Quantities of Quality

For the record, I didn't snack and pick at those leftovers last night.....

Yes, I am most certainly indeed heading in the direction of Premenstruation, and, well, it's never a fun time for me. In the past, I've had success managing the symptoms (physical AND emotional) with regular very rigorous and sustained exercise -- HOWEVER, I just don't have it in me at the mo. Instead, I'll stick to my sporadic light exercise, reasonably healthful eating, making a point of drinking lots of water, and maybe... just maybe go easy on the salt intake while I'm at it...

Because I do, I believe, have the whole healthy diet thing pretty down. And have for years. I'm more or less what you'd call a hippie cook, with a whole foods palate. Crunchy granola, Baybee. No, I'm no saint. It's just that ever since my introduction to Dr. McDougall's program some 15 years ago? -- it's a habit I just can't shake. As a SAHM, I'm the primary shopper and cook in the family -- the others are my captives, ha ha! Actually, they are so used to my cooking and are such good eaters I get very few complaints.

We rarely eat out. Instead, following in my mother's footsteps, I prepare most of our food at home, from scratch. It's so very much cheaper-- and hey, being the one-income family that we are, that's nothing to sneeze at. I'm always trying to economize one way or another. As vegetarians, our meals are planned around veggies, beans (dried beans over canned most of the time -- more economical), whole grains, tofu and tempeh, seitan, and occasionally those commercially available vegetarian meat-like substitutes (they're expensive though, so we don't indulge too often). I've become proficient over the years at many ethnic dishes -- nori rolls, curries, stir fries, hummous, etc. But I've also had lots of practice making classic American comfort food, but with a vegetarian twist -- homemade barbecued seitan 'ribs' for instance, shepherd's pie, 'meat'less loaf and tofu cheesecake ....

I have two slow-cookers, and two pressure cookers (three, if you count the canner), and put them into near constant use. A bread machine too. Plus a Vitamix. Love my kitchen appliances. And serve me well they do.

I purchase relatively few convenience food items for my home pantry, but confess I do make some exceptions -- for those uber busy nights we often have around here, when everyone is either coming and going in or out the door. Jarred spaghetti sauce, for example, is a true time saver for me (I do make and can my own spaghetti sauce, plus salsa and chili sauce-- last year was a terrible year for tomatoes in these parts, unfortunately). Canned stewed tomatoes are handy as well, among other things. I wish I could say that I only purchase the organic stuff -- but alas, I don't (can't quite reconcile the expense unless there is some exceptional sale going on -- then I've been known to stock up). There's also this brand of frozen pirogis, way cheap, that I resort to from time to time. Packaged frozen veggies have their place in my freezer, some canned veggies on my shelves. Cheap, 5-pound bags of store-brand frozen french fries??? Check. (they're especially good with veggie burgers on sprouted wheat buns). Heck, I'll even pick up a box or two of cake mix, when I find an especially good sale -- to mix them with canned pumpkin for 'muffins' (you know, that old WW trick?) for days when the kids have buddies over and I need to make a quick snack for a demanding crowd. For the most part though, I do my own baking, reading labels and generally avoiding purchasing items with added corn syrup, trans fats, MSG, excessive amounts of unpronouceable ingredients and artificial crap, etc etc....

I'll buy ww pasta when I find a good price -- but often do resort to the white stuff (hub and kids' general preference). Still, my pasta sauces, salads, soups, and tosses are always loaded with abundant added veggies. I only buy ww couscous though -- and ONLY brown rice ever (plus quinoa, bulgher and kasha).

I only purchase natural-style peanut and nut butters -- and stick to the natural jams, or make my own....

We love fruit, and mostly just eat it fresh. We buy big boxes of Florida grapefruits and oranges in the winter-- and savor them. We go to near-by u-pick farms for blueberries and strawberries in the spring and summer, and purchase local apples in the fall....

I went caffein-free years ago -- preferring today herbal teas (currently I'm really into red tea at the moment, or rooibus). I will put a little honey or sugar in my tea from time to time -- because I'm wary of artifitial sweetners. I might drink pop like once or twice a year-- and I never purchase it for our home. We make our own cold, fizzy drinks in the summertime -- mixing 100 % juice conentrate with bottled fizzy water, and plenty of ice... (As for alcohol? Love wine and beer, but rarely indulge)...

Candy is certainly not unknown in my house, but it's typically a rare treat, saved for birthdays and holidays and the like. And while I'm not one to utterly refrain, happily it's not something I truly go nuts over (actually, nuts are something I can kind of go nuts over)....

We are no longer a strict vegan family (as we once were in our early marriage -- that has relaxed considerably), but I still don't purchase eggs and dairy for home use (although I will make a very occasional rare exception for locally made goat cheese). We might have those things outside the home (cheese on pizza for instance, ice cream at birthday parties), and it might be a 'hidden ingredient' in some of the food items I purchase -- whey in crackers, egg yolk in wonton wrappers, dairy in salad dressing, for example -- but otherwise, no. There are never exceptions for meat....

I do admit I have aquired the taste for rich tofu and tahini and nut-based dishes and sauces -- these are healthy alternatives to dairy-based dishes, but there's still a lot of fat there to contend with. I've also developed a huge liking to soy sauce, tamari, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and Japanese Ume Plum Vinegar -- all terribly salty. I've been guilty of sprinkling a little onto nearly anything I eat. It becomes almost an addiction, because once you get used to it, then foods without it seems bland. I am currently trying to curb this unhealthy habit though....

I bake nearly all our bread (the bread machine is an enormous help with that these days), buns, and pizza crusts. Heck, I even grind my own flour, in my little kitchen counter top grain mill. Hello! Furthermore, as mentioned, I garden -- canning, freezing, and pickling the bounty. And did someone mention Granola??? -- as cliche as it sounds, I really do regularly make granola (purchasing breakfast cereal only in-between batches) for my family, in all it's tooth-breakingly crunchy wholesomeness (which, ironically, I don't even EAT)....

Ok, so with all these reasonably healthy food choices, how did I get so freaking fat???? Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Something I've been asking myself for years now. Used it as a crutch in fact.

Calories, calories, my friend. As it turns out, eating too much of the brown rice stir-fry? It's truly no better than eating too much of the twinkies, fatistically speaking........