The one-size-fits-all utopic panacea happily ever after

I feel like gringos are always looking for the panacea solution to every problem that they have. This "panacea" manifests as the new gringo fad of the year: low fat diets, adkins diet, low carb diet, green food, green production, green everything. I feel like your average gringo is always following this illusion that the panacea solution will come to them from the media and businesses in the form of consumerism. We consume food, material things as well as knowledge. We can read infinite articles about the benefits of Omega-3s and antioxidants, etc. But can we assume we will ever know more about the minerals, vitamins, nutrients our bodies need than just the very tip of the iceberg? I feel like following my intuition and listening to my body, I will feed myself infinitely better than I would just reading the new SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY that says tumeric might prevent colon cancer. I was eating tumeric long before it was labeled as "HEALTHY" by Newsweek. Because I trust my taste buds and Indian food is my favorite. While, obviously science has its usefulness, I feel like science took the place of religion a few centuries back, and literally became the new religion. I do think US culture is becoming aware of that, slowly.

Like Lori says, gringos need to focus inward. I think it helps to see what our bodies tell us, our minds, our souls. Focus on what our bodies crave (beyond sugar and salt). Down deep, what are we craving? Are we scared to focus inward? What might we find? I remember last July I was feeling really exhausted for like three days straight. And I remember the whole time I was craving mote, this typical Chilean grain. I finally bought some, cooked it and ate a ton. And I felt sooo much better. Later I had a hunch and read up about mote on the internet, and sure enough, it was a good food to eat in order to combat fatigue. Point being my body is sometimes much smarter and more aware than my mind. Perhaps some obese people are out of contact with what their bodies really need? Maybe maintaining a healthy weight/body means being able to dialogue with our body's needs. Listening to what our bodies really want and giving it to them.

In a similar way, it's like the whole "Let's be green" fad is a bit of an illusion to cover up the fact that maybe we'd be better off not consuming so much, not shopping so much. With each "ching ching" of the cash register, I'm contributing to pollution. How organic is that cotton? 100%? No plant was harmed during its production? Yeah, that fuscia color looks like it was made from some super organic dye. Technically, if greeness is what we want, wouldn't we be better off to stop production for a while? Stop producing more clothing, objects. I mean, really, do we need any more clothes or objects in the States? Granted I'm aware if production stopped lots of people would lose their jobs and the economy would probably go into recession, etc. So it may not be the solution. But who are we kidding? Green industry. Is this not an oximoron? Pollution will still happen. Hopefully at lower levels, but it will exist. Can we call a spade a spade? or does everything always have to seem like it came out of a fairy tale?

I was reading about how solar panels can be produced at much lower cost nowadays, and the article listed some of the chemicals used in the process of producing solar panels. While clearly this is better than carbon, how green is it really? ....I kind of think if we want green, we should listen to Rousseau with his idea of the "noble savage", and how, the further away from nature we are, the more corrupt we are. While this is utopic and all, if we want to be "green", wouldn't we be better off running around in the woods/jungles dressed like Adam and Eve. That would be GREEN. I'm just pointing at this illusion that everything in the future is going to be so GREEN. Green factories. Yes, it will probably be better. But we'll still pollute. Obviously consumerism won't just stop, so, yes, the best solution seems to make it greener. Why don't we all just admit we are in denial? We could at least be honest with ourselves: WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT CONSUMERISM, IT'S TOO SATISFYING. Things, useful or not, all rapped up in nice little packages. Yuppie is the new bourgeois. Ha!

On the optimistic side, I do think gringo culture is slowly becoming more aware of its impact on the world and on itself. FINALLY.
Oh, wait, we're not the only country in the world? Shit, now what?

"The one-size-fits-all utopic panacea happily ever after" would make a really good t-shirt slogan. Maybe Walmart could mass produce them for me on organic cotton at a factory operating on biodiesel made from McDonald's used vegetable oil. Never been greener.

quinoa apple bread (queque)

Last night I made quinoa apple bread following a recipe I found on the internet, well, I sort of followed it.

apple quinoa queque

• 2 whole medium apples, cored and coarsely grated (about 1 cup lightly packed or 200 g.) - ionly had one at the time
• 1/2 cup miel de palma (though perhaps honey and bananas would do the trick
• 1/2 cup (125 ml.) sunflower or other light-tasting oil
• 2 cups (160 g.) cooked quinoa
• 2 tsp. (10 ml.) finely ground flax seeds
• 2 tsp. (10 ml.) pure vanilla extract (I had a bit of vanilla and added about 3/4 tsp of almond -- almond extract is really strong tasting)
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) wine vinegar (recipe called for apple vinegar, but in Chilito there's much more wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup (40 g.) sunflower seeds (I substituted chopped almonds)
• 1/4 cup (40 g. ) raisins (didn't have them on hand)
• 1-1/3 cups (160 g.) whole oat flour
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml.) baking soda
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) ground ginger
• 2 tsp. (10 ml.) ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. (10 ml.) or less, to taste, cardamom
• 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml.) sea salt
• 1/4 cup whole oats

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 9″ square pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the grated apple, miel de palma, oil, quinoa, ground flax seeds, vanilla, vinegar, sunflower seeds and raisins. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, soda, ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, and sea salt. Add the oats. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into slices.

Makes 9 breakfast servings or 12 dessert servings. Best eaten the day it’s made.

granola bars/cookies

I made granola bars the other day, or tried to. They turned out tasty, but they weren't really bars. They turned out more like a gooey mass, which sort of defeated the purpose. I tried to avoid this by using chancaca as one of the sweeteners. I thought this would sort of glue the bars together. But no. My idea was to be able to eat it on the subway, for example. But that just makes for a really big mess. So now I'm pondering the idea of granola bar cookies...or more like semi-sweet cookies made with oats and whole wheat flour, like to eat as a snack/breakfast wherever I may find myself hungry.

coconut milk: heaven on Earth

I am sooooo addicted to coconut milk. It's incredible. I mostly eat it in curries and desserts. I just came up with an orgasmic dessert that uses this tasty product:

Mote, coconut milk and maple syrup. Stir and enjoy.

Mote is the grain used in this typical Chilean dessert..mote con huesillos. It's sort of like bulgur wheat, but bigger and better.

mote con huesillos caliente?

I miss the mote con huesillos. In the summer, the paseos (ahumada, estado, huérfanos) are full of mote con huesillos vendors. Unfortunately, we are in winter (kind of) and these people are gone. The main vendors now sell "nuts for nuts". Cuak. Why doesn't just one of the vendors serve it in the winter, and hot? Yes the Chileans would probably be weirded out, because they are used to drinking it cold. I prepare it hot at my house. It makes a really good breakfast, snack, or dessert. Ñami.