bethsblog

pesto packets

Every year, about this time, we get slammed with an overabundance of garden basil. What to do? Make pesto... of course!

Pesto 
makes about 1 1/2 cups

4 cups fresh basil leaves
2/3 cups pine nuts
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 - 1 cup olive oil

In a food processor or blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, parmesan, salt, and pepper until a rough paste forms. Drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is smooth and thick.

Store pesto in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap smoothed over the surface, to keep the pesto from turning dark... but if it does turn dark, it's still edible and delicious. It can be kept in the fridge for up to a week or you may freeze it for several months.

I make little packets of pesto with plastic sandwich bags... about 2 T. per packet. Try to get all the air pockets out before sealing the little bags with a twist tie. Fridge or freeze as desired.

Here's a link that has fun suggestions for using pesto, beyond the obvious pasta topping. I haven't tried the ice cube tray method of freezing pesto, but it looks like a nifty idea. Last night we spread a little pesto on our sweet corn. Divine. Tomorrow, I'm going to try it mixed in with cottage cheese.

 

leo's locomotive - the drawing

Yesterday afternoon, I finally got to work on your locomotive, Leo. I wanted to make sure I got the shapes right, so I traced the pencil drawing and then went over the lines with ink, like a cartoon. The pencil drawing is underneath the tracing paper on a big piece of watercolor paper. When I stood back... it's especially important to stand back from your picture, especially if it's big, and this picture is very big... I found a couple shapes that needed fixing, that I would not have been able to see very well in the very pale pencil drawing. My drawing is all fixed up now, so maybe next week, I can start the painting. And maybe your painting will be done before you're all grown up! You might want to show this post to your big sisters, who can explain it to you, because Sophia and Cassidy are very good at art. 

Here's the photo that I looked at when I made my drawing. Next to that, the drawing. If you look closely, you'll see that the drawing is in some ways, like the photo, and in some ways it's not. I like the colors in the photo, so when I paint it, I will make it red and yellow and white with a blue sky. I hope you like it. Love, Grama

 

   

Eating is a lot like Sex...

...or at least it should be. And I'm not talking about your average quickie. Okay once in a while, but you wouldn't want to make a habit of it. I'm talking about luxurious sex, the kind that begins with a bubble bath appetizer, lingers over a delicious main course... a couple sumptuous side dishes, and ends with sweet nothings whispered in your ear.

It's pretty much the same with food.

Fast food. Wolfed down. Quick punch of intense flavor... salt, sugar, fat. Easy to chew, past the tongue and into the gut before you even know it. You stand there with French fry grease dribbling down your chin wondering, where did my food go? Did I just eat?

Then there's luxurious eating... ever watch a baby eat? They touch, mush, mash, taste, savor and drool. And if it doesn't taste good to her—forget it. She'll spit it on the floor or in your face. And don't try rushing her. She makes a big deal about every meal, taking her sweet time, steadily eating the foods she likes until she's full. Then she stops. Turns her face away from the spoon. Won't take even one more bite.

So try this the next time you're hungry... first of all, shut off the TV. The stereo. Put aside the mail and the newspaper. Tell your eating companion that you're not going to talk during this meal, except to make a few select comments about this marvelous food. It can be as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or as elaborate as fillet mignon, but whatever you feed yourself, make sure it's something you love, not something you have to gag down because you know it's good for you... something you'll want to spit on the floor.

Put the food on a plate, then sit down at the table, take a minute to bless it, or if you're not the praying type, take a few deep breaths to calm yourself—then dig in and really enjoy your food. Chew it, taste it, take your time. Experience the flavor, texture, temperature. In other words, tune in. Help yourself to seconds if you're still hungry. Eat until you're comfortably full. Then have a little dessert.

 

This post is one of a series entitled: "Let's Eat: Befriend you Body and Your Food", posts based on my life as a disordered eater and how I finally found order—got off compulsive dieting, got on normal eating, and reached a place of peace with my body and its natural weight—which is not exactly not thin, not exactly fat—but exactly right—for me. 

-Enjoy your food, celebrate your body, and be healthy and happy no matter your size.

For a jolly-good cookbook, chock-full of tasty, wholesome, real-food recipes click here to order your copy of "Pea Soup: Recipes for Body, Mind, and Spirit from a 'Kitchen Table Gourmet,'" by Beth Spencer.

flawless... you betcha'

what you should know about dieting

Wish I'd known this years ago, when I was starving myself thin. Here's a fact sheet from the National Eating Disorders Association.

it's not just about weight

This morning the Today Show opened up a can of worms, but only partially. A few crawled halfway out... then the lid smashed down, leaving a bunch of half-worms scattered around, because 'though the two interviewees, an NBC staff nutrition editor (the skinny one on the left) and staff internist (the curvy one on the right...pregnant?), tossed a lot of "facts" out there, they never mentioned the source. (My best guess is that it's this study.)

If you stick around for the entire interview, you'll get to my favorite part, the part where the skinny one says to pick a weight that you think you can maintain, and stay there... even if it's not the perfect weight according to the charts. Because weight alone is not a predictor of ill health. In other words it's possible to be fat and healthy or thin and unhealthy. And some studies show that yo-yo dieting has its own set of health risks.

Of course, both the thin one and the curvy one raised the clarion call for healthy eating and exercise. But what they neglected to say is that only half of us exercise the recommended minimum of 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week. That means that no matter what size we are, it seems that half of us are couch potatoes headed for an early grave. As for healthy eating; sweets, desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages account for nearly 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans. Healthy fruits and vegetables... only 10 percent.

Sorry, folks, about the "headless fatty".

 

beyond the pale...

... is the only thing I can say after hearing about Maggie Goes on a Diet, by Paul Kramer, target market, the age 6 - 14 set. (It's not yet been released, and if it gets enough negative pre-release press, maybe it won't be.) The cover just about says it all. And Regan Chastain's recent rant says the rest. Let's get 'em young, weight loss industry... I went on my first diet at age 14 and ended up anorexic.

 

pink phlox

salmon salad

Salmon Salad

For an easy and delicious summer supper, how about salmon salad?

14 ¾ oz. can wild-caught Alaska Sockeye Salmon
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 large rib celery, minced
16 small stuffed green olives, chopped
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ cup mayonnaise

A Bariatric Surgery Story

I have a friend of a friend whose 25 year old daughter underwent bariatric surgery. She was, of course, "morbidly" obese... a requirement to qualify for the procedure. I saw her recently at a party, and she was very thin... she had lost more than half her body weight in less than a year. In my opinion, she looked a little too thin. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed very shy and withdrawn (when she was large, she was an extremely bubbly, outgoing gal.)

Then I got word that the daughter is in treatment for anorexia nervosa. Apparently she's throwing up... not sure if it's on account of the nausea that can be caused by eating things that folks who have had bariatic surgery can't tolerate, or if she's doing it intentionally to keep from gaining weight. Or maybe it's due to psychological issues that have been stirred up by losing so much weight so fast. After dramatic weight losses, some folks still feel fat even though they're thin... their body image hasn't had a chance to catch up to the way they really look. Some under-eat for fear of overstretching their new smaller stomach, and some fall into a deep emotional pit when their favorite foods, like chocolate, instead of being a pleasure and a comfort, cause an upset stomach.

Whatever is the cause, it's so sad, and my heart goes out to her.

This post is one of a series entitled: "Let's Eat: Befriend you Body and Your Food", posts based on my life as a disordered eater and how I finally found order—got off compulsive dieting, got on normal eating, and reached a place of peace with my body and its natural weight—which is not exactly not thin, not exactly fat—but exactly right—for me. 

-Enjoy your food, celebrate your body, and be healthy and happy no matter your size.

For a jolly-good cookbook, chock-full of tasty, wholesome, real-food recipes click here to order your copy of "Pea Soup: Recipes for Body, Mind, and Spirit from a 'Kitchen Table Gourmet,'" by Beth Spencer.