Attila and I are having a good laugh this morning. I noticed that he had cleaned the toilet. We both hate the job, I usually break down and do it. But I’ve been working a lot since Christmas, and just haven’t managed to make the time. It is an easy job to postpone.
As I was thanking Attila for getting the job done, a thought occurred to me. The only circumstance where we might feel uncomfortable about an unclean toilet is in the event that we received company. We began to discuss when we last had visitors. It was last fall sometime, Harriet and Hogan dropped by for an hour or so on their way home from their cottage. We aren’t sure though just when, but it was last fall. The kids haven’t been to visit since 2011.
We burst out laughing! We dodged that bullet, no visitors, no worries about an unclean toilet. “Always look at the bright side of life.” [Monty Python, The Life of Brian]
We both worked yesterday, and also managed to squeeze in a trip to the nearby town to do our banking, pick up our prescriptions, and do a bit of grocery shopping. Although we have had snow almost every day, the roads are clear and dry.
Fresh Canadian mushrooms and USA strawberries were both on sale. They have been cleaned and sliced and arranged on the dehydrator trays, and will dry during the night while the hydro is less expensive. The strawberries smell divine!
Today, Sunday, is our “weekend”. Attila has prepared refried beans for this week’s lunches, and will be whipping up some baked falafels for quick and easy meals after work. At Christmas Terra gave us the turkey carcass from her turkey dinner, which we froze immediately; today it becomes turkey soup. I love Attila’s turkey soup.
I have baked a fruit and nut loaf for Attila’s snacks, and have yet to decide what other delight to bake. Perhaps I will make some homemade biscuits to eat with Attila’s turkey soup tonight.
I think that cooking for oneself, from scratch, improves mental health. I know it improves physical health. It is a win/win activity.
Having a post secondary educational background in human nutrition, I am sometimes shocked at the proliferation of misinformation that circulates on the web. Recently a friend posted someone’s article about the importance of diet in battling cancer. Sounds plausible. I read on. The article was written by an entrepreneur who is selling “health” products. That was the first warning bell. The article stated that “sugar” “feeds” cancer and should not be consumed. No references, no citations, just the statement of an unsupported “fact”. That was warning bell number two. Warning bell number three came in the next paragraph, where the author suggests eating molasses and maple syrup. Molasses and maple syrup [I eat both] are sugar; the stuff the author just warned readers not to eat. The author was unaware of the contradiction. I stopped reading. In my opinion the author is just another self-proclaimed “expert” trying to make a buck.
Here are some reliable sources offering information about sugars:
https://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Carbohydrate/The-Truth-about-Sugar—FAQs.aspx
http://ajl.sagepub.com/content/4/6/515.abstract
Sugar is a treat. Treats are not part of a healthy diet, they are something you indulge in. I indulge in treats. I eat sugar, primarily maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses. I don’t kid myself though, and I restrict the amount of sugar I eat.
A healthy lifestyle includes daily exercise, healthy relationships, and a healthy diet that includes lots of vegetables, with moderate amounts of other foods.
This is reliable advice on choosing a healthy diet.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-8 °C
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: -8.0°C
Dewpoint: -12.8°C
Humidity: 69 %
Wind: WNW 17 km/h
Wind Chill: -15
Quote
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
1892 – 1973
Amen to that!
I’m just shaking my head at that “expert” I suppose there will always be snake-oil sellers.
Wendy! I wrote snake oil salesmen and then thought, well better not be too insulting. Great minds think alike it seems. But really, really, snake-oil sellers is exactly right!
I’ll take food (yes!), cheer (please?!) and song (most definitely lots of song) over hoarded gold any day of the week. Oh I suppose gold could conceivably get you more food but not so good in the cheer and song department. Besides, to hoard gold, I’d have to move some of my books and music CDs and life would never be the same again….
I just bought a book entitled, “Salt Sugar Fat” by Michael Moss. In it he follows the awful story of how American corporations deliberately corrupted plain healthy food into an addictive drug by the manipulation of those three ingredients. It’s next on my reading list.
I found that high carb foods can become very addictive. It becomes a circular thing, the more you eat, the more you crave, so the more you eat, etc. Interesting the corporations are rigging foods to be even more addicting. Between those and the ‘snake oil’ purveyors, we have to be very wary!
Ah Bex, yes, books, like old friends! Never move books out of the way for a hoard of gold, never!
Hi Sarah, welcome!
The book sounds interesting, and very political.
Since the book reviews emphasize that the book was well “researched”, I would be very interested in reviewing the notations and bibliography. Claiming political legitimacy is tricky business, and I have always been very suspicious of the sets of assumptions and the agendas of journalists. Information is not always what it seems.
Having said all that, the premise sounds very plausible to me. Making money isn’t about altruism, never was.
Enjoy!
Joan, I know what you mean about carb cravings. My own weakness is sugar, especially chocolate. Love it. If I eat desserts, the next day I crave more. If I resist the craving it will go away in a few days and cease to bother me. Until of course I begin again, and eat dessert.
I do have a tablespoon of maple syrup in my coffee every morning, caffeine and sugar, a real kick start. Then I have brown sugar on my oatmeal, or as an ingredient in my mincemeat/apple squares, which I eat almost every day. Also I drink about a cup of fruit juice every day (not cocktail which is flavoured sugar water). Fruit juice is high in sugar.
That is plenty of sugar for me in a day.
We eat a LOT of vegetables, roasted, in soups, in salads, side dishes. We fill up on vegetables and THEN have small snacks if we are still hungry.