It’s marathon weekend here in PGH, and the anticipation is in the air. I live right on the marathon route, but will not be there at the time of the race because you can’t drive out until like 3-4pm in the afternoon if you park where I always do. The weather has been holding back a bunch of rain recently, only sporadically allowing it to come down. It’s also been pretty hot recently; this past week I had this year’s first slightly uncomfortable night’s rest due to heat. I am trying to be thankful for all phases of the year, and I am grateful for the seasons, distinct as they are. It’s amazing how fast all the green grows back– literally overnight.
Anyways, I’ve been a bit MIA on here recently with so much going on. I decided it’s probably better to keep the windowsill series as a bimonthly thing rather than weekly. Also, I’m just not sure how many of you are THAT interested in what I’m cooking each week. I do want to share with you recipes that I really loved though, just not every single one. I am learning and growing in this as well. Trying to make this blog a resource more people want to use 🙂
One thing I made for the first time this past week that I absolutely loved was chapatis! I used Chetna’s recipe of course. It didn’t puff up the way it does in the video, but even if it does puff, it very shortly un-puffs and then looks basically the same as mine did in the end. I bought chapati flour at a local Indian grocer, but I think there are ways to mix whole wheat and regular flour for the same end. I made a batch twice this past week so far. The first one was eaten with spinach dal and okra masala and the second with leftovers and some Korean multigrain rice (which I bought pre-mixed). That was many meals this week, as well as lots of fresh salads inspired by a friend of mine who brought a salad one night to dinner with quinoa in it. I’ve been making a lot of those filled liberally with nuts and vegetables and typically a light vinaigrette.
I’ve been trying to eat particularly well recently not just because I enjoy being healthy and not feeling bad, but also because I recently went off birth control (which was used to control painful periods fort the past 5 years) and am now trying to do a lot to support my hormones in the aftermath. It’s been almost a full month now, and so far no major symptoms to report. I’ve been loosely using a food guide by Alisa Vitti that accords with each phase of your cycle. I also am using an app to report changes and it gives me advice on things to eat/do to try to resolve common menstrual issues. Okra was actually on the list for last week, which was perfect for the spinach dal side. It’s fun to try different foods at different times, and it also helps from getting into a meal rut when you find something you like.
This is the okra masala, multigrain rice, spinach dal, and chapatis. Not the most visually-appealing, but definitely delicious, especially when eaten with friends.
I think I’ll know more about how it’s working next week when I am supposed to actually be getting my period. But so far, I haven’t noticed any major mood swings or changes in energy, but I am also trying cycle syncing not only nutritionally but also through my behavior (trying to do more and less at different times depending on my energy level.) I am already one to guard my energy levels jealously, and I have also grown a lot personally and health-wise in the last 5 years, all of which I think will support this transition. Anyone else gone through something like this and have any advice?
Another reason I’ve been changing my eating habits slightly has been after reading this conversation which was actually recommended by one of my favorite food blogs, Cookie and Kate. It’s answered by Mark Bittman and David Katz and is just such an amazing resource for clearing the noise around “healthy eating” these days. Through that article, I found out about the Blue Zones, which are areas in the world where the highest proportion of centenarians live. The zones are Nicoya, Costa Rica, Okinawa, Sardinia, Ikaria, and Loma Linda, CA (high population of Seventh Day Adventists.) Even if you’re not interested in changing your diet and lifesyle to reflect Blue Zone principles, it’s fascinating just to read about these places. At first, I started reading The Blue Zones Solution, which is primarily about the author, Dan Buettner’s, attempt to make different towns in America their own blue zones (which is just as much about diet and exercise as it is about structural supports for them as well as emotionally, socially, and spiritually healthy habits.) But I wanted to learn about the actual Blue Zones themselves first before that, so I’ve been reading the original book, published in 2008 that just explains the different Blue Zones and conversations with people there.
As much as anyone in these Blue Zones would tell you there’s not a “miracle” ingredient or even really such a thing as superfoods (at least as Americans tend to conceptualize them) there certainly are better foods and habits to integrate into your life. One thing I’ve been making a big push to eat more of is beans, which are widely used in pretty much every Blue Zone. Nuts, too, are frequently eaten and those who eat nuts typically live longer than those who don’t (which Buettner talks about a lot in the book and gives statistics for.) I have been trying to incorporate nuts into more things, and generally have them with me for mealtimes, along with fruits. Another habit I’ve been trying to get into more so is eating progressively smaller meals as the days go on and relying less on snacks (which I don’t do too much actually), but more on the actual meals I choose to provide stamina. This way, you give your body time to digest and detox for 12-16 hours between dinner and breakfast, which is really good for you. I have also become more OK with eating nontraditional breakfast foods in the morning, like leftover meals from the day before, in order to make breakfast a much heartier meal. When I do make breakfast fresh, I have been using a lot of grains, beans, and tomatoes. Recently I bought some avocados on sale which I’ve been using as well. I just read yesterday in The Blue Zones that Seventh Day Adventists have a little phrase for meal portions throughout the day: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” I think a loose adherence to that is a good plan. Here are a few breakfasts I made work this past week (all different days despite the similar appearance, lol):
no I did not eat all those chapatis…
Also, I’ve been trying to train myself less to eat until I am full, but until I am no longer hungry to avoid overeating. In Okinawa, apparently, some centenarians have a saying for this that they might repeat at the beginning of a meal (similar to “bon appetit”) which which means “eat only until you are 80% full.” I learned about this in another book I recently read called French Kids Eat Everything. According to the author, the French are more likely to eat until they are satisfied rather than full (asking questions like “Have you had enough?” rather than “Are you full?”), a subtle, but really important difference. It takes roughly 20 minutes for the stomach to send the message to the brain that it has eaten enough, so to wait until you are 80% full isn’t necessarily to perpetually eat less than you need, but to slow down and only eat what you need, sincerely enjoying it.
All of that made me begin to make me reconsider more basic approaches to food that I have. Obviously I derive a great deal of joy out of cooking and eating, but I have also noticed, as a working person, it’s very hard to avoid what I call a “survival” mentality around food. Unfortunately, in the U.S., we don’t have many food rituals that are widely followed or accommodated in the workday. For example, I work two part time jobs and don’t get breaks for lunch. Everyone can have a different lunch hour and, because it’s often unavoidable, we tend to eat at our desks, on the run, or otherwise by ourselves. We are I think in some ways divorcing ourselves from the actual practice of eating.
Recently I’ve just been taking them anyways for 20 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the learning center where I work because otherwise my blood sugar will plunge, which often results in a headache. I typically work right in the middle of the day also, right when my body needs lunch. While I can eat relatively comfortably in 20 minutes and be back to work without any repercussions, it doesn’t stop me from trying to eat a lot during those times so that I won’t be hungry later as I’m often rushing to the next thing after work. I also sometimes think the fear of feeling hungry “later” in itself gives me some degree of a weird, psychosomatically-induced headache in itself. Despite that, I’m trying to maintain the habit of only eating until I am no longer full rather than eating more than I need out of “survival” mentality.
I also want to do practice this for a deeper reason, which is simply that I don’t want food to be only an “eat to live” thing. (Something I’m fortunate not to have to worry about…) I remember when I lived in Germany, I would go to bed at night genuinely excited for breakfast the next morning. At that point, feeling such a thing was a first for me. I grew up eating cold cereal pretty much exclusively for breakfast– a poor contrast with the German morning feast. Of course I was hungry in the morning, too, but the experience was so special and valued that it felt like a whole event in itself to anticipate. This is the attitude around food and mealtimes that I am trying to preserve in myself.
Leftover dinner for illegal lunch (this is the masala okra, multigrain rice, spinach dal and chapatis) the next day at work (feat. The Blue Zones!)
I’m trying to spend more time breathing consciously and mindfully eating my food rather than squirreling it away for the winter. Part of this whole process is also not divorcing myself from my body but listening very deeply to it, and recognizing the subtle messaging that it’s time to stop eating, or that I am simply contented. I want to enjoy food for the way it tastes, and the way the experience of eating feels, not simply for the function of literal sustenance. Also, I am never really in so much of a bind that I get so hungry, especially after taking my semi-illegal work lunch break (to be fair, I only take it when there’s no one there currently who needs my help.) So I’m trying to just relax in the actual plenty of my life and focus on the joy of food above the more utilitarian side. I’m curious how other people address this in their lives? I am sure others have much more demanding schedules than mine… How do you carve out time to make food feel special… and even sacred? (This again makes me remember what a great resource French Kids Eat Everything is.) Perhaps this post should have been called “this week on mind mind,” or “this week on my bookshelf” ;-).
With that, I wish you a happy and sunny Saturday wherever you are. I am off to listen to brass bands play in the park with people near and dear to my heart.
Until next time,
S
This week on the windowsill: Big breakfasts, Blue Zones and cycle syncing It's marathon weekend here in PGH, and the anticipation is in the air. I live right on the marathon route, but will not be there at the time of the race because you can't drive out until like 3-4pm in the afternoon if you park where I always do.
