Week 1 was all so new and exciting I could hardly wait for Week 2.  We ran through things like the state of our food supply, the various pyramids and plates that show how the government thinks we should eat, and a very interesting and eye-opening presentation by Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH on the politics behind our food in this country.  I never knew.

We then moved into the kitchen and had demonstrations, many of them very funny, but also packed full of good, simple and economical ways of eating and cooking.  I love Vitamin L and Vitamin H.

I spent quite a bit of time going through the different resources in the Reference Library and found some fascinating audio presentations.  Am pretty sure I will be spending quite a bit of time here.  I guess that’s what you do when you are a student, you spend time in the library and lucky for me, mine is on-line.  Pictured here is my study buddy and my desk.

Challenges this week were how to balance my new life as a student with my life as a retired person living in a fabulous golf community with so many wonderful people around.  I did play some golf with friends and with my Honey, we had dinner out with friends and I did go to Zumba and to my stretch class as well as took a number of long walks.  We had nice weather this week so it was good to be outside.

Going out at night is fun but it is also draining and I find that really three times in one week is too much.  In our course they stress that eating at home is a good thing.  We eat healthier when we eat our own food and we eat happier in a calm environment.  A question:  Do you think we are what we eat and if so do we ingest the energy of the way our food is prepared?  Here’s a little example of what I mean by that.  For the last couple of years I have made a Caesar Salad for us for dinner.  My family ask for it every time we are together.  They monitor the way I make it and invariably say that even though they make it the same way I do it never tastes the same.  Is it because of how I feel and think when I am making the salad?  I know that it is made with lots of Vitamin L – because I love making it for them.  I love making it for myself too.  With some experimenting I have found ways to make it even healthier just by adding an avocado into the dressing.

Here is recipe:

Wash and dry your greens and put in the fridge to get them good and cold
put a generous squirt of anchovy paste in the bottom of your salad bowl (wooden preferred)
mince two or three cloves of garlic (I like lots)
squeeze lots of lemon juice into this mix and combine
add some Parmesan cheese
add a dash of Worcester Sauce
add a generous tablespoon of Dijon mustard
add a couple of good shakes of red wine vinegar
stir this up and then drizzle a really good quality olive oil into it to desired thickness
take a ripe avocado and mash it up into the dressing
toss in your cold crisp greens and add more Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper and serve

Enjoy!

I have added some links to the left-hand side of the page.  These are reference only and I have used them for my own use.  Thought you might be interested.