What the world eats!

Someone at work sent an email with pictures of what typical families from around the world eat in a week and how much they spend. It was really an eye-opener to see the differences between various cultures. I was amazed at how little produce there was on most people’s menus. (You can view the photo essay by clicking here http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html ) We are a blessed country in that we have a wide variety of foods available to us - so you won’t hear me complain at all. However, what a shame that there is so little recognizable food on most people’s dinner plates. No wonder we have such an epidemic of lifestyle diseases. Go green – eat fruits and veggies and leave the highly processed foods alone! Let’s try to make our menus look like a poster advertisement for farmers!

Delicious warm pears for dessert!

We have really been enjoying the cooler weather. It has increased our appetites – especially for warm and tasty deserts. We have also been enjoying pears this season. We have had a hard time finding great apples this year – but the pears have been out of this world! While camping, we “discovered” a very easy, very delicious dessert made with fresh pears – although I would imagine canned pears would work also. We simply peel, or not depending on my mood, and slice pears. Slip them into a sauce pan with a tiny bit of Earth Balance and brown sugar and heat thoroughly. You want to make sure the pear does not lose its texture – but just heats nicely through. Walla! We scoop out the heated pears and their juice and enjoy. I guess if you wanted to be decadent, you could top with a soy vanilla ice cream – but so far, the pears have been so wonderful that we have not wanted to dilute their flavor with anything else! This has worked well with both Bartlett and D’anjou pears. We love to eat these two varieties of pears right off of the core, like an apple, so we always have them on hand. They are also a great addition to a tossed salad!