Diets

I don't think diets are good for anyone. For starters, the word "die" is in it. You only live once. Why complicate your life by eating like a rabbit? They eat their own feces! : [

Just exercise people! Just get ur butt on the treadmill. It releases endorphins and makes you happy.

One last thing...don't eat fast food everyday. I feel like that's pretty sound advice or something like this could happen....

Martha Stewart ATTACK!

I absolutely love Martha Stewart and everything that she comprises, from her humble beginnings of being a caterer to CEO of Martha Stewart Living. I can't count how many times I've used her recipes or scanned her wedding section! She represents the well rounded woman who can be a CEO and Suzie Homemaker at the same time. Martha and her corporation represent perfection in so many ways, with the small exception of her insider trading fiasco...but who really thinks of that incident when she's making mashed potatoes with Snoop Doggy Dog? Come on!

Being a little bit obsessive compulsive and a perfectionist myself, I know that we, the people, who are in the pain in the ass category of the deeply troubled circle of perfectionists truly reach their prime when they can be humbled by their little mistakes...

BRUNCH!

Brunch is by far and away my favorite meal of the week. I can't think of a better way to start off a lazy Saturday or Sunday than with a 12 or 1pm meal at a cute, little sit down restaurant in the Triangle area. One of my absolute favorite dining experiences was at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. Their bread is baked perfectly, soft and moist in the inside and crunchy on the outside. With a smear of french butter and some exotic sea salt, it can't be beat. I had their classic shrimp and grits and it was perfectly cooked. The grits were creamy with a light broth, the shrimp perfectly seared, the scallions were in the correct proportion...it was just DIVINE! Moreover, the Carolina Inn has a really nice old southern like decour. Their dining room is filled with comfortable chairs and booths upholstered with patterned cloths. Although, it could feel a bit stuffy with china on the wall papered walls, the room was light and airy.

Another great place the little Railroad Car restaurant by Weaver Street market in Carrborro. Their brunch on Sunday is great for 12 dollars for all you can eat ---cook in front of you food!

The Essence of Food

Ever feel like we use food to just past the time? When I find myself studying for hours, I usually have a bag of pretzels and a large bottle of water to make the awfulness of studying seem more pleasant. In other parts of my life, I go out for coffee, pastries, ice cream, etc. while at the same time creating these social connections with friends, families, acquaintances. Food is what brings us together and makes these meetings more meaningful. For some odd reason, eating and talking go hand in hand. The most important and moving of all these random interactions is when a home cooked meal is introduced. I can't find anything more enjoyable than cooking with a group of friends while sharing stories and laughter at the same time. When I cook for and with friends, it's a way for me to give a piece of myself, my knowledge, my time, my hands, my infinite amount of love spun into dishes that were meant to soothe the soul. When was the last time you did this?

Beer, La Birra, Bier

Ahhh...icy cold fresh beer from the tap...ooo Newcastle...you are my friend. Beer is an incredibly satisfying beverage next to wine. It goes great with wings, summer barbeques, pizza, great friends, great company, good times. I was listening to NPR the other day and it is reported that the beer industry, especially local microbreweries are doing exceptionally well in this economic downfall that is so comprehensive in our everyday lives. It is great to hear that an industry exists in the US that isn't hurting right now. I guess people drink when the times get hard to make the hard times seem softer. Ales, lagers, IPAs (Indian Pale ales), wheat beers, fruity beers (lambics), what's your favorite?

The Farm Bill affects the

Ever wondered why your cheezy poofs were cheaper than that bag of carrot sticks in the produce isle? Well, it's because the Farm Bill aka the Food Bill creates exorbitant subsidies for agricultural products such as corn and soy beans keeping it's byproducts such as the lovely and tasty high fructose corn syrup artificially cheap and prevalent in many, many boxed goods. Nowadays, I am always AMAZED when I see that there is actual sugar in a product! Sugar people! Good ol sucrose...two C6H12O6 molecules chained together...to create delicious sweets.

So, what does this have to do with obesity? Instead of increasing subsidies for other healthy and nourishing produce such as carrots, or broccoli and preventing the less wealthy families from becoming malnourished, large or already well off farms are thriving by producing products that keep the "middle isles" of the grocery store artificially cheap. Instead of feeding your kids vegetables for a week for about $60, you can feed them junk food and soda instead for $30. As a result, kids of the lower class perform more poorly in school by not gaining the proper nutrients to allow them to physically develop to their fullest potenial. You could venture further into larger social problems such as crime as a result of deficiencies started from childhood and the list goes on and on.

O snap...tastee cakes

Now I will be the first to say that I LOVE Little Debbie cakes. Cream filled, coconut topped, chocolate covered, marshmallow filled, ooey gooey caramel, fudgy, high cholesterol, hydrogenated fats, fake sugar, and inevitably cancer filled little cakes warm my soul. No, I'm not 300 pounds and I do not eat my emotions. I just appreciate the time and effort that I do not have to put forth into making an individually wrapped, essentially perfect made for me little bundle of goodness snack cake. While that is my point of view, others see this differently. Most people see the consumption of snack cakes as a doorway to childhood and adult obesity. What is America's obsession with obesity and it's presumptious accusations against schools, food businesses, and the government? Why does all this blame fall upon anyone and everything else except for the true culprits, the individual adults and the parents?

As a result of increasing childhood obesity, many public schools in NC have taken out vending machines that include many filler snacks and sugary sodas. I don't understand how this is a viable solution conducive to decreasing obesity. A child follows the eating habits of his parents. If the child can't get those filler snacks at school, he'll probably eat it at home and/or bring it to school. Childhood obesity starts in the home and that's also where it has to stop. If anything, I think the absence of those machines bruises the relationships between schools and large companies in the sense that those large corporations such as Pepsi or Coca-Cola sponsor many much needed school-community organizations. Schools in general have enough on their plate as a result of bills such as no child left behind and other hierarchical related problems. Is it really the role of schools to play mom and dad?

As for adult obesity, it is easy to understand that no one is forced into eating fast food five times a day, seven days a week, but does a higher power such as the government have a very small hand in obesity? Of course it does, but that doesn't mean we don't have free will. To be continued...



For the record my favorite snack cakes are the snowballs and cosmic brownies. O delicious sprinkles and fudge...