Sense and Food Sensibility 

Enjoying good food in Seoul

Cravings – I crave a hamburger right now, along with a good helping of french fries. I admit it, I have broken down a few times and gone for the easy order-in menu from a four-digit food delivery service. Don’t feel guilty about it, things happen, and letting things slip once in a while isn’t such a big deal, just don’t make a habit of it. That was yesterday’s thought, and I pick up a day later as I wait to have my dinner. No, I didn’t order the quarter pound of beef with cheddar dripping off the sides, nor the oil-soaked fries, I bethought myself and had a bowl of noodles with a few slices of pork. It’s a toss-up which is less nutritious. I think of this craving right now as I look at the table being set and lots of fresh veggies are being stacked on the groaning trestle. I have the pleasure of hosting a guest from Beijing these past 2 days, and today we will be preparing all these delectables in a hotpot and consuming them with gusto.

Fresh ingredients for a delicious meal

A delicious meal, courtesy of my guest from Beijing

Ignore Fads, but be Sensible

I said before I am not a guru, nor am I a dietician, nutrionist or food expert, I simply said I would share with you some of the food choices I make consciously (and unconsciously on occasion). The conscious choices have to do with my eating patterns and what I feel are healthy options – I doubt very many people would agree with my diet as being very healthy, but then again, a decade ago we weren’t supposed to eat eggs, and now suddenly eating up to half a dozen of them a day seems to be no problem; the same goes for dairy products and a plethora of other natural foods which, after the fact, don’t seem so bad after all. (My grandfather lived to be 99, and he enjoyed his bacon and eggs to the last day, so go figure).

Trying to wade through all the information online about what you should or should not eat can be so time consuming that you actually forget to eat, and then you reach for the nearest candy bar or other ‘easy’ food near at hand. My rule of thumb (and I have 2 thumbs, so I guess I have 2 rules): first rule: try to eat something from all five food groups every day – veggies, dairy, fruit, grains, meat. Second rule: anything that has a lot of stuff in it that you can’t even pronounce or have no clue where it came from, is probably not something you want to put in your body on a regular basis. Formaldehyde has its uses after you’re dead, but its equivalent shouldn’t be put into your body while you’re still breathing.

Formaldehyde has its uses after you’re dead, but its equivalent shouldn’t be put into your body while you’re still breathing.

 

Traditional meal from Parana State, Brazil

The Food we Eat

I know, there will be plenty of people who will object to the meat idea, others who will smirk at the dairy products, while another group will complain about grains, but hey, it is what it is, and you can make your own choices. For me, there is nothing quite as delicious as occasionally being able to chomp down on a really juicy Argentinian beef steak, or enjoying a traditional Brazilian meal such as Barreado in Parana State.

Raw ingredients for a spicy Thai dish

Fortunately they are far enough away from Bangkok that I can’t indulge too often. And that brings me to Thai food, something I obviously have a lot of opportunity to eat. The same rules of thumb apply: something from all five food groups, and try to eat food that is fresh instead of processed (there’s a mini-market right next door, a total of 70 steps from my front door, and it is sooo easy to just take the easy way out, walk over and get something processed….). The bottom line is, eat what you want, but make smart choices. If you’re upset enough about how you look and how you feel, chances are you’ll do something about it, so start making smart choices about what you eat; what you put in your body. You’re a highly sophisticated engine, and to keep that engine going, you need specific types of fuel – you wouldn’t put water in your high-end sports car for fuel, so why put high-octane processed foods into your body?