(y)our food choices

Author Archives: (y)our food choices

We cook a lot in our tiny kitchen and love it! Baked bread, simmering soups and homemade pizzas are just a few of the staples in our apartment. We are constantly experimenting with recipes and love a challenge. We’re not Iron Chefs but we do respect the men and women who are and their dedication to the craft. We’re just two men who are trying to get back into the simple ways of life. We’re all about farmer’s markets and grass fed beef. We believe that the food we eat is sacred, even if we are not of the religious state of mind, and that with every bite we take or every drink we consume we can all make a difference, for good or not so good. We hope you enjoy reading about what we are eating, peruse the pictures we take of our food, and tell us about what your eating and drinking. In the future we will be linking this blog to a new blog called Your Food Choices where we hope to get some lively discussions about food and how it affects us all. Cheers! Steve & Jason

Its been a little over a week since we started our low-impact diet. To remind people of what this diet consists of, it’s a lifestyle change to go plastic-free. The concern for the ocean, ground water, and our health has started us on this change. To keep me motivated I’ve been reading No-Impact Man, and thinking about what impact I’m leaving on the planet. I can honestly say that I have not used any new plastic wrap or baggies in the week since starting. And aside from the minor set back, Steve as well has stopped his use. I sort of feel like I’m in AA. If only there was such a place for plastic addicts. Maybe a support group needs to be started. “Hi, my name is Jason and I’m addicted to plastic.”

I have to say that giving up plastic wrap hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. When we make our bread we have replaced plastic wrap with a damp kitchen towel to cover the dough as it proofs. A left over half an onion or lemon now goes into a Tupperware container, or glass jar. Steve’s sandwiches are going into containers now too, instead of tossing them into plastic baggies. It’s really amazing what other items you can find to store food in when you make a conscious effort to not use plastic.

Our goal is that by the end of the year we will no longer have a trash can in our apartment. I know most of you are thinking, that’s not possible? Where will you throw away your trash? First, we plan on reusing containers. Glass jars are great for storing items, and for buying things in bulk. Second, composting is such an easy thing to do. Even things like tissue paper used to blow ones nose can be composted. Third, recycle. As a last resort if we can’t compost or reuse something we will recycle it. And the things that can’t be reused, composted, or recycled we will need to eliminate from our lives. I think it’s the least we can do for living in such a wonderful place like America.

Remember the public service announcement from the 1970’s with the Native American looking over the trash dump with tears running down his face. The caption was something like, “People start pollution, people can stop it.” Well, I don’t want to pollute America any longer. Look, plastic is a petroleum by-product, which essentially is just waste from petroleum refinement for fuels. (I won’t even go there about petroleum.) So, if plastic is just waste to begin with, and the only place it ends up is in our water supply and landfill, aren’t we all just wasting America every time we use it?

I’ll get off my soapbox for now and return to the topic of our blog in the next entry, good sustainable food. Occasionally we will keep you updated about our progress and let you know of clever ways we’re going without plastic. Like in the next few days I plan to write about our attempt at making home-made kefir and yogurt. This is in an effort to stop buying the yogurt and kefir in plastic containers. In the meantime, if you’re keeping up on our blog and trying to reduce your impact, think twice about using plastic wrap or plastic baggies. There are better alternatives out there that won’t trash our world.

Cheers,
Jason

Pink Lady Apple, Whole Milk Yogurt and Pistachio

I used to be a breakfast skipper. As a teenager, breakfast seemed out of the question because of my poor eating and sleeping habits. The thought of eating first thing in the morning made me feel ill because my belly usually felt queasy from my food hangovers. I’d stay up late every night, sleep in until the last possible second and then dash out the door to class, school was a short few blocks from home. Cereal took too long to pour into a bowl and my folks weren’t paying attention to my mid-week eating habits. Breakfast wasn’t a big deal in our home unless it was prepared on a weekend morning. I suffered from the lack of calories and struggled to stay awake in class. By the time afternoon rolled around, I would have made up for it by downing a couple of sodas, a Mars Bar and a Hostess Fruit Pie … or two! By the time most people were headed to bed, my gut was full of fat and sugar and sleep wouldn’t be possible even if I wanted it. The sugar and caffeine were enough to keep me going well into the night and the cycle continued.

Kashi Autumn Wheat Cereal, Whole Milk and Strawberries

Breakfast is now a must, no matter how pressed for time we might be. If we’re thinking ahead, we’ll prepare muesli and set it in the refrigerator before bed. Or we’ll set a pan on the stove, add water and steel cut oats, and then cover it to soak overnight. It cooks much more quickly the next morning. We keep boxed whole grain cereal on hand for a quick bowl before dashing out for the day. At the very least, breakfast on-the-go means a pb&j taken in hand for a quick nosh on the train or in the car on the way to the office.

If you google the phrase “importance of eating breakfast” you get approximately 250,000 hits, all on point and each reiterating the other. We need food when we wake to help us manage our blood sugar levels. If you think skipping breakfast will help you lose or keep the weight off, you’re missing an important fact of weight control. By starving in the morning we set ourselves up to give in to the temptation to eat more later on in the day. And we tend to succumb to the temptations of “junk food” more easily when we feel we’ve “earned” a reward for our morning abstinence. But I’m no dietitian or nutritionist and I’m writing from personal experience here, not from any position of authority. Honestly, we all know we should eat small meals throughout the day and that our consumption should be when we get out of bed and stop well before returning to bed in the evening.

Waffles with Vanilla Bean Scented Pan Roasted Pineapple

On the weekends, we pull out all the stops and indulge in all the things we equate with a bountiful, decadent breakfast – eggs, bacon and/or sausage, potatoes, pancakes, waffles. We don’t hold back on hollandaise and cheese. We cook with butter or bacon fat without thinking twice. If we had the time, we’d probably eat that way every morning and reduce our consumption throughout the rest of the day.

I can’t imagine returning to breakfast-free mornings. Thankfully, I never have to worry about where my next meal will come from.