Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

If you haven't seen Jamie Oliver's television program, where he goes around American schools and American cities and changing the way people think about food, you are missing great information and wonderful insights.

Last night, while Hubby and I craved a rich dessert like the one I'm showing you, we settled for strawberries and cream.  Jamie Oliver's lessons are sinking into our consciousness.  Even mine and Hubby's.  Hubby whipped up the cream with Splenda, and we argued about Splenda afterword.

Why?
Because of something Mr. Oliver stated to a class in the Los Angeles School District. He had a food science class where he showed students what goes into some candies. Would you believe bird feathers?
Yes!
The lesson concluded with this statement:
  "If you don't know an ingredient on a package, don't buy the package!"


So, Hubby researched the ingredients in Splenda, and while he understood the chemical process that provides these ingredients, (after all he is a scientist!), I argued that we were better off just using plain sugar, or better, plain honey.

How about you?
Do you buy packages with ingredients you don't recognize? 

When you are sick of cooking...

When I was a working professional, with a hungry family, I had to be very organized and prepared for days when cooking was out of the question.
Did I pick up food at the take=out places? Yes.
Did I have choices? Yes.

The point is we always have choices. It is just how much energy we are willing to expend to prepare healthy meals.  Even now when I'm retired and have lots of time, I get sick of cooking and planning meals for us two.  I get tired of the same foods; and I get tired of my responsibilities.

So, I do as my ancestors did. I forage.  In the refrigerator. In the freezer. In the pantry. In the garden. Even here on this deck.  Let's do this together, forage on this deck.
Notice lettuces, strawberries, possible tomatoes.
A salad is born.

A can of sardines, or tuna, layered with a slice of cucumber or pickle, on toasted points or saltines, and we  now have a complete meal.  Frozen bananas whirled in the blender with milk or coconut milk, a dash of lavender or almond extract, and dessert is born.
The trick is to think like a hungry paleo woman, foraging,  tasting roots and canes and fruit and adding these to the larder.

Yesterday, I picked some spinach and tender shoots of fava beans to saute and serve with canned beans.
I learned from Jamie Oliver that fava beans leaves are edible! Who knew?
What have you created in your foraging mood?