Menu #6

The Farmers’ Market

It was overcast this morning but not too damp for a visit to the farmers’ market.  We’re stuck between winter tubers and spring greens but it’s good to visit with the people who actually grow the food.  I got a bunch of carrots, some green onions, spinach, broccoli, snap peas, and a bundle of asparagus.  You’ll see them on next week’s menu. 

Wandering about, I sampled Fuji apples (nice and sweet), and artisan olives (for which I haven’t quite developed a taste).  Visited with Katie, an ambitious girl who offers prepared foods, like her 36-hour chili.  It made her laugh that I won the church chili cook-off by adding some beans to her chili sauce.  (I was short on time and yes, it was great and I took all the credit.)

Calcification: The Aging Factor

I bought the spinach, broccoli, and asparagus because of a book I read last night, Calcification: The Aging Factor.  Much of the public’s disease knowledge, unfortunately, comes from drug company marketing.  So if a disease lacks a profitable drug to market, we may remain unaware until someone we know is diagnosed.  Calcification is such a sleeper disease.  Calcification goes hand-in-hand with osteoporosis; if the body can’t store calcium in your bone, it may store it in your soft tissue.  Kidney stones, bone spurs, and cataracts are examples.  Calcium deposits, also cause arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, a serious coronary condition.  (But different from atherosclerosis, where fatty deposits build up in the arteries.  The goal of this blog is to minimize our risk for both conditions.)

Like most chronic diseases, the exact mechanism behind calcification has not been discovered, so doctors don’t give preventative guidance.  The author of this book does give some suggestions that may help:

1. The calcium problem:  Americans, especially older women, are counseled to eat calcium-rich dairy products and take calcium pills to prevent osteoporosis.  One fact should cause us to reconsider this guidance:  Other nations eating traditional diets consume far less calcium yet have superior bone health (as measured by hip fracture rates).  It may be better, the author suggests, to get our calcium from plant sources, especially leafy green vegetables.
2. Bad diet:  A diet of processed foods (62% of calories in the US) and animal products (25% of calories) is acid producing.  Because the result is way too acidic, the body must use calcium from our bones to buffer the acid.  The resulting calcium compound overloads the elimination process so is deposited in soft tissue.    Better diet:  A plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains (just 13% of the modern American diet)—that is sparing of meat and dairy—is alkaline and counteracts excess acid so inhibits bone calcium removal.   Bottom line:  Eat whole foods.
3. Mineral imbalance:  Calcification is worsened if our diet is high in phosphorous (found in processed foods and cola drinks) and low in magnesium (found in nuts, whole grains, and leafy greens).  So eating a plant-based diet also restores mineral balance.
4. Vitamin insufficiency:  Most are unaware of this, but the body needs vitamin K (found in dark leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts) to build strong bone.  It also needs vitamin D (freely available from the sun except during winter in northern climes). 
5. Exercise:  Strong muscles make for strong bones—they’re connected.  To put your calcium in the right place, live a muscular lifestyle.

Menu #6

This week’s menu didn’t follow the exact course because I got busy doing tax returns and forgot to make the lentil soup, which was my assignment.  (I’ll make it after I get this post up.)  Last night (Friday) we went to the local Mexican food place and had shrimp tacos.  Old friends were there so we had a good time.  Knowing of this blog, they all looked at my plate as they left.  The rice was white, but I reminded that one meal a week one can eat whatever delights.  (Why don't more restaurants offer whole-grain rice?)  The week’s menu didn’t go as planned, but this was the plan:

Monday

• Cauliflower with cheese sauce.
• Spinach salad (the beautiful wife makes a great salad, using whatever’s at hand).

Tuesday

• Bean, lentil, and ham soup (fortunately, we had soup left over from last week).

Wednesday

• Salmon (using Rik’s recipe from last week’s comments, we baked it with Dijon mustard, encrusted with Panko crumbs, butter, and Italian herbs).
• Asparagus (steamed).
• Wild rice (we started too late and the rice takes almost an hour to cook, so we’ll save it for next week).

Thursday

• Leftover soup.
• Cornbread.
• Salad (a simple salad, spinach with tomato, avocado, and green onions).

Please comment:  What did you eat this week that was extra healthy?  Please share.

Comments

[Grandma Honey]

Very interesting about the calcium deposits. I have them terribly in my shoulder and you are right...the Dr said they don't know what causes them. If you have any other info on this or links please do pass them on. Thank you for this post!

[Helen]

Mon. Homemade baked falafel with a salad and baked butternut squash.
Tues. Homemade simple red curry with tofu and vegetables (soymilk with some coconut flakes instead of canned coconut milk)brown rice
Weds. Homemade whole wheat pizza pockets filled with veggies and a few pieces of vegan pepperoni
Thurs. whole wheat spaghetti with red sauce, baked acorn squash
Fri. We ate out. Vegetable fajita, beans and rice

We eat a vegan diet and making a weekly menu helps me plan ahead (soaking beans, chopping vegetables. Having two small children I try to prep ingredients whenever I have a chance. Great blog Skip!

[Heidi]

made a green smoothie for dinner tonight - first time

2 cups chopped kale, 1 frozen banana, 1 T. flax meal, 1 T. coconut oil, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup water - tossed it all into the blender, pushed the button and watched as it became very green. Could not taste the kale at all - quite enjoyed it.

I am definitely stepping up our veggie intake - feels right.

[Rik]

Did you like the salmon recipe? I'm glad you tried it! It's my favorite one.

[skip hellewell]

Rik We did like the recipe, though we didn't have the best mustard. I was amazed the beautiful wife had Panko crumbs put away. Have you tried this making your own breadcrumbs?

G'ma Honey Sorry about that calcium deposit. You might get a copy of the book, "Calcification; The Aging Factor." It's a shame that more research hasn't been done on preventing and reversing calcification.

[Lindsey]

I love how simple your menu is; I think sometimes menu planning sounds hard because we imagine these very complicated, multi-course meals every night. But in reality, it can be so simple.

Helen, at the risk of sounding annoying, have you read about the problems with eating soy, especially for children? I used to think soy was healthy (probably because it's so heavily marketed as a health food) so I was shocked and mad when I read about how it can disrupt hormones, etc. I had always heard the "soy is healthy" argument backed up by the fact that the Japanese have eaten soy forever and they are so healthy; when in reality, they only eat it in very small amounts (no soy milk, etc) and it's always fermented. Anyway, something to look into.

[Lindsey]

Oh, by the way, I make a similar salmon recipe with homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, dill and garlic then drizzled with melted butter. It is amazingly good!

[Rik]

I haven't tried homemade, but I bet that would be way more delicious! I'll try it once I run out of my panko.

[Helen]

Thank you for your note Lindsey. You're right, our menu does tend to be a little soy heavy some weeks. Where did you find your most convincing info on the health issues concerning soy? I have done some research on it but I am always looking for new credible resources on the subject. I should have also noted my children are lacto ovo vegetarians mainly due to my concerns. Thanks again for the note!

[Lisa]

I found two amazing recipes that we devoured recently! They are very similar and both feature fresh grated parmesan and lemon, but with either broccoli or brussels sprouts. So good and fresh and easy! The only laborious part was individually leafing the sprout leaves.

These both would be great with whatever main dish you have, chicken, fish, etc.

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2010/12/14/roasted-brussels-sprout-chips-with-lemon-and-parmigiano/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parmesan-roasted-broccoli-recipe/index.html

[Meredith]

Helen, this post on soy is written by an organization that definitely doesn't promote a vegan diet. But, here's a start: http://www.nourishingourchildren.org/Soy.html. Best of luck to you!

Skip: Great information! I have gotten really confused lately about how to best go about nourishing my family lately between the vegan vs. low carb pull. The posts here advocate a very reasonable approach.

Here's what we are having tonight - the leftovers make great soup the next day when made with homemade stock. There's a ton of beans and veggies in this. So, I like that meat becomes something of a side with it, instead of the main player. I also don't worry about saturated fat too much (as you can see).

Tuscan Chicken
4 chicken quarters (thighs and legs with bones and skin)
½ tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp coarsely ground pepper
4 slices nitrate "free" bacon, chopped
1 onion chopped
3 garlics peeled
2 cups kale leaves torn (fit in as much as you can in the pan - I can get 4 cups and it tastes great)
½ tsp fresh rosemary
2 (16 oz) cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed or equivalent cups of cooked beans
1 (14/5 oz) can diced tomatoes undrained

Serve over brown rice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook bacon in an oven-safe pan until crisp. Remove from pan (reserving drippings - yes, even Cooking Light said to do that). Add chicken and brown on each side. Add onion and garlic cloves. Saute until onion is soft. Stir in bacon, kale, rosemary, beans, and tomatoes. Lift chicken to rest on top of beans and vegetables.

Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or so (until the chicken is nice and juicy, and done!)

[Meredith]

Helen and Skip - perhaps I should clarify my last comment. I admire all who put a concerted effort towards their health. I have gotten somewhat confused lately when so many reasonable people all have well-formed and divergent opinions about how to go about this.

[skip hellewell]

Meredith You touch an an important point in the reformation of food. For food, there is no Supreme Court to put final answers to questions. Worse, the field of nutrition is overwhelmingly complex, only partly understood, and full of quackery, as well as corporations seeking a market advantage. It's chaotic.

The essential thing is for thoughtful people of good will to define areas of agreement. We can built on common understandings, like the following:

1. Grains should be eaten whole, where possible.
2. Avoid artificial, man-made food chemicals, like trans fats.
3. Build the dietary on whole plant foods with a sparing amount of meat.
4. Minimize the use of highly refined foods, especially sugar.
5. The safest food, over the long term, is the food you cook yourself.

The Healthy Changes are built on such well-founded principles. Men are good at arguing, but women have a unique gift for finding areas of agreement. That's why, in the end, the food reformation will be defined by the women of the world. Best to you.

[Jen]

Hi Skip (and any parents with young kids),
I am so glad I stumbled upon your blog. It's wonderful. I am a recent convert to nutritious and healthy eating.

As a child, family dinner for me consisted of pulling a frozen (processed) entry out of the freezer and microwaving it, with everyone eating and different times and different meals. Now that I have a family of my own, I clearly see how unhealthy that is (from many stand points). Over the past few months I have cut out all processed food/ boxed food items and have started making everything from scratch with whole grains, little or no sugar, less meat, etc. My family (husband, and sons ages 5 and 3 with one on the way) is less than enthusiastic about it, especially going from a diet with hardly any plants, to heavily based in plants. I know you have a daughter (and grandkids), and I was wondering if you have any tips/ suggestions or menu items you have for the transition period or just for feeding young children. I know in time I will be able to get my kids and husband to eat salad every night, but it will take time (especially because of the damage done- they now have a taste for the unhealthy food and that's what they were use to) I am having a hard time finding healthy meals that my kids (and husband) will eat. I am not going to let up, just looking for some help that will make meal times more bearable!