Fresh Fish

Last night my husband and I were at the grocery store trying to decide what to eat for dinner. We came to an agreement that fish would be good. As we approached the fish counter we could hear the fishmonger talking to another customer about the great steel head trout that he had. Granted it looked good and rather tasty, but upon further inspection I noticed that it was farm raised and color had been added. We decided upon wild caught Alaskan salmon. I told the gregarious fishmonger our order and his face dropped! He told us in a disappointed voice that he was just telling the customer in front of us about the fantastic steel head trout. Why didn't we want it? My husband told him rather politely that it was farm raised and that we preferred not to eat corn fed fish!
Fish that is farmed tends to be fed corn and doesn't eat its natural diet. When oily fish, like salmon, don't eat their natural diet the composition of the fish changes. The omega acids are no longer effective. You might as well eat a slab of cardboard! When purchasing fish look for wild caught fish. The color that they add is totally unnecessary and who know what it is that they are coloring it with.

What Kate Ate 2/24/10
Banana
Oatmeal with walnuts and raisins
Cauliflower curry and lentil curry with brown rice
Salmon, bok choy and steamed carrots

I may or may not of eaten some chocolate covered pretzels!!

The Virgin Palette

My son has recently started eating solid foods. This is a wonderfully exciting time for me!! Despite the disgruntled looks, foods flying every which direction and the huge mess that it creates, I treasure the first few months when you can start to introduce solid foods to a baby. They have no idea of what food is. They have been eating nothing but milk for months and the taste of food to them is either exquisite or totally disgusting! I make my own baby food, as I like to ensure that it is holistic. Making baby food is super easy to do. You just steam some fruit and veggies and throw them in the blender. Put the mush into an ice cube tray and place in the freezer. You just thaw out as many cubes as you need, whenever you need. The exciting part for me is being able to mix things together that us adults would never think to combine. For example, pear and sweet potato anyone?! I didn't think so, but my son loves the combo. When he tastes something new his little forehead gets wrinkled and his noses curls up. He is deciding upon whether he likes the taste or not. As a parent I have the awesome responsibility to help him create healthy eating habits. Hopefully what I am teaching him will stick. My daughter on the other hand has a concept of what sugar is, thanks to pre-school. But at the end of the day she loves her cucumber and hummus. Eating patterns are so ingrained in our culture, family life and personal preferences. Getting it right, or mostly right, from the start gives us a better chance of living healthier and longer lives.

What Kate Ate 2/22/10
Kiwi fruit
Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts
Falafel pita with hummus
Udon noodles with peas and shrimp, side of broccoli

Food is Medicine

So, I am sick again!!! I recently went on vacation and managed to eat reasonable healthy. On my journey home I picked up some sort of virus from the plane. Planes are like classrooms. They are Petri dishes for all sorts of germs, viruses, bacteria, and other microscopic beings. Determined to not let this foul thing take over my immune system I have turned to my trusted friends, garlic and ginger. I make a tea of sorts that helps to kill off unwanted aliments. Both garlic and ginger are powerful agents against viruses, bacteria, germs, and microbial beings. I am also chugging done some grapefruit juice with some grapefruit seed extract added. The grapefruit seed extract is yet another powerful destroyer of germs. It is also helpful in killing strands A and B of the flu virus. The only problem with it is that it is incredibly bitter. I am also using salt to gargle with and Neti potting to dry up my sinuses. Avoiding sugar, refined flour, preservatives, additives and other such horrors can help to stave off illness. Sugar feeds the germs, allowing them to multiple and take over. It is advantageous to create a hostile environment within your body. To do this you can eat lots of fresh produce and not eat anything processed.
The tea that I make is a variation from Chinese medicine. An acupuncturist instructed me to drink ginger tea three times a day if I felt as though I was getting a cold. This truly does help as long as your mucus is clear.

Tea Recipe
1" piece of fresh ginger
2 medium sized garlic cloves
2 shakes of red pepper flakes
3 cups of water

In a saucepan put 3 cups of water, thinly sliced ginger root, crushed garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. Bring the contents to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Watch out it is spicy!! This will serve two people.