Twelve New Year's Food Resolutions for 2012

Starting Small

It's that time again--time for the often ill-fated, sweeping promises to ourselves and time for the late-January guilt that follows on their abandonment.

Telling yourself you're going to exercise more (and I am, I am, I am!) may not be sustainable, but a baby step might be more successful. I am going to go for one twenty-minute walk twice a week. Or, I will always take the stairs unless I am late.

Unlike exercise resolutions, making a food resolution doesn't involve any membership fees, sweaty handgrips, new Lycra wardrobes, expensive shoes, or fighting over weight machines. In fact, you may find the achievement of one New Year's Food Resolution so painlessly do-able that you add another along about February, and then one more in March. Eating better is incremental. We make one change and never go back, so with each additional adjustment we are further and further along the road to better nutrition and family health.

So give one of these suggestions a spin. Bookmark this post so that you can come back and add another in a couple weeks. Or work on your one resolution all 2012 and call it good. Either way you'll be that much better off. Feel free to add a Food Resolution in the comments if I forgot any!

1. Cook one more meal per week. This one saves the gut and the pocketbook. If you already cook every night, pick a different resolution!
2. Cook one more vegetarian meal per week. Black bean burritos. Soup. Pasta Pomodoro. Baked potato bar.
3. Cook one meal per week entirely from leftovers or pantry/refrigerator stores. In our house we call it Smorgasbord of Leftovers or Clean-Out-the-Fridge Night.
4. Take a Knife Skills class. If you're not crazy about cooking, this small investment will increase your confidence.
5. Learn to cut up a chicken. Not only is buying a whole chicken more earth-friendly, but you can satisfy varying desires for light meat and dark meat around your table. Buying Skagit River Ranch chickens is what made me learn. No more bags of Tyson saline-injected, inhumanely-farmed chicken breasts!
6. Learn to make one food that you normally buy processed. Be it Hamburger Helper or canned soup or cake mix. Just one. Once you taste the difference and compare the ingredient lists, you'll hate to go back. Cake mixes, canned biscuits, brownie mixes, and the like all got the boot from my pantry a few years ago, and we haven't looked back.
7. Avoid one genetically-modified food. Most soybeans, non-organic corn, and "canola" is genetically-modified. I'm ditching canola oil this year. Soybeans and non-organic corn were eliminated in past years, insofar as possible. Most chocolate contains soy lecithin as an emulsifier, so 100% elimination is out for us. Fermented and traditionally-processed soy are still okay with us (organic tofu and soy sauce). It's the soybean oil (usually labeled "vegetable oil") and soy protein I stay away from.
8. Replace one fruit/vegetable from the "Dirty Dozen" with one from the "Clean Fifteen." Buying organic fruits and vegetables can be expensive and isn't necessary in all cases. In fact, a family could stay in-budget well by only eating from the less-pesticide-laden options. If you can't bear to give up that one fruit, if it's on the Dirty Dozen list, make the switch to organic.
9. Cut out one non-local, out-of-season fruit or vegetable in favor of something local and/or seasonal. My kids groan, but I don't buy out-of-season berries from California (or even farther away). Those strawberries that are huge as tennis balls and taste about the same? No way. We'll stick with our Washington pears and apples in the off-season, or delve into the Bellevue Farmers Market berries that I froze.
10. Eat one more serving of vegetables a day. Amazing how tough this can be to do. I try to have two vegetable options per dinner: one salad and one steamed something. Or else I'll steam two different vegetables. Or stir-fry whatever I've got in the bin and eat two helpings of it. (One serving equals about half a cup.)
11. Replace one protein source with its wild/grass-fed/humanely-raised equivalent. If your budget can't afford a wholesale switch to wild salmon, pastured beef, or happily-raised chicken or pork, pick the protein that gives you the most heeby-jeebies when you watch the videos. Yes, the good options are pricier. This isn't all bad (see Resolution #2).
12. Plant something. Your favorite herb, a summer tomato plant, some carrots. Actually I leave this resolution to my husband because there is no plant I can't kill. Possibly I might consider an edible cactus...

Happy New Year and good eating!

The Gift of Granola

The finished product!

My kids are processed breakfast cereal freaks. I knew I shouldn't have taken that leap from baby oatmeal to "finger food" Cheerios because my kids never went back. They now physically gag if I serve oatmeal. Breakfast cereals may be convenient, but they're also often made of who-knows-what (see my post on adulterated honey) and cost an arm and a leg. The current household favorite: Heritage Bites from Nature's Path. Yes, it's de-li-cious and organic and high in fiber, but I only ever buy it on sale because it comes in diminutive boxes meant to keep the price under, say, the cost of repairing your roof or giving your dog a few rounds of chemo.

Thank heavens for homemade granola. Crunchy like processed cereals but with ingredients I can control and a price I can stomach. Granola also doubles as a great food gift for Christmas or hostesses. Nobody doesn't like it, and it's easy to make gluten-free or nut-free or dairy-free versions for your more allergic acquaintances. I've pointed you toward Deborah Madison's recipe before, the typical one made in our house, but this Christmas I've laid hold of Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day cookbook and have decided to give out a version "inspired by"combining her recipe with Deborah Madison's. Meaning, I'll try the coconut, walnut, currant combo she suggests but substitute local honey for the more distant, more expensive maple syrup and oil for the butter.

To wit:
2011 Christmas Granola

6 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
grated zest of two oranges (optional)

Toss all together and spread over two rimmed cookie sheets. Bake at 300F for about 30-35 minutes, rotating the pans between the upper and lower rack every 10-12 minutes. Let cool. Add 1 cup currants and toss. Store in an airtight container or divvy up and give out as gifts!

Compare the homemade recipe to that of Quaker Oats Granola:

Ingredients

WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, BROWN SUGAR, RAISINS, BROWN CRISP RICE (WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT), CORN FLAKES (CORN, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, CORN SYRUP), INULIN, PUFFED RICE, WHEY, GLYCERIN, CANOLA OIL, ALMONDS, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, HONEY, DRIED COCONUT, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, SUNFLOWER OIL, CINNAMON, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL MIXED TOCOPHEROLS (ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS).

Hmm...(1) Corn flakes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these a much cheaper cereal that I haven't bought in decades? Not to mention, I'm pretty anti- agroindustrial corn, since it's just about always genetically modified and low in nutritional value. (2) Inulin. A sweetish, fiber-y carb filler/stretcher. (3) Glycerin. Sweetener, filler, thickening agent. (4) Natural flavor. Uh-huh. (5) Soy lecithin. An emulsifier that keeps ingredients from separating. (6) Natural mixed tocopherols. Preservatives. But at least some people take them as supplements.

Not so bad, really, for a processed food. But I guarantee you, if you make/give your own granola, it won't be around long enough to require preservatives!

Honey, I Adulterated the Goods

Someday someone will make a thriller about the global honey market. It's got everything: a dying species (Apis mellifera), failing supply, growing demand scheduled to pass 1.9 million metric tons by 2015, and people eager to make a buck by stretching or adulterating the goods. Mwahahahahahaha!

I posted on the topic of honey here after I watched The Vanishing of the Bees, but after seeing some of the recent news I am compelled to write again. With the US honey harvest at a record low, the temptation is great for food manufacturers to get their honey somewhere--anywhere. Journalist Andrew Schneider, who regularly reports for Food Safety News, estimates 60% of honey imported to the United States originates in Asia, "traditional laundering points for Chinese honey." What's the big deal with Chinese honey? Well, not only may it be "stretched" with additives like sugar- or corn-derived syrups, but it may also be "tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals." In order to hide its origin, the honey is "ultra-filtered" to remove telltale pollen. The European Union has banned imports of honey from India to stem this tide of bad goods, leaving the wave to wash over the laxer United States.

There's no dark, twisting, thriller trail to the 136 ozs of honey in my house (we like our honey). Every last ounce comes from Daniel's Honey or Cascade Natural Honey at the Bellevue Farmers Market. In both cases I spoke with my beekeeper. I learned something about the bees' travel and pollination schedules (hint--they get around more than I do, including trips to California to pollinate the almond crop), and what makes a honey a certain "variety" like Blackberry, Wild Flower, or Knotweed. Genuine, unadulterated, local honey.

Although we're in the Market off-season, local honeys by small producers can still be found at some grocery stores. PAY THE EXTRA MONEY. If the honey is cheap or comes in a squeezable plastic bear or as a flavoring in processed goods, chances are you're getting the fake, antibiotic-laden imported stuff. Real honey is not cheap. A bee, in its lifetime, makes about 1-2 teaspoons of honey. It takes 10,000 worker bees to gather one pound of honey, and they fly the equivalent (each) of twice around the world to gather that pound. But the result is pure goodness. Not only has honey been used as a sweetener worldwide for eons, it has also been a cornerstone of ancient medicines for its health properties. Stick that in your sugar cane and smoke it!

So, I've gotten the bad honey out of the house. The New Year's resolutions? Avoiding the processed foods that contain it and reading this book:

Hope you'll join me!

Five Christmas Gifts for Your Food-Lover

It works for her! (Photo: Good Housekeeping)

And, really, who isn't a food lover? There are the occasional oh-so-superior people who don't like sweets (!!), but these, thankfully, are few and far between, as natural selection keeps them to a minimum. (Who could date--much less marry and have children with--a person who, after dinner, carelessly passed on dessert or chocolate when you yourself were dying for some?)

Food-related gifts can't be beat at Christmas for so many reasons, including:

1. They don't junk up the house and end up in a Goodwill bag a few years down the line.
2. They don't break.
3. They are frequently shared with the recipient's family, if not with the very giver.
4. They can reap benefits for all involved in cases like restaurant gift certificates, cookbooks, or actual food (see #3).

Therefore, if you were thinking of reaching for another tie, pair of slippers, Barnes & Noble gift card, or what-have-you, consider these suggestions instead.

(1) A meal at a new restaurant. Forget the big chains--we had some great chefs visit the Bellevue Farmers Market over the past few years, and in the Market off-season we can still sample their tasty food locally. A partial list:

• Cantinetta Bellevue for Tuscan-inspired Italian food incorporating Pacific NW ingredients.
• Seastar or John Howie Steak. Most likely you've eaten at one of John Howie's restaurants already, but who ever objects to a repeat visit?
• Bradley Dickenson's stylish Pearl. Fresh seafood, steaks, NW ingredients, and local vegetables.
• And the venerable Bis on Main for French/Italian/Delicious.
• If gift certificates aren't your thing, consider a scavenger hunt with clues ending at the restaurant, or even a "kidnapping" on a certain date. Design something related to these to put under the tree.
  

(2) Food itself. I've got Market-made jam, peanut brittle, salmon, and honey waiting to be handed over as-is or incorporated in homemade food gifts. Many of the vendors featured at the Bellevue Farmers Market can be found at other local farmers markets (use the locator link from my previous post) or in specialty stores. Get creative! How about a Local-Food-of-the-Month Club? Doesn't have to be big. Just some seasonal produce or cheese or beef jerky or whatever. Something to look forward to.

(3) How about a cooking class? Talk about a gift that keeps on giving. And if you've read Kathleen Flinn's THE KITCHEN-COUNTER COOKING SCHOOL, which I reviewed here, you know something as simple as learning to use a knife properly can change someone's life. Flinn offers a link to video cooking classes, which I haven't checked out, but plenty of local places offer a Knife Skills class.

(4) A cookbook. Yes, I cook using online recipes frequently, but it's not my favorite. I don't want to print the recipes out (waste of paper) or write them out (too lazy), so I end up bringing my laptop into the kitchen, a habit that will one day end in disaster. I still love a good cookbook. If your friend has too many cookbooks already, consider a homemade album of your absolute favorites? I bought mini photo albums one year and typed up ten of my go-to recipes for the bread machine. My mom still uses hers!

(5) A book about food. I've mentioned many on this blog, and many have hit the bestseller list. They do tend to get political, given the state of food in America, so keep that in mind. Some past ideas:

• Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. A memoir of growing up on an Iowa farm during the Depression. Talk about self-sufficiency! Sad how much food Iowa must import now because it's all gone the way of corn and soybeans.
• The Kitchen-Counter Cooking School (see above).
• Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin. More a book about how her autism gave her a better understanding of animals. Grandin has worked in the livestock-processing industry and her experiences are moving and eye-opening.

Hope this helps. Feel free to recommend other books or food-gift ideas in the comments!