A Word About HealthCare

Tis the season. Well... not what you might be thinking. It's open enrollment season for health insurance sign-ups. Ads to that effect are filling up our email inbox and snail mailbox, and bombarding us while watching TV or listening to the radio.

Although I do have health insurance (the kind the ads are all about), I'm insured more securely by what goes on in my kitchen. Starting with what I add to my shopping cart and ending with what I put in my mouth.

And it costs me a small fraction of what the other insurance costs.

My friends at Food Matters echo what I've always said as we endure the groaning on and on over national healthcare. For great heath tips and related videos, including the film that started it all—Food Matters, check out foodmatters.tv.

While we're on the subject, can I just say... The term healthcare (used ad nauseam when referring to the Affordable Health Care Act) is complete misuse of the language. The more appropriate term should be Disease Management.

What are you doing to insure you are healthy?

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Thanksgiving

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Indian Dal Recipe

My niece Melissa is a modified vegan like myself. In addition to being a very talented young woman (budget world traveler, photographer, graphic artist and more), she loves to cook up new recipes from exotic places she has been to. Both Melissa and her husband Jake like to cook. Recently she emailed her recipe for Indian Dal. I tried it... yum with a kick (adjustable to your liking).

Check out Melissa's website: http://rouxroamer.wordpress.com

Don't you love the cooking videos of the chef throwing the recipe together in a few minutes. She picks up containers with pre-measured and pre-cut ingredients and tosses them into the pot. So simple, right? Yeah! I want someone to measure and pre-cut all the ingredients for my recipe too. That's makin' it simple.

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Giving: A Show of Gratitude

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, we tend to look beyond ourselves and think about giving. Webster's Dictionary defines give: to make a present of... However, give is just a word with no feeling behind it. We add the emotion from something in our heart. A genuine attitude for giving might best be offered with gratitude: a feeling of appreciation or thanks.

Attitude is one of my roots of health and one way to improve your attitude is to show gratitude. Volunteer your time to the less fortunate. Giving to others helps us forget ourselves and our troubles. It tends to reinforce a thankful feeling within.

At this time of year one favorite family tradition has been to fill a shoebox with goodies and items for a child living in a third-world country who lives in dire circumstances and a seemingly hopeless situation. We accomplish this through Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse.

What is Operation Christmas Child?

Through a simple gift of a shoebox filled with everyday items, we can share the love of Jesus with a child on the other side of the world. Pack the box with toys, school supplies, toothbrush, soap, etc. Add a picture of your family and even a letter to the child. A tracking code may be added to let you know the destination country of your shoebox.

In 2007 I volunteered at an Operation Christmas Child processing center in Southern California and learned that boys ages 10 to 14 are under-represented in shoebox gifts. From that point on we always pack a box for a boy in that age range.

The Dollar Store offers lots of great items to include in a shoebox. For an older boy, I always include duct tape. Having been to a third-world country, I've seen what the children create out of empty liter bottles, aluminum cans and string or wire. Duct tape can be creative magic for them.

In addition to a t-shirt, here's what we put in our box:

Need a bit of instruction? Maybe this video will help... or at least give you a chuckle:



What kind of holiday family traditions do you have for showing gratitude?

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Fish Chowder

I'm a modified vegan—I don't do dairy (except occasional goat cheese and organic eggs) and the only meat I eat is wild-caught fish. When I found this chowder recipe, I got excited. This soup is delicious. You're going to love it. 

Want something to warm your tummy this fall? Make up a double recipe so you have plenty to freeze for more than one meal.

Fish Chowder

from Whole Foods

yield 8 servings

category Soup

cuisine Pescatarian

ingredients

3 celery stalks, diced (plus leaves for garnish)

1 red bell pepper, chopped small

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 C vegetable stock

1/4 C quinoa flour

6 C organic unsweetened plain soymilk

6 medium red potatoes (~1 1/4 lbs) cubed

1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

12 oz wild-caught white fish (mahi mahi, monkfish, etc) cut into 1" pieces

1 C yellow corn (fresh or frozen)

1/4 C finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

directions

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (6 - 8 minutes).

2. Add stock and cook, scraping up any browned bits until reduced by 2/3 (~2 minutes).

3. Add flour and cook, stirring often (1 minute). Then whisk in soymilk.

4. Stir in potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover and simmer until fragment, thickened and potatoes are almost tender (~7 minutes).

5. Stir in fish and corn then cook until fish is cooked through (6 - 8 minutes).

6. Stir in parsley and serve, garnishing with celelry leaves.

Give this recipe a try and let me know how you like it.

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6 Steps to Avoiding Holiday Temptation

Here you are at the edge of the holiday season—staring down piles of leftover halloween candy or worse, sneaking pieces of your son or daughter's stash, while telling yourself you're saving them from eating too much candy.

You’ve told yourself you’re making the switch to healthier eating, but you see food all around you—tempting holiday food that you know isn’t good for you. What can you do to deal with the temptation?

You need a plan.

Start with your home—that will be the hardest—especially if your house is full of hungry grouches (I say this endearingly) who don’t see eye-to-eye with you on eating healthy.

Here are things you can do to make things go smoother.

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