Carefree Gourmet

A School Lunch Tray

Back to school means back to school lunches for many children in America. Being a child of the sack lunch (bologna sandwich, apple or orange and two Oreo cookies) I always craved for the cooked school lunches. My mom and dad let me eat the school lunch once a week. Usually on hamburger day – which was Thursdays. Occasionally, I got pizza. And of course, in elementary school I drank milk – chocolate milk because I didn’t like regular milk and in high school that upgraded to a chocolate shake (when I could afford it). Frankly, the food was junk! And the more I read about our school lunch programs the more appalled I am. Now, I am not saying that a bologna sandwich was all that healthy. But at least I ate a piece of fruit! You would think the government would be especially careful with they quality of food it provides to our nations children. Quite the opposite according to author Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation. Schlosser researched and found that the government organization (USDA) directly responsible for the hamburger meat sent from slaughter houses to our schools is the lowest quality and cheapest available. It is no wonder so many children suffer from stomach aches (I was definitely one of them!) And then they add filler. Now we always thought the cafeteria ladies were adding oatmeal to our hamburgers to stretch the meat (yes, this was playground conversation in elementary school). And maybe they were…. but at least it was recognizable!

I met a woman dedicated to education and nutrition for children a couple of weekend’s ago at my husband high school reunion. Her name is Tami Hulcher. She is working with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC on their National Healthy School Lunch Program www.healthyschoollunches.org. She was sharing with me that schools can serve chocolate covered cherries and count that as a fruit serving. Now, in my book that is dessert! Granted, it has fruit in it, but it is not whole fruit. She is joined with actor Tobey Maguire (Spiderman fame) as the celebrity spokesperson to help bring awareness to the changes desperately needed in our school lunch programs.

“We should all stand united over the nutritional concerns of our children. As parents we are concerned about their academics, sports, and other activities, but it is their health that should be paramount,” says Ms. Hulcher. Federal nutrition plays a critical role in the health of children. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CNR) presents an opportunity to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity and related diseases.

We are calling on Congress to require schools to include more fresh fruits and vegetables and to reduce calories and saturated fat in school meals and to provide non-dairy, vegetarian meal options and a healthful non-dairy milk alternative daily. From The Queen of Health, August 25, 2009

There is a lot of information on the Internet to help parents navigate school lunch programs and to get involved with making change. If parents started simply with their own local schools to demand improvements, the outcome would be powerful. Here is a link to an article from The Green Parent I found especially informative and packed with good ideas.

Get involved. Children need our help to learn to eat healthy and be healthy!

Kids love fresh fruit!

We all know that if we eat more than we burn off, we get fat. We also know that if we don’t eat the right foods in the right quantities and feed our body it will go into starvation mode and start storing fat as a defense mechanism. Children are at the mercy of the adults in their lives as well as advertisers who target children to get life long customers on products that aren’t healthy.

“The prevalence of obesity among our nation’s youth has more than doubled in the past 20 years, with close to 5 million youths aged 6 to 17 seriously overweight or obese. The concerns caused by overweight are more than a cosmetic issue. Childhood obesity leads to a variety of health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that 60 percent of overweight 5- to 10-year-olds already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as raised blood pressure or insulin levels”.

One organization is fighting back with information for parents on foods that children are likely to eat and are much more nutritious. Now this organization happens to be promoting a vegetarian diet. Pam and I are not anti-meat and we think you really need to look into what meat is appropriate for your children. However, we all know that we should be eating mostly vegetables and fruit. More vegetables than fruit! And this organization offers up some good information recipes to try. The site is www.kidsgethealthy.org. You can download information and order a free copy of a brochure with recipes to try out. We are what we eat (only 30% of our body type and physical appearance is hereditary, the rest is because of your choices) so help develop children into carrots and not pop tarts. Be sure to get your children up and moving with fun activities that they don’t identify with exercising. You children should not be on a diet, but enjoying a healthy lifestyle! They will thank you when they are old enough to understand that you cared enough to feed them well and keep them healthy.

Did you know that Whole Foods had a wine bar? Not only that, they have a happy hour where you get 50% off your glasses of wine from 4:00 – 7:00 pm. They include free appetizers! Pam and I met at the wine bar last night with our good friend Julie. Pam is looking for a place to host a send off party for a good friend Hillary, who is leaving the non-profit world to live on a beach and paint. (We are so jealous!). So we tested out the place.

It is kind of weird sipping wine and munching on exotic cheeses (yes, we had to order a cheese plate – the triple cream brie was to die for – the rest was OK) and watching people grocery shop! We were seated at the bar where we looked out across the store versus the back of the bar. They have a nice lounge area, but a couple of guys were spread out and I gather Pam and Julie who arrived before me did didn’t feel comfortable hanging out there.

I would go back for sure. I would hunker down in the leather couches, order wine (you can order by the glass or do a tasting for $10.00) and try a different cheese plate (I am trying to stay away cows milk and Whole Foods has a great selection of goat and sheep’s cheese). Like I mentioned earlier, the wine is 50% off during their happy hour and if you stick with their free appetizers (we were offered two types of pizza, a classic pepperoni and a vegetarian (broccoli and roasted garlic)) it seems to be the best bet in town. Their wine offerings change so it is a great way to get exposed to new wines from different regions and grape varieties. So go try it out and let us know what you think! Cheers!

Vinegar and Olive Oil as Cleansers

Have you ever thought of why we would use products that touch our skin, our food, or we inhale that are toxic?  I have, but frankly, just kept plugging away using caustic chemicals that made me run out of the bathroom because they were nauseating or were giving me a headache.  Still used products that needed industrial gloves to protect my skin where I had to be so careful not to get on any other surface that what I was trying to clean.  Does this sound like you too?

Well, I finally started looking into better products for laundry, washing windows and sinks as well as what I use to wash my skin…  One of Dr. Andrew Weil’s latest post addresses this as well.  Here are his recommendations:

Looking for a cost-effective, safe way to keep your home clean, naturally? Try these four common household items:

1. Olive oil: Use to lubricate and polish wood furniture (three parts olive oil to one part vinegar; or two parts olive oil to one part lemon juice).
2. Potatoes: Halved potatoes can remove rust from baking pans or tinware – follow with a salt scrub or dip the potato in salt before scrubbing.
3. White vinegar: Cleans linoleum floors and glass (from windows to shower doors) when mixed with water and a little liquid soap (castile or vegetable). It cuts grease and removes stains, and removes soap scum and cleans toilets (add a bit of baking soda if you like). Pour down drains once a week for antibacterial cleaning. Add to water in a spray bottle to kill mold and mildew.
4. Tea tree oil: Can be added to vinegar/water solutions for its antibacterial properties. Use it to kill mold and mildew, and on kitchen and bathroom surfaces instead of chemical products. Add 50 drops to a bucket of water to clean counter tops and tile floors.
   

I have used white vinegar for years… always buying in large quantities.  But using olive oil to treat my wood furniture… never thought about it.  I recently purchased olive oil infused with lavender oil from Living Beyond Organic to moisturize my skin.  Wow, doesn’t this make shopping faster and less expensive?  Think of all the room you will save using products you use to cook with to clean your home and moisturize your body?  I like author Christina Avaness’s perspective, “I never put anything on my body that I wouldn’t eat.”  Wow, kinda makes sense doesn’t it?  So think about it the next time you head toward the chemical aisle to get bathroom cleaner…. I will!

Here are a couple of resources to check out for healthier cleaning alternatives:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/home-garden/cleaning/diy-cleaners

Get a list of kitchen essentials you can use to clean your home as well as some simple “recipes”.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/blogs/nontoxic/vinegar-month-green-cleaning-460505

Vinegar is a top choice for cleaning many surfaces read what you can safely clean with vinegar.

http://www.grist.org/article/possessions-cleaning/

Using aerosols to “freshen” up the smell of your home?  Think twice… according to a study in 1999, you can suffer from headaches… read more about cleaning your house without harming the planet or your family.

Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet

Graham Kerr is charming.  No doubt about it.  He is funny, caring and handsome.  Yes, he is in his 70’s and still married to his lovely wife, Treena, for more than 50 years.  Pam remembers watching the Galloping Gourmet with her mom back in the 1970’s. I was pretty young and don’t have the same fond memories, but I do have great respect a husband and wife team that produced over 450 shows, travel the world learning and sharing about food, and growing together through life’s ups and downs.  Yes, Graham and Treena worked side by side and still do.  For the show, The Galloping Gourmet, Graham was in front of the camera and Treena was behind the scenes, calling the shots as the producer.  It was actually Treena’s idea that Graham leap over a chair and onto the kitchen set.  She felt that Graham had to entertain not just educate!  And she was right!  Graham was a hit!

Like many folks traveling on the road of life we find ourselves heading at mach speed in a direction that may not be in our best interest in the long run.  Graham and Treena faced this with two life changing events… a major car accident and Treena’s declining health.  And so what did the two do?  They took action!  They changed their lifestyle, their eating habits, their focus.  Did they leave their love of food behind?  No, they simply (and I say that tongue in cheek) changed how they interacted with food.  This took education, experimentation and time.  The result?  Healthier lives and better relationships.  Something most if not all of us would like to do ourselves.

So if you missed our radio interview this week with Graham Kerr (and Treena in the background), listen to the archived show.  We think you will enjoy hearing their life story – which has been full.  And I also recommend that you visit their website http://www.grahamkerr.com it is full of great information and recipes. Finally, pick up their latest books, Recipe for Life How to Change Habits that Harm into Resources that Heal and the companion cookbook, Day By Day Gourmet.  They have a simple concept to share with you that I think you will find worthy and doable.  Enjoy!

Julie & Julie Movie Photo

Pam and I went with some friends this week to see Julie and Julia at the movies.  We dined first – of course, gathering with friends and NOT eating is NOT allowed!  One of Pam’s friends brought a bottle of wine to share.  The restaurant didn’t have a corkage fee.  She was SMART and called ahead of time to check. I would have never thought to do that.  I will now!

Back to the movie…. it was funny, smart, and inspiring.  At least for us in the food business… it took Julia and her partners over 8 years to get the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking published.  And, they had to rewrite it (the first edition had over 700 recipes).  I enjoyed the movie immensely and so did the crowd – male and female as we all chuckled through the entire movie.

Pam and I tried to see Julia Child when she was speaking at the Getty before she passed away, but didn’t and boy, did we miss an opportunity!  And so I was delighted when Pam arranged to interview Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet on our radio show yesterday… he has such a great sense of humor!  More about him in our next post!

***** 5 stars for Julie and Julia

Fresh Food from Green Truck

Pam and I interviewed the general manager of Green Truck on our radio show Carefree Food Bytes last Friday afternoon.  If you missed the live show, you can listen to the archive.  I highly recommend that you do.  Not just because I am a co-host, but because Green Truck is proving you can be a responsible business (to people, the community and the environment) and still make a profit!

Green Truck offers organic, locally grown foods for sale from its restaurant on wheels – yes an old fashioned catering truck.  They do the heavy lifting – food prep from their base site and the two-man crew assembles the food and takes your cash for a nice profit.  Consumers get fresh, healthy foods and Green Truck gets a nice return.

Green Truck truck’s are green too.  Not the color… no, they run on vegetable oil, are washed with water that was used during food prep and they serve on compositable paper goods.  Yes, they are leak proof!  The are cornstarch laminated.  They purchase their foods from local, organic farmers and so their menu does change a bit if ingredients are not readily available.  Their menu is also seasonal, yes, we do have seasons in Southern California – for fresh foods at least!

Their goal is to feed people healthy food and educate.  Educate on what?  On eating in a healthy and sustainable way – yes you too can order green paper products, and the more you do, the less they will cost the consumer.  And they are educating folks that being green doesn’t mean being broke.  Green Truck runs in the black, even though their trucks run over $100,000 a piece – still cheaper than running a restaurant!

They currently have four trucks in Los Angeles and one in New York.  They are looking to have Green Trucks in every state.  If you are interested in a franchise business with green truck simply visit their site at www.greentrucktogo.com and fill out an information request form.

Want to try out some of their food?  Sign up for their twitter and facebook sites to get daily tweets and updates on their locations everyday. I for one and going to find them this week…. I hear the Mother Trucker vegan burger is the BEST!

A Clean Kitchen Counter

Pam and I interviewed public health inspector, William Kimura from the City of Pasadena on Carefree Food Bytes last Friday.  I was expecting some pretty grim stories of creepy crawlies in the kitchen… but Mr. Kimura was much too polite!  I lost an acrylic fingernail in a vat of pasta salad while working for a catering company in college.  You should have seen my friend and I searching through spiral pasta, olives and tomatoes looking for that bright red fingernail!  (When you work in food service, you wash your hand constantly!  Not good for fake nails!  After that incident, I had them removed deciding it was better to have battered fingernails than have someone choke on a fake one!)

We have all heard the stories about restaurant atrocities, seen the U tube videos of employees messing with our food.  But did you know that our homes are also a place where we can become sick?  I learned a couple of really important facts from Mr. Kimura.

1. Anti bacterial soap has to be on your hands fro 20 minutes to work!  Forget that!  Simple use soap and hot water (as hot as you can stand).  Now that is a way to save money!
2. Sponges should be sanitized every 2 days by either running through the dish washer or soaking in a bleach mixture.
3. You can sanitize your counter tops/sink by using 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of hot water and only after cleaning your counter, spray with the mixture and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. Cutting boards should be hardwood without lacquer and bamboo is ok to.  Both are better than the plastic boards.  Sounds like the best thing to do is to have a separate cutting board for meats and sanitize it with bleach/water mixture after each use.  Not sure how well the wood will hold up, but at least you won’t be transferring bacteria to your fresh produce or breads.
5. Don’t use your plastic water bottle more than twice if you aren’t keeping it really cold when full of liquid and sanitizing it after each use.

Off to sanitize my kitchen counter!