Powerful Choices

You often hear that the first step in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction is "admitting that you have a problem" and somewhere in there you also admit that you are powerless over your addiction.  Or are you?

I made some goodies a while ago because I was asked to bring dessert to a dinner date at a friend's house. I made enough for both of our families and at the last minute one of her little ones took ill and we stayed home. With dessert for 10 people. We each had a little piece that night and because I had slid down the slippery slope of crappy eating for a few weeks I committed to make more loving choices for my body.

I woke up and felt great, had a banana. I taught some yoga, took some yoga, had a green smoothie, munched on bell pepper strips, had some sunflower seeds - life was good. All of that living nutritious food, all of that yoga had me feeling good. Grounded, clearheaded and really kinda blissful by lunch time.

Here is where things took a way wrong turn. I was in the kitchen pulling another smoothie out of the fridge (I make a big batch in the morning) and I remembered the Double Doozie Ice Cream Sandwiches that I made in the freezer. I decided to just have a bite. Wait. Did you see that? That blur in front of your eyes was me not just sliding down the slippery slope but belly flopping right off the side of it. It was kind of crazy. Ice cream led to goldfish which led to more ice cream which led to macaroni and cheese and by dinner time I was miserable.

I've always been an all or nothing kind of girl. I go big or I go home you know? I guess the same is true with my craptastic eating habits choices.  The little choices count (yes that one bite counts) so keep making good little choices.  One of these days you'll catch that wave and GO BIG.

xoxo

Vegan MOFO III

No.  I'm not calling people names.  Vegan MoFo is the Vegan Month of Food.  During this month Foodie Bloggers around the world are focusing on fabulous Vegan Foodstuffs.  I, personally, spent the last four days trying to decide if I was a foodie blogger and whether or not I should claim part of this tradition.  My decision, as you may have guessed, is to absolutely participate. Even if I'm not technically a Foodie Blogger or a Vegan for that matter. With the jury is still out on whether or not I am a foodie blogger at all and us knowing I am definitely not Vegan (just mostly vegan) we will move on

A lot of what I post is/will probably always be about food.  Our ability to sustain life, to sustain life on this particular planet, all comes back to food.  The choices we make about the food we eat (read: who we give our money to) determine all of our tomorrows.

Because I'm feeling melodramatic today I'll say it:  Every time you pick up your fork you are making choices about your health, environmental choices, humanitarian choices, financial choices and political choices.

Not so sure about that?  Well follow along.......

Health Choices
Is that bite of food going to support your biological systems or wreak havoc?  It's one or the other.

Environmental Choices
Do you remember our recent Meatless Monday Post?  We know that raising animals for food wreaks havoc on the eco-system (to say nothing of the cruelty involved).  Whether it's a bite of steak at the end of your fork or a bite of salad,  the questions to ask are how far did your food travel?  More than 200 miles?  How many finite resources were used to bring it to you?  Was it grown out of country to get past our Pesticide Laws?

Humanitarian Choices
We can end world hunger TODAY.  We can.  We can stop the majority of water pollution AND use way less water to get food to the table (saving gazillions of gallons).  We just have to stop factory farming.  Use the land we raise cattle on to grow FOOD.  Actual food.

Financial Choices
When you look around your supermarket and see your pretty produce section, with it's lively and vibrant colors do you consider the farmers who grew the food?  When you purchase your "Farm Fresh Eggs" do you know which farm they come from?  Click here for a link to a great documentary.  Some other great resources are The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and  The Food Revolution by John Robbins (heir to the Baskin Robbins fortune).  Chances are, the food you are buying comes from a monocrop or huge conglomerate that is actually forcing the American tradition of Family Farming as a way of life into obliteration.  Go spend your money at a farmers market when you can!  I promise that you will find not only the most flavorful and nutritionally dense produce but also fresher, healthier cuts of meat and truly farm fresh dairy products.

So there you have it - it may not be about veganism but I think the points are valid whether you choose to embrace a vegan lifestyle or not.  Making more informed choices helps the planet even if you sometimes choose meat and dairy products. 

Political Choices

Meatless Monday 10/05/09

It's that day again!  Just try it for ONE DAY.  What's the worst case scenario?

I still say making Monday a Spaghetti Night is the way to go.  Easy, Fast, Cheap.   But if you are feeling more adventurous try this:

Tofu Tacos (or fajitas or whatever)
By some extra firm tofu and freeze it.
Tonight dice it up into cubes and spice it up like you would chicken.
Sautee it with your spices, onions, peppers, tomatoes - the whole enchilada so to speak.
Throw it onto a tortilla, add some Guac if you like or sour cream - what ever floats your boat.

Enjoy!