Check out Admiring Ann: 5 Coulterisms for Counterculture Conservatives @ PJMedia's PJLifestyle section.
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Admiring Ann @ PJLifestyle
Check out my latest, Admiring Ann: 5 Coulterisms for Counterculture Conservatives over at PJLifestyle, part of PJMedia.
Great stuff, if I do say so myself ...all thanks to Ann.
Great stuff, if I do say so myself ...all thanks to Ann.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Quick & Easy Vegan Cooking
No one has time to cook, including me. The good news is, living a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle doesn't require hours in the kitchen. In fact, veggies often require less prep work and less cook time than meat-based dishes.
Along with being completely impatient in the kitchen, I like to experiment. My Great-Grandmother was the master -- feeding kids in the Depression was a trial-by-fire way of learning how to cook on your feet with whatever was available. Following her lead, I've done a little reading and a lot of experimenting with plant-based vegan recipes. Here's what I've learned so far:
Try Everything
Think you don't like fennel? Afraid of rutabagas? As my Dad always said, "Try it. You may like it!" Never say no to an opportunity to try a new food item or dish. You don't know what you're missing and, barring a food allergy, none of it will kill you.
Experiment with Balanced Pairing
Veggies, grains, beans, all of it is meant to be eaten together. Pairing foods pairs nutrients, enhancing your body's ability to digest and process what you're eating. The key is not to overload your plate with too many of one grouping - you don't want all beans and no veggies. Spread the love and throw a little bit of everything in the mix.
Use Olive Oil
Can the sprays, skip the canola, and eat your vegetables whole. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a great source of healthy fats and one of the best ways to sautee or roast your meal.
Rinse Your Canned Beans
Canned beans make life easy. They're also higher in sodium than dried beans. Rinsing your beans before using removes 25-33% of the sodium, so for me, it's out of the can and into the strainer for a bath before they hit the pan.
I'm sure I'll think of more lessons as I go along, but for right now, let me leave you with this recipe from the kitchen sink:
Chunked butternut squash
Chunked rutabagas
Fresh spinach
Fennel
Roman Beans (I used canned)
Garlic
Allspice
Olive Oil
Toss squash and rutabagas in olive oil and allspice. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
While the veggies roast, coat the bottom of your frying pan with olive oil and throw in the fennel. (If you're using fresh garlic, throw that in now, too.) Treat it like an onion - put the lid on, keep the flame around medium, and leave it for 3-5 min or until golden.
Then, throw in the spinach. (Using garlic powder? Now's the time!) Mix it all up, put the flame on low, lid the pan for 3-5 until the spinach steams down a bit.
Last, but not least, throw in your beans and give everything a good toss. Let them heat for another 3-5 with the lid (keep the nutrients in the pan).
Grab a huge bowl, pour in your spinach mix, then pull out the squash and rutabagas. Throw those in, toss it around, and you've got a healthy, filling, and quite tasty meal.
10 minutes prep (I picked up organic pre-cut squash to save some time)
20 minutes cook
30 minutes until you eat!
Stays good in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Enjoy!
Along with being completely impatient in the kitchen, I like to experiment. My Great-Grandmother was the master -- feeding kids in the Depression was a trial-by-fire way of learning how to cook on your feet with whatever was available. Following her lead, I've done a little reading and a lot of experimenting with plant-based vegan recipes. Here's what I've learned so far:
Try Everything
Think you don't like fennel? Afraid of rutabagas? As my Dad always said, "Try it. You may like it!" Never say no to an opportunity to try a new food item or dish. You don't know what you're missing and, barring a food allergy, none of it will kill you.
Experiment with Balanced Pairing
Veggies, grains, beans, all of it is meant to be eaten together. Pairing foods pairs nutrients, enhancing your body's ability to digest and process what you're eating. The key is not to overload your plate with too many of one grouping - you don't want all beans and no veggies. Spread the love and throw a little bit of everything in the mix.
Use Olive Oil
Can the sprays, skip the canola, and eat your vegetables whole. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a great source of healthy fats and one of the best ways to sautee or roast your meal.
Rinse Your Canned Beans
Canned beans make life easy. They're also higher in sodium than dried beans. Rinsing your beans before using removes 25-33% of the sodium, so for me, it's out of the can and into the strainer for a bath before they hit the pan.
I'm sure I'll think of more lessons as I go along, but for right now, let me leave you with this recipe from the kitchen sink:
Chunked butternut squash
Chunked rutabagas
Fresh spinach
Fennel
Roman Beans (I used canned)
Garlic
Allspice
Olive Oil
Toss squash and rutabagas in olive oil and allspice. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
While the veggies roast, coat the bottom of your frying pan with olive oil and throw in the fennel. (If you're using fresh garlic, throw that in now, too.) Treat it like an onion - put the lid on, keep the flame around medium, and leave it for 3-5 min or until golden.
Then, throw in the spinach. (Using garlic powder? Now's the time!) Mix it all up, put the flame on low, lid the pan for 3-5 until the spinach steams down a bit.
Last, but not least, throw in your beans and give everything a good toss. Let them heat for another 3-5 with the lid (keep the nutrients in the pan).
Grab a huge bowl, pour in your spinach mix, then pull out the squash and rutabagas. Throw those in, toss it around, and you've got a healthy, filling, and quite tasty meal.
10 minutes prep (I picked up organic pre-cut squash to save some time)
20 minutes cook
30 minutes until you eat!
Stays good in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Verging on a Plant-Based Lifestyle
I've been going through a lot of ch-ch-changes over the past 7 or 8 months. After smacking into some really bad lab results at my annual doctor's visit, I decided that I needed to start focusing on myself if I wanted to stick around and write for another 80 or 90 years.
Project Get Healthy began with me finally embracing my slagging gym membership. I lost about 15 lbs just by working out religiously at the gym 2 – 4 times a week and watching my diet. Watching my diet meant cutting out desserts and junk food and watching portion sizes. I still ate all the food I normally did - chicken, fish, beef, Rice a Roni, Pasta and Rice Sides, all that good packaged stuff, and veggies/fruits. Think: Your average American diet.
Then I had my second kidney stone attack in a decade. I grew up knowing I'd be a chronic stone former, but I didn't have my first attack until college when horrible eating habits ebbed into exercise and high levels of stress flowed in daily lifestyle. Oddly enough, this most recent attack came at a similar time. I had just started correcting my health habits, lost weight, worked three jobs and kept a house and husband happy ...and a 8 millimeter stone decided to come on down.
Thanks to my awesome nephrologist, this caused a
major diet change that is a prime contributor to my weight loss now, especially
since I haven’t been able to work out as much lately. (I hit the gym for
the first time in 3 months yesterday.) Not only have I maintained my
weight loss, I've lost an additional 5 lbs. just by eating right.
Basically, I’m adapting into a Plant-Based, Nutrivore style
of eating. Note: style, not ‘diet’.
How, my co-worker asked? Here is my response:
The first thing you MUST do is STOP eating based on calorie
counts. You can eat a ton of crap a day and still maintain a calorie
count – but those calories will be empty of nutrition.
Start eating based on nutrient values. Instead of
looking at calories, look at carbs, good fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals in
what you eat.
You’ll find that processed foods have had the nutrient
values sucked out of them. Refined flour and sugar are the worst.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) forget it. And avoid trans fats. Jamie
Oliver advises to stick to the perimeter of the food store where the fresh
stuff is and avoid the center aisles as much as possible.
When cooking - Oils – use olive oil as much as
possible. Look for the fresh stuff – no trans fats. Avoid vegetable
oils. Use a variety of spices – they have great health benefits and are
better than salt.
This leads you down a road focused on fruits, veggies,
seeds, nuts, grains as your primary diet. There are arguments over raw
versus cooked – each method has its worth. The thing to remember about
cooking veggies is that steaming them is the best and avoid using the microwave
as much as possible.
Cutting out meat/animal products is a requirement for me,
but isn’t necessarily for you. Now, given what many studies have shown –
that eating animal-based diets is harder on your digestive system and a main
contributor to heart disease and cancer, you may start to rethink exactly how
much meat/meat product you consume.
And, ultimately, if you’re aiming for optimal nutritional
value, you’re going to lean towards organic foods to avoid the chemicals
associated with non-organic farming. Yeah. Big bucks – or at least
it can be. Trader Joe’s is pretty on par with Shop Rite prices and
seasonal farmers markets help keep costs down. I’m not organic.
My husband would kill me if he saw those shopping bills. But I do seek to be
aware of what is going into my food.
Now – digestive issues. I know what you’re thinking:
All these veggies are going to give me heartburn. Trust me; I was
heartburn queen before I started this diet. Since then, not one case of
heartburn. To aid in any digestive concerns, try drinking a warm cup ofwater with a slice of lemon or lemon juice in the morning. Lemon juice is
a GREAT digestive aid. So are ginger and chamomile – I like mixing the
Rooibos Zingiber Ginger and Peach Tranquility teas from Teavana for a nice,
comforting brew. Remember: acid reducers, Tums, etc. are helpful – but
ultimately they’re killing the good acid and good bacteria in your
digestive tract, which is only going to cause you more problems down the line.
Speaking of tea – go herbal. Need a caffeine
boost? Try Yerba Mate dried (NOT smoked – too many carcinogens) it’s a
heavier green tea that you can mix with any flavor and has as much caffeine per
cup as a cup of coffee. Black tea has a load of oxalates that can build
into kidney stones, so it’s advisable to stick to Yerba, or Green Tea (10% of
the caffeine of coffee) or herbal (no caffeine). Herbal teas have the
most health properties.
And take a multivitamin!
Some good resources:
http://caltonnutrition.com/nutrivore.aspx
- Read their book “Naked Calories” for great facts on nutrients in food
www.theplanteater.com
references a number of great studies being done on a plant-based diet.
Remember, the plant-based idea is a Biblical one. Know
the story of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abedigo? They ate
fruits/veggies/grains instead of the Babylonian King’s rich meats and
wine. In one week, they were healthier than the king’s men and Daniel won
the favor of the King. Yep. Not to mention, Biblically speaking,
the human race didn’t start eating meat until after Noah’s Ark landed on dry
ground. At the same time God permitted man to eat meat, He also cut our
lifespan to a max of 120 years. (Hence all those truly ancient folks
living until 800 or 900 Biblical years…yeah…we don’t do that anymore.)
Whole Living Magazine (picked mine up at Barnes and Noble)
has a LOAD of great easy recipes. They’ve got a 21-day menu in the latest
edition that helps you cleanse and break into a plant-based lifestyle.
Hope this helps! Remember, it’s a lifestyle change.
Start slowly. Incorporate things gradually. You’ll find yourself
having more energy and just feeling better in general – better health, better
mood. Your skin tone will also improve and your hair will shine.
And you’ll sleep better, too.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Merry Christmas from the Jews
Merry Christmas, dear Reader.
You don't have to reciprocate, of course, but you could say Thanks.
Like, "Thanks for the Jewish guy we're celebrating."
Or, "Thanks for sharing with us the idea of a redeeming Messiah in the first place."
But if you're a more secularized gentile, "Thanks for White Christmas and the greatest hits of Irving Berlin," will also do.
If you work in an industry that would normally require your presence today or tomorrow, you could say "Thanks" for the Jewish guy or girl willing to pick up your shift, too.
This holiday season tends to bring out both the best and the worst in humanity. We turn yuletide spirit into a competition to see whose lawn can be the brightest, whose gifts can be the fanciest, and whose wishes can be the most Christmas-y, i.e. the "It's Christmas, goddamnit, not Happy Holidays!" meme, as if for everyone, Christmas is the theme.
For us Jews, it's a holiday -- that's true.
But for most of us, the holiday is about you.
So while you're spreading Yuletide Cheer, telling all that Christmas is here, take a moment to thank a Jew.
2,000 years later, we're still making Christmas wishes come true.
You don't have to reciprocate, of course, but you could say Thanks.
Like, "Thanks for the Jewish guy we're celebrating."
Or, "Thanks for sharing with us the idea of a redeeming Messiah in the first place."
But if you're a more secularized gentile, "Thanks for White Christmas and the greatest hits of Irving Berlin," will also do.
If you work in an industry that would normally require your presence today or tomorrow, you could say "Thanks" for the Jewish guy or girl willing to pick up your shift, too.
This holiday season tends to bring out both the best and the worst in humanity. We turn yuletide spirit into a competition to see whose lawn can be the brightest, whose gifts can be the fanciest, and whose wishes can be the most Christmas-y, i.e. the "It's Christmas, goddamnit, not Happy Holidays!" meme, as if for everyone, Christmas is the theme.
For us Jews, it's a holiday -- that's true.
But for most of us, the holiday is about you.
So while you're spreading Yuletide Cheer, telling all that Christmas is here, take a moment to thank a Jew.
2,000 years later, we're still making Christmas wishes come true.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
JFNA GA 2012
Check out the November issue of the Jewish Journal of Ocean County to read my take on the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly held November 11-13 in Baltimore, MD.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
My Observations on the 2012 Election
1. We're four years away from a European-style social democracy. (Can't take credit for this one - just agree with it.)
2. The economy is already sounding the death knells, shuddering and sputtering its way to an inevitable crash. Thanks to Quantitative Easing (because who remembers Weimar?) it'll be given a better shot in the arm than anyone needing any kind of life support once Obamacare comes into full force. And, like those seeking medical care in 2014 and beyond, that shot in the arm is going to be more euthanizing than envigorating. Get those wheelbarrows ready, folks; we'll have some bread to buy!
3. Count on your tax dollars (backyard sheds full of them) going towards making sure your kids stay in college longer - because it isn't like there'll be jobs for them when they graduate. Then again, what am I saying? Thanks to a fully federally funded educational system from teet to thirty, this generation is going to be fully qualified to obtain the career of their dreams: Mid-Level Bureaucrat.
4. Have a disease? Joints wearing out? Getting older? Don't have the energy to hold a full time job? There's a new treatment that goes something like this: Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
5. Think Obama already did enough middle east butt-kissing the first time around? This term will usher in a newer, deeper level of political appeasement, known as "negotiating with the mentally insane".
6. That MTA "See Something, Say Something" campaign is going to take on a whole new meaning when Iranians are granted visas and direct flights to the US. The sad fact is, thanks to our increasingly socialized government, we are poised for an influx of radical Islamists - akin to what occurred in the EU in the mid 90s. And we all know how well that's turned out.
7. Start apologizing to the American military now. They've lost their minds, their limbs, and their lives to protect your right to empower a man who is willing and happy to leave them to slaughter. Parker and Stone may have joked about Operation Human Shield, but it is Obama who has made it a reality.
8. Our nation is composed of approximately 60,085,524 selfish individuals, the majority of whom operate under the assumption that because they made the needs of a so-called "interest group" their priority when voting, they are the Mother Theresas of their generation. What they don't understand is that by voting for the needs of a demographic instead of the needs of a a country, they put the self-interests of a few ahead of the interests of the many...thereby putting themselves on the same level as all those self-serving politicians they claim to hate. But if you call them selfish, you're racist/sexist/homphobic and/or declaring a "war" on them.
9. Orwellian will now be re-termed "Obamanian" because two government programs are good, but four are better.
10. Conversion to Judaism may just beat out backyard bomb shelters in the category of "methods of survival". Currently, Israel stands as the only nation with leadership that understands that you can not negotiate with someone who holds as sacred the belief that you are better off dead-and they have the nukes to prove it.
2. The economy is already sounding the death knells, shuddering and sputtering its way to an inevitable crash. Thanks to Quantitative Easing (because who remembers Weimar?) it'll be given a better shot in the arm than anyone needing any kind of life support once Obamacare comes into full force. And, like those seeking medical care in 2014 and beyond, that shot in the arm is going to be more euthanizing than envigorating. Get those wheelbarrows ready, folks; we'll have some bread to buy!
3. Count on your tax dollars (backyard sheds full of them) going towards making sure your kids stay in college longer - because it isn't like there'll be jobs for them when they graduate. Then again, what am I saying? Thanks to a fully federally funded educational system from teet to thirty, this generation is going to be fully qualified to obtain the career of their dreams: Mid-Level Bureaucrat.
4. Have a disease? Joints wearing out? Getting older? Don't have the energy to hold a full time job? There's a new treatment that goes something like this: Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
5. Think Obama already did enough middle east butt-kissing the first time around? This term will usher in a newer, deeper level of political appeasement, known as "negotiating with the mentally insane".
6. That MTA "See Something, Say Something" campaign is going to take on a whole new meaning when Iranians are granted visas and direct flights to the US. The sad fact is, thanks to our increasingly socialized government, we are poised for an influx of radical Islamists - akin to what occurred in the EU in the mid 90s. And we all know how well that's turned out.
7. Start apologizing to the American military now. They've lost their minds, their limbs, and their lives to protect your right to empower a man who is willing and happy to leave them to slaughter. Parker and Stone may have joked about Operation Human Shield, but it is Obama who has made it a reality.
8. Our nation is composed of approximately 60,085,524 selfish individuals, the majority of whom operate under the assumption that because they made the needs of a so-called "interest group" their priority when voting, they are the Mother Theresas of their generation. What they don't understand is that by voting for the needs of a demographic instead of the needs of a a country, they put the self-interests of a few ahead of the interests of the many...thereby putting themselves on the same level as all those self-serving politicians they claim to hate. But if you call them selfish, you're racist/sexist/homphobic and/or declaring a "war" on them.
9. Orwellian will now be re-termed "Obamanian" because two government programs are good, but four are better.
10. Conversion to Judaism may just beat out backyard bomb shelters in the category of "methods of survival". Currently, Israel stands as the only nation with leadership that understands that you can not negotiate with someone who holds as sacred the belief that you are better off dead-and they have the nukes to prove it.
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