Cooking with Jennifer
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Dear Jennifer,
I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you for moving me from the other thread to here. I am not very clued up about posting and am sorry if I almost derailed sunsunsun's thread!
You have the wonderful gift of going to heart of the matter and I felt sure you would know. Thank you for knowing. I have read your messages many times but feel lost for words as to how to respond. You know, when someone reaches out....., it almost hurts! Thank you.
There is more I should like to say and perhaps ask about your diet but, having sat here for quite some time typing and deleting, typing and deleting (that other problem of 'wanting to get it right'), I am going to walk away for a time and perhaps you will not mind if I come back a bit later. I just did not want you to think that I had not appreciated this connection. I so deeply sense your hard-won freedom. I remember so well one of your previous avatars - the one with you sitting on the top of your mountain looking out into so much space (representing freedom, I assume). My greatest motivation for recovery is to be able to go hiking again. I too need that for my sanity. That was where I felt alive, me and well - decades ago now. Hiking and ballet; I was a dancer too. I was just spared a spinal fracture, but I developed severe osteoporosis in my early 20s. I had to come home about five years ago to live with my elderly Mum. I need to listen and eat more. More enough to repair, not just more enough to get through each day.
I so hope that I am derailing the thread again. Next time, I will keep on the topic of cooking.
Thank you.
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@Alice-J, no apologies necessary. You asked me a question that was on topic, but I think our conversation is an important one that needs expanding on so I thought it best to move it here.
Sadly, the majority of people I know and have communicated with on health forums have experienced some level of anxiety, guilt and/or shame surrounding as vital a thing as food. I remember reading in the Minnesota Starvation Experiment about participants developing eating disorders during the experiment and it had me wondering what lasting effect the many wars and famines throughout history may have had on subsequent generations’ constitutions and attitudes toward food. And though I generally believe knowledge is power, I think we’re at a point in history where many are suffering greatly from information overload.No worries about taking time to respond. I understand. I remember your concerns regarding your osteoporosis—I’m so glad you were spared a spinal fracture. I don’t wish that on anyone. Osteoporosis, ballet, hiking…we seem to have quite a bit in common. About that pic of me on the mountain…
While sitting up there on the edge with 360° of uninterrupted views, I closed my eyes and when I opened them, all I saw was sky and for a moment, it felt like I was flying. I thought that was the freest I would ever feel without sprouting wings, but I had yet to experience what true freedom on this plane of existence feels like. Back then, I had a restlessness that I would only later come to recognize as anxiety so just imagine my shock when years after my spine collapsed and I was unable to climb, I found myself sitting in an empty room not wanting to be anywhere but there in that moment, so overcome with joy just for being alive. For once, I felt grounded, yet freer than ever. I grew roots and wings.
I believe you too will one day feel freer than you can possibly imagine in this moment. Just keep eating out of a love for yourself and your life, not out of fear, okay?Hugs
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I think one key to health is eating food you make at home. It is almost impossible to eat well if you eat out often. But I’m not like RP…he mentioned once he hadn’t eaten out since 1986 or something like that, lol.
At home I have found the best meals for me at this time are things like cooked fish (we have amazing fish here, very freshly caught), a bit of lamb, or beef, or sometimes chicken breast.
Then some carbs like white rice or potatoes, and a well cooked veggie.
I will often have a few glasses of milk too.
This is very traditional but it seems to work. I aim for 30g or 40g of protein, and 60g of carbs, or more. I’m not measuring portions though.
I also am experimenting with making my own paneer and using that instead of milk.
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@Jennifer I've not had to endure all that you have. Though, some of which you speak has affected my life, in varying degrees. So, I do get the drudgery, but even more so, the challenges of the mind, beyond the simple day to day, repetitive tasks. I find the work easy as compared to those other challenges, and I see the work as helping with occupying my mind, directing me into usefulness and a needed distraction, outside of the chronic rumination of thoughts: those things of our life we don't understand, or can't understand, yet. The best remedies and answers to life seem to come when we're not looking and searching for them, hence, the value of distraction. I hope you find your distractions and solutions.
Interesting about not drinking milk. What made you stop that? My brother is trying to sell the carnivore diet to me, on which he lost just under 100lbs, and I'm trying to convince him with all that phosphorous he needs to add calcium to his diet (from my limited understanding). I'm a Ray Peat evangelist, it seems. I don't need to lose 100lbs, but just the fact that he did lose that much, and is keeping it off, makes it hard to completely discount it. It does seem imbalanced to me, and from a Peat perspective it does lack calcium, not to mention carbs. I'm not tempted by the carnivore diet, but it does have me wondering if I could quit milk after starting it 9 years ago, when first starting Peating. Now the milk only diet I can do without
. Haha...those poor kefir grains. I still have mine in the freezer, after about 7 years. I can guess they're no good.I didn't find those fries at the local, big grocery stores. I'll have to look at Sprouts. I currently don't have a Whole Foods by me. I'm still researching air fryers. They're starting to introduce all glass containers with many of the makers, which seems like a good evolution of that appliance.
I think the orchard does have other fruit. I need to find my email from them, and look them up again.
Nice — adding a beach to all those options will have all the terrains covered (except for the desert
— which you probably don't want anyway). Just add time and money, and you'll be set.I've been going pretty big with making bread from scratch. It's really a challenge, with the various types of breads and flours. I remember Travis saying if there was a single food item he'd eliminate from his diet, it would be wheat. Well, my dad isn't going to give that up — and I wouldn't mind keeping some if I can; though, I went years without it, and could do it again — so I thought I'd see how healthy I could make bread. Now there is another expensive, specialty item — flour.
"To desire action is to desire limitation" — G. K. Chesterton
"The true step of health and improvement is slow." — Novalis -
@Jennifer Thanks for these potato recipes, Jennifer. As time and energy permit, I'll see if I can venture out of my set recipes.
"To desire action is to desire limitation" — G. K. Chesterton
"The true step of health and improvement is slow." — Novalis -
@Mossy it's hard to argue with 100 pounds of weight loss, but I will try. I think losing that much weight is very dangerous unless done over several years.
Just for anyone -- I'm not talking about your family members of course.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-024-03665-9
During a median follow-up of 2.2 years (2,330,180 person-years), there were 10,197 deaths. A notable interaction emerged between weight change and age. For participants ≥ 65 years, compared with stable BMI, more than a 10% decrease in BMI was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.54–1.86), non-communicable disease mortality (HR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.52–1.84), CVD mortality (HR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.34–1.80), and cancer mortality (HR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.33–1.92). Similar patterns of results for 5% to 10% decrease in BMI were observed. More than a 10% increase in BMI was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04–1.24), non-communicable disease mortality (HR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04–1.25), and CVD mortality (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.12–1.44). For participants < 65 years, only more than a 10% decrease in BMI was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.12–1.77), non-communicable disease mortality (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13–1.81), and cancer mortality (HR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.29–2.47). -
@Ecstatic_Hamster Appreciate the input, Hamster. Yes, I think you are correct, about losing weight that fast. I have no arguments there. But, in my brother's case, he would've lost his life anyway, had he not made any changes. He had to have emergency medical intervention to save his life. That was a turning point for him. He went hard in one direction, and just hung on to life, and now is going hard in what he sees as the best direction, based on the results. I sense after the shock of an emergency situation, and now the weight correction, he may come back to the middle.
Those stats you provide are interesting. Am I missing the obvious, or is it being claimed that as little as a 10.5% decrease in BMI, over a 2.2 year span, caused an increased risk of all-cause morality? I'm not saying it's not true, I'm just surprised by those numbers. Arguably, an over weight person could have other troubles by not reducing at least 10.5% BMI, it would seem.
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@Mossy I don't know if it's true; other studies say the opposite but what does seem to be the case is that losing maybe 10% of body fat can be very advantageous. Anyway I am so happy about your brother saving his life.
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@Ecstatic_Hamster said in Cooking with Jennifer:
I think one key to health is eating food you make at home. It is almost impossible to eat well if you eat out often. But I’m not like RP…he mentioned once he hadn’t eaten out since 1986 or something like that, lol.
At home I have found the best meals for me at this time are things like cooked fish (we have amazing fish here, very freshly caught), a bit of lamb, or beef, or sometimes chicken breast.
Then some carbs like white rice or potatoes, and a well cooked veggie.
I will often have a few glasses of milk too.
This is very traditional but it seems to work. I aim for 30g or 40g of protein, and 60g of carbs, or more. I’m not measuring portions though.
I also am experimenting with making my own paneer and using that instead of milk.
Agreed. I eat out on the rare occasion with family and friends and I know for a fact that there are less than ideal ingredients in even my most carefully selected choices—they usually pick a chain restaurant that lists allergy and ingredient info online—but I don’t lose sleep over it. Haha! Gotta love Ray. Too funny.
Many traditions were born out of experiments that worked and I think yours may be one of them. I’ve spent a lot of time researching traditional diets from around the world, and I don’t think it a coincidence that the majority of meals are made up of the same combination—an animal protein, starch and veggies.
If you have the time and wouldn’t mind, would you share how your experiment with making paneer is going?
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Thank you, @Mossy.
I agree that the best answers come when we’re not looking for them. They come to me without fail when I’m doing what brings me joy, another reason to prioritize some me time. I was thinking about this recently, how Ray talked about the health benefits of novelty, but after so much chaos and trauma, I find myself craving the structure of routine, the security in repetitive tasks, and I think my mum and grandmothers were the same. We stress clean(ed). Knowing that my dad’s and my needs are being met, but then I’m free to enjoy the unexpected that comes from my adventures in nature, has been a much needed, and I suppose novel, balance.I haven’t had milk in a while solely because I’m a milk snob (lol). I only like it raw now, which requires a third stop for groceries, and that’s time I’d rather spend on the trail so I switched to the yogurts. About your brother—I’m so glad he did what he thought was best to save his life. Sadly, even when faced with their own mortality, some people won’t change. Diet is akin to religion and politics these days—a touchy subject—but thankfully, we have reliable diagnostics like temps, pulse rate and evaporation rate to help determine if a diet is healthy for us, personally. I require far more thyroid medication when following the carnivore diet (with or without dairy and honey).
From what I’ve read, kefir grains last up to a year if preserved properly so yeah, 7 years may be a stretch. That’s too bad about the fries. Fingers crossed Sprouts has them but if not, an air fryer will make it easier for you when you make them from scratch. You won’t have to babysit them, while getting burnt by splattering oil and the cleanup will be a breeze in comparison, especially if you use parchment paper liners. I looked for glass air fryers a few years back, but only found one and the reviews weren’t great. I’m glad to learn more companies are making them now. I think my mum bought the one I use at least 10 years ago and it still works perfectly so they can last quite a long time.
The desert landscape can be pretty, like Sedona, but you’re right, it’s not for me.
Much love and respect for Travis, but we had very similar diets and I didn’t thrive on it long-term. If well-tolerated, I think wheat can be a healthy addition to one’s diet, and though I’m not much of a grain eater, myself, few things smell as good to me as bread baking in the oven. I know what you mean about the flour—I used a variety, mostly sprouted, back when I was refeeding. I used to make bread by hand, but then my brother gave me his bread machine when he moved and I’ve been using it ever since. It’s just so easy. Dump all the ingredients into it, push a button and it does the rest.
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@Mossy said in Cooking with Jennifer:
@Jennifer Thanks for these potato recipes, Jennifer. As time and energy permit, I'll see if I can venture out of my set recipes.
My pleasure.
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@Jennifer it’s so easy. I’m using a nylon strainer. Heat the milk in a microwave until it is at a low boil, and add a few tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, or vinegar. Stir, and it breaks into curds. Then pour through the nylon strainer.
You can drink the whey if you want, but for me, I don’t want all that liquid so I throw it out (gasp).
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Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, @Ecstatic_Hamster. That’s how I make curds, except I haven’t tried boiling the milk in the microwave. I’ll do that from now on. Seems easier. I don’t drink the whey, either. I give it to my plants. I find it increases their Brix.
