McDonalds triumphs again

In the wake of Congress' "pizza is a vegetable" debacle I was happy to see San Francisco's politicians make a move in the right direction. Unfortunately their final rule has such a large loop hole that it leaves me to question the sincerity of their intentions. If you haven't heard the law it goes like this: As part of a Healthy Food Incentives Ordinance, San Francisco legislators passed a law that restaurants are longer allowed to give away toys with kids’ meals that do not meet defined nutritional standards. The meals must have fewer than 600 calories, less than 640 milligrams of sodium, and contain a minimum of a half-cup of fruit and three-quarters of a cup of vegetables in non-breakfast meals. Drinks must obtain less than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars.


Did you catch the loop hole there? They can't "give away" the toys. Never fear! Ever clever Ronald McDonald was ready and waiting with a work-around. San Fran McD's will now sell the toys for an additional (read: measley) 10 cents when you buy a Happy Meal. Burger King is following suit. However Jack-in-the-Box has kindly agreed to comply. (Three cheers for Jack-in-the-Box)!


I appreciate the sentiment of the San Fransisco politicians but they may have been preaching to the choir. People who don't feed their children fast food have already resisted the lure* of the Happy Meal toy. People who do feed their children fast food (for whatever reason) are not going to be diswayed by a tenth of a dollar.


Thanks San Fransisco but better luck next time. Read more about the American Psychological Association's opinion on the issue here.


*I cannot deny the power of those toys. I'm 33 years old and I still have four of my FAVORITE Happy Meal toys (Muppet Babies on bikes and skateboards) on my bookshelf in my living room. In my opinion kids are better off never developing at taste for, and ultimately an addiction too, such high sodium foods - even at the expense of fabulous pop culture knick knacks.

Jamie Oliver: Topher's other Oliver love

Oliver, Topher and I are so ridiculously excited to be named one of two "blogs of the month" by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution! Thank you so much to Jamie and his team for recognizing our little family's devotion to heart healthy living. We've been big fans of the Food Revolution since the very beginning (even handing out the book as Christmas gifts last year) so the shout out from Jamie is truly flattering and motivating. 


A warm welcome our new readers! To get to know us better I recommend the following posts:
A heart healthy lifestyle: How it happened to us After Oliver lost his father to a heart attack we knew we had to take our heart health seriously
Fall Planting: Round Two a peek into our vegetable garden 
Urban Chickens & CAFOS We love one and avoid the other
Everything in Moderation  Including moderation (it's beer fest season!)
Excercise Ya just gotta do it
Brew Day Oliver is a PhD student and homebrewer
Works in Progress Cullen is an illustrator
And Topher too!  Topher is our Maine Coon cat. He loves vegetables. Seriously. 

Thank you so much for visiting our  blog. We hope you'll bookmark it and come back soon. Cheers!
Cullen, Oliver & Topher too

What's for dinner? Homemade butternut squash soup

 

As the days grow shorter and colder it becomes harder for me to think of in-season vegetables. Fortunately the two I always think of  - kale and butternut squash - I also find delicious!


Today Oliver made a big pot of butternut squash soup. He started with a giant squash from YDFM which he then diced and browned (in batches because our baking pan just isn't that big). From there it went into our ceramic lined cast iron dutch oven along with leeks and shallots. Once it was all fairly mushy he added garlic and homemade chicken stock. It was cooked til soft, pureed with the immersion blender and seasoned with cayenne, nutmeg, and cinnamon. For dinner Oliver served the soup drizzled with maple syrup, goat's milk and sliced apples. Plenty for lunch tomorrow too!

Just one cup of cubed butternut squash provides HALF of your daily recommended amount of Vitamin C. It is also high in vitamin A, has a fair amount of fiber, is low in calories (45 cal per 100 g.) and contains no saturated fats or cholesterol.

Nutritional information from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/111690-butternut-squash-nutrition/#ixzz1fLHzeJJj

Dinner from the garden - bibb lettuce with poached eggs

Tonight we ate the biggest, prettiest head of homegrown bibb lettuce for dinner. It was a simple salad: oil, vinegar, shallots, poached eggs, walnuts and some left over red pepper. A perfect dinner to follow a week of heavy holiday eating. 

For dinner last night we finally had left over turkey sandwiches. Delicious!


Tomorrow we're back to YDFM. I want to make a jalapeno, roast butternut squash soup. Oliver will be picking up groceries for our Saturday SEC championship tailgate party at the Georgia Dome. Geaux tigers!

From the comfort of his Macy's shopping bag, Topher would like to wish you a month of easy and affordable holiday shopping! If you're looking for gift ideas for locavores and foodies please check out the gift guide I put together on Etsy. It's full of gorgeous work by other Etsy crafters: click here!

Fall Planting - 4th update

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to a week of "normal" food. That's not to say our Thanksgiving meal* wasn't normal food. In fact it was surprisingly healthy (for Thanksgiving) and comprised almost completely of real food from the farmer's market. The only pre-packaged/processed foods were sugar, flour, butter, a couple of boxes of crackers and a tub of roasted red pepper goat cheese. Everything else, from the cranberries to bread crumbs, were purchased fresh. To meet the non-dairy needs of two family members Oliver substituted organic goat milk almost everywhere dairy was called for. (The exception was the creamed spinach; it was full on dairy loaded with marscapone and cream cheese.) There haven't been any extravagant left-over Turkey sandwiches but we've made up for it with homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast every morning and bowls of oyster dressing for lunch. 


So I guess what I'm really looking forward to is a week of eating light. And what could be better for eating light then enjoying our first homegrown salad of the season! I think one of the Bibb Lettuces is ready to harvest - and the bok choy isn't too far behind. The fate of the littlest bibb lettuces, the ones we grew ourselves from seed, still seems undetermined. I think they may still be too little when the weather finally turns cold (it's 70 degrees now but will be in the 30s by the end of the week). The kale, onions and peppers are doing great. 

  

  

 

*Photo of Oliver's oven schedule for Thanksgiving day. I was so impressed with his ability to organize so many dishes all at once. He really did a perfect (and delicious) job with a very complex meal. Thank you Oliver! I love you.

A Thanksgiving I am truly thankful for

 

 

 

 

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all thru the house...

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all thru the house every creature was stirring, yes even the mouse (no wait, that isn't right, even the cat). Busy, busy, busy! Guests arrive at noon. Dinner for eight adults to follow. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone around the world.

*Topher is eating spinach.
**We're listening to the Fresh Air interview with Jason Segal and Nick Stoller about the new Muppet movie. Which I am SO EXCITED to go see!

What's for lunch? You guessed it - beans!

Admittedly not a gorgeous photo - but that was made up for by the deliciousness of these red beans and rice. A Louisiana dish if there ever was one. Knowing this weekend will be an all out eat-fest I'm doing my best to eat light and healthy now.


Over the last couple of months we've cycled through pinto beans, lentils, black beans and red beans. I really don't know what Oliver will come up with next. But it also doesn't matter - I like all the beans!


Speaking of beans... I LOVE this painting of beans and lentils by my favorite new Parisian artist, Lucille. Click over to her blog to check it out: click here! There seems to be no end to her wonderful watercolors, collages and drawings of food. Super inspiring.