Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Picture Post III



I was in an Asian grocery store the other day and spied these 'health cookies'. You probably thought it was some other factor of their diet or lifestyle that made them healthy, didn't you?








I found a chocolate that I'm not exactly in a hurry to try   What a waste of good chocolate!
 
You can always pick out the type of car you learned to drive on ... I spotted this Toyota Celica in a nearby parking lot.  Ours was a 1977 silver version and my dad was very patient with me in that Rite Aid distribution parking lot all of those years ago.  When I was learning, I couldn't compute how hard it was to drive and yet how many people could do it.  Only after I drove a car other than a 1977 Celica did I realize how cruel my father had been to me. 


Thursday, April 17, 2014

How to peel a green banana

I've been eating green bananas the past couple of months, usually one or two a day.  I'm after the resistant starch in them there greenies.  Potato starch (aka tooty juice) was fine, but I'm all about whole foods these days. 

Stores seem to be pretty hit or miss with having green bananas out on their sales floor, but I'm pretty sure if you just inquired with a produce clerk at most places they could go in the back and grab you some.  I know we usually had green ones in the back of the store where I worked in Aspen.  

I did happen to find a place here that sells green bananas bagged up and they are super green, as you can see in the video.  Those two in the bag are the last of a bunch of 10 and they are still that green.  I do place them in the refrigerator though.

Most people that hear I'm eating green bananas cringe at the thought.  To be sure, they are not like the ripe yellow ones.  But in all honesty, they really are not bad.  You just have to get in the mindset that you are not eating the type of sweet bananas you're accustomed to.  Think of them as a different food altogether.  

Anyway, green bananas are a little tricky to get open and I've found a good method that I'll share with you in the video below.  Please note that it is not kid safe.






Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Ownership of your health

This is a quote from an article I read in the paper today written by Doctors Oz and Roizen.  It's titled 'Link between a jelly bean and brain drain'
"Say 'no' to palm and coconut oils.  These tropical plant oils containing saturated fat have been at the center of debate for several years now, but a new study settles the spat.  Lose them.  They promote body fat in the worst possible spots:  your abdomen and your liver."

'but a new study settles the spat'  

Imagine for a moment it was in fact that easy.  New studies just settled things.   Things like what foods are healthy and which ones are bad.  Things like what exercises are good for you and which ones are not.  Sure the hell would simplify things don't you think?  I believe people would mostly choose the healthy options, becoming and remaining healthy in order to get on with doing whatever it is in life that makes them happy.  Done and done.

Except, of course, it doesn't work like that.  For like a gazillion reasons.  It would be easier if it did, but life ain't so generous.  You have to take ownership of your own health and well being, and that means you actually have to make TIME to do it.  How much time, where you look for information, which advice you choose to follow ... that is all up to you.  There are no perfect answers, surely as there are no single nutrition studies that 'settle spats'.



PS  Having purchased my first gallon of coconut oil from the Philippines in 2001 and not looking back, according to this new study, my liver and abdomen should have exploded by now.