Parental Role Injustice For Next Generation

As a mother of three achieving teenagers, I have put into place a strategy that may give them a leg up in the coming years. This plan of mine isn't done just because I am a chef, but I have seen that there is a informational gap forming on many levels and types of education that our children are not receiving. I have seen this more readily now that I am a culinary educator of other's parents children.

It is no longer a pervasive standard of parental expectation that children are expected to participate in completing chores, household repairs, and cooking duties. This has established bad habits that won't be easily broken. I seldom here of the Saturday mornings filled with cleaning the house, Spring cleaning, yard work, or any other type of productive duties that a family should be doing together. It is our duty to send out into the world at large young adults who have the skills to survive. I never wanted to live in situations where my kids would drop off their laundry at my house for me to do, or having one that come and eat or pickup dinner from my house because you didn't learn these skills before moving out. And I don't want to have my adult kids return home to live rent free in my basement because they can't maintain themselves in the real world.

Do I expect any of the my kids at home to become a chef or work in my industry? No way. However, I want to see my kids having the ability to cook at home, not being dependent upon corporations to feed themselves, understand how to manage a successful household, paying bills, and raising their own children in a healthy environment. We often set our kids up for defeat, poor health, shorter life spans, and a inability to function. Those of us that do not develop our children's potentials are not the only ones that will suffer in the long-term. Our grand kids and our daughter or son-in-laws often have difficulties with a parent or mate that is ill equip to deal with the day to day of adulthood.

I am the perfect parent? Do I only eat a restrictive diet? Do I know everything about everything? NOT TRUE. But I believe that when you don't share your knowledge on any subject with your children, in a age appropriate manner, it is a cold meal of injustice you are serving up. We parents have been given a charge, these aren't just kids we are raising, but in fact, they are the next wave of leadership we are growing. We are charged with the duty of their safety, education, development, and identity, we have a huge responsibility. Almost everything that our kids grow up to be is in fact our fault, good or bad. Some people never grow up, they just become old children and others become anxiety ridden over achievers who never get the hang of intimate relationships. Yes we must take the blame as well as the credit.

School isn't were kids learn about adulthood, that happens in the home. Teachers can teach algebra or science, but it's isn't their job to raise your kids. Manners, respect, honor, and loyalty must be taught in abundance along with hard skills of paying bills, being a reliable employee, and being a fully actualized adult prepared to take a significant role in a family or their own.

Cooking your meals has many benefits. It is cheaper than restaurant food and it gives you control of what goes in your food. The savings and the versatility that cooking at home can bring is beneficial to your bottom line and your waistline. Fast food and processed foods are designed to be made as cheaply as possible while being highly addictive and while our younger folks cannot see any reason not to eat that way. Those of us who are a bit further down the road have begun to feel the effects of a American diet rich in empty calories and large amounts of fat. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and a host of other aliments attributed to this eating style. Since the days of Jane Fonda workout, we have become more unhealthy while spending more and more money on diets, supplements, yoga pants, and health club membership that you don't use.

Not teaching your children some survival skills is not a good option. I know that you can do it faster and better, but they need to practice, so they will be able to do and teach it to their offspring. And do I need to mention the habit fosters a greater sense of responsibility? Creating a mess and not cleaning it up is telling them that they don't need to take ownership of what they have done and it also says 'don't worry, Mom will fix everything', While they are little it should be that way, but as they age, year after year, it becomes a very bad idea. Stop coddling yours so much that they have a stunted emotional growth.  

Healthy eating starts with healthy cooking, eating at a regular schedule, and understanding the basics of nutrition. Do everything you can to equip them for the future instead of spoiling them in the presence. I see teenagers every day that have no idea why they think they don't like to eat this or that. My program is an exposure program in which they cook new dishes and eat food they may not have ever heard of before, giving a lot better toolbox of personal experience.

I have heard my students say things like 'I didn't know mashed potatoes didn't come in a box", "I always thought I didn't like coleslaw", "Chef, I really really liked the green beans." all of which I count as a victory!

I do know that giving something away that you don't posses isn't easy or nearly impossible but I want you encourage every parent, even the ones that don't know a lot about cooking. Grab the bull by the horns, and learn with your kids if necessary, and learn better habits. Live a healthier life while giving one to your next generation.

Fake Foods and Fraud

If you were a teenager in one of my culinary arts classes, you may well already be tired hearing my rants, for a lack of better wording, about corporate food offerings. I say often, when you are relying upon a corporation to feed you, you are already in trouble. A corporation, ultimately, has only one goal, to make profit. When your family farmed, their one and only goal, was to nourish people. We have traditions of offering guest something to eat or drink for the same reason. A gift of food implies that you care if the receiver lives a healthy long life.
 
I am willing to come and bare the bad news about these edible non-foods on our health and longevity. My teens have been known to say "Chef, you make me want to stop eating everything". In fact, that is not my goal. I want them to do a couple of things, make intelligent choices about what they eat, I want them to question how and what they eat, and hopefully they will make nutrition decisions based on facts and not on marketing.

These kids have a steady diet of Kruncy Kurls, Hot Pockets, Hot n Flaming Everything, Pop Tarts, McDonald, Wendy's , and Burger King. There are more greasy spoon restaurants in their neighborhood than grocery stores. They never read a nutrition label or even question what they are eating. Is this butter or margarine? Is these long long named ingredients chemicals or food? Just because it can be eaten, should it be eaten? What is natural and what is not?

To this, I bring up a legal case currently in the headlines. A cheese company is under indictment for selling wood shavings as parmesan cheese.  This fraud was perpetrated over many years by a particular company. Naturally, this brings up many questions. Who knew about this? Why didn't anyone report it? How did the consumers not know what they were eating? And I wanted to know how the legal suit is progressing. The totality is that one individual is charged with a misdemeanor crime under one count of crime. This is not something I can understand fully. Why is this a misdemeanor and not a felony? What is there only one name on the indictment? And why hasn't the company been charged with each and every count of sales that were contaminated and sold to consumers?

The other article in recent news are the results of a study that found industrial chemicals in the bodies of fast food consumers. All the preservative and chemical additives are taking a toll on our health and, I believe, is costing us financially by causing disease and needing additional medical expense. Last year was the first time on record that American's spent more money in restaurants than at grocery stores. We are trading nutrition for convenience and suffering a high cost. If you can't read everything on the label, why are you eating it?



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/the-parmesan-cheese-you-sprinkle-on-your-penne-could-be-wood

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-13/fast-food-eaters-have-more-industrial-chemicals-in-their-bodies

A Sweet Finish

Ending your dining experience on a high note is the best way and us pastry chefs strive hard to make that happen. Therefore, I never understood some that are willing to create a five star meal and end it with a Walmart cake. I have worked for a couple of major grocery store chains, and I can tell you from first hand experience, that those cakes are chocked full of preservatives and the icing is just wet sugar. I am convinced that the sale of this type of product has gotten a lot of consumers believing that they don't like buttercream, when in fact, most of them have not tasted real buttercream.

Even for those among us that don't much care for sweets, having a wonderful ending to highlight a memorable dinning experience is vital. I'd rather not have a dessert if the dessert can't hold a candle to the meal. For me, it is the equivalent of wearing a designer dress with Payless shoes. I am not advocating for any significant change to your everyday meal time routine, but when you are celebrating the happiest of days in your life, don't skimp.

Most of my pastry clients do not hesitate to order a custom cake for a kid's birthday but don't treasure the special moments for the adults that make living memorable. Eat dessert everyday? Probably not. But when something special is on the horizon, do yourself the honor of something extra special.

Is it important to eat a dessert made from quality ingredients? Of course it is, but many have a attitude that says 'its dessert and it isn't healthy so why worry about it'? But healthy eating is about all the foods consumed, not just the meals and snacks, but ALL of the food calories and nutrition. Making cakes and desserts from real food, quality chocolate, the best butters and flour, makes for the most delicious products and much easier on your digestion and overall health.  

Oh Honey... Oh No Buzz

There are many ways to add sweetness into your recipes, some are great in some recipes and horrible in others, depending upon the composition of all the ingredients combined. But are they equally bad to your health? All sweeteners add calories while giving small amounts of nutrition to almost none at all. Lately, lots of attention in the healthy food movements have been changing to 'better' sources of sweetness. Sometimes these adjustments can be made without much adjustment to the recipe formula, other times it isn't good at all.

Honey has always been a bit expensive, compared to say cane sugar, but many believe that the nutrition of honey, and its associated pollen, to be wonderful. However, the golden syrup we all know and love, may not in fact be honey. As the definition of honey isn't clearly defined, manufacturers can legally sell you what amounts to yellow corn syrup and still be able to have the label read "pure honey". And don't think that a 'organic' labeling is a guarantee as there aren't any laws that define what this should, and should not, be.

 For those of us who bake, knowing which sweetener to use when is vital. The artificial sweeteners often sell the idea of using them in your baking as a better alternative for the diabetic consumers. The naturalist speak on behalf of use of items such as agave nectar, whey low, natural maple syrup, molasses, stevia, lo han, brown rice syrup, coconut palm syrup, and date sugar. Each one has differing chemical components and therefore you must do your homework if you are going to use any of these as a substitute in your favorite recipe.

http://world-of-honey.com/honey-products/organic-honey/

It is a shame that it is estimated that a huge percentage of the honey on the American market has never been anywhere near a bee, ever. Deceptive practices, undefined idea of what honey actually is, and unenforceable rules about organic labeling, have all lead to this hoodwinking of the consumer. One would assume, by way of the pricing of most jars of honey, that the prices were a indication of it being the authentic item, but oh no it isn't. I am not much of a conspiracy theorist and I am sure someone has pointed this in that direction. In my opinion, this just reeks of bad business if not flat out fraud.

Food Deserts

In recent years, the term 'food desert' has come into our consciousness. For those of you who have not heard of this concept, it was brought to light after a academic study was conducted that looked into a possible connection between unhealthy eating habits and poverty. It was discovered that, in some of the poor inner-city neighborhoods in America, a consumer would have to travel 5-10 miles, or more, from home to find a fresh carrot, for example.  At the same time, middle-class residents and higher, has many more options and considerable shorter distances to travel for the same carrot.

Lower economic status brings with it a reduction in household amenities, such as limited refrigeration, and a greater chance that you will have to rely upon public transportation. Having to travel on to purchase groceries out side of your local area can be extra taxing on any consumer but needing to do that on a city bus can make someone give in and just buy what is nearby.

What does this mean? If you are a member of our society that have less economic strength and/or are receiving nutritional supplements, such as WIC or Link, you are far less able to purchase quality food products and whatever you purchase may have to drug home on the bus. This is a real problem health-wise and may have contributed to the high rates of obesity and other related health issues.

For some in this city, buying cheaper food products is the first reaction to a lower food budget but doing so can cause diseases down the line and essentially be extremely expensive and life shortening.

 

In Illinois, the maximum amount a household can be given through food subsidy is $3 per person per meal. Compare this to a trip through a drive-in, people are spending about $8 for a lunch or $5 for a specialty coffee drink. This can be helpful to a family but it isn't a whole lot and therefore I have never understood some who would begrudge a family who qualifies for assistance.

Living in a food desert can also mean you are living below the poverty line and in a higher crime area. It is a struggle but having a set mind to eat better can be accomplished. If you make efforts to not purchase pre-packaged and processed foods, your over all health will be much better. Even on a limited budget, I can't find a good reason to ever eat a hunny bun and a soda for breakfast. Buying fresh foods only can create a bit more work in the kitchen but it can be planned out properly and the extra effort pays off in greater health. Of all the things you can skim on, food should not be one. Buy less expensive clothes, for example, because its better to be healthy than sick and well dressed.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/24/1396100/-Think-Whole-Foods-is-a-ripoff-It-s-worse-than-you-thought?detail=emailclassic

Nourishment

There's a national attitude about food that is not in our collective best interest, only seeing food as pleasurable.  It is so apparent when you talk to kids about nutrition or health. Children are only interested in what they enjoy so if it tastes good they are content.

Some of us do as we are expected to do, become an adult and put away childish things.  The majority of Americans are not maturing as expected and continue to eat like they did in high school, which wasn't very good for them even then, creating a greater risk their own health. More often than not, it takes a doctor to inform said adults that a reevaluation of their consumption is required.  Diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, gout, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol levels, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, and a whole host of discomforts are directly related to our dietary consumption.

Please understand that I am not a person that jumps on the diet bandwagon at the start of every new year and as a pastry chef some feel like I am not qualified to preach about health. Wrong. I am not a advocate for rigid dietary restrictions because of the psychological effects of such limitations. Telling a human not to eat their favorite things only makes them crave them even more.  I advocate balance and a focus on healthier choices. Everyone needs room in the diet for treats and snacking.  We are social animals and celebrating always involves eating. There is nothing wrong with eating dessert, it is however, how often it is consumed and which dessert is chosen that makes all the difference.

Health comes from balance,  balanced diet, balanced emotions and stress, balanced work and life harmony. Eat to live instead of live to eat. Food is the first line of defense against disease and discomforts.  Too many people are addict to some very destructive eating habits, are living in a food dessert, haven't faced the reality of what junk food does to the body when you consistently consumed, and often times live in bodies that are not working well because it isn't being maintained properly.

Last year was the first time in U.S. history that it's citizens spent more money in restaurants and eating out than they did in grocery store purchases. The 'give it to me quick' mentality is taking it toll on the health of our nation.  Lots of the food regulations and feeding programs that we have grown up with and are most familiar with, were developed after a large amount recruits enlisted for WWI were so underfeed and malnourished that they were practically or completely unfit for combat. The U.S. government understood if the nation is not nourished properly that it would not be able to defend the country from foes. Tag along to that, it stands to reason that school age children can not make the most of their educational opportunities if they are not well feed. Mandatory regulations of school lunches, for example, is a result of the governmental effort to assure that our citizens are not burdened by a lack of nutrition.

Furthermore, the changes experienced in the American workforce has put pressure on the households to eat differently than their predecessors. Less that two generations ago, 90% of meals consumed in American were prepared at home, which included boxed lunches. These days convenience foods reign supreme in the food marketing wars. Get it quick, microwave it, take and bake it, and buy it precooked, all are outselling fresh produce and meats. The heavy demands on workers to increase work out-puts have pushed the average 8 hour work day on to the back burner it seems as often longer hours and taking work home is more and more common leaving whomever in the household that is responsible for meal production with less and less time to plan and produce what the family is consuming.

The biggest danger in this tend is simple, whenever you become reliant upon a soulless corporation to do things for you that are critical to your overall health, you are in trouble. Why is a pint of orange juice 3 times the price of a cola? Corporations really only have one goal, to make money! Cheaper, faster, longer storage life, and readily available is how a corporation makes its goals. Food additives and preservatives most often do not help your health, they only help the corporation to make money. I have seen in my lifetime alone, several sugar substitutes, food color, and other chemicals available for the consumer to purchase have been removed from the marketplace after finding out that they cause a cancer or a serious risk to public health, but how many years and how often have the public been eating them before they have been outlawed?

Just some thoughts to consider as you prepare your next grocery list....

Smoothie Fast Complete... sort of.

So earlier I wrote a post about embarking on the 10-Day Smoothie fast, it was successful. And I am still consuming a smoothie a day, and throughout the day, in order to keep my system optimal. As I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and some food allergies, I have had to make dietary and life altering changes in order to keep on the good side of feeling good.

I did the fast, as subscribed in the book, incorporating lots of green healthy kale, spinach, apples, flax seed, spring greens, berries, and mangoes. This allowed my taste buds to adjust to a lower intake of sugars and salt, while upping my nutrition throughout the day. As a chef, our breed often doesn't eat well, you would think that they opposite was the case, but as we work all day, long hours, often forgoing our brakes, we don't take care of our own nutritional needs. We see and handle food all day long and it can kill your appetite and at the end of a long shift of 12 hours or more, we usually just grab something quick and simple to consume leaving us with deficits and skipped meals.

With that in mind, I am striving hard to always make a blender full of nutrition to take with me during the day and/or be at the ready in the fridge when I need it when I am at home. It is helping me regulate my bowels which has been an issue for me for many years, but increased in the last two to three years. I feel more energetic during the day and I am not reaching for the candy or chips nearly as often.

Just like with small children, we must train out pallets to better habits of consumption. When the traditional habits are not leading to a healthy outcome, then we must do better and create change. Food is medicine and should be the first time we changes instead of asking the doctor for a new pill for this or that. All of the medications that the doctor can subscribe have side-effects that will cause another problem that will need addressing. The average American is taking more than 12 medications a day in order to function. This is not a positive trend nor a healthy one. The pharmaceutical companies are getting rich feeding us chemicals to correct maladies and discomforts. We are becoming zombies dependent upon corporations to feed us and make us remedies for our bad eating habits.

Not everything that is good tasting is in fact good for you. Simple changes and  little effort can make huge differences in our quality of life.   

Conversations About Food - Podcasts

As a companion piece to this blog, I have launched a podcast of the same name. There I will explore the roots of, the relationship of, and the changes of people's relationship with food. Everyone has a history of eating, cooking, loving, and hating some foods. There are all sorts of traditions, religious restrictions, feasts days, fasting days, dieting, likes and dislikes surrounding folks intimate connections with eating and cooking. It's aim will be to talk to professional chefs, homemakers, athletes, musicians, the whole gambit of professions and phases of life.

I will update this list as I post the broadcasts. Please subscribe and tune-in regularly: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon

Ep#1: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon/2016/01/18/conversation-with-chef-yehoshuah-yehudah

Day 4 of My Cleanse

So a few days ago my 18 year old daughter and I embarked on a cleanse together.  Yes , I have deceied the physiology the the American habit of guilty feasting followedby purging and dieting, but this isn't the case with me. Let me explain what the last 4 years have been like living in my skin.

As a chef and married mother of three, I have always been on top of our changing dietary needs, my kids can name a long list of chain restaurants they have never eaten out of and they never ate jarred baby food. I am now 45 years old and my genetic inheritance and the strenuous nature of my job, ecetera, have caught up to me. I have always lived full out, whatever I embarked upon I would try and do my all.

So I had to a couple of small surgeries a little while back but was still not 100%. It seemed like we would get one thing handled only to find another aliment.  It's been a few weeks since I got my diagnosis of a chronic knee pain syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia after more than a year of doctor visits and testing. We already know that I was a asymptomatic hypertension patient, in other words hypertension without a clear cause, this condition kicked off after my last pregnancy.

With this in mind, and a desire for greater balance, I have undergone huge diet changes along with shifts in medications. I am gluten free, as I am strongly allergic,  and lactose bothers me.

Long story short, I was encouraged by a relative to try the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse. Sharing my health struggles with her, we discovered that she and I were having similar experiences and she did the cleanse a few months ago.  After her cleanse was over she was feeling better and began to resume adding solid foods back into her diet. She made some toast, or something similar, after not eating any wheat products and she had an huge allergic reaction. After relaying this to her doctors they found out that she had Ceiliac's disease and that all the problems she had been experiencing was connected to the disease which is not easy to diagnose.

Since my issues are similar in several ways, but my test did result in a Ceiliac diagnosis, I  postponed any fasting until we got a handle on things. Up, down, back and forth,  doctor's visits and testing.  Hopefully I can have a few weeks without any lab coats. On of my friends pointed out rather smartly that the irony is thick that the pastry chef no longer can eat her own wares.

January and February, tend to be the slowest months for food service and due to that, I will have a lighter load, and thought that it would be great to so the fast now.

My eldest daughter, the nutritionist in training, decided to join me so off we went to the grocery store. I have often enjoyed smoothies as a treat and a few months ago, when the symptoms got too bad to ignore, I reduced my diet to a couple of smoothies a day and one small meal but I expected this to be a bit rougher. I am doing well and not beating myself up for my little cheating morsels I have had like some chips yesterday.  It will all be fine.

I am hoping that this will aid my digestion, detox my systems, and maybe shed a pound or two. I have had some extra pounds that I have not enjoyed having over the last years but I try very hard to be overly critical with myself. Each pregnancy gave me a long lasting negative effect and now that the factory is closed, no gas, or lights, no little elves to work the machinery, and we think we have gotten to the roots of my discomforts, now improvement can begin.

Thus far, it's been going well. I thought I would be the cranky one of the two of us in the undertaking, but the kid is complaining of hunger and I am not.  I have not been a big eater during my regular day, and mostly had small things to eat and a regular dinner. The recipes in this fast are not bad and the amounts of greens seem to be quite filling to me. Day one, I felt myself urinating more often, but it wasn't until yesterday that I felt as if my body began to release toxins and bowel movements became frequent. I only have 7 more days to go before I get back to solid foods.

I will continue to write on the subject and if you are interested in doing the same, I am including the book information.

Later days....

Smith, JJ (2014-07-01). 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days! (pp. 19-20). Atria Books. Kindle Edition