DAY 38...Why do we stand for it?

This morning I had a little aha moment. Yesterday, as you know wasn't a great day, so besides the huge salad I had for dinner, I didn't stick to the food plan and just nibbled on fruit the whole day. This morning, my breakfast was a huge selection of fruit with a little nut cream - yum.

What I realised during these two fruit-filled days is why North Americans don't eat enough fruit. The answer is simple really - it tastes aweful! Sorry to throw that out there like that, but it really does.

Now I am not North American, I have been living in Canada and the USA for the past few years and it just dawned on me, that once I moved to the USA I stopped eating the fruits I have always loved and grown up devouring. Why, because they all taste the same, and that taste is insipid and watery and unidentifiable. Now of course I am generalising here, I have had a great apple during apple season, and I have had the odd good fruit, but nothing close to what they should taste like. I'm sure part of that reason is that we expect to be able to eat any fruit at any time of the year. I understand that.

I understand that expecting my breakfast plums and strawberries to taste ripe and luscious while we are coming out of a deep dark winter is perhaps crazy. But, it's not stopping anyone selling them to us for outrageous prices. I also understand that if I bought everything at Whole Foods, or the farmers market it might be better, but then I might be taking out a second mortgage on the house to sustain that, so we have to weigh the pros and cons of supporting local and quite frankly right now, it's just not always an option for most people!

We've just got to be able to do better than that, don't we? We have to produce natural fruit that is yummy and juicy and tasty. So what if they aren't a certain diameter and who cares if they aren't all the same perfect shape and colour, shouldn't the taste be more important than how good they look on the shelves?

So, this morning, I pulled out this beautiful big pineapple and then got out my meat cutting board that has a drain around the outside to catch juices, because it's impossible to cut fresh pineapple where I come from without it ending up all over the kitchen. I cut and cut and cut and quite frankly, I could have cut it in my car, on my lap and not got one drop of juice on the seats - there was no juice. How sad, although it actually didn't taste too bad. Nothing like the plum, that tasted like... well, like nothing. Or, the strawberries, that tasted like... well, like nothing. So sad. If I hadn't seen the colour and shape of the fruit, or the name above it in the store "PLUMS", I would not have been able to tell you what I was eating.

My question is, how can we get people to eat better and be healthy if the food they are eating is aweful? Why are we putting up with this?

Hmmm, I'll let you know when I have the answer. But, for now, I'm going to make more nut cream so my fruit can taste... well, like nuts.

Farewell Mac and Cheese

You see, there I go lying again - I told you I needed this blog so I would be accountable! What the title should have read is 'Farewell Mac and THREE Cheeses'. Yes, I am definitely of the opinion that while one is good three is better!

Actually I have never been a huge mac 'n cheese fan. Of course as a child mom made it and I enjoyed it, but then it sort of petered out in the family and I don't ever remember it being the comfort food I would turn too when life got tough.

Sometime ago, I remember my dad being very excited. He had invited me over for dinner and said he had discovered a no-fat mac 'n cheese that was out of this world, I could hear him kissing his fingers while we talked, he was so proud. In my head, the whispering voice said ' low fat, what's the point?', but it was my dad how could I resist?

Of course I raced over to the house picking up some flowers en route for mom and sat down expectantly awaiting this genius of cousine - comfort food that was healthy.

What I got on my plate was a pile of whole wheat macaroni, a few melted stringy bits of cheese and a big slice of grilled tomato on top - it was simply, well, horrendously aweful. My dad looked at me, his eyes sparkling, macaroni shoved into his cheeks chomping away furiously. 'Great, isn't it? And it's almost no calories.' he said with his mouth full.

Oh boy, that was the time I realised I wanted more from a meal. I shoved all of mine under a lettuce leaf and went to make some toast.

Needless to say, whenever mom and dad invite me for mac 'n cheese, I seem to have a prior engagement!

Then a few years ago, I discovered this Martha Stewart mac 'n 3 cheeses from Everyday Food http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/macaroni-and-three-cheeses now we are talking people. This is comfort food at its finest. This is the velvet cheese sauce you could drown every one of lifes hardships in and come out feeling like you have won. This is the food you cosy up to on a cold night when your date stood you up and you've run out of ice cream. This is the food that makes you go weak at the knees for its simple perfection.

So, last night was my farewell to this dish I have come to know and to love. By next week, I will no doubt be drowning out lifes curve balls with celery and a shot of wheatgrass - doesn't quite have the same ring to it as mac 'n 3 cheeses does it?

By the way, a little disclaimer here. I do actually eat salad and veggies with my food, but as I'm about to eat RAW FOOD for 40 DAYS, I'm not going to bore you with the joys of a romaine lettuce, or the delicate curve of a vine ripened tomato. No, there is plenty of time for that. For now, it's about delicious food full of cheese and goo and yumminess.