As a graduate nutrition student, I sometimes feel pressure around my peers when it comes to cooking as well as cooking skills. I am going to throw it out there. I am not a cook. My knife skills are terrible, and I have to follow recipes. This doesn’t mean I am not a great nutrition student though. It’s just that many of my classmates went into nutrition because they grew up cooking, used to be a chef, or are natural “foodies”. Or even better: They are excellent chemistry students (good grief). I went into nutrition having grown up on velveeta, & bagels (not anymore of course, that’s all in the past). But I entered with a slightly different passion. It isn’t so much the smell of roasted garlic that makes me fall in love with nutrition (well, maybe a little). I went into nutrition in order to represent public health, and on an international level. At 22, (Ah yes, your 20s, filled with self discovery) I realized that I whole heartedly believe that every person no matter their age, sex, religion, or income bracket, have the natural born right to know what they are eating, decide what they are going to eat, and have access to whole, natural, affordable, healthy foods. This passion burned so much inside of me, that I soon after became a volunteer with the Food Bank of NYC where I taught nutrition to second graders in the Bronx who were on meal assistance programs at their school. That same year, I started applying to graduate schools. When I witness the disparities in food portions, ingredients, and nutrition education around the world, across our country, and even just in different parts of nyc; I become well, crazy. There is plenty I plan to do with my life (like travel, mostly) but I know I want to dedicate myself to this cause. What I hope the most for myself is that I am able to enter a career once I am complete with school where I can make a difference in this nutrition crisis and actually do the job for 40 years without getting tired of it. I tend to get tired of things frequently which is why I am cut out to live in the city, (never can be bored here) and since social security won’t exist by the time I am old enough to retire, I am thinking I better love my career right? This is what I want first. Way before a house with a fence, a dog, and 2.5 children, I want the opportunity to dive into my passion and never get lost in the “American Dream” mayhem that society makes us feel we should be keeping up with. You know the “American Dream”…it’s called the mortgage crisis.
So, back to my rookie kitchen skills: I may not be able to julienne carrots, but I enjoy buying them whole, organic, rinsing them in my sink and adding them to my whole wheat angel hair pasta for a dose of vitamin A in my dinner. I also love that my carrots do not come in a plastic bag with 13 ingredients listed on the back including “red lake 40 for color enhancement". My carrots have only one ingredient: “carrot”.
With yesterday being Sunday, and Sunday being a day I solely know as “for food, fun, & football”, I dedicated the entire rainy day to food. This is because to me food is fun, and football isn’t on yet. My childhood friend (since age 8) Kristen came to visit me Saturday night into Sunday. Kristen is a foodie. We were supposed to take yoga, but ended up sleeping past the alarm and waking up to a rain storm. Eh. Its Sunday, it’s raining; I can skip this week right? So I threw on a Sunday dress, grabbed an umbrella, and we instead walked to Le Pain on Madison Avenue & 84th street for what New Yorkers believe to be the trend known as…brunch. We were really just hungry, no trendiness necessary. Why I love Le Pain? They support organic sustainable farms. And I support restaurants that support organic sustainable farms. We entered the restaurant wet. My umbrella failed us on 90th and park as the wind blew it backwards and it tried to pull me down the street as opposed to doing its job and covering my head. As soon as we sat we rush ordered coffees (their coffee is SO delicious) and ate apple cinnamon and vegan blueberry muffins, finishing with a giant bowl of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, & blueberries).
Outside the restaurant window, the rain poured. Little Upper East Side toddlers holding their grandmothers hands splashed in the rain wearing rain boots with matching rain coats, looking like a pottery barn kids catalog come to life. We sat there and took our sweet time enjoying the sweet food, and with the heavy rain outside, what good would rushing do us anyway? I think food, friends, and conversation are becoming some of my greatest pleasures. We had coffee, we had time, and we had a lot to talk about. Le Pain hosted us well, and we eventually drifted out of the café with full tummies and smiles.
With a park day out of the question, & Kristen being a foodie, I knew she wouldn’t mind coming to wholefoods with me for the afternoon. What I love about this part, is that Kristen enjoys what I believe matters most as well, (food, wine, & loved ones), and she was thrilled at entering a gigantic wholefoods on 96th and Columbus with me. I was walking around this market like I had just struck the vegetable lottery. Which, at this place I may as well have. My rule for produce shopping, pick 2 items of each color of the rainbow. Example; “red” (apples, red peppers, check!) “Orange” (Oranges, peaches, check!) “yellow” (bananas, yellow potatoes) “Green” (kale, broccoli, spinach…three of these because they are the best) and so on. Fill that cart like a rainbow and without ever having to plug your meals into some online food journal, or calorie count, know that you are balanced and OK. I filled my cart with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, salads, nuts, veggie burgers, lentils, chips & salsa, and pasta. I don’t know which was more fun, the shopping or the unpacking of the food into my kitchen. I had spent my money for the week on food. I knew I wouldn’t need to take out another dollar for at least 10 days. The difference between eating out during your work week and cooking food at home is something that not only will better your wallet, but it will better how you feel. When you walk into a burrito joint lets say, you may at first feel empowered by choosing what to put into that burrito (“I chose brown rice, I chose black beans, I said no cheese”). But you have no idea where those beans came from. Were they in a can before they were prepared? If so, how much sodium may be in those beans? And how much do you pay for a burrito in NYC? Based on my 7 years here, I’d say anywhere from $8-$11 and that’s not including your beverage (which also probably racks you up another $2.25, and 80-220 calories depending what you choose). Eating Out= ok once in a while for a social scene and emergencies. However, Cooking > Eating Out, always. :)
For dinner on this night after returning from the food store, I cooked butternut squash risotto with roasted Brussels sprouts in garlic and olive oil. We opened a bottle of pinot noir, (because this is what Sundays are for) and we sat with our dinner, my friend and I. Eating nothing but whole foods (literally) this week, this is what I ate the following day, (all found at wholefoods market): My friends, I present to you a day in the life of my eating habits.
Breakfast: Kashi Go Lean Crunch in a bowl with Stoneyfield Vanilla organic yogurt, and sliced banana
Snack: “Back to Nature” cheddar crackers
Lunch: Saffron Rice with Kidney beans
Snack: Cascadian Farm Chocolate Almond Granola Bar
Dinner: (cooked at home) Vegetarian Chickn stuffed with goat cheese. Walnut and Cranberry cous cous, with sautéed Kale. (check recipe tab for instructions on kale). Giant glass of water.
Tonight, making every attempt to not write a 5,000 word blog entry, I wanted to share with you my passion for not just food, but food equality. I wanted to share my passion for cooking, despite the fact that I am a rookie at the stove. My passion for not just eating, but eating with loved ones and enjoying the time spent. And I wanted to bring to your attention briefly (or not so briefly) the world of food shopping, selecting actual food, & then cooking with it. Yes, sounds funny but there are plenty of “food store” items on the shelves that do not qualify as actual “food”. I am not ever going to be on the food network channel, and when I cut an onion there is a mess on the cutting board. But I am serious about eating foods that make you feel good, and I am serious about everyone having that chance. I have seen firsthand, the children I used to tutor in East Harlem eat their lunch and within the next 2 hours be unable to concentrate in class. “I don’t feel well Miss Jessica” and my response would be “what did you last eat darling?” Nutrition fuels your mind. How can we expect a future generation of successful students, employees, and citizens, if the highest potential for learning is never reached? And keep in mind that the highest potential for learning may never be reached, because meals high in fat and sugar do nothing but leave a child sleepy & with a stomach ache. Diets low in omega 3 has been linked to learning disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder. The list goes on. These are the thoughts that run through my head everyday. As I continue my education in Nutrition and public health this fall, I will continue to write on these topics that remind me everyday why I am investing in my education in the first place.
Peace. Love. & Equality.
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