From Nigella Lawson's Feast: Food to celebrate life.

"In a 1999 research paper, a number of learned writers sought to describe and compare various attitudes to food. Subjects from France, Belgium, Japan, and America were given several foodstuffs and required to give their immediate associations. To "chocolate cake" the Americans responded with "guilt"; the French countered with "celebration." (Just as to the word "cream," the Americans came out with "unhealthy" and the joyful French, "whipped"). In this context, I must declare myself firmly allied with the French. If chocolate cake is an indulgence, please don't consider it a sinful one: it is a confection to exult in, not to regret.
This isn't about gluttony or the wanton wallowing in excess... Attitudes towards food are not just signs of psychological difference, but have enormous bearing on physical health. Of all the countries represented in the study it was mainly Americans who suggested that food consumption was cause for worry and concern, whereas the French indicated that eating was primarily a source of pleasure."

The homework for today is to enjoy what you eat. Try not to worry about "healthy" vs non, but take pleasure in what you put in your mouth!
Have a piece of really good chocolate cake, or a serving of homemade fries. Or a really good baked apple. Have some food that gives you pleasure, in a moderate portion size. Think how good it is.

Enjoy it.

Thanks Alli! Can't wait to try the recipe.

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Originally posted by Bee:
Alli
So sorry to hear about your ER trip - that sucks!

If you have time, would you mind sharing your scone recipe???

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Thanks for the thought. The ER wasn't as bad as it sounds. With the bad weather, there was no crowd ahead of us, so we were through pretty quickly.

Here's the recipe for the "scones" from the Zen Monastary Cookbook. The recipe is supposed to be muffins, but they didn't rise and the result was fabulous dense round scones in a muffin tin. I think my "mistake" was using Calcium fortified OJ instead of fresh, so if you use fresh OJ you might get muffins instead of scones.

Orange Pecan Muffins

1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbs maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 cup orange juice

1. preheat oven to 375. Mix wet ingredients together thoroughly

2. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in chopped pecans

3. Mix wet ingredients with dry just until evenly moist. Spoon into muffin tins that have been sprayed with nonstick spray (I used a pan for 6 large sized muffins)

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned on top and bottom (that's what it says, but I don't know how you're supposed to check the bottoms!)

alli

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Originally posted by Alli Coffin:
I did this a few times today. We're snowed in, and due to a late-night trip to the ER and the stiches on my DD's head (she decided to test our no-running-on-the-couch rule during the blizzard!), we weren't really able to go out and play in the snow, so we played in the kitchen.

We made fresh LF orange pecan scones (for DH and I) and WW pancakes (for the kids) for breakfast, then made homemade seitan and broth (enough for a month), 4 loaves of WW bread, a pitcher of lightly sweetened iced chai tea, and choclate chip cookies. I ate only two cookies throughout the day, savoring each one with a cup of mocha (hot chocolate made with coffee rather than milk). And we'll be using one of the loaves of bread with dinner--even if it's so-so bread, I think we'll enjoy it because of all the work that went into it.

alli

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Alli
So sorry to hear about your ER trip - that sucks!

If you have time, would you mind sharing your scone recipe???

I did this a few times today. We're snowed in, and due to a late-night trip to the ER and the stiches on my DD's head (she decided to test our no-running-on-the-couch rule during the blizzard!), we weren't really able to go out and play in the snow, so we played in the kitchen.

We made fresh LF orange pecan scones (for DH and I) and WW pancakes (for the kids) for breakfast, then made homemade seitan and broth (enough for a month), 4 loaves of WW bread, a pitcher of lightly sweetened iced chai tea, and choclate chip cookies. I ate only two cookies throughout the day, savoring each one with a cup of mocha (hot chocolate made with coffee rather than milk). And we'll be using one of the loaves of bread with dinner--even if it's so-so bread, I think we'll enjoy it because of all the work that went into it.

alli

I made a nice big mug of hot cocoa, not from a mix, real heat up the milk on the stove and add cocoa powder etc. hot chocolate. Perfect since my furnace is acting posessed.

Laurie

Yep, I find that I get in trouble when I don't take time to enjoy my food--especially at work, because if I DID take time to "enjoy" the stuff from the pastry case, I'd realize that I don't really like the way those things taste very much. I can tell they've been frozen, thawed, and mass-produced.

Today, even before I read the thread, I took the time to fix a French press of one of my favourite coffees, Costa Rica Bella Vista. I was irritated at my roommate for leaving the kitchen a disaster, and decided that I needed to do something calming for myself--so I drank a nice big mug of black, sugarless coffee. Now, if only the dishes would hurry up so I could fix myself some food!

Weirdly enough, I just had baked apples with lunch. They turned out really great. I stuffed them with a mix of oatmeal, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little bit of butter and brown sugar. I had mine with some lowfat vanilla yogurt and it was amazing.

Good timing Cate! I have major pms and I'm craving chocolate in a big way! I think instead of doing major damage I'll have 4 dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses with a cup of Chai tea this afternoon.

I've found on this journey towards a healthy eating style that I do enjoy my food more. The reasons I can come up with are that it is more pleasing, I take time to enjoy making it, I take time to enjoy eating it with family...or even alone. I have learned the art of using different things in my food prep. I look for things that I might want to try. Americans as a whole, I think are too guilt ridden by too many things, and food is one of them. I had a piece of chocolate cake yesterday, well within my food plan. It was delicious, it was a celebration, and afterwards, there was no guilt.
Proportions, enjoyment, and feeling good about ourselves I think promotes a healthy eating style also.

Great idea, Cate! I think I'll defrost some cheesecake!