Patty James M.S., C.N.C.

I love Fava beans and look forward to them in the spring! My favorite way to use them is lightly cooked and marinated in a vinaigrette and served at room temperature.

Have you ever wondered how to cook Fava beans? Here’s a great photo from a garden in Puget Sound that explains the peeling process:

Boil the beans for about one minute,  to loosen the outer skin.  Drain the beans, chill them briefly in ice water, drain then slip the beans from the skins.

Next you can put them in a pan with a little water and let them simmer until the beans are fully tender but still bright green.  Add a little olive oil or ghee if you like, chopped garlic, a little rosemary and some salt and they are ready to enjoy! If you want to serve them as a salad, then use olive oil.

Veterans and a Healing Kitchen

My son Russell was a corpsman in the Navy and his fellow soldiers called him Doc. It’s a corpsman’s job to keep their fellow soldiers healthy and sometimes simply alive. In 2010 Russell was with the Marines in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan –the year I will always think about as the year I held my breath. I am proud to say that Russell is now finishing his degree at the University of San Diego after serving his country.

That next summer-last summer-I offered some free classes to Veterans as a thank you for their service not knowing what that would put into play. As a nutritionist and chef my primary goal is to help people obtain or maintain their good health. I am founder and director of DirectionFive, a culinary and nutrition program for kids, but I make time mid-day to work with some local Veterans for a few hours. I realize now first hand that for our Veterans a kitchen truly is a healing place beyond the healthy food.

They come into the kitchen while I’m cooking and sometimes they help me or they just visit, ask questions or tell me about their memories of the smell of their grandma’s kitchens, or their favorite foods or do I know how to make this or that. Many, if not most, are overcoming addictions, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression and it is absolutely imperative to serve them healthy food for the healing of their brain chemistry and every other body system you can name. It’s a tricky balance because without exception, they love comfort food, would eat meat at every meal and I must say they love their sugar and salt. They almost all smoke. So where do I begin? I have studied nutrition and addiction extensively, and I know what they should and shouldn’t eat, but if I made all the changes at once, it wouldn’t work for them personally nor would it work for their bodies. Changes need to be made slowly and steadily to help them heal.

They need the nurturing feel of someone who cares about them cooking in the kitchen almost as much as they need the food I prepare. I start there. I hear, ‘It smells good, Patty must be here!” all the time. This caring part of the healing process cannot be underestimated and this has been my big lesson.

I always have a selection of foods at every meal and I cater to those who are lactose or gluten intolerant, simply can’t stand something, or they don’t have strong enough teeth-or teeth at all- to chew certain things. There are always veggies and fruits and salads. They know that they need to ease up on salt, sugar and caffeine and I am proud to say that although their consumption of these foods/drinks is still too high, it’s less than it was and their veggie intake is way up. None are vegetarians, but I have vegetarian options just the same. The meats purchased are better quality now and they are happy with a little less meat but better quality. They’re drinking more water, no soda, and are now used to iced tea without sugar. All the trans-fats are gone and I only use olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee and flax oil in the salads and they understand why because part of making them well is educating them. No more purchased salad dressings. No artificial sweeteners. Small changes but I can see the difference.

Their favorite recipes are my turkey meatloaf, roasted turkey, BBQ chicken, (they absolutely love my BBQ sauce) pork loin roast, grilled hamburgers, burritos and enchilada casserole. Veggies are served at every meal, as are various whole-grains and dessert is served twice a week-always homemade. It’s simple food, but they love it.

They have a greater understanding of what food and proper nutrition does in one’s body. By the way, they do all the dishes-how great is that? I am honored to help those who have served their country and many times have been forgotten. They are so grateful and kind and appreciative. They are gentleman to me and call each other sir more times than not. Old habits I suppose. Some of the stories I hear could break your heart (they do mine) but when they speak there doesn’t seem to be self-pity. They are just talking, thankful for someone to listen and thankful for help. They want to feel better, and they will in slow and sustainable steps.

I have also discovered that veterans truly help other veterans. They have each other’s backs and encourage each other on their path to wellness.

As I said, it’s been an honor.

Finding the Gap

Being a creative, high-strung sort, meditation is something that I have always thought was for others. I have set up little alters with flowers and feathers and incense and a pretty pillow to sit on, purple or deep red being preferable, and tried to call forth a still mind. If anyone was watching I probably looked serene enough while I was planning dinner or wondering if the cost of this little scene could be tax-deductible as a medical expense.

Really, for those who actually know how to do this it should be. As a nutritionist and health educator, I know the benefits of meditation. Research on meditation and stress have shown that meditation can counter the effects of stress and offers many positive results such as:

• Enhances the body’s immune system
• Helps reduce the risk of heart disease
• Offers an increased ability to relax
• Reduction in pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope with pain
• Greater energy and enthusiasm
• Improved self-esteem
• An ability to cope more effectively with both short (acute) and long-term (chronic) stress

In a recent Harvard study, a meditation group spent an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, a large part of that being meditation. The analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) images that focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased brain gray-matter density in the hippocampus, part of the limbic system and known to be vital for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, introspection and compassion. With the graying of America and the increasing risk of Alzheimer’s disease, this memory-enhancing fact becomes increasingly important.

As the senior author of this study, Sara Lazar, summed up: “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Now that you understand the benefits and want to give it a go, where to begin? There are many variations in meditation practices and you could certainly take a class or do your own research. Personally, now that I just completed another trip around the sun, all those studies and books I have read have finally kicked in or more likely than not, I was just simply ready. For the classically trained, my reductionist form of meditation may seem like cheating. All I know is that when I stopped paying attention to how I’m supposed to meditate and figured out what works for me, it all came together. I can now find that gap between thoughts where I wish I could stay longer and as time goes by, I probably will. It’s the nothingness that everyone’s been talking about that calms and soothes.

As a very visual person, I lie in bed in the morning or before bed at night or both (alters didn’t work for me and neither did sitting straight) and imagine a light breeze around me that gently moves all thoughts away. I hear and almost feel this imaginary breeze and no longer hear my own thoughts. The breeze moves all thoughts away and leaves me in the center, this very peaceful place. I can now even do this while walking my dog by the creek. As I walk, my thoughts are moved away. I feel a little like the Red Sea, but whatever, it works for me.

If you are not currently meditating I encourage you to begin. Find what works for you. Once you find the gap, you’ll be thankful you didn’t give up. Your body and mind will thank you.

My son returned safely home from Afghanistan in 2010. As a corpsman in the Navy, he was with the Marines in the Helmand Province trying his best to keep them healthy or simply alive when he was needed. As my thank you to the Universe for bringing my son home safely, I offered local Veterans a free cooking class I entitled, The Healing Kitchen.

Fast forward 8 or 9 months, and I receive a call from a veterans association asking me if I would consider developing meal plans and menus for the organization and the veterans they serve. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was to receive that call!

I spent a couple weeks planning and developing and began cooking for them this past week. My goodness, you have never seen 12 men who are so appreciative! It’s such fun cooking for them! They are so thankful and seem to love everything I prepare!

As the program develops further, I am also going to offer them classes on basic nutrition and cooking so that when they return to ‘regular’ life, they have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. 

Stay tuned and you’ll hear some great stories and receive what may be useful information.

Today is Day 7 of my Cleanse. The last time I posted about my Cleanse was the evening of Day 2 and I was a little cocky-no symptoms, I’m so clean, etc….Well the next morning I woke up with a headache and I really don’t like headaches.

I almost took an aspirin, but held back. I drank a lot of water and went for a nice long walk with my doggie, Wilma. By noon the headache was gone. What it did is remind me that I did need to Cleanse. My body had been giving me signals for a while and I’m glad I finally listened.

The next days were good. I have created some really great recipes using my Vitamix. The Vitamix is a really powerful blender, so you get pulp and all, which is my favorite. This, however, gives you smoothies and not juice. Granted, I only use vegetables and some fruit, but the pulp slows down the absorption of the nutrients. That’s generally fine with me as I like the dietary fiber from the pulp.

I also have a Champion Juicer, which spits out the pulp therefore creates juice and an Omega Juicer, which does the same.

Today I decided to let my Vitamix rest and use the Omega Juicer. The rotation is so slow that it does not create any heat at all, which is a good thing! Heat can damage nutrients.

The only thing about this type of juicer and throwing away all that pulp-it pains me! So I don’t…I placed the pulp in a saucepan covered with cold water and let it simmer for a bit for stock. You could also freeze it to make stock later, or add it to your next muffin recipe. I can think of many uses for it, but for now, I won’t think about that. I will continue with my Cleanse and feeling really good!