth it.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Holy Shiitake (Walnut, and Dried Cranberry Salad) Batman!

Today I've had quite the craving for Wheatsville's popcorn tofu sandwich.

Popcorn whaaaaa?

I know, sounds weird and/or gross, right? Oh, but it's not. It's delicious. Kind of like chicken nuggets. And they put it on this bun with all kinds of veggies and top it with some cashew-tamari dressing, and...damn. It's good.

Probably not the healthiest, though. So, I decided that, to counteract the bad, I would make something good. Really good. And healthy. And that ended up being Shiitake, Walnut, and Dried Cranberry Salad, from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth.

Shiitake mushrooms are crazy good for the immune system and have also been shown to fight cancer. These bad boys are gooood for you. The recipe calls for sautéeing them along with some garlic—yet another powerful immune booster—in a little bit of olive oil. I found some beautiful, local, organic shiitakes at Wheatsville. You can see their happy little sautéed selves in the picture to the right. A few minutes was all it took to get them nice and soft.

After sautéeing, I set the mushrooms and garlic aside and mixed up some red onion, balsamic vinegar, oil, walnuts, cranberries, and the secret ingredient—orange zest—which really gave the finished product a nice, unexpected, pleasant kick. And, by the way, attempting to grate the orange zest with my tiny little grater while avoiding grating my knuckles into the salad firmed up my resolve to finally buy a zester. I would recommend that you do the same.

The recipe calls for baby greens, but I used spinach instead, since I have about 5 million pounds of it that I bought on sale recently. I mixed the spinach and mushrooms with the other magic ingredients, tossed, and...voilà! A healthy side to my popcorn tofu sandwich (which, incidentally, is still probably better for me than a Quarter Pounder with Cheese).

Just to review, this salad gives you a huge bang for your buck, providing immune-boosting, cardiovascular-enhancing, cancer fighting, and anti-inflammatory properties, a big dose of flavanoids, antioxidants, and fiber...and the list goes on (and on...).

Now go out and get ya some.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Easy. Addictive. Eggplant.

Hello all, and sorry for the lag time in posting. I actually found a job to apply for—wonder of wonders!—and even got a couple of freelance gigs at the end of last week, so the whole making-money thing has taken priority.

It's been a busy several days, and since I know that I am less likely to do major cooking when I have a lot going on, I've fallen back on some staple dishes that are easy and quick to make, but also healthy. Also important for me during this busy time is that I've made these dishes before, which negates the whole I-don't-want-to-try-anything-new--and-have-it-go-wrong-while-I'm-stressed-out factor.

One of these healthy items that is quickly becoming a staple in my diet is eggplant. Specifically, Easy and Addictive Eggplant "Chips". I have always liked the idea of eggplant—it's so pretty!—but I have never been able to make it taste good. Not even when I've covered it with cheese and marinara sauce. During Tess' most recent visit to Austin, she asked whether I had tried this recipe from her book yet. I hadn't, and there were beautiful organic eggplants on sale at Wheatsville...so I got one.

Tess had warned me that they were addictive, and I had laughed, but...she wasn't kidding. The first time I made them, I almost ate the whole pan. It's something about the marinade, full of garlic and onion, and the texture of the eggplant...yeah, they're that good. To remedy this "problem," I have started making only the amount I am going to feel ok about eating. That way, self-control is not required. =)

Texture-wise, contrary to the implication of their name ("Chips"), they are actually soft rather than crisp. They have kind of a caramelized texture. Also, don't make the same mistake that I did the first time I made them: You want to use a cookie sheet that has raised edges—i.e., one that will contain the delicioso marinade liquid and prevent it from spilling off the pan and into your oven. Trust me. (Cleanup on Aisle 5!)

The recipe is simple enough. Preheat the oven to 400 deg, toss together the ingredients of your marinade, and slice your eggplant into "chips." Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet (seriously, one with raised edges!) and pour the marinade on top. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes, then flip them over and sit for another 5-10 min.

At this point, if you're making a full batch, you will leave the all of the marinade in the pan. But, if you are like me and are making a smaller batch, you can (carefully) pour the excess marinade back into a container to reuse the next day (I'm assuming this is ok, since there are no nasty meat-type bacteria in eggplant and I use it pretty quickly. At least, I haven't died yet from doing so). You'll still want to leave a little marinade in the cookie sheet though, so they can cook in their juices. Pop your large or small batch into the oven, let them cook for 10-15 minutes, take them out and flip them over, then let them cook for another 5 or 10 minutes. Mmmmm....

These taste best when they're fresh and hot out of the oven, of course, but I also have enjoyed eating them cold, on top of salad. That might not be for everyone, I realize...it's a texture thing.

I should also mention that they are considered a "blue" food item. This is a rating system of the recipes from Tess' book, which is super handy to have when you're planning out your meals. "Green" foods are relatively low in calories and fat and can be eaten several times a day; "Blue" foods tend to be higher in fat and calories and, depending on your activity level and weight loss goals (if you have any), should be eaten once, maybe twice a day. "Purple" foods are things like, oh, say, chocolate cake, which definitely are higher in calories, fat, and sugar, and should for sure be eaten in moderation.

One of the things that has been helpful for me to keep in mind, however, is that even the purple foods from this book contain natural or less refined sweeteners, whole ingredients, and healthy fats. They are MUCH healthier (and probably lower in fat/sugar/cals) than the processed, refined garbage that most of us eat on a daily basis. Also keep in mind that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach: As with anything, it's about moderation and balance (my arch nemeses, BTW...). Check out Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, for more info about Tess' color-coded rating system.

Finally, I have to report a triumph: I had dinner last week at Hyde Park Grill. Austinites will automatically know what this place is famous for, but for you sad people who do not live here...they make the BEST french fries. Ever. I don't know what they do to them (nothing healthy), but they are crazy good. And horrible for you. And you get a huge portion of them, with a container of a mayo-based dipping sauce. And, for perhaps the first time ever, I didn't want to eat them. It had nothing to do with sitting on my hands and forcing myself to choose something healthier. I just...didn't want them. I got a vegetable plate instead. WTF?!?!

This experience is starting to prove to me that our taste buds do actually start to adjust, the more we feed ourselves healthy, delicious food. I'm not saying I'll never eat another french fry again, and I actually had a day of pretty unhealthy choices on Sunday (and paid for them later), but to have a moment—even one!—in which I actually WANTED the healthier option was huge. Huge!

Enjoy!

*Top photo taken from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Court's Favorite Things: Steel Cut Oats

Today's post is inspired by an editorial I read in the New York Times this morning. Apparently McDonalds has decided to offer a healthier breakfast item on its menu: Oatmeal. Great, right?

Not so fast.

According to the article, a serving of their oatmeal (in addition to being full of processed, difficult-to-pronounce ingredients) "contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and 10 fewer calories than a McDonalds cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin."

Damn! I'd rather have the cheeseburger. (Just kidding. Mostly...)

Anyway, I thought I'd take a page out of McDonalds' book and share one of my favorite ways to make a yummy breakfast. Except mine is nutritious, fast, convenient, and free of processed garbage: Steel cut oatmeal.

Steel cut oats are the same nutritionally as regular rolled oats, but they taste a bit heartier and chewier. I started eating them last year when I was training for triathlons. I wanted to fuel my body with something hearty and filling that would stabilize my blood sugar and also give me energy for my morning workouts. Cooking steel cut oats on the stove, however, takes forever. Or at least 30 minutes. Who has time for that in the morning?

Enter the Crockpot. It is one of my most favorite inventions ever, especially since I discovered that they aren't just for pot roast. In the evenings, before I go to bed, I put 1 part steel cut oats to 4 parts water, hit the "start" button, and voilà—I wake up to a hot, healthy breakfast that's already cooked.

Here's my official, uh, "recipe":

1 c steel cut oats
4 c water (or soymilk, if you want it creamier)

1. Put oats and water in the Crockpot
2. Put Crockpot on the 8-hour setting
3. Go to sleep
4. Wake up in the morning feeling gleeful because someone (you) made breakfast for you, and it's ready to go
5. "Garnish" oatmeal with yummies: e.g., bananas, cranberries, raisins, honey, brown sugar...you get the idea.

The quantities I listed here will make about 4 cups of cooked oatmeal. Needless to say, I don't eat this in one sitting. It stores very well in sealed container and lasts for the 3 following days it takes me to eat it. It takes just a few minutes to heat up in the morning.

And there you go.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What the Hell is an Adzuki Bean??

First of all, it's pronounced "ah-ZOO-kee," not "ad-ZOO-kee." Ok?

These are tiny little puppies that, according to the official adzuki bean website (who knew??), are very popular in Japanese cuisine. They are also apparently a staple of macrobiotic cooking, being "the most yang of beans."

I had no idea what that meant, so I looked it up. After an extensive search (and by extensive, I mean about 5 minutes clicking through Google), I learned that "yang" is associated with masculine, contractive, hot energy. You want to balance yang with yin (which would be the opposite of yang) for optimal health.

Got it? Alrighty then. Let's get cooking.

I've been tempted to make Creamy Adzuki Beans (yes! I'm posting the recipe!) for awhile, just because the *picture from the book looks so friggin' awesome, as you can see below.

Also, one of the cool things about this recipe is that you don't have to soak the beans ahead of time...very helpful for those of us who have a hard time doing difficult preparative work, like putting beans in water and letting them sit overnight.

The ingredients are also fairly simple to start with: adzuki beans (duh) onion, cumin, diced tomatoes, coconut milk, and the magic ingredient, kombu.

Uhhh...kom-what?

Kombu. The golden ticket of vegans, basically, a type of dried seaweed that brings out the flavor of food, adds nutrients, and...improves the digestibility of beans. Confused about that last part? Just think to yourself, "Beans, beans, the magical fruit..." and you'll get the idea.

So. I loaded the aforementioned ingredients and a 3-in. piece of kombu into my pressure cooker (my adventures with the pressure cooker might warrant its own blog post) and heated it up. Once the top started spinning, I let it cook for about 30 minutes, but when the pressure released, it was clear that my beans weren't done. I'm still trying to figure out the pressure cooker thing, so this was likely a user error. I closed the lid, heated the pot again, and cooked for another 10 minutes once the top started spinning. And, voilà—perfect beans. I dumped in the rest of the ingredients: lemon juice, garlic, peanut butter (!), and salt, put a tiny dollop of vegan sour cream on top, and garnished with cilantro. Nom.

As it so happens, I also treated myself to a carton of gorgeous organic strawberries today, as a reward for not buying a coffee and pastry this morning when I went to my neighborhood coffee shop.

Why is it that I don't think twice about dropping $5 on a latte and cinnamon roll, but balk at the idea of paying $5 for healthy, not-covered-in-pesticides produce? They were beautiful, no comparison in color to the pale, non-organic strawberries, and the flavor was amazing as well.

So, in order to best utilize my strawberry prize, I decided to serve Spinach–Strawberry Salad—one of my absolute F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E-S from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth—alongside the adzuki beans.

And here is the finished product. Sweet, holy deliciousness. I imagine a nice slice of whole grain bread would go really, really well with this, as would some brown rice.

For dessert, I had—you guessed it—a vegan organic dark chocolate truffle filled with crystallized ginger and raw cacao nibs, rolled in raw cacao powder. Those really deserve their own blog post, too. Stay tuned. =)

*Photo of adzuki bean dish by Michelle McCluggage; appears in Radiant Health, Inner Wealth.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Lonestar Stew

A name befitting a Texas-style vegan dish, and a delicious one at that!

Today was actually a cook-free day for me, since I had leftovers for lunch (almond burger with creamy fresh herb spread on a sprouted whole grain bun, yum!) and ate dinner at my friend Margaret's, who I have decided to deem "Queen of Crockpot Cooking" and "Sire(ess) of Soups" (yes, I'm aware that I just made up a word, but I think Margaret would approve). Margaret and I often make big vats of things and share them with each other, which is a Godsend when you are single and lazy.

Lonestar Stew is from a crockpot cookbook and is very simple, very comforting, and apparently very easy to make (according to Margaret), since it requires only the effort needed to toss ingredients in a crock pot (those ingredients being black-eyed peas, jalapeños, squash, red onion, and spices). It's nice to find another black-eyed pea dish that I enjoy; I never ate them growing up, since my mother hates them. Discovering new yummy food is a huge part of this process for me!

The original recipe calls for pork, but Margaret substituted Tofurky kielbasa, a product I've always made fun of, but have never tried. I'm cautious about eating "fake meat," but Tofurky is made from real organic tofu (very important when you're eating soy products, because of GMOs), and it made a really nice addition to the stew. I'd definitely use it, but I imagine you could also just add more squash in lieu of Tofurkey, if you wanted.

I'm going to see if I can find a copy of this recipe online somewhere, since I'd rather not go to jail for posting copyrighted material online. I do happen to have a personal copy of the recipe, however, so you could possibly twist my arm into giving you some when I make it for myself.

We served the stew alongside several this-es and thats that we had snacked on earlier, including hummus and whole grain crackers, black-peppered cashews, baby carrots, toasted almonds, and, for dessert...vegan organic dark chocolate truffles filled with crystallized ginger and cacao nibs, rolled in raw cacao powder (a recipe I made last week from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth). Can I get a yum-yum holla??

Trying to decide what tomorrow's cooking adventure will be ..right now it's a toss up between Black-eyed Peas and Kale (a favorite that I've made a couple of times) and Creamy Adzuki Beans (which I've never made before. And I'm not even sure what an adzuki bean is...but it looks damn good). Both are from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth.

Thanks for all your support and comments! I'm still trying to figure this blog thing out, as far as design and functions and content and whatnot. As always, would love your feedback!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

An unemployed editor starts a blog about vegan cooking.

First of all, I'm not trying to copy Julie & Julia.

Well, ok, yes. There are similarities. She blogged about cooking her way through a cookbook, and that's sort of what I'm hoping to do. However, there are several differences between that Julie lady and me:

1. I hear she's a big bitch in real life. I'm not. Mostly.
2. I am doing basically the opposite of the Julia Child cream & butter experiment...I'm cooking vegan. Yeah, that's right, vegan. It doesn't get any more anti-Julia Child than that.
3. Although I'm mostly using one cookbook as my guide, I'm going to cook only the stuff that I feel like eating (i.e., I'm not cooking every single recipe in the book).
4. I'm actually good friends with the author of the cookbook I'll be using, so I think she'll probably be quite pleased that I'm blogging about it. I hope so, anyway.
5. Those are the only differences I can really think of for right now, since I actually don't know that much about the Julie & Julia lady. I did see the movie, however, so I'll go ahead and state up front to all of you Hollywood producer types that I wouldn't turn down a movie offer if it came my way. I'm unemployed and could use the cash. I'd like Toni Collette to play me, please.

Thanks.

Now, to continue:

There are many tenets of the vegan diet that I believe in:
  • It's healthy for you (well, it is if you are eating a properly balanced diet and not junk food, processed meat substitutes, and candy)
  • It's better and more sustainable for the planet
  • It doesn't hurt animals (although I don't think that you're an evil animal hater if you eat meat and animal products. Personally, though, when I do eat meat, I try to eat free range/organic)
I became inspired to start incorporating more vegan food into my life because of my friend Tess, author of Radiant Health, Inner Wealth. I've known Tess for just over 10 years now (ask me sometime how she and I met! It's a great story!), and she's responsible for feeding me my first organic tomato. I still remember how good it was, and thinking, "So this is why tomatoes are fruit."

I had tried being vegan around that time, but it didn't stick, mainly because I was doing it so my then-boyfriend would like me (stupid). Also, I didn't really know much about cooking, or how to make food that was vegan AND tasted good. So I chalked the vegan experiment up to being young and stupid, and turned back to my animal product eating ways.

A few years ago, Tess published her first vegan cookbook (she's now working on her third), and I bought a copy, both as a supportive friend and with the desire to eat a little healthier. I made a couple of the desserts (of course) in her book and then put it away on my shelf. Not exactly the healthy change I had hoped to make. I was overwhelmed by the prospect of finding and buying all the spices and ingredients I had never heard of, and it was much easier to just walk to the taco stand down the street. Walking to the taco stand cancels out the calorie content of the taco, right? Probably not.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like I'm an unhealthy person who eats at McDonalds three times a day. Actually, I've had great moments of eating healthfully and exercising, and have even competed in triathlons the last 2 years. I like fruits and vegetables, and I probably know more than the average person about nutrition. The problem is, I'm an emotional eater, so any time there is stress in my life, my first reaction is to quit exercising and to pick up the chocolate cake, my drug of choice.

In July 2010, my coworkers and I learned that we were all being outsourced and that our company would close by the end of the year. Thus kicked off the latest round of stress-induced sugar binging as I attempted to start an apprenticeship in a new field, tried to procure freelance work so I could accumulate some extra income and pad my savings, and, of course, finish up my "real" job. Needless to say, I was soon heading down self-destruction highway at full speed, and I finally had a "come-to-Jesus" moment with myself when I stopped long enough to listen to my body and hear it say, "ENOUGH!"

I reconnected with Tess and decided to do her 2-week vegan cleanse. It sounded reasonable to me, as far as cleanses go. Basically, you could still eat. You weren't supposed to be hungry all the time. And the food sounded good. She even made out a handy-dandy shopping list and meal plan for the full 2 weeks. So, armed with my shopping list and fresh determination, I bought all of the ingredients—including all of those spices I had been afraid of years ago—organized my pantry, cleaned out my refrigerator, started the cleanse...

...and quit after about a week.

But, some things had changed:

First: I was no longer "scared" about buying all of those produce items, staples, and spices. I now knew where to find them in the grocery store, and I was actually pleasantly surprised at how simple and affordable the bulk bins made buying them.

Second: I had exposed myself to some really delicious food and mostly overcome my fear of trying something new. And, now that I had all of the staple items in my pantry, I had the desire to try out more of those recipes. Who knew I would ever like something called "Black-eyed peas and kale" or "Bailey's tofish with tartar sauce"?

Third: My job finally ended, I quit my apprenticeship, and cut back on my freelance work so I could find a new job...which left me with ample time during the day to "try new things," such as vegan cooking. A friend of mine even lent me her audiobooks of the Harry Potter series, so I could now re-read the series AND cook at the same time...two great escapes from the unemployment blues.

Soon, I found myself cooking up a regular vegan storm, and before I knew it, I had eaten mostly vegan for about 3 weeks. I felt better, my skin looked better, and I had more energy. I had been posting regular food status updates onto Facebook (probably more than I realized), and several friends suggested I start writing about it.

So, here I am. Writing a blog about going vegan.

One thing I need to clarify, however: When I say I'm going vegan...I'm actually going "vegan-ish." Oprah coined that term recently, and I like it. Rather than proclaim, "I am cutting out all meat/dairy/other animal products from my diet for the rest of my life!" I'm going to try to incorporate more vegan food into my lifestyle. Actually, I think that's the best way to make any change. Deprivation has never served me well. And I want the change to be enjoyable.

And, to be honest, I'm not sure that being completely vegan for the rest of my life is a change I want to make. Never eat Texas BBQ again? Plus, I do lurves me some dairy products. I've more or less adjusted to soymilk, but have yet to find a good substitute for yogurt and cheese (sorry vegans, the ones currently on the market just don't cut it for me). I lived in France, for Chrissakes...one doesn't come away from that experience without a significant taste and appreciation for "les produits laitiers," and the mile-long aisle they take up in the supermarchés...

But. I would be ok with reducing my consumption of these items, and eating them only if they're organic.

Regardless of definitions, it's definitely time to make healthier eating a more integral part of my life and to strive for some balance. I am now officially "in my thirties," only 8 years younger than my dad when he died. My family has a long history of heart disease, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, and dying young. Rather sobering statistics, and I'd rather not become one.

So, my hope is that, through this little experiment, I'll not only find some balance, I'll make new healthy and delicious foods a regular part of my lifestyle.

Food can be delicious and healthy? We'll see.