What's New in Natural Foods

In This Issue

Beating Stress – with Your Friends!
Gear Up to Grow Your Own
Edible Blossoms
Magnificent May Meals

Hi Everyone,

There’s something I’m beginning to notice more consistently in the news. It’s that people are getting back to the basics—sewing their own clothes, eating more meals at home, playing board games! With a troubled national economy, an uncertain job climate and housing woes, many of us have experienced prolonged stress, which takes a serious toll on our health. So I think back-to-basics offers a welcome antidote. Basics like nurturing friendships, growing your own food, even smelling (or eating!) the flowers. Read on for some “basic� ideas.  

Keep Stress at Bar

Prolonged stress can have a significant effect on our health. When our bodies are under stress, they release what’s commonly known as the “fight or flight� hormones. Sometimes “fight or flight� is the correct response to a dangerous situation, but too many of these hormones over a sustained period of time accelerate the aging process and make us vulnerable to disease. Who wants that?

So it was through this prism I read a recent UCLA study about the relationship between women’s friendships and stress. This new research found that along with the usual stress hormones (such as adrenaline and cortisol), women produce the hormone oxytocin when they are under the gun.

According to Dr. Laura Cousino Klein (one of the study’s authors), "It seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress response in a woman, it buffers the “fight or flightâ€� response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect.â€� 

This is great news: hanging out with our girlfriends physically reduces the effects of stress on our bodies! It’s nice to have official scientific confirmation of something we all know to be true.

Ninety percent of research about stress is done on men, and studies have found that men generally hole up by themselves when stressed. Understanding that women and men respond differently to stress has important implications for our health. As women, we can adjust the way we manage stress – for example, we can set aside specific time for our friendships. 

When I read the UCLA study, I immediately thought of how women have been sharing the work of food preparation for centuries, and how much I enjoy cooking with friends.

The feeling was reinforced recently in an email from a Dinner with Jennette subscriber in Colorado.  Lisa wrote about “cooking days� she schedules with her friends. Together, they cook a few different DWJ meals and split them. She says they’re saving lots of money by bringing healthy and tasty lunches to work. And they’re having fun while supporting their health with balanced nutrition.

Another DWJ subscriber from St. Paul told me about “soup night.�  She has her girlfriends over one night a month and they make large quantities of several different soups and split them up. Perfect for work or school lunches.

My first real cooking experience was in college when I lived in a co-operative house with 30 people. We took turns doing different house jobs, and I signed up for cooking dinner with a girlfriend one night a week. We had a blast and I learned a lot.  (When I moved out I had to adjust to cooking smaller quantities – no need to measure rice in juice pitchers anymore.)

Do you have a cooking-with-friends experience you’d like to share?  Send me an email and tell me!.  :)

May 28: Stress-free tips
If you want to learn more about keeping stress at bay, register for my “Increasing Energy and Improving Mood� class at the Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis. Call the Wedge at 612-871-3993.

Turn Your Backyard into Your Produce Aisle

NOTE: I’m pleased to introduce Peg Tuttle of Tuttle House Gardens as a “guest contributor� this month. She’s inspirational and knows a lot more about gardening than I do. For more about Peg and the great work she does, visit www.tuttlehousegardens.com

Recession-proof your grocery list. How? Simply by turning to your backyard for fresh vegetables instead of your grocery store. Recession gardening is the current rage among thrifty homeowners. If you’ve never planted a vegetable garden before, the current economic situation is a great reason to get your hands dirty.

You don’t need too much space to grow a few healthy veggies. First, pick a spot, ideally in full sun. Dig up the turf, which you can then compost. Amend your soil by adding organic matter like composted manure, blood meal and bone meal. Then plant whatever you’d like to eat. Oh and don’t forget to water and fertilize regularly.

Edible Blossoms

When you’re thinking about getting your yard or deck ready for the summer, consider planting some edible flowers. Nasturtiums, day lilies, pansies and violets are a few of the flowers you can use in salads, desserts or as pretty garnishes – especially on pureed soups. They can add color, flavor (often either peppery or delicately floral), nutrients and loveliness to summer meals.

Magnificent May Meals

Subscribe to Dinner with Jennette and you won’t be stressed about what to have for dinner!  You’ll know you’re getting a variety of nutritionally balanced meals that taste scrumptious. This month’s meals include dishes such as “Soba Noodle Salad with Shrimp and Pea Pods,� “St. John Chicken and Plantains� (in honor of my recent R&R on St. John’s, USVI) and two Cinco de Mayo inspired meals, including “Mole Pork Chops with Gorditas� and “Chicken Quesadillas with Tomatillo Sauce.� You’ll want to invite friends over for fiesta!

Subscribers to Dinner with Jennette get 12 complete meal plans each month. There are “One Dish Wonders,� “Company Meals� and “Couldn’t Be Easier� meals each month.  The meals are all gluten-free and there is a page you can download each month to make the meals dairy free, too.  There is a specifically vegetarian meal each month, and a page you can download with suggestions for converting the meals into meatless ones.  Dinner with Jennette meals don’t ever use any refined foods or sweeteners – they’re wholesome and nourishing.  Subscribe now.  You’ll be glad.

Best,
Jennette