Eating Seasonally
Springtime brings more than sunshine and beautiful flowers.
It brings gorgeous artichokes, the most delicious asparagus, and juicy red strawberries.
When I became interested in food and nutrition, I never realized there would be so many choices to make on a daily basis. Rather than just facing the choice between healthy or junk, I find myself having to choose between seasonal, local, organic, or none of the above. I pick one over the other depending on the food, the time of year, and the price, but I will freely admit that it is often a struggle for me. A membership to a CSA is not practical for us right now, so I have to make the choice each time I head to the grocery store or farmer’s market.
Hint: Before buying an item the next time you are at your local farmer’s market, ask if the items were grown locally and how they were grown. You would be surprised how many items are actually produced conventionally, far away, and are brought to sale at the farmer’s market.
This past fall I was walking around our local grocery store checking things off of my list when I came to apples, scribbled quickly up the side of the paper as an afterthought. I knew it was apple season and I hadn’t had an apple in quite a few months. I came across a beautiful display of apples of all colors and sizes, but when I read the description for each type, I was very disappointed. Every single apple came from Washington state. We live in Pennsylvania. That is a long, long way for an apple to travel. I know that there are literally hundreds of apple orchards all across the East Coast, yet we had none in our local market. It didn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense. A week or two later I headed out to the farmer’s market and found some fabulous small golden delicious apples from 25 miles away. I do not know if they were organic, and in fact they probably weren’t, but I met the farmer’s daughter myself and I know the apples came from nearby. I feel good about that.
I try to be conscious of buying seasonally and/or locally, but when faced with delicious imported goods from faraway lands, it is hard to resist. I will admit that I buy avocados year-round, and they rarely even come from the U.S. I also love kiwi, mangoes, bananas and pineapple, and buy them when they look good. They are obviously never local. I feel guilty over that, but my love for the taste and variety they offer wins.
Eating seasonally is different, however. It is… easier. Fruits and vegetables taste magnificent when they are in season. When they aren’t, it may look like a tomato, but it certainly doesn’t taste like one. I haven’t eaten a tomato since the end of last summer, unless it was in canned form.
Does anyone remember what it was like to walk through your grocery store in the dead of winter to find a serious lack of color? I do. I remember asking my mom if the supermarket was closing! She explained that in the winter we only had winter things available. Of course there was a small section of exotic fruits and vegetables, but they were bruised up and not too happy to be in the middle of the cold weather. I don’t remember when the transition happened. Who decided it was a good idea to force out of season produce in our bodies and money out of our pockets? I do not like the current trend we have, and I hope it changes.
Three Reasons Why I Love Seasonal Produce
3. Reminds me what season it is.
2. Cheaper.
1. Tastes incredible!
What are your thoughts? If you have to choose between seasonal, local, or organic, which do you select? Why?
Strawberries Take the Cake!
I often find myself walking through the market unsure if I should buy apples or oranges, strawberries or raspberries, all purpose flour or bread flour. I would easily replace one with the other if I thought it was better for me. I like raspberries as much as I like strawberries, and so on. Although I know that VARIETY is the key to a healthy diet, there are times when one choice fares much better than the other.
The Philadelphia markets do not have NuVal, but I really wish they did! I have, on more than one occasion, texted my sister in law to ask her which fruit has more antioxidants, or which flour was better for my health. As you can see by my entire blog design, I really love berries, but I never know which one to buy! We can’t eat more than one pint at a time without some spoiling, so each week we need to make a choice… strawberries? blueberries? raspberries? blackberries?
I can only imagine the choices an uneducated person has to make.
At this point in my life I am comfortable making any changes to my lifestyle and diet that would make me a healthier, stronger woman. I could choke down wheatgrass shots every morning if I thought they would benefit me tremendously. Ok…. maybe not wheatgrass, but you get the point! I truly enjoyed my iced coffees with milk and sugar, but when I realized how harmful they were for me, I completely cut out the sugar over time. It was hard work, but now I enjoy plain iced coffee with a splash of skim milk even more than I used to enjoy the sugary stuff.
NuVal rates each food or food product on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the score is, the better the nutrition (from NuVal.com). That means that in an instant I can compare two foods without having to read nutrition facts or ingredient lists. A NuVal rep recently gave me the score for my beloved berries.
Here they are:
Strawberries: 100
Blueberries: 100
Raspberries: 88
Blackberries: 91
All four berries I love have high scores, but with perfect 100s, I will definitely be picking strawberries and blueberries over their other friends.
The NuVal website shares lots of information about selecting the best food for you, so even if they have not hit your market yet, check them out! Now… if only they would add easy recipes to those unfamiliar vegetables…. Rutabaga, anyone?
Under the Weather
Not feeling so hot.
My mother in law took care of me all day yesterday (PB is away for work). Thank goodness because I could barely stand never mind do anything else.
I’m on a strict diet of flat coke, ice chips, and saltines.
Be back tomorrow.
A Progressive Dinner
Three couples
Three restaurants
Good times.
Have I mentioned that we do long runs with two other couples every few weekends?
It has been a lot of fun and we have become very close after multiple long runs. When you are running for almost two hours together, you really get to know one another. We even have a team name! KGH6! We all ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon and are currently training for the Broad Street Run in May and a sprint triathlon in July. We are working on nicknames… but haven’t gotten there yet.
A few weeks ago we were finally able to go out on a proper group date. The plan was dinner in Center City and a sleepover at our place followed by a long run in the morning. The blizzard made those plans impossible, but we still had dinner.
And, oh, what a dinner it was!!!!!
Each couple took a part of the meal and selected a restaurant to visit to enjoy that meal. Here were our choices:
ONE
Tamar & Garo First Course: R2L
TWO
Sabrina & PhillyBoy Second Course: Le Castagne
THREE
Kristine & Jon Third Course: Max Brenner
The first couple emailed us our meeting location Friday morning, but still would not share the name of the restaurant. Of course, I tried using Google maps and Google Earth to determine our location (we were given only a cross street), but the only thing that came up was Rite Aid. Huh?
Turns out that restaurant was inside a building, which was why I had no clue what it was! The name? R2L.
R2L is a swanky restaurant with a hopping bar scene. I had never heard of it before, but PB and I are already planning to go back for a full dinner. When we arrived, although the dining area was still empty, we had to wait several minutes for our table. Once we got settled, however, the service was great! I ordered a Cosmopolitan as it is my favorite girly drink. It was really good, but very, very, strong. In fact, everyone’s drinks must have hit us all quickly because we were all laughing a little too loud…
We chose to order a bunch of appetizers and share them among the table. Our selections, from the menu available online:
AMERICAN SUSHI SAMPLER tuna and white asparagus philly salmon, hamachi and spicy scallion crab and basmati roll **We added a vegetarian option as a couple of people did not like fish
OLIVES | string cheese, marinated vegetables, za’atar flatbread, olive dip
GRILLED TRUFFLE FLATBREAD | arugula, parmesan
RABBIT NACHOS | jalapeno mousse, homemade tortilla chips
MACARONI AND CHEESE
The mac and cheese was so good the camera had it for lunch!
Everything was amazing, but I especially enjoyed the macaroni and cheese (which was the most interesting interpretation of the dish I had ever seen) and the flatbread, which had just the right amount of toppings.
Our time at R2L ended in hysterics as a neighboring diner tickled PB’s back while saying “spiders, spiders!!” It was SO weird and bizarre. Obviously he had had too much to drink. PB was a good sport about it and didn’t freak out though.
Next stop? Le Castagne.
I am going to be quite frank here- we failed our portion of the mission. I need to get to know Philadelphia restaurants better. My friend warned me it wouldn’t be busy in there, but I didn’t know it would be dead. The experience wasn’t right from the start. We walked in and my friend was asked to remove his stylish hat in the dining room. It was a fancy hat, and considering the storm was very appropriate. He removed it, but it was interesting to note that there were diners in there in sweatshirts and ratty jeans.
I asked the server for some wine recommendations, and he stated that they wouldn’t have anything on there that wasn’t good, so pick anything. Seriously? I was very unhappy with this reply. Turns out he was completely wrong, as both overpriced wines we ordered weren’t my taste. They were like the cheap $8 bottles of bad wine we would buy right when we turned 21.
The pasta was actually quite good, but the rest of the experience had ruined it for me already. We all ordered a sampler of three dishes:
Spaghetti alle castagne — Spaghetti sautéed in a chestnut cream sauce topped with cocoa powder
Gnocchi di patate alla sorrentina — Gnocchi served with tomato sauce, fresh basil, & mozzarella
Fusilli alla bolognese — Fusilli served with a ragù of tomato, ground beef, veal, & pork & topped with ricotta salata (We were not given fusilli)
The pasta itself was good, but the sorrentina sauce was not right. There was no fresh basil to be seen on our plates, and no mozzarella either. Honestly, I was very disappointed by this restaurant, especially after seeing some rave reviews online. I hope they were just having a bad night, and might give it another chance.
As we made our way to the third stop the snow was really coming down! It was so beautiful…
…until it hurt when it hit our faces!
The last stop of our progressive dinner was Max Brenner.
Let me say that again…
Max. Brenner.
I was in chocolate heaven, as we all were. We arrived shortly before closing, but they had no problem serving us, even with the storm. We ordered several desserts and could not finish any of them. Everything was rich, decadent, and delicious. You can tell they use good quality chocolate in all their dishes by the intense chocolate flavor. YUM! Here is our spread:
I am happy we ordered as many as we did. We were able to really experience Max Brenner, and now I can’t wait to go back! When you decide to go, please be sure to remember to bring a big appetite! Oh, and definitely get a sundae. It was the best sundae I have ever had in the U.S.!
Group dates are really fun, but this one was even better as it had a purpose. We had a lot of laughs and were able to experience three new restaurants in one evening! I can’t wait for our next dining adventure!!!!!
The Coffee Buzz
What’s your addiction?
I have never been much of a coffee drinker myself, aside from the fun iced coffees I drink in the summer. I love hot tea, but I would switch it with its lighter cousin, hot water, any day. PhillyBoy and my cousin Raz, however, have serious addictions to coffee. When my cousin and I lived together, she stocked the house with fresh coffee beans. She did not leave the house any day without a coffee in hand, and often left our office to pick up one or two more throughout the day. And PB? Ever since I met him he has loved coffee. He has a big mugful in the morning and would often have 2,3,4 cups later in the day. When we would be out doing errands, he would often ask to stop for “just a bit of coffee.” Recently, that ended for both PB and Raz. They coincidentally both gave up coffee on the same day for different reasons. Here are their thoughts on their coffee addictions and how they feel being coffee-free.
(source)
PhillyBoy:
I have had a long complicated love/hate relationship with coffee. I don’t remember coffee being much of a factor in my life during college – a cup here or there. But in law school, for some reason, the relationship intensified. I don’t recall if I actually dove right into drinking coffee or if it was something that gradually caught on. But I do know that the “need” evolved from a lack of sleep due to (let’s be honest) procrastination on work. Plus I had a full time job during my entire time in law school – so that didn’t help. Sure once in a while I would try and substitute Mountain Dew for coffee – but the caffeine jolt just was never quite the same (ugh, just thinking back to the crap I would shovel down between work and classes makes me angry at myself!)…ok so back to coffee….
(source)
It was bad during law school. I had a job where coffee was readily available for free from a machine in the office. So instead of moderation, I would just give in to the urge every time I wanted a jolt. Some days, I wouldn’t be surprised if I had as much as 10 cups in one day (including the nighttime). Of course, I needed some energy for my nighttime run…this was my mentality – and if I could rewind time I would do things so differently. In about 2005 I started working full time at the firm and I probably cut down to about 4-5 cups/day. Yes, cut down to 4-5 cups/day.
To make a long story short and to avoid going on and on, during the last few years, I have evened out at anywhere from 2-3 cups/day. Most dinners out, I have finished with a cup of coffee. I often prefaced nights out with a cup of coffee and of course, began each morning with a hot cup of coffee. I saw myself generally tense overall and no matter how many hours of sleep I got, I woke up feeling unrefreshed and craving coffee. I became overly stressed over minor things and I didn’t feel right. As healthy as my diet had become and as much exercise as I had fit into a week, still things often felt a little off in terms of energy…
So last week, something snapped. I have always encouraged family/friends who smoke to quit and have generally been against the idea of being overly dependent on anything. I tend to think of these things as a choice so ignoring the horror stories of coffee withdrawal, headaches, moodiness – I quit. I decided enough was enough, and it was time to allow my body to just naturally have energy…so rather than getting energy from caffeine, I would go back to basics after all of these years – energy from adequate rest, a healthy diet, and exercise. The first few days were a little tough but surprisingly I didn’t have too many headaches. If anything, a few days I crashed very early and sleep for 10-12 hours with no problem. The first few days, I used tea to ease the transition. Today I drank water all day and forgot that I had not had any tea or coffee…
It’s now been 10 days and I feel GREAT. I immediately lost a few pounds of water weight for some reason. I feel energized naturally and clear headed. I can focus much more easily on tasks at work and overall my mental state is much calmer and more consistent. I’m sleeping well and am waking up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.
I know this was a little long winded and slightly dramatic. But everyone has their vice….for some it’s food, alcohol or cigarettes. For me, I’ve been drinking entirely too much coffee for way too long. It’s nice to have stopped and not feel any desire to go back. I’m not saying everyone needs to stop drinking coffee – but I know I had gotten to a point where I was depending on coffee for my energy and that was not a good place to be. I’m feeling great now and hopefully the improvements will only continue.
Raz:
Caffeine has been a part of my life since college. I remember pulling a number of all nighters studying and coffee was always there keeping me company. In fact, I hated the way I felt without my morning cup. I have realized over the years that coffee may be contributing to headaches and sleeplessness but it had become a welcomed habit that I did not want to quit. To give you window into my addiction, for the last few years I have been buying coffee beans whole, grinding them myself, and using a French press.
Recently, I caught a cold; one that kept me in bed for a few days resting to recuperate. It wasn’t a conscious decision but I had realized that I had been without coffee for 5 days! That is the longest I have been without coffee that I could remember. I then realized that I made it through the worst of the withdrawal period if I were to quit. So figured I would give it a shot to test if the headaches and sleeplessness I have been experiencing will be affected.
I can tell you I have been foggy and felt a bit unfocused the first few days back to work and yes still having headaches. But the overall benefits have been amazing. I have been sleeping better and dreaming a lot more. I also noticed my skin has been looking better and I have more energy.
One thing that concerned me was that I have been craving something sweet in the afternoons. This was around the time that I would usually have my second cup. To avoid substituting one bad habit for another, I have been keeping water, gum and healthy snacks available in case of such cravings.
I have been doing great up to today, day 10. Today I did have a cup of coffee with a friend. Sure enough I felt sluggish in the afternoon followed by a headache. I can’t deny the effects caffeine has on me. So I am going to continue on caffeine free.
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If PB and Raz could do it, you can too! If you have a vice and have quit, share how you did it in the comments. If you have a vice and want to share just how bad it is, do that in the comments too! I will be posting all of your success stories and vices in a post later today.
P.S. My husband lost his pet as a kid and was devastated. He wrote about it in his diary in the cutest but also saddest entry ever. I bet many of you can relate to this entry- you can see it here.
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