Eating Choices--(Eating for Living Well)

Those of you who want to eat more thoughtfully might start with these premises:

1. know the source of your food, where  and how is it raised. Visit your local farmer's market more often.


2. select the freshest, nutritionally rich elements, the darkest vegetables, the richest in minerals and trace nutrients and prepare them simply: sautee in good oils, add salt sparingly, try simple seasonings such as orange or lemon juices.

3. go for variety, of color, texture, taste, smell.

4. add new grains, new foods, the less processed, the better.
5. get to know your providers. Support local farms and ranches. If you do, they can make a living, and your community thrives together.

The toughest element in preparing healthy meals is striving for variety. I had made a list of ingredients I wanted to have at hand for impromptu assembly-this is the way I cook-plus ingredients called for in recipes. By Wednesday, I was running out of ideas. So, for dinner, last night, I opened a frozen vegan meal to serve,called Orange Chicken. I had brown rice I cooked to go with the split pea soup at lunch, I had chick-pea salad for dinner. I wanted something else.

Bad idea. The Thing was awful; I threw it away; I didn't even feed it to the dog.



Today, asian slaw with peanuts and sesame seeds,  a tortilla wrap with avocado, carrot slivers,veggie burger patty and pico de gallo with lots of fresh cilantro. Bananas and peanut butter for dessert.

For dinner, parsley noodles with mushrooms, green salad with pine nuts and pesto dressing.  For dessert, cranberry walnut muffins, made with no butter and no eggs, but with flax seed whipped up with water to resemble and act as a binder. Clever, these vegans!

Do I need a recipe book? Yes, if I am new, inexperienced and need ideas.I needed to follow the recipe to bake without eggs and butter and white flour.

Go ahead, do one thing today.
Check the egg carton. How far do those eggs travel?

Now, if you hate planning and cooking your food, you better be rich and smart. Rich, so you can choose the establishments that will whip up your meals to your liking; and smart, to research and eliminate those establishments that do not care to feed you in a healthy way.

Sure, you have your preferences.
You love certain foods and will not give them up.
Ask yourself, how am I treating this machine-body of mine?



Tomorrow, I have no clue. I'm running out of ideas. Amy sent me an edemame recipe that I tried and loved! Thanks Amy. I am looking for variety here. I cook Italian most of the time. I need inspiration from other places.

Thanks in advance!