The challenge continues.

As I open up the blog and check my last entry, I notice that I was then doing 140 burpees a day. Today I have 240 burpees to do. 240 burpees seemed impossible in the past, absolutely impossible. The thought of doing that many push ups and jumps every day, increasing one a day for a whole year, up to 365, seemed absurd. But it is not. The secret is to break it down.

The same holds true for food. The secret to eating well is merely breaking it down to many tiny tasks, instead of one overwhelming chunk of time that no one, including me at the moment, seems to have, or even want to have. I don't blame anyone. Why spend hours toiling in the kitchen when one can be outside enjoying the end of summer? Or studying, which is more like my own reality right now. 

But eating well is essential to keeping good health, and to not gain weight, which is another reality I face as a 42-year-old woman. There is no way around it. It does not matter how much I may exercise, if I don't eat well I will get sick, and/or gain weight, and break out into pimples on top of it. I say it, because I have experienced it. When I don't eat well, my face becomes oily, and I break out. Simple. I start to eat better, my face becomes clearer/cleaner, no pimples. And I fit into my pants. Easy to maintain, hard to fix. 

So how do I break down food? Cook in the morning. In the evening I am too tired to deal with anything except for what is absolutely necessary, which means the exam of the day that I am freaking about. Use the mornings! While I make coffee, I make brown rice. Or cook beans... or roast beets, eggplants, sweet potatoes, squash, cauliflower, garlic, onions... any hardy vegetable that I can coat with olive oil and sea salt, I will roast. I roast in my cast iron pan, so that way I don't have to worry about clean up and scrubbing. Just wipe it down with a paper towel when done cooking- courtesy tip from a climber who camps and cooks in his camper. And yes HE cooks. Don't have to be a woman to cook, or a housewife to cook- anyone can cook. A lot of it has to do with just getting into a habit, so that there is no thinking involved. Just doing...

What about all the chopping? The chopping... I do it while I heat up the food that I precooked in the morning. It takes about 5 to 15 minutes to heat up anything, so I use that time to chop: cabbage, red onions, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, parsley, cilantro, celery, tomatoes, green onions, peppers... any vegetable that can be eaten fresh. Or sautéed... kale, collards, chard, spinach, chinese cabbage, onions, mustard greens, turnip greens... 

I usually chop a little extra, so that I have some left over for the next day- call it a bonus. Have enough containers, even if they are yogurt containers, to keep the left overs. Good storage is important for eating well. Because there is always something in the fridge or freezer waiting for me at the end of the day... even if I am completely wiped out from a long school day, and don't feel like doing any extra work other than opening a beer. And studying some more, of course. 

But why go through all that trouble anyway? Cooking , chopping , storing... because I want to feel good everyday, because I want to have energy everyday. Because I want to stay lean and look good, and because I don't like to get sick. Simple. 

It is so easy, especially here in the south, to go and buy fried chicken, fried food, barbecue, go to Chick-fil-A... people: Chick-fil-A is JUNK FOOD!!!! eat chips, a cold cut sandwich, a snack, a bar... but remember, our bodies don't magically make vitamins. We need to eat them to have them. And we need to eat them in real food, not vitamin complexes that we buy at the store. That is processed food at its best. Eat food. Eat clean- less animal food, more grains, vegetables, beans, fruit, nuts, seeds. 

You will thank yourself years from now, when you are still active and well, instead of... insert your own future dream image of yourself, and how you want to look and live when you are older... and live to fulfill that dream.

In defense of cheap food.

Brazilian Canjica (Hominy)

I have lived in the States for 25 years now, and have seen so many food fads and diets come and go. The interesting thing about them to me is that they all seem to share one common trait: they are all expensive.

Yes, blueberries are good for you. And so is quinoa,  Greek yogurt, sprouted bread, amaranth, green juice, pomegranate, açaí, coconut water, kefir, almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, granola, canola oil, matte tea, coconut fat, flax seed, chia, salmon oil and avocados.

The thing is, all foods are good for you. Not just a few special ones. We were made to eat everything. We are omnivores who can survive on anything from old soggy potatoes to squirrel meat. Just think for a minute about what people ate during war times, draughts and economic hardships. Porridge of grains, beans, oats, vegetables, whatever meat they found... simple, unprocessed food.

Unprocessed foods don't bring in money to grocers though. Vegetables and fruits spoil easily, and there is little profit to be made from grains and beans. Packaged, processed foods are the ones which market well, and sell for more money. And their packaging can always be changed to fit the fad, like the local Lay's potato chips I found at a gas station the other day.

Think about how much money you pay for that healthy granola. And greek yogurt and kefir... and chia and flax seed.... almond milk, soy and rice milk. And the antioxidant miracle fruit of the year of course.

Now go a few isles down the same market, and check the price of bulk oats and brown rice. Check the price of corn grits, yellow and white. Lentils, black and white beans, chick peans... check also how cheap turnip, mustard and collard greens go for, depending where you are in the country. Cabbage, squash, beets, radishes, celery, parsley, green onions, carrots, onions, turnips, garlic... those are all foods that are incredibly nourishing to the human body, and yet cost relatively little when compared to packaged pasta, packaged couscous, lettuces, tomatoes... which make pretty meals, but don't really give us much in terms of nutrients and health.

I am not advocating against buying granola, kefir (which I love), and all the other beautiful foods that we encounter at the grocery store. But I do want to make a point that, in order to eat well and stay healthy and slim on a lean budget, I can easily find and eat traditional, wholesome, simple foods that my parents, grandparents, and their grandparents, ate.

All I need is a stove, a few pots and bowls, a sharp knife, sea salt and olive oil, and I am ready to take care not only of myself, but those I care for. Because that is the beauty of those foods: they are generous. When I cook them, they expand and give, and it is easy to feed many on little.

Take a meal that I made yesterday: 2 cups of organic brown rice (1 Lb, about 2 or 3 dollars), 2 cups of organic dry black beans (1 Lb, about $3), 1 Lb of local, organic grass-fed ground beef (about $8), corn salad (organic corn on the cob, cheap during the summer: $10 for 48 ears) and a beet salad (a few dollars more)... it fed 8 hungry adults, 5 kids, gave some away, and there is still enough food left to feed myself and my kids for another couple days.

Growing up in Brazil I ate hominy, with sugar and ground peanuts, for breakfast and/or as an afternoon snack. I still often eat it for breakfast, with sugar and chopped nuts- it is so incredibly delicious, filling and cheap. I also ate a lot of polenta, both in Argentina and Brazil; cheaper and healthier than pasta, and so very sustaining. Rice and beans, soups made from the meat and chicken bones, eggs... and an incredible variety of vegetables and fruit.

Of course there is room for granola, as well as all the kinds of different and great foods that I find at the stores. But it is important to not forget that just because one food, like quinoa, is being lauded as the super grain of the year (it is actually a seed), that does not mean that good old corn, oats and rice aren't just as nutritious and balanced a grain as their (seed) cousin. The same goes for beans. Maybe they are not as easy to market because they do make folks kind of gassy, but they really are super foods. And don't forget eggs and butter, which I also remember were replaced at one point by egg whites and... margarine???

Trust your simple, wholesome, cheap foods- they will keep you, your budget, and your overall sanity going strong, lean and healthy.

How to Roast Beets, Potatoes etc

Beets and potatoes ready for the oven...

For those of you daunted by the prospect of cooking a ''root vegetable...'' here is an easy way to do it: pretend you are cooking a potato. 
Except one that is far more nutritious than just plain starch. The easiest way to cook a potato, and therefore any vegetable that has the same consistency as that of a potato, is to roast it. Sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, onions... 

Beets, parsnips, turnips, potatoes...

Tonight, in an effort to expand my kids' food repertory, I mixed beets, parsnips and turnips with the potatoes. Roasted to a beautiful golden brown, it was challenging to tell a potato and a turnip apart. Miles took a full piece of ''potato'' into his mouth, and only when he started to chew he asked what vegetable that was. Elena, for the part, told me that her potato tasted ''really weird.''


How to roast...


1. Chop the vegetables you choose that day- or night... about 1 inch per side sounds about right. Some will be round, others square, others shapeless... not a problem. As long as they are all about the same size, they will cook evenly.


2. Place the vegetables in a Pirex 9X13 dish, or whatever glass/ceramic ware you may have. Do not use Teflon bakeware!


3. Generously coat vegetables with olive oil and sea salt, pepper or any other spice you may choose. 


4. Bake at 500ºF, in the middle rack of the oven, for about 15 minutes. Take casserole out of the oven, stir vegetables around, and put them back to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how soft and/ or browned you like your roasted ''potatoes.'' If the oven does not quite reach 500ºF, no worries. 400ºF to 450ºF roasts just as well- it just takes a bit longer.


And where does one find all those vegetables, along with good quality olive oil and sea salt? Head over to Grassroots- tell them ''Sofia sent you!"

Halloween Special: Beets

Anytime I mention ''beets,'' people recoil in horror and tell me how much they hate canned beets. I agree with them, canned beets taste terrible. Not only that, they are not fresh, and probably contain sugar and preservatives, not to mention BPA from the can in which they are found.
But I am talking about real beets. The ones that you choose from a bin, check to make sure that they are nice and firm, and scrape off the excess dirt before you put them in your shopping bag. If you are lucky enough to find them freshly picked, you can also eat their leaves as you would eat collards, mustard or turnip greens: brazilian style of course, finely chopped and sautéed with garlic/olive oil, or bacon (see How to Cook Greens).
Now that you have dared to buy your first beets, lets get bloody. Lightly wash them in order to get the excess dirt off, and put them in a pot with enough filtered water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then bring the fire down to low and simmer for about 1 hour (add water if needed to keep beets covered), or until you can stick a regular knife through them. If the knife does not easily go through the beet, it means it is not ready. If you have a pressure cooker, your beets will be ready in about 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure not to cook them too long (too soft); if they are overcooked they lose their flavor. 

Once they are cooked, bring them under running water, or a bowl of cold water, and pass your fingers on their skin. The skin will come out off quickly and easily. If you have cooked them and don't have time to ''deal'' with them, stick them in the fridge (discard the cooking water first!) until you are ready to peal and cut them. These guys on the left sat in the fridge for 24 hours before I had time to prepare them. 
This is how they look once they are cooked and peeled. 

Cut off the ends, cut the beets in half, then cut them into 1/4 slices (half-moon slices). Why cut them in halves first? So that they don't roll around, and you end up cutting yourself instead. 
Now that they are cut, and your hands have a nice red tint to them, put them in a bowl. Add olive oil, salt, and if you wish, chopped parsley. They are ready to eat! If you are preparing them right after cooking them, make sure to let them get cold before you eat them, as they do not taste good at all when warm.

This is how they look when mixed with olive oil, sea salt and chopped parsley. 
If you are trying to figure out what on earth you can serve with ''beets'', you guessed it: rice and beans.
They complement rice and beans beautifully well. They make an incredibly cheap meal, which is also filling, and nourishing to your body.