Accidentally posted this under food safety.... Cross posting health and safety. 

​What would happen if you treated your body as well as you do your car?
 
If you cared for your car like you care for yourself, what type of miles per gallon would you get? Or, would your auto move at all? Take this 10-question CAR CARE TEST and then compare the human equivalent (HEQ) for your body.

1. Do you recharge your car’s battery if it runs low?

HEQ: Do you get enough sleep?

1. Do you refill your car’s gas tank when it is empty?

HEQ: Do you eat meals/snacks at regularly-spaced times throughout the day?

       3.  Do you use the right type of fuel for your car?
HEQ: Do you eat the right variety of foods from each food group?

4.   Do you make sure your car’s radiator has enough water?
HEQ: Do you drink about 8 cups of liquid a day – mostly from water, juice and milk?

      5.   Do you read the owner’s manual to get the best performance from your car?
HEQ: Do you take advantage of opportunities to learn more about healthy eating and other healthy lifestyle choices since we did not come with a manual? Check out this blog and the monthly zoom meeting  others www.choosemyplate.gov, www.eatright.org, https://food.unl.edu/

6.Do you clean your car’s body so it doesn’t rust out?
HEQ: Do you brush and floss your teeth daily?

7.Do you limit your passengers to a number your car’s structure can handle?
HEQ: Do you keep you weight at a healthy level?

8.If smoke poured from your car, would it concern you?
HEQ: Do YOU smoke?

9.Do you give your car regular tune-ups?
HEQ: Do you participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity most days?

10.Do you keep proper pressure in your tires?
HEQ: Do you keep your stress at a healthy level?
 
Sometimes there seem to be a lot of similarities between our cars and our bodies. There are, however, two major differences:

1. It’s easier to replace damaged parts on our cars.
2. We can trade our cars in for a newer model every few years. We have to live with our bodies forever.

Perhaps, after reading this, you feel it’s time for a tune-up to get back on track. Start your engine, rev up your motor and begin caring for your body as carefully as you do your car!
 
source was www.ianr.unl.edu/ianr/lanco/family/ftmar00.htm and is no longer available online. New info on health from this organization is found at https://food.unl.edu/
Revised and brought to you by Dr. Elsa Ramirez-Brisson at Food FUNdamentals
 
           

Cold is a relative thing! 85 degrees farenheit can feel cool to for persons used to the warm waters and temperatures of the Carrabean or 70 degrees farenheit  is a day to put on shorts and sandals for Northern Californians. I drank a lot of this coco while camping on summer nights in the desert where the days are intolerable and the temps drop 40 degrees when the sun goes down. 

Enjoy! The plan is for this book to be in print and available on this website to order before 2021 is haflf over! 

RECIPE Link

Apologies in advance, this is one of my soap box days! So much confusion about nutrition and nutrients when doled out in single food, single nutrient advise vs providing bigger picture discussions. Nurishing the body is done daily, weekly and monthly. It is about averages of weeks not meals or portions of meals. Individual food items pack many nutrients into them, we only talk about the nutrients they provide in large amounts such as oranges and vit C, onions have it too and in some cultures their Vit C comes from onions or potatos with the orange providing  less to the annual contribution.

I started this new year talking about Menudo a soup eaten for celebration, and for breakfast by many. Then I started noticing discussions about it being a high cholesterol food. Depending on the serving size it can have >100 mg of dietary cholesterol, 100 grams of boiled tripe has between 130-170 mg cholesterol. What does that look like? Soon I will have pictures. This soup is as varied as the households and restraunts that make it. Of course it has cholesterol, it is an organ meat and compared to other organ meats, it is actually lower per 100 gram (3-3.5 oz) serving. Others include: liver, heart and kidney all providing more than the 200-400 mg recommended daily average. On the Jan 1st, I promised a month long discussion about menudo, I will be writing a longer post about the nutrient content and the traditional foods often served with it. For now, let me say this organ meat also stands out in it's protein content vs weight at somewhere between 10-17 gms protein per 3.5 oz. serving. 

This sound bite nutrition advise is also used on carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. For example, Liver and eggs have more than 400mg colesterol and if you are anemic or have skin breakdown, the availability of vitamins and minerals in these foods may out weigh the cholesterol. Also, in the absense of cardiovascular disease, family history of cardiovascular disease and you blood cholesterol lab findings, it may not be a discussion point. This takes us back to knowing your medical history and that of your parents, grandparents and siblings. Having disucssions with your primary care team and so much more. 

If this post has peaked your interest, let me recommend a basic nutrition course at a community college,  taught by a registered dieitian. These courses are intended for Physical Educaiton,  Allied Health Majors and community members. I taught it for more than 30 years, I lovingly described the course as Nutrition from A-Z, the  first 6-9 weeks were about single macro and micro nutritents and the second half of the course was about nutrition and the lifecyle. 

Check out national institute of health's education and awareness site

Lauching the new year with Big Colors! it was a cloudy and dark December and I am not just talking about the weather!  I am posting more than one blog for this first day of the year. I have committed to writing more about the foods I cook or find interesting. Let's commit to try  new Vegetable or Legume (or at least something we haven't eaten in a long time) every week in 2021!  p.s. the dragon fruit was very bright but the flavor and texture not much! 

Menudo the breakfast of champions! This year I have found a market with menudo that I find okay. I still think it is best the next day and I buy it without posole so I can add my own.  This post has inspired me to talk about Menudo all month. Like other ethnic foods, you either love it or hate it. I am talking to those who eat it and will talk about variations, nutrition, and other trivia. Menudo, means little pieces and the menudo I am writing about is from Mexico. Menudo is eaten almost weekly, restauants, cafes, butchers and other outlets that serve it generally make it on Sat and Sunday. My grandfather Miquel, went to mass every morning at 5am and on Sundays it was not unusual for him to pop by our house with a pot of menudo, bolillos and sweet bread that he picked up from a bakery. What a treat that happened frequently including restraunts that have a pot going almost 24/7.  More to come with pictures. None today!
​Buen Provecho and Happy New Years Eve!

This year I was inspired to make tamales. It started at Thankgiving with making a cut up turkey for that purpose. Then I had second thoughts and tried a lot of tamales until deciding only my sauce and masa would do this year. 

I am including the small batch recipe I created while visiting Boston over the holidays about 2004. It can be a forgiving recipe and each person adapts it to their taste with time. If making more than you can eat in a few days freeze them when just made. Also if making double batches. I found freezing the raw tamales in a bag the shape of the pot to be used to cook them in works very well. I did that when I was more zealous as well as during my bakery deli days. I like tamales as a quick luch or snack and pack them in 2's for freezing, they microwave well. To heat up steam, or in the microwave. I generally sprinkle a little water on the husk. I thnk it is imporatnt to note that I do not come from a tradition of putting sauces on tamales. I do use syrup with the sweet ones and those are made very seldom. My sweet ones have anise, almonds, and raisins and the syrup is anise and piloncillo. This recipe will not be in my Abuelita cookbook as my mom, aunt, and grandmothers all bought their tamales from the Nuns of Perpetual Adoration, a cloister near their homes. Plus my dad's parents were too busy sourcing all of West Texas and New Mexico with Bunuelos for Christmas and New Year. 

I have definitely been remiss in adding to this blog all Fall. I do love fall although it was rather warm. I spent it swimming and less at the computer. I hope if you are reading this that you too have been moving more than being still. COVID-19 Pandemic has realy changed our activities. As we approach the time of year when the weather keeps us inside. I have been thinking of holiday baking and making more soups.  At the same time keeping it simple! I love cooking but the cleanup is my least favorite part expecially since my right hand person is not up to helping anymore.

Pumpkin and squash soup looks so nice when served in the shell. Buen Provecho!

 
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Thank you, Mrs. Hallow for introducing me to plain yogurt and so many other foods. My favorite afterschool snack was original Fritos with plain yogurt then I tried flaming hot Cheetos with plain yogurt..... I am still eating and making yogurt about the only dairy I do eat.  The dips in the attached file are the ones I do most often. If you haven't noticed I am a firm believer in easy, no recipes and all from a base that is always in my refrigerator or pantry. Spending time shopping for ingredients for recipes is something I really don't do much of anymore (we won't discuss my walls of cookbooks...inspiration). When I make a recipe it is because more than 90% of the ingredients are in my kitchen. I have cooked my whole life and now I am letting the restaurateurs make me the ethnic foods I don't have all the ingredients handy such as Ethiopian, Chinese, Japanese and more. We have reinstituted our weekly eating out adventure and this week it is to Sunnyvale to The Falafel Stop, it is the made-on-site pita bread that pulls me so far north plus we have to go to a Doctor's appointment.

As I sat down to write this the reference below popped into my email about the decrease in hip fractures, the study points to a decrease in "smoking and drinking"  which supports the education about foods that support a healthy skeletal system and increased walking in some groups and improved lifestyle.  Studies have also shown that in some overweight individuals there is increased bone mass, not a good reason to be overweight or obese as with time other bone ailments appear in the knees and hips and cause havoc with adulthood and aging. 

Swayambunathan J, Dasgupta A, Rosenberg PS, Hannan MT, Kiel DP, Bhattacharyya T. Incidence of Hip Fracture Over 4 Decades in the Framingham Heart Study. JAMA Intern Med. Published online July 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2975
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​or click this link
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2768887

Last thought! Skip all the flavored yogurts.... pick a great preserve; add overripe mashed fresh fruit, and more! I make a bagel spread inspired from a local bakery, chopped candied ginger, chopped dates and chopped walnuts or pecans. To one cup of yogurt cheese, you only need 1-2 dates, half teaspoon of ginger and nuts. Best of made the day before but even minutes before it is great.  If adding honey or nut spreads warm slightly to blend in then cool again not much is needed.