Food and nutrition enthusiast. Urban Gardener. Passionate about cooking, food justice, health and community nutrition. I love food. I'm food's groupie.
Neiman Marcus’ latest offering has officially activated the gentrification apocalypse.
Collards have long been a staple in African-American and Southern cuisine and historically a poor people’s food. I was already on red alert when a new bourgie restaurant called “Potlikker”, the term for the liquid in a pot of greens, opened up a few years ago in the hipster capital, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Then earlier this year there was the infamous “Whole Foods” recipe that sought to improve upon the traditional way collard greens have been prepared for years. They tried to get innovative by adding cranberries, peanuts and garlic. So disrespectful! Twitter quickly let Whole Foods know the error in their ways and the recipe was taken down. Now Neiman Marcus’ latest offering has put us in full food gentrification mode. This is not a drill! Neiman Marcus’ is selling “seasoned” cooked collard greens on their website. Four 12-ounce trays of collards can be yours for the totally reasonable price of $66 plus $15.50 for shipping! My great great granny just rolled in her grave. Greens cost maybe 99 cents a pound. A hambone or turkey wing is perhaps a few bucks. They are charging $66 for a dish that normally costs all of $5. The gentrification apocalypse has begun.
Dear Trick Daddy: White Women and “Spanish” Women Already Know How to Fry Chicken
The Miami rap legend’s latest disappointing and inaccurate comments on social media
Last week, Trick Daddy, went on a rant against Black women, telling them they needed to “tighten up” and that white women and “Spanish” women were getting “very spiffy” in comparison. Since then many people in not-so-polite terms have told him to “have a seat”. We do not need to discuss the irony of someone who looks like they have been freshly embalmed having anything to say about anyone else’s looks. Or that Afro-Latina women exist. But let’s talk about this comment: Black women would become useless if their white and Latina counterparts “learn how to fry chicken”. Trick Daddy, sir: white women and Latina women already know. Fried chicken is a global phenomenon. Food Network stars Ree Drummond and Paula Deen know how to make it. Dominicans and Puerto Ricans have their version of fried chicken called “Chicharrones de Pollo”. “Pollo Campero”, the KFC of Latin America, has over 300 different locations in twelve different countries. Clearly Trick Daddy does not bother with facts or reason. My recommendation to Trick Daddy is to stop pitting women against each other based on looks and who can fry chicken and worry about why he looks ready to hop into a casket.
How many times has someone talked about being “good” on their new diet or complimented someone on their willpower and strength to turn down dessert? Many people seem to think that every choice we make in our eating is a battle of good versus evil, wrong versus right. And that if we give in and eat that chocolate cake, that bag of chips, we have somehow failed to put forth enough determination to fight the craving. We have made eating and weight morality issues; when we see a larger bodied person we just assume they are weak, lazy, compulsive, unable to control their most base desires. I know because for pretty much most of my life I have been given this message. Complete strangers on the street would stop me to tell me I was beautiful but I needed to lose weight and that clearly I was lazy. And I have had people surprised to find out that I make healthy eating choices and exercise. Making those assumptions based solely on someone’s body size is completely wrong but I will save that for another article.
People assume that eating and what we choose to eat is a completely active, cerebral activity. Nothing can be further from the truth. So much goes into how our body feels, how much energy we expend and our nutritional needs day to day. Mainstream weight management resources would have you believe that it is simply calories in, calories out. And that counting calories is the most simple, effective way to manage weight. Well I am here to tell you folks: you have been lied to. Plain and simple. We as a culture have become so disconnected from our bodies. We buy countless books, magazines, sign up for diet plans and book appointments with doctors just to have someone to tell us what we must do to lost weight, feel great. But our bodies (except in the cases of metabolic disorders and/or hormonal imbalances) are perfectly equipped to tell us what we need. So when you have been starving yourself on that 1200-calorie diet plan for a week and you finally cave in and scarf down half a pie? That was your body protecting you actually. Your body was basically like “Mayday, Mayday, we are in a famine!” and increased certain hormones in your body to MAKE you eat. Trying to fight your body, an ancient system of complex organs and mechanisms, is a losing battle. Better to work with your body. When it comes to eating, there is no such thing as willpower. You are not morally superior or being “good” when you put yourself on a restrictive diet bordering on disordered eating. There is no such thing as being good or bad when it comes to eating. Sure there are more nutritious options than others but choosing a less healthy option sometimes does not make you “bad”. Eating is not a dichotomy and there are many reasons people eat the foods that that do at any given time. Whenever people start talking about their “new” diet or how “bad” they were, I usually just nod politely but rarely comment. I do not want to be seen as the “preachy dietetic student”. But if it is close family or friends, I will sometimes let them know that it’s okay to have dessert and that they should not think less of themselves for choosing to indulge and enjoy from time to time. Many people are shocked when I tell them I do not diet and don’t believe in dieting. I believe in intuitive eating and being in touch with feelings of hunger. And knowing the reason why I am eating at any given time. Like if I just feel like eating a cookie, I am well aware of it and okay with that. So many times people deprive themselves and then end up overindulging later. Because they gave that food power. That cookie you turned down at the meeting haunted you all damn day and now you find yourself dipping into the grocery store for a whole bag of oreos when allowing yourself to have that one cookie earlier would have satisfied you so much more. As I mentioned earlier, part of the problem with the mythology of willpower in eating is that not only do you have your body working against you when you decided to go on a restrictive diet but you also have the psychological aspect of your brain becoming fixating on what you have told yourself you should not have.
A couple of years ago, I came home and cried because I just could not do it anymore. I did not want to ride the dieting roller coaster anymore. I started dieting at the age of 9 so about two-thirds of my life has been spent obsessing over my weight and food. And that evening after work I just felt defeated. That’s when I decided no more dieting. I had read a really great book that talked about intuitive eating and I was now ready to try it. And once I got the hang of it and stopped obsessing over food? I felt so free! Like if there was peach cobbler and I felt like eating it, I did. Sometimes there was dessert and I did not eat it. Once I took away food’s power over me, I realized the world was my oyster. I no longer had to turn down parties or events because I was afraid of the buffet table. No seriously, I used to stay home because I was afraid of binging. And eating for my energy requirements AND for enjoyment is pretty effortless these days. I just go with my body’s flow and she tells me when she needs something to refuel the tank or if she has had enough. Or if that brownie looks delectable? I allow myself to have it, with no thoughts of being “good” or “bad”. Making peace with my body has made me so much happier. It is truly a miserable existence obsessing over how much you eat day in and day out. Because living your life eating salad, carrot sticks and kale all day. everyday is to deprive yourself of all the wonderful and diverse foods and flavors out there!
Hello everyone! It’s a beautiful day here in New York. Folks are wearing shorts and the ice cream trucks will be out soon. LOL I recently had my annual physical exam and I had an interesting little exchange with my doctor. My lab work came back and mostly everything looked great. I just need to work on eating more protein(no surprise there! I default to vegetarian all the time!). Now it just happens that my body needs more protein. Not everybody or everyone’s body needs the amount of protein that I need. Some may need more, some may need less. But I digress. My doctor was like “Oh well you’ve lost weight!” And I was like “No sir I have not.” Him: “Well your face looks slimmer.” Me: “My body composition might be shifting.” I’m in a really good place right now when it comes to body image and confidence. I know my weight but it’s more information than anything else. I do not base my worth on what I see on the scale. I have about a 15 pound range that I stay in. I’m currently on the higher end of that range but I’m not stressed. I still love myself and the body I have been given.
My doctor then asks me how much I weigh. It’s actually cool that he doesn’t automatically make his patients hop on the scale as an entry point into the appointment. I tell him my current weight. Then he’s like “Oh no! You gotta lose twenty pounds!” I really love my doctor. He’s helped me so much over the years. But he lost a few cool points with that. Because by now many of us know that BMI is pretty irrelevant and arbitrary. Basically pseudoscience. It tends to overestimate obesity in people of African descent and underestimate obesity in people of Asian descent. But I believe in “health at every size” so I’m not really trying to label someone based on how much they weight or what their body looks like.
I just didn’t get how one minute he was basically congratulating me on how well I have been doing in reclaiming my health through lifestyle and eating and then the next minute I have a “twenty pound problem”. I feel really good in my skin. If I lost ten pounds, it would just be a little less of me to love. And I would still be firmly in my range that I feel comfortable in. But in the meantime, physically I’m great! I teach two dance fitness classes a week and I am performing again! The only time I feel sluggish or tired is if I forget to take my iron supplements for a couple of weeks or eat a meal that is a little too heavy.
I felt a little hurt after my appointment because I think health should always be the focus. I’m currently revving up to start a new exercise regime. Not to lose weight but to feel good and as an act of self-love. I also, per the doctor’s orders, have stopped eating grains.... I’m still in shock that I’m doing this. I thought it would be triggering for me because I am very against diets, fad or otherwise. But I’m also really into keeping my blood glucose control in check. I’m not diabetic but I have a strong predisposition to it. I have many family members who have diabetes and heart disease. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m trying to do the best I can with what I’ve got: this body. And my doctor let me know that staying away from grains (for ME!) might be a good idea. So I’m trying it out and I have to say I actually feel a lot better. The first few days were ROUGH but now I can feel my blood sugar staying steady throughout the day.
Now don’t get any wild ideas, I’m not doing “paleo” or anything like that. No offense to anyone who prescribes to eating lifestyles like that. I still am going to eat starches in the form of squash, sweet potato, etc... But honestly I think I intuitively knew that eating grains was messing with my blood sugar but I come from southern american stock and the thought of not having grits, biscuits, cobblers, etc... made me so sad. And yes I know there are “grain-free” versions of a lot of these things nowadays but I rather just focus right now on getting more protein and eating in a way that makes me feel energized and grounded.
I’m not gonna lie though. I’m lowkey a little embarrassed to say “I’m not eating grains”. It sounds kind of pretentious to me because I am only one generation removed from picking cotton and pulling corn for sharecropping. No one had time to think about “food preferences”. If you were hungry, you ate what was available. But in a real plot twist, what my family ate as sharecroppers, in terms of quality, no so much quantity, was fare superior than what I grew up eating from cans and boxes.
I was out the other day and we were at a burger joint. I actually leaned in to the cashier to quietly ask if it was okay to order a burger without a bun. I was self-conscious!
As some of you may know, I am a huge proponent of “intuitive eating”. Intuitive eating doesn’t mean eat what you want all the time, without any regard for health or nutrition. It means that you are following your bodies cues in regards to hunger and satiety. It means you are realizing how you feel after eating certain foods and understanding why you are eating. We eat for many reasons besides hunger.
So while I’m still going to make desserts and biscuits for my family, I know for my own personal health right now I need to just focus on the foods that are going to energize me and help me live a long, healthy life. Thanks for reading! xoxo
p.s. I was featured on the Instagram page @mybodydoes!
A photo posted by @mybodydoes on Nov 18, 2015 at 9:08am PST
Hello everyone! So I wanted to do a post about self-care during cold weather months. It has been unseasonably warm here in New York but the days are definitely very short now with the sun being completely down by 5:30 pm. In years past I have suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression that’s related to the changes in seasons. Mine would start once the days got shorter and the temperature started dropping. Even though I grew up in New England, I fare much better in warm climates. The shorter days, waking up in darkness and the cold temperatures used to make me lethargic and sad; it would be difficult to get out of bed in the morning. I have not had a problem with seasonal depression for years because now I make sure to up my self-care game during this time of year.
So here are my self-care tips for cold weather months:
1. Eat a healthy, balanced diet. That is meant to be ambiguous because a healthy diet is different for each one of us. For me, I am more drawn to cooked meals and foods at this point in the year as opposed to salads and smoothies. I personally try to include good carbohydrate sources like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, winter squash, etc... Again this is just the kind of things that make my body feel well during the Northeast winter months.
2. Exercise. If you are not already exercising, find some types of exercise you enjoy and do it 3-5 times a week. This helps keep our moods lifted during the months when we spend most of our time indoors. No need to join a gym if you are not already a member. You can workout at home to DVDs(this is what I do!), dance, take group exercise classes within your community, etc... There are also plenty of workouts available on Youtube!
3. Get some sunshine! Put on your awesome winter coat and walk outside during the day. Even if you just do a 15 minute walk, the fresh air and sun will boost your mood.
4. Take Vitamin D. Now of course check with your health practitioner first, but we definitely have higher vitamin D needs during the winter months due to the shorter days and less sunlight exposure. I personally prefer vitamin D drops over a pill or capsule. The drops are more readily assimilated into the body. Fun Fact! Vitamin D is actually not even a vitamin! It’s a hormone!
5. And finally, stay connected! It’s easy to get into the routine of doing the bare minimum socially because it’s so cold outside but try to remain active with friends and loved ones. Host a dinner party full of delicious seasonal foods! Go see live performances with friends. Or just invite of few of the best homies over for cute conversation over some homemade mulled wine. Cheers!
Me and oatmeal’s relationship status: “it’s complicated”. For years I have told folks that I don’t like oatmeal because I think I was still traumatized by the preparations I did of it during my obsessive dieting days. Like cooking rolled oats just in water and adding some artificial sweetener. Or adding egg whites to it to increase the protein content a la bodybuilding diet advice. I mean if you like your oatmeal with protein powder in it, that’s fine. I am not trying to yuck anyone’s yum! I just know that I was cooking oatmeal in ways that were healthy but not necessarily palatable, at least not to me. So I think I developed an aversion to oatmeal for awhile. Recently, on a whim, I decided to give it another shot. I was getting bored with my daily protein shakes. And it’s getting cold and I was craving something warm in the morning. So here is what I came up with, a very simple, delicious way to start my day. And it keeps me full for hours.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
2-3 Servings
2 cups milk of your choice (I’ve been using cashew milk as well as almond milk)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 apple, chopped (try to get an organic or local one if you can!)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter
Optional: sugar or maple syrup to taste
Pour milk into pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Make sure you watch the pot so it does not boil over. Added oats, chopped apple and cinnamon to pot and stir. Lower heat to medium and allow oats to simmer for 15 minutes or until oats reach desired texture. Turn off heat and add butter. Sweeten to taste. Please note, the apple sweetens the oats a bit.
Still on an ongoing journey towards self-acceptance. I used to believe in all of the conventional advice about weight and weight management. I used to feel ashamed that my weight put me in the overweight category according to charts and BMI. We have all heard people, from health professionals to lay people, say that all you have to do is lose weight and maintain a “good” weight to be healthy. At my lowest adult weight, I was still struggling with high cholesterol, blood glucose control among other things. Losing weight, being smaller (less to love!) did not solve my health issues. It also did not make me inherently happier. I used to think if I could just get under a certain number, my life would instantly improve. This was not the case.
In my previous blog post I talked about my journey in letting restrictive eating go. I now feel like my eating is pretty normal. Normal for me means not restricting my intake or trying to go super low calorie. Anyone remember the diet company, LA Weight Loss? Well they had me on a 700-900 calorie per day diet and yeah I lost the weight, but I was nauseous, dizzy and went to bed with a headache every night. But I digress, I have moved on from those habits. I am not going to lie though. Sometimes when I’m trying on certain clothing at a store or I have some type of significant event coming up, I may briefly think “Ooooo maybe I should try to go on “fill in the blank” diet to look good in this?” I’ve learned to quiet that voice down over the years. It is usually just a momentary thought. I used to think I did not deserve to eat because I was a fat. Everyone deserves to eat, regardless of what their body looks like. I get sad for the former me who thought this way about herself.
Now that I have become involved in the fitness industry as a group fitness instructor, I turned my attention to being a better athlete and being in better shape. I wanted to get faster, stronger and even though I did not want this to be the leading motivator, leaner. I started lifting heavy weights, focusing on hypertrophy(muscle gain). I used to be that girl in the gym that would do marathon sessions on the treadmill and the elliptical. The chronic cardio girl. I thought I had to work out like that to get thin and to earn the right to eat. Since shifting my focus from mindless cardio to primarily strength training, I have gained weight. I have put on muscle. And every day I am working to be okay with that. I know that when I look in the mirror, I see a stronger body. And people have commented on my changing body. But when I saw the number on the scale inch up, I did get sad. The scale is one of the last vestiges of weight obsession that has stayed with me through my whole journey. I am trying not to weight myself everyday. I am trying to focus on the non-scale victories, e.g. looking banging in my outfits, muscular thighs, my rear view (butt!) looking more delicious everyday, feeling STRONG. I realize I am probably in the best shape of my life, when it comes to conditioning. Even if I am 10-15 pounds over my “ideal” weight. FYI, those weight charts and the BMI are bullshit. We come in all shapes and sizes and that is beautiful. And “in shape” and “fit” does not look one particular way.
I realize that the weight I am at now is more natural for me. I come from stocky genetics. The women on my dad’s side of the family tend to be tall and stocky. I got the stocky part in a petite package. :) I am naturally strong and I put on muscle easily. My body resembles that of my ancestors. In this part of my journey I feel compelled to work with my body and my genetics, not against them. Maintaining a size 4 figure was not natural for me. My body rebelled the whole time. I lost my curves. I’m naturally built like a brick house! I like where I am now. I am finally embracing this body, in this skin. And falling in love with myself all over again, truly, madly and deeply.
(Sorry for the long hiatus in blogging! I have been working on some major projects, like becoming a group fitness instructor!)
As I have mentioned in other blog posts and videos, I started dieting when I was 9 years old. My doctor basically told my mom and I that I was not within range for my weight on the growth chart and that I needed to lose weight. I think a little part of me died at that doctor’s appointment. Food took on a new role: the enemy. And it would take me a good 20 years or so to make my peace with it. Most people who know me well know that through the years I have probably worked my way through many different “diets du jour”. If you name any popular diet from the 90s, 00s or 10s, I have probably at least dabbled in it briefly.
Because I was a chubby kid, teenager and then young adult, people used to applaud me for my dieting and eating disordered behaviors. Stuff like skipping meals, drinking hot tea when I was hungry instead of eating and crash dieting were not alarming to any of my family or friends. Because in their eyes, I was making positive changes in my life by losing weight, even if some of the actions I was taking were extreme and dangerous. I believe if I had been thin and doing the same things, someone would have taken notice or been alarmed and tried to intervene. And when I was successful at shedding some pounds, everyone would act like I just won the Academy Award for Best Actress! And this just added to my own feelings of self-loathing because the way people would say to me “You look GREAT! Oh my goodness!” made me feel like I must have been a disgusting creature previously. I felt like I needed to keep going or I would never be beautiful in other people’s eyes. I actually had SOMEONE (who will remain nameless) tell me when I was 17 years old that I would be so beautiful, if I just lost 30 pounds. I felt like my self-worth depending on what the scale said. I would make lists of the things I would allow myself to do once I reached a certain weight. It was about being good or bad when it came to eating. What can I say? I got it from my mama, who was a chronic dieter and suffered from bad body image during my childhood.
This article from the Washington Post highlighted the eating research of Traci Mann, who says that “diets don’t work”. Uhm, no shit sherlock! I could have told y’all that through my own diet roller coaster rides over the years.
As women, we are socialized to take up as little room as possible. And if you happen to be on the larger end of the body size spectrum, you are supposed to be at least actively trying to remedy that situation. I used to be so ashamed to eat in public or in front of others. I would be very self-conscious and felt like I didn’t deserve to eat the same things my thin peers were enjoying with such gusto. And this wasn’t just my own paranoia about how I was perceived. I have actually had people comment on the “healthiness” of what I was eating, while I was eating it. And I often got unsolicited advice, sometimes from complete strangers, on the street, about how beautiful I was BUT I needed to lose X amount of pounds.
I say all of that to say this, I had a pretty messed up relationship with food and my body which led me to down the path of disordered eating in the form of restrictive dieting and occasionally binging. Food was very comforting to me in times when I felt like no one loved me and that I had no support. Food turned from enemy to friend in these moments of desperation.
Nowadays, despite my intuitive eating and my much improved body image, I still occasionally run into the remnants of my restrictive eating behaviors. For example, I currently teach four dance fitness classes a week, on top of lifting heavy weights three times a week. And I sometimes will try to make it to a studio dance class. Needless to say, my energy requirement has increased quite a bit. I found myself severely underestimating the amount of food I needed to bring to work with me each day, especially on the days I had to leave from work and go directly to teach my class. I would think a small banana pre-workout would carry me to the end of my workout. But boy was I wrong!
I found myself running out of gas during the second half of my class. Luckily I have a great poker face and didn’t let my fatigue show. For more than two-thirds of my life I had tried my best to eat as little as possible, regardless of what my body was asking me for in terms of nutrition. So over the past several months I have had to go through a complete paradigm shift when it came to my nutritional needs.
I have a really great book on sports nutrition so I began rereading certain passages that were applicable to my situation. I had to start looking at myself as an athlete and feeding myself accordingly. Once I started obeying my hunger and giving my body what it needed and desired, my results were amazing! I put on lean muscle, my energy increased AND I was now able to teach my classes, all the way to the end, like a BOSS. It is actually very ironic to me that on my journey to becoming a group exercise instructor I also was able to do some additional healing in my relationship with food and my body. Ironic because I had a secret desire for years to become a fitness instructor but I didn’t think I could do it because I didn’t look like the SHAPE magazine cover models. I realize now that I will never look like those women on the covers and I am at peace with that. Because I am happy with who I am and what I’ve got. I love the genes (haha I don’t wear jeans!) that I’m in. I will continue working on being the best version of me, through thick and thin, literally!
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans
I really appreciate this museum because it celebrates southern food culture and heritage and actually breaks down the historical and cultural reasons behind each southern region's foodways. I remember when I lived in Paris, my host mother laughed at me when I talked about traditional foods for African-Americans. In her mind, and in the mind of many others in other countries, there are no traditional "American foods". And many jokes have been made about traditional American foods just being french fries, hot dogs and hamburgers, basically just fast foods. In the same vein, when non-southerners (And yes I claim my southern heritage, both sides of my family hail from the South! Mississippi and Maryland) talk about some real southern food, they immediately want to talk about cornbread and fried chicken. I mean, yes that exists within our southern food culture but those are just a couple of many, many different foods and dishes that make up the rich culinary traditions of this region of America.
There were wooden cutouts of each southern state, with the illustrations of the specific food specialties, done by an artist I guess whose name is "Dr. Bob". The exhibits aren't fully realized yet and some of the states need more donations. So it was pretty easy to go through every state and see everything. I read each placard that described the food history and culture of that particular state. Visiting this museum gave me an idea for a road trip, something like "The Food Groupie Eats the South", hahaha. I would need to recruit a friend or two with equally hearty appetites for this mission.
I know southern foods tend to get a bad rap but honestly, my grandparents ate better and healthier than all of us do nowadays. My granny told me that when she was growing up in the Mississippi Delta (I come from sharecroppers), the only thing they bought at the store was flour, sugar and tea. Everything else came from the land. Fat was rendered from the hog for cooking. Vegetables were grown in a huge garden and fruit came fresh from trees. Chicken was killed fresh that day for consumption that evening at supper. Side-note: in some places in the South "dinner" is the midday meal, while supper is in the evening.
Anyway, one unique food tradition among many different regions of the south is the tradition of "meat and three". The meat can be fried chicken, country ham, beef, country-fried steak, meatloaf or a pork chop. And then you can choose three different sides. A typical meat and three meal could be served with some cornbread and sweat tea.
A note about cornbread. There seems to be some debate over what authentic southern cornbread is. Some even say that real southern cornbread has no sugar or flour in it. I will say that my granny does not put either of those ingredients in hers. I think she just uses some self-rising cornmeal, an egg, some oil and either milk or water. Pretty basic. This style of cornbread is pretty crumbly and dense because cornmeal contains no gluten. Gluten is what makes things fluffy and light! Although I have roots in the South, I grew up in the North where I have become accustomed to what I call "Yankee Cornbread"! I like my cornbread a little fluffy with a little bit of sweet, okay?
In any case I will be celebrating my southern heritage over Friendsgiving when I make a few potato pies(sweet potato) and a very rich lemon southern pound cake for my father.
Can't wait to update you on the fully realized museum when I am back in New Orleans next spring!
It's getting colder and colder here in New York. Fall is in full swing even though we have been having very warm weather as of late. I always associate smoothies with spring and summer and get sad when all my favorite stone fruits and berries are no longer in season. I wanted to try out a smoothie that would be good during those early autumn days when drinking something cold in the morning would still be okay and not chill you to the bone. But I also wanted a smoothie that was a tad bit heavier than your standard all-fruit smoothie. I don't know if I mentioned this before but I can't drink green smoothies. I mean I actually cannot, as in inability. Because of problems I have had with my under active thyroid, putting raw leafy greens in my smoothies is not a great idea. It could actually further aggravate my condition. My amazing doctor, an integrative physician, was like "Um no." when I mentioned previously enjoying green smoothies on a regular basis. I know I have seen green smoothie recipes where people actually lightly cooked the greens first. But at that point I rather just make a really awesome green soup if I am that thirsty for greens in liquid form! In any case as I was saying before, I wanted a smoothie that felt a bit heavier in texture. And after googling and looking at many variations on sweet potato beverages, I came up with this:
1/2 cup cooked sweet potato (steamed or baked is best)
1 cup almond milk or coconut milk beverage
1 small banana, frozen
1 teaspoon raw honey
a pinch or two of cinnamon
I threw this all into my Ninja blender, the single serving attachment, and pulsed maybe 4 or 5 times. The result was a very creamy smoothie that basically tasted like ice cream. The pinch of cinnamon gave it a nice warming element. And even though the texture was definitely thicker, the smoothie itself is not very calorie dense at all. It's a nice treat after my morning workout but I usually need to eat something else by the time I arrive at work. Try it out for yourself! You won't be sorry.
My journey began with a flight from JFK international to Hewanorra International Airport in Saint Lucia. I left my house at 5 in the morning. There are no direct flights to Martinique from the United States, unfortunately. There used to be an itinerary through American Airlines/American Eagle that went from NYC to San Juan, Puerto Rico. After a relatively quick layover, you would go to Fort-de-France, sometimes via Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. This option no longer exists so getting to Martinique from the States can, frankly, be a pain in the butt! Once I arrived in Saint Lucia and got through immigration and customs, I was greeted by my taxi driver, Fletcher (Fletch for short). He gave me a nice cool, minty towel to cool my face down and then told me to help myself to my choice of ice cold Pitons (the local beer) or water. I chose the beer! It had been a long day and it was only 1pm.
Fletch was constantly trying to get me to talk, trying to make me feel comfortable. The drive to the north side of the island was a little over an hour. My flight was not until the next morning, out of the regional airport, so I was spending the night in a hotel. Fletch made the taxi ride more like a tour! He got me fresh mangoes to eat in the taxi as we drove along. He even took photos of me in front of a wonderful view!
Photo shoot with Fletch!
Fresh Saint Lucian Mangoes! I devoured them!
Fletch also stopped at a vendor on the side of the road and got fresh, hot, just baked creole bread with cheese for the two of us.
Here's Fletch with the creole bread and cheese! Later I ended up sitting up front to avoid car sickness! LOL
I arrived safe and sound in Rodney Bay, not too far from Castries, where the regional airport is located. I stayed at the Ginger Lily Hotel, which was a super cute boutique accommodation. I definitely will stay there again if I have to spend a night or two in Saint Lucia. Fletch asked if I wanted him to take some pictures of me on the beach but I politely declined. I was exhausted from the trip and just wanted to chill for a bit before hitting the beach.
The Ginger Lily Hotel
After relaxing for a bit and texting my parents to let them know I had arrived safely in Saint Lucia, I decided to hit the beach!
Straight Flexin' in Saint Lucia! :)
I think I was still in disbelief that I was finally back in the Lesser Antilles. I tried to read a book on the beach but I was just too distracted by the beauty of my natural surroundings.
A food vendor named Liz came by with hot roti, savory pies and desserts. Right now I was kicking myself for eating that whole creole bread and cheese sandwich earlier that day! I was so full and didn't have any desire for any real food. But I had to show love to Liz and buy something. So I decided on some mango cake! Mango is one of my favorite fruits so if someone offers me something with real mango in it, I'm not going to pass it by.
Mango cake that ended up being consumed for breakfast the next day...super moist and rich. Melted in my mouth!
Next day I woke up bright and early to get to the regional airport for my puddle jumper flight to Martinique. There were not very many options for food at this tiny airport so I was glad I had my cake beforehand. My dear friend, Karine, who is like a big sister to me was there with her son to greet me right outside of customs at the Aimé Césaire International Airport. One of the first things she told me was, "Okay are you hungry? I'm starving!" I laughed because I was so very hungry at this moment that I was approaching my emergency status where the hunger headache would soon set in and I would start getting cranky despite being so excited to finally be back in the country I consider a home away from home.
We ate at the airport bakery and it was good but pretty unremarkable. Just your typical French-style sandwich shop/bakery. I think I got something with brie cheese. Quelle surprise... Once we were fueled up, we hit the road and went straight to the grocery store. She told me to buy anything I think I may want to eat or drink while we were camping because we were going to be "in the middle of nowhere" and there were no stores we could go to once we arrived on the campgrounds. She also said that people generally cook lunch but don't feel like cooking dinner. So sometimes she ate crackers for dinner! She was kind of scaring me! What had I signed myself up for??? We were at Carrefour, once of the biggest grocery stores in the area. I bought what I thought made sense. Cereal, almond milk, some granola bars, fruit and some other things. Did I mention that we were camping so we only sometimes would have ice for the coolers? Anything perishable that we bought had to be consumed that day or the next. I was definitely getting nervous. We packed up the car and we headed to the Salines campgrounds, all the way on the south-side of the island. On the way we stopped by her friend Lynne's vacation rental for a bit to visit with her and her family. We stored all the perishables in her friend's refrigerator. We had a fabulous lunch with included an apéritif of homemade pineapple liqueur, chicken, red beans and dombré, a creole dumpling. Dessert was fresh mango and a delicious banana filled pastry called "tourment d'amour", which translates strangely enough to "love's anguish".
After a jovial time around the table, which included me speaking English with Lynne's daughter, who spoke with a charming Trinidadian lilt, Karine, Enzo (her son) and I headed to the campgrounds.
I had a tent all too myself that my friend called her "guest room".
This was the rest of our camping area. The little tent was for her son; he's almost 9 years old. And there is the "living room" area where many people gathered to hang out, talk, sing and drink rum while Karine or I played hostess. Her tent is right behind the living room area. And yes, your girl officially knows how to receive guests with rum and snacks in the traditional Martinican fashion. I got scolded a couple of times for letting someone sit down at the table and not immediately asking if they wanted something to drink! Whoops! Now I know and I have to say that I am VERY good at being a creole hostess. Voulez-vous quelque chose a boire? De la biere? Du rhum vieux ou blanc? There is also "le craze" which is basically a chaser for the rum. It could be plain old water or it could be some juice. I prefer juice. Uh, yes ladies and gentlemen, I am officially a rum drinker! I mean not really. But I did learn how to drink rum while I was there!
There are three basic times throughout the day to drink rum. Not to say that people don't drink rum other times of the day, but these are the three main occasions:
"Le Décollage"(Take-Off)- This is the first drink of the day. I am talking perhaps at 6 in the morning! It's a tiny glass of white rum, with coconut water as "le craze".
"L'apéro" (Apéritif)-This is also called "le pot de midi", the midday drink. On the campgrounds, someone would blow a horn to signify that it was time for "le pot de midi". A typical "punch" is white rum with a little bit of lime and sugar, if you would like. Stir it up with your finger and then suck off the excess. Success!
"Le Pété-Pieds"-This is the drink you take around 5 o'clock in the evening. Probably a punch but really whatever derivative of rum you would like!
One of many evenings where Karine and I played hostess.
One of my first meals at the campsite was lambi, which is conch. I LOVE conch but will only eat it in the Caribbean. And I love eating the local root vegetables, which are called provisions in some of the English-speaking Caribbean islands. I had to learn to pace myself with lunch and dinner while I was there because my friend and I were constantly getting invited to eat at someone's campsite. She thought it was because folks were curious about me, "l'Americaine"! Maybe... One of the first few days I was there I ate so much I thought I might explode! But I rather be stuffed and polite than refuse food as an invited guest in another country. This philosophy only led me astray one time but more on that later!
Chicken and lambi
Breadfruit and "chou de chine"
We had red wine with lunch that day. No need for a bottle opener. José opened it with a cutlass!
Creole version of hot sauce. J'adore!
Sometime midweek we decided to leave the campsite to spend the night at my friend's house. On the way there we stopped by my favorite fast food joint! Now I know what you are thinking, "The Food Groupie eats fast food??? Noooooo!" Actually yes it is fast food but it is definitely not what you are thinking of in the American context. We went to Snack Elizé, which serves real foods that are local and reflective of creole cuisine. So while we are the topic of lambi, this is another opportunity I had to eat it. I hadn't been to Martinique in seven years and during my time away I definitely daydreamed of ordering a lambi kebab and fries with that delectable sauce. On this occasion I also had a guava milkshake.
The famous brochette lambi frites!
Yeah I was stuffed to the gills after that!
This is the national cake of Martinique, called "Robinson". I forgot to ask why it's called Robinson. I was too busy stuffing my face with it!
This is Alexandre, my friend Karine's best friend. He invited us for lunch one day. It was grilled sausages with vegetable rice. It was so good! The Robinson cake was dessert along with a little mango just for me. Alexandre told me that this particular type of mango only grows in Martinique.
Straight up and down, I have eaten a lot of mangoes in my day and I have never seen one this color. Very unique.
Let's talk about breakfast. It was typical French style fare. Bread, milk, cereal, chocolate powder and fresh fruit. Tea or coffee. Sometimes cheese.
One of my most memorable dinners (there is another "memorable" dinner, but for the wrong reason! LOL) was when Karine's friend Karl invited us to his campsite. I had no idea that we would be having big Brazilian lobsters. Since I was the guest, I had to eat three! They were delicious, melted in my mouth. You could taste the ocean. The three of us drank Chenet with our meal, a bubbly white wine that seemed to be a favorite among many.
The host with the most, Karl!
Kitchen area of Karl's campsite
Just actin' silly! We were having a great time and joking around.
I failed to mention that Karl fishes and he caught these lovely lobsters himself. Talk about sea to table! In fact most of the seafood we consumed at the campsite was caught by fellow campers. I am not talking about some casual fishing... These guys and gals were deep sea diving for sea creatures! One day some guys caught a sting ray!
Fresh caught Mollusks
Another classic creole dish that I had a couple times while I was there was féroce, which is salted codfish mixed with avocado and some other things, rolled into little balls. I have the recipe at home and now I really wanted to make it to bring to an event or as an appetizer for a dinner party. I really enjoyed the féroce with green plantains.
One of the campers brought some roosters and ducks to the camp, which were cooked up for the final camp celebration dinner before everyone packed up to leave at the end of August. Unfortunately I left a couple of days before this dinner took place.
These guys are now in barnyard heaven. I am sure they were yummy though!
Actually it didn't matter that I missed the final camp dinner because I would not have been able to eat it anyway! Why you ask? Because I had a very, VERY bad case of food poisoning! It was some time-temperature abuse. Meaning food was left out, in the temperature danger zone (40 °F - 140 °F), for way too long, probably for several hours. Which allowed some very heinous bacteria to grow on it. The second week of my trip, on Tuesday evening, my friend said we should go see what there was to eat. I wasn't even hungry. Something in the back of my mind told me that perhaps I shouldn't eat any of it but I ignored my intuition that was trying to save me! I ate a little anyway, just to be polite. And thank goodness it was just a little because I got violently ill that very same night, in the middle of the night. And my friend and another woman got sick too. I had a very high fever, chills. It was probably 80 degrees in my tent but I was freezing cold. I couldn't eat or drink anything without feeling really sick. Like I won't get too graphic but it was just really horrible. To add insult to injury I must remind you that I was this sick while camping! No creature comforts to fall back on! I was dehydrated. And I was so hungry and weak all the time. Those first couple of nights I really thought I was going to die. But I preferred to just be hungry than to be in pain so I just avoided food. I could barely drink water. I thought that the bug would work its way out of my system eventually but I was so wrong. That Thursday night I was just so hungry so we went to get something to eat. I ended up in so much pain we had to go to the night clinic so I could see a doctor. She gave me 5 different prescriptions that we filled at the late-night pharmacy. I was a mess and had to get on a plane back to the States the next morning!
Lots of french medications that I don't know how to pronounce!
The next day on the plane I know I looked a mess and was probably scaring my fellow passengers and the flight attendants. They probably were like "OMG, what is wrong with her??? I hope it's not contagious!" Actually the flight attendants did in fact come over before takeoff, one of them with a medical bag in hand. "Excuse me Ma'am, are you? Will you be okay to fly?" Yes ladies, I will be fine; you won't have to reroute the plane mid-flight for little ole me. I made it back to NYC in one piece, barely.
Until next time Martinique!
Oh but wait! The story doesn't end here! I'll have you know that I couldn't eat for a solid week from when I initially ate the time-temperature abused food! This my friends was the consequence of choosing politeness over wisdom that faithful night. I got back to NYC and still felt lousy, even after finishing all of that medication. I still could only eat saltines and drink ginger ale or water. I felt a little decadent drinking soda so much during my recovery but it was literally only one of two calorie sources I had at the time. And I took the opportunity to try some of the local artisan ginger ales available. There was one in particular that is made in Brooklyn that I enjoyed. It was unfiltered with ginger remnants at the bottom. YUM.
After a week and half of little to no eating, I was starting to get desperate. I had lost 7 pounds and was looking a little crazy. My friend Walda had suggested a powerful liquid probiotic to me. She said it was the only thing that helped her when she got really sick with food poisoning after some international travel. She warned me that it was kind of on the pricey side but I was ready to spend how ever much it took to feel better and to be able to eat again. After class one night, I went to one of my go-to health food stores in Greenwich Village to buy a six-pack of the probiotic. And I kid you not, after taking one bottle of it that night, I woke up the next morning feeling better. And then after taking dose number two that day, I was able to actually eat lunch, solid food for real!
Bio-K+ helped me recover.
Even though I had that awful bout of food poisoning, I had an amazing time eating wonderful food and drinking delicious things, like rum! And I met someone really great people.
Sister Hélène and her husband, Gérard
Me and my big sister from another mister, Karine
Hoping to see "La Dame Couchée"(The Sleeping Lady) again real soon!
I really had the time of my life there. I also learned some valuable lessons too!
All natural mosquito repellant generally doesn't work. I have the scars to prove it.
If something doesn't look right to you, don't eat it! You can politely decline something. Just don't refuse food in a rude manner.
Have your own arsenal of medical supplies! I was so concerned about camping supplies I never thought about bringing things like simple pain reliever. Thank goodness some fellow campers blessed me with Doliprane, the french version of Tylenol. I also will probably travel with probiotic capsules as well, just in case! All I had were ginger capsules and that didn't really help me much at all!
I need to learn Martinican Creole! I thought being fluent in French was enough but folks were giving me a hard time about not speaking Creole. I will be prepared next time...
And now I leave you with an image of my favorite creole ice cream delight, one scoop of peanut, one scoop coconut!
Once upon a time, we trusted our bodies. We followed the queues from our body. If we ate a little bit more than usual one day, we naturally ate a little less the following day based on the decrease in our hunger. Many people over the ages have eaten in many different ways, and thrived. And yes, I know that now we have foods that have additives that can actually bypass our feelings of satiety. It’s gotten a little more complicated these days but I digress. If we are looking for the best diet (and by diet I mean what you eat, not a restrictive diet) for our body, we must get back in tune with our body and how it feels. I have some tips on how to eat and feel best for your body but first can we take a trip down memory lane perhaps?
I was a teenager and I, unbeknownst to my parents, ordered a book that was supposed to give me all the knowledge I needed to get to my “ideal” weight. It was a thinly disguised starvation diet. I lost weight and since I was a chubby teen, no one questioned whether I was doing it in a healthy way. After all, we encourage disordered eating in general in the media, within our culture and especially towards larger bodied people who don’t conform to the current body ideals. Advice like "Drink hot tea to silence those hunger pains!" and "Eat these 100 calorie foods to fill your belly!" are examples of disordered eating masquerading as healthy eating tips. Fast forward to my early twenties. This time I was seduced by the promises of a popular weight loss program called “LA Weight Loss”. I signed up and after putting down a payment of several hundred dollars, I met with one of their weight loss counselors. She did some sort of very basic calculation based on how much weight I wanted to lose and my activity level. She handed me the “Red Plan” and guided me through it. Everything was low-fat and fat-free. Supplements purchased at the center were highly encouraged but not obligatory. I found that Luna bars worked just as well as the LA Weight Loss bars. I lost 9 pounds in 3 weeks but I went to bed every night with a splitting headache. I thought to myself, “Well this must be really working since I have this headache! It’s just a side effect of the weight loss.” I was truly delusional, as many of us can be with weight loss and body image. And after a month, I started obsessing over every little morsel of food that I was entitled to on the meal plan. Side note: I had already canceled the program by now, given back the meal plan materials and gotten reimbursed! I photocopied the meal plan though and continued to follow it. Anyway one day I calculated the amount of average calories and it was about 900-1000. No wonder my brain felt like it was splitting in half every night! My brain (and body) was hungry! I was ignoring what my body was basically screaming to me every night: Eat more food!
I have so many dieting anecdotes, way too many to share in this post! Recently a friend of mine contacted me to get some feedback on her weight loss diet. She is following a low-carbohydrate lifestyle along with getting regular exercise. She has lost weight eating this way. She wanted to know what I thought about low-carb. Did I think it was bad? I told her that low-carb could be good for some people and not so good for others. I asked her one very important question to determine whether the way she was eating was good for her. This is something you should ask yourself too when evaluating your eating choices.
How do you feel? This is really important because if you are eating in a way that is health supportive to your body, you should feel good and energized by your food. If you change your diet and are now feeling lethargic, irritable, moody or weak, this is a clear sign that your diet is not supporting your nutrition and energy requirements.
We are all individuals so blanket nutrition and weight management advice is not helpful. Another way of determining whether a food is “good” for you is how you feel after eating the food. Do you feel tired? Sluggish? I know for years I silenced my own body cues so I had to get back in touch with my hunger and satiety signals. There is a lot of room between satisfied and stuffed. Sometimes it’s not that the food is not good for us but perhaps we had a little too much of it in one sitting. And if you are hungry, you should eat! It’s all about getting into our body and understanding our internal cues. Our body is expertly designed and can self-regulate when we trust it to do so. It’s all about balance.
I made this awesome salad last night with collards greens and golden beets from my mixed market basket and cherry tomatoes from my garden plot. I massaged the collards with olive oil and lemon juice first and then with a wonderful ginger sesame dressing by Braggs. I steamed the beets in my rice cooker. (It has a steam basket for this purpose.) The salad just tasted so tangy, fresh and amazing. I do believe this will be the official Food Groupie Signature Summer Salad!
Opening Day at the Hattie Carthan Community Farmers' Market
Yesterday was the opening day for the Hattie Carthan Community Farmers’ Market, located right in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. After having such a great experience in the Herban Garden, also managed by Farmer Yon, I jumped at the chance to join the community-supported agriculture program called the "Market Mixed Basket”.
The energy at the market was really amazing. Farmer Yon has a team of young people who help her with the market operations. I was really impressed with everything that was going on. There was hot food for sale along with some gluten free muffins. They had a bicycle-powered blender for making the wonderful watermelon smoothie that you see me sampling in the above video. And I sat through a cooking demonstration for a watermelon feta salad. I even got to sample some in the form of a pretty nice size serving.
Don’t sleep on watermelon in savory applications. The feta, onion and fresh mint pair nicely with the sweet flavor of the watermelon. You can find many different recipes for this particular salad online but it’s pretty simple to improvise based on what you like. I am a huge fan of watermelon so I am always happy to learn more ways to consume it besides eating it in wedges and chunks. I learned during the cooking demo that the seeds of the watermelon are actually really good for you. I mean I am not super surprised that this is the case. It’s just funny to think about how back in the day in order to detour kids from swallowing them, people told them if they swallowed watermelon seeds, a watermelon would grow inside them! I never understood why swallowing seeds would be that bad but now I feel good about bucking the popular beliefs way back when.
What I truly appreciate about Farmer Yon’s endeavors with the markets and the gardens is that she is constantly creating spaces to support community building among residents. Even though most of the initiatives revolve around addressing the fresh food desert status of the neighborhood and providing resources for better nourishment of the body, the market also has cultural programs to feed the mind and spirit while supporting local businesses, artisans and entrepreneurs.
I have to pick up my basket every week so I look forward to getting more involved with this grassroots organization and learning more about community nutrition in this context.
My little assistant was very interested in what was going on during the kitchen prep.
Once the mise-en-place was done, the recipe came together fairly quickly with your standard cake procedures: creaming butter with sugar, adding eggs one at a time, adding remaining "wet" ingredients followed by adding the dry ingredients. And an electric mixer is essential in all this. You can try to make this by hand but the cake will probably be more dense. Creaming the butter and sugar is a way of aerating them which will give your cake more lift and a lighter texture. Another thing to know is to not overmix your cake batter. Make sure you mix until things are just combined otherwise you can end up with a tough, dense cake texture!
The last step was to fold in the poppy-seeds. I think the next time I make this cake (because I will make this sooner rather than later!), I will increase the amount of poppy-seeds by a half teaspoon. I just thought there could have been a bit more poppy-seeds throughout the cake.
So that little bottom basement bundt pan I purchased ended up being too small for the amount of batter I had! I had to strategically place aluminum foil on the bottom of my oven because that pan was overflowing! On a positive note, this enabled me and the little guy to get samples of the cake as it was baking! One particular big pile of batter was about the size of a standard cupcake!
About to overflow!!!
It tasted delicious with a great quality of crumb. I decided to forgo the icing because I thought it was sweet enough. If I was going to bring it to a party, I would probably do the icing and sliced almonds for a grand presentation.
Because the cake was overflowing as it baked, I ended up having to cut away the perimeter of the cake to get it out of the pan. I definitely need to invest in a larger, deeper bundt pan for future baking endeavors!
I felt really great about this cake since I got to taste it before giving it to my dad. I let the cake cool down completely and then wrapped it well in saran wrap. I put it in the fridge since I wouldn't be meeting with my family until the next day. It's okay to let this cake sit in the fridge a few days or you can freeze it for a couple of weeks.
My little guy and I took the train up to Westchester to meet with my parents and my brother for brunch. We both had only had cereal before leaving home so we were VERY hungry. We had reservations at Alvin and Friends, a great restaurant in New Rochelle that serves contemporary southern and Caribbean cuisine. The owner is Alvin Clayton, a former Ford model who is also an amazing visual artist. All of the paintings on the wall were painted by him.
Alvin Clayton, Owner of Alvin and Friends
Shrimp and Grits
Catfish and grits
We had a great time at brunch. Everyone ordered a la carte entrees except for me. The buffet was calling me! I had mussels and shrimp from the cold seafood bar, waffles, eggs, home fries, spring mix salad with a champagne vinaigrette and fruit salad! Everyone was happy with their selections and Mr. Clayton stopped by our table twice (despite working in the kitchen behind the scenes that day) to make sure we were having a good time. And our server was great, so attentive! My mom tried to give him extra tip on top of the included gratuity on our bill and homeboy straight up refused the extra tip!
All in all, we had a great time celebrating my dad over amazing food. My great aunt used to make my dad his very own desserts, just for him, every time we went to her house along with an amazing meal. My Aunt Ellen is no longer with us so I like to think that every time I cook or bake for my dad, it's in remembrance of my lovely aunt who was an amazing cook and baker. And the smile on my dad's face when I handed him his cake and announced that it was lemon poppy-seed was priceless.
"A Thyme for Healing: Practical Uses of Herbs For Healing and Wellbeing"
I got there a few minutes late and Farmer Yon had already began the introduction.
I found a seat and opened my ears and my mind. We were instructed to help ourselves to some freshly brewed stinging nettle tea.
It tasted great, very soothing. Farmer Yon gave us some information on her background and how she came to farming/gardening. She has been working in agriculture for the past thirteen years. She said joining a community garden was a great way to get in touch with your spirituality. And how much working with plants and nature has healed her emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Farmer Yon dropping serious herbal knowledge.
And I completely agree with this sentiment. Since I started gardening, my spirit has been on a different level. Normally my connection with nature involved sun, sand and beach. Water, especially the ocean, has always renewed me in mind,body and soul. Watching beings I planted grow from seedlings is a special experience. I am convinced that in addition to the sun, water and soil they require, a human's touch, love and tenderness can only enhance and improve the growing process. When we take care of plants, we are giving respect to the kingdom that allows us to live. Without the plant kingdom, we wouldn't/couldn't even be on this planet. And just as we can cleanse and heal our bodies in the micro with herbs, in the macro we, as caretakers of this world, can use herbs to cleanse the Earth. Working with herbs to heal the planet itself.
Although intellectually I have knowledge of herbs' practical uses, I have only applied my knowledge in a culinary sense. One of the first things I learned about cooking was to use fresh herbs whenever possible. That the flavor was far superior to that of dried herbs. I also knew that cooking with herbs can be a way to decrease the need for sodium, if that is medically necessary. And that herbs can be life supportive and nutrition supportive. Farmer Yon had everyone in our group describe what herbs meant to them and what knowledge they already had. We all had different perspectives and understandings of herbs. Some people were mostly into the "deliciousness" of herbs and the cooking applications. Some people were using herbs to heal and fortify their bodies against chronic disease. Someone even stated that herbs were an "affirmation of life".
For the rest of the morning we went through the practical uses of herbs. There are so many possibilities but here are some key points on herbs:
repair and detoxify the body
flavor in low-sodium cooking preparation
great source of minerals
great source of vitamins from herbal tinctures
immune system supportive
supports emotional health
"deliciousness" in food
high in antioxidants
some are anti-viral and anti-fungal
helps retard degeneration of our cells
These are just some of the great ways herbs can be used in our lives. But take heed, herbs are not something to play with. Dosage matters when using them medicinally so you can't just start buying fresh herbs and mixing things up. It could be dangerous depending on your current health status and if you are taking medications or other supplements. Always consult a trained herbalist or holistic practitioner. Speaking of which, Farmer Yon teaches a more comprehensive, 15 hour course on herbs which I would love to take next time she offers it.
After a morning of breaking down the science of herbs, it was time for lunch! It was a delicious and inspirational meal. Everything except the potatoes and the blue tortilla chips were freshly picked or harvested from the garden literally the day before.
The thyme frittata was made from eggs laid by the hens on the Hattie Carthan Herban Farm. We also had basil pesto, collard greens, herb potatoes, an herb salad with nuts, cherry tomatoes, cranberries and sage and pickled sweet peppers and green beans. Dark chocolate was the offering for dessert. Everything tasted so fresh and pure. Everything tasted like love.
After lunch we went on an herb walk and Farmer Yon pointed out different herbs, how to identify them by the shape of their stalk. (Spoiler alert: square stalks means it's part of the mint family and round stalks means it's part of the thyme family) We also learned about the specific applications of herbs for many different health conditions and how/if they can be consumed. I really want to experiment with stinging nettles in the kitchen. There are so many possibilities: nettle soup, nettle wine, nettle tea, nettle oil, nettle fritters... I need to buy some food service latex gloves though because you should not handle nettles with your bare hands.
Once the herb walk was complete, we transitioned to the hands-on portion of the workshop, pesto making! Now traditionally pesto is made with basil but we made one batch of pesto with mint and another batch with lemon balm! I chose the lemon balm group so after we all had cleansed our hands and put on gloves we set to work on the recipe preparation. We picked the herbs, minced garlic and juiced lemons. The pesto was made with 2-3 cups of the fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice, raw almonds, honey, kosher salt and extra-virgin olive oil. It was fun working with everyone, a true community building activity.
Set-up for the pesto making
Everyone got to take home their own little jar of their pesto of choice. I was Team Lemon Balm!
It was really tasty! All in all, it was a great day in Bed-Stuy in the herb garden and I look forward to more interactions with Farmer Yon and events in the garden. I have even decided to join the farmers' market weekly CSA (community-supported agriculture) that they have from July through to November. You cannot get anymore local than eating food grown and harvested less than a mile from your house! I mean you can if you grow in your own backyard, but you all get what I am talking about! Look out for future posts about what I am cooking up with the summer's fresh fruit and vegetable offerings, right from my own hood! Cheers!
When someone is seeking nutritional advice/support from me, both informally and formally as part of my class work, I like to come from a place of no judgment. I like to meet people where they are. Our food choices are deeply personal to many of us and there is some vulnerability involved in asking for help. In admitting that we are struggling with our relationship with food. Food choices are not cut and dry. It may seem simple for some to just instruct someone to not drink any more soda or to cut out all fried food. But if someone is in the habit of cracking open a cold Pepsi at their desk when the going gets tough at the office or turning to some fried comfort food that is part of their cultural heritage, you can’t believe “just drink water” or “eat seaweed chips instead” is going to work. You must meet people where they or at least halfway.
When folks specifically ask me for advice on their diet (only when they ask, I never volunteer my opinion when in a family or social setting), I usually start by asking what do they eat now or what do they like. Why start rattling off food lists of what’s “good” and what to avoid right away? First of all you would be assuming the person isn’t already eating certain “good” foods and you would be throwing a wet blanket of generic nutritional advice on someone. The same ole stuff they could google or read in SELF magazine. For the soda fiend, perhaps they could try some slightly sweetened teas or seltzer water with a little bit of juice added. And perhaps instead of frying the plantains, they can be tossed in oil with a bit of salt and cayenne and baked in the oven. Tasty, realistic alternatives or diet alterations are what are needed. If someone’s diet does not normally consist of raw kale salads and cashew cream cheese, why would you expect someone to get excited about foods that probably seem foreign and odd to them? And it is actually okay if someone never eats certain “healthy” foods. Healthy is relative; one person’s health supportive food is another person’s poison. I say all that to say this: as guides, healers and counselors, we must come from a place of compassion and we must see people as individuals. As an inspiring dietitian, I hope to nutrition counsel in a way that establishes feelings of trust and safety between my clients and me. And part of that is demonstrating that I am listening to what they are saying and working within their cultural and social framework to support their journey towards healthier habits.
