Ed. Note: The debate over organic produce vs. conventionally grown produce is constantly in flux, making it really hard to decipher what the truth is. I don’t claim to have the de facto bottom line, but I have come to a few conclusions…so far. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. And if you enjoy articles like these, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit. Thanks.

If you’re concerned with what you eat, you are bound to run into the ongoing argument surrounding conventional vs. organic produce. Stepping into the food fight of thought on the subject is like stumbling into a game of grown-up Dodge ball, with people on both sides hurling 30-pound watermelons of opinion at their opponents, with you somewhere in the middle just trying to buy a couple of limes.

While the battle might be engaging, in my estimation the truth about the healthfulness of organic vs. conventional from a statistics perspective is surprisingly simple:

Like life on Mars, I don’t think anyone really knows for sure what the truth is. Even if they think they do. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

For many of us, Friday night means either one of two things: Ordering takeout so that you don’t have to cook, or going out to eat - so that again, you don’t have to cook. However, with two kids, in our home sometimes even just getting out of the house is more than we want to do at the end of the work week. And where we live, the delivery options are limited to $20 bucks for a warmed cardboard pizza box full of questionably preserved meats, a random mushroom or two, and some packets of powdered cheese to soak up the orange-ish grease.

(Granted, a few years ago, that would have sounded appetizing.)

Really, on Friday nights it comes down to having something easy, and increasingly these days, cheap.

With that in mind, there are a handful of low cost essential dishes that I think everyone should know how to make more or less from scratch: a simple vegetable (or chicken) soup, a basic vinaigrette, and a quick and easy homemade pasta sauce. If you stock the ingredients for these items in your pantry or refrigerator, you can cover just about any impromptu dinner gathering or simple, end of the week meal at home with very little effort. Of course, if you have room on that Visa card you can also cover it, but this is a lot more fun, and interest-free (please note the restraint in not using the word “priceless” in that description). Read the rest of this entry »

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If you are new here, welcome to Almost Fit. This is a special edition of Thursday’s Real Food Resources. Usually This slot is reserved for books, sites, and so forth that are full of pointers to real food. In this case, it’s just one - based on a personal experience this week. If you enjoy this article, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing. Thank you.

You never know how the pathways that weave their way through our lives will converge. Yesterday while having a morning cup of coffee I was pointed to an excellent resource for figuring out what real food is. As I mentioned recently, I’ve found that sifting through the massive, slanted messaging that surrounds us to try to figure out exactly what I should be eating is a monumental, but critical, challenge.

Our son Jonah attends a cozy Montessori school here in Oregon 5 mornings a week. As part of the Montessori philosophy of community involvement, we often get together for what amount to “morning socials” with other parents. And although I tend to want to avoid them, I decided to go this time. (Ha..imagine that…a writer who just wants to sit at his desk and write rather than talking to, you know, people.)

In conversing with other parents at Jonah’s school, it has become increasingly clear that we’re not the only ones who are interested in finding whole food alternatives to industrial products. One parent has provided a resource for fresh milk; another for fresh eggs; and several of us are now sharing planting starts for our home gardens. Well it turns out that one of the parents that we are getting to know is also more than just interested in the subject; she has invested her life in the science of food, medicine, and health as Read the rest of this entry »

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Ed. Disclosure: This entry is not really food related (well, dog food I suppose), but I just had to share it with my friends who are reading this site. Part of the purpose of Almost Fit is documenting my life’s changes as I lose weight and get in shape, and while this truly has nothing to do with that, it is part of my life… OK OK, I’ll admit it: that last sentence is what is called, “a stretch.” This has nothing to do with Almost Fit. But hear me out.

This morning I had a little reminder of just how old I am (at least I HOPE it is age related).

To buy dog food I generally go to the farm supply store, which I did this morning after I dropped Jonah off at preschool. In fairness I looked kind of haggard - I was up until 2AM last night working to make a deadline, as I have been doing for a week now, so this morning I skipped the shower before I left in favor of a few more minutes of sleep.

At the farm supply store, in the dog food area there was an average mid to late teens-looking girl, stocking the dog food shelves. Let’s call her, “associate.”

Associate: “Can I help you find anything?”
J: “[distracted] - Uh, no…I’m fine, I think I found it.”
Associate: “What were you looking for?”
J: “Well I came here for dog food, but Wow - there are Chicks here!”
Associate: [with a teen look of what-everrrr on her face] “Uh, OK…?”
J: “Man I’ve gotta bring my son back here, he’ll love this!”
Associate, silent, eyebrows raised and looking away, presumably reaches for her pepper spray…
J: “Oh and my wife too!”

Realizing the tension, I grab the dog food and leave quickly.

Here’s the thing: there were horse troughs, right there, full of baby chickens and ducks, cheeping and hopping away. You know, CHICKS? On my way out of the store, dog food in hand, I thought to myself that had I instead said Gallus Domesticus Infantus, maybe I would have sounded less creepy, but I think in general using Latin names is in itself it’s own veritable creep-fest.

Ah, to be old and crusty among the young and naive.

There’s your Monday morning story.

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

This week’s recipe is a relatively new one for us - SautĂ©ed chicken in a late harvest Moscato sauce. We don’t buy sweet wines very often, but we had an open bottle from a recent visit with friends, so April decided to experiment. The preparation was simple, and the results were outstanding.

Late harvest dessert wines are also sometimes referred to as Icewine. Dessert wines tend to be sweeter (the obvious) and are often slightly thicker in consistency. I’ve read elsewhere the term, “viscous,” which is a good way to describe it, and is one of the keys to the success of this dish.

Dessert wines are kind of a breed of their own, and range widely in price. Our late harvest Moscato came from Trader Joe’s - not particularly expensive by any means, but very drinkable. For cooking purposes, I wouldn’t use “the good stuff” - meaning expensive imported sipping dessert wines. A lower priced American dessert wine is more than reasonable. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ed. Note: Today’s entry is a new feature that I’m introducing on Almost Fit. If you enjoy this site, please consider sharing it with your friends and subscribing. Thanks.

In the months since I’ve started writing this blog, it has become clear that many of us would love to eat real food, but these days its hard to even tell what real food is. Sad to say, packaging messaging on food products means next to nothing thanks to the industrial food production houses that now brand everything as Organic, or even worse, Natural (which literally has no meaning in terms of food quality).

With that in mind, I am going to start sharing the resources that I’ve found for eating real food. I’ve been addicted to books on the subject for quite some time now, and thought I would share with you some of the latest additions to our food library. I’m going to address the core books that I have read on the subject over the next few weeks including titles by Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food, Omnivore’s Dilemma), Nina Planck (Real Food), Will Clower (The Fat Fallacy, The French Don’t Diet Plan), Mirielle Guiliano (French Women Don’t Get Fat), and many others. I’ll also start sending out links on the subject, as the Web is full of great resources. But in the mean time I’d like to share a few new titles that I’m excited to get into.

The books in the photo arrived in the mail today, and I can’t wait to get past my current work deadline to really dig into them (believe it or not, I consider reading books like this a reward for working my day job).

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, is a well-known staple of information on eating real food, but up to this time I’ve been borrowing a copy from a friend (Thanks E.! — You can have your book back now!). It was definitely time to order our own copy. I can’t wait to mix flour into the binding of this book through use in the kitchen.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a new book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois that I’ve read good things about on Wise Bread in this article: Book Review: Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day. As many of my friends know, my standard joke about quitting my day job to pursue another passion often includes “baking artisan breads” as the retirement career of choice, in a dream world. I know its not all that glamorous (and quite frankly looks like a TON of early, early morning work, as a job), but it represents that “when I retire I’m gonna’ ” vision that we all have (or should have).

And finally, Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor and Katherine Whiteside is probably the one I’m most excited about. The description says, “From the owner of the famed Le Gamin restaurants, a guide to living as the French do, with simple elegance and effortless charm.” The book is beautiful, with recipes that sound incredible and descriptions of everyday things that enhance the flavor of life.

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy, please consider using my Amazon links, here, which will roll a couple of pennies my way (literally) if you decide to purchase them:

• Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living
• Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

I’m hoping to set up links to Powell’s Books soon as well, but for now here you go. I will give a full report on my impressions as I get to them.

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If you’ve been reading Almost Fit, you know that my approach to weight loss has been to abandon a lot of conventional “dieting” advice. In addition to fruits and vegetables, I’m eating a fair percentage of fat, carbs (in addition to the fruit), and chocolates - all in moderation. These choices coupled with a complete avoidance of all industrially produced low fat/nonfat/low carb products, soda (diet or otherwise), and eliminating the regular consumption of beer, and it has worked - I am at 23 lbs lost for the year, and counting.

That said, I’ve been stuck on a weight-loss plateau here for a couple of weeks - a sensation that I’m uncomfortably familiar with from years of trying every weight-loss program that would accept a pile of nickels. (South Beach Diet? Check. Diet Center? Check. I could go annoyingly on.) Of course, I am continually reminding myself that I am not dieting, so “plateau” isn’t really a concept that should fit into my mental picture, but if you’re a reformed career dieter like me, its going to enter your headspace from time to time. And it has.

My scale talks to me. I may need help.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Ed. note: This entry is in lieu of the weekly recipe that is featured on Fridays here on Almost Fit. The recipe will return next week. In the mean time, if you enjoy Almost Fit, please consider subscribing or sharing the site through your favorite social network. Thanks.

It is no secret that Pacific Northwest winters are notorious for their extended gray days in the winter and spring months. Of course, if you’re from Arizona or Southern California, “notorious” is indeed the correct word. However if you ask the content, web-footed long-time residents, “famous” might be a more common term.

Believe it or not, while it may just be the seasonal depression talking, I can tell you that the daily variety of wild Northwest weather that makes the entire landscape glisten in sparkling green kind of grows on you. Frost, fog, light drizzle, sunshine, then drizzle again, then hail, then sun again for a few minutes, then early evening darkness, is a common daily combination of weather and light from November through May. Sprinkle in a handful of oddly timed freezing days, a flour-dusting of snow, and a pinch of the even less predictable - the unseasonably warm days, and you have a Wedding Planner’s cake-melting nightmare.

(As a piece of general advice, Northwest weddings are best planned in the beautiful out of doors in the summer, with an indoor facility close at hand just in case.)

But this piece is not about weddings. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is standing in for the weekly Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. The usual format will resume next week, but as a reminder, if you enjoy Almost Fit, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

The Downtown Portland Farmer’s Market at Portland State University has opened this year, so rather than focusing on a recipe for the weekend I’m going to be documenting our visit on Saturday to the market via photo report. So in lieu of the weekly recipe, I am posting a video of one of my favorite podcasts: Good Food with Evan Kleiman.

In this episode, Evan presents a very simple but absolutely delicious recipe for Mushroom Soup.

Evan’s format typically starts at the Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica, CA, to see what’s fresh each week. However, in this episode she is cooking from her restaurant, Angeli. Her self-described theme for this recipe is “Cooking from Trader Joe’s.” It is well worth watching, and trying!

Who is Evan?

Evan Kleiman is a successful food maven and restaurateur in the Los Angeles area. She is also the very gracious and knowledgeable host of the Public Radio program, Good Food which is presented by one of the most influential Public Radio stations in the country, KCRW. She’s also got an atypical background for such a successful and respected chef. For an interesting (and inspiring) read on what it takes to become a chef without following the traditional route, check her bio out, here.

http://www.angelicaffe.com/allAboutEvan.html

And now, on with the show

Almost Fit’s Friday Fit recipe will return to the usual format next week. In the mean time, keep an eye open for the Farmer’s Market report that I’m writing this weekend!

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it through Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook, or any social media site you follow. Thanks.

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This article is part 2 in a series. The first article is here: “Retrain Yourself on Food Portion Sizes - Part 1.” If you enjoy this series, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit or sharing it with others via Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook, or your favorite social media tool. Thanks.

In case you haven’t been on speaking terms with your scale for a while, or you’ve been avoiding all forms of news and information in favor of continuing to blindly support that questionable Krispy Kreme investment, it may come as a surprise to you to learn that we Westerners have a bit of a problem with our weight.

(And yes, that last statement is my official entry for the Understimator of the Year Award, which I have a sneaking suspicion is somehow tied to the Darwin Awards.)

In the, “what the heck is wrong with what we’re eating” category of Almost Fit, today’s article is part 2 of the discussion of portion size. And I’m going to reveal the spoiler for this series, so look away if you don’t want to know the truth: The portion guidelines I’m going to list at the end of this series probably won’t work for you (at least not at first, if you’re anything like I was 6 months ago). Read the rest of this entry »

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