A yummy new salad

I tried a new salad last night at our "fake" Whole Foods. It is a grocery store trying to be Whole Foods in the more upscale side of town.
It had the following in it:
Romaine lettuce
Napa cabbage
Fresh mint and cilantro
Rice noodle or sticks
Edamame
Shredded carrots
Red peppers
Mung bean sprouts
Curry cashews
The dressing was called Asian Slaw dressing, it was super hot and orange. I might have to do some research for the recipe.

One of my favorite things to do is to try and recreate a recipe at home. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I will let you know if this one is a keeper.

Why I hate the word diet.. warning a rant coming on

There seems to be a lot of diet books surfacing this time of year. I guess it is because people make New Year's resolutions about weight loss. I know when I worked at the YMCA years ago, we were bombarded with new members in Jan and they were thinning out by March. I know I have myself made that resolution only to abandoned it by February. SO I understand the want to be thin.


But I really feel the word diet keeps people fat, unhealthy and where they are at. Usually with an unhealthy weight, fear of the scale and an unhealthy relationship with food.

This unhealthy relationship with food really hit me recently. I thought it was just a few of us with that issue. (I had a breakthrough with this last year). But after watching a evening of the programs on the FN, I am more aware that it may be more than just a few of us. It is probably more like our entire country has some emotional issues with food. OK maybe 5% do not.

The most popular shows are competitions. I mean really, do I want someone sweating into and rushing to finish my dish to eat? There are chefs racing to make dishes with a key ingredient, cupcakes, sweets and time challenges. Then later in the evening 2 shows were hosted by 2 guys of size one looking for the best bar foods ( where he taste it on camera and tells us how wonderful it is and how he can still taste the spices in it as it was double deep fried) and the other outrageous foods like a 110# hamburger. Really dude?


That was followed by people competing to eat the outrageous food fast or within a time frame to receive it free. Large portions, fried foods and hottest foods.
Now don't misunderstand me, I am by no means a health nut. I am trying to limit processed foods and make healthier choices. I still eat things that are not the best for my body. But I might be looking to change things up even more seriously in the new year. But trust me, I won't call it a diet!