And that’s where the trouble begins.

As much as you’d like to, you can’t possibly consume that much produce in one day, or even two days.  By Day Three, your watercress is wilted, your radishes are ragged, and your berries are bruised.

The National Institute of Health estimates that Americans waste 40% of the food we produce. That’s a lot of food waste in our landfills.  In fact, wasted food is the number one material sent to U.S. landfills each year.

What’s a sustainable eater to do?

Most of us can’t visit the market or the farm every couple of days, so we need to take steps to protect our produce.  Here’ are a few hints to help your goodies stay good:

• Don’t wash your produce before refrigerating.  If your produce is particularly wet when you bring it home, dry it off before stocking the fridge.

• Get rid of any badly bruised pieces.  It’s true what they say…  one bad apple (or lettuce leaf, or grape, etc.) spoils the bunch.

• Contrary to popular belief, tomatoes should not be stored in the fridge as this can cause them to lose some flavor.  Of course, if you prefer cold tomatoes, the fridge is fine–just remember that too much time there can affect taste and texture.

• Potatoes and onions might make a tasty combination, but be sure to keep these items apart during storage.  Onions can absorb moisture from the potatoes and go bad faster.

• Pears, plums and peaches can be ripened in a paper bag, but store in the fridge as soon as they’re ripe.

• If you buy carrots with their leafy greens still attached, break off before storing in plastic wrap in the fridge.

• While berries barely last a day in my house (we eat them too fast!), here’s a good way to make them last longer:  Prepare a mixture with one part apple cider vinegar or white vinegar with ten parts water.  Place the berries in the mixture and swirl.  Drain, rinse, and store in the fridge.  You won’t even taste the vinegar and your berries will last longer.

• Don’t fear the freezer.  Your produce will be there when you need it, and some fruits taste even better frozen!  Freeze grapes for a tasty, cool treat any time.

• If you do find that you absolutely have to throw away your produce, be sure it winds up in the compost instead of the garbage, giving your old produce the chance to grow fresh produce instead of wasting away in a landfill.

So enjoy the bounty this season, and feel confident that your newly purchased produce will wind up nourishing you… and not your trash can!

Yikes. I was 23 years old.

Since there was no internet back then (imagine!), I scoured the libraries and book stores for information on how to lower my cholesterol. Becoming a vegetarian seemed to be a popular theme for that sort of thing, so that’s what I did.

Remarkably, it worked.

I loved the veg lifestyle. It was easy. It was delicious. It was a good conversation piece.

I wanted to learn more.

I soon realized there were many more reasons to go veg than just wanting a lower cholesterol number. What I found out was astonishing.  Vegetarians and vegans tend to live longer, and they have less incidence of many life-threatening diseases.  That was surely reason enough, but there was still much to learn.

During my carnivorous days, I chose not to think about the fact that I was eating what was actually once a living thing… and I definitely didn’t think about how this living thing died so it would wind up as my dinner. The last thing I wanted to do was to picture an innocent cow suffering a violent death just as I’m pouring steak sauce and making yummy noises.

But just because I didn’t think about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

In my quest to learn more about my chosen lifestyle, I learned how, exactly, the animals that we eat die. And it’s not even how they die that is irreprehensible; it’s also how they live.

It isn’t pretty.

It isn’t even humane.

I look at my dog and wonder if she’s much different than a pig or a cow. I shudder at the thought of my dog living her life in a crate that is only two-feet wide, never being allowed to run free or roll in the grass (one of her all-time favorite pastimes).

I can’t bear the thought of my dog being killed while hanging upside down on some assembly line as a metal rod is shot through her brain to (hopefully) render her unconscious so she could have her throat slit and then be chopped up into pieces.

You can’t make this stuff up. This is how 99% of the meat we eat is treated. I think that’s completely unacceptable… and morally disgusting.

We humans should know better.

We humans should do better.

After learning about the ethical issues behind my choice to become a vegetarian, I learned about the environmental impact of our love of meat.

The international meat industry generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation industry. According to research from the University of Chicago, going veg can shrink your carbon footprint by up to 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while trading in your car for a hybrid will shrink it by about one ton. That means it’s better for the environment to ban the burgers than it is to pilot a Prius.

Consider the fact that raising livestock takes up nearly one-third of the earth’s landmass. Throughout the world, trees are constantly being cut down to make more room for pastures, or to make room for farmland (someone’s got to grow all that animal feed). Deforestization contributes to climate change, as does all that animal waste. Yep, animal poop generates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that has almost 300 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide.

Currently, half the world’s crops are fed to livestock, while more than a billion people worldwide are hungry. What if we used all that land that we currently use to raise and feed livestock to grow crops that could feed humans?

Is a Happy Meal really worth all this pain?

All the research concurs. Giving up meat is one of the greenest things you can do as an individual.

Before my meat-eating mates start throwing cage-free eggs at me, let me say one thing. There are my reasons for going vegetarian. You may or may not care about these reasons, or you may feel better with a little meat in your diet. That’s completely up to you. I’m a big believer in free choice.

I have carnivorous friends and clients, and I love them all. If you choose to eat meat, that is certainly your right… but I find it’s my responsibility as a health counselor to work with you so that you eat meat in the most sustainable and humane ways possible.

Meanwhile, I’ll also provide you with the most nutritious and delicious veg meals you’ve ever had, and who knows… One day, you may find yourself writing a blog about why you became a vegetarian.

At least we should…

Truth is, more and more of us are skipping our summer sabbatical for endless weeks of work. We Americans get less vacation time than most other countries, and we don’t even use it all. Expedia.com reported that out of eighteen vacation days, Americans only used fourteen last year. What’s more, American companies aren’t even required to offer paid vacations. Compare that with Germany, where most companies offer about six weeks of paid vacation, and the companies encourage their employees to use all of their vacation days. France requires thirty-seven days of paid vacation, and England requires twenty-eight.

So is this a problem? Isn’t a strong work ethic a good thing?

Absolutely. But a strong work ethic doesn’t mean that we put work before everything else in our lives. That strategy can backfire big time. Working without a break leads to resentment, anger, and can even ultimately lead to disease.  In fact, the Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 and is still going strong today, found that the more vacations the participants took, the longer they lived.

I know, I know.  You can’t take vacation now.  Business is suffering.  Unemployment has skyrocketed.  The economy stinks.  All of that is true.  These are tough times, but believe it or not, that’s precisely why you have to take care of yourself…  now more than ever.  Stress leads to very bad things.  Stress messes with your mind and wreaks havoc on your health.  But if you’re well-rested, you will actually be doing yourself, and your business, a favor.  Well-rested people get more done in less time, they’re more productive, they tend to take fewer sick days, and they feel happier and more creative.  That’s a win for everybody!

Don’t miss out on your life! Take some time for yourself this summer.

Why all the focus on soda?  What’s the story on this carbonated combatant?

“Soda” was first invented in the late eighteenth century.  Carbon dioxide was infused with water to create carbonated water, also known as “soda water.”  As we know, carbonated water is the biggest component of most modern soft drinks.  The earliest sodas consisted of spices and fruit juices.  In fact, drinking this “mineral water” was considered a healthy practice, which is why pharmacists began selling it, infused with medicinal and flavorful herbs.  Soda fountains became quite popular in American pharmacies.  Soon, soda was bottled, and Coca-Cola and Pepsi were invented in the late nineteenth century.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, the ingredients in a typical can of cola probably include:

• carbonated water
• sugar or high-fructose corn syrup (equivalent to 10 packets of sugar)
• caffeine
• phosphoric acid
• caramel color
• other “natural flavorings”

What strikes me most is that one twelve-ounce can of soda contains the equivalent of ten packets of sugar.  That’s an exorbitant amount of sugar.  As a comparison, how many packets do you put in your morning coffee?  Maybe one or two?  Imagine ten!  What’s worse, the average teenage boy drinks twenty-four ounces of soda per day.  That’s twenty packets of sugar in soft drinks alone!

Large amounts of sugar cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin.  This leads to inflammation, which leads to many serious diseases and conditions like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

It’s not only the sugar that makes soda so unhealthy.  Soda is highly acidic, and your body tries to compensate by leaching the calcium out of your bones.  This is why researchers found that women who drank just 3 colas per week had a greater percentage of bone loss than women who drank other things.

And don’t think that diet soda makes it okay.  Artificial sweeteners have so many problems of their own (including the acidity), that we’ll save that for another blog post.

The bottom line…  soda is seriously sorry stuff.

Fortunately, I have some agreeable alternatives for you.  With these groovy guzzlers, you won’t miss those sickeningly sugary soft drinks.

Fruit-infused water
Simply slice your favorite fruit and add it to a pitcher filled with water.  My favorites are watermelon, lemon, lime, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and orange.  Throw a few slices of cucumber in there, along with some fresh mint leaves for a refreshing twist.

Iced tea
This couldn’t be easier.  Steep about 4-6 tea bags (choose your favorite) in 2 cups of boiling water for about 10 minutes.  Remove the bags gently without squeezing them.  Pour your tea into a 2-quart pitcher, and add cold water until it reaches the top.  Let the tea cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge.  If this is too much work, you can fill a 2-quart glass container (with a lid) with water, add 4-6 tea bags, and seal with the lid.  Let the tea sit in the sun for about 5 hours, and then chill.  If that’s too much work, then most stores sell unsweetened iced tea.  Go buy a bottle.

Fruit-infused iced tea
Make the iced tea as instructed above, and add your fruit of choice.

These drinks will provide a superior satisfaction to soda while benefitting your body and satisfying your soul!

Salud!

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I do love this time of year. The farmers markets are packed with fluffy kale leaves, enormous collard greens, just-pulled dusky purple beets, and the other-worldly looking garlic scape. They make me want to take them all home with me!

But I resist the temptation to overfill my bag. There is nothing sadder than droopy greens that I haven’t been able to get to. After all, at this time of year there is a market practically every day so there’s no need to get more than a few days worth of goods.

Last week, at the Morristown Farmers Market, my favorite organic farmer did not disappoint. And after a quick chat with Karley, the farmer, I ran back to my apartment to peel, grate, chop and steam my way to a fabulous meal.

Here’s what I did with this week’s catch:

First, the collards… I put on a pot of salted water, which I brought to a boil. After stripping the leaves from the thick stems, and ripping the leaves to large bite-sized pieces, I quickly blanched them. When they turned a bright green, I took them out.

Then the beets… I trimmed off the leaves and stems and peeled them. I quickly grated them with a box grater and tossed them in a bowl with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and a bit of agave and salt.

Finally, I tossed the greens with the beets. That’s it! The collards are chewy and herbaceous, the beets are sweet, crunchy and a bit tart. I just happened to have some eggs from my friend Pat’s chicks, so one of those poached on top made my lunch.

Now, I’d love to hear from you. What did you do this week with your farmers market catch?

About Chef Judy: Judy Mancini has been cooking for over 25 years. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, she has worked for and owned restaurants in NYC and a gluten-free baking company in New Jersey. She was the chef at the Unity Charter School, known for its vegetarian lunch program, for the past 8 years. Judy has received the Golden Carrot Award from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Judy loves to roam farmers markets, and hates to wear an apron. She currently lives in New Jersey with her two children.

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In this podcast, we’ll answer those questions and many more!

Also included in our discussion:

• what the studies say
• Vitamin D’s role in the prevention of disease
• Vitamin D and depression
• testing your Vitamin D levels
• how you can avoid a Vitamin D deficiency

As always in Chatter That Matters, we’ll provide practical solutions and how-to’s so you can be empowered to live a healthy and happy life!

Thanks for listening!  Now we’d like to hear from you.  Do you supplement with Vitamin D? Have you ever had your levels tested?

Be sure to hop on our iTunes feed here!

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It’s no wonder, really. I grew up with music.  My dad was in a Doo Wop group in the 50′s and early 60′s (Doo Wop shows are still a part of my life to this day), we saw about a dozen Broadway musicals every year, and my college dorm room was covered wall to wall with Bruce Springsteen memorabilia.

But then something strange happened.

I had children.

Suddenly, there was no time for music.  I was buried ih binkies and blankies, knee-deep in diapers and drool.   Unless music was sung by a furry red monster with a really high voice, I didn’t listen to it.  Music became a luxury that was no longer practical, like my old Pontiac Sunbird convertible.

And then, something strange happened again.

My kids got older.

And suddenly, they wanted to listen to music. Their tastes ran from Broadway soundtracks to the latest teeny-bopper pop to my husband’s favorite folk singer. We sang loudly together when we listened in the car. We danced together while we played music in the living room.  We teared up together at a particularly sad song.

The return of music in my life was like the return of an old friend. I didn’t realize just how much I missed it until it came back.

Turns out there are valid reasons for my feelings:

• Research has shown that there are actually therapeutic benefits of musical rhythm. A faster beat can bring about sharper thinking, while a slower beat can bring about greater relaxation.
• Another study showed that listening to soothing music twice per day for two weeks reduced stress and anxiety levels.
• Music can help reduce heart rate and blood pressure.
• Music can help enhance exercise. One study even showed that people who listened to music while exercising had better weight loss results.
• Music promotes optimism and positive thinking.  Listening to music can actually make people feel better about themselves.

Whether it’s Bach or rock, Motley Crue or the blues, music is a must for maximizing your mojo!

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So what’s a groovy gal to do?

I decided to take the cilantro by the stems and have a plant-based party at my house!

I invited some colleagues of mine because we don’t get to spend a lot of social time together.   This was the perfect place to do double duty…  socialize AND try out some new recipes… all dairy-free, gluten-free, and made with organic, whole-foods!  Some of the highlights included:

• spinach salad topped with mixed berries and slivered almonds
• carrot-coconut soup (recipe below)
• raw strawberry-vanilla pudding  This was spectacular!  You would never guess the base is avocado!  Truly nutritious and delicious!  My husband gobbled up the left-overs and volunteered to eat some more should I decide to make it again.  I will definitely make it again…  and soon.

So, the soiree was a success!

Either my guests loved the meal, or they were really good actors.  And here’s the icing on the vegan cake;  I became a lady who lunched…  on my own terms.

Carrot-coconut soup (serves 6)

Ingredients:

6 carrots, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1 T fresh ginger, minced

2 C veg broth

1 C water

3 t curry powder

2 cans coconut milk

2 T cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

Simmer carrots, onions, and ginger in vegetable broth/water mix, until all veggies are soft.

Add mixture to blender and puree.

Return to pan and stir in coconut milk.

Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with cilantro (salt and pepper if needed) and serve.

 
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Just for fun, I post pictures of my green juices on Facebook.   Perhaps I need a new hobby, but I like to read my friends comments.  Today’s were particularly good.  One friend encouraged me to add rum.  Another friend suggested Pinnacle vodka that tastes like a creamsicle.  And yet another friend simply asked…  Why?

That one is easy.

Do I do this because I love the taste of green juice?  Can I be honest?  You already know the answer to that, my perceptive peeps.  I like the taste of green juice but let’s be real…  a creamsicle it isn’t.

Do I do this because I like a good challenge?  Not anymore.  There was definitely a time in my life that I did things simply to prove to myself that I could (triathlon comes to mind, as does drugless childbirth).  But I’m over that silliness.

So why do I do this?

I do this for one reason only.

I do this to reach a goal.

It’s a means to an end.

My goal is to detox from a winter of cold-cutting comfort food.  My goal is to enhance my energy.  My goal is to live a little lighter.

Sometimes we have to do things that we don’t necessarily like, simply to reach a goal that is meaningful.  If you want clean clothes, you have to do laundry.  If you want a clean kitchen, you have to do dishes.  If you want a clean body, you have to drink green juice.

When I find my drive dwindling, I re-focus on my goal.  Putting my energy on where I want to be… as opposed to where I am…  multiplies my motivation.

So the next time you’re struggling through a detox, or a job search, or even a bad date…  keep your eyes on the prize.  Focus on your goal.  Put your energy on your end-result, rather than on the steps you need to take to get there.

You just may find you’ll get there faster.

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Stress doesn’t just affect our mood, it also affects our bodies.  In this podcast, we discuss the negative impacts of stress to our health, including:

Thanks for listening! Now, we’d like to hear from you… how do you handle stress?

Also, make sure to hop on our iTunes feed here!

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