Category Archives: change

Reinventing Comfort

by breakfast, change, grains, habits, left overs

When I was a little girl my mother used to make something called rice cereal.  My brother and I loved it.  Leftover white rice in a bowl of hot milk with a huge dollop of butter and a spoonful of sugar on top.  When I had children I would make the same dish for them.  It was a great way to use up extra rice — filling, tasty, and warming to the tummy.  I would even serve it to guests sometimes.   One time a friend exclaimed about this wonderful dish, wanting to know where the recipe came from.  My answer?  My mom.  And probably from her mom.  I think it was simply a frugal way to use leftovers.  But it sure was tasty.

Sometimes you have a day where you want comfort food.  This morning was one of those days.  As I was assembling, and then happily eating, my bowl of comfort I realized that I have changed the recipe.  Modified it to be more in line with my healthier eating habits.  But it was still just as comforting, warming and satisfying as it ever was.  Reflecting on this I realized that the concept of comfort food is a state of mind.  Yes it's a comfort to the tummy and makes us feel good; but part of what makes us feel good is the memories associated with that food.  Changing the food doesn't change the comfort level as long as the basic concepts are the same.

So I'm making an offer, what are your comfort foods?  What do you eat when you feel the need for that emotional lift?  Share the recipe and the concept below.  If you'd like (and please ask below) I'm happy to make suggestions to help boost the nutrition or health factor while still helping you get that bowl or plate of comfort you are after.  Eating well to be well doesn't mean we can't still have comfort.

Step By Step, Food Changes

by breakfast, change, questions, substitutions

Meg wrote in with the following, “For me, to truly change my eating habits, I have to go in very small and tasty steps. Once I find a healthier food or drink that I really like, after a few weeks of eating that I don't miss the junk stuff and don't feel deprived.

It would be great to find recipes / meal plans that “step you down” from junk to healthy organic by offering variations from A to B. For example, I've switched my typical breakfast from decaf with halzelnut non-dairy creamer and a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese by first switching to whole wheat toast with a scrape of butter and cinnamon-sugar, then to one slice with the sugar, and finally to one slice of whole wheat bread with a scrape of butter or Nutella and a few spoonfuls of organic yogurt with walnuts.

I'm ready to tackle the (processed) decaf coffee with (chemical) halzelnut-flavored non-dairy creamer. Trouble is I really, really like the flavor and I don't really like the taste of green tea (yet). Can you recommend a healthier breakfast beverage replacement that could be transformed in stages? “

I find that lots of folks really like their coffee and have a hard time giving it up.  Part of it is the chemical addiction to caffeine.  What's actually more harmful than the caffeine is the flavored non-dairy creamer. With Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Dipotassium Phosphate, and Sodium Caseinate this is not food.  I would say there is nothing wrong with one cup of coffee in the morning to get you started, just use real cream instead.  If you want to give up caffeine and switch to decaf that's certainly a good thing to do, but that real cream is going to make it taste a whole lot better.  And it goes without saying that organic dairy is best, read this article for more information about that issue.  Green tea is certainly a great option, filled with anti-oxidants, but maybe starting with one cup of coffee and then switching to green tea for your other beverage choices (including water, water, water, and herbal teas) is the way to go.

The most important thing to remember about your breakfast menu is that you want to make sure you are getting some good protein, some fiber, and a healthy fat.  This will help you make it through the morning with stable blood sugar.  When choosing your bread make sure that you are getting WHOLE GRAIN instead of just whole wheat.  Unfortunately whole wheat doesn't have all of the parts of the grain, so it's not as healthy.  Marketers are aware of how much we look for those key words and so be aware that multi-grain is also not whole grain.  For butter, choose a good, organic, butter and you can have more than just a scrape.  For your yogurt and walnuts, that's a great choice.  Organic full fat yogurt is best.  Again, it helps you feel full, gives you the protein that you need and helps you start your morning with a stable blood sugar.

There Is A Season

by change, holidays, seasons

As the song goes, “To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn.” I was reminded of that this week when I was in the stores buying back-to-school supplies. I was horrified to see that Christmas stuff is on display. Folks, we haven't even hit Labor Day yet. Of course the Halloween stuff was prettily arranged in the aisles and who knows how early that had been set out. This just goes to show how infreqently I shop at those kinds of stores.


I believe that a large part of the stress that many of my clients complain about is due to this marketing push for ever longer sales seasons. We should enjoy the fullness of each season while it is here instead of frantically racing toward the next season. Truth be told we should enjoy the fullness of each season and what it truly means instead of focusing on the material aspects that marketers have tried to convince us is necessary to each season. That applies to any season, the beginning of the seasons, a month with a special birthday, a life event, all of these are seasons and reasons to celebrate. But we should celebrate mindfully and lovingly instead of being corralled toward the store to buy, buy, buy.

Summer isn't over yet and although where I live the kids go back to school in just three short days we are trying to enjoy those last precious moments of unscheduled time. To spend more time just being, to celebrate the end of summer. I do not want to even think about Halloween, much less Christmas. I choose not to race through these days frantically worrying about whether or not I have the latest fashionable ornaments, wondering if I have enough ‘stuff' to celebrate whatever season it isn't-quite-yet.

One of the biggest things we need to remember is to take time to breathe. To avoid the hurry-scurry madness that modern life seems to promote.

So turn a blind eye to those gaudy aisle displays and bring your earplugs to turn down the sound on the holidays-not-yet-here. And if you want to learn how to tone down your Christmas, get started now with this free e-book from the New American Dream.

Live life at your own pace, remember to breathe, and be well.

Feed Them Junk, No Wonder They Can’t Think Straight

by change, health, lunch

I just found this video and it is distressing to watch and see how many lobbyists and lawyers show up for a meeting on school lunch nutrition.  While it is certainly not the only reason that children in this country are overweight and unhealthy I am sure it is a contributing factor.  We need to do better for our children.  


HealthySchoolLunches.org is trying to make some changes.  Sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), they are working to educate government and education officials, food service workers, parents, and others to try to promote healthy choices in school nutrition. If this is something that interests you (and it should interest all of us) you can sign their petition. They aren't the only organization promoting education on this issue; there's also Two Angry Moms which is a movie that I think should be required viewing for every parent, school board official, educator, and public official. As this OpEd piece by Alice Waters says, “Every public school child in America deserves a healthful and delicious lunch that is prepared with fresh ingredients. ” We frequently talk about the “hope of the future” resting in these children. But we are not giving them the nutrition to ensure that they learn and grow, to help them mature into that hope we are asking them to be.

Chef Jamie Oliver took on the British School Lunch program in London and apparently had quite a success there. Perhaps we can learn from their program, plus the programs we have right here at home created by people like Alice Waters and her Slow Food Slow School program which has created such successes as The Edible Schoolyard (you can see a video of the schoolyard in action here).  Let's do better for our kids, they deserve it and we do too.