nathalie bearden

i believe it is time for a little update on our food journey. we have been labeled everything. from vegetarians, to vegans, to crazy. we have learned so much though. i confess i have become neurotic about food. for the last month we (meaning the adults) have lived on a diet based mostly on plants, nuts, grains (read rice), and very small quantities of fish. at the 30 day mark we went to our family physician to do a complete blood count. i wanted to be sure we were not doing any damage to our bodies. the results came in the next day and everything looked great. our doctor was very encouraging. just a little background info for you. last year my 36 year old (skinny and handsome) husband was told (not by our family physician) he needed to be on a cholesterol medication. i immediately told him, not a chance. and we began changing our diet then. just before the new year as i told you, we watched forks of knives. the evidence is very compelling and it reassured me we were doing the right thing by saying no to drugs and changing the way we eat. in case you are new to my blog, let me say, science is home to me. let’s see, my degree is in cell and molecular biology, i have interned at the national institutes of health (in a neuroscience lab), and i read things like nature. in other words, i am a scientist disguised as an artist. for me science is real. but, i do not believe that medication is the answer to everything. in the name of profit medicine and science as a whole deceives us far too often. in my husband’s case, 30 days on a plant based diet lowered his cholesterol enough to put him in the lower end of normal range. and to think his doctor’s first option was to prescribe medication. i don’t know what you think, but something is broken in today’s society.

and so the quest for plant based meals began. it is not new to me that heat denatures protein, duh. and so i began searching for ways to eat more raw food. let me tell you, that’s a whole new world and breed of people. after a couple of weeks of raw foods we were craving our warm denatured food. so i cooked up vegan recipes (some delicious, some not even the dog wanted to eat). i found myself in the midst of an ocean of information. mostly conflicting information. all we wanted was to eat well and eat real food (read raw or minimally processed). looking back on the last month, it makes me happy to know we did not cave to substituting things like cheese for vegan cheese. just the though of it makes the want to puke. in recipes calling for cheese i either omitted it or added a small amount of real cheese. one week into this new lifestyle i began missing my morning egg. i didn’t think twice about having eggs again. so far i have not missed red meat or milk. this journey has been hard. the hardest being responsible for feeding two families. one family eats a lot of plants, the other eats meats and cooked veggies. i don’t care what any documentary says, i will not take away a whole food group from my children’s menu. although i entertained the thought briefly. at the end of the day, an intuitive mother knows best. and it is based on that conviction that i live by.

we have found lots of foods we enjoy. and my husband even learned to eat raw tomatoes. little k eats kale and raw beets. never thought that would happen. i remember growing up eating so many raw veggies. so it’s been fun watching k eat the same foods i enjoyed as a child. baby m eats whatever. most of her food ends up on the floor anyway.

just today we decided we don’t want to be labeled as anything. because labels are too charged. and because if we want to have a small piece of chicken. we will have it. and when we go to brazil in a couple of months, we will have some good bbq, worry not. it is all about moderation (oh wow, earth shattering) and eating fresh foods, mostly plants. the rule for meats is just one, if the meat is not raised nearby on a local farm, it’s not making it on our dinner plates. even living in a large metropolitan area, i have found no shortage of raw milk, grass fed beef, and free range poultry. fresh eggs are plentiful as well. the way we eat today is what michael pollan suggests in his book in defense of food. this is the same guy who was involved in food inc. you might also want to watch the botany of desire. interesting facts about food.

all of this rambling brings me to the picture below.  a couple of days ago my husband came home and was greeted by a pretty table setting. he looked confused and asked what we were celebrating. i told him we were celebrating today. because there is no better day to get your pretty dishes out and enjoy some good foods on them. the church we have been going to is about to kick-off a no regrets challenge during lent. this inspired me to use my best dishes. after all, who knows what tomorrow holds. i am blessed to have a beautiful family to gather around the dinner table. so, i put forth my best effort for them.

i was not trying to be too long. impossible. too much to say.