We were having a discussion about summer time being the time when so many fruits are available, and hopefully we are all taking advantage of this. I was thinking of the biology of that situation. In the winter time, at least in the tropical areas of the world, the greens flourish, root crops are abundant, cruciferous vegetables are available, and we can usually get citrus pretty easily. Apples are produced in the late fall and are usually available until spring when the juicier fruits become available. Then comes the glorious spring when the wonderful berries, melons, and stone fruits descend upon us along with the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squashes. What would it take to align this seasonal availability with our appetites?
When I first learned about the living foods approach to diet back in 1983 (at which time I was very unsuccessful at applying it), my mentor told me that vegetables and herbs heal while fruits cleanse. If our bodies could communicate with us, they would tell us what we need at any given point in time. Craving salads? Perhaps our bodies want to do some healing. Can’t wait to bite into those strawberries? Cleansing is the name of the game for us. Of course, our bodies need to do both everyday, so a variety of cleansing and healing foods are good. In fact, my mentor warned, if we eat a lot cleansing foods, our bodies will dump toxins and garbage as fast as it can, welcoming the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, this can be a little unpleasant sometimes for the body doing the dumping! It’s not a bad thing, just an uncomfortable one. She advised me to eat fruits in the morning and stick with vegetables the rest of the day.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since I have been eating A LOT of cleansing foods lately, and my body is definitely glad the long winter of discontent is over. I have had several days in the last few weeks that I only ate fruits. Nothing else seemed appealing to me. I’ve had a few moments of discomfort, but all in all I have a tremendous feel of well being.
I was impressed the other day with how low the stress levels can be when we choose a simpler way to eat. Not only is it less stress on the body, but it is less stress in the food prep area. My granddaughter and I had some appointments in town, and we were going to be gone over the lunch time window. Now any of the other family members, including my grandson, would have thought to pack food. They pack food everywhere they go even if they won’t be gone over a meal time. But not Angelina or I. We just gather the things we need for our appointments, and out the door we go.
Around noon we were getting a little hungry, and I was frustrated thinking of all that food sitting in our refrigerator at home. Why hadn’t I been more prudent or thoughtful? (Truthfully, I NEVER have to think of this because there are 4 others who ALWAYS do it.) But now I was stuck...
We decided to go the supermarket and rummage around in the produce department. They have a nice little organic section as I remember it. (I haven’t been to the grocery store in over a year.) So we looked around for awhile. I gave her a dollar amount to make it more challenging. (She’s the type that would pick out $50 worth of food and pick through it all day long.) She picked out one of those 2 packs of the giant portobello mushrooms, a pack of alfalfa sprouts, and 2 red Bartlett pears (none of which we had at home by the way...smart girl). I got a bag of baby carrots and a carton of raisins (I like that combination) which also contributed to her meal. I also got a hand of ripe bananas. She stuffed her mushrooms with the sprouts and topped them with raisins (I know, weird), and she was very satisfied as was I. Would it have been better to bring food from home? Sure, but it was kind of an adventure for both of us, and we got to have a nice lunch of fresh (I hope), organic, raw fruits and vegetables, and we were none the worse for wear. How easy is that? And we only went 50¢ over our budget! We even had food left over for another meal since she only finished off the mushrooms and the pears. Everything else has been re-purposed. So I guess the supermarket is our new fast food joint! I would have preferred going to the farmer’s market (we don’t have one in our area) or even an independent produce vendor, but none in our area carry organic produce (except us, of course!). So there we are at the mercy of corporate America in spite of ourselves.
We could, of course, have waited until we got home around 3:30. That would not have been a big deal for me, but I’m afraid I would have had a rather cranky little girl on my hands. I’m just not good about remembering that we have to eat. A simple diet suits me better than most for that reason, I suppose. A lot of that has to do with eating addicting type foods. If all of our foods are there to meet the needs of our bodies and not to satisfy addictions, it doesn’t really matter what we eat, and when becomes a lot less important too. It probably should have more to do with our caloric needs than anything else. If I were more active, hunting and gathering would probably be more important to me.
All of that being said, my menus these days are very simple. We did get in some lovely Romaine lettuce from California, so I know we’ll enjoy a couple of salads. Our cherry tomatoes from the garden are fantastic, and I enjoy them as a meal in themselves, but they are great in the salad too especially with some olives. Everyone likes them on top of a cucumber slice with a little queso verde to glue it on.
Speaking of queso verde, the cilantro has all but dried up since it is a cold weather herb, so I am thinking of trying basil in it. Actually, I have been thinking of trying some of my weeds in there. I don’t know why domestic herbs have such a tough time in the summer, but we’ve got weeds like crazy. Some plants obviously love the hot weather. Last year I experimented with quite a few of them in my smoothies, and they were surprisingly not yucky. Maybe I’ll see how they work in the cheese as well.
Smoothies, by the way, are an excellent dinner. They are filling, cool, and very nutritious, especially if you throw some greens in there. My favorite way to make them is with 1 quart jar of frozen banana (we buy a lot of extra bananas on purpose so that we’ll have some to put in the freezer for smoothies), 2 cups rejuvelac, 1 lime zested and juiced, and agave nectar to sweeten if you want it. We also use other frozen fruits if we have and/or want them including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or mango. I like mild greens in my smoothies, like spinach or kale, and I use a large handful. Not as much as some folks, I guess. You can play with the numbers.
Another good dinner drink is a strawberry mylk shake. I use almond mylk as a base for this, about 2 cups, a couple of frozen bananas, and I load up the blender with strawberries. You might need to add some agave nectar as well if you like it as sweet as I do. Of course, chocolate mylk shakes are great too, but I figure they’re not as nutritious as the fruit ones.
Mango lassi is one of my favorites. It is also made with an almond mylk base, and then I load up the blender with frozen mango, one zested and juiced lime, and some agave nectar to sweeten. The recipe calls with cardamon. I like it with or without it. It adds another level of flavor, I suppose.
Another meal we’re enjoying is our cucumber salad. Another great simple easy meal. We slice cucumbers and onions as thinly as possible and mix them with agave nectar, apple cider vinegar, and some pink salt. I don’t know amounts, I just do it to taste, and it probably comes out differently each time. We do love it though, and it is a meal in itself (if you have enough of it).
We’ll probably also have our chili rellenos this week as well: split any kind of sweet (or hot if you’re into that) pepper in half and clean it well of any seeds and membranes. Then smear in some cashew cheese, queso verde is my favorite, and top with anything that suits you. I like them with just the cheese and the pepper, but you might like them fancier. Salsa on top would be nice too.
While I’m in the Mexican mood, I think I’ll make some elotes con crema. These are so delicious in the avocados which are perfect right now. Some of that shredded romaine would make a nice base for that.
I’m not sure what else we’re going to come up with for the week. Maybe some of our customers’ requests will spark something. I know we’ll be making key lime tarts for dessert. I love lime and lemon this time of year.
If you’re still reading, bless you. Thanks for sticking with me. Hoping you have a delicious, light, and cooling week.
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