Trying new foods

Ever since I found out that sweet potato leaves are edible, I've been wanting to try them. One of our neighbors has a bountiful crop of the leaves, growing up the front of the house! Finally, the other day I saw the people who live there and they told me I could take all I wanted. I took two long stems of leaves and one short stem. The short stem is in water in the kitchen window, so I hope it roots. The leaves of the long stems have been made into supper. I actually put them in a stew, and the leaves taste milder than spinach. I put the recipe with the picture:

Here's a link to the original recipe: http://www.theslowcook.com/2009/08/31/curried-okra-stew-with-sweet-potato-leaves-and-coconut-milk

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Turkey Day Food

Our daughter came over for Turkey Day. Here's a picture album of the food:

T day 2009

Simple Fruit Smoothie with supper

I peeled two oranges and blended them in the VitaMix with some frozen strawberries. Dee-licious! This went very well with supper, which was orange roughy sauteed in coconut oil and sangria, with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. The side dish was boiled sweet potato slices, drained, with a little butter.

A Diet of Real Food

I have wandered and returned to smoothies more times than I can count. I do know, though, that I lose weight when I take a smoothie to work and snack on it in the morning and afternoon instead of junk food. I lost 3 pounds this week, and that's a good thing.

Meanwhile, since DH is the cook at our house, my mere mention of reducing our intake of rice and pasta and bread brings a reaction that means he has closed his ears to me. Even quoting from books doesn't get me anywhere with him. My concern is for our inability to lose weight, much less keep it off - but especially him.

Imagine my surprise when a friend sent him an email with a link to this article and forwarded it to me. My "reply to all" said "I have a book called "Diet Wise" that Paul didn't want to hear what it said - which was pretty much what this article says - so I loaned it to a friend at work." DH told me, "Gee, thanks for embarrassing me in front of my friends!" My inability to tell a straight story with all the facts is what blocks his attention.

Since I had loaned that book to a friend, he asked me how was he supposed to know what it says. I told him to look up "allergy elimination diet," which he did, and he came up with this link and this link. I got the book back the next day because my friend was going to just go buy it at the book store, so he's had a chance to look at it.

The book "Diet Wise" basically says that no one particular diet is good for everybody - not the south beach diet, atkins diet, low-fat, low-carb, raw food, vegetarian, vegan, or even the grapefruit diet. The book says that you have to find out for yourself what foods are good for your own, unique body. Often food allergies or sensitivities block your body's natural health. By taking the most-common allergenic foods out of your system, you are giving your body enough time to really eliminate the effects of these foods. After that, you can start adding foods to your diet, one at a time. Reactions to re-introduced foods let you know what your food sensitivities are. Foods giving no reaction at re-introduction are safe to eat.

The bottom line is that after Thanksgiving we are going to ditch ALL grains, citrus, dairy, chicken, and processed "foods" for at least two weeks, maybe three. Then we will add certain foods back to our diet to see if we have any reaction. I hope we don't have the situation where he can eat a food that I can't, or vice versa. Meanwhile, such "clean" eating will probably become our new habit, especially if we do the intro for at least three weeks.