The Benefits of Homemade Sauerkraut

While cycling through Bavaria this summer, I fell in love with bratwurst and sauerkraut. Initially, I didn't like the thought of eating fermented vegetables; I've never liked pickled or vinegary foods. I was pleasantly surprised to find that real sauerkraut, the live, lacto-fermented kind that our great-grandparents made, is much different than the vinegar-cured, canned kind you find in most stores. Lacto-fermented sauerkraut has a mild and tangy flavor. Paired with some sausage and potatoes, it's heavenly! It's also loaded with beneficial bacteria that promote good health and digestion. My heritage is mostly German, so I feel like I am getting in touch with my roots a bit :)

Recently, my interest in homemade ferments and high quality cooking fats has taken off! This year, I have rendered lard from pastured pig fat, made my own ghee, and gotten into fermenting. So far, I have made yogurt, probiotic ginger ale, sauerkraut, and ginger carrots. There's something very satisfying about chopping a head of cabbage, adding salt, pounding it, leaving it alone for a week, and coming back to sauerkraut. It's incredibly easy and economical, especially considering that live sauerkraut is $11 for a 12 oz jar at Whole Foods. My method is based on the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. You can find his method and a forum at www.wildfermentation.com.

Here are the basic steps. Once I figured it out, it took me all of ten minutes!

Chop a head of cabbage. Add it by handfuls to a large bowl or crock, and sprinkle sea salt over each new handful. Pound for a few minutes using a potato masher. The pounding and salt will start to leach the juices out of the cabbage, forming a brine that lets the good bacteria grow but kills anything pathogenic. Then, you need to tightly seal the cabbage in your container with a lid of some sort. I found a plate that is about the right size. The first two times I made it, I didn't have enough cabbage, so I shredded some carrots. It worked out great. This time, I used an entire head of green cabbage and it was the right amount for my equipment. 

Put a weight on the plate (a full Nalgene works), and cover it with a towel to keep the dust out. It's Ok if there is a little space around the sides, but you want a fairly tight seal. For the first few days of aging, push the weight down gently every few hours or whenever you think of it; this helps squeeze the water out of the cabbage and form more brine. By using the weight, you don't need to do as much pounding. My sister uses her food processor to chop the cabbage, and reports that this works well, too.

After a day or two, the brine will rise up to the plate, sealing the cabbage in. The good bacteria will be growing and transforming your cabbage into kraut. I check it every few days to make sure the brine is still high enough. You can add some salt water if you don't get enough liquid. Six to seven days of aging seems to be the optimal timeframe for our taste and patience. The smell will be startlingly tart and sharp at first, and I admit that it was a little scary the first time! After all, you're colonizing bacteria in your kitchen, something that is counter-intuitive in our germ-o-phobe culture. Don't worry, though: the experts say that you will know if your ferment has gone bad. It supposedly becomes black, moldy, putrid, etc. A little funk is to be expected, but it mellows out and becomes that familiar tangy smell/flavor, especially after it's been put into the fridge. It will stay good in the fridge for months, but we're lucky if it lasts a week. 

My interest in fermented foods ties in to my journey towards strengthening my immune system. Recent research is showing that much of our immune system is in our gut, and that if we can colonize ourselves with good bacteria, we have a much better chance of fighting off the bad ones! Last year, I had a terrible string of colds and viruses, probably due to the fact that I work with kids in a music school with little air circulation and hundreds of people coming in and out every week. I was eating a pretty good "real food" diet, but something was still missing - I was continually sick, and as a result basically had no race season. Since, I have added fermented cod liver oil, occasional epsom salt baths, Vitamin D, therapeutic strength probiotic supplements, and--you guessed it--lots of fermented foods.  I happy to report that things have been improving noticeably. I have still been getting colds here and there, but they are much milder and shorter. Recently, I kicked a cold in two days, when before they'd drag on for weeks! Hopefully things will keep moving in the right direction so I can have a strong, virus-free race season. 

Well, that's one post. I guess I have gotten behind with blogging! There is more to catch up on: the start of race season, how the Alexander Technique has led to more freedom of motion in my playing and teaching, and some remaining articles about bicycle touring in Europe. Stay tuned!

Finishing 2012's Resolution: Making Yogurt

It's time for New Year's Resolutions! But wait--did you finish your 2012 goal? Mine crept back into awareness recently, when I began to dream up next year's goal and realized I hadn't quite finished this year's. For 2012, I made a small but simple resolution with two parts: (1) to try more fermented and live foods, and (2) to start making some ferments if my own. I introduced myself to sauerkraut, gingered carrots, kombucha, kefir, and sourdough breads. I've learned to like all of them, but so far I've gotten them all from a store. Around Christmas, I realized I had neglected part 2 of the process, and time was running out! It was easy to pick my ferment of choice: yogurt. I've always loved yogurt, but it's $15 per gallon here in expensive Seattle. Since Jon discovered yogurt in Switzerland, we have been going through a lot more. It was time to make my own.

For several days, I had tremendous inertia and couldn't do much more than click on blog posts that described yogurt making. Finally, yesterday, I bit the bullet and did it! I made a small batch and it was delicious: mild and a little thinner than commercial yogurt. We had it for breakfast. I made another batch today, which will ferment overnight. I hope for a thicker texture and tangier flavor. Here's the method. I read lots of details elsewhere, but decided I wouldn't stick with it if I was burdened with the complexities of sanitizing jars, using a thermometer, tying up the oven, etc. So I opted for the intuitive, no-fuss route. 

1. Heat organic whole milk in a thick-bottomed sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until foamy and steaming (not boiling).
2. Pour into very clean glass bowls or jars and cool on countertop until it reaches about 100-110 degrees (just above body temperature when you stick a clean fingertip in). This takes 30 minutes in the containers I use, in the winter, at room temp.
3. Stir some good commercial yogurt, 1 TBSP per quart of milk. You can take some of the cooled milk and mix it with the yogurt first to create a thinner starter that mixes more easily.
4. Put lids on the jars and stick it into a cooler, along with a few bottles of hot water. Close the cooler and put a blanket over it.
5. Leave totally alone for 6-12 hours, then remove and refrigerate immediately. Don't disturb it until it has cooled in the fridge. 

And that's that: yogurt making is now part of my routine! It's so little active time and I think it will save us at least $30 per month on groceries.This seems representative of how my motivation works. I need some time to mull things over before I dive in, and then I'm ready to stick with it. Getting myself to take that first step can be the hardest part - whether it's buying the plane tickets, sending that email, getting on the bike, or getting the violin out. 

As seems to be my pattern, I'm contemplating my 2013 resolution for a few more days before committing. Let's just say that this coming year I may have some bigger fish to fry.

Happy New Year, dear readers! 

Aiming High Letter

My hometown is re-structuring its middle school model, and there have been concerns about the future of the gifted program, which saved me and many others from apathy and boredom. Gifted ed is a difficult topic: sometimes, the testing procedures can be problematic. In Seattle, candidates take a group test and motivated parents can pay to have their child re-tested. That's definitely inequitable. My hometown's testing procedures are much better, but not perfect: Kristen, my best friend, is one of the most brilliant minds I know and she missed by one point. That saddens me. Also, there are a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about highly capable students: i.e., that they are elitist, that they're over-achievers, and that they don't need extra help because they'll do fine. (Really!?) Diligence and high capability don't always go hand in hand, so highly capable learners can actually cause a lot of trouble. That kid who acts up in class may not be a troublemaker; s/he is actually bored. They have a higher degree of sensitivity, self-criticism, and can be prone to anxiety, self-harm, and other difficulties. Also, some studies estimate that 20% of high school dropouts are highly capable learners. Finally, after looking at some of the research on the topic, I found that giftedness is, ironically, a very under-studied part of education, especially compared with the vast amounts of funding poured into bringing up the students at the bottom. Don't get me wrong: I think that all students deserve a better education than they're getting. But...shouldn't we also invest in the students who will someday be our leaders, policymakers, and researchers? 

That being said, the district has a complex task and their responsibility is to bring a better education to all students. I thought for awhile before writing this letter. I posted it mainly for others who are involved in the conversation. 

Here are some links if you're interested in more opinions:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/02/27/autism-and-education.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600553.html

Dear ______,

I am a 2004 graduate of the Ferndale School District, where I received a wonderful education in the Aiming High program from 3^rd-8^th grade. I recently completed an M.Ed at the UW, where I studied with Leslie Herrenkohl and completed a three-year research study on my own work as a Suzuki violin teacher. My research examines how teacher-student interaction supports metacognition, self-regulated learning, and the development of higher mental concepts in school-aged students. I’ve thought a lot about teaching and learning from a developmental psychology standpoint. As I follow the recent re-structuring of Ferndale’s middle school model, I wanted to express my support of the teaching practices, peer support, and rigorous intellectual training I received in Aiming High.

I attended Ferndale public schools for most of my K-12 education. I experienced intense frustration and boredom in traditional classrooms. In third grade, I was reading at a middle school grade level, but the teacher paired me with the slowest reader in the class. I vividly remember how slowly he sounded out the words, the way he inched his bookmark along under each syllable, and the burning impatience I tried to hide. Today, as an adult and teacher, I would feel nothing but compassion and support for this little boy. However, as a child, I didn’t have the emotional resources or the training to teach a struggling reader; though I tried to be polite and helpful, my frustration must have been evident, as my teacher told my parents and me that I had a bad attitude. I was devastated. From my standpoint, asking highly capable students to teach struggling peers is not helpful for either student. Leadership and service across grade levels may be more appropriate. 

My frustration and boredom was not an issue of teacher quality – in fact, I think that most of my teachers were excellent, whether they taught in Aiming High or a traditional classroom. However, in traditional classrooms, I often worked by myself, or was frustrated by the slow pace of lessons. Now, I disagree with this type of classroom pedagogy because I see learning as a deeply social process. Lev Vygotsky (1978), a Russian developmental psychologist, argues that teacher-student interaction can help students develop higher psychological functions such as logic, self-regulation, and abstract thinking. His famous model of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) talks about an optimal zone for learning that is one step above the student’s current intellectual development. Interaction with expert teachers and more capable peers can bring students into this zone and further their intellectual development. In normal classrooms, since I worked alone or below my level, I had little of this type of dense, highly structured interaction. I believe that spending the rest of my K-8 education bored or working alone would have stunted my intellectual growth, curiosity, and work ethic.

Thankfully, my world changed when I entered Aiming High. Suddenly, I wasn’t the “smart kid” anymore—I was among peers who were just as excited to learn as I was. I faced some adjustments: because I’d never been truly challenged in school, I had to develop the emotional resources necessary to persist and try again when I got a low grade on a project (we could turn in as many re-dos as we wanted). In traditional classrooms, I was given simple assignments like summarizing the plot of a book. I aced every project effortlessly and never got any feedback other than “Super!” Implicitly, I thought that since I was smart everything should be easy. In Aiming High, however, we went more deeply into our grade-level material. Book reports became “reading responses,” where we responded to thought-provoking prompts and quoted from the text. I learned invaluable lessons: how to struggle, persist, manage my time, study, and organize my work. I gained the emotional resilience necessary to cope with frustration and challenge.  Had I remained in normal classes, I may not have been challenged until much later in life. I may have become a person who gives up more easily. Instead, I am someone who believes deeply that character development, hard work, and high achievement go hand in hand.

I know that the district is facing an immensely complex task on a limited budget. As you move towards proposing a middle school model and bringing better opportunities to all students, I hope you will examine the strengths and successes of Aiming High, in order to continue to provide highly capable learners with such opportunities. Certainly, I think that the pedagogies used in AH could benefit all students, and each student should be challenged. However, the importance of like-minded peers, deeper study of grade-level material, and student-teacher interaction cannot be overlooked. For these reasons, I still consider Aiming High to be some of the best education I’ve ever had.  I hope that Ferndale will continue to provide such excellent support for its highly capable students.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter!

Sincerely,

Lisa

Not-So-Natural Flavors

Recently, on a 3-hour mountain bike ride, I ate a crunchy energy bar. Initially, it tasted deliciously buttery and cookie-like. (For the record, I consider pasture-raised butter to be a healthy source of fat.) But something wasn't right. The bar had a chemical, hollow aftertaste. It left me feeling empty-full afterwards, and an hour later, I felt drained and hungry again. Upon closer inspection, the bar had little real food ingredients. It had lots of vegetable oils, emulsifiers, and sweeteners. Then, I saw it. "NATURAL FLAVORS." Busted! 

My taste buds have changed; most packaged foods taste "too good" to be real. I can't eat them anymore. This false taste comes from natural flavors and MSG, which are everywhere, even in products that claim to be healthy. However, though natural flavors may be derived from natural sources (technically, what isn't?), they get chemically altered beyond recognition, to the point that they taste like something else. They're then added to packaged foods to make up for the lack of real, nutrient-rich ingredients. If you see packaged food that claims to be "all natural," it is most likely hype.

But, if they're bad, why do MSG and other "natural flavors" taste so good? MSG is an artificial flavor that enhances the "savory" taste of foods like canned soup, crackers, and processed meat products. It activates a sensory receptor that usually responds to healthy, protein-rich foods. Essentially, it tricks you into thinking you're eating something healthy, when you're actually eating empty calories. This is why foods with MSG are so insidious and addictive. Then, to make matters worse, MSG stimulates your pancreas to produce insulin. A few hours after consumption, your insulin levels crash, which is why you often feel hungry or exhausted after eating something with a lot of artificial flavors. Ew. 

Also: you may not see MSG listed on labels, but it could still be there, in the guise of "natural flavors" or "spices."  Shockingly, the food industry has practices that allow natural flavors to contain up to 20% MSG without being labeled. Even things that masquerade as healthy food (i.e., some herbal tea blends or the $4 "free range organic chicken broth" in a carton) have natural flavors. Perhaps that granola bar I ate had something that was supposed to resemble the savory flavor of butter. Who knows. Also, there may only be a small amount of chemically-altered flavors in one ingredient, but some foods have multiple additives. My friend Amelia sent me this picture of the ingredient list of a Safeway sandwich - pretty amazing.  Anyway, I'm not a medical or health authority, but I have seen big improvements in my own health by slowly ridding my diet of processed foods and replacing them with real, whole foods. I do think it's wise to get informed, and a lot has been written on MSG elsewhere. 

On a more personal note, I recently re-read my journal from my senior year of high school. It was a stressful time, with my dad's job search, moving across the country and back, college applications, AP tests, knee surgery, heartbreak, and more. I wrote a lot about feeling exhausted, moodiness, irregular sleep patterns, and trying to curb my eating so I could fit into my skinny jeans. Sounds about right for a teenager. However, while reading, I had a bit of an epiphany: at the time, I was eating a diet largely composed of processed foods like commercial breakfast cereal, frozen burritos, skim milk, diet sodas, granola bars, and packaged bread/cracker products. (I did eat fruits and vegetables too, and my parents made healthy dinners, but by the time I got to dinner I had spent the whole day eating crap and wasn't hungry.)  No WONDER I was such a depressed and anxious mess! Mental, physical, and emotional health have so many complex feedback loops; I have a lot more grace for my past self, knowing that my body was essentially running on empty during that very difficult time. Here's to health!

How to Catch a Cold

Ahhh, winter. The cold season. 

If you are anything like me, you have spent lots of time consulting "Dr. Google" for your various medical ailments and woes. Today, I was googling "laryngitis home remedies" because I woke up without a voice. I taught six violin lessons at a whisper and croaked my way through a few phone conversations. It was fun. [Update: a vocalist told me that whispering is actually harder on your vocal cords! Go figure.]

Among Dr. Google fans, there is no topic more popular than how to prevent or lessen the common cold. We all know there is no cure for the rhinovirus, but that doesn't stop us from trying. 

I thought I'd throw out a few tips for a less-celebrated subject: the art of catching one of these viral delights. You see, procuring colds is a specialty of mine.  Last school year, I had five viruses, including the influenza, even though I got a flu shot. This year, I'm already on my second! 

Here's how I do it:

• I bike and climb. A lot. While moderate exercise boosts immunity, Joel Friel, author of The Cyclist's Training Bible, says that hard training suppresses your immune system for up to 6 hours after a workout. Friel recommends that all dedicated cyclists "avoid public places" during this time period. Hmmm. This is not a luxury most of us can enjoy.
• I work closely with kids, 25 per week to be precise. The music school I teach at is housed in an old building with poor air circulation. Viruses run rampant there.
• I am a pretty motivated and energetic person. Sometimes I do too much. 

When I combine all of the above, I create optimal conditions for viruses. For example, one Sunday this October, I did a hard morning cyclocross race in freezing weather. Then, I taught three Suzuki group classes where I tuned approximately 30 child violins and put out a lot of energy to make the classes fun and productive. Then, I went to evening church, where I ate at a potluck and sat in a crowded auditorium. Bingo! By Wednesday I was a sneezing, sniffling mess. 

So, how do I treat colds? 

In short: I don't even try to medicate. No drugs, extra vitamins, or painkillers. Nothing. Last year, I awoke the day before my favorite road race with pinkeye in both eyes. Since Jon wears contacts and has no glasses, we panicked and rushed to the doctor. I talked to the doc for three minutes. He said it was viral and there was nothing I could do to get better or improve my immune system, then kindly offered to prescribe me an eye drop that he said wouldn't work. I bought the drops. Even with insurance, the visit and prescription cost over $100 and...you got it. The drops didn't help at all. 

This year, when it comes to the common cold, I'm boycotting medications. Instead, I cut sugar from my diet, drink lots of tea (loose leaf chamomile/ginger/mint/slippery elm is what I've been using recently). I put chapstick on my nose to prevent chafing. I stop riding my bike outside, sleep a lot, cut back on activities, double my daily dose of fermented cod liver oil, eat probiotic foods, use a neti pot, and make soup with bone broth. Then, I hole up and wait for it to be over. I think it's just a phase of life, much like public school teachers during their first few years. Perhaps by the time I have my own kids, I'll be immune! As annoying as it is, I'm thankful that colds are my only health problem.

Why Music Belongs in Public Schools - My Story

6th grade strings at Skyline Elementary. (What is with my bow hold?! I went on to pay dearly for my sloppiness in later music studies.)  I think that almost everyone in the picture still plays music as an adult, in varying forms! Several of us are professional musicians or really dedicated amateurs. 

The school district in my hometown is re-structuring, and it's uncertain what will become of two programs that were vital to my education: strings and Aiming High. My childhood violin teacher asked me to write to the district in support of the music program, which already got big  cuts in the 2008 economic downturn, and may be reduced further to make room for mandatory study skills classes and other such test-score boosting efforts. When I was a kid, I credited much of my musical success to the high skill level I developed in private lessons. I still love the focused nature of individual lessons--I chose it for my career, after all. But writing this letter helped me realize just how much support and community I got in my public school music program.  I thought I'd share most of my letter here. This is for all of my public school music colleagues. Thank you for what you do!

Why does music belong in the public schools? Music teachers love studies that suggest a correlation between music instruction and higher test scores, because it helps validate the existence of their program. Indeed, playing a stringed instrument is a complex cognitive feat: the two hands have to simultaneously perform very different tasks, which requires a lot of cross-brain activity. Also, expertise researchers like Hans Anders Ericsson enjoy studying musicians because they’re particularly good at deliberate practice, a goal-oriented, effortful type of work that leads to high performance. There are plenty of studies out there (including my own!) and we could spend hours talking about how great music is for your brain and work ethic.

However, the cognitive benefits are only one reason that music belongs in public schools. If you have time to read, let me share some stories from my education and career. I believe they illustrate some talking points about community, peer support, and equitable access to the arts in Whatcom County.

At age seven, I asked my parents for violin lessons because my good friend had started playing. I excelled quickly. Lessons gave me the high skill level that would later allow me to become a professional musician. However, like most violin students, I didn’t always want to practice. The school music program provided community, opportunity, and support that kept me inspired. Performances always motivated me, but private lesson recitals happened only once or twice per year. Through school, we performed constantly: at assemblies, concerts, community events, holiday functions, and more. Our teachers also brought in guest artists, encouraged us to audition for regional honors festivals, and traveled to workshops with us on their own time. I vividly remember a time in 8^th grade, when Joanne Donnellan gave us the opportunity to perform fast and furious fiddle music onstage with a famous group called Barrage. This memory still makes me smile today.

Many professional musicians got started or chose music as a career because of a public school music program—myself included. I’ll never forget the day when Joe Dyvig asked me to coach the struggling second violin section. He came back after 20 minutes, heard the dramatic improvement, and proclaimed, “Doubet, you’re going to be a music teacher!” At the moment, I was skeptical, still thinking I might want to pursue a career in law or or some other academic field. Nine years later, I am thankful for what he saw in me. I have since dedicated my life to music, teaching, and learning. I did a bachelor’s in violin performance, where I learned to play and perform at a high level. Then, I answered my intellectual curiosity by doing an M.Ed in educational psychology, where I conducted an in-depth, three-year research study about teacher-student interaction in violin lessons. I might get a PhD if the right situation works out. I have 25 students right now and regularly work as a clinician at festivals and competitions around the state. I don’t earn much money yet, but I couldn’t imagine a better career for myself. And it probably wouldn’t have happened without Ferndale’s public school music program.

Equity is a big focus for the district right now, as they seek to bring better opportunities to all students and raise the level of low and middle scorers. Consider this: Ferndale is a small town with few other music opportunities. People in Ferndale want music for their children, but it’s hard to access it. The public school music program has been an asset to the community for decades, providing a unique environment where kids of all types come together to make music. To join an orchestra outside of the school district, you’d have to drive to WWU for youth symphony on Monday nights. It’s even hard to get private instruction in Ferndale: from 2005 to 2011, I worked with about 12 violin students in Ferndale, driving up from Seattle every week for the last three years of that time. Finally, the commute became too much. It was hard to find replacement teachers, as most of the musicians want to live in Bellingham. I know a lot of my former students stopped lessons or found themselves driving 30 minutes to a new teacher.

Since private instruction isn’t widely available in Ferndale, most figure that their child will get music in school. However, starting a stringed instrument in sixth grade is often too late, especially since the district is considering cutting class back to twice a week. I work at a community music school in Seattle and often take on older beginners who want a supplement to the Seattle schools’ once-weekly 6^th grade music instruction. I find that these students are more self-conscious and less willing to go through the incremental steps necessary to play with beautiful tone and expression—even with the help they get from private lessons. I have mixed feelings about Amy Chua, notorious author of The Tiger Mom, but she did say something very true about music: “It’s not fun until you’re good at it!” Cutting the strings program further will make it harder for kids to engage with music. Most kids simply won’t gain the skill necessary to really enjoy and engage in music if they don’t have access to good instruction starting at a young age. If they cut 6th grade strings to two days a week, they should take the remaining music budget and bring strings back to the younger grades. 

Lastly, Ferndale district officials have been touting research about the benefits of a differentiated classroom, where every student receives a curriculum tailored to his or her development…look no further than an orchestra, where a diverse group of kids of varying ability play different parts that combine to make beautiful music! The music program is also a safe place that breaks up the usual cliques. My husband, who recently completed his PhD and competed nationally on the clarinet in college, commented that music class was the only  thing he liked about elementary and middle school. Music programs provide a lively, healthy type of peer support that you can’t find in the classroom or on the sports field. 

...I'm thinking about volunteering at my neighborhood public school's strings class, not just to pick up students, but to help keep music in the public school!

4 Easy Fall Recipes

I love fall food. We have a great CSA and do most of our cooking from scratch. But between hard exercise and long teaching days, I often come home on the verge of being "HANGRY," as Jon and I jokingly call it. I've broken more than one dish in a fit of clumsy cooking rage. (Good thing most of my dishes are thrift store finds.) So, I am always looking for ways to get real food on the table within 20 minutes of getting home.

What is real food? The Weston A. Price Foundation has been my biggest influence. Real food to me is as unaltered as possible, organic when affordable, grown ethically close to home, and prepared "traditionally." We soak or sprout most of our grains and don't shy away from healthy fats. Meat is an expensive luxury for us because we try to stick to pasture-raised animals from farmers we know. I found a good egg source on craigslist. We avoid refined sugar. With real food, however, the "quick" part can be a challenge. These are some recent make ahead/fast recipes.

Enchiladas with Delicatta Squash, Black Beans, and Kale. (make ahead)

• Commercial enchilada sauce is often laced with unpronounceable ingredients. Make your own sauce in a skillet: tomato sauce, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, garlic, cumin, and a little stock. 
• Bake the squash ahead of time and cube it. If you use delicatta squash, you can leave the skin on. 
• I make my own beans in large batches and freeze them for later. I use a big skillet to saute onion, bell peppers, and seasonings. Near the end, I add in the beans, kale, and squash cubes. 
• Trader Joe's has corn tortillas that are truly free of additives. Dip the tortillas in the sauce, fill them, and top with remaining sauce and grated cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 375. Remove the foil for the last few minutes to brown the cheese. 

Perfect Popcorn - every time! (sadly, it turns out white when popped, not multi-colored like the kernels)

• Assemble everything: 1/3 C of kernels, a serving bowl, heavy-bottomed pan with lid, oil, salt. 
• Heat your oil of choice; add salt now for even distribution. (I steer clear of olive oil for any cooking, because it burns easily and loses lots of its nutrient value when heated. Coconut oil, grapeseed oil, and pasture-raised lard are alternatives I've tried). 
• Once the oil seems hot, put in a few test kernels and cover. 
• When the test kernels pop, then remove the pan from the heat. Here's the magic trick: while the pan is off the burner, pour in the kernels, spreading them evenly over the bottom of the pan. Wait for 30 seconds. The kernels will all heat up but won't pop yet. 
• Then, put it back on the burner and let the fun begin! The kernels will pop almost all at once. It feels like a popcorn crisis! Shake and vent the lid occasionally to keep them from getting burned or soggy.  Once popping slows down, pour immediately into a bowl. Nearly all the kernels should be popped, and none burn. Our favorite topping: salt and nutritional yeast.

"Cheating" for Roasted Vegetables within 20 Minutes

• Chop any combination of root or cruciferous vegetables. 
• Preheat the oven to broil. 
• Steam for 7 minutes, then transfer to a baking pan. Add seasonings and oil/fat of your choice. 
• Broil for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Done! Not quite the same as the real thing, but not bad. I'm not sure how many nutrients are lost in the steaming. 

Honeyed Brussels Sprouts

• Chop into fine shreds for faster cooking. 
• Saute in fat of your choice. Steam briefly to speed up cooking if you want. Make sure to caramelize them slightly to bring out their natural sweetness. 
• Remove from heat and drizzle salt, honey, and a little olive oil if you want. Amazing!

Other favorites lately: bratwurst and sauerkraut, roasted chicken, fritatta, soups with homemade stock, pasta with bacon and collard greens, and more. Got any good ones to share with me?