Make Your Tummy Happy Again!

Food, health, and few recipes.

I have a good relationship with food as in—I love it!

Yesterday it snowed even more than the other day when I had the girls here. This is “cooking weather” in my world as much as it is writing weather. Often one precedes the other. I like to have a pot of something on hand when I plan on spending extra time in front of the computer.

I also like to cook when I feel unsettled and I always feel a bit “off” after the girls are here and then gone again. And it’s not so much that I want to eat—I want to cook!

I like the rituals of chopping and sauteeing and letting things simmer. I like to listen to Audible books or podcasts or music while I do. I like to work love and magic and nourishment and intention into it—kitchen witchery.

I would also like to refine my figure a bit. When I last stepped on the scale I wasn’t thrilled with the numbers. Conversely I find that when this is the case for me I actually need to be eating more. More frequently and more mindfully. I also need to be moving a bit more to utilize those nutrients and send them where they need to go.

Things as basic rules when it comes to food shopping in my home: whole foods, little to no additives, good fat, eggs, protein, seasonal veggies (into the root ones right now: carrots, potatoes, beets, and squash). Warm food to offset cold weather. It’s better for my digestion and metabolism.

I ignore “conventional” dietary “standards” as well as “fad diets” and I eat more like my ancestors would.

Food matters. And so many people know so little about it. I happened to catch an interview on Fox news on Tune In with Max Lugavere this morning. He is a renowned author and dietitian, and they were discussing our relationship with food and what needs to happen to "Make America Healthy Again." The phrase that RFK Jr. made popular when he joined the Trump campaign and in his appointment to Secretary of health and human services (HHS).

Ideas being mentioned are the fact that over 60% of food consumed in the US is processed and that the majority of SNAP purchases are for soda. There is still confusion about the health benefits of eating certain foods such as eggs, something Lugavere cites as being a multi nutrition source, but we have been "warned off" by mainstream advice for years due to their propensity to "raise cholesterol". (In reality it is the inflammation caused by processed foods, including so-called "low fat" foods that creates problems.)

They were also talking about incentivizing companies to produce healthier foods and removing subsidies from big corn production companies and diverting them to supporting growers who are producing whole foods.

They then "gently touched" upon the idea that pharmaceutical companies are "keeping people ill." Ughhh yea. And the nepotism that occurs between the industry and its direct route to high positions in regulatory fields, that  is "setting the tone" for what we have come to accept as "nutritional science."

I personally find this all very exciting. Is it perfect? No, of course not. But we are experiencing a pandemic of chronic illness in the US with children of younger and younger ages being diagnosed with preventable illnesses such as early onset diabetes.

And, as stated in the podcast, this is an "environmental issue" whose effects are "bringing down the health of our nation."

Invigorating times, I say!

My mother impressed “healthy eating” on me as a child. The community I was raised in grew a lot of their own food and it was part of our community service to help weed, harvest, and store it. Though I resisted “healthy eating” for a while growing up, I had a great baseline to return to when I was ready to stop attempting to exist off of “Doritos” and “Mountain Dew” aka: toilet bowl cleaner and red and yellow dyes and corn byproducts. In all honesty, I quit soda before I quit meth because if I was going to be “poisoning” myself…damn it! I was going to do it “mindfully”. Mmm yeh.

Anyway….now I love to cook. I cook for me, for my lover, for the granddaughters, for anyone who walks through my door pretty much.

Someone left this comment under my post of this food last night:

“The way you eat just makes you so trustworthy!!”

I love this. It’s a fascinating association and an amazing compliment.

I eat in a way that I find nourishing and with that intention here are the recipes for the dishes I created yesterday. I don’t measure exactly. I cook by sense and taste. And these dishes were all for just me so the measurements are for 1 or 2 people.

Turkish eggs, apple crisp, and stuffed butternut squash.

Turkish Style Eggs:

A handful of cherry tomatoes, seasoning, and a splash of chicken broth combined in a small cast iron skillet and placed in a toaster oven set to broil. Allow to cook until soft then smash with a fork. I then added 2 eggs and put them back into the over until softly basted (maybe 6 minutes) served with sourdough toast. This can also be done on the stove top and a great shortcut is to use canned tomatoes or tomato soup.

Apple Crisp:

I made this in a little ramekin and it would serve 2 perfectly. Peel and dice 2 apples, sprinkle with a tsp(ish) of sugar, and a generous amount of cinnamon, ginger, and freshly ground cloves. The crumble is a generous tablespoon of butter, and a couple tbsp of oats and flour in equal measure. Mix by hand with room temperature butter until combined. It will be lumpy and sticky. I added Hazenuts today because that was the nut I had (fucking delicious!) spread over the apples bake in the ramekin at 350 for 50 minutes or until crumble is crispy and apples are tender. Top with homemade whipped cream!

Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash:

I found this recipe, had the squash and a half package of sausage so I wanted to try it even though I used some substitution. Halve and bake butternut squash until tender. Saute onions and garlic, brown the sausage, then remove from heat. Chop arugula and wilt in  the warm mixture and add cranberries. The recipe called for spinach which I didn't have. Also was out of nuts, so instead I reserved the seeds from the squash, sauteed those in butter, cinnamon, and chili flakes. Spread the mixture into the squash “pocket” for an extra fancy squasage presentation you can top with feta or cheese of choice.

Aside from the eggs, I only nibbled at the other 2 dishes, so that is what I will be eating here soon. They are all so good and super nutrient dense!

Mmmm...mmm!

"Feed me, Seymore!"

Lotsa love and happy eating!

~Justice