[AT] Healthy Eating, was "Just checking"

[Herb Metz]

Thanks Stephen for you good post; hope you don't mind my changing the title.

From: Stephen Offiler
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2015 10:16 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Just checking....
My wife and I are both working people with long commutes; we're out of the
house 10-12 hours on weekdays.  She only likes to cook when the mood
strikes, and I never like it much, so we have developed some habits to eat
healthy and fairly low hassle.
Veggies should feature prominently... that's where a lot of nutrients are
hidden.  You can wrap a sweet potato in a paper towel and nuke it in about
5 minutes, no mess, no extra utensils or dishes to wash.  In fact all
starchy veggies work pretty well in the microwave, take squash for another
example.  Frozen veggies can be thawed and heated in the nuke in a covered
glass dish, very easy.  Greens like baby spinach, arugula, kale, and mixed
lettuce can be purchased... they look horribly expensive at the store but
compared to eating out they are dirt-cheap.  We just throw a handful of
greens on a plate and put on some olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.
Takes about 15 seconds.  In season, tomatoes from the garden will be tossed
on the greens.  And we grow some of these greens too.  Oh, and avocadoes
are a frequent addition to that pile of greens.
Meat... no need to fear red meat, IN MODERATION.  Saturated fats are not
bad, unlike what the always-wrong media has been telling us for decades.
There are essential fatty acids ("essential" means you die without it) that
come from saturated fats.  Red meats as a food group are among the highest
in nutrition-per-unit-calorie.  We buy grass-fed beef from a local farmer,
and have burgers cooked on the grill a couple times a week.  Grilling means
no pots and pans to wash.
Chicken, we are in a CSA with the local poultry farmer and we have more
chicken than we know what to do with.  We do whole chickens on the grill
using the "beer can" method.  Google it.
Fish, about once a week, we buy the good stuff from a fish market or Whole
Foods.  Wild-caught not farmed.  Again done on grill, especially salmon
which you cook skin-side down on foil so the oils don't drip into the
flames.
Eggs:  GOOD FOR YOU!  Like the saturated fat in red meat, the cholesterol
in eggs is NOT bad for you.  Dietary cholesterol isn't even in the same
form as the cholesterol in the bloodstream.  Eggs are "nature's vitamin
pill" full of vitamins that are hard to find in other places.  We get our
eggs from the farmette across the street, free-range chickens.  Dark orange
yolks, very different from mass-produced eggs.
Salt:  if you're eating like I describe above, there's not much salt.  We
use Himalayan Sea Salt, which is pinkish to brownish in color due to high
mineral content.  Looks crazy-expensive on the shelf but that $10 bottle is
probably about 15 months old  and only half-gone.
Another quick and easy one is rice & beans.  Regular old rice, not Minute
Rice, cooked with plenty of real butter (from grass-fed cows... it is very
different in color and flavor from mass-produced butter) then when the rice
is about halfway done open up a can of red beans or black beans or
whatever, drain, and toss them in.  The beans are warm when the rice is
cooked.  Serve with salsa and some greens on the side.  Soak the dirty pan
overnight ;-)
Not zero, but, very small amounts of bread and pasta in our diet.
SO


Many people would like to Eat Healthy; what Stephen has described above is 
not
that difficult or expensive. As Barbara and I sit down to enjoy such meals, 
we feel
better (psychologically) even before we eat knowing that we are eating 
healthier
(than years ago). Preparing such meals sometimes requires more planning and
sometimes more work, so I do the cleanup (unless I have something that needs
attention real soon). This 'feeling better' continues through the meal, and 
after.
Oh, a tip on that dirty pan; all it needs is 1/4" of water and decent 
fitting lid
and in the morning any deposits have softened and will come off with one 
wipe
of a paper towel and will go into the waste basket (not the septic system).
Enjoy. Herb(GA)