Is Un-Processed Food a Mirage? We think so...

We have a new look for our Skinny Carib web page: http://www.skinnycarib.com/.   This photo, which opens the page, is called: Mirage, by Carlos Porto.  It invites you to join us in a very real oasis of good food that's healthy, too; to visit our Home kitchen often for trusted information at one "table"--no matter where you reside on the earth or moon.   

Over at the Skinny Carib Pantry -- the blog linked to us here & hosted by the man in the Skinny Carib's life, I took some time to discuss a very serious allergen that we find in many of our beloved foods as packaged and prepared for us by various manufacturers and restaurants.  http://skinnycaribpantry.blogspot.com/2011/04/vive-la-france-maisbe-careful-about.html 

It's meant as a moment of awareness--an opportunity for you to reach through the food mirage and get excited about eating and drinking some really good stuff!!

Fortunately, there are (every day it seems) more and more manufacturers and restaurants who are also committed to this cleaner, fresher food movement.   My local Whole Foods Market gives me a heady-happy rush every time I walk in the doors.  Of course, I also have a thing for food shopping.   I have told MANY loved ones to heed my warnings and to simply drop me off; let me call you when it's over.  Luckily, I've been graced with the blessing of a Pantry Man who enjoys the adventure.  One of Mr Pantry's favourite moments with me was when I--in the midst of "Zen in the art of label-reading"--blurted out:

"What were they before, beans?"   I was referring to the grand announcement on the package of UncleB's: "Converted Rice".   

Beans and Rice, by Carlos Porto

To be honest, the whole idea of processed food doesn't "bother" me.   Great, I have your attention.   The word, when it comes to food in our modern world, is a misnomer.   Somebody had to plant, grow, cultivate, sort, then package and ship for most of us.   And mango pulp or concentrate, no matter how organic is far more processed than a mango you get your younger cousin to climb a tree and retrieve for you.   (On a future blog, we discuss how to read the sticker on your fruit--it tells you by the numbers if it was grown organically!  Keep your "fruit souvenirs"--make a collage on a notebook page; we've much to discuss!)

Haitian Mango, courtesy of Beautiful Haitain Girls FB Page

What we can make a good decision about is choosing foods that are minimally processed.   Or, if more processedfor our convenience, we need to understand that the very ingredient that keeps your pre-shredded cheese from clumping into a ball may be giving you that headache you can't seem to explain.  The more processed a food is, in my humble, healthy opinion, the more critical it is that it be organically grown or free of various chemical or allergenic additives (note some allergens ARE naturally-derived).

Notebook & Pen, by Paul

As I've said before, you might want to take notes. 

Food & Nutrition is as important to your learning about & enjoyment of life as that TV show you've been finding such a treat to kick back and enjoy.   This is not a criticism.   I LOVE TV.  My thesis topic in Grad School allowed me to sit for hours at the museum of Radio, TV and Film in NYC and delight in shows I can't even find on the Classic TV channels.  Yet, as I write more and more of these blogs and my kindly assistants Anna C. [she'll blog about her identity soon enough] and Anna-Bettina (aka Anne Murray in her real life) researches and shares with me a host of web links on nutrition and healing foods, I've found that my DVR (digital video recorder) has become too full and I have to: "Set Show Priority" (their words, not mine :->), so that only my re-runs & "guilty pleasure" shows are "Deleted when Space is Needed".  

How cool is that?  My electronics are telling me that space is needed in my life for health, nutrition, humor, dancing to the songs I post on the blog.   When you get in sync with your Top Goals, your space changes, your To-Do and To-Watch lists get re-prioritized.  The stuff that's not important gets deleted.   

Aren't you glad you are in motion with us?  We dance, we laugh, we cook and we spread the good word. 

And do you want to know exactly what I'm thinking as I write these very words?  "Darn, I'd like to be done with this entry so I can dance to that song on the album by Solace--one of my favourite belly dancing music artists." (Listen for Tassa-style drums if you are Trinidadian and sample the MP3 online).

...okay, I just hit the continuous-repeat button.   Gotta go!