Eat Free or Die! » Miscellaneous

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Posted in Food, Miscellaneous | Tags apples, blah, fruit, lazy | No Comments »

We’re back, Baby

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

OK – life is back on a more even keel. Car purchasing is done, work’s under control.

For those that’re familiar with it – the old purple-silver Neon was towed off to the junkyard last week. In its place now resides a nice, shiny, new dark-blue ‘09 VW Jetta. Which, by the way, is an absolute blast to drive.

Upcoming articles:

Two bargains in European wine.

Preparing for fall – goodbye summer produce.

A glimpse into the state of Maryland wine.

The first installment of Tea Tales – sampling the teas of the world.

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ABC News: Orthorexia: Obsessing Over Health Food.

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ABC News: Orthorexia: Obsessing Over Health Food

Monday, September 8th, 2008

So, this story disturbs me. I know people who are borderline obsessive about what they eat. It’s good to be mindful about what we consume, but ask enough people and you’re sure to be told that pretty much everything out there is “bad for you” in some way.

This is the reason that I get a little testy when people start speaking in absolutes about diet. You know: carbs are always bad, sugar is evil, non-organic is poison, blah… blah…

The American diet is, on average, pretty awful from a health standpoint. However, when diet and a quest for good food transitions from a general concern about, and responsibility for, one’s health to an obsessive quest for bodily purity and “perfect eating”, I get a little skeeved out.

To clarify my position – I primarily seek out good foods, fruits, and vegetables mostly because I like to eat, and good food tastes better than processed crap. As a secondary benefit, good food is generally healthier and I can control what I’m consuming if I’m making it myself. But when you’re killing yourself at 30 from malnutrition in order to avoid cancer at 70, there’s something very wrong.

Diet is a balance, and “everything in moderation” is a mantra by which most people can live good, healthy lives that don’t involve worrying and obsessing about every last bite they eat. So, eat that fruit, but don’t overgorge on calories. Eat those potatoes and parsnips, but not too many. Have that pork chop, but eat your vegetables and leafy greens too. Cook those carrots – sure some nutrients leach into the water and some are lost, but cooking makes plant nutrients generally easier to absorb by our omnivore digestive systems.

And stop worrying.

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Posted in Food, Miscellaneous | Tags Diet, health food, obsessive, orthorexia | No Comments »

So, about that update…

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

I know I said on Tuesday that I was resuming M-W-F updates. And, I know that we’re just a month and a half into this new site. And I’m already behind.

All I can say is that I’m in the process of shopping for a new vehicle, and most of my computer time outside of work has consisted of reading lots of vehicle spec sheets and reviews on web sites. The time I’ve had which hasn’t consisted of doing online research has been spent ensuring that I’ve got finances lined up to make the car purchase and not break the bank with upcoming winter heating bills. And then there’s the time spent test driving cars and talking to car salesmen. I’m not an impulse purchaser when it comes to automobiles, so this stuff takes up a lot of time.

Which leaves me little time to actually write any new articles, take the pictures, gather graphics, etc.

The good news is that everything should be squared away by the end of the week. Bye-bye 14-year-old Plymouth Neon – it’s to the scrapyard for you. Until I get the backlog cleared, I’ll be posting a couple of links to some other material.

See you all in a few days.

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Posted in Miscellaneous | Tags blog, updates | No Comments »

Diet Progress Monday – August 11^th

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Eighteen pounds and counting.

Notables from this week:

It’s berry season – we went out and picked a couple pints of blueberries and almost a gallon of ripe blackberries yesterday. Fruit betties – slightly sweetened fruit baked with a breadcrumb topping – are not bad dessert choices.
Long derided by the more snobbish wine drinkers, Italian Pinot Grigio, especially from the Valdadige DOC, is a great summer wine. Somewhere between the mineral austerity of Sauvignon Blanc and the rich fruit of Chardonnay, it’s a wonderful picnic wine and does an admirable job accompanying light summer foods.
It is possible to put together an incredible and satisfying high-end meal with considerable portions and still come in at under 800 calories. You’ve seen part of this already with the Caprese salad. More to come.

Link it up:

Butler’s Orchard – Farm market, pick-your-own berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries), cherries, peas, pumpkins, and apples. Just south of Damascus, MD.

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Posted in Diet, Miscellaneous | Tags Diet, locavore, me, progress | No Comments »

Hello world!

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

I’m in the process of completely restructuring my site.

“Eat Free or Die” will be dedicated to a subject about which I have been passionate for some time. Eating well, eating affordably, and making meals simple enough that they’re feasible in today’s hectic world.

Update:

I was going to hold off until I had completed all the design elements and modified the theme templates before I started putting content up. However, I realized several things:

1) I hate “under construction” notices.

2) I had done a disservice by removing (permanently) the previous content. I had been hoping, at one point, to convert select articles from the old system and re-write them. I finally got to the point where I was making no progress. Frustrated with my entire web presence, which had become fragmented and neglected, I dumped everything into the bit-bucket for a fresh start.

The bad thing about that is that a good deal of serviceable information just “went away.” However, a new take on how to manage the site, and plenty ideas for content based around a theme will give me plenty to draw from as things grow.

Enjoy.

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