Committing to eating healthier in 2012

With 2012 and New Year’s resolutions looming on the horizon, I thought I’d briefly cover a topic I get asked a lot by those who know I’m pretty health and environmentally conscious: what do you eat?

             Basically, I strive to eat real food—food that’s as close to its natural state as possible. I’m not a vegetarian, I do eat meat occasionally and I try to eat local meat when I do. I eat real butter and have whole milk on my cereal. I use half & half in my coffee (which I’m always trying to cut back on). I buy organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible. I cook beans a lot and use them in recipes for protein and other nutrients. I try to buy local eggs when I can.

            We’re lucky here in this area to have a grocery bin delivery company called Green B.E.A.N delivery. They deliver bins of fruit and vegetables—many are organic and local when possible. They have lots of local items you can select from the menu, and it comes right to your door.

            One thing I hear a lot is that it’s expensive to eat natural, whole foods. Yes, you’ll pay more for your food generally. My philosophy is to pay more for better food and eat less of it.

I drink mostly water. Soda and most fruit juices are pure empty calories with food dyes and tons of sugar. Diet soda—though calorie free—is probably also one of the worst as far as negative effects it has on the body. I do have a sweet tooth and love almost anything sweet. I have a sip of soda a couple times a year and eat cookies and ice cream more than I should (I’m committing to reducing my sugar intake in the new year).

I don’t love to cook, which is kind of a bummer, but I try to cook extra when I do so it’s less work overall (there’s another resolution—stock the freezer with extra meals).  Here’s a lentil soup recipe that I’ve adapted and can cook up quickly: One bag lentils, rinsed and drained, one can spaghetti sauce, one chopped onion, 4 -5 carrots, peeled and sliced. Add ingredients to pan along with 1-2 cups water and cook till lentils and carrots are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add more water if soup is too thick. Enjoy!

Eating Smart and Reading Smart (august 16)

            A recent topic of discussion that I watched unfold regarding the all-important topic of food is one that I’ve given a lot of thought to and am constantly evaluating—“is it better to eat organic first, or local first?”  In an ideal world the answer would be “both,” but it’s not as cut and dried as that.

            Grocery shopping with me is pretty much a nightmare. I agonize over everything, not just what to eat but when to eat it (hybrid hydroponic tomatoes in January? That’s an easy one, no). Is it organic?  Where did it come from?

            I can spend ten minutes in the organic apple section looking to see which apples to buy. Even if organic, if they came from New Zealand or Chile, it’s better to get organic apples from the US—they didn’t have to travel as far to get here to Indiana.

            What about local apples? Seems to be the best choice. But then there’s the issue of pesticides.  Does consuming the pesticides on local apples outweigh the benefit of the carbon footprint created by organic apples coming to us from thousands of miles away?  Further complicating the issue, I read that many organics do have chemicals used, naturally derived instead of synthetic, and many need to be applied in greater quantities. 

            And, as much as I try to garden and shop farmer’s markets in the summer, most of my diet really isn’t local.

            I don’t know what to do about this.  I’d love to hear readers thoughts on this issue. How do you eat?

            On a similar thoughtful note, I was in a bookstore last week and saw copies of the Utne Reader, a magazine my friend Linda has recommended many times. I love to hold something in my hands even though I can read online, so I grabbed a copy.  It’s wonderful and smartly written, and so I recommend it, too. 

That same day I was in the library, so I checked and they have copies of Utne (and Current in Noblesville) there too.  Sweet! Here’s gratitude for our library, which is pretty awesome and has just about everything I want, and hello, Mark! (One of the helpful and personable employees there.)

Thanks for reading me, and I look forward to your thoughts!

A Dream Fulfilled

Longtime employee Mikki Perrine now owns and operates Ginger's Cafe

Mikki Perrine was one of the first employees of Ginger's Cafe.  Now she's making her mark as the restaurant's new owner. 

The Noblesville native took over Ginger's in September in order to ensure it remained locally owned.  Call it fate, call it serendipity, call it what you will; the events that lead to Mikki Perrine becoming the owner of Ginger’s Café have all added up to the fulfillment of a dream.
Her discovery of the restaurant dates back to two years ago, when the café had just opened. Perrine was next door at the hair salon getting her hair cut when she saw the sign and decided to check it out for lunch.

“I fell in love with the place,” she said.

So Perrine, a mother of two, decided to apply for a job.

“I just came in to help out, the hours were good with my kids,” Perrine said. She has enjoyed working as a waitress at the café ever since.

Earlier this year, Perrine heard rumors that Ginger's previous owners might close or sell the café and said she was heartbroken by the thought of the restaurant closing or losing local ownership. So, Perrine did what she had to do to ensure that wouldn't happen.

“I decided to give it a whirl and put my name in a hat.”

She recalls telling the owners that if they were serious about selling it, she might be serious about buying it. Three days later, while on a business trip to Dallas for her other job as a Homemade Gourmet representative, Perrine got the call.

“I got an offer I just couldn’t refuse,” she said with a smile. After talking it over with her husband, John, she became the new owner of the café she loves.

“I’ve not looked back,” she said. “It’s just been fabulous. This is something I always wanted to do, but never thought I could, financially and otherwise. They (the previous owners) had laid the groundwork for me, and I was able to come in here and do that part that I love to do: take care of the customer.”

Having very limited restaurant experience prior to working at Ginger’s didn’t deter Perrine. She had worked at Jim Dandy’s as a teenager, but that was the extent of it. However, Jackie Bolden, who has been the restaurant’s original and current manager, said Perrine's transition from waitress to owner was seamless.

"It's worked out really well--for our customers, for us as employess,"  Bolden said.  "I'm much more the bookkeeping side, she's the people person....Half the customers didn't know, so we just went around and told thm 'Well, you know, Mikki is the owner now.'"
It’s evident that Perrine loves people and loves what she does.

“I love to eat and I love to cook!” she said with a laugh.

From the mismatched dining table and chairs that span generations, to the Noblesville memorabilia, vintage license plates and quilts that adorn the walls, to the great customer service and food, the café feels warm and comforting.

“I just love the people that come in. I want people to step back in time a little bit, not have to worry about what’s going on their life. Just come in and have a nice meal, visit with friends, and make some new ones.”


Dedicated to Service
For as much fun as she has, Perrine is serious about providing a special dining experience. How far will Perrine go? She related her latest big cooking venture:
“I spent the night here the Sunday before Thanksgiving cooking turkeys. I know there are people that don’t have a whole lot of family here, or who would be traveling, or had family that maybe wouldn’t be here on Thanksgiving.”
Perrine wanted them to be able to experience a homecooked Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, so she served the Thanksgiving meals for the three days before Thanksgiving.
“We have a tiny kitchen, so I had to cook the turkeys at night.”
“But it’s ok,” she added, after revealing that she slept on the floor. “I also got some paperwork done and was lulled to sleep by Karen Carpenter.

Ginger’s Café Info
Open 7AM-2PM seven days a week
Breakfast is served all day
Daily Lunch Specials
Sunday Specials
Breakfast with Santa December 20 from 9-11AM
Closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
1804 E. Conner Street (located behind McDonald’s)
773.0303
http://www.gingerscafe.net/

Ginger’s Café Trivia
Ginger’s Café is named after the original owners’ best friend, whose name is Virginia, nicknamed Ginger.
Opened two years ago this month
Noblesville paintings and other memorabilia adorn the walls
Mikki Perrine plans to add her extensive cookbook and rolling pin collection to the Café in the new year
The Ginger’s Egg Breakfast (eggs, meat, homefries, homemade biscuit and gravy all for $7.95) is really popular

Current Online

Corn syrup: sweet devil in diguise

The label on the bottle of ketchup at the grocery store proclaimed “NO High Fructose Corn Syrup”. It cost more than the others, but that’s the one I bought. I refuse to buy anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in it, or knowingly anyway, since sometimes I don’t notice until reading the label later.


HFCS is in the majority of breads, jams, jellies, yogurt, juice, cereals, candy, crackers, syrups, ice cream, applesauce…and the list goes on. In recent years HFCS has been implicated in the rise of obesity.

Now with the bad rap it’s gotten, products are being advertised as NOT having it, as in the ketchup example. Some soda companies are even reverting back to how they used to make soda—with real sugar.

In light of this, the Corn Refiner’s Association, realizing the ramifications of HFCS’s bad reputation, have renamed it “corn sugar.”

If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering why HFCS is in just about everything, instead of sugar. According to the “corn sugar experts” (www.sweetsurprise.com), HFCS provides “consumer benefits,” such as sweetness equivalent to sugar.

Which begs the question, why not just use sugar then? The answer, though you won’t hear it from the corn sugar experts, is that HFCS is cheaper than sugar, and products made with it have a longer shelf life than products made with sugar, which appeals to food manufacturers.

Neither one of which have anything to do with consumer health or benefits.

Sugar and HFCS are also processed by the body differently. I’m personally wary of anything chemically altered and mixed up in a science lab and presented to me as equal to sugar, which is at least naturally derived. And ultimately of course, limiting sugars and sweeteners is the best for our bodies, which are often overfed yet hungry for real food.

helping fellow humans in need

(This column wasn't in the paper, but I wanted to post it here, too, as well as on my other blog)

I’m a huge champion of local foods, supporting small, local farmers, and of community and helping each other out. If you are too, here’s a chance to make a difference in the lives of some local farmers who are in need of help.

Slow Food Indy is the central Indiana chapter of Slow Food International (an organization that counteracts our fast food nation) and is raising funds to help local farmers Kelly Funk and John Ferree of Seldom Seen Farms, a vegetable, herb and flower farm located east of Danville. Kelly was working in the fields on July 8 and was tragically struck by lightening. She survived, and is now in a long term acute care facility in Indianapolis. Her recovery will be long and slow, and so much isn’t known yet about the extent of her injuries. She and her husband have a one year old daughter, Laila.

Now the community is coming together to raise funds for the long and expensive road ahead, as well as to volunteer to work on their farm. Slow Food Indy is hosting a benefit dinner for the family on August 22nd at Apple Farm in McCordsville. To find out more information on the dinner and how to purchase tickets, as well as how to donate online to Kelly Funk’s recovery fund, visit http://www.slowfoodindy.com/ or http://www.seldomseenfarm.com/. There you can also find links to the blog with updates on her recovery, as well a link to their facebook page. While you’re at it, http://www.goinglocal-info.com/ is another resource to be connected with local food producers and artisans to find fresh, local and in-season foods, as well as information on CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). There’s a whole world of community revolving around food, and it’s worth seeking out. Many prayers for Kelly’s recovery.

Eating local—become a ‘locavore’ this summer

Last spring I read a book that challenged my thinking about the food we eat and where it comes from--Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Barbara and her family committed to eating locally (meaning food grown within a 100 mile radius of their home) for one year. Wow, a novel concept isn’t it? I have always tried to eat food that remembers where it came from, but to consider eating local foods as much as possible and eating seasonally was a shift in my thinking.
So that summer I shopped the farmers markets in Noblesville and Fishers a lot more, with a new appreciation for the farmers and their hard work. It felt great to support them by buying their food and to be consuming food grown here. So, instead of spending $20 here and there in occasional jaunts to the market, I regularly went home with fresh produce, eggs, honey, and meat, having spent a big chunk of my weekly food budget at an open air market with the people who grew my food. As I began questioning where (and from where) we buy our food, it felt weird to be in an artificially lit grocery store in July buying produce shipped from California when I could buy food at the market, as local and fresh as it gets.

Eat local, shop local, live simply, dry your clothes on a clothesline, get back to the Earth—these are definitely worthwhile pursuits. See www.goinglocal-info.com for info about eating locally in Indiana. The Noblesville market opens Saturday, May 22nd from 8am-12:30pm in the parking lot east of Riverview Hospital. PS—ask the farmers if their produce is organic since local AND organic is ideal.

Talkin’ bout a Revolution…a Food Revolution that is

I recently heard about a new TV show called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (Friday’s on ABC from 9-10pm). The series begins in Huntington, WV, which has been called the unhealthiest city in America. There Jamie launches his initiative to educate adults and children on healthy eating habits, starting with the school lunch program.


It’s definitely time for a food revolution. Today’s youth are the first generation expected to live a shorter lifespan than their parents. The obesity rates and associated risks are soaring. If that’s not a wakeup call to do something drastic about eating habits, I don’t know what is. It’s on us, the adults, to do something about it.

My husband and I reminisce about the school lunches of our youth and how unhealthy they were. Apparently nothing has changed—school lunches are still as processed, preservative-laden, pre-packaged and wasteful as ever, maybe even more so. That’s a shortsighted plan and it’s failing our youth.

For our family, we try to eat whole food as much as we can at home and when out and about (we do have occasional junk!) and I pack my children’s lunches most of the time. They eat school lunches sometimes, but we limit it.

It’s definitely not easy to make healthy food choices in this society. It’s often inconvenient and more work to cook and eat in a healthful way, but it’s also more satisfying to be feeding wholesome foods to my children, helping them to develop good eating habits and be healthy and long term.

Visit http://www.jamieoliver.com/ to sign Jamie’s petition to improve school food and for ideas on how else you can help. Indiana has over 7500 supporters so far, and almost 400,000 people nationwide have signed it. We’re ready for a revolution.