Let's talk about food

I have somehow, mysteriously, ended up with a subscription to Real Simple magazine, which would be just delightful if it didn't come with an invoice. Sure, it's only $23 for a one-year subscription, and I quite enjoy the magazine, but I have a moral objection to being forced to pay for something I didn't order. Sadly, I don't have an accompanying lack of moral objection to keeping something without paying for it. So I'll probably write a check and grumble for a few minutes until the next glossy issue arrives in my mailbox and I am wooed into complacency once more.

And may I say, they sure know how to put together a New Year's issue. I guess if you know you're popping these magazines by the hundreds? thousands? into the hands of people who did not request them along with a cheeky little invoice, it had better be good. This issue has hit on two of my favourite topics: food and de-cluttering. Sold.

There's a great article about the 30 healthiest foods, compiled by all sorts of *experts*, and I always enjoy scanning these kinds of lists to see where I stand. What's better is a set of recipes at the end of the article that manages to use almost all of them. And they all sound delicious.

I'm happy to report that of the 30 foods listed, here's how the Cowfam fares:

Foods that we eat at least every week - 16

Foods that we eat about once a month - 5

Foods that we eat occasionally - 5

Foods that we never eat - 4

Well, that's pretty good, I think. There's room for improvement, which shouldn't be too difficult considering that there wasn't a single item on the list that I could claim to dislike.

And, being the list-maker that I am, I love the idea of popping the ready-made list of 30 foods in my bag and heading to the grocery store to explore new territory. I'm pretty sure I've never before purchased a sardine. And I wonder how easy it will be to find bulgur.

I recommend checking out the article at www.realsimple.com or even picking up a copy of the magazine. Environmentalists be damned, sometimes I just like to flip through the old fashioned way.




Now, if they put out an article about the 30 unhealthiest foods, well, I'm willing to guess that the numbers would be about the same. But hey, at least we're well rounded, right? I wonder if I should make it a two-year subscription...