Cook like the Italians

So, today, instead of getting ready for Amsterdam tomorrow, I attempted to finishing writing a sermon (since the deadline is a day after I return from Amsterdam and I'm not taking my computer) for a contest, listened to a BUNCH of stuff online (and discovered that my 'doubt', while having emotional dimensions, may be more volitional than anything else...that is to say, a death-producing form of self-protection I learned in my two-and-change decades of life...) and attended a talk about "emotional eating" (sort of) in the Umbrella-esque thing (called a 'yurt'). I'm not sure exactly what a 'yurt' is, but this is Sally's, and it's in her backyard, where she hosts her meditation practices and other Buddhist-like-"not-a-threat-to-anyone's-religion" (her words) classes.
Anyway, about the emotional eating. The talk was actually given by a spunky, gorgeous young health-food-store worker named Kim who could talk a mile-a-minute (literally - she's Irish) about any health question you threw at her. She gave a LOT of good reasons to stop drinking coffee (which I've got down since I think the stuff tastes like chalk [and yes, yes I WOULD know]...), try as hard as you can to be vegetarian (which I mostly am except for fish - and actually, salmon, mackeral, "wee" fish (sardines) and trout can be good for you; the bigger the fish (tuna is actually rather large) the more toxic it is), and essentially convinced me that a microwave is not only not needed, but actually harmful. She told of this study she knew of where three groups of cats were given different kinds of milk: one group was given raw (as in, not messed-with) milk, another pasteurized (as in, processed) and another microwaved. These cats were studied over a few generations...if they could be. See, the cats on microwaved milk started to show health problems within their lifetime and their kittens didn't live to have kittens of their own. The pasteurized mlik-drinkers were better off, but degenerative health problems started to show up in the 3rd generation. Cats given raw milk lived longer than any of the others and, as far as the study went, their offspring are still offspring-ing. It came as no surprise to me that microwavable meals had virtually no nurtitional value, but I was a bit shocked to learn that putting ANYTHING in the microwave caused enough molecular change to the food that it became unrecognizable (as in toxic, and thus, weight-producing since your body wants to store toxins as far away from the vital organs as possible) to the body. Obviously, I'm looking more into this, but it's a good thing I don't really have access to a microwave out here. :-). Basically, the best way to cook most things is...uh... as little as possible: steam or boil vegetables, don't cook anything till it's black, and pour on seasonings, oils, etc AFTER something is cooked. So, apparently like they do in Italy. (I always knew I liked Italy for a reason....:-P).
The talk was focused on "eating for your emotions" and focused a lot on how blood sugar can affect what your body craves and thinks it needs to balance it's blood sugar levels to what it's used to - so, like, if you drink 8 cups of coffee a day, your body will want to balance out out to that level (which is WAY too high) so that it won't experience a "crash". That's the addictive principle behind most stimulants, actually.
Anyway, it was really helpful - I only knew about half that information - because I'd sort of been struggling with what to eat out here since I have decided for ethical reasons as well as health to continue being at least white-meat vegetarian (there are pretty much no health benefits you can get from red meat that you can't get about 16 other ways), and am allergic to lots of random things (avocados make my throat itch, sunflower seeds turn my body into one big hive for three days [and that's with regular doses of Benedryl], chocolate makes my body sort of seize up and freak out), etc. I also really don't like sweet things too much at all (fruit being about the only exception these days)). I've also recently discovered that I am definitely lactose intolerant (which is actually the more common way to relate to dairy, according to world population statistics, (roughly 70% of the world's adult cannot absorb lactase!), am probably minorly celiac (gluten intolerant) like 1% of the US population and am very sensitive to sugar. So, overall a good day, but now, I've really got to jump on this Amsterdam business. See you in a week!