Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -111 February 2015

Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -111 February 2015
-Sheila

 

 

Chef Russell has many talents – cartooning is one!

 

 

Make your reservations soon for Valentine’s. Joe’s will offer a divine prixe fix 3-course dinner on both Friday Feb 13 and Sat. Feb 14 starting at 5pm. Ask to see the special menu. Regular menu offered as well.

And for a sweet treat for your dear ones we now have lovely gift boxes for Joe’s melt-in-your-mouth French chocolate truffles. 4 in gift box $10, and 6 in gift box $12.50.

Local artists. Bill Todino’s elegant black and white photographs of New Mexico have a return engagement in the Red Room. Reasonably priced, they make a unique gift and one with a defining and almost sacred sense of place. In the main dining room you will see a new (to us) artist, James Bolton. James presents food in a sophisticated yet understated manner resting confidently and quietly on solid technique. These are worthy of collectors’ attention.

Superfood hemp seed. Some months ago I wrote a series on foods that have become known as superfoods. I’m adding to that list hemp seed and hemp protein from the world’s most sustainable plant. If you’ve been following the hemp saga in the last 3 issues, you will recall I knew nothing about hemp until recently. Now however, it has taken on many dimensions in my life. As a food source, hemp seed exhibits a terrific nutritional profile, so much so that we now use it in recipes here at Joe’s. Here is what hemp seed offers: rich in protein, with essential fatty acids, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, vitamin E and all 10 essential amino acids. This nutritious seed is the richest known source of polyunsaturated fats, containing a perfect 3:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. In fact, this balance is the perfect proportion for human dietary needs. The taste? Imagine piñones crossed with sunflower seeds.

Please pick up the info flyer on the importance of industrial hemp to New Mexico agriculture and economy and see the last few newsletters in which I explore hemp’s phenomenal potential. If you agree please write Senator Cisco McSorley voicing your support for SB94. cisco.mcsorley@nmlegis.gov   Soon we will also have a House bill and sponsor.

Best practices. A month into the new year and resolutions we made are either proving doable or have undone us! As self maintenance becomes more critical, driven by the prohibitive cost of certain health care modalities and by the desire to stay optimally functional, a list of best practices juggles positions in my head. Superior nutrition and exercise simply not negotiable if one desires optimal function. But what diet? What exercise? There is no definitive answer to that simply because we all have different requirements. That said, allow me to share with you some things that work for me.

1. A diet comprised of foods as close to the way they come from nature as possible (i.e. minimally processed) and as fresh as possible so that the nutrients are still intact. Eat the highest quality of foods you can afford. Grass-finished local meats (of course! LOL), and as much local or home grown produce as one can get, pastured eggs, seeds, nuts and fruits. Easy on the meats and easy on the dairy but not excluding them is what makes me feel my best. My nutritiinal program would not be complete without the addition of food-sourced supplements and some “boosters” like antioxidants, essential fatty acids and minerals. I incorporate superfoods such as coconut oil, raw cacao nibs, hemp seeds and hemp protein, chia seeds, quinoa, algae, wheat grass and spirulina (green powders) – no, not all of them every day! Believe me if I thought I could get everything my body needs from foods alone, I would not add a single thing. However, the stress of modern life and the depletion of minerals from our soils almost mandate supplementation. Smoothies are my “go-to” when I need fast energy that is light and easy to digest. We are experimenting with some recipes and may offer them here at Joe’s – we’ll see . . .

2. Exercise – I wish it were optional for good health but it just ain’t so. The good news is that there are some very short intense exercise routines that get the job done quickly. Check out Fast Exercise by M. Mosley. And some really exciting news – the gym right next door (SF Fitness & Martial Arts) will be open very soon. They offer a wide range of activities. Some of the fittest people I know in Santa Fe work out with Fred and his trainers. Furthermore, for the handicapped or those of limited mobility, there is a marvelous machine called the Live Vibe. http://ridgeandcompany.com.   Merely stand or sit on it to increase circulation and lymph drainage. Muscles are tensed and relaxed involuntarily, preventing atrophy and bone loss.

3. Sleep – this really should be at the top of the list. Sleep heals the body and the soul. If you are not getting regular deep sleep, give it priority to address. Here are a few ideas that can help you sleep. Melatonin (the sleep hormone) is disrupted by blue light – the very light emitted by electronic devices like laptops and tablets. Turning them off an hour before retiring can help. Taking melatonin and 5HTP one hour before bedtime can br helpful. As well, I have found that concentrated CBD oil from hemp seed calms the nerves and brain activity and can induce sound sleep.

4. Sunshine directly on the skin is a wonderful daily health practice with more benefits than I can name here. (See newsletter #105).

5. Add to my list of best practices a glass of wine every day to lower blood sugar, reduce risk of dementia and heart disease.

6. Coffee has a number of benefits, much the same as drinking alcohol in moderation.   A cup of cream-rich coffee before my (brief) morning workout increases metabolism and of course gives me a jumpstart.

7. Meditation. For many years I just could not meditate. Why, I don’t know. Just couldn’t. I’ve been more successful, if not completely regular, about it this year and I’ve found I always have a better day when I manage to set aside those few quiet moments.

8. Laughter has always come easily to me and I continue to believe it has more power to heal than one might think. Remember Norman Cousins’ book Laughter is the Best Medicine?

9. Friendship, relationship, a rich social life goes a long way to keeping us balanced and fulfilled.   10. And then there’re the critters. It doesn’t take any scientific studies to tell us that inviting animals to share our lives has profound benefits.
So my best practices list currently includes exercise, diet, sleep, sunshine, wine, coffee, meditation, laughter, friendship and my dear animals. What’s on your list?

DiJa Know? Farm subsidies. A decade ago, an American woman’s waist, on average, was close to two inches smaller than now. Eighteen year olds are 15 pounds heavier than they were in the 1970s. Corn, soy, wheat and rice are the subsidized crops. What do you end up with? A fast food diet! And that answers the question – how can a McDonald’s burger, a Taco Bell whatever . . . you fill in the blank . . . be so darned cheap? These are also the foods that appear in school lunch programs and food assistance programs. This results in the endless loop of the SAD (standard American diet).   By subsidizing corn and soy, the US government is actively supporting a diet that consists of these grains in their processed form, namely high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, and feedlot grain-fed cattle – all of which are known to produce obesity and chronic diseases.   If we must have subsidies, why not level the playing field and offer them to growers of vegetables, grass-finished cattle and sheep, nut-tree farmers, and small local farm operations?   Well we all know the answer to that – follow the money and the lobbies.

Why do we keep hammering on this “buy local” theme? There are many factors that are out of our hands when it comes to our food supply. Most of what ends up on the American dinner table derives from a shockingly few giant agribusinesses. Their influence reaches from designing the (GMO) seeds to planting, harvesting, processing and shipping.

We as consumers cannot with confidence hand over the entire stewardship of our food to these few multinationals. Our passion here at Joe’s is for a local sustainable food supply – food produced by growers who are accountable for what they grow. KYG – Know Your Grower. We are able to look our local farmer in the eye and ask him about his growing practices or even visit his operation. This gives us the confidence that we are eating food that is healthy, wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often better than organic, humanely treated and minimally processed. It is grown with a smaller energy-use footprint and transported short distances. We cannot divorce human health, the economy, ecology, personal (perhaps spiritual) satisfaction or honorable work from food. Food is fundamental. What we eat, where it
comes from, the stewardship of food animals, the nurturing and building of soils – all these factors affect us at a cellular and visceral level … whether we slow down enough to be aware of it or not. We so are fortunate in Santa Fe to have one of the very best Farmers Markets in the nation.

Here at Joe’s we do our best to offer this bounty to you, keeping dollars in the community. In the interest of transparency, in 2008 Joe’s spent $30,000 on local foods. In 2009 it increased to $60,000. Each year since 2012 we have far exceeded $100,000 per annum. During the growing season as much as 95% of our produce is locally sourced.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.

Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? Tired of lining the pockets of the uber-rich Wall Street bankers? And still no convictions? DiJa know…in 2011 a congressional audit of the Federal Reserve found that the Fed gave 16 trillion dollars from American taxpayers to bail out the “too big to fail” banks with a hefty portion of it going to CEO’s obscene bonuses. Can you imagine — had this staggering figure been re-directed to the people of the US, how different the picture could have looked today? Manufacturing starts, job creation, skills training, roads and bridges repair, national parks, education, etc. Every time we use a credit card, part of that 3%-5% fee contributes to the BB’s. Now let’s be real – in today’s world you cannot function without a credit card, but there are still (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the BB’s and actually save us money. We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s own credit card/gift card – purchase a $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus!

 

A Famous quote
Mahatma Gandhi on Seven Deadly Sins: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality, Worship without sacrifice.

Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM   87507
505-471-3800      
www.JoesDining.com
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