How many of you have given thought to the food you eat and its impact on your body and health? Is it something you think about? If yes or no, please share.
Until recently, I did not give much thought to the food I ate. One reason is because I had no connection to my food. I didn’t prepare it and I was not taught about food and health or food and my body.
Would it surprise you to know that food and nature can provide the daily vitamins and minerals your body needs to stay healthy, to have energy and to not have aches and pains?
What would it take for you to have a deeper tie to your food? I know – corny right – today things are meant to be easier?! But what if I shared that cooking can bring a sense of peace and calm to a world of chaos?
If I am honest, at first cooking will not feel calm or peaceful, it will probably feel overwhelming. Why?
Because we are scheduled to death with no down time. Cooking provides down time. It isn’t for everyone but before you poo poo it, try it. Find some time to just be with you and your food. Redefining time can help you find the time you need to regenerate and heal. And cooking could be the one thing that allows you to find your time.
I didn’t always cook, in fact, I hated it but I hated it because I never had the time. Now that I cook, I am always learning and my connection to food, my body and my health is much deeper. I even journal food and its effect on my body. For example, processed food leads to headaches and neck aches, whereas, nutrient rich foods lead to better energy and focus for me. What is your experience? How do you connect the dots?
When you see cabbage or hear the word cabbage, what is your first thought? Is your first thought tied to St. Patty’s Day? Or Ireland? Do you think of it as an Irish food?
Would it surprise you to know cabbage was domesticated some 3000 years ago? This surprised me – domesticated isn’t a word I associate with food. This link provides some additional interesting and fascinating facts about the history of cabbage: http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/history-of-cabbage/.
Cabbage varieties
What color comes to mind when you hear the word cabbage? Would it surprise you to know that cabbage is also purple? And White? And Red? Would it surprise you to know there are 400 varieties of cabbage?
The number is hard for me to wrap my head around but it is a challenge I willingly accept – to learn about the varieties and tastes and benefits. The colors are also exciting. I love the color purple.
I grew up with cabbage but it was always green and I am pretty sure always one variety. Cabbage was a March tradition because I am part Irish and that is the only time we enjoyed cabbage, along with corn beef. But since I am a vegetarian, I haven’t partaken of that tradition for some time and last year started a new tradition centered on learning new recipes for cabbage. Now I am going to add learning about the different varieties.
For recipes, Cooking with Grams shared cabbage piroshky.
Yum Yum Yum!
And here are a few others and a favorite of mine: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/2437/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables/cabbage/
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/slideshow/cabbage-recipes
I slow cooked cabbage with onions and mushrooms in a veggie broth with cumin and coriander. It is a wonderfully warm delicious dish.
DID YOU KNOW?!
Cabbage is a brilliant way to get your daily vitamin C.
On cold days, there is nothing better than something warm.
DID YOU KNOW?!
Cabbage not only has Vitamin C but it also has ZERO fat and just 6 calories.
“Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that serves many important roles in the body. For instance, it’s needed to make collagen, the most abundant protein in the body. Collagen gives structure and flexibility to the skin and is critical for the proper functioning of the bones, muscles and blood vessels.
Additionally, vitamin C helps the body absorb non-heme iron, the type of iron found in plant foods. What’s more, it’s a powerful antioxidant.”
DID YOU KNOW?! Cabbage is packed with nutrients?
“1 cup (89 grams) of raw green cabbage contains (2):
Protein: 1 gram
Fiber: 2 grams
Vitamin K: 85% of the RDI (recommended daily)
Vitamin C: 54% of the RDI
Folate: 10% of the RDI
Manganese: 7% of the RDI
Vitamin B6: 6% of the RDI
Calcium: 4% of the RDI
Potassium: 4% of the RDI
Magnesium: 3% of the RDI
Cabbage also contains small amounts of other micronutrients, including vitamin A, iron and riboflavin. As you can see in the list above, it is rich in vitamin B6 and folate, both of which are essential for many important processes in the body, including energy metabolism and the normal functioning of the nervous system.”
DID YOU KNOW?!
Purple and Red Cabbage offer different levels of the vitamins and nutrients.
Red Cabbage offers 30% more Vitamin C.
DID YOU KNOW?!
Cabbage will help with digestion.
This crunchy vegetable is full of gut-friendly insoluble fiber, a type of carbohydrate that can’t be broken down in the intestines. Insoluble fiber helps keep the digestive system healthy by adding bulk to stools and promoting regular bowel movements.
Cabbage offers a wealth of nutritional and health benefits. It is also an exciting vegetable to cook with and offers a variety of different tastes. Your challenge this week, if you accept it, is to cook and/or eat cabbage and share your story. I’d love to hear from you!
My final #Food4Thought is to share this with you:
Life happens when you least expect it and you can get the most out of life when you are happy and healthy. Two weeks ago, I lost my brother. It is a journey I never thought I would have to experience – I thought he and I would be sitting on a porch – grey and weathered but happy – recalling our memories – good, challenging and bad. Never did I expect to figure out a way to live my life without him in it.
The memories flood in every day.
There is a lot I will learn from his untimely death – many lessons I do not know but there is one I am aware of now – my brother lived life – he lived it large, on the edge and the way he wanted despite protests. It is time for me to take a little more risk, in his honor, and it is easier for me to do that when I have energy and feel happiness. It does not mean I will not go through the stages of loss, but at each turn I will hear him encouraging me to live more.
I share this because on my food journey I have learned and experienced that the food nature provides in its original form, which is nutrient rich, keeps my brain free of fog, my muscles free of aches, my energy high, and it surrounds me in a bubble of happiness.
I have been a vegetarian for years but I ate a lot of processed foods and chocolate. These last two weeks, when I have eaten, I have consumed sugars and foods without nutritional value. My body is protesting. So today I return to healthy eating so I can live life the way my brother encouraged me in life and the way his memory supports me now as I learn from others the way he positively impacted them.
Until next Monday, cheers to healthy eating and a life lived.
And please share your experiences with food.
Hugs,
Elizabeth
References:
1. https://www.thespruceeats.com/varieties-of-cabbage-1808038
2. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-cabbage#section1
3. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-cabbage#section1
4. Healthline Article above
Say No To Food Waste 