Out of The Mouths of Babes...

Dehydrated "fruit and veggie" sort of roll ups

It's always a struggle for me to get enough fruits and vegetables. I sneak them in where I can (muffins, smoothies, veggie spreads on toast) but I still feel like I could do better. The other day I was in the health food store, sort of just standing in the aisle staring into space. All of a sudden I refocused and realized that I was looking at the baby foods.  Oh, to be a baby again! What a beautiful assortment of packaging! I started looking at and reading the labels of these little pouches of organic fruit and vegetable mixes. It all looked so good. And healthy. Most brands had no added sodium or sugar-just fruits and vegetables. It dawned on me that these would be great snacks. Most are under 100 calories and are loaded with things like potassium, vitamin A and C, and even iron. I pictured sucking one of these down while hiking or as a pick me up in the afternoon before dinner. The thought of doing this was a little embarrassing at first but then I figured, why not?

About a week passed before I tried one of the pouches. I was a little nervous about eating baby food. I needn't have been. Turns out it is a whole trend with its detractors and supporters. I should have remembered from the nutrition class that I took years ago that there are many reasons why people might be on a pureed or liquid diet. Difficulty swallowing, stomach surgery, cancer, you name it, there can be many reasons why solid food won't work for someone. (It should be remembered that these are temporary situations. In most cases, baby food for adults as a way of long term eating likely won't work.) Anyhow, I tried the pouch of peas and sweet potatoes. It was fine but a little bland. I added some no salt seasoning and that perked things right up. Okay then.

Fast forward to my new dehydrator purchase. (More snack related news.) As I was testing out the fruits and veggies, I saw the recipe for fruit roll ups. It sounded to me like the recipe called for pureed fruit. Well, what is baby food if not pureed fruits and vegetables? I added some of my favorite nut and seed mixture for some nutritional heft. The "roll up" turned out fine though I think I spread it too thin and perhaps cooked it too long. (See the above photo.) No matter. I broke the dehydrated sheet of fruit puree into pieces and it tastes just fine. I may be onto something!

I wanted to share some reading that I have done this week. To begin with, I follow the writing of Gena Hamshaw. She writes a lovely and sensitively written food blog called The Full Helping. Gena covers vegan recipes but also writes about nutrition and wellness. Every weekend she has a sort of "wrap up" post where she offers articles that she has come across the previous week that may be of interest to her readers. In the spirit of following a good idea, I wanted to share what I had come across myself this week. So here goes:

1. I recently started fermenting my own vegetables. Although I began this as a way to eat more veggies, there are many health benefits to fermented foods. Yogurt (vegan too), tempeh and any number of types of sauerkraut can all be beneficial.  The Berkeley Wellness newsletter offers a great "starter" article on why fermented foods might be a good addition to your diet.

2. Want a banana? Think again! Apparently I am the last person to learn about Bananapocalypse. This article in Forbes Magazine by Steven Savage explains why it's important to step back from the furor over Big Ag and ask about current practices in raising produce and why some of those seemingly irrational practices might be rational.

3. I found the article link on Gena's blog (mentioned above) about the benefits of soy and why now the FDA might be downgrading soy's rating as a star food. Soy as part of a well rounded diet could certainly have benefits for many people when it comes to reducing heart disease risk by lowering bad cholesterol, LDL. The question still seems to be by just how much.

4. Lastly, I have started to cut back on my caffeine consumption. I think it was making me a little sick in the morning. I have now gone half and half which seems to be helping. This Web MD article explains the connection between caffeine, insulin and blood sugar. There are also many posts on the Internet talking about high blood sugar and caffeine. And while I don't have type 2 diabetes, if something is making me feel unwell, why continue it?

As always, the above comments are my own opinions and are based on my own experiences. I hope anyone reading enjoys the articles. Happy memorial Day weekend!

Libby