Graffiti in Petaluma Has Winning Accessory Menu

I've never heard of a restaurant serving accessories but I'm glad that Graffiti in Petaluma does. My mother-in-law took me there and I ordered Beet Kim Chee ~ Red and Gold Beet Kim Chee with Japanese Cucumbers ($3).

In my younger years, an accessory would have been a pair of red high heels. These days, I am thrilled when it includes fresh and delicious vegetables.

I can honestly say that this may be one of the best salads that I have ever had in a restaurant -- filling, fresh, lively, zesty, perky, colorful. I could have stopped eating after that dish and been quite satisfied. But I ordered soup and cornbread.

The roasted artichoke and mushroom soup was very tasty but didn't wow me the way that the Kim Chee (I spell it Chi) did. The grilled jalapeno cornbread, another accessory which I'd liken to a too-large purse, was big enough but lacked any jalapeno kick. It would have been better off left on the plate.

Eating outdoors, facing the Petaluma River, was relaxing but the weather got quite warm despite the much-needed shade. Cherry sorbet was the perfect end to the meal but not quite as satisfying as the beginning.

I would go back to Graffiti again at lunch time and see what's on the Graffiti Tapas part of the menu. My mother-in-law who took me for a belated birthday lunch had scallops served with an artichoke heart. She thoroughly enjoyed it but it's certainly not my cup of tea (or small plate).

My recommendation is to check out the accessories (I guess that these are sides) when you visit and think of them as possibilities for a meal -- so it may be best to wear your little black dress, as it goes with everything.

Ubuntu in Napa: When the Timing is Right

Sometimes there are evenings that have a touch of magic. I think that my dinner with my friend Fran Costigan, the alternative dessert diva, was one of them.

Fran and I both presented at the McDougall Celebrity Chef weekend, and we were tired. It had been very warm outdoors and for that I am thankful. Due to the heat, we decided to get a patio seat at Ubuntu, a "community-focused, vegetable-inspired" restaurant in downtown Napa, the next county inland from the Sonoma County paradise in which I live.

The hour's drive to the restaurant was about all that I could handle with my degree of dragging. But sitting outdoors, surrounded by flowery landscaping and candlelight, changed my mood. And, spending time with Fran was great.

We perused the menu, and as we did so, I saw the waiter sashay by with a flowery salad. I asked what it was, and was told that it was the Carta da Musica. I knew that shortly we'd be eating that gorgeous creation, described as a salad from "snout to tail." The delicate flowers and creative greens which include a French ice plant with a snappy, salty bite (name now forgotten), herbs and arugula was as tasty as it was delicious. It's served on a Sardinian flatbread, with or without truffled pecorino, and the most incredible Trumpet Royale "pancetta", which was incorrectly described as black trumpet mushrooms by both the waiter and chef. But the lightly fried, paper-thin slices of mushrooms that had been smoked had both the mouthfeel and flavor of bacon. Hmmm, may I have a plate of those non-McDougall mushrooms please? (After all they are plant-foods, aren't they?) The pig was surrounded by "dirt" made of dehydrated beets and hazelnuts. I can almost guarantee that you've not had anything like this before.

Along with our salad we had a couple of "tastes" of wine, which are 2 ounce pours for a reasonable, by Napa standards, price of $4 to $6. Perfect amount of wine, especially for the driver.

After the salad we looked at the menu again and ordered the pizzetta. This one had borage (a cucumber-tasting blue flower) tapenade and vegan cheese, for us.

While we waited for our pizzetta, we were served a highly artistic beet dish, compliments of the house, that was incredibly tasty, albeit a bit too precious for my taste. The cubes of gold and red beet with flowers, beet chips and a rhubarb relish made for tasty bites but just bites they were. It may have been an amuse bouche but wasn't presented as such.

And then our pizzetta arrived. It was perfectly cooked and the flavors were bright, with the borage topping made from local Sevillano olives a perfect foil for the perfectly cooked crust. The vegan cheese was a did not distract from, or overwhelm, the wonderful flavors of the fresh summer vegetables. It is just how I like my pizza, crisp crust, light topping and vegetables plus herbs.

The end of the meal was as much a highlight as the beginning. I believe that the dessert that we had was called a "creamsicle" but it's not like any that I've ever had. I never cared for creamsicles so was reluctant to order this one. But I am glad that we did. My description (no photo, sorry, my camera battery died and Fran shot photos. It was too dark by dessert.) will not do it justice.

On the bottom of the glass were beet tapioca pearls, with an intense red color. They were topped with orange sorbet. Mineral (or other fizzy) water was poured over those 2 elements, creating a textured, cold, creamy and spritzy dessert. You have to experience it to get what it's all about. I can just say, that as a mostly non-citified woman at this point, I don't often order $9, non-baked desserts, but I'd get this one again. It was light and delicious and thank goodness, it's nothing like a "creamsicle" except for the orange flavor.

The food and atmosphere of Ubuntu are top notch although the service left me flat, despite our perfectly sweet waiter, named Jeremy, same as the chef, who has a lot to learn about ingredients and wine. Total tab, without tip, for 2 tastes of wine plus a glass, one salad, pizza and dessert was $60, which may fly in Napa or NYC but it's a bit rich for my Sonoma County blood.

I will be going back and we'll see what kind of vegetable treats and tricks Chef Jeremy Fox has up his sleeve in the deep of summer, with all manner of vegetables at his disposal.

If you're going to be in Napa be sure to make reservations and check out their vegetable-inspired cuisine.

Ubuntu also has a yoga studio upstairs. I think that a perfect day for me would be staying at the eco-friendly Gaia Hotel and Spa in American Canyon, taking a yoga class and eating lunch at Ubuntu, and sometime later getting a spa treatment. Something to consider.

BTW, within a day or two, the hot weather vanished and a night on the patio without a jacket would have just been impossibly chilly. So, timing is indeed everything.

Life is for the Living and You'll Be A Long Time Dead

I know that this blog is about food but it's also about life and living it well. And despite the fact that I am a Registered Dietitian, writer and a host of other things (some of which I will not discuss), I may have missed my calling in the philosophy department. In all my years of school I did not take one philosophy class but somehow I manage to espouse my ideas almost daily.

The title of this post however is dedicated to my father who just passed away last week. Those were his words, and with that in mind, I'd like to share a little bit about my Dad, Bernie.

Bernie loved to eat, and when you look at photos of him over the years, you can tell when he really liked to eat food that was not very good for him, as he looked heavy. When he was in his 50s, he likely had a silent heart attack, confirmed later by doctors. He wanted to know what to do so my sister sent him Dr. Dean Ornish's first book on reversing heart disease.

My father was a voracious reader and a bit of a fanatic, so he followed Ornish's advice for quite some time. After doing so when he went back to the doctor, he'd managed to regrow capillaries to his heart. My Dad was also into exercise and used the Nordic Track like a madman for many years.

He'd often ask me for advice regarding what to eat and saw how I followed a vegetarian diet and leaned in that direction.

Luckily as he got older, he slowed down just a bit on the exercise and got a dog, a Boston terrier named Sweetie, that he walked daily until just a few months ago. He also mowed the lawn often, which was a lot of work on more than an acre of property.

After the Ornish plan, my Dad ate pretty well, including lots of fresh food, made by my mother who likes to cook and has a garden. A few years ago, I sent my father a copy of The China Study by Colin Campbell. He then adopted a vegan diet, and said that he felt better than ever. And that might have been true for awhile.

Last year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. If his doctors had been paying attention, they would have likely caught the cancer earlier as my Dad's PSA level was elevated. He also had GI problems, caused by a hospital stay, and likely needed Vitamin B12 shots but didn't receive those either.

The moral of this story is as Sandy Lewis, MD, the cardiologist from Portland, who shared the Super Shuttle to the Denver airport as I left to go to the funeral, said, "No one gets out alive."

So, I encourage you to treat each day as if it could be your last. Find something to be grateful for, appreciate the people around you, and enjoy fresh food, clean air (if you've got it), nature, your pets, your work, and life in general. There are no bad days, just some are better than others. They all give perspective and a frame of reference.

When I'd ask my Dad how things were going, he'd usually say, "It's better than the alternative." When he stopped saying anything like that, I knew what was in store. The end isn't usually easy, so in the words of Jennifer Stone of KPFA radio, "Go easy. And if you can't go easy, go as easy as you can."

Bernie reminded his 3 daughters that life is not a popularity contest but that kindness, generosity and sharing wisdom all count. And I hope that what I've shared with you today has an impact in some way.

Smile, enjoy, live well -- it's the best revenge.

Spring Farmer's Markets in Sonoma County

This weekend I went to 2 farmer's markets: one in Santa Rosa on Saturday, the other in Sebastopol on Sunday. I don't often do this but on Saturday I led a group of 4 through the market to buy ingredients for their private cooking class. I was happy to do this, which turned to thrilled when J. one of the tour group said that he's lived in the area for 40 years but had never been to the market. That's a symphony to my ears.

It was luckily a slow market day due to overcast weather, which made it easier to peruse the stalls and traverse the aisles. We have reached spring abundance and I was able to get everything on my list and more. (I did this by showing up about a half hour before our 9 am meeting just to be on the safe side and snagging some locally grown organic strawberries and asparagus.) I didn't have garlic scapes (the curly part of green garlic that will eventually form a flower), baby artichokes or squash blossoms on the list but we had those. And in addition to a bunch of spring kale (a different variety than the regular curly-type), we were also able to get broccoli rabe for our greens sauteed with garlic. The Spring Surprise Saute had a great mix of spring onions, leeks, asparagus, sugar snap peas and a variety of summer squash, which just appeared in the past week. I would have added cilantro to the mix but didn't want to get into who loves and who hates cilantro.

The menu for the day included Creamy Asparagus Soup (which in my book is Creamy Spinach Soup but I say that you can use the formula for almost any vegetable and asparagus is a favorite), Salad with Balsamic Strawberry Dressing (this is a take off of my Sweet Summer Super Salad), Marinated and Baked Tempeh, Quinoa Pilaf with Mushrooms, and the previously mentioned Greens with Garlic and Spring Surprise Saute. I had so much fun leading the group through the cooking. Miraculously, as we were finishing up the dishes and plating, the sun came out and the group headed outside for an amazing lunch. J. loved the tempeh which was a big surprise and S. loved the quinoa, as she'd never had it before.

Taking a group to the market meant that I couldn't really shop for myself so yesterday I went to Sebastopol ready for my weekly vegetable foray. When I saw the Laguna Vegetable stand with their amazingly sweet carrots, I knew that it was going to be an amazing day there. They also had sugar snap peas and young white Tokyo turnips, with great looking tops which I had the young man remove immediately and put into the bag. BIG TIP HERE: You want to remove the tops of all root vegetables right away as they breathe through the tops. Both roots and leaves will stay fresher this way. Everything else looked great, too, but I was moving on.

I stopped to speak to Paul of Paul's Smoked Salmon for a bit. He's a great guy and we have some good laughs together even about serious subjects such as his mother's recent passing. I love people who have a sense of humor, and he's one of them.

As I walked through the market, I got to say hello to people I know and chat with people that I've never met. It's a warm and friendly place. I guess that it's because everyone is happy to be outside, even if it's not sunny, buying produce, flowers and local goods. This is a huge departure from what it must feel like to buy vegetables at the local supermarket, which I try to avoid.

I ended up buying beautiful long beets (about which they didn't know the variety) but didn't want the greens and asked them to give them to pass them along to someone who wants them. I hadn't even left the stand when a woman walked up and asked how much for beet greens. She was handed the bag of my greens. FREE. Now, that is sheer joy, in my book.

I had more than one conversation with a farmer about stores that carry local produce and the small degree to which it really happens. I said that we need to rethink the system and figure out something that works better for all. (I still love my idea of teaching gardening and cooking to all, for FREE. If you know of any companies who might want to throw money at this, just let me know.) Regional food supplies are a good way to start changing things. Maybe each neighborhood has a community garden or group of growers or who knows what?

Dan Kahane (of Graton Greens, or at least that's what I think that his farm is called) and I were about talking about the motto, "reduce, reuse and recycle", and how we might want to add rethink. I told him that means that we have to get more people thinking in the first place. I know you are, and hope that you will work on continuing the conversation with those that you know. Each one of us has the ability to influence change.

I am now going to cook something for a block party this afternoon. Still wondering which of these vegetables I want to use: beets, asparagus, turnips, English peas, sugar snap peas, torpedo onions, garlic scapes, green garlic, summer squash, red romaine lettuce, salad mix and cilantro. I also have organic strawberries, cherries, peaches and nectarines. It may just turn out to be Spring Surprise Salad today. Only time will tell.

Where Have I Been? Let's See...

I have been busy. Took 2 trips to New York to see my Dad who isn't doing well at all. He was incredibly productive until a few months ago and then things started to go wrong -- very wrong. I won't go into details but suffice it to say that I will repeat what my mom says, "We are often kinder to our animals at the end of life, than we are to people." So, while we are living, let's live well. That means staying healthy. And the best way to do that is to eat your vegetables -- lots of them everyday.

I'll take this post to report about some interesting eating spots while away. Next post will be about this weekend and my farmer's market trips so stay tuned for that. (I assure you that it won't take as long to appear as this one did.)

Traveling is always interesting for me because I never know what's going to happen in terms of eating. As you know, I often bring my own food (read my earlier blog post), but sometimes life is too busy to arrange much of anything. That happened this most recent trip. And much to my surprise and delight, at the international terminal of SFO there are 17 Bay Area restaurants, that were chosen from more than 200, that offer their food at their restaurant (versus inflated airport) prices. And at least 3 of them have healthier vegan fare: Harbor Village (Chinese) and Osho (Japanese) which are before you go through security and another one whose name I have forgotten but that has Middle Eastern fare including hummus and dolmas. I'd already eaten my seaweed salad and miso soup from Osho by then so I wasn't interested in more food.

When we arrived on Long Island, after our trip from JFK, we headed straight to Bagelmaster bagels in Syosset, which has been there for longer than I can remember (which means a long time). It's changed hands over the years but still has great NY bagels.

Most of you probably know that I rarely eat white flour products but I am sure that a bagel now and then won't kill me, even if they are twice the size that they were when I was growing up. But now they have something better than a bagel -- it's called something like a Flatzl -- a whole wheat or maybe multigrain flat bagel with sunflower seeds on it or with everything on it. Yummy and delicious eaten plain. Unfortunately, I did not get to go back to take some home with me.

Luckily, while we were in Woodbury, we got to stop by Gabby's Bagelatessen and meet owner Larry Ross. Either he was bored or we were very different from his regular customers because he engaged with us right away and made me an incredible chopped salad from his salad bar. You choose your ingredients and Larry chops it and mixes it up for you with your choice of dressing. The small salad he made for me was actually too much for me to eat in one sitting -- now, that is amazing. as I can really pack away the salad. The place is a typical NY bagel deli, with good coffee, according to my husband, and Larry has quite the story -- self-made man who started out as a butcher while a teen. He now owns the shopping center in Woodbury, NY. Amazing. He seemed like a super nice guy.

From the days of my youth, is On Parade diner where we had a completely unnecessary dessert one night as something to do to get out of the house. My husband said that he had the worse ice cream sundae ever. Everything seemed pricey and not especially great. I don't recommend it. It may be nostalgic for me but not enough to make it worth going.

My husband is a pizza lover and I think that maybe he had his fill but I'm not sure. He had pizza from Umberto's in Huntington and from Frank's in Woodbury. I liked Frank's because they had a deep dish roasted vegetable pizza without cheese, in slices and ready to go. Vegans, don't you wish that your local pizza place had this? I certainly do. And to sweeten the deal, the slice cost about $2.50. Where I live, this same slice would have been $4. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a light, not too doughy, whole grain crust. But it was more than satisfactory.

The best meal of all was for my mother's BD. I'd post photos but I forgot my camera and one of my sisters didn't bother to take hers out of her purse. We should have at least photographed the food at Honu Kitchen in Huntington. It is an eclectic and nice decorated, small plate restaurant but I have to say that their small plates aren't that small. We were a party of 7 and they recommend that you order 3 plates per person. We tried but couldn't achieve that.

There were enough vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu to satisfy everyone. The ones that I liked best were the mostly the sides: artichokes with garlic and garlic edamame (the waiter described them as taking a healthy food and making it not-so-good for you, and he was correct but OMG, so tasty). the salad with candied walnuts and goat cheese, I just tasted the salad part, was wonderful. My salad with greens, asparagus and sunflower seeds left me cold. The wild mushroom gnocchi didn't thrill me nor did the creamed spinach. But sipping on my Besito Margarita made everything look rosier.

The upholstered black and white curved banquette, brick walls, crystal chandeliers and large art on the bar walls which accounts for one-third of the restaurant space made it feel upscale but comfortable. The seating allowed us all to see and speak to one another. We went early so it wasn't crowded but I imagine that it can get crowded and potentially noisy.

I would go back there anytime for a plate of edamame, a cocktail and another side or two, such as sweet potato hash or fire roasted corn, and I'd be happy as a clam, well make that a carrot.

I am thrilled to be back in California where it's spring and with it are all the spring vegetables that I so enjoy: asparagus, artichokes, peas of all types and more types of tender lettuce than I can list here. My favorite cooking is often my own.

Without Mom Where Would I Be? With Food and Vegetables

Family meals growing up were always interesting, and they happened almost every night. My mother made dinner. With a meat and potatoes husband, most of the time, and 3 particular daughters, I am sure that it wasn't easy to make something that everyone liked. This is still the daily dilemma for many Moms today. Although now, if your child doesn't like something, you can open the freezer and hand them something to pop into the microwave. But not then.

My mother never forced me to finish a meal or clean my plate. When I was a very young, and naturally too-skinny, girl she would tell people, "She eats just fine and when she wants to." Mom was responsible for most of my good eating habits, and a few of the not-so-good ones, too. She used to take me to the bakery for a treat (remember those black and white cookies?) at least once a month as I recall. She let me walk to the candy store and buy whatever I could afford, which usually wasn't much. She never made much of a big deal about either activity.

But what my mom really did for me was just let me be the eater that I was, and offered meals with vegetables daily. My best meal memories actually have to do with another Mom, and that was my grandmother, my mother's Mom.

My Nana, as she was affectionately called, was an excellent cook. She loved cooking and really knew how. My grandfather had a heart attack in his mid-40s (he lived until he was 78) so she had him on a special diet based on the Kempner rice diet. She cooked "special" things for him. It was those “special” things that I looked forward to tasting when she'd come to visit us for dinner. I am sure that my Mom could have made the same food as my Nana but it was Nana's domain and she wouldn't let anyone else do it. She carried a little cooler filled with what I deemed “the good stuff.”

My grandfather’s food was perfect for me -- baked potatoes, special tomato sauce, vegetables and usually chicken or fish, which I didn’t ask to eat. It was only recently that I realized that I ate all the vegetables that Nana brought with her whether it was eggplant , broccoli or green beans. I ate plenty of vegetables at home, too, but Nana's always tasted better. Maybe it was the special love that she put in for my grandfather that made the food taste so good.

My very special memory of my Mom, who is alive and doing well, is in the summer when I was 4 years old. She bought, or maybe grew, English pod peas. I don't remember eating them before but when I tasted them, I loved them. I recall her giving me an entire bag to shell. I went to a neighbor’s house and while sitting on a swing, I was shelling peas and eating almost as many of the small, sweet rounds as made it into the bowl for my mother. She would add them to macaroni salad. (Yes, this was pre "pasta salad" days). I am sure that I ate macaroni salad because of the peas, and not the other way around.

After I left for college my mother tended a garden. One winter I came home and my mother cooked kale. I didn’t recall ever eating it before – maybe they didn’t sell it in the supermarket. The flavor of those sweet greens still lingers in my mind today ---one of the best vegetable eating experiences I’ve had, and lead to me eating kale and other greens often.

Food issues with my mother didn’t exist since she let me eat what I wanted when I wanted without ever thinking that it was strange. When I left home and packed on some extra pounds more than once, my mother didn’t say a word, likely knowing that I had the inner wisdom to eat what I liked, and regain equilibrium and return to my natural weight.

I find it fascinating that I have turned into the quintessential mother in my professional life as The Veggie Queen™. I repeat the Mother’s war cry: “Eat your vegetables every day” although I don’t say it quite that way.

So, I have my mother to thank for good eating habits: eating when I am hungry, never feeling as if I need to finish the food on my plate with a strong desire to eat my vegetables. And when I see my mother we can share a piece of pastry or chocolate, and that also feels like a natural part of healthy eating.

Note: After writing this post I took my dog for a walk, and realized that there is indeed another Mother to which I owe complete gratitude, and that is Mother Earth. For no matter how we treat her, she still continues to provide nourishment to millions of people. She knows how to nurture each plant to provide for each person, and it’s our job to listen and learn. For without Mother Earth, we and bounty wouldn't be here.

If you want to learn more about healthy living healthy weight at Green Mountain at Fox Run click here.

If you like this post or have any comments about it, please enter them in the comments section below. I want to hear what you've got to say about your Mom, or other, experiences that have influenced your eating.

Do You Want to Eat Healthier -- For Real?

Last night I taught a private pressure cooking class for a group of runners. The host thought that it would be fun to get her friends interested in pressure cooking because they're all busy and want to eat fast. But do they want to eat healthy? And more importantly, what do they think that even means? And what do you think that it means?

I know that I live in some other reality where I am choosing between red rice or quinoa for breakfast, of all things. Should I eat it with tofu or tempeh? And include nettles or the beautiful purple kale that is new to our farmer's market?

This is a far cry from a bowl of dry cereal with a splash of milk and a banana, which is something I rarely eat. But many people do. So where is healthy on the continuum of life? Does it mean never eating any white products such as pasta or sourdough bread? Only eating organic?

Honestly, I don't know the answers to these questions. I know that the more that I think about it, the more questions I have.

What do you think? What's your best suggestion or tip for "real" healthy eating? I really want to know.

BTW, the menu for the evening was White Bean Soup with Sage, Red Rice with Braised Tofu and Vegetables, Maple Winter Squash Puree, Winter Greens Salad with Beets and Avocado with Blood Orange and Smoked Olive Oil Vinaigrette and Winter Fruit Compote for dessert. All easy, delicious and, dare I say it, healthy.

The Veggie Queen's Healthy Resolutions 2009

I'll start by saying that I don't make resolutions, I set goals. Here are the goals that I am suggesting that people adopt for 2009. They are all related to health but not necessarily eating because we are not only about what we put in our mouths (even though sometimes it seems that way).

1. Give Up Bottled Drinks to Save the Planet and Your Waistline

The only thing that I drink in a bottle is the water that I put in it. While this doesn't make me perfect (darn), it helps me maintain a healthy weight and I feel good about not contributing to the massive number of bottles going into the waste stream. I am also not consuming the extra calories from sweetened drinks. The current estimate is that Americans are getting one-third of their calories from drinks. That fact amazes me. So switch to water, and put it in your stainless steel or glass bottle. Or make your own tea and put it in there. At home or work, drink tea or Teecino. One cup of coffee a day is probably OK (but not for me).

NOTE: According to my RD friend and colleague, Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LD/N, the 1/3 of calories may be an overestimate. Jeff says that it could be anywhere from 250 to possibly 600 calories a day consumed from drinks. Just one 12 ounce soda, and most these days are in the 16 to 24+ ounce range, has 140 high fructose corn syrup calories. You can do the math.

2. Pay Attention to What you Put in Your Mouth, and Forget the Diets

In a few weeks I will be presenting a program called Diets Don't Work. I truly believe this. I also believe that we are all different, and that what works for me, not might work for you. I can tell you, though, that choosing unprocessed food is always the best choice. Since life isn't perfect, sometimes you'll have to make choices other than the best ones. In those cases, do the best that you can. Planning helps a lot. I notice that I tend to eat whatever is in the house. So, pay attention to what you buy on a regular basis. You know that I am always going to recommend that you have lots of vegetables around -- fresh or frozen are best, except for corn and tomatoes, in which case canned is OK.

3. Change Your Attitude (if and when you need to)

What you think about what happens is your only reality. If you think something is bad, or you cheated, or ___________ (fill in the blank), that's how it is. Take a deep breath and step back to assess the situation. I often realize that things could often be worse. And I told myself this even when everything was wiped off my hard drive on my computer (twice last year). If your glass is half-empty, get a new glass or a new way of looking at your glass. We are all lucky, just not every day. My favorite saying, "Things always work out, they just don't always work out the way that you thought that they would."

4. Learn to stretch

I do yoga on a regular basis. The stretching that I am referring to has to do with both my mind and my body. Even if you start by devoting just 5 minutes a day to warming up your muscles and giving your back a good stretch, you will benefit. After 13 years of doing yoga every week, my back is in pretty good shape, and when it gets out of alignment, a good twist will often get things back to "normal" (eliminating a trip to the chiropractor). So, really the recommendation, is change your "normal" so that it includes stretching every day.

5. Move, Learn, Love and Laugh More

Very few people exercise too much so if you can squeeze in a little more movement, do it. But don't fall into the trap of saying, "I worked out so now I can eat ice cream, cookies, have a beer, or ??" That doesn't work. You're not fooling your body.

Learn something new as often as you can by reading, listening, watching and interacting with others. The interaction is good no matter how you get it but if you're just sitting at the computer, it can be a pain in the butt. Live interaction is good.

They say that the people who live the longest after chronic illness such as heart disease are the ones who have the best support systems. So, connect with other people in whatever way you can. There are a few older men that I see at the farmer's market twice a week. I know that they go there as much to socialize as to shop. And that's good. I always stop and say hello and have a conversation if I have the time. (Now I know why a trip there takes so darned long, it's all those men...) Appreciate the people in your life, have gratitude for what you've got and spread the love.

I almost forgot laughter but I believe it may be the best medicine since it's free and you decide whether or not to take it. Figure out what makes you laugh and find it. Read jokes, comic strips (Dan Piraro is not only a nice guy but a vegan artist who writes the strip Bizarro. Many of those make me laugh.), movies, watch comedy, listen to my friend Jeff Novick give one of his nutrition presentations, laugh at yourself, watch You Tube videos -- or whatever gets your funny bone twitching. I always feel better after I laugh, especially at myself or from a funny movie (sight gags really get me). Whoop it up today.

For more specific eating tips, check out this newsletter by friend and fellow dietitian and health coach Kathy Nichols.

I hope that your 2009 got off to a great start, if not start over.

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Jumpin' John (Hoppin' John Update): A Great Way to Start the New Year

I have heard that traditionally in the south, people eat black-eyed peas, rice and greens for good luck in the New Year. Many years ago, I started making my version of Hoppin' John called Jumpin' John because the traditional dish is made with a ham hock for flavor, and I obviously leave it out.

I have made this in the pressure cooker and the peas take only about 3 minutes at pressure, if they are presoaked. Since I use brown rice, it takes quite a bit longer to cook than that so I cook the rice first separately. As I really like brown rice, having leftovers is just fine with me. And the whole thing tastes great stuffed into a whole grain tortilla. You can even mix the leftovers together and form them into burgers.

To pressure cook the brown rice:

1 cup brown rice
1 1/2 cups water
salt, to taste, after cooking


Put rice and water into the pressure cooker. Bring to pressure. Cook at high pressure for 22 minutes. Remove from heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Remove lid and add salt to taste.


If making more than 1 cup, reduce liquid by 1/4 cup for each additional cup.

To pressure cook the black-eyed peas:

1 1/2 cups black eyed peas, picked over
1 tablespoon oil (optional)
1 medium onion, diced to equal at least 1 cup
1 clove minced garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons smoked paprika1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (optional, if you like it spicier)1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

Soak black-eyed peas overnight or quick-soak by putting 3 inches of water over the peas, and bringing to a boil. Let sit for 1 hour. Drain water. Or alternately you can soak overnight.

Add the oil, if using, to the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 2 mintues. Add the garlic, smoked paprika and chipotle powder, if using. Saute 1 more minute and add the broth. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to high pressure. Lower the heat to maintain high pressure for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and quick release pressure.

Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Add salt, and stir. Let peas sit without the lid for at least 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Serve hot over rice, along with greens.

Cook your greens.

I like to use collards or kale and cook them with a bit of olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper.

Mix it all together, add a splash of hot sauce (homemade for me) and eat. Enjoy. And Happy New Year.