It's the Height of Summer So Go Explore Your Local Farmers' Markets!

Farmers' markets are one of the oldest forms of direct marketing by small farmers. From the traditional "mercados" in the Peruvian Andes to the unique street markets in Asia, growers all over the world gather weekly to sell their produce directly to the public. In the last decade they have become a favorite marketing method for many farmers throughout the United States, and a weekly ritual for many shoppers.

I found this great article that is spot on as to why you should make farmers' markets a regular stop in your food purchases.  I couldn't have said it any better : 10 Reasons to Support Farmer's Markets

The USDA's Farmers Market Directory Search makes it easy to find the closest farmers' markets in your area.  It'll search by zip code and has other searchable criteria like winter markets, products available, payment methods, etc.  Your search includes general information on the market, where it is located as well the distance and link to website, if applicable.

For those of you that are on the go this summer and care to find local farmer's markets in your travels download Farmstand, a free smartphone app that helps you find the best locally grown food from over 8,700 farmers' markets around the world.

The Whole Meal's library is chock full of recipes that help you prepare your farmers' market finds (given that is the whole premise behind TWM; taking the guesswork out of preparing healthy, seasonal, whole foods-based meals).  Here are 4 of my favorites that really capture summer's amazing bounty:

Sandra's Super Addictive Hot Salsa:  The abundance of bell and hot peppers that can be found this time of year are uniquely combined in this tomato-less salsa that will become a staple in your house.  I slather this fresh raw salsa on everything from eggs to rice to grilled meats.

Skillet Pork Chops with Nectarines: All stone fruit are hitting their peak now through the beginning of fall so take advantage of these super sweet and juicy summer classics in savory preparations like this easy skillet dish.  Not a pork eater?  Substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts or even firm white fish instead.

Quinoa with Gazpacho and Red Beans:  What is not to love about a chunky summer gazpacho that tops gluten-free and quick cooking quinoa and fiber rich red beans?  While this flavorful meal can stand alone, try it as side dish to grilled sausages.  Need an excuse for simple, unique and impressible al fresco entertaining?  This would be it!

End-of-Summer Shrimp and Green Bean Salad:  A subscriber favorite and with one bite you'll see why.  Grilled shrimp, salty bacon, nutty Parmesan cheese, crisp green beans, and fragrant basil all tossed in a tangy vinaigrette?  Yes!  You need this summer through the early fall!

I know that you are ready to go find your local farmer's markets and hopefully this blog post has you pointed you in the right direction.

Be fearless and curious in the local produce that is out there and have fun serving them up to your family and friends.  Along with TWM check out cookbooks (there are so many available that are written with farmers' market produce in mind), search the internet, hit up your grandmother's recipes or just be inspired to make what feels good and healthy to you.  Biting into a raw, juicy heirloom tomato or eating an entire pint of ruby red raspberries, by the way, is allowed too!

Ode to Dad

I found this poem on Power Poetry and the young poet did such a perfect job describing the importance and impact of being a father that I'll let her love shine.

This is to my husband, my father, stepfather and all the great dads that I am lucky enough to know; Happy Father's Day!

Ode to My Dad

This is for my hero, my dad
He is the best father a kid could ever have.
He laughs a lot, and makes me happy
Even though some of his jokes are kind of sappy.
I try to do things on my own, because that is how I'm raised.
But my dad is there in case I fail, and he is never fazed.
He picks me up and dusts me off, and shows me how it's done.
He makes things seem so easy,
even hard jobs seem like fun.
Sometimes he is a chef, working at the barbecue.
I can still smell the smoke as he cooks a steak or two.
Sometimes he is a chauffeur, driving here and there but,
Sometimes I drive him crazy.
I'm surprised he still has hair.
Some days we argue, and even slam some doors,
But sometimes everything's perfect, like when we aren't fighting or doing chores.
I know my daddy will always protect me and always keep me safe.
He would do anything to keep a smile on my face, and I would do the same.
We love each other a whole lot.
That is why I'm daddy's little girl.

-Soddytennisgirl

How About a No Cook Tomato Sauce That's To Die For?

This is one of my favorite summer recipes that transitions well into the beginning of fall.  I have been making this recipe since 2005 when I first discovered it in my July issue of Cooking Light.  I think I cheated the first time and used a large can of Muir Glen's fire roasted chopped tomatoes, and it was still amazing. But since your gardens and  farmer's markets are at the beginning of great tomato season right now, I highly suggest using fresh for the best taste bud sensation. It's great with a simple addition of a crisp salad and the best whole grain loaf bread you can find to sop up this addictive sauce.


Spaghetti with Peppery No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Strong ingredients--like pungent cheese, sharp olives, fruity olive oil, and briny capers--give this pasta sauce plenty of flavor so there's no cooking necessary. Quickly peel tomatoes by plunging them into the boiling pasta water (before adding the pasta) for 20 seconds; remove with a slotted spoon, and quickly rinse under cold water. The skins will slip right off.

1 pound uncooked spaghetti
2 cups chopped seeded peeled tomato (about 5 medium tomatoes)
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled ricotta salata or feta cheese
1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup capers
1 1/2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced


Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.
Combine tomato and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add pasta, and toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)


NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 330(29% from fat); FAT 10.7g (sat 3.9g,mono 3.9g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 11g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 48mg; SODIUM 685mg; FIBER 2.8g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.2g

Finally! It's the Start of Watermelon Season! Some Recipes and Why This Summer Favorite is So Nutritionally Good for You

The Florida watermelons are popping up all over grocery stores and farmer's markets as quickly as our late afternoon thunderstorms!  We are officially in summer here in The Sunshine State!  There is probably no other fruit that screams warm weather like a watermelon so I thought I would educate you a little on the amazing nutritional benefits of this summer favorite.

There is more to watermelon than its sweet taste.  This member of the Cucurbitaceae family (related to cantaloupe, squash, pumpkin, cucumber, and gourd) offers 20% of your daily intake of vitamin C and 17% vitamin A.  It's also right up there with tomatoes in its lycopene content.  Lycopene is a carotenoid phytonutrient that's especially important for our cardiovascular health, and an increasing number of scientists now believe that lycopene is important for bone health as well.

But what has been the most recent interest to health scientist is its citrulline content.  Citrulline is an amino acid that is commonly converted by our kidneys and other organ systems into arginine (another amino acid).  Higher levels of arginine can help improve blood flow and other aspects of our cardiovascular health (lowers blood pressure). This amino acid also seems to protect against muscle soreness.  A Spanish study showed that athletes who consumed a little more than 16 ounces of watermelon juice an hour before exercise had less muscle soreness and a lower heart rate within a day.

So the next time you have a grueling workout planned try The Whole Meal's easy and delicious Watermelon Cool Down, Heal Up drink:

Makes 2 (8-10 ounce) servings 

In a blender combine the following ingredients until well blended and frothy cold:

2 cups watermelon, cut into large chunks
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 stevia packet (or 1 teaspoon of loose stevia) or 1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
3 fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1 lime
Optional small nub of fresh peeled ginger if you like a ginger kick and its healing benefits
Enough ice cubes to make it frothy but not too frozen (about 1-2 cups)

Pour into glasses, insert straw and let the hydrating and healing begin!


Some Other Interesting Facts About Watermelon:

It's a fruit and a vegetable.  Like most fruits, watermelon is the product of a seed-producing plant and has a sweet taste but remember it's part of the Cucurbitaceae family (squash, pumpkin, and cucumber). The dual nature of watermelon makes it all edible, so there’s no excuse to leave any part behind.  

You can eat the rind and here is a great southern recipe from the Lee brothers (cookbook authors of  The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook, one of my favorites on southern cooking) for Watermelon Rind Preserves.  

The seeds are also edible and they were one of my favorite things to eat when I was in Manila, Philippines recently. It is just as fun to eat roasted watermelon seeds as it is to spit them out.  Part of the fun is seeing if you can remove the exterior shell with just your teeth; no hands allowed (contest anyone?).  Here is a recipe to make them yourselves at home: Oven Roasted Watermelon Seeds

It's almost all water.   Watermelon is 91.5% water, according to the USDA. No wonder we are drawn to it's juicy, refreshing flesh in the hot months.  Being dehydrated is bad for your health; even mild dehydration can result in headaches, poor concentration, fatigue, and worse moods.  

There is a yellow variety.  It's known as Yellow Crimson and has a sunny interior and the flesh has a sweeter, honey-like taste. The two are nearly identical on the outside, so read the signs at your grocery store or farmers’ market to tell which is which.  I just saw them at my local Greenwise Publix.

Here are a few more watermelon recipes to try this summer from one of my favorite magazines, Southern Living.  23 Best Watermelon Recipes

Before you dig into these recipes check out how to choose a watermelon from The Kitchn.

Can't Forget Spirituality: A Woman's Book of Life by Joan Borysenko - A Must Read for ALL Women

While we tend to focus on maintaining ourselves on a more physical level, hence, the inception of The Whole Meal, an equally important component is our spirituality. Some of you may define this as religion, but I like to think of it as our inherent relationship with ourselves, each other, and the world. And as I have been awakened to my feminine self, and continue on this journey, I am always coming across interesting articles or books that are of interest and/or importance to ALL women, regardless of spirituality (or lack of).

So this month I am combining a book review with spirituality. A Woman's Book of Life; The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle by Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. is a must read for every woman. It is one of the few books written that relates how biology, psychology, and spirituality affect women at every life cycle. After the introduction, Borysenko divides the book into 12 chapters based on a woman's life cycle, 12 7-year periods, three in each quadrant of life- childhood and adolescence, young adulthood and, midlife and the elder years.

She specifically focuses on a feminine way of growth, as she herself points out, "...development of men, however, is a rich and detailed field that needs little recapitulation here since it is the subject of volumes of work extending over many centuries". The corresponding book of women's lives is nowhere near as studied, although with the advent of this book in 1996, we have seen this field of study expand greatly.

Now, I do not agree with everything she says but what stays with me most about this book is the scientific explanation of why women are the way we are. It is quite illuminating and life changing to understand that it is our biology that drives our psychology and spirituality.

Every woman should read this, and as quoted by Christine Northrup, M.D., and author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (also a must read!): "...book is so compelling, uplifting, and scientifically provacative that I could not put it down. It will change the way we think about ourselves as women and is destined to become a classic."

Musings on Mother's Day

My original intention for this blog post was to show you how to incorporate healthy cooking on Mother's Day by having your children prepare sweet intentions for you or cooking with them.  I realized, however, that it was becoming a mom that planted the seed that eventually blossomed into The Whole Meal and wow!  this holiday has much more significance for me than I realized.

When I found out I was pregnant with my first, I wanted to nutritionally nurture her beyond taking the obligatory prenatal vitamin; my path towards whole foods eating had begun.  I was no longer responsible for my own health but now someone else's who was truly at the mercy of my decisions.

I am lucky that my mom cultivated a love of real food for my brother and I since we've been young. My first baby food was soft cooked chicken and vegetables mashed up with rice (as I got older I realized it was Nilaga, the Filipino version of stewed chicken, potatoes and cabbage).  We always had a home cooked dinner- much of it Filipino, her heritage, and some of it American but not always healthy; i.e., I've had my fair share of Hamburger and Tuna Helper (which inspired me to recreate whole food verisons for TWM!).  The lesson learned:  the 80/20 rule- eat real food most of the time and you can fudge part of the time.

By the time my youngest hit preschool I was eating pretty clean (living by my 80/20 rule) and I had many moms asking me for recipe advice which culminated in a very specific request, "Can't you create a website with all the recipes you make for your family so we can have them too AND can you have a shopping list too so it makes it easy to get in and out of the store?".  And The Whole Meal was born.

I think all mothers have her own special "ah ha" moment of what it really means to be a mom and how much this role influences us in ways we may not even be aware of.  I also include all women in this category, as I feel all of us of the female persuasion "mother" someone in our lives.  This does not mean, however, that we just nurture, care, support and love but also includes strength, perseverance and commitment.

Come tomorrow I will wake to a very different attitude on Mother's Day as I have probably fallen into the category of those that saw this day as a "Hallmark Holiday".  So I refuse to see it as a fluff holiday filled with flowers, gifts, spa time, fancy restaurant brunches (although those are nice) rather I'll see it as a time for me to toast all women and the joys, challenges, and many roles that come our way.

Sunday has always been my favorite day of the week but now I'll feel incredibly blessed this Sunday to have a family that honors me for ALL my roles, filled with gratitude for the ways that being a mother has shaped me, as well as open my heart to immense respect to both my mother and mother-in-law for being the women that they are.

It's Spring! Grow Some Veggies: The Easiest Vegetables to Grow

I do not have a green thumb despite growing up with parents that did (and still do) but once the warm temperatures and low humidity of April and May hit Florida I wistfully think maybe this year will be the year I won't get blossom end rot on my tomatoes or have a leggy basil plant.

So this week's blog is selfishly inspired by my own (desperate) desires.   I hope I am in good company and there may be a few of you that need some basics on producing vegetables in your backyard.

During my research I liked the idea of having a theme and "Grow a Simple Salad" appealed to me most.  So this would include:

LETTUCES:  easy to grow, easy to harvest (snip tops off the plants or pick leaves as needed), they take up very little space and can grow in a container if need be.  Need more?  Then check out Mother Earth News' All About Growing Lettuce.

CUCUMBERS: Some sunshine, warm temperatures, something to climb and water and they'll grow like weeds.  Due to their vertical predisposition they can grow in containers too (bush rather than vine cucumbers grow best in containers or small spaces and are disease resistant).

TOMATOES: Smaller varieties have the best success and once they have lots of sun and something to stake them, they can be in containers, hanging ones too.  Unlike the larger varieties, you rarely have to worry about splitting or blossom end rot.  Buy the starter plants from your local garden center which are easiest to grow and look for "patio" type tomatoes (popular are Patio and Tiny Tim).  Tomatos can apparently take some neglect so if you forget to water them, they'll be fine (whew!).

Here is what else I found:

BASIL: Plant this fragrant herb (one of my favorites) next to those tomato plants and you'll naturally repel pests and even improve the flavor of the tomatoes!  I found this great link so I'll defer to 7 Tips for Grow Mad Giant Basil Plants 'cause that is so what I want!  Most herbs also fall into the easy category and are the most popular container plants.

ROOT VEGGIES:  These would include carrots, turnips and radishes which can be planted directly in the garden in the spring and left until fall.  The tops can be harvested too as these plants grow.  How appropriate that I found this tweet today from Rodale's Organic Life's 10 Ways to Eat Organic for Free (No Joke!); specifically #1: Harvest twice.

There are more easy-to-grow vegetables but I'll defer to this popular article on the 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow for green beans, spinach, bell peppers and summer squashes, as well as more info on carrots, lettuces, radishes, basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Now that I have an arsenal of vegetables to choose from (and just might garner me the status of "green thumb gardener" this season) I am off to ask my girls what they might want to plant as it's just as important to start a new generation off with a love of the earth and all that she can bless us with if we only take the time to partner with her.