Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -118 September 2015
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Mary Olivia’s wildly creative quilts in the Red Room. A portable and unique gift.
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All good things come to an end. But not yet! Those succulent sun-ripened heirloom earth-grown local tomatoes are here for a while longer. But who knows for how long? We will continue to purchase as many as the farmers and the New Mexico sun can produce. But the tomato season will come to an end and Joe’s inimitable and famous Margherita Pizza will pack it in for another year. So don’t miss out – treat yourself to at least one of these delicious pizzas before the season ends. There’s just nothing like it.
Friday Sept 4th from 7:30am til 11am, Richard Eeds returns to Joe’s broadcasting the Morning Show live on 101.5. During the broadcast you can watch Richard at work and benefit from a surprise discount on your breakfast! Just ask.
The subject of food elicits strong opinions. Some insist that we all “should” eat one way or another. Whereas food traditionally has been a unifier – literally “bringing us to the table” — these often-strident voices can create a divisive social atmosphere. Be it vegan, paleo, no fat, vegetarian, ayurvedic, gluten-free – whatever the trend du jour may be, the idea that any one diet is best for all is preposterous. Like others, I have my personal food biases. But they may not be good for you. All of these food trends, diets and eating protocols are supported by health studies and by political, environmental and religious advocates. But one must also give weight to geography, location, season, budget, nutritional needs and not least, family food traditions. Let food be the unifier it has always been. Whatever you choose to eat, though, let it be the very best, cleanest, least contaminated, least processed, locally grown, organic when possible, non-GMO, highest quality you and your family can afford. Your body will thank you.
“Where’s the NutraSweet?” We are often asked why we don’t have it available. Well . . . ready? Aspartame is by far the most dangerous substance added to foods today. It accounts for over 75% of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA, including seizures and death. Aspartame is sold as NutraSweet, Equal, Splenda, Spoonful, and Sweet One. Here are some documented aspartame symptoms: migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss and joint pain. And the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by aspartame: brain tumors, MS, lupus, epilepsy, CFS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, birth defects, lymphoma, fibromyalgia and diabetes. Aspartame is banned in all children’s products in the Eurooean Union. And just a side note, who do you think is untroubled by owning the patent to aspartame? Yup, Monsanto. So Joe’s decided long ago not to offer it in the sugar bowl. Currently the “healthiest” zero calorie sweeteners are xylitol and stevia.
Avoid exercise at your peril. Just a non sequitur thought here. You probably agree that horses are brilliantly biomechanically designed for highly athletic movement. (I can attest to that, having been on and off that highly athletic movement many times!). But guess what? We’re designed for it too! (athletic movement, that is.)
Valuable tip: Struggling with cataracts? Look up the research on Can-C, a non-drug European supplement. Pretty impressive!
Greeting cards. For a truly local and unique greeting card, wander up to the red counter and browse through our local artists’ cards. Beautiful.
Y A sweet treat or impromptu gift for your dear ones? We 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
Lest the industrial hemp subject get buried before the next NM legislative session, you can pick up an informative flyer here at Joe’s. It is so important for our economy that we get this incredibly useful non-psychoactive crop legalized once again.
Say you want to clean up your diet. How would you go about it? I can tell you from personal experience how NOT to. That is do all the changes at once. Unless you are in a health crisis, just don’t do that. Here is a sequence of actions that has a good chance of success. Make one change at a time. Perhaps it takes two weeks to get used to a new food or to get control over a delicious but unhealthy snack. So just take your time. Each real change will move you forward to a better body, better health and energy. First: eliminate the serious toxins, especially neurotoxins like aspartame. Be ready with your new substitutes. For sweeteners, I like raw honey and occasionally cane sugar (non GMO) and for zero calories, use xylitol or stevia. Next, eliminate all artificially “created” foods and obvious junk food like Pringles chips, many novelty cereals, the novelty snack foods, imitation cheeses, high fructose corn syrup and all fast foods. In other words, highly processed foods. Replace with raw nuts and seeds, raisins, fresh fruit and berries (peaches and raspberries are my favorites), plain yogurt, real cheese, jerkies, whole grain crackers, dark chocolate, figs, dates. Third, eliminate all vegetable oils except coconut and olive. Fourth (and this is hard to identify because we still do not have comprehensive labeling laws) eliminate genetically modified foods. Most soy and corn and the CAFO* chicken and beef fed with soy and corn are GMO. Then, or first if you have allergies, get tested for allergens. You may benefit by eliminating wheat, peanuts, dairy and soy, the most common allergens. And last, reduce the white foods – white flour, white sugar, white rice and white potatoes. If you do all that and orchestrate your meals around vegetables, fruit, poultry, eggs, fish, nuts, quinoa, fruit, berries and grass-finished meat you will feel the difference and eventually your vitals and blood tests will show the difference.
(*CAFO – concentrated animal feeding operation)
“If you think good food is expensive, try disease!”
A Tuesday night tradition at Joe’s – it’s Spaghetti and Chianti Night. $29.95 for two will get you Caesar Salad, Spaghetti with homemade Bolognese and a great ½ ltr of Chianti. Wadda deal! The Bolognese sauce is made with our grass-fed-and-finished local beef.
DiJa Know – not all buffalo meat delivered to your plate is equal. Here’s where the “Know Your Grower” practice comes in handy. We know who supplies our ground buffalo (and beef and lamb) and that is reassuring. But we do not know who supplies the grocery stores. What we do know, to keep the price down, they can add fat and blend meats from many sources. Big commercial buffalo herds can be corn and soy fed, rather than grass fed as Monti (La Mont’s Buffalo) does. Also, by law they can add beef to the meat labeled “Buffalo” or “Bison.” Hmmmm.
Why are we so persistent about this “buy local” stuff? Many factors 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, fertilizing, 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. Santa Fe is fortunate to have one of the very best Farmers Markets in the nation. Here at Joe’s we 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, $60,000. Each year since 2012 we have far exceeded $100,000 per annum.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.
Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? 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, “shovel-ready jobs”, skills training, road and bridge repairs, national parks, education, etc. Had that been bailed out to the American people, each man woman and child would have received $50,000! 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 one 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!
Giggles: Signs
On highway – Honk if you love Jesus.
Text if you want to meet him.
Big road sign – Please neuter your pets
and weird friends and relatives.
On shop door – win a free ride in a police car just by shoplifting from this store. Won’t Mom be proud!
Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
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