Shakespeare should have written about sweet potatoes: Thou art the sweetest of all potatoes…. Wait, Shakespeare did! Don’t you just love Google? “Let the skye raine Potatoes….hail kissing comfits, and snow Eringoes.” – Merry Wives of Windsor. This boisterous joke, which was boisterously received by the audiences Shakespeare knew well, referred to sweet potatoes – an aphrodisiac in Shakespeare’s day. And prior to Shakespeare it was written, sweet potatoes “comfort, nourish, and strengthen the body, vehemently procuring bodily lust.” Well I love sweet potatoes and that’s no joke! I did, however, hate them growing up – that’s because they were overly drenched in butter, brown sugar, and topped with marshmallows – eeewww goo!
My dinner last night consisted of ½ of a diced sweet potato, mixed with ¾ cup quinoa, 3 T. black beans, and sprinkled with curry powder. It tasted pretty darn good. After eating half of it, I added some pineapple tidbits, trying to make it more “Caribbean-style”. I have to admit, it tasted better before the pineapple. The sweet potato was naturally moist, with the right amount of sweetness, not too much.
One of the most nutritional vegetables, sweet potatoes are available year-round, are anti-oxidant rich, and are an excellent source of Vitamin A.
I YAM CRAZY FOR SWEET POTATOES!
Through the hunger challenge, I am realizing how much I depend on prepared and takeout food - how I don’t have as much time to cook any more or even have the energy to cook when I get home from work. I have for the most part always eaten healthily, but can easily see how someone who might not be as informed about nutrition (and also is busy and lacking energy to cook) would make less healthy choices.
Breakfast today was a repeat of Tuesday and Wednesday’s – multigrain hot cereal, black raspberries, Trek mix and French vanilla yogurt – very satisfying and filling. The thought of kids going to school hungry saddens me deeply. It is the most important meal of the day. Good nutrition is needed to fuel growing minds and bodies. I love that our nutritionist is out in the community helping children learn to make better nutrition intake choices so that they will grow to become informed, healthy and productive adults.
That is why all our work is so important - to ensure that everyone in our region receives a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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Good call on the sweet potatoes! I eat entirely too many of them during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteMy experience has been challenging and informative. I learned quickly how difficult it would be to make it through the week.
ReplyDeleteI began my week by visiting Aldi. My plan was to buy a whole turkey and some other miscellaneous items. I intended to cook the turkey and eat from it each day. I arrived at the Aldi checkout with milk, bananas, tomatoes, eggs, lettuce, salad dressing, peanuts, a whole turkey, butter, celery, wheat bread and cheese. I was embaressed to learn that I did not have enough money and had to put back the dressing and the peanuts.
The total bill added up to $25.23, leaving me around $3 for the rest of the week. I have in the meantime purchased some chicken noodle soup and blueberries.
This experience is difficult and I certainly have a greater understanding of what those who struggle to make ends meet endure. However, I also know that my experience does not touch the surface.
Although I am out of money, I am confident I have enough food to make it through the week. Clearly, this experience shows how important it is to donate to food shelters. I hope everyone who reads this will bring cans to their local food shelter.